Following Judah's Lion

God's Heart for the Prodigal

Israel was considered the Northern Kingdom which had split after the death of Solomon. It consisted of ten tribes excluding the Tribes of Judah and Benjamin which were considered as the Southern Kingdom. Israel had become prosperous and thrived in the commercial trade exchanges with many nations including and most predominantly Assyria. They had for all intensive purposes walked away from Jehovah, even constructing temples for Baal. In essence the Northern Kingdom was consumed with hedonism and idolatry and spiritual adultery. God was sorely displeased with them and eventually the entire kingdom would be conquered by the wicked Assyrians.

Throughout the book of Hosea God pronounces judgment and warning to His people, even directing Hosea to marry a harlot as an example of how Israel had committed such spiritual fornication against Jehovah. Just as the Southern Kingdom was commonly referred to as Judah, so the Northern Kingdom was referred to as either Israel or Ephraim which was the largest tribe. God becomes so frustrated with Ephraim’s backsliding and idolatry that in Hosea 5 verse 17 God says “Ephraim is joined to his idols, let him alone”. Can you imagine? The Lord God their Savior says He wants to leave them alone with their idols.

Much of the modern church in some ways resembles the ways of Ephraim, the spiritual adultery grows every year. Not just doctrinal compromise, but a fast paced pursuit of wealth and ambition that seeks the things of this world and not the eternal things of God. Immorality is rampant in the church and huge segments of young people are walking away from Christ as soon as they are on their own. Preachers are caught in infidelity and many give little time to their messages, in fact purchasing such messages in the many websites that now offer packaged sermons to the “busy” preacher today. And some in the congregation can spend Saturday night indulging in questionable places of entertainment and yet enjoy the worship on Sunday morning. The evangelical community is in spiritual trouble.

But there is another side to today’s spiritual battle that some in the church have refused to see. The Prophet Hosea obeyed the command of God and married a harlot and he suffered sacrifice in obedience to God and for Israel’s sake. Of course God was displeased with Israel and their spiritual harlotry, even saying to leave him alone. We cannot imagine how the Father God feels when his children who have known Him and His goodness go after the things of this world, but God has been gracious enough to give us a glimpse that we can understand. But in the midst of judgment and displeasure, and even after saying He would leave them alone, God says, “How shall I give thee up, Ephraim?. How shall I deliver thee, Israel?”. (Hos.11:8) God’s love prevails and He opens His heart to let us see that He cannot bear to reject His people, and indeed He never will.

A son works in his father’s fields faithfully. He is obedient to his father and works diligently to please his father who owns these fields. His father loves this son and appreciates his labor in his fields. But almost every day, this son reminds his father about the nature of his brother’s disobedience and rebellion. “Remember, Dad”, he says, “He is somewhere wasting your money and ruining his own life and your name”. This older son hardly ever misses a chance to rehearse his younger brother’s sins to his father in a not so subtle gesture to substantiate and showcase his own faithfulness. This older son refuses to see what he has been given and his own weaknesses every bit as deep as his brother’s. No, he just adds to his father’s pain and grief, because his father still loves his younger son and continues to hold out the possibility of his return. The older son wants no talk of his brother’s return and he will not join his father in any longing for that day. In a way, the older brother hopes his brother never comes back.

The father stands and peers at the horizon, tears blur his vision as he strains to see. What is he looking for and why does he wear a worn look of many days gone by? There are many new wrinkles in his face, wrinkles of love and wrinkles of concern, wrinkles of anticipation and wrinkles of forgiveness. But still he waits and looks…and loves…and longs. Suddenly there appears a figure silhouetted against the blue horizon, and this figure is slowing getting ever closer. The fathers eyes squint and his body tenses. The figure continues to move toward him and two eyes of love are riveted. This figure looks tired and walks with exhaustion, an exhaustion that speaks both of a long journey and the rigors of a sinful lifestyle now left behind.

The figure now, still a long way off, comes into recognizable range and the father dares to see him. Is it…could it be…it…is! Instantly the father’s feet begin to move, first a walk, then a jog, and finally running faster than an old man should. The son does not see the father approaching for he is looking downward in weariness and shame. The son looks up as he hears someone yelling and he sees his father upon him. Before he can say anything his father is hugging and kissing his neck, and while still out of breath the father is weeping and expressing unspeakable love and grace to the son he has so long been waiting for.

The son is overwhelmed at his father’s unbridled welcoming embrace, and he rapidly feels the shame and regret come up before him. His father doesn’t even realize what he has done including leaving him in the first place. The son bows his head, still wet from the father’s kisses, and he admits his awful sin and professes his utter unworthiness, not only of this undeserved welcome, but of even being called his son. His father would have every right to make him a spectacle and an object lesson of what happens when you sin against your authority and especially you own father.

But the father wipes away his tears, turns to his servants who have followed him, and he commands them to prepare a feast. “A feast?”, thinks the son. And as the son listens he hears his father tell his servants that this wayward son is to be the guest of honor at this feast, whose significance demands the fatted calf with all the trimmings. A flood of emotions fill the son and he hears his father shout to the on looking servants, “Rejoice, my son was dead and is alive, he was lost and is found!”.

We as the church have severely limited the love and forgiveness the Heavenly Father has for his backslidden children. God says he is married to the backslider, and as taught by the Great Shepherd Himself God is ever calling and vigilant to see his wayward children return to his loving side. Moses, just a man, asked the Lord to take his life and spare the rebellious children of Israel. Are we so arrogant as to relegate God’s compassion and redemptive love as less than a man’s? Why are we so quick to pounce, so quick to disassociate, and so quick to uncover the sins of our wayward and sinful brethren? That is not the spirit of Christ, that is the response of a self righteous religious system whose architect is the older brother. Are we so frightened of authentic and dangerous compassion that we must insure that all know we disapprove of the sins we so carelessly expose? Have we forgotten the unfathomable grace wherein we all walk, or the mercies that prevent our destruction? Do we find solace under the wings of the Accuser more than the everlasting wings of the Redeemer?

Do not think backsliders will go uncorrected and escape unscathed by their sin, no one does. All of us have experienced the correction of our Heavenly Father, but His rod seems to meet out pain, direction, and a love that the world cannot understand. It is not our calling to insure punishment, and it is absolutely not our calling to shout the sins of our fallen brethren to the world. Political enemies are ready to pounce upon the sins of their opponents for expediency, but that is not the heart of the Savior. Ours is to bind up the wounds, lift up the fallen, and never break a bruised reed. Ours is to watch and pray, fast and weep, and call with love and concern to those who have walked away from their first love.

I call on the body of Christ to take up the mantle of redemption and restoration as it pertains to the prodigals among us. Not just to be willing to forgive, but to be looking and longing to forgive and restore. There will be plenty of time to deal with the ramifications of their sin later, but let us set up the welcome home party around the prayer closet in which we tearfully beg the Spirit to return them to us. The Accuser will continue to condemn the very ones he deceived. The world will continue to mock those whose lives betray their profession of Christ. But we, His body, must be the source of forgiveness. Not just doctrinal forgiveness, but a forgiveness whose revelation astounds the world as they see how God’s love and grace can be active in a broken and rebellious life.

Dear Prodigal,

We do not know where you are or what you are doing, but we do know you have left the loving safety of our Heavenly Father. No one knows better than you how far you are from your Savior’s will for your life, and we want you to know our hearts are broken for you. We pray for your return always, and our love for you has not diminished, and it never will.

Be mindful that when you desire to return to walking with Christ, we are ready and eager to help you and welcome you back. We do not condemn you, but we also know that you must be aware that you are not where you should be. We are listening to every phone ring, every door bell, every car that pulls into the driveway, and we have a setting for you at every dinner table. Our love for you cannot be put into words, but His love will always be eternal. We pray you will both see clearly the mirage of this world, as well as one day hear His voice calling you by name.

The Body of Christ