9.1.20 大逆轉 A Great Reversal

何西阿 1:¹⁰ 然而，以色列的人數必多如海沙，不可量，不可數。從前在甚麼地方對他們說「你們不是我的子民」，將來就在那裏稱他們為「永生　神的兒子」。 

Hosea 1:¹⁰ Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “Children of the living God.”

上帝要求何西阿說：“你去娶一個淫蕩的女子為妻，收那從淫亂所生的兒女；因為這地行大淫亂，離棄耶和華。” （第2節）這表明了上帝多麼希望以色列回轉歸向祂，甚至到要求何西阿在神聖的婚姻中犧牲自己的幸福。 我們應該把先知的信息看作是上帝偉大的愛的傳達。 “上帝願意人人得救，並得以認識真理。” （提摩太前書2：4）先知的信息不是懲罰的信息，而是希望的信息！ “從前在甚麼地方對他們說「你們不是我的子民」，將來就在那裏稱他們為「永生　神的兒子」” （第10節）這就是神想要帶來的，以及他能夠帶來的。 當我們悔改時，上帝要我們生活的錯誤的方向轉向。 在我們失敗的那些地方，上帝可以帶來逆轉，通過我們的主耶穌基督將我們帶到勝利的地方！

God asked Hosea to “take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.” (v. 2) This demonstrates how much God wanted Israel to return to Him, even to the point of asking Hosea to sacrifice his own potential happiness in a sacred marriage. We should see the message of the prophets as a communication of God’s great love. “God desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:4) The message of the prophets is not a message of punishment but a message of hope!  “In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ it shall be said to them, ‘Children of the living God.’ ” (v.10) This is what God wants to bring about and what He is able to bring about. God will bring a reversal to the wrong direction in our lives when we repent. In the very areas we fail, God can bring about a reversal to bring us to a place of victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!