Milo

ISRAEL’S PUNISHMENT
Hosea 7–10

“My God will reject them because they have not obeyed Him; they will be wanderers among the nations” (Hosea 9:17).

Punishment must fit the crime. Here the various crimes that led to Israel’s exile are described, along with predictions of that fast-approaching judgment.

Background
Exile. When Moses gave Israel her Law at the time of the Exodus, he included a catalog of the blessings that would be granted if God’s people obeyed—and a catalog of punishments to be imposed if Israel rebelled and sinned.
Each catalog is found in Deuteronomy 28, with the “curses” for disobedience listed in verses 15–68. These curses, or punishments, are of increasing severity. The intent is that the people would turn back to God after light discipline. But if they persisted in sinning, increasingly heavy penalties would be imposed, each with the intent of bringing about repentance and renewal.
By Hosea’s time Israel had experienced all the lesser consequences of their sin. All that remained for God to do was impose the penalty stated in verses 63–66. Reading those verses helps us understand the horror of the judgment about to befall Hosea’s Israel—and helps us realize that God had done everything possible to avoid its necessity.
This judgment, exile from the land, was about to fall on a nation that had been warned for generations, by the written Word, by prophet messengers, and by persistent discipline.
How dangerous it is not to heed God’s warnings. We should welcome warnings, for they are intended to spare us much pain.

Overview
Israel’s disastrous domestic (7:1–7), foreign (vv. 8–16), and religious (8:1–14) practices demanded punishment. Israel would be taken captive (9:1–9), her glory fled away (vv. 10–17). Wicked Israel would be punished for her sin (10:1–15).

Understanding the Text
“The crimes of Samaria revealed” Hosea 7:1–7. National character is reflected in national leadership. In Samaria, the capital of Israel, the kings delighted in the wickedness of others—and became their victims. The image of the hot oven stands for the inflamed passions of those who conspired against Israel’s rulers, approaching them with intrigue while intent on “devouring” them. The crimes are “revealed,” for all in Israel would be aware of the fall of kings (v. 7).
But what specifically was Hosea talking about here? During Hosea’s own lifetime four of Israel’s rulers were assassinated and replaced by their killers! Zechariah by Shallum (2 Kings 15:10), Shallum by Menahem (v. 14), Pekahiah by Pekah (v. 25), and Pekah by Hoshea (v. 30). This ruinous domestic situation undermined any rule of law, and demonstrated the corrupt state of the nation.
I’m disturbed by the multitude of recent revelations of crime by our leaders in Washington. A Republican congressman was sentenced for perjury—for lying about seeking a loan from an individual who told him it was drug laundering money. A homosexual Democratic congressman admitted hiring a male prostitute, and later employing him on his staff. Respected high officials have been accused of using influence to obtain millions of HUD dollars for clients who then defrauded the government and, more reprehensible, the poor. So God’s warnings in these chapters have a timely ring. “Whenever I would heal Israel,” He said, “the sins of Ephraim are exposed and the crimes of Samaria are revealed.” Our nation needs spiritual healing today. As each layer of bandages covering our wounds is unwound, more and more sins and crimes are revealed. We must face the fact that if national disaster is to be avoided, we Christians must repent—and pray.

“A flat cake not turned over” Hosea 7:8–16. My wife tells me I’m strange, but I like gooey pancakes. You know: pancakes that aren’t quite cooked through, with raw dough inside.
Apparently God doesn’t share my taste. The image in this verse, used to describe Israel, is that of a flat cake of bread cooked on one side by being plastered against the outside of a hot clay oven—but never turned over so it can cook on the other side. One side is done, the other is raw dough and, by implication, worthless.
What had made Israel worthless in God’s sight? Hosea looked at the nation’s mode of responding to danger. Like a frightened and senseless bird, scurrying first one way and then the other, Israel looked to first Egypt, then Assyria, for help (v. 11). But Israel never looked up, where the Most High resides (v. 16). Instead the people rejected His ways and spoke against Him (v. 13).
When we face danger, let’s remember that we too have wings, and can fly. In looking up, and coming to God in prayer, we will find all the help we require.

“But Israel has rejected what is good” Hosea 8:1–14. It’s fine to say, “O our God, we acknowledge You.” But again Hosea confronted Israel with her hypocrisy.
First, a person who truly acknowledges God will not reject what is good. Morality and a genuine faith go hand in hand, and can never be separated.
Second, the chapter again and again points out the fact that Israel’s religion was humanistic. That is, Israel’s religious practices were not based on God’s revelation of His will and His ways, but on the Israelites’ own ideas of how to please God. They acknowledged God—but set up calf-idols at the worship centers dedicated to Him (vv. 4–6), in clear violation of His revealed will. Their multiplied “altars for sin offerings” have “become altars for sinning” (v. 11).
Humanistic religion always bears this same mark. Revelation is ignored, and God’s express commands are pushed aside, to be replaced by the notions of men. People today too may cry, “O our God, we acknowledge You!” But unless that “worship” is in accord with biblical revelation, it is worse than meaningless.

“Ephraim will return to Egypt” Hosea 9:1–4. Here, as frequently in other passages, “Egypt” represents exile and slavery. But this time the Israelites would “eat unclean food in Assyria” (v. 3). They would go north, not south. Yet the experience would be the same.
If you or I were to be cut off from God, it would make no difference whether we settled in the north, the south, the east, or the west. Any place in which we were isolated from the Lord would be exile, and even the most comfortable of circumstances would be slavery.

“The prophet is considered a fool” Hosea 9:5–9. Rejection of God’s message, and ridicule of His messengers, is an indication of hostility toward God Himself (v. 7b). The Israelites in Hosea’s day did not like the message that “the days of punishment are coming, the days of reckoning are at hand” (v. 7).
There are parts of Scripture that you or I may not like, either. But this passage reminds us that the less we like a particular truth, the more we need to heed it! It’s essential to guard against the repressed hostility that corrupted Israel’s relationship with the Lord.

“Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird” Hosea 9:10–17. It’s so easy to assume that conditions are permanent. We get depressed when things go badly, and feel that things will never get better. And we tend to become complacent when things go well, assuming that the bad times are over for good.
Things were going well in the days of Jeroboam II when Hosea preached his message of judgment. People not only didn’t like what Hosea said, they scoffed at him. How could prosperous and powerful Israel suffer such a fall? Yet within 30 years of Jeroboam II’s death, while Hosea yet lived, everything that Israel counted on flew out the window! Her glory did “fly away like a bird,” and God’s word of judgment came absolutely true: “I will bereave them. . . . Woe to them. . . . I will drive them out of My house.”
What has been, and what is, is no basis for confidence concerning what will be. We must expect our world to change—even to come falling down on our heads. We must place our confidence in God alone.

DEVOTIONAL
Sow Righteousness
(Hosea 10)
I like bumper stickers.
There are some I wouldn’t want on my car. But I don’t mind the one my wife attached to my van: “Fishing isn’t a matter of life or death. It’s more important than that.” I don’t even mind the one that says, “If you can read this, you’re too close!” And I like many of the Christian bumper stickers I’ve seen—except when the person who has them plastered on his back bumper speeds up to cut me off as I put on my turn signal to change lanes on busy Highway 19.
It might have been good if in Hosea’s time they had chariot stickers, or cart stickers, or donkey stickers. Hosea 10 suggests a few possibilities. How about “Idol is as idol does—nothing” (vv. 5–9). Or, “Don’t look back. Your sin’s catching up with you” (vv. 9–10). Or “Don’t like the harvest? Then watch what you plant” (v. 15). Or maybe “We’re strong enough to fail” (v. 13).
I don’t suppose such stickers would have done much good. Some wag would have found a way to turn them around, like the stickers countering Campus Crusade’s “I found it” campaign with bumper signs that proclaimed, “I lost it. Give it back!”
But there’s one bumper sticker in Hosea 10 we all ought to place prominently, where we can see it daily. That one? “Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love” (v. 12).

Personal Application
It’s not just a saying, it’s a fact. We do reap what we sow.

Quotable
“Some people sow wild oats during the week and then slip into church on Sunday to pray for crop failure.”—Rex Humbard

ISRAEL INDICTED
Hosea 4–6

“The LORD has a charge to bring against you who live in the land” (Hosea 4:1).

The Old Testament mirrors the heart of God. In the charges brought by Hosea, we can see those issues of justice and righteousness which we must deal with in our society today.

Overview
After preliminary charges (4:1–4), Hosea detailed the sins of priests (vv. 5–11) and people (vv. 12–19). He warned individuals (5:1–7) and the nation (vv. 8–15), but there was only superficial repentance (6:1–3). Thus God’s indictment of His people goes on (vv. 4–11).

Understanding the Text
“A charge to bring” Hosea 4:1–3. After the first three autobiographical chapters, this chapter samples Hosea’s preaching. This section, in the form of legal charges against Israel, begins with a general description of Hosea’s society. The itemized charges are: there is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God; instead there is cursing, lying, murder, stealing, adultery, and bloodshed.
Out of curiosity I picked up this morning’s newspaper, and glanced at the headlines found in the section dedicated to our Florida county. Here are some of the stories that were featured:

• 13 mall stores robbed.
• Extra forces planned for Labor Day weekend to prevent drunk-driving accidents.
• Van window shattered by bullet.
• Armed robber arrested.
• Crack sweep nets four more.
• Teen charged with trying to run down boy with car.
• Ex-fire fighter charged with forgery.
• Man charged with DUI-manslaughter in 1988 accident.
• 18-year-old leader of a group of 15 charged with threatening three with bats and tire irons.
• Man 18, girl 14, charged with burglaries.
  I didn’t look closely at the stories. And I didn’t include the more spectacular big-city headlines, like the one reporting the life sentence given a woman who turned her 13-year-old daughter over to a convicted rapist for a one-time sexual assault, to pay for the mother’s crack cocaine.
  In a way, the local stories are more frightening. They suggest that the corruption has spread further in our society than we might suspect. Perhaps we should listen closely to Hosea, for our own times are very much like the times in which Hosea ministered!

“I reject you as My priests; because you have ignored the law of your God” Hosea 4:4–11. The spiritual leaders of Israel were the first group to be indicted. They were to lead His people to godliness; instead they gave “themselves to prostitution, to old wine and new.” They even relished “their wickedness.”
The TV today showed a stooped Jim Bakker being led into a North Carolina courtroom. Yesterday damaging testimony against him was given by a former PTL staff member. Today his lawyer described him as “huddled up in a fetal position, lying on the floor of my office with his head under the sofa, saying that bad people were trying to hurt him.”
The Lord needs to protect me from my first reaction, which is that he deserves whatever he gets. Instead I need to be crushed. Crushed and humbled that a spiritual leader of my own day could have “exchanged the glory” found in faithful service to God for contemptible things like millions of dollars, luxury homes and cars, and sexual trysts with church secretaries.
Jim Bakker’s indictment is an indictment of us all.

“They are unfaithful to their God” Hosea 4:12–19. Hosea continued with an indictment of the whole population of Israel. They chased after idols and permitted their daughters to become cult prostitutes. Their very worship was corrupt. They used religious jargon in their speech (v. 15), but they loved their shameful ways.
It’s fine to shout, “Praise the Lord.” But unless our shouts of praise are matched by an equal enthusiasm for obeying the Lord, our religion too is meaningless.

“Hear this” Hosea 5:1–7. God brought charges against the priests, the people, and Israel’s royal house, and convicted them. “This judgment is against you.”
What did the “guilty” verdict mean? It meant that the divine sentence had been imposed, a sentence that involved the Lord’s withdrawal from His people (v. 7). When troubles came, and Israel looked desperately for God to help her, He would not be found.
There is really no greater penalty. Without the Lord we are helpless before circumstances, enemies, and the consequences of our own foolish choices. If God were not here to turn to, there would be nothing at all we could do.
Let’s consciously reject Israel’s ways and attitudes whenever they crop up in our own lives. Let’s hold tight to the hand God reaches out for us to grasp.

“He is not able to cure you” Hosea 5:8–14. Israel also renounced a national policy of reliance on God. Instead the nation relied on a treaty with Assyria to protect her against Syria. Assyria was only too happy to have this treaty as an excuse to march west. She gobbled up Syria—and then turned on her “ally” Israel.
When any nation rejects God, it is in danger. It takes a national revival—admission of guilt and passionate seeking of God (v. 15)-to make any society safe.

DEVOTIONAL
Love Like a Morning Mist
(Hosea 6)
Some people are hopelessly optimistic.
“I know,” they say. “I know I did wrong, and God has punished me for it. But all I have to do is come back to Him. If I just say, ’I’m sorry,’ everything will be all right. Won’t it?”
That’s the kind of blithe optimism portrayed in verses 1–3. And it makes God shake His head in frustration. These people seem to think that some superficial turning to religion is what God wants. They seem to think that if they come to God and say “please,” the Lord will be so delighted that He’ll fall all over Himself to do them good.
But God wasn’t interested in superficial religion then. And He isn’t impressed by it today. God’s judgments were intended to bring about a fundamental change in attitude, not a return to church! And so God said, “Your love is like a morning mist,” and “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”
What do these two phrases tell us? First, that God isn’t interested in fleeting emotions we may feel toward Him. He wants complete commitment. There’s a vast difference between the “I love you’s” breathlessly exchanged in the backseat of a car, and the “I do’s” shared at a wedding!
Second, love for God is to be shown not in religious ceremonies but in daily life. Flowers are nice. But real love is better shown by helping with the dishes, changing dirty diapers, and “being there” when support and encouragement are needed. God isn’t satisfied with a bouquet tossed His way on Sunday. He wants us to show our love for Him daily by doing His will. And so God seems to shake His head, and in frustration wonder aloud, “What can I do with you, Ephraim?” Despite the testimony of God’s Law and the words of His prophets, Israel’s concept of relationship with the Lord still remained shallow. And today we also tend to have a shallow concept of God.
God has no use for a “love” that is as fleeting and insubstantial as a morning mist.

Personal Application
Love God always, and you will always obey.

Quotable
“You wish to hear from me why, and how God is to be loved? My answer is: the reason for loving God is God Himself, and the measure in which we should love Him is to love Him without measure.”—Bernard of Clairvaux

Hosea

INTRODUCTION
Hosea began his ministry near the end of the reign of Jeroboam II of Israel (793-753 B.C.). At that time Israel prospered economically, but was marked by injustice and spiritual decline. Hosea’s message constitutes God’s final warning to apostate Israel, and the prophet lived to see his predictions of judgment fulfilled when the kingdom fell to Assyria in 722 B.C.
The unique feature of Hosea is that prophet’s relationship with his unfaithful wife. Gomer abandoned her husband to pursue adultery, even as Israel had broken her covenant with the Lord. But like God, Hosea had a genuine love for his bride. In the end he found her abandoned, rescued her, and took her back. Today as throughout Old Testament times, the Book of Hosea testifies to the unshakable love of God for His own.

AN ADULTEROUS PEOPLE
Hosea 1–3

“Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness, because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the Lord” (Hosea 1:2).

Christians today are to mimic at least one aspect of Hosea’s life. We are to model the way we live with others on the way that God relates to us.

Background
From its inception by Jeroboam I in 731B.C, the Northern Kingdom of Israel had practiced false religion. That ruler, sure reunion with Judah would follow if his people went regularly to Jerusalem to worship, as God’s Law required, set up a counterfeit religious system in his own land. He established two national worship centers, at Bethel and Dan, and set up golden calves at both places, upon which Yahweh was supposed to ride. He ordained a non-Aaronic priesthood and reorganized the religious calendar.
Later Israel proved particularly vulnerable to a virulent form of Baal worship, actively promoted by King Ahab and his wife Jezebel. Even though this had been stamped out during the time of Elijah, Yahweh worship in Israel continued to be corrupt. Not only was the counterfeit system of Jeroboam I maintained, but elements of Baalism, including orgiastic rites and ritual prostitution, were practiced in the name of God. Israel had broken the covenant that bound her to the Lord; an act that was analogous to a woman breaking the marriage covenant.
It is this analogy that is developed in the Book of Hosea. In order to demonstrate to Israel the dynamics of her rejection of the Lord, God permitted the Prophet Hosea to marry a wife who became unfaithful. Hosea’s visible suffering at the betrayal of a wife he sincerely loved enfleshed for God’s people the Lord’s own suffering at their betrayal of Him! But then, wonder of wonders, Hosea searched for and found his prostitute wife, purchased her out of the slavery into which she had fallen, and brought her home!
How Hosea’s neighbors must have watched in awe. She deserved abandonment, yet an unquenchable love moved Hosea to restore her. Just as God’s unquenchable love will move the Lord, after letting Israel taste the consequences of her spiritual adultery, to rescue Israel and also bring her home.
What a powerful reminder to us, first of all of the genuine character of God’s love. But next, of the fact that Hosea was called by God to act out on earth the realities of heaven. Just so, you and I are to respond to others not as they deserve, but as God in grace has responded to us.
Like Hosea, each of us who knows Jesus is to be a living example of His unending love.

Overview
God commanded Hosea to marry a woman who would be unfaithful to him (1:1–11), even as Israel had been unfaithful to God (2:1–23). Showing genuine love for his wife, Hosea found her and brought her back, even as God will one day restore exiled Israel (3:1–5).

Understanding the Text
“During the reign of Jeroboam” Hosea 1:1. With Assyria and Syria temporarily weak, the 40-year reign of Jeroboam was marked by military and economic resurgence in Israel. The king extended Israel’s northern and eastern borders to occupy most of the territory held in David’s day. Wealth flowed into Israel from trade, and local agriculture flourished. Everything seemed to be going so well!
Yet spiritually Israel’s worship was corrupt, sprinkled with pagan practices. Society itself was corrupt, as the moral boundary stones too had been moved. Later Hosea cried, “There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land. There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds” (4:2).
It is a tragic error to mistake GNP as a true measure of a nation’s well-being. This happened during the reign of Jeroboam II when Hosea began to minister. And the prosperous, complacent people of Israel were deaf to Hosea’s warning.
Yet there’s a subtle message in this verse, which locates Hosea’s ministry in the time of Jeroboam of Israel, but also the time of Ahaz and Hezekiah of Judah. That message? During Hezekiah’s reign, some 30 years after Hosea began to preach, Assyria invaded and totally crushed the nation of Israel. The prophet lived to see his grim words of warning fulfilled.
In many ways America stands at the same crossroad. Too many of our society’s moral boundary stones have been moved. There is too much violence, too much murder, too much stealing and adultery. And our strength can no more be measured in GNP and weapons systems than ancient Israel’s. Spiritual and moral unfaithfulness remain precursors of certain national disaster.

“Go take to yourself an adulterous wife” Hosea 1:2–3. Scholars debate whether Gomer was perhaps a cult prostitute when Hosea married her. It seems unlikely, primarily because his marriage is intended by God to mimic the Lord’s own experience with Israel. It seems almost certain that Gomer was chaste when they married, even as Israel was initially faithful to the Lord. Yet as time passed, she abandoned her husband to pursue other lovers.
I can’t explain it. Two of my close friends, both fine Christian leaders, have been abandoned by their wives. In each case the wife has gone on afterward to a series of marriages or affairs, even as Gomer did in leaving Hosea. Why would a woman leave a husband who loved her, who provided for her, with whom she’d had children?
But then, why would anyone turn his or her back on relationship with God? Why abandon a God who loves us, who provides for us, who has sacrificed His own Son for us?
Perhaps the explanation has to be sought in the grip sin has on the human heart. We can’t explain it. But each of us has to remain aware that deep within is the capacity to wander. Within each of us there lies a desire to go astray. When we think of Gomer—or when I think of my friends and their ex-wives—we need to acknowledge our own vulnerability.
And then we need to ask the Lord to help us stay ever so close to Him.

“Call him Jezreel” Hosea 1:4–9. The birth of each of Gomer’s three children while she was with Hosea became an occasion for prophecy. With each birth, and through the names given each child, Hosea delivered a new message to his contemporaries.
“Jezreel” was the city where Jehu had slaughtered the family of King Ahab, and symbolized a similar destruction about to come on all Israel. Lo-Ruhamah means “not loved,” or “not an object of compassion.” God would soon cease to show favor to His people. Lo-Ammi means “not My people.” The nation which had rejected God would soon be rejected itself. God would withdraw, not Himself, but His protection.
Each name confronts an unheeding Israel with the fact that sin has consequences. God would no longer intervene to protect His people from the natural consequences of their acts.
Today some suggest that AIDS is a punishment from God on those who practice homosexuality. Others express shock: God couldn’t be so mean! Perhaps. But if AIDS is not a punishment, it surely is a consequence. Sin always has consequences. Some are just more easily identified than others. Jezreel is always just around the corner for those who practice sin. And “not loved” and “not My people” are the relational consequences for those who refuse to stay close to God but violate His precepts.

“Say of your brothers, ‘My people’ ” Hosea 1:10–2:1. With the message of abandonment the Old Testament always includes a promise of restoration. Abandonment in the Old Testament is not rejection. It is much like a farmer, who leaves his fields to themselves for a time, letting the weeds that spring up when a field is untended flourish. In most Old Testament passages the word translated “abandon” actually means “withdraw.”
If we persist in sinning, God may step back and permit us to experience the natural consequences of our wrong choices. But as Hosea said to Israel, God will surely step in again. He will purge His garden of corrupting weeds, and once again affirm “My people” and “My love.”

“I will expose her lewdness” Hosea 2:2–13. In vivid poetic images Hosea now exposed the spiritual unfaithfulness of Israel, using the image of an adulterous wife. She is totally self-centered. She pursues lovers (other gods), but when they fail her she simply goes back to her husband, “for then I was better off than now” (v. 7). There is no sense of sin, no shame, no repentance. She simply comes back, as if she were doing her husband a favor by returning briefly before taking off again!
God announced through Hosea that He would force His wife Israel to face reality and to deal with her sins. Every material blessing would be taken away, and she would be stripped of prosperity.
Prosperity still insulates many people from spiritual realities. And it may be a blessing if all our “good things” are taken away.

“I will give her back her vineyards” Hosea 2:14–23. Again we see the extent of God’s commitment to His own. Despite Israel’s unfaithfulness, the Lord will one day restore His people. “I will betroth you to Me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the LORD” (vv. 19–20).
If you’ve ever felt too guilty or ashamed to approach God, remember this verse. No matter what you have done in the past, God loves you. His goal is to make you holy, to make you His own. And God will succeed with you, and with His beloved of the Old Testament, Israel.

DEVOTIONAL
As the Lord Loves
(Hosea 3)
Divorce is one of the most traumatic experiences a person can go through. Although I don’t believe the statistics that supposedly indicate some 70 percent of the students in our local school system live with a single or remarried parent, I know that far too many adults and children know that terrible pain.
I’m sure that some divorces are not only justified, but necessary. Yet all too many are not necessary at all. Even when one spouse has an affair, the marriage doesn’t have to end in divorce.
The pain of betrayal is intense. The hurt, the shame, the anger, all well up. Sometimes it all seems too much to bear—to keep on seeing “him” (or “her”) every day. To imagine the spouse with the lover. For some, this is just too much to take.
Still, before a person files for divorce, it’s important to consider Hosea.And to remember what God told him. “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is . . . an adulteress.” And then the Lord added, “Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites.”
What a challenge! In our most intimate relationships, those relationships which have the capacity to cause us the deepest pain, we are to love as the Lord loves.
To love through the hurts. To love through the misunderstandings. To love through thoughtlessness, selfishness, and unconcern. Sometimes to love even through betrayal!
But however hard it may be, we Christians are called to love as the Lord loves.
I know that if we took this principle to heart, and practiced it in our homes, the divorce rate for Christians would drop. And despite the pain of such loving, the rewards would be great.

Personal Application
God’s love won you. When you love as God loves, you win others.

Quotable
“If you truly want to help the soul of your neighbor, you should approach God first with all your heart. Ask Him simply to fill you with love, the greatest of all virtues; with it you can accomplish what you desire.”—Vincent Ferrer

Philemon

INTRODUCTION
This brief, intensely personal letter was written to Philemon, a wealthy Christian slave-owner in Asia Minor’s Lycus Valley. In it Paul appealed to Philemon to welcome back Onesimus, a runaway slave who had been converted under Paul’s ministry. The letter is a dramatic example of how the Gospel unites people of every social class in Christ.

DEAR BROTHER SLAVE
Philemon

“No longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother” (Phile. 16).

Hearts must change before institutions can.

Background
Slavery. A high percentage of the inhabitants of the Roman Empire were slaves. Slaves were viewed as property, and had few personal rights in the Roman world. Several of the New Testament epistles encourage Christian slaves to serve their masters wholeheartedly, as if serving Christ (Eph. 6:5–9; Col. 3:22–25; 1 Peter 2:13–21). These same letters urge masters to treat their slaves well.
There was a movement in the Roman Empire in the first century that saw many masters free their slaves. Other slaves purchased their own freedom with income they earned on the side. It is striking that the Christian community did not become involved in this social issue, even though slavery seems to violate the biblical view of the value of every person. Paul even told Christian slaves not to be troubled by their state, but to accept freedom if the opportunity came (1 Cor. 7:21–23).
The underlying reason seems to be that the early church emphasized the opportunity that any social role gave an individual to serve others. Service, not social status, was given priority. A slave could minister in his servitude; a slave owner could minister by caring for his slaves; a rich man could serve by generously sharing his wealth; a poor man could serve by using his gifts to contribute to the body of believers. What really counted was not the position a person filled in society, but how he served God and others in that role.

Overview
Paul greeted and expressed thanks for Philemon (vv. 1–7), and appealed to him to welcome back his runaway slave Onesimus as a brother (vv. 8–22). He closed with greetings (vv. 23–25).

Understanding the Text
“A prisoner of Christ Jesus” Phile. 1:1. Most believe Paul wrote this letter while in prison in Rome, aboutA.D 60–61. If so, the letter is an illustration of something Paul wrote at the same time to the church in Philippi: “What has happened to me has really served to advance the Gospel” (Phil. 1:12). Even in prison Paul found opportunities to share Christ—and reached at least one person, Onesimus, he would never otherwise have met.
We need to have a similar perspective on our downs, as well as our ups. God remains in charge even when we suffer reverses. Indeed, our reverses might be more important than our successes in fulfilling God’s plan for our lives!

“The church that meets in your home” Phile. 1:2. The “home” was that of Philemon, and the fact that it was large enough for him to host a church, as well as the fact that he owned slaves, suggests that he was relatively wealthy.
How fascinating this is. A zealous, Pharisaic Jew wrote a warm personal letter to a wealthy Asiatic Gentile, appealing to him to welcome back a runaway slave as a brother! No greater social gaps can be imagined than between these three groups in the first century. And yet these people had become one in a common commitment to Jesus, and in the fellowship of His church.
How good it is to become blind to social distinctions, and to see acutely the bond that makes us one with others who know and love our Lord.

“You, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints” Phile. 1:4–7. We can appreciate Philemon as a genuine Christian. Sometimes folks like to invite the traveling evangelist or missionary home—but won’t have anything to do with ordinary folks. This is not the impression we receive of Philemon. According to Paul, he was a man marked by love, who expressed love by welcoming and refreshing “the hearts of” all the saints.
Even so Paul prayed that Philemon would “have a full understanding of every good thing.” Paul was about to stretch Philemon’s capacity to love by asking him to welcome back his runaway slave.
The quality of our love and understanding will be shown when we too are challenged to love someone we might have reason to despise! It’s going the extra mile that shows the great depth of Christian love—and reveals a mature understanding of what is good.

“I appeal to you on the basis of love” Phile. 1:8. Influence, not power, is the secret of Christian leadership. What is the difference? Power coerces others, forcing them to do what we wish whether they want to or not. Influence respects the rights of others to choose, and makes it clear that others have the freedom to make up their own minds.
Paul did marshal a variety of strong arguments, that made very clear what he thought Philemon should do. He exerted a kind of pressure that only a close friend, whose love is well known, would be comfortable in exerting. In fact Paul was confident that Philemon would respond as a Christian should. How wonderful when we can have confidence that our loved ones will do what is right.

“Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful” Phile. 1:11. There is a play on words here in the Greek, for the name Onesimus means “useful.” As a runaway slave, Onesimus “stole” from his master—even though he may have taken nothing away but himself.
In the first century an ordinary slave cost about 500 denarii, equivalent to some 500 days pay for a common laborer. Slaves with special skills might cost hundreds of times as much. By running away, Onesimus was not only “useless” but deprived his master of his rightful capital.
It is understandable, then, why runaway slaves were not very popular in the Roman Empire. When caught they were often put to hard labor in mines, or other settings where they quickly died.
Paul reassured Philemon that Onesimus would now be an asset to him. In doing so he implicitly asked Philemon not to punish the runaway severely.

“Better than a slave, as a dear brother” Phile. 1:16. Paul did not ask Philemon to free the slave Onesimus. Indeed, he implied that the once-useless slave would now be an asset. What he asked was that Philemon now see and treat Onesimus as a “dear brother.”
Ultimately this transformation of perspective undercut the institution of slavery itself. Slavery can only be maintained when some people are viewed as property rather than human beings. The Christian Gospel has not only lifted up repressed classes by acknowledging their human rights, but often has led to the recognition of outcasts as brothers and sisters to be loved.

“I will pay it back” Phile. 1:17–21. Paul here used the language of business. His “personal note” constitutes an IOU. If Philemon had lost money on Onesimus, Paul was willing to repay it personally if Philemon should so demand.
Martin Luther saw this as a picture of what Christ has done for us. Luther wrote, “Here we see how Paul lays himself out for poor Onesimus, and with all his means pleads his cause with his master, and so sets himself as if he were Onesimus, and had himself done wrong to Philemon. Even as Christ did for us with God the Father, so does Paul for Onesimus with Philemon. We are all his Onesimi, to my thinking.”

DEVOTIONAL
The Eye of the Beholder
(Phile. 8–21)
We have a new game. You have folks look at some weird inkblots, write their interpretations, and then you guess who wrote which interpretation.
Everyone knows that inkblot interpretations depend more on what a person thinks than on what he sees. The average person might see a butterfly—and a disturbed person a giant with outstretched arms, about to grab and crush him. What a person sees says more about him than about the inkblot.
The Letter to Philemon reminds us that how we see others is also “in the eye of the beholder.” Paul asked Philemon to stop seeing Onesimus as a “runaway slave,” and to begin seeing him as a “dear brother.”
The Gospel makes the same request of each of us. We’re to stop seeing others as “that dumb blond,” or “that sloppy dresser,” or “that dreamboat,” or “that Very Important Person,” and start seeing them in totally different ways. Non-Christians we’re to see as individuals of infinite worth and value, for whom Christ died. And Christians we’re to see as “dear brothers,” and to love them as members of our family.
Perhaps this is the great contribution to modern believers of Paul’s Letter to Philemon. It asks us pointedly, “What is in your eye when you look at others?”

Personal Application
See others as God sees them, and you will be able to love them.

Quotable
“Man becomes a holy thing, a neighbor, only if we realize that he is the property of God and that Jesus Christ died for him.”—Helmut Thielecke

THE ARMOR OF GOD
Ephesians 6

“Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes” (Eph. 6:10–11).

Use every resource God has provided to wage spiritual warfare.

Overview
Paul examines mutual responsibilities of children and parents (6:1–4), and of slaves and masters (vv. 5–9). Paul reviewed the teaching of this letter, picturing the resources God has provided as a soldier’s armor (vv. 10–20), and closes with brief greetings (vv. 21–24).

Understanding the Text
“Honor your father and mother” Eph. 6:1–3. Paul further developed the thought of mutual submission introduced in 5:21, and applied to husband/wife relationships in verses 22–33. A child’s submission is expressed by obedience to his or her parents.
We might well place a comma in the saying, “Which is the first commandment, with a promise.” Psychologically this is the first commandment that a person experiences: We learn to obey our parents long before we learn about stealing, or murder, or adultery. If we learn to obey our parents as they try to bring us up in the Lord, then the rest will be so much easier. If we are rebellious all the others will be more difficult, even as it will be more difficult to submit to God.
No wonder this commandment has a promise attached. The child who learns to respond to parental guidance will avoid those destructive and harmful behaviors that tend to shorten life.
“That it may go well with you” reminds us again. God gives us His commandments for our benefit. As we live in harmony with what God says is right, we truly are blessed.

“Fathers, do not exasperate your children” Eph. 6:4. One English version has it, “Don’t overcontrol your children.” The thought is expressed in a number of enlightening synonyms: aggravate, provoke, hassle, rile. As children submit to parents by obeying, so parents must submit to children by being sensitive, by listening to their point of view, by being fair.
The important thing to remember in any relationship is that the person with the greatest social power—here, Mom and Dad—have the greatest responsibility to use that power lovingly and wisely.

“Slaves, obey your earthly masters” Eph. 6:5–8. In the Roman Empire slaves were property with no right to direct their own lives. As the Gospel spread, many slaves became Christians. Several of the epistles give guidance to slaves, in each case counseling submission to their masters.
Paul went beyond the other passages here, for he emphasized an inner attitude with which the slaves’ service is to be rendered. For slaves “submission” was not grudging compliance, but wholehearted commitment to doing the master’s will.
Today I suppose Paul’s words would be directed to employee/employer relationships. Surely the advice would be the same. We are to do our work honestly, “with sincerity of heart” at all times. We may not have a supervisor’s eye on us. But God’s eye is. Ultimately the reward for an honest day’s work isn’t to be found in our paycheck, but in God’s “well done.”

“Masters, treat your slaves in the same way” Eph. 6:9. Again “submission” is reciprocal for Christians. The employee submits by giving an honest day’s work. The employer submits by treating employees fairly, with an honest concern for their well-being.
Reciprocal submission is one of the most important principles of Christian living. In every relationship we have, whether personal or professional, you and I are to consider the welfare of others, and act accordingly.

“Take your stand against the devil’s schemes” Eph. 6:10–11. Ephesians is a book about the church. In it Paul presented Christ’s church as a body, a family, and a holy temple. Each of these images calls for Christians to live together in love and unity. It is this dominant theme of the book that helps us understand the nature of the devil’s schemes, and the armor God has provided us to use in withstanding them. Simply, the devil’s schemes in Ephesians are his strategies for disrupting the unity of the church. And the armor of God is God’s resource for maintaining unity.
Living together in love as the living church of Jesus Christ isn’t optional. It’s essential!

The heavily armed Roman legionnaire stands in full armor, equipped for battle. Paul summed up his teaching in Ephesians by linking major themes to different parts of the infantryman’s equipment.

“The belt of truth buckled around your waist” Eph. 6:14. Paul had written, “Each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body” (4:25). Openness and honesty will ultimately create a climate of trust and unity. Attempts to hide our motives, or deceive others, will create a climate of misunderstanding that makes unity impossible.
That “little white lie” that seems so innocent is one of the devil’s messengers intended to disrupt fellowship in Christ’s church.

“The breastplate of righteousness” Eph. 6:14. Paul had written, “Among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people” (5:3). Personal holiness and purity are essential to unity, and to corporate holiness in Christ’s church.

“Your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the Gospel of peace” Eph. 6:15. Paul had frequently stressed the fact that the Gospel brings peace, not only reconciling us to God but also to one another (cf. 2:11–22). In Ephesians, “peace” is that quality of full acceptance which maintains the bond of unity created by the Spirit, enabling the church to move, responsively, to the marching orders of Christ our Head. Without peace, the work of Christ on earth is crippled.

“Take up the shield of faith” Eph. 6:16. Paul has shown us a God who is “able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us” (3:20). If we keep our eyes on this God, all Satan’s fiery darts of doubt will be extinguished.

“Take the helmet of salvation” Eph. 6:17. Paul described who we were in Ephesians 2. And there too he affirmed who we are: persons who are alive in Christ, who are God’s workmanship. Together we Christians need to keep this identity foremost in our thoughts.
Let’s not see others in the church in the light of what they were, or even what they are now. Let’s see them in all their potential, in what we are together becoming. If this perception of our fellow Christians shapes our attitude toward them, one of Satan’s most effective schemes—to make us critical, hostile, or rejecting—will be defeated indeed.

“The sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God” Eph. 6:17. This is the only piece of armor that Paul explained. Why? Because the themes represented by the other parts of the soldier’s equipment were explored in Ephesians, but Paul had not earlier touched on the Word of God.
The other parts of the armor are for our defense against the devil’s disruptive schemes. This, the Word of God, enables us to take the offensive. When we teach and live God’s Word, Satan will increasingly be revealed to be a defeated foe.

“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions” Eph. 6:18–20. God has provided us with the resources we need to fight our spiritual battles. But we cannot use them without prayer. For these are spiritual resources, and we must rely on God as we use them.

DEVOTIONAL
Workplace Imitation
(Eph. 6:1–9)
Paul’s challenging call, “Be imitators of God” (Eph. 5:1), has long captured the fancy of Christians. From Thomas a Kempis’ The Imitation of Christ to Sheldon’s In His Steps, believers have tried to imagine what it would be like to truly imitate God in daily life.
What many miss is that Paul went on in Ephesians to describe the life of imitation as a life of mutual submission in every relationship. Husbands love their wives and put their needs first, and wives gladly respond to husbands. Children obey parents, and parents are sensitive to their children’s feelings and needs. Slaves serve their masters wholeheartedly, and masters consider the needs of their slaves.
It’s perhaps a little pedestrian, but the fact is that the imitation of Christ is perhaps most clearly seen where an employee arrives on time, works hard during the day, and does his best to contribute to the profitability of his boss’ business. And where an employer pays a fair wage, makes sure his employees have medical insurance, makes sure working conditions are safe, and is satisfied with a reasonable profit, even though he could make more by taking advantage of his employees.
But then again, maybe the mundane and commonplace expressions of Christian faith are the most important. After all, we’re to imitate God, and God in Christ entered the world as a human being. He lived with ordinary people, did ordinary work, and only during the last tenth of His 30-year life on earth taught or performed miracles.
You and I may not be able to imitate Christ in the last, spectacular 10 percent of His life on earth. But we surely can imitate Him in the 90 percent He lived as an ordinary man. And, in the ordinary things of our life—in the home, in the workplace—we can display in our submission to others something of the hidden glory of our God.

Personal Application
Imitate God tomorrow. Do an honest day’s work!

Quotable
“He became what we are that He might make us what He is.”—Athanasius of Alexandria