“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good …”
(Ps. 34:8, NKJV)
A brief recap: If we see Hosea in typological terms, as a representative of Jesus the Christ, and he is called “the son of Beeri”, or “welling-forth,” it is clear that when we interpret Hos. 11:4 as a key, that we should remember that the idea of calling and purpose in Christ is of the utmost importance. In this teaching, this mystery unfolds further.
Readers of these teachings will remember that we are trying to articulate what it means to seek. In the important word of the prophet Hosea it is a word we find often; in fact, we could argue that it is a key concept for understanding this typological prophesy. For instance, in Hos. 3:5 – “Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the latter days.”
By now we know what exactly the “latter days” mean, that this epoch commenced when Jesus ascended to the heavens, and the Holy Spirit was poured out, which is to say the (second) coming of Jesus to the earth. (Read the teaching of Day 1340-1341 again.) In the teaching of Day 1537-1539 we also explained, in great depth, what the implications are for the Bride in terms of the throne of David, that all born-again believers are called in Christ Jesus, to sit on the throne of the kingdom of God.
In this process there will also come about a revelation concerning the goodness of the Lord. God has an enormous problem with people who are lukewarm, not cold, nor hot (Rev. 3:15-16). Remember the clear warning of Zeph. 1:12: “And it shall come to pass at that time that I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and punish the men who are settled in complacency, who say in their heart, ‘The Lord will not do good, nor will He do evil.’” The sediment of unbelief, the cares of life, hardness of heart, disobedience, the terrible consequences of man’s sinful nature, and an inability to understand what the will and plan of God is, causes us, like Eli (1 Sam. 4:18), to become “old and heavy”, and not be able to see or understand God’s goodness. This is why David invites us in Ps. 34:8 – “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him!” There is a particular wealth in His goodness (Rom. 2:4) that we do not know.
2 Pet. 1:3 makes an important link between calling, glory, and God’s goodness: “He has called us to receive his own glory and goodness!” (NLT). This is certainly confirmed by the request Moses makes of God in Ex. 33:18: “Please, show me Your glory.” In verse 19 we read how this was manifested: “And God said, I will make all My goodness pass before you …” (AMP). The knowledge of glory that needs to spread over the entire earth (Hab. 2:14) is undeniably knowledge of his goodness!
There is much more to say about this, but we will return to this characteristic of God at a later point, and discuss how it is fulfilled through what He does.
- Selah: Do you believe that God is only good?
- Read: 12-13; Jam. 1
- Memorise: 1:17 (note this synchronicity!)
