Gary Gleans

Joel, like all the prophets laments over the sin and the resulting destruction that plagued the nation of Israel.  The destruction of the land and the pain caused by sin was astonishing and the people were either dead or in great torment.  People often consider God to be distant and unconcerned over the sins of His people.  Men often live as if there is no consequence for sin.  God has repeatedly demonstrated throughout history that this not the case; but sinful men prefer to ignore the evidence of truth in favor of continuing to live in the comfort of their sin.  The day of the Lord is a day of reckoning when men will be called to account for their sin and all will know that sin has great consequences before the Lord. THE CRIES OF DEVASTATION: The land of Israel has been devastated by the repeated attack of what are called locust.  Several different species of locust are mentioned that sequentially devour everything in the land.  If that were not bad enough, the parched land is a

Hosea finishes His book with a message of hope.  He has confronted the people in their sin and idolatry.  He has warned the people of the consequences they will face because of their rebellion.  Now he wants to encourage the people to turn to the Lord so they will be able to experience His grace and forgiveness.  This is a message that all of mankind continually needs to hear.  God longs for us to repent of our sin, turn to Him so He can forgive our sin and receive our worship so that we might experience the joy of living in the way He created us to live.  Israel and most of mankind has been living in rebellion against the Lord.  This brings great sadness, fear, trauma and pain to all who live in this way.  God wants things to be much different than this. WHAT GOD WANTS TO HEAR: God longs for His people to return to Him.  All who have sinned and rebelled against Him have been stumbling in their efforts to walk in this life.  This breaks the heart of God and inflicts great hardship

Israel was one of the most feared nations on the face of the earth.  God gave the nation strength and power to overcome her enemies and He provided for the nation in great ways.  Unfortunately Israel was not grateful for this provision and lived in constant rebellion against the Lord.  Israel became proud of the position she had obtained and instead of living in the fear of Lord began to worship all kind of idols.  This led to her downfall and eventual captivity.  The steps away from God are usually very subtle and gradual.  We must pay close attention to our hearts because they can very easily follow the same path of idolatry towards destruction that the children of Israel followed. ISRAEL WAS DELUDED AND DISOBEDIENT: The nation of Israel started its path towards idolatry when it decided to erect a place of worship in Samaria instead of going to offer sacrifices in Jerusalem at the temple as they had been instructed to do.  It first glance it seems that they wanted to facilitate

Heritage is an important part of our lives.  Some of us have the privilege of having a very godly heritage in our family.  Others have very poor examples in their heritage.  The children of Israel had a very rich heritage from which they should have learned and to which they should have tried to attain.  Hosea compares the faithlessness of Israel with the faithfulness of Jacob and calls the people to an account based on their lack of willingness to live up to their heritage.  All of us who are believes in Christ have been given a very rich heritage from God our Father who has forgiven our sins and sent the Holy Spirit to indwell us.  We truly do have a very rich heritage in Christ and would do well to live accordingly.  ISRAEL FAILED TO VALUE GOD’S FAVOR: God had given the nation of Israel great favor but they had refused to be faithful to Him.  Judah has been more faithful but has still not lived up to the blessing it had received.  Israel has reached out to Egypt and Assyria ins

Unconditional love is a concept that is very hard for us to grasp because it goes against our human and fallen nature.  However, it is at the very essence of God’s nature.  He loves, not because we are lovable or because we have something to offer Him.  He loves us without cause and without selfish motives.  In fact He loves us when we have given Him every reason not to love us.  This is the love He expresses to us and He demonstrated to the nation of Israel.  God has revealed His anger over Israel’s rebellion but that is not the end of the story.  Even though He disciplined Israel in His anger and wrath He continues to love her and promises to deliver her from captivity.  Discipline is a demonstration of true love.  We may not always understand it or even feel it but that does not mean it is not true. GOD DEMONSTRATED HIS LOVE THROUGH LIBERATION: When the nation of Israel was first formed she was enslaved in Egypt.  God was motivated by His immeasurable love to set her free with

The children of Israel have been avid in their practice of idolatry and all kinds of evil.  They have built altars to false gods on their land and built temples of unrighteousness in their hearts.  God is going to put an end to both of them.  When people begin to worship idols they will always follow with works of immorality.  The two are always linked together.  Sinful works are the outflow of satanic worship.  All worship not directed exclusively to God is satanic in nature.  All works not submissive to God’s Word is satanic in origin.  God does not tolerate wrong worship or wrong works.  He will break them both. BROKEN ALTARS OF WRONG WORSHIP: The nation of Israel constructed all kinds of altars to all kinds of gods.  They were guilty of following the gods of Egypt from whom they had been delivered.  They were guilty of following the gods of the nations that were surrounding them over whom they had been victorious.  Each of these false gods had some sort of altar and some sort

We lose a lot more than we could imagine when we turn from the Lord and choose to live in sin.  Israel had been blessed as the chosen nation of God.  They had been given super-natural deliverance from their enemies and had been given a land where they could worship the Lord freely, grow a nation under God’s blessing and protection and be a lighthouse for all the surrounding nations to see the results of a nation dedicated to serving the Lord.  Their strength and prosperity would have been something unparalleled in the history of mankind.  Unfortunately, all of this blessing is lost because of sin.  There is so much that God wants to do in our lives but because of our sin and rebellion, we limit our effectiveness for the kingdom and His willingness to bless us.  The blessings of obedience always outweigh the pleasures of sinfulness. CARNALITY WILL LEAD TO CAPTIVITY: God had called the nation of Israel to be a spiritual nation; a nation that was dedicated to pleasing God and trustin

Judgment has been promised to the nation because of their refusal to submit to the Lord and His Law.  They have been rebellious and are unwilling to honor the Lord as He has called them to do.  In their times of trouble they have forgotten to seek the Lord and preferred to trust in their own might and the godless nations that surround them.  God is now going to call them to account and bring them down to nothing.  God calls all of us to a life of submission to Him and trust in Him.  When we refuse to live in that way, there is always a great price to pay. ISRAEL WILL BE MADE TO SUFFER FOR THEIR INSUBORDINATION: God is ready to call the people to war.  His judgment is circling like a vulture over the nation and it is about to come in and gather the spoils.  This judgment is due to their transgression against God and refusal to obey the covenant that God had made with the nation.  They wasted God’s blessings and set up their own kings and leaders apart from God’s will.  They have us

Israel is facing the end of its time of prosperity and is finally beginning to see that they are not as powerful as they thought they were.  Threats of war and the lack of resources begin to weigh heavily on the people as they begin to feel the weight of God’s wrath coming down on them.  In times of desperation people respond in a wide variety of ways.  Unfortunately Israel did not respond correctly.  Instead of recognizing God’s judgment and repenting of their sins they continued in their rebellion and thought they could set themselves free through their own work and wit. LOOKING TO HIDE IN ALL THE WRONG SPACES:  God is willing to forgive Israel.  He stands ready to restore her and heal her of all the consequences of her rebellion.  However, the people are not willing to turn from their sin and continue to rebel against God.  They think that they can somehow hide from the Lord and escape from His wrath.  But God sees all that they do and remembers every deed.  What makes things w

Hosea continues to call out for the nations of Israel and Judah to turn to the Lord and leave their idols behind.  There is a tone of desperation in his words as he tries to convince the people to come back to the Lord before He brings His judgment down upon them.  It is a hard thing to watch your people and even members of your family walk down the path of disobedience.  We cannot chose for them but we certainly can do what Hosea did and warn them of the consequence of their actions.  God invites His people to return to Him, but He will not wait forever. A PLEA FOR REPENTANCE: Hose peas for the nations of Israel and Judah to repent of their sinful and idolatrous ways.  He points to God’s forgiving nature and His longing to heal those who He has disciplined.  God’ judgment is short lived in comparison with His loving kindness.  God is willing and able to restore those who repent in His sight.  He gives life to the dead.  He reveals Himself to all who genuinely seek Him.  Knowing G

Hosea continues his indictment of both the northern and southern tribes of Israel and Judah.  They have been immoral in their actions and idolatrous in their worship.  God will not just stand by and allow his people to rebel in such a way.  He has warned them but they have been deafened and blinded by their own prosperity.  They refuse to hear God’s words of warning and continue to insist on being disobedient.  God’s judgment is not far off and Hosea wants to make sure the people understand this reality.  The same is true of the world today.  God has been forgotten and ignored by such a large portion of our society.  This will not go on forever.  God will judge this world and we must be ready for this time of judgment. ISRAEL HAS BEEN UNFAITHFUL TO THE LORD: God had blessed the nation of Israel with prosperity that was unparalleled in their history.  Despite their many blessings, they have been continually unfaithful to the Lord and rebellious against His Word.  They have been fil

Hosea was a prophet whose ministry was primarily to the ten northern tribes of Israel.  Though he also had words of warning for the two southern trips of Judah; the majority of his work was in the north.  The first three chapters described the illustration of God using Hosea’s own marriage to depict God’s grace and forgiveness in spite of Israel’s constant idolatry.  With this section Hosea begins to charge Israel with unfaithfulness much like a lawyer would condemn the actions of a criminal.  God wants all of His children to love and worship Him.  When they reject Him and prefer to worship false gods of their own making; He will send messages of warning followed by harsh judgment in hopes that His people will return to Him. THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL ARE STUMBLING IN IGNORANCE: Hosea starts by describing the rampant disobedience of the general population of Israel.  God is angry with the people because they are unfaithful, have no love for God and are basically ignorant of God.  They b

God instructs Hosea to go love his wife who has gone back into harlotry.  It must have been hard for him to marry her in the first place, but when she was unfaithful it must have been even harder to take her back and restore her as his wife.  This is all an illustration of God’s love for His people.  God wants us to learn to love the way that He loves.  Too often our love is conditional and self-seeking instead of sacrificial.  GOD’S LOVE IS STEADFAST: God’s love is unchanging and strong.  He does not love based upon our loveliness.  Rather, He loves based on His character.  Gomer, Hosea’s wife had been taken out of prostitution in order to become a wife and mother.  This was representative of Israel being freed from slavery and the idolatry of Egypt.  However, Gomer returned as an adulteress to her former life just as Israel turned from worshiping the Lord who set them free to the worship of idols.  In spite of this God’s love remains steadfast and He restores Israel to Himself j

Adultery and idolatry are constantly compared throughout the Scriptures.  God had called the nation of Israel to be His people, His children and His spouse.  They were to be a nation that was separated for the purpose of worshiping Him.  They were supposed to set an example of holiness so that God’s blessings would flow freely through the nation of Israel and be an example to all the other nations.  God’s desire was to bless Israel as His family so that all the other nations could be blessed through this nation.  Instead, Israel was unfaithful to the Lord and ran after all the gods of the nations surrounding them.  Worship is one of the greatest blessings God has given to us and it is also our primary responsibility as believers in Him.  Unfortunately, the fall of man has introduced a polluted form of worship in our lives that is called idolatry.  We must constantly guard our hearts from this besetting sin. ISRAEL’S CONDEMNATION: Israel’s unfaithfulness and idolatry is described a

Hosea is a relatively unknown prophet who speaks to the nation of Israel.  We know little about him outside of this book, but he was clearly used of God to warn the nation of Israel of the coming judgment in a very graphic way.  When Hosea writes this book Israel is at the height of her power and influence in the region.  Israel was a powerful and prosperous nation that had turned from God.  The message of Hosea must have seemed completely irrelevant to the people who were reveling in their success by delving deeper and deeper into sin and idolatry.  One generation later Israel was taken captive and left in desolation.  The message of God’s coming judgment may seem irrelevant in today’s culture too but that does not make it any less true.  Prosperous times can be perilous times because they can turn us away from God. A HOPELESS FAMILY: Hosea is called by God to go take a wife from prostitution.  So Hosea goes and takes Gomer for a wife in order to symbolize the idolatry of Israel

The book of Daniel ends with the conclusion of the vision that had started in chapter ten.  Chapter eleven gave specifics of what was going to happen with the nation of Israel during the time of Greek domination and then jumped ahead a couple of thousand years to begin the description of the end of times where Israel would be invaded and dominated by the Anti-Christ.  This chapter continues on that theme giving more specific details that seem to align with that which would be revealed about 650 years later to the Apostle John in the book of Revelation. A TIME OF RETRIBUTION AND RESURRECTION: Daniel’s vision concludes with a time of great retribution being poured out on the children of Israel and the entire world.  This time of judgment will be more severe and far reaching than any of the judgments Israel has seen to this point in her history.  This is like the final pains of child birth right before the amazing joy of receiving a new son or daughter.  There will be great pain and

Daniel’s vision from chapter ten continues with a very full and complete description of the coming events of the world.  These events have been seen before in the form of visions and illustrations of metals and beasts.  However, this time there are no allegories there is simply a description of what will happen in the future.  Special attention is given to the coming reign of the Greeks.  There are many more details given as to how all of these things would play out in history.  The accuracy of these prophecies is astounding.  However, the interpretation is not without difficulty.  The final section of the chapter seems to be talking about events that have not yet taken place, but there does not seem to be an indication of a huge gap in the action within the text.  This is certainly a cause for caution in being dogmatic about the interpretation of the last portion of the chapter.  But no matter how one interprets the end of this chapter, the revelation of God to Daniel is a clear indi

Daniel has another vision about the final days involving the nation of Israel.  This is simply a preparatory chapter for this, the final revelation to Daniel.  We simply have a description of Daniel’s state when He began to receive the vision as well as the background of what was going on in the spiritual realm in order for Daniel to have this vision.  God is clearly at work in the nation as well as in Daniel’s life.  There is a relationship with God and a reverence for the Lord that is often missing in our worship today.  Daniel clearly lives with the fear of the Lord in his heart and mind.  This type of fear is seldom seen in our worship today. A TROUBLED SOUL: Daniel spends three weeks in mourning before the Lord.  He is not fasting completely, but it is clear that he is eating and drinking only the essentials and pouring out his heart to the Lord.  He seems to understand that there is more vital information the Lord wants to reveal to him, so he begins to prepare himself to he

Daniel receives another vision that is delivered by the angel Gabriel.  This vision comes as a response to Daniel’s prayers of confession which came as a result of his study of God’s Word, specifically the book of Jeremiah.  This is one of the greatest examples of confession of sin in all of Scripture.  The vision that follows is one of the most controversial passages of all of Scripture because of its eschatological implications.  However, the undisputed truths of this passage are very clear.  The study of Scripture should impact the way we live and the way we pray.  Our prayers should include genuine and specific confession of sin as well as passionate petition for the Lord to exercise His mercy.  The Lord is in control of the future and has a very specific plan for dealing with our sin and accomplishing His will.  These truths ought to impact our study of God’s Word, our prayers and our trust of the Lord. A PRAYER OF 70 YEARS: When Daniel was taken captive it was a major life c