Day 149: Idolatry, Adulatory, Consequence, and Mercy

Today we read 2 Kings 8, Hosea 18-10, and Psalm 108. It's a story of the continued drift of the Northern Kingdom and God's faithfulness through Elisha to people like the woman who used her blessings to bless the prophet, Elisha. We also read about a God of mercy who allows His people to be idolatrous, although it stirs His jealousy and anger. Their drift leads to the inevitable serious consequences of loving things in creation and not the Creator. The suffering stirs God's compassion and He is like a faithful spouse to an adulterous one, pursuing, rescuing, and restoring. Our job? Remember the story, respond to God with a heart of Shema in a right-relationship and guard our hearts against false narratives, empire stories, and things that lead us into the anti-story. For God, idolatry is personal, like adulatory. His response is jealousy and anger, but it's also compassion, He knows that giving our love away to other lovers leads to suffering and death. He doesn't want to see us oppressed or suffering, it stirs His mercy and a glimmer of hope is given. He will redeem. He will restore. He will bring us home.

Credits

Podcast music by Stockaudios from Pixabay. Speaker, Dr. Rachel Bodell. Podcast Sound Engineer, Alan Darling. Podcast Artwork, Will Gerard.