The Day of New Beginnings
I Will Not Leave You as Orphans
The Old Testament is filled with references to God’s grace and compassion toward the orphan. “Defend the widow, the orphan and the alien” is a phrase used many times. Webster’s dictionary defines an orphan as one whose parents are dead. In other words, one who has no parental guidance or covering. An orphan is on his own, so to speak. There is no lineage or authority directing his path. Why is it that God would place such an emphasis on this? Why was God’s mercy and grace so great toward the orphan? Undoubtedly, God’s mercy embraced the literal orphan. It was through the family or bloodline that the Israelites were taken care of. Such was the case with Ruth. Without living relatives, life was bleak.
But there is a deeper spiritual truth here. It is on a spiritual plane that God’s compassion and mercy toward the orphan is made clear. The last chapter in Hosea reveals it.
Hosea 14:
1 ¶ Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, For you have stumbled because of your iniquity.
2 Take words with you and return to the LORD. Say to Him, "Take away all iniquity And receive us graciously, That we may present the fruit of our lips.
3 "Assyria will not save us, We will not ride on horses; Nor will we say again, 'Our god,' To the work of our hands; For in You the orphan finds mercy."
4 ¶ I will heal their apostasy, I will love them freely, For My anger has turned away from them.
5 I will be like the dew to Israel; He will blossom like the lily, And he will take root like the cedars of Lebanon.
6 His shoots will sprout, And his beauty will be like the olive tree And his fragrance like the cedars of Lebanon.
7 Those who live in his shadow Will again raise grain, And they will blossom like the vine. His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.
8 ¶ O Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and look after you. I am like a luxuriant cypress; From Me comes your fruit.
9 Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; Whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the LORD are right, And the righteous will walk in them, But transgressors will stumble in them.
In verse three when Israel says, “For in You the orphan finds mercy,” Israel is speaking of itself. The entire book of Hosea deals with Israel’s unfaithfulness and God’s desire to show mercy. Chapter 14 is a prophetic vision of the coming fruitfulness of God’s people. Mystically speaking, every reference to the orphan in the Old Testament refers to Israel. God’s compassion is not so much for the natural orphan as it is for His chosen people. The long history of Israel in the Old Testament is one of unfaithfulness, idolatry and disobedience. Only occasionally were there periods of obedience and blessing. Some kings walked in the ways of the Lord, but they were few and far between. Spiritually speaking, Israel was an orphan. They rejected the overtures of God to be a father to them. “A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows, Is God in His holy habitation (Psalm 68:5).”
Verses four through nine must be interpreted on a spiritual plane. They have never been fulfilled to natural Israel. Today it is those in Christ who are the people of God. “For you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY (1st Pet. 2:10).”
Unfortunately, the term orphan can also be applied to much of Christianity as well. That doesn’t mean they don’t have salvation or that God doesn’t love them, but rather they have not entered into that “Father-son” relationship with the Lord. Jesus spoke of this relationship throughout the gospel of John.
John 14:
1* ¶ "Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.
2* "In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.
3* "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.
4* ¶ "And you know the way where I am going."
5* Thomas *said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?"
6* Jesus *said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
7* "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him."
8* Philip *said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us."
9* Jesus *said to him, "Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, 'Show us the Father'?
10* "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.
11 "Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.
12* ¶ "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.
13* "Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
Jesus told His disciples that He was preparing a place for them (vs.1-3). The Lord said that where He was, there they would be also. In verse five Thomas questions Jesus about where He is going. And then in verse six Jesus responds, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” Jesus was going to the Father! In verse seven Jesus says that if they had known Him, they would have known the Father. “From now on you know Him and have seen Him.” Jesus was speaking of a new relationship the disciples were to come into with Himself. It was to be on a higher plane than what they had yet experienced. Philip also questioned Jesus. He didn’t understand. Neither does much of Christianity.
It’s God’s desire to bring many sons to glory (Heb. 2:10). The term “son” implies a relationship. There’s a father-son relationship we are to enter into with the Lord. But it doesn’t come automatically just because we have accepted Jesus as our savior. Hebrews 12 makes it clear that only those whom the Lord has scourged and chastened are considered as sons, otherwise the term illegitimate is applied. Orphan is another way of expressing the same thing.
Back in Hosea 14 God says, “I will heal their apostasy, I will love them freely, For My anger has turned away from them. I will be like the dew to Israel; He will blossom like the lily, And he will take root like the cedars of Lebanon. His shoots will sprout, And his beauty will be like the olive tree And his fragrance like the cedars of Lebanon.” The Lord wants to heal the apostasy of His people. He says that He will love them freely. It’s the time for God’s mercy to be manifested to and through a people.
There is a ministry coming forth at the present time designed to bring God’s people into a Father-son relationship. Jesus alluded to it in John 14:
16* "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;
17* that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.
18* ¶ "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
19* "After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also.
20* "In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.
This ministry of the Holy Spirit is coming forth now through the body of Christ. God has prepared, and is preparing, a channel through which all His people are reconciled back to Him in the relationship He desires.
2nd Cor. 5:
18* Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,
19* namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
20* Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
What is Paul talking about? He is writing this letter to Christians. What does he mean, “be reconciled to God?” He is entreating the Corinthians not to accept a relationship with the Lord on a lesser level than what God intended. He nails this down in chapter six. At the end of his rebuke and exhortation to the Corinthians, Paul exclaims:
14* Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?
15 Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?
16* Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, "I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.
17* "Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE," says the Lord. "AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you.
18* "And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me," Says the Lord Almighty.