THE ENERGY OF LIFE IN ADVERSE CIRCUMSTANCES
[p. 250] THE ENERGY OF LIFE IN ADVERSE CIRCUMSTANCES
I have been thinking of the word ‘green’ in these two scriptures. In Hosea it indicates the result of the ministry of that prophet. His ministry brings out in a striking way the love of Jehovah for His people. God had loved them from their childhood, as He says, “When Israel was a child, then I loved him”. Hosea 11:1. God, as known in Christ, is the same yesterday, today and for ever. He loves us if we turn our backs, as he does while our faces are turned towards Him, and this prophet works out the faithfulness of divine love as it pursues us so as to recover us.
The words in the passage read indicate complete recovery. A truly recovered soul is like a green fir tree. That is, he is so possessed of the energy of life that the effect of it is seen in all weathers. The fir retains its greenness in all weathers. It is the change of seasons that brings out the nature of the tree in this respect. Most lose their covering of green, and so it is that the winter tests the tree; and correspondingly with the history of Christians, the adverse blasts of winter test the strength of our spiritual life. From the north cometh the cold; the energy of life within withstands its withering blast. In the presence of adverse circumstances, the truly recovered soul retains his greenness; in the days of adversity as in the days of his prosperity he is marked by the energy of life.
And so it occurred to me to call attention to this saying of Ephraim’s. He says, “What have I to do any more with idols?” Hosea 14:8. Earlier in the chapter Israel is enjoined to take with them words and turn to the Lord. “Say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously so will we render the calves of our lips”, Hosea 14:2. These words are becoming in the lips of those whose faces are turned towards Jehovah. As received graciously they would render the calves of their lips; that is, God has His praise from those truly recovered. And then they say, “Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses” Hosea 14:3 — meaning that they will not rely on natural energy in man, something we are all prone to do. But it is only reliance upon the flesh. Horses represent the power of the flesh — “their horses are flesh and not spirit”. Isaiah 31:3. Anyone riding on a horse is above the level of the ordinary and he knows it. The believer as turned to God renounces the world (the Assyrian) and the flesh.
We are now on the highroad to recovery. No spiritual person can have any doubt as to one whose language corresponds with these words, and so on down the chapter as you will observe. “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely”. Hosea 14:4. This is God’s word, as Israel’s words are given earlier. Further, Jehovah says, “Mine anger is turned away from him. I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree”. Hosea 14:4 - 6. These are what I may call the potentialities of a recovered brother. When I speak of a recovered brother I speak of all of us, and one is inclined to measure up to see if these potentialities have become actualities.
You see here how the green is produced: “I will be as the dew unto Israel”. Hosea 14:5. Then, he shall grow as a lily. The Lord comes into His garden to gather lilies. The Lord Himself condescends to describe the lily: “Consider the lilies how they grow”. Matthew 6:28. No doubt He had the saints in His mind. The lily was in itself a beautiful feature of divine creation, but how much more beauty marks the believer as adorned by the Holy Spirit! As the dew comes down, the Christian is invigorated and beautified: he grows as the lily.
How beautiful in the Lord’s eye. He says, “I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these”. Matthew 6:29.
“He shall cast forth his roots as Lebanon”. Hosea 14:5. No doubt reference is made here to the stability which marks the truly recovered person. We are to be rooted and grounded in love; Ephesians 3: 17. Then it goes on to say further, “His branches shall spread”, Hosea 14:6 which means, I suppose, his influence. The influence of a Christian, and the means whereby he may protect others, are suggested in his branches. As it says, “His branches shall spread; and his beauty shall be as the olive tree”. Hosea 14:6. One loves to see in the saints the extension of spiritual influence. The apostle says, “By the grace of God I am what I am”. 1 Corinthians 15:10. His measure reached very far. Except the Lord Himself, no one has exerted such heavenly influence as Paul. The Lord looks for this extension of spiritual influence in us. It goes on to say, “His beauty shall be as the olive tree”. Hosea 14:6. Men generally seek to shine in natural beauty, but there is no beauty in this respect; all must be according to Christ, and His beauty is put on us by the Spirit. The olive is universally a type of the Spirit, and it beautifies us according to God’s standard.
It says further, “his smell as Lebanon”. Hosea 14:6. You will note the references are very simple, but the word ‘smell’ is very suggestive. It is used in Scripture widely, and here the smell is of Lebanon. What marks the root comes out in the odour. Jacob smelled as “a field which Jehovah hath blessed”, Genesis 27:27, and Paul was a sweet odour of Christ to God; 2 Corinthians 2:15. Then it goes on to say, “They shall return and sit under his shadow; they shall revive as corn, and blossom as the vine: the renown thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon”. Hosea 14: 7. Wine is said to gladden the heart of God and man, and hence the reference here to the truly [p. 253] recovered brother; the truly recovered soul spiritually gladdens the saints. Christ was the embodiment of all that is heavenly and spiritually stimulating to create gladness for our hearts, and also for the heart of God.
Ephraim shall say, “What have I to do any more with idols?” Hosea 14:8. And God heard him and observed him, and then Ephraim says, “I am like a green fir tree”. Hosea 14:8. I mention that because we all droop so in adversity and misrepresent what is heavenly. The thought with God is that the energy of life is but enhanced by adversity. Take Paul and Silas in the prison; Acts 16: 26. What a scene of spiritual power! Truly the green fir tree was manifested, giving evidence of life in most terrible physical sufferings. Stephen also maintained the green in the greatest adversity; as stoned he knelt down and said, “Lay not this sin to their charge”. Acts 7:60.
Ephraim says. “I am like a green fir tree”, Hosea 14:8 and then God says, “From me is thy fruit found”. Hosea 14:8. He says, as it were, There is no lack, I am the Source of all fruit. It is just a question of how much he can bear. “From me”, He says, “is thy fruit”. Hosea 14:8. The fruit all comes from God; the point is to maintain perpetual greenness. It is easy to summer with the brethren, but when things go ill, it is then one is tested; as Paul wintered with the saints you would see the evidence of life in him as at any other time.
I read in the Psalms just to call attention to the olive tree. It says, “I am like a green olive tree in the house of God”. Psalm 52:8. The house of God tests us as to our spiritual growth. Men shine in the council chambers of this world by wit and learning, but in the house of God these things fail you. Let us learn that lesson once for all. “I am like a green olive tree in the house of God”. Psalm 52:8. Here is a man who shines in grace and intelligence among the saints. In the house of God all must be of the Spirit — the flesh profits nothing. Paul said, “In the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue”. 1 Corinthians 14:19. The greenness of the olive refers to the energy of life in spirited grace and intelligence, which marks those whom God would have to serve Him in His house. The olive tree honours God and man. It refused to abandon this service to become ruler over the trees Judges 9. In this there is a rebuke for all who aspire to prominence among the people of God. The spiritual man retains his divinely given place, and thinks only of God and the edification of the saints in his service. He is a green olive tree in the house of God.