'The Wind Shall Carry Them Away'

"Qanna" Jealous

*Joel 2:17-18, "Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God? Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people."

Most of us have either spoken or heard the words, "I just can't wait." There is always something worth anticipating. A vacation, a new home, a new baby, a new car, or just a visit from an old friend or relative we haven't seen in quite some time. Once the wait is over, however, we seem to be caught up in the moment forgetting all the anxiety that we felt only a short time ago. 

When it comes to patience many of us seem to be lacking. More than once the words, "When patience was handed out, you were hiding under the bed," were heard. Like sitting on the edge of your chair or waiting for the next shoe to drop, we can feel, either eagerly or hesitantly, anxious waiting for something to happen that is being anticipated. There's the sense that we need to do something now. 

For most of us, patience is not something that comes naturally. It is acquired over a period of time. Patience is something that requires an enormous amount of  self discipline. A discipline which, when combined with faith and a dose of wisdom, will allow patience to be perfected so that we become perfect and entire wanting nothing.

*Hosea 1:1-11, "The word of the LORD that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel. The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD. So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which conceived, and bare him a son. And the LORD said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel. And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel, in the valley of Jezreel. And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And God said unto him, Call her name Loruhamah: for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away. But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the LORD their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen. Now when she had weaned Loruhamah, she conceived, and bare a son. Then said God, Call his name Loammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God. Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God. Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel."

Hosea prophesied in a dark and melancholy period of Israel's history, the period of Israel's decline and fall. Their sins had brought upon them great national disasters. Their homicides and fornication, their perjury and theft, their idolatry and impiety, are censured and satirized with a faithful severity through the prophet's words and actions.

God told Hosea to take a wife of whoredoms, Gomer. She was an unfaithful and adulterous woman. Sold into slavery for fifteen pieces of silver. The image of God's betrothed, His wife, Israel. Israel had forgotten who she was and Whose she was. She had sown to the wind, a vain empty thing which had no stalk, and the bud did not yield. Their fruit was parched and dried up within the cluster. For their sins, Hosea cried they would reap a whirlwind.

When looking at the history of Israel as recorded in the Old Testament we could truly say they wanted for nothing. God had given them the land that He promised to Abraham. The land was fertile and fruitful, and through their knowledge and God's blessing they acquired much in the way of sheep and cattle. Through king Solomon's wisdom they had acquired great wealth. Even the temple for which David so lovingly prepared was filled with treasures beyond compare as well as the king's houses.

They lacked for nothing, yet Israel was not perfect and entire. They began serving and worshipping other gods. They flaunted their treasures and other nations took them by usury and theft. They refused to honor God's feasts and did not celebrate the year of jubilee. For their transgressions they would be removed from their land, with all their possessions, for seventy years to a land far from Israel. A year for every day they did not celebrate the year of jubilee.

There is no record in Scripture of the actual observance of this festival as described in Leviticus 25:8-17, "And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years. Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubile to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family. A jubile shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of thy vine undressed. For it is the jubile; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field. In the year of this jubile ye shall return every man unto his possession. And if thou sell ought unto thy neighbour, or buyest ought of thy neighbour's hand, ye shall not oppress one another: According to the number of years after the jubile thou shalt buy of thy neighbour, and according unto the number of years of the fruits he shall sell unto thee: According to the multitude of years thou shalt increase the price thereof, and according to the fewness of years thou shalt diminish the price of it: for according to the number of the years of the fruits doth he sell unto thee. Ye shall not therefore oppress one another; but thou shalt fear thy God: for I am the LORD your God."

Hosea recorded, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you, that you shall be no priest to me: seeing you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children," (Hosea 4:6). Proverbs tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge - perception, wisdom. There was no fear of the Lord in the land. A reverent fear which honored and blessed the Lord in thanksgiving knowing that by His hand are all things given or taken away.

God's people were destroyed for lack of knowledge because they rejected knowledge, they had forgotten the law of their God. Although their God was merciful, kind, and long suffering, Israel had forgotten He was also jealous and would not give His glory to another. 

Patience is truly something that is acquired over a period of time. Even those who we believe to be the most patient of people can feel a tinge of anxiety when satisfaction is not immediate; however, when the waiting is over, forgetting to give God the glory for our heart's desire often leaves us wanting.

James tells us if any of us lack wisdom ask of God Who gives to all men liberally and it shall be given him. Ask in faith with no wavering because a double minded man is inconsistent in all his ways. Seek and you shall find, ask and it shall be given unto you, knock and the door shall be opened unto you. Knowing our God, His very nature and character, and understanding His commandments bears with it the fruit of wisdom.

Before Israel ever arrived at the promised land they had been in captivity for four-hundred, thirty years. There may be times when our patience wears thin because that which we desire may not come in the time or the manner we feel we need it. Remember God's timing is never off, it is always perfect. He knows what you have need of before you ask and He will give you the desires of your heart.

Wanting nothing means knowing without a doubt that God has already made it available to you before you even ask. Therefore, wait in patience knowing that those who wait upon the Lord shall inherit the earth and have an abundance of peace. The end result of the trying of your faith is patience. When patience has arrived at perfection you will be perfect and entire wanting nothing because you will know without a doubt that God is able and will perform all that you ask in faith according to His perfect will in and for your life. Therein lies wisdom in knowing that God is and will perform all that He has promised to do.

P The prophets of old spoke the word of God with boldness; however, their words fell upon deaf ears. Because of their unbelief, God poured out upon the nation of Israel a spirit of deep sleep and closed their eyes to the truth. Even though they were warned of the impending Day of the Lord, what happened astonished them. 

*Revised August 13, 2007