GRACE BIBLE FELLOWSHIP | 恩道堂

. Based on God’s law and justice, God legally should not reconcile with Judah, but God’s amazing grace overcomes the law, but does not circumvent the law. This ultimately achieved because of Jesus. God’s grace is demonstrated by not rejecting Judah but calls her to return to Him. His amazing grace is even more amazing in light of the treachery of Judah who is even worse than her sister, Israel, which is hard to imagine given Israel’s gross idolatry and immorality (Hosea 4-12). Judah sinned egregiously because they took sin lightly.

God calls Judah to return to His lordship (v. 14). When they return, God will forgive them and bless them among all the nations. This blessing is applicable to all believers of every age, including all Christians who will reign with Christ in Jerusalem. In contrast to such great future blessing, idol-worshippers are truly delusional. They think worshipping wood and stones will give them true, everlasting happiness and greatness, when in reality they will only receive shame and desolation.

Repentance essentially means returning to His lordship. It is not the perfection of our behavior. Our works cannot save us, since we are fallen humans who cannot be perfect until we meet Jesus. Repentance is like faith; it is acknowledging our sins and submitting ourselves to His lordship. This submission is displayed through trusting God’s grace to forgive our sins and to desire to please God out of thankfulness, not out of desire to earn our forgiveness. We will continue to struggle with sin but we seek God’s help to overcome our sins, not to ignore our sins (Mark 9:24). God did not call the Jews to be perfect, but to return to His lordship and grow in His grace. Pray that after you have submitted to God’s lordship, grow in His grace so that you will be more like God in His character of compassion, forgiveness, love, and righteousness. This is what He wanted the Jews to do.

按照神的律法和公平，神是不当与犹大和好的，但神奇妙的恩典却高过律法，同时又不废除律法。这最终因耶稣成就了。神并没有拒绝犹大，反而召她重新归向自己，由此彰显了祂的恩典。鉴于犹大背道淫乱的程度，神奇妙的恩典显得更为奇妙了，因为以色列的偶像崇拜和道德败坏已经很严重（何4-12），但犹大却比她姐姐犯下更大的罪；其罪孽实在令人难以想象。由于犹大轻忽罪的严重性，所以她睁着眼犯罪。

神呼召犹大重新认祂做主（14节）。当他们归回时，神会原谅他们，并在万国中向他们赐福。这福分是每个世代的信徒都会领受的，包括将在耶路撒冷与基督一同统治的基督徒。与这未来莫大的福分相比，偶像崇拜者的确犯下了重大的错误。他们以为敬拜木头石头将会给予他们真实、永恒的快乐和名分，但在现实中，他们只会蒙羞，变为凄凉。