READING FOR FEBRUARY 24: HOSEA 7, MATTHEW 17, PSALM 12 HOSEA 7 In the first verse God speaks about Israel, Ephraim, and Samaria. Keep in mind these are three names for the same location, the northern kingdom. These first seven verses state that God wants to heal but suggests that Israel’s continuous deceitfulness, sin, and lack of dependence upon God prevent this from happening. This is a passage that poses a challenge for Calvinists who believe God does whatever He chooses despite man’s inclinations. Wesleyan Armenians believe that God’s overarching choice was to create man in His image able to the exercise free will to reject or receive God’s grace. The text suggests this in the case with Israel. They have rejected God.
Israel mistakenly thinks God does not remember their sins. It is true that in the new covenant when we follow Jesus as our Lord and Savior our sins are forgotten due to Jesus’s atoning sacrifice: “I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more” (Jeremiah 31:34) But Israel at this time was under the old covenant and did not continue to call on the Lord in faith (vs. 7). Similarly, if we don’t receive and continue in the provision of grace through faith in Jesus, we will perish in our sins: “The one who believes in the Son has eternal life; but the one who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36). Let’s not quote verses out of the larger context of the Bible in order to justify our disobedience and rebelliousness.
Israel had gone from being God’s chosen people to a nation like any other. They had no self-awareness of their precarious position. Despite evidence to the contrary, they think they are strong and youthful. Their pride is clearly apparent, yet they don’t return to God. In their gullible state they seek help from other countries instead of God. Thus, God, Himself, will bring this rebellious people down to destruction. Again, He does not wish to do so, but they have turned against Him. Even though God trained and strengthened Israel, they now plot evil against Him. Let’s learn from their negative example and turn to God while we still have time: “Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked abandon his way, and the unrighteous person his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:55-7).
MATTHEW 17 As has been mentioned previously, the chapter divisions were not part of the original Bible but were added many centuries later. So, notice the last verse of chapter 16 states “there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.” The very first part of chapter 17 has Jesus taking three of the twelve disciples up the mountain to experience the Transfiguration. This certainly could be the meaning of some of His disciples not tasting death before seeing Jesus coming in His kingdom. Compare descriptions of Jesus in Heaven with Jesus at the Transfiguration:
READINGS FOR FEBRUARY 24, 2026 CONTINUED: MATTHEW 17, PSALM 12
- Heaven: His face was like the sun shining in its strength. When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man (Rev. 1: 16-17).
- Transfiguration: He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun... When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground and were terrified (Matt. 17:2 and 6).
Moses and Elijah put in a brief appearance. Perhaps they are meant to affirm Jesus’s connection to the Law and Prophets that He has stated He is upholding and fulfilling. When the overwhelming voice of God the Father emanates from the cloud, there is no doubt who is pre-eminent here: Jesus. Moses and Elijah disappear. God the Father restates his pleasure in His beloved Son. He reminds them to “listen to Him.” I wonder if we could imagine ourselves in this dramatic scene, would we pay more attention each day to Jesus’s commands?
When they return from their mountaintop experience, Jesus again tells his disciples to keep quiet about what happened until Jesus rose again. Again, He believed that giving away too much information now might impede His main mission: the cross. Having just seen Elijah, the disciples asked about the prophecy of Elijah coming before the Messiah. Again, Jesus confirmed that this prophecy was fulfilled by John the Baptist, not by the literal Elijah’s return.
Jesus was then confronted by a dissatisfied customer, a man whose son could not be healed by His disciples. As with Jesus’s recent visit to Nazareth, this particular failed healing was caused by lack of faith. A word of caution. Although it is important to believe that Jesus can do anything, keep in mind that Job’s miseries were certainly not due to lack of faith. As with Job and his friends, we cannot know God’s plans for us. Consider Joni Eareckson Tada. She has been a person of enormous faith who became a quadriplegic in 1967. Through these decades of both pain and faith, her ministry to those with disabilities has been unmatched. At age 75, she is still going strong for the Lord. What a life!
Finally, we have an encounter between Peter and a local tax collector. Apparently due to some loophole, Jesus and Peter could claim a 100% deduction. Rather than press his rights, Jesus told Peter to pay the tax to not offend the government. This is significant. Many then and now believe Jesus came mainly to liberate the oppressed from repressive leaders. What does Jesus keep hinting his main mission is? Paying the full price on the cross to liberate us from sin.
PSALM 12 David’s lament reminds of a cry by Elijah: "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty... I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too" (1 Kings 19:10). David and Elijah might not have been literally alone, but they were right to bring their feelings to God. Maybe we have felt that way, too, but Jesus alone experienced complete separation from the Father (Matt. 27:46), so that we can always experience God’s presence. Thus Paul, though imprisoned and eventually executed, could honestly claim “nothing can separate us from the love of God (Rom. 8:38-39). Need a lift? Read Rom. 8:31-39.
