“Whenever this happens, my heart stops— I’m stunned, I can’t catch my breath. Listen to it! Listen to his thunder, the rolling, rumbling thunder of his voice. He lets loose his lightnings from horizon to horizon, lighting up the earth from pole to pole. In their wake, the thunder echoes his voice, powerful and majestic. He lets out all the stops, he holds nothing back. No one can mistake that voice— His word thundering so wondrously, his mighty acts staggering our understanding. He orders the snow, ‘Blanket the earth!’ and the rain, ‘Soak the whole countryside!’ No one can escape the weather—it’s there. And no one can escape from God. Wild animals take shelter, crawling into their dens, When blizzards roar out of the north and freezing rain crusts the land. It’s God’s breath that forms the ice, it’s God’s breath that turns lakes and rivers solid. And yes, it’s God who fills clouds with rainwater and hurls lightning from them every which way. He puts them through their paces—first this way, then that— commands them to do what he says all over the world. Whether for discipline or grace or extravagant love, he makes sure they make their mark.
Hosea 11:10The Message“The people will end up following God. I will roar like a lion— Oh, how I’ll roar! My frightened children will come running from the west. Like frightened birds they’ll come from Egypt, from Assyria like scared doves. I’ll move them back into their homes.” God’s Word! Ephraim tells lies right and left. Not a word of Israel can be trusted. Judah, meanwhile, is no better, addicted to cheap gods. * * * See the chapter |
36 Cross References
This is what God told me: “Like a lion, king of the beasts, that gnaws and chews and worries its prey, Not fazed in the least by a bunch of shepherds who arrive to chase it off, So God-of-the-Angel-Armies comes down to fight on Mount Zion, to make war from its heights. And like a huge eagle hovering in the sky, God-of-the-Angel-Armies protects Jerusalem. I’ll protect and rescue it. Yes, I’ll hover and deliver.”
“Preach it all, Jeremiah. Preach the entire Message to them. Say: “‘God roars like a lion from high heaven; thunder rolls out from his holy dwelling— Ear-splitting bellows against his people, shouting hurrahs like workers in harvest. The noise reverberates all over the earth; everyone everywhere hears it. God makes his case against the godless nations. He’s about to put the human race on trial. For the wicked the verdict is clear-cut: death by the sword.’” God’s Decree. * * *
“In those days, at that time”—God’s Decree— “the people of Israel will come, And the people of Judah with them. Walking and weeping, they’ll seek me, their God. They’ll ask directions to Zion and set their faces toward Zion. They’ll come and hold tight to God, bound in a covenant eternal they’ll never forget.
“All up and down the coast, the princes will come down from their thrones, take off their royal robes and fancy clothes, and wrap themselves in sheer terror. They’ll sit on the ground, shaken to the core, horrified at you. Then they’ll begin chanting a funeral song over you: “‘Sunk! Sunk to the bottom of the sea, famous city on the sea! Power of the seas, you and your people, Intimidating everyone who lived in your shadows. But now the islands are shaking at the sound of your crash, Ocean islands in tremors from the impact of your fall.’
With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death.
God is especially incensed against these “teachers” who live by lust, addicted to a filthy existence. They despise interference from true authority, preferring to indulge in self-rule. Insolent egotists, they don’t hesitate to speak evil against the most splendid of creatures. Even angels, their superiors in every way, wouldn’t think of throwing their weight around like that, trying to slander others before God.