The Whole Counsel

I am reminded of our shortcomings as I read a verse from Hosea this week. There are some Christian churches that do not teach "the whole counsel of God." That is sad. The flock will never hear from Hosea. You will today. But let's first start in Acts.

"For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God." - Acts 20:27

What does that mean?

It means EVERYTHING - Genesis to Revelation. Everything God told us in His Word, the Bible. Including Hosea!

"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness." - 2 Timothy 3:16

There are some churches that do not venture very far outside their conformable little bubble of the four Gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. That is a mistake. Just one OT verse, one NT verse, and a Gospel verse? There's so much more!

The four Gospels, the first chapter of Acts, and Revelation are the only places where we can find the words of Jesus, right? There ARE other times Jesus speaks, but that's a different story. For know, remember that God is manifested in three parts - God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Getting back to Hosea, here's a verse that will get you thinking and wondering. There are many choice bits to chew on in this verse. The WHOLE THING is CHOICE! Here's it is.

"After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence." - Hosea 6:2

Two days - that doesn't sound like much until you read this verse from 2nd Peter.

"But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day." - 2 Peter 3:8

So, TWO days are like 2,000 years? Hold that thought.

Back in Jesus' day, "teachers" began teaching at age 30, which Jesus did.

“Jesus himself was about thirty years old when He began his ministry.” - Luke 3:23

He taught for approximately three and a half years, according to Gotquestions.org. His earthly ministry ended in 33AD.

Now, taking 33AD, and going back to Hosea (with 2nd Peter in mind) we add 2,000 years to 33AD and we get 2033 AD.

Wow! That's pretty close to where we are in time right now! It get's even closer.

Subtract the seven year Tribulation period. What do you get then? Umm, 2026. Interesting. Again, a lot of these dates and numbers are approximate. Then you've got several kinds of calendars, etc. As Jesus said, "No one will know the day or the hour" of His coming.

Back to Hosea. "on the third day He will restore us." Jesus already did that when He sacrificed His life for ours and rose from the dead. On the third day. What other kind of "restoration" might there be in this timeline though? The rapture of The Church? Hmm. And then there's this:

"that we may live in His presence."

The Millenial Kingdom?

"Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years." - Revelation 20:6

We live in an exciting time! How blessed are we to be here and now, waiting for His soon return.

As Jesus Himself said, "There will be signs." - Luke 21:25

The signs are everywhere my friends. Look up!