Samaria's king will be destroyed, swept away like a twig on the surface of the waters. - Hosea 10:7

Today's Scripture Reading (April 15, 2026): Hosea 10

Hosea's ministry in Israel was a long one. It would seem unlikely that the writing that bears his name was written at one particular time. His time on the stage of Israel probably began late in the reign of Jeroboam II. The Bible describes Jeroboam II as an evil King; however, he reigned for over four decades and chose to protect the Prophet Amos. While the poor and weak were both marginalized and taken advantage of during his long reign, that could be said of other Kings of that time. Probably the best we can say about this king is that Jeroboam II provided a stable environment for the people of Israel during his reign, something his successors were unable to do.

Jeroboam's son, Zechariah, assumed the throne of Israel upon his father's death, but his reign lasted only six months. King Zechariah was murdered by the captain of his guard, a man named Shallum, who then took the throne for himself. For Hosea, this act likely ended the reigns of the legitimate kings of Israel.

Shallum reigned for one month before the captain of his guard, Menahem, killed Shallum and once again took the throne for himself. Menahem provided a little more stability to Israel and reigned for 10 years over his Kingdom. Menahem died of natural causes, and his son, Pekahiah, replaced him on the throne. But what had become an ordinary occurrence in Israel since the death of Jeroboam II, Pekahiah reigned for two years before he was assassinated by another military officer named Pekah, who then became king as had the murderers who preceded him.

Pekah reigned for eight years, but they were eventful. One of the major events during the reign of Pekah was the rising threat posed by Assyria to the nations in the area. Pekah and Israel (Samaria) decided to ally with Aram-Damascus against Assyria, and they invited Judah to join the alliance. However, Judah was not interested in allying with Israel. King Pekah refused to take Judah's no as an appropriate answer. So, with the backing of Aram-Damascus, Israel went to war with Judah. Assyria had been watching developments to the south of its territory and decided to enter the war on Judah's side. Judah, with Assyria's assistance, won the war, but at a high price: Judah became a tributary of the Assyrian Empire.

It is probably during this time that Hosea writes this prophecy. He probably didn't live long enough to see Israel fall to the Assyrians in 722 B.C.E. and disappear into the pages of history. Still, he was present during this war and witnessed King Pekah's assassination by a close friend and advisor, Hoshea. In 722 B.C.E., Hoshea became the King who was destroyed and "swept away like a twig on the surface of the waters" (Hosea 10:7). Hoshea disappeared from the pages of history, and the reality is that after 722, we don't know what happened to the last King of Israel (Samaria).

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Hosea 11 & 12

Threshing floors and winepresses will not feed the people; the new wine will fail them. – Hosea 9:2

Today's Scripture Reading (April 14, 2026): Hosea 9

I like the idea of repurposing some buildings. There was an old grocery store not far from where I live that remained empty for a long time. The problem, admittedly, was the price the owners wanted for the building and the cost of recreating something different within it. I thought the property would have made a good church. It had ample parking, which is often the nemesis of any church, and I often wished I were wealthy enough to buy the property and donate it to a church organization.

Churches are often forced to move to the suburbs and outskirts because undeveloped land is available there, and it is often cheaper to build on. But the flip side is that it leaves inner-city neighborhoods without nearby churches. Churches in the suburbs are often driven to rather than walked to. Admittedly, that is another problem of the contemporary church. We are creating churches that serve a particular niche rather than a community. I think the best solution to the problem is to repurpose buildings in the inner city. A local example is an inner-city theater that has been transitioned to a city-center church. It can be done, but it is never easy.

But that is not the situation about which Hosea is speaking. The threshing floor and winepresses have been repurposed into churches; however, these worship spaces were dedicated to honoring false gods. The problem was that there was a purpose to worship on the threshing floor. The hope was that the worship service on the threshing floor or winepress would increase the harvest. Maybe in contemporary times, it would be like holding a spring church service in your barn, hoping the worship would translate into a better harvest the next fall.

I have to admit that holding a worship service in a barn might be fun, but it would not guarantee a good harvest, even if the God of Israel were the one being worshiped. Jesus spoke directly to this situation in his "Sermon on the Mount."

But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous (Matthew 5:44-45).

Hosea's concern is the purpose of these worship events. It was not Yahweh who was being worshiped, but instead, the local false gods. As far as Hosea was concerned, they might as well have hosted a local hootenanny or dance, because that would probably at least encourage the neighborhood. But worshiping false gods would not increase the harvest, even if the worship was taking place on the local threshing floors and winepresses.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Hosea 10

For they have gone up to Assyria like a wild donkey wandering alone. Ephraim has sold herself to lovers. – Hosea 8:9

Today's Scripture Reading (April 13, 2026): Hosea 8

Wild donkeys still exist, but they are critically endangered. Most of what we see as wild donkeys are actually descendants of domesticated breeds that have gone feral. But there still are wild donkeys in the world. Part of the conservation problem is distinguishing feral domesticated animals from truly wild donkeys; however, it is an important distinction, and the real wild donkeys desperately need our help.

Wild donkeys are very different from wild horses, especially when it comes to social structures. In the wild, horses form permanent herds for protection. Donkeys don't. It is not that they don't come together for protection, because they do. But a donkey is much more fluid in the social structure they adopt. They may gather in large herds when food is plentiful, but when food is scarce, they can shrink their social groups. They also tend to establish territories rather than fighting for harems. And there is evidence that grandmothers, mothers, and daughters stay together to facilitate the teaching of the next generation.

What donkeys seldom do is go it alone. They need other donkeys for protection and support. It might be a small group of donkeys standing together when food is scarce, but donkeys still tend to stand as a group. Something has gone very wrong if a wild donkey stands alone.

It is part of what has happened to Israel or Ephraim. Hosea describes Israel as a wild donkey that has chosen to stand alone; because it is alone, it is also vulnerable. Eventually, Ephraim will have to stand against Assyria, the bully on the world stage during this era, and unless things change, they will do it alone. They would not be the only ones. Nations often seem to think that they can stand alone, but none of them can. We need each other. Eventually, Israel will fall to Assyria because it decides to stand alone. Assyria would eventually fall to Babylon because it stood alone. Babylon would fall to the Medes and Persians because it was alone—next, the Greeks, then the Romans. But the disease is always the same; someone decides that they can stand alone.

Following the Second World War, the two Uniteds, the Kingdom and the States, realized that survival was possible only if the nations stood together. It is the reason behind the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). NATO could stand against the Soviet Union and its satellites and survive, allowing Germany to transform itself once more into an economic power in Europe, because they decided to do so together. Today, as we begin to see cracks develop in NATO, there is no mystery as to what will happen if we go it alone. History has already told our story. And Hosea spoke of it to Israel. Becoming a wild donkey and walking alone in the wilderness means we will fail, regardless of how strong we think we are. We will have sold ourselves to lovers who only want to take us for what they can, and then let us die in the presence of the next pack that decides to stand together.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Hosea 9

They do not cry out to me from their hearts but wail on their beds. They slash themselves, appealing to their gods for grain and new wine, but they turn away from me. – Hosea 7:14

Today's Scripture Reading (April 12, 2026): Hosea 7

Many years ago, I found myself in an argument with a respected engineer. I probably should have admitted defeat from the very beginning, but I waded into the conversation unprepared for what was about to happen. We were talking about the Theory of Evolution. I was admitting where I saw holes in the theory, especially in the idea of a natural movement from simple to complex, or from chaos to order. In every place in nature of which I am aware, the natural movement is in the other direction, from order to chaos. However, I admit that the Theory of Evolution makes sense to me, and we see evidence of this in the natural world. My solution to the problem was a guided evolution, a primary mover whom I call God or Yahweh, you can call him or her or it or them anything you want, who guides the process. It is a natural solution to the problem. A guided evolution could move from chaos to order, which seems impossible any other way.

Somehow, our discussion moved to the concept of theory and law. And my observation was that we have something we call "The Theory of Gravity," which seemed to me more like a proven Law. The concept of Gravity explains why I can walk on Earth, why the planets orbit the sun, and why tides exist. And it explains so much, allowing us to operate and dream of leaving the Earth, and clarifying the difference between Gravity here on our Blue Marble and on the Moon, or even what we might experience on Mars if we decide to go there. Yet, despite the evidence for Gravity's existence and our ability to explain it, it is still labeled as a "theory."

My engineer friend smiled and explained why. He explained that we don't know Gravity exists; we have an explanation that seems to work, but who knows whether it's true. Everything that I attribute to Gravity is more fully explained by "The Law of Repeated Events," which simply states that, under certain circumstances, things that occur one way will always occur that way. I am not sure he sold me on his explanation.

God, speaking through Hosea, speaks about all the ways Israel has tried to handle the life around them. They weep in their beds and slash their flesh. They ask the false gods of the nations for grain and new wine, but all of their actions end in futility. The one thing they don't do is go to the God of their forefathers, yet only He holds the answers to the people's problems. In the end, they brush off the Law of God by calling it just another theory accepted by people living in their sister Kingdom of Judah, but not by them. They are smart enough to know they need to look elsewhere, even when elsewhere isn't working.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Hosea 8

As at Adam, they have broken the covenant; they were unfaithful to me there. – Hosea 6:7

Today's Scripture Reading (April 11, 2026): Hosea 6

When I was younger, I worked in a church office. Actually, I worked with the church's youth, was involved in the church's music, and produced the weekly worship order and bulletin. One thing you should know about me is that I really struggle with proofreading. Too often, I read what I want to be there rather than what is. Whether it looks like it or not, I depend heavily on grammar apps even in writing this blog. And back then, I relied heavily on early grammar apps that focused more on spelling than grammar.

When producing the bulletin, I would often use the previous week's worship folder as a template, updating the info that had changed since then. But my lack of proofreading skills often meant mistakes went unchecked. I remember one mistake that lasted for an embarrassing number of months. The problem was that it was part of the bulletin that was featured every week without change. It was a permanent part of the Worship Order, which was included on the back page of the Worship Folder. The phrase included was "Open Alter," indicating a prayer time that usually occurred in the first half of the service. Because it was a weekly feature, I seldom looked at the phrase.

However, one retired Pastor in the congregation read the phrase every week and cringed. The problem was a spelling mistake. Finally, this Pastor had had enough, and he came to me to ask me to correct the spelling. It shouldn't have read "Open Alter", which would indicate some sort of change, but rather "Open Altar", indicating a place of prayer. He added, in his request that I correct the spelling, that maybe we hoped people would change at the Prayer Altar, but we still shouldn't spell "Altar" that way. And he was right.

We have a grammatical problem with this passage in Hosea. Grammatically, everything points to a place called "Adam." In this English translation, the grammar is rendered for the reader as "at Adam," which is reinforced by the phrase at the end of the verse, "they were unfaithful to me there." However, the context seems to refer to a person named Adam, or perhaps to the human race.

And so, we struggle through this passage. If something happened at a place called Adam, we are not sure what that was. But we do know that Adam and Eve, at the beginning of the human story, rebelled against God, they broke the covenant, and proved themselves unfaithful to the God who had created them and walked with them. And Israel was walking down that same road, just like Adam.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Hosea 7

Personal Note: Happy Birthday to my sister, Cheri.

I know all about Ephraim; Israel is not hidden from me. Ephraim, you have now turned to prostitution; Israel is corrupt. – Hosea 5:3

Today's Scripture Reading (April 10, 2026): Hosea 5

I remember the game. We were winning; in fact, it wasn't a contest. It was late in the game, and we were up by over 4 touchdowns, threatening to score again. It was early in the season, and we were unbeaten. None of the games had been close, but then again, we hadn't played the good teams yet. In the stands, the crowd's emotions were rising. Then, suddenly, I heard the beginnings of a chant. "We're number one. We're number one." I think I muttered, "Yeah, we're number one." It was the truth. Unbeaten, we were in sole possession of first place in our division. Yes, it was early, but we had to be the favorites to win the division.

Unfortunately, I was walking past the coach when I made my comment, and he immediately voiced his displeasure. He did not want to hear any of his players making that comment. We weren't number one until the timer had hit zeroes on the final game of the season with us in the lead. Until that moment came, all we were was a bunch of wannabes with a lot to prove.

Have you ever noticed that no one brags about being number two? We remember the champions, but seldom remember the runners-up. Okay, most of the time, unless there is something special about the futility. I am old enough to remember watching the Buffalo Bills play in four consecutive Super Bowls from 1991 to 1994. Maybe I remember that team because they lost them all. They came in second four years in a row. They are the only team to appear in four consecutive Super Bowls, and of course, the only team to lose them all. It has been over three decades since then, and they have never been invited back to the dance.

It is not just in modern sports that this competition exists. All through our lives, we want to find something that we can dominate at; something where we can say, "I'm number one. Number twos need not apply."

Judah was the largest of the twelve tribes of Israel. They were in possession of Jerusalem and Solomon's Temple, and the line of David came from their ranks. For the other eleven tribes, it was a reminder of Judah's supremacy. As a result, jealousy arose between the tribes, especially between the Tribe of Ephraim and Judah; Ephraim was number two. And they became defined by their "twoness."

So, they became the masters of imitation. Ephraim had led the rebellion against Judah after Solomon's reign. Judah might have Solomon's Temple, but Ephraim enthusiastically supported the worship advocated by the northern tribes of the two Golden Calves, which were placed in Bethel and Dan. Ephraim contaminated the Northern Tribes with their leadership and quickly led their neighbors away from God.

There is a principle that argues that if you tell a lie often enough, people will eventually begin to believe it. But there is a more insidious effect of telling the lie. If you tell it enough, you begin to believe it yourself. Hosea argues that Ephraim had told their lies so often that they began to believe them. Hosea reminds them that not only were they rejecting a truth, but God was aware of their acceptance of a lie, and He was not pleased. In using the title "Ephraim," he was not just indicating the tribe, but all of the northern tribes who had chosen to follow "number two" into evil and defeat.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Hosea 6

They feed on the sins of my people and relish their wickedness. – Hosea 4:7

Today's Scripture Reading (April 9, 2026): Hosea 4

Julius II was the Leader of the Roman Catholic Church from November 1, 1503, until his death on February 21, 1513. Julius was known as "The Warrior Pope" and "The Fearsome Pope," and the rumor is that he did not choose his papal name in honor of Pope Julius I, whose papacy lasted from February 6, 337, until April 12, 352, but after the Dictator of the Roman Republic, Julius Caesar. During his time on the Catholic Throne, he centralized and expanded the church's power. He also created the Vatican Museums and initiated a plan to rebuild St. Peter's Basilica.

Although we aren't sure, Pope Julius also probably ruled over a broke church that increased its debt during his reign. This desperate need for money might have been the primary reason that Julius II allowed the collection of indulgences, which were spent on his pet projects, especially St. Peter's Basilica. The Dutch theologian Erasmus of Rotterdam (1466-1536) fiercely criticized Julius II the year after the Pope's death, in his satirical dialogue "Julius Excluded from Heaven." The dialogue recounts a fictional tale of the drunken Pope's conversation with St. Peter, in which he justifies his life and plans to create a rival home from which he can conquer heaven. As the title implies, Peter ultimately excludes the Holy Father from entering heaven.

Of the Warrior Pope's many sins, the collection of indulgences might have been one of the most serious. Maybe that is hard to understand, but indulgences depend on the people's sinfulness. The more a person sins, the more people who are willing to pay the indulgences the church requires. When the church is broke, those indulgences are needed to accomplish the goals of the church leadership. Which means the church needs people to sin to raise the funds for various projects, or even to pay off the church's debt. It is a practice that the Protestant Church has condemned since the very beginning of the Reformation. In the Catholic Church, indulgences were not voluntary, but commanded over and above any tithes or sacrifices. And sometimes, indulgences were paid to release loved ones from extended stays in purgatory. The German Dominican Friar Johann Tetzel (1465 – 1554) is credited with using the phrase "when the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs," in the collection of his indulgences. It is this phrase that enraged Martin Luther and launched the Reformation.

Hosea makes a similar accusation against the church of his day. The priests have multiplied in number, but that growth has meant the church needs to raise more money. As a result, they have cheered on the people's sins and have begun taking all the sacrifices to eat, rather than just the portion reserved for the priests. Hosea describes all of this as the priests feeding "on the sins of my people" and relishing "their wickedness." They celebrate the sins of the people so that they can increase the sacrifices of the people and line their own pockets rather than strive for the well-being of the people.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Hosea 5

She will chase after her lovers but not catch them; she will look for them but not find them. Then she will say, 'I will go back to my husband as at first, for then I was better off than now.' – Hosea 2:7

Today's Scripture Reading (April 8, 2026): Hosea 2 & 3

I know that we all have bad days, but do you ever wonder how you got to that bad place? A while back, I heard a story from a friend who had just traveled through an airport afflicted with the disease of sprawl. And the solution at this airport was to run these mini subway cars between the various parts of the airport. So, my friend had to take one of these subways, and just before the subway doors closed, a horn sounded. And then this lighted sign turns on, saying, "Please step back." It is really not a big deal; another mini subway will arrive in about thirty seconds; these things run continually.

So, he was on the subway when the horn went off, and the sign came on. And there was this one genius who thought the meaning of the horn was the same as the color yellow at a stop light; it means to go faster. My friend hears the horn go off and watches as this brainy guy drags his ninety-year-old mother by the hand, with his brother following behind, toward the departing subway. As I mentioned, in about thirty seconds, a new one will arrive, and this guy will have lots of time to get his mother and his brother situated. But he doesn't want to wait the thirty seconds. As a result of his impatience, he drags Mama and jumps through the slowly closing door. There is only one problem with his plan: Mom can't make it. She is half in and half out of the subway with the door closed on her. This poor woman has one son tugging at her from the inside, with the other son pushing her from the outside, and my friend is having a nightmare about what is going to happen to the woman when the subway starts moving. And then one of the two sons makes this comment loud enough for those around them to hear. "Come on, Mama, get on the train. Why do these things always happen to us?"

Now, reality check – these things always happen to us because I have ignored all of the warning signs. I heard the horn, I saw the sign, but I am too special to follow those kinds of rules and wait the thirty seconds for the next train. The horn and the sign are placed there for no other purpose than to keep me safe; to make sure that things like this don't happen to me. But I decided to ignore them. These things likely keep happening because you keep ignoring the warning signs.

God is saying the exact same thing. I will allow things to happen in her life, not because I am angry, but because I know that life is better my way. I will provide them with the warning horns and the flashing signs so that maybe she, and God is talking about both Israel and Gomer, will come back to the ones who love her. God's purpose is never punishment; He is always chasing after us, hoping that we will turn once more to Him and to a better, safer way to live.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Hosea 4

Then the LORD said to Hosea, "Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel." – Hosea 1:4

Today's Scripture Reading (April 7, 2026): Hosea 1

On December 16, 1970, Paramount Pictures released a melodrama that became an unquestioned success. The movie became a pop culture superstar. It was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Actress. The movie's theme song was nominated for two Grammys. The movie was "Love Story," starring Ryan O'Neal and Ali MacGraw. In 1970, both were up-and-coming actors and the "beautiful people" of Hollywood. And it really was a love story. My mother loved the movie, but I didn't really get it. There were no gunfights or car chases, and Ali MacGraw's character, Jenny, dies in the end; according to my standards, that's not evidence of a good movie. Of course, I was also only ten when the movie debuted. The story was about a young lawyer who fell in love with a girl. The couple wants to have children, but can't; so, they go to the doctor and find out that she has a fatal disease (probably leukemia, although we are never told what it was in the movie). There is one scene where the young man tries to borrow some money from his father to help with treatment, and Dad writes off the request by asking if he got some girl in trouble. It was this moment in the story that was supposed to draw the viewer's attention to the young couple's commitment to each other, even in sickness. They are soul mates and hopelessly in love.

In the final scene, Dad realizes what is going on and comes to see his son to apologize. Ryan O'Neal's Character, Oliver, responds to his dad with the movie's tagline: "Love means never having to say that you are sorry." And everybody sighs and cries.

The story of Hosea is a love story, but it is not that story. That becomes obvious with the first lines of the story; God tells Hosea to go and marry a promiscuous woman, literally a prostitute. And our question is, "Really? Would God do that? I don't understand; let me find something else to read. Maybe something about Jesus."

And almost to make this worse, the way that some translators have used for this passage has phrased it this way: "Hosea, go and marry a prostitute so that you will have children of Prostitution." This passage anticipates that Gomer will not be committed to the relationship. It anticipates that Gomer will not change her ways and will become pregnant with children who are not Hosea's. And if I am honest, I am not sure which really surprises me more: that God would ask Hosea to do it, or that Hosea would actually say yes.

And so, Hosea goes out and finds Gomer. And at this point in history, that probably meant that Hosea would have to go and bargain with Gomer's Dad. And he was probably overjoyed that someone wanted to marry her, because, given her behavior, there weren't a whole lot of suitors coming around to talk to dear old dad. Gomer may not have had anything to do with it. Hosea made a deal with Dad, and Gomer became Hosea's wife; it is quite possible that no one asked her what she wanted.

But we are told that Hosea marries Gomer, and together they have a child named Jezreel. And there was meaning in the name. Jezreel was the place where Jehu, the king of Israel, killed the house of Ahab. Every person that he could find who was related to Ahab was killed. And Jehu said that he was doing God's will, but that was not the full truth. The reality is that Jehu, who was an evil king, committed the act in such a way to maximize the evil and his own pleasure in the act, and he caused the most damage possible to the nation of Judah.

There are two things that we need to notice about this boy named Jezreel. The first is that this is Hosea's son. And Hosea loves his son. There is absolutely no trace of shame in his name. But the second thing we need to notice is that, even in choosing the name Jezreel, there is a prophetic announcement. Hosea is a prophet of God, and the office has consumed him.    

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Hosea 2 & 3

But God said to Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?" "It is," he said. "And I'm so angry I wish I were dead." – Jonah 4:9

Today's Scripture Reading (April 6, 2026): Jonah 3 & 4

This is the second time in Jonah 4 that God has asked Jonah if he had any right to his anger. The first time was over the salvation of Nineveh. And the second time over the death of a plant. Here, Jonah replies, "Yes, I have the right to my anger. And if my rights are not going to be respected, I might as well be dead."

The story of Jonah is all about the selfishness of Jonah. It is about what Jonah wants. For Jonah, this is part of his definition of love. Don't miss this: throughout the entire story, Jonah craves love. He wants God to love him. What he doesn't want is any expectation that he will love others. And one of the realities of life is that, to be loved, we have to love. As long as he, or we, cling to our rights, we cannot really love because love does not ask that question.

Paul addresses the question of rights in his first letter to the Corinthians. In it, he addresses his right to be cared for by the church as well as his right to bring a wife with him when he travels. Other disciples, specifically Peter, made liberal use of these rights. But Paul did not. "But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ" (1 Corinthians 9:12b).

I am convinced that rights and love do not go well together. If you begin to focus on your rights in your marriage, then your marriage is in trouble. We do for those that we love what goes beyond the idea of rights. And the idea of sacrifice has always been at the cost of our rights.

God had asked Jonah to go to Nineveh and sacrifice his own desires and wants for the people who lived there. He wanted Jonah to love them. But Jonah refused to love them until God forced him. Now, he is more concerned about his right to be angry than about the people of Nineveh whom he had saved.

I also believe that unless we love, we cannot be loved. What Jonah needed the most was to be loved. But that was impossible unless Jonah loved. I think our capacity for holding love is fixed. If all that we do is receive love, our love barrel fills up. And once it is full, nothing more can be added. Love was never meant to be something we hold on to; it flows through us. The more we love, the more capacity we have to feel love. Some walk among us who have not felt loved for a long time because they have been unwilling or unable to love.

This inability to love describes Jonah. God was speaking directly to Jonah's craving for love when he called him to Nineveh. But Jonah was unable to process that idea. He knew that he craved love, but it had been so long since he had really loved anyone that the idea of love now only existed in his realm of selfish desire. God had a two-pronged need for Jonah. Jonah had to go to Nineveh because God loved Nineveh, but also because God loved Jonah. But Jonah had stopped loving without expectation, and so his love barrel had filled. God was the creator of the land and the sea, creator of the fish that had vomited Jonah up onto dry land, the creator of the sailors and of the people of beautiful Tarshish and evil Nineveh. God was the creator of Jonah, and He knew that unless Jonah could learn to love without rights and expectations getting in the way, he would never be able to feel love again; the very love that Jonah craved would be unavailable to him.

In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus equated this idea of love with "being perfect."

⁴³ "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' ⁴⁴ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. ⁴⁶ If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? ⁴⁷ And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? ⁴⁸ Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

                                                            Matthew 5:43-48

Be Perfect. Love despite your selfish rights and expectations. Love those who disagree with you; love, hold them in high regard, knowing that they, too, are loved by the creator. And, maybe, to the extent that you can do this, you will find that you, too, can receive the very love that you crave.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Hosea 1

I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.’ – Jonah 2:4

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 5, 2026): Jonah 1 & 2

As I read through this passage, I keep tripping over the word “banish.” The King James version phrases Jonah’s words as, “I am cast out.” It is an interesting concept.

At the beginning of the eighteenth century, chaos swept through Europe. That chaos had a name: Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon was a military genius who helped France gain control of much of Europe. But the powers in Europe also realized that the answer to the question of what keeps Europe from attaining peace was also Napoleon Bonaparte. And so, when Napoleon was eventually defeated, the leaders of Europe knew that to achieve peace, they had to get rid of Napoleon. They didn’t want to execute him and turn him into a martyr, so they decided to banish him to the Island of Elba, a small piece of land just off the coast of Italy. They even let him keep the title of Emperor and rule over the island.

However, rumors reached Bonaparte’s small Kingdom that the European Powers were going to banish him to an even more remote Island in the Pacific Ocean. Based on this rumor, Napoleon raised an army on Elba, escaped the island, and returned to France. Once Napoleon returned to France, he regained his position as the leader of France. But he is also defeated again, and this time he is banished to Saint Helena, a remote Island in the South Atlantic off the coast of Africa. There, Napoleon died.

Why the history lesson? Because traditionally, banishment has a dual effect. If you were to banish me to an island in the Atlantic, the effect would be two-fold. First, you don’t have to put up with me; you don’t have to listen to my thoughts on any subject; and I wouldn’t be able to order you around. I am removed from your presence. But the second effect of my expulsion is that I am punished; I have been sent away from everything that I know and love. This second part presents the pain of any banishment.

Jonah feels like he has been banished, but the question is, does his banishment fulfill these two realities? There is no doubt that Jonah feels the pain; the second condition is real. Jonah feels the pain because he feels that he has been cast out of God’s presence. And it is an emotion with which most of us can identify. There are days and periods of time when we feel so far from God. We know that kind of pain.

I grew up in a denomination that had frequent altar calls. People would regularly be invited up to kneel at the altar, and I would watch them come and make new commitments to God. However, a couple of decades ago, I stumbled upon a truth about the modern church. Sometimes, we feel far from God because of the circumstances of our lives and our faith. Sometimes we have taken him for granted, ignored him, gone through the motions, and we need to fall to our knees, repent, and ask God to renew us. These are very real conditions to which we need to pay attention. But sometimes in our busy lives, what we really need isn’t a renewed commitment to God; it is a nap.

The pain of the second condition of banishment is a very real part of life. But what about the first condition? Have we been sent away from God to a place where he can’t hear us? And I strongly believe that the answer is no. There is no place Jonah could go where he could hide from God, just as there is no place we can go where we are not in his presence. I love the way the Psalmist phrases it.

Where can I go from your Spirit?
       Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
 even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast.
 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
    and the light become night around me,”
 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

                                                            Psalm 139:7-12

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Jonah 3 & 4

I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said: "Strike the tops of the pillars so that the thresholds shake. Bring them down on the heads of all the people; those who are left I will kill with the sword. Not one will get away, none will escape. – Amos 9:1

Today's Scripture Reading (April 4, 2026): Amos 9

On Mount Carmel, Elijah proposed a battle between him and the prophets of Ba'al. The idea was to bring two bulls to the mountain. The prophets of Ba'al would choose a bull, and Elijah would take the other. They would build an altar, then cut the bull into pieces and place the pieces on top of the wood of the altar. What they wouldn't do was light the fire; that task would be left to God.

The prophets of Ba'al would go first. They chose their bull, built the altar, and placed its pieces on it. And then they began to pray to Ba'al. They danced in front of the altar, asking Ba'al to send his fire down onto the altar and consume the sacrifice. The contest was well chosen for the priests of Ba'al; after all, Ba'al was the God of Thunder and Lightning. Consuming the sacrifice should have been an easy task for such a god. However, on this day, the God of Thunder seemed hesitant to respond with his namesake power.

After a few hours, Elijah decided to get into the act. "Shout louder," Elijah cries. "Maybe he can't hear you." He continued his taunts with, "Surely, he is a God?" You can almost hear the sarcasm in his voice. Maybe he is deep in thought or busy. Maybe he is traveling. Yell louder so that he can hear you. He might be asleep and needs to be awakened."

The prophets of Ba'al danced and yelled even louder. But nothing happened. Ba'al didn't come and consume the sacrifice. Finally, after these prophets had worn themselves out, Elijah stepped up and built his altar. He poured water on the wood of the altar until the water filled a trench that he had constructed around the altar.

Then he prayed a simple prayer; no dancing was necessary, and God sent fire to consume the altar. Where Ba'al might have been on vacation or at least far from the scene of the battle, God was present and stood at the ready for Elijah to make the ask.

Amos makes the same point. Regardless of what is happening, God is ready to act. Whether the action is positive or negative. Amos sees a vision of an event that has not yet happened and seems almost unimaginable; he stands at the altar of the Temple and watches as it collapses all around him. But there is another message that his audience needed to understand. On the day that the Temple fell down, it would not fall because God was somehow absent. The destruction of the Temple would not take place because God had fallen asleep or was on vacation, visiting far-flung places in his universe. God would be present at the destruction of the Temple. And he would orchestrate the destruction because of his people's sin. 

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jonah 1 & 2

Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land. – Amos 8:4

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 3, 2026): Amos 8

On March 4, 2026, Pope Leo XIV gave a lengthy interview to Vatican News. The subject was, at least partially, the strikes of the United States and Israel against Iran. Nobody was really surprised that the Pope would express his opinion to the press; he had been outspoken in the past, and why bother being Pope if you don’t articulate what you see as the moral imperatives in the world around you. That was one of the complaints historically leveled against Pope Pius XII (his Papacy lasted from March 2, 1939, until his death on October 9, 1958) during World War II.

Pope Leo XIV gave an interview to Vatican News, warning that strikes against Iran had weakened international law. The Pope argued that “might has replaced justice; the force of law has been replaced by the law of force.” The Pope called the war with Iran “preventable,” and that it risks “the whole world being set ablaze.” The Pope’s words are a reminder that this conflict with Iran has moved us another step closer to a third World War. What is surprising is that, in the lead-up to the 2024 Presidential Election, Vice President J.D. Vance consistently argued that a vote for Trump was a vote against war. A President Donald Trump would move the world away from war. But instead, he has moved the world toward war. And that is a huge problem for all of us.

But there has been another reaction to this move, one that we maybe should have predicted. A movement has begun calling for Baron Trump, the President’s youngest son, to be drafted into the army. I don’t think anyone actually wants to see Baron Trump in army fatigues. The truth is that if Baron actually was drafted, he would likely be given a commission as an officer and kept out of harm’s way. After all, isn’t that exactly what happens to every prince who joins the army in other countries? The movement to draft Baron into the military is a recognition that it is often the rich and powerful who bring the nations into war, but it is the poor and weak who fight the wars. If you want to do away with people experiencing poverty, a war is often one way to lessen their presence in our society.

A war in Iran is actually a continuation of a policy that the U.S. government seems to be implementing within the nation. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been persecuting not just people who are in the country illegally, but also anyone who is from a visible minority or poor in the land. A war would take care of more like them.

Amos warns Israel about any practices that are intended to harm the poor of the land. When we refuse to honor those experiencing poverty and care for the needy among us, we lose the humanity God has placed within us. We become weaker for our loss, not stronger, regardless of what we might believe.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Amos 9

Amos answered Amaziah, “I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. – Amos 7:14

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 2, 2026): Amos 7

It is an old story. The commoner who becomes the princess. The musician who gets a chance to play with their favorite band. The beer league goalie who gets called up to the big leagues in an emergency.

I remember a version of the last one. Decades ago, I was settling in to watch a hockey game. The Calgary Flames were playing; I forget who their opponent was. But one of their goaltenders had been injured during the pregame warm-up. The commentators opened the broadcast, setting up the game about to be played. But before the game was discussed, they had a message. The Flames had asked the broadcasters to send a message to a minor league goalie named Mike Vernon. They needed Vernon to come to the arena to back up the goaltender on this night. Apparently, Vernon was watching the game with some friends when he heard the message. By the end of the first period, a young Mike Vernon came out of the locker room and sat on the bench with the rest of the Flames. I have often wondered what it felt like to hear your name called out on television and have your plans for the evening blown up in that way.

Amaziah, the priest at Bethel, is upset with Amos. It is important to note that Amaziah was compromised long before Amos began his prophesies. Being a priest at Bethel meant he had left the faith represented by the Temple in Jerusalem, exchanging it for the faith represented by the Golden Calves set up at Bethel and Dan in the northern Kingdom of Israel. Amaziah was concerned about his own position and likely felt that Amos was threatening his job. As a result, Amaziah sent a message to King Jeroboam II, accusing Amos of attempting to raise an army to oppose the King’s purposes. Amaziah tells the Prophet that he was not wanted in Israel. If he wanted to cause trouble, he was welcome to cause it back home in Judah, but not here.

Amos responds that he is not a prophet. He had no desire to prophesy in either Israel or Judah. He was not a prophet, nor was he the son of a prophet. He was a shepherd and would love to return to tending his sheep and the sycamore trees back home. But God had called his name and given him a message for Israel, even though he was just an amateur, and not a trained theologian. Amos would not stop prophesying because a professional priest didn’t like the message. As long as God was giving him a message, he would continue to speak it, despite the opinions of the professional religious leaders of his day.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Amos 8

You put off the day of disaster and bring near a reign of terror. – Amos 6:3

Today's Scripture Reading (April 1, 2026): Amos 6

His name was Joseph. The boy was just one of Jacob's twelve sons, the same Jacob who would be renamed Israel. Joseph was a spoiled child. He was the son of his father's favorite wife and was treated as such. Until the day that dad gave him a beautiful multicolored coat, and his brothers decided that they had had enough. A plan was developed by the brothers to kill Joseph, but they instead decided to sell him into slavery. For the next portion of his life, that was Joseph's reality. He was sold and resold. He eventually became the property of an Egyptian official. Then Joseph was accused of raping his boss's wife, and spent the next few years in jail.

One of Joseph's talents was interpreting dreams with God's help. He had interpreted dreams when he was back home with his brothers, and he did so while in prison. Eventually, the Pharaoh had a dream, and Joseph was brought from prison to interpret it. The Pharaoh might have been Amenemhat III (1860 – 1814 B.C.E.). What makes Amenemhat III a good candidate for Joseph's unnamed Pharaoh is that improvements in agricultural practices and administration occurred during this time, changes that correspond well with the story of Joseph.

Joseph interpreted the Pharaoh's dreams and warned of a time of surplus and a time of famine that was in Egypt's near future. Joseph's advice to the Pharaoh was to save grain during the time of plenty so that there would be food for the people during the coming famine. It was good advice then, and it is good advice now.

Amos prophesies during a time of economic plenty in Israel. But the prophet sees a time of famine approaching, much as Joseph did in his day. Maybe that is not much of a surprise. The ancient world experienced predictable periods of plenty and famine. And, much like Joseph taught in Egypt centuries earlier, the expectation was that people would save during times of plenty so they could survive times of famine.

However, that wasn't what Amos's Israel was doing. Instead, they were spending in the time of plenty as if the time of famine would never come. Amos felt he needed to remind them of the principle of plenty and famine so they would be prepared for the approaching time of scarcity. And it is advice that I think we all need to take seriously. The wise person puts away for times of famine and is prepared for sickness, job loss, and even retirement. I know, it is hard, but life comes with the good and the bad, and if we understand this principle, we will be ready when the day of scarcity arrives in our lives. 

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Amos 7

He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns midnight into dawn and darkens day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out over the face of the land—the LORD is his name. – Amos 5:8

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 31, 2026): Amos 5

We have watched the heavens from almost the very beginning of time. We noticed that when the sun, the greater light, was in the sky, our world was illuminated. When the moon shone, the lesser light, it was darker. If both great lights were absent from the sky, it would be even darker, though the stars would still give us some light. While there was one greater light and one lesser light, there were many stars. And so we looked and began to see patterns in the sky: the constellations. The stars began to tell us stories.

Ever since my early morning paper deliveries, Orion the Hunter has been one of my favorites. As I began my route, I loved looking up at the sky and seeing Orion above my head, imagining that the sword hanging from his belt could be drawn in times of danger.

Pleiades was another ancient group of stars, though it went by different names at different times around the world. In Japan, the star cluster is historically known as “Mutsuraboshi,” which means “six stars.” Today, it is known as “subaru” which means “to cluster together.” A quick look at the Japanese automotive company’s logo reveals the origin of the name with its familiar six stars clustering together.

Outside of Japan, most onlookers have noticed seven stars in the cluster instead of six. Therefore, the cluster has been known as the Seven Mothers, the Seven Sisters, or simply the seven.

Biblical interpreters have helped us understand what the author is talking about. I am unsure of what Amos would have called these stars, but he uses the word “keseel,” which means any constellation, but especially the burly one we call “Orion,” and “Keemaw,” which simply means “the seven stars.” By pointing to the Pleiades, the translators have helped us distinguish it from the other seven-star clusters that shine above.

Amos’s point is that it is God who has placed these lights in the sky, and so he is the God on whom we can still depend.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Amos 6

“I gave you empty stomachs in every city and lack of bread in every town, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the LORD. – Amos 4:6

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 30, 2026): Amos 4

Have you ever been hungry? I know that after a long day, we often say we are starving, but the truth is, we are not really even hungry, let alone starving. We could go much longer without food; in fact, many do in various parts of the world. But I have been hungry, especially during my college days. There were times when I simply couldn’t afford food, and so I didn’t eat.

I remember a conflict I had with a roommate. In this case, I had been busy and hadn’t gone shopping. My roommate, who had borrowed and even destroyed many of my belongings, had left for a month-long work trip out of town. He left, and I felt I could use some food, so I went to the cupboard to see if there was anything left. I didn’t have anything, at least not anything I felt like eating, but my roommate had left a few tins of canned spaghetti. Not the best meal, but it was easy to make, and my roommate was gone for a month, so I had plenty of time to replace the can. I made myself some lunch, intending to do some grocery shopping that afternoon. The problem wasn’t that I didn’t go shopping, but that my roommate changed his mind and didn’t go away for work. He came home while I was eating his spaghetti, and he was none too pleased with his roommate. I did go shopping that afternoon and bought him a tin of spaghetti.

Amos speaks to the women of Samaria, the Capital City of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. And Amos speaks with a theme. The prophet recognizes the trouble the Northern Kingdom has experienced and assures them that the trouble they have gone through had a purpose. Every struggle had been intended to bring the nation back to God. From the moment the divided kingdoms emerged, the north chose to step away from the faith of the people centered on the Temple in Jerusalem.

And so, God had allowed their choice to go it alone without him. He allowed the struggle because he loved them and wanted to bring them back to him. But the people had refused to return to the God who had brought them out of Egypt, and continued to follow the idols that their kings and priests had placed before them. They experienced hunger, but did not recognize it as an invitation to return to the faith of their fathers.

God still invites us back into faith. But we have to hear the invitation, and often we don’t.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Amos 5

When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the people tremble? When disaster comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it? – Amos 3:6

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 29, 2026): Amos 3

Why does God allow evil to happen? It is an important question, one that we seem to dance around when people ask it. Usually, I admit, even my answer is that God didn’t choose evil; we did. In every war, someone fires the first shot, and there are reasons why we go to war, some of which those in power seldom want to admit. There is a feeling in World War I that Europe was waiting for a reason to go to war. However, the framers of the conflict couldn’t imagine the devastating trench conflict that terrorized the territory for four years. But God didn’t do that. Kings and political leaders chose that path. I recently read a conversation between two soldiers, one from each side of the First World War, and according to the interview, conducted in the early days of the war, both soldiers felt that their side was on the right side of history, fighting for peace and freedom. That doesn’t surprise me. Defending the (fill in the blank with your country’s demonym here) way of life is the reason we are given whenever we go to war. I was recently reminded of a quote from former American President Jimmy Carter. “War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other’s children” (Jimmy Carter).

So, we need to return to our question: why does God allow evil? Right now, several wars are being waged on our blue marble, and according to Carter, wars are always evil. The keyword here is “allow.” I am not saying evil originates with God; it doesn’t, it finds its genesis in us. But God still allows it. The understanding in the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) is that God could have prevented it, so if he allows it, he caused it by not preventing it.

I am not sure that I know the answer to the question. Sometimes, going through times dominated by evil has caused me to rethink and reaffirm my faith. Sometimes these moments have strengthened me. Often, it has driven me to my knees in prayer for those who are affected. I would prefer to live in a world without an Adolf Hitler or even a Jeffrey Epstein. I dream of a world where we fight wars by exchanging flags and a bottle of liquor on a remote Island, as Canada and Denmark did in their most recent conflict over a piece of land. But I trust that there is a reason, even if it is just a reminder that this world is not my home, and there is something more for me in a place that God has prepared for you and for me.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Amos 4

They trample on the heads of the poor as on the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed. Father and son use the same girl and so profane my holy name. – Amos 2:7

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 28, 2026): Amos 2

Jeffrey Epstein’s sins are still coloring our world almost a decade after his death. In Europe, heads are finally beginning to roll. Everyone seems to be doing their best to distance themselves from the sexual predator. It is too bad that more of them hadn’t fled in the days when Epstein was alive, rich, and powerful.

I have no idea how these men, and a few women, couldn’t have known that associating with Epstein would become problematic at some point, except that they were lured into the false comfort that the rules could not touch those who had both money and power. Epstein was a snake in the grass, but he was a rich snake in the grass. Sexual laws might “apply to thee but not to me.” It is an age-old double standard.

In Europe, the double standard seems to be cracking, but in North America, and especially in the United States, this false belief seems to be holding. The warning I have for my North American friends is that, as the wealth gap widens in our society, this hypocrisy will likely spark a revolution at some point. As President Trump attacked Iran and invited the people of Iran to rise up and take control of their government, one commentator asked an important question in this age of hypocrisy. President Trump, would you allow your son, Barron Trump, to be one of those who would rise up if you were in Iran, or is that just the job of people with low incomes? It is an important question. Wars tend to be fought by people experiencing poverty and other visible minorities. It is one of the few paths that young men and women might see as a way out of their economic situations. The rich tend to run wars, but those experiencing poverty are the ones carrying their guns into battle.

Amos’s prophecy against Israel is that they are not a just society. They trample over the poor as a hiker walks on the dust of the earth. There is an active hypocrisy alive and well in their culture, where the rules that apply to the wealthy don’t apply to those without money or power. And apparently, Jeffrey Epstein was alive and well in the ancient world, and as a result, fathers and sons were having sexual relations with the same girl. It was an intolerable situation that went against God’s expectations for the nation, and a behavior that had to stop.

Bad behavior tends to catch up with us. It is something we who live in the Jeffrey Epstein era need to remember. And even if it doesn’t, God knows, and that should be enough to ensure that we stand up for right and oppose anything immoral or unjust, because God’s expectations of us haven’t changed. And our money and power will not save us in His Courts of Justice.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Amos 3