Through Hell to Preach Heaven

By: Travis W. Lewis

February 9, 2013

Of a sort, he was a preacher-man. His story is obviously true, written by his own hand and miraculously preserved for posterity. Compared to his contemporaries, he was a good man. Materially speaking, times were good; the whole country was thriving, the likes of which no one could remember. At least, most everyone thought so. Countless families of his generation who had known only the grueling toil of farming had moved to the cities, and a thriving middle class had taken shape. Apparently, the family of the young preacher-man was part of that class. His keen intellect was complemented with a good education, yet, as valuable as each would be in his future pursuits, both would only afford him an ability to interpret and comprehend the unhappy times to come in his life.

As abundance bloomed and grew, society surrounding the preacher joyfully and naturally took to the more carefree life it offered. And two basic mistakes ensued. First, as months grew into years, memories of the divine lifeline, which had been so apparent when times were hard, slowly faded and were replaced with the fascination of newly found prosperity. And it showed in their worship – a little updating here, a minor change there, then frequent tweaks that appealed to the eye, ear, and emotions alike. Yet, combined over time, all eventually changed genuine worship into a mere skeleton of yesteryear. Second, as the core of their past form of worship was hollowed out and left behind, it was concurrently replaced with practices that would have, not so long ago, been rejected out of hand. The result was that the worship by those who claimed to be God’s beloved people had slowly taken the resemblance of what, not so long before, would have been found totally repulsive. Routine conversation became concentric to contemporary concerns, acts of sheer entertainment substituted for solemn worship, along with popular attire in worship becoming suggestive of the unbridled indulgence in their everyday life. Their religious leaders, having slowly become politicians themselves within their own cliques, chose to follow the crowd. After all, they were the “leaders”! Right?

The result was that the lifeline through which genuine joy had once flowed became slowly constricted and, in time, choked off altogether. And few, if any, seemed to either notice or to care. In the view of their spiritually blinded eyes, skies were clear, and the winds of life were at their back. Yet one, maybe only one at first, took notice. His name was Hosea, and he surely cared!

As Hosea’s conviction to warn overcame his dread of the anguish to surely come if he chose to stand in the gap where no other seemed willing to occupy, his message began to pour forth. Somehow, he must convince them of the depth to which fellowship with their faithful God had fallen. Though they were “worshipping” in the way they were convinced that God had intended all along, as a wakeup, their position was described as “whoring” from God. Such radically strong language must have been nothing less than startling, but such was necessary to generate alertness to the rain of God’s wrath that was approaching, Seemingly, to allow Hosea to personally experience the depth of pain and hurt and shame they were heaping on God, Hosea was told to actually marry and reproduce children by the prostitute, Gomer. Only this extreme would convince Hosea of the grief and vexation with which God now looked upon His people. Hosea’s commitment to warn Israel must not recoil when came the rage of neighbors, friends and especially their revered religious leaders. To marry a “wife of whoredoms,”; to reproduce “children of whoredoms”; followed by tagging his own children with names indicating enmity with God would stoke the fire in the breast of Hosea to not flinch as he preached.

Near the end of Hosea’s long and anguish-filled story, he retrieves his formerly unfaithful wife, forgives her for the misery and shame she has wreaked upon his reputation and family, and takes her back into his home.

Hosea’s story is only one of many recorded for the benefit of God’s people who drift away, whether as individuals or congregations. Such records bear witness of the grief our worldly allurements bring to the One we call “Master.” Yet, all biblical narratives, such as the one of Hosea, light the way to finding Him again. Often beginning with a single individual willing to step forward and assume the role filled by Hosea almost three millennia ago to remind us of our straying, errant way, we must consider the word of warning. Then, pray for wisdom to understand and for brokenness that leads to repentance. Remorse and repentance invariably lead to a desire to know the way of return.

Whether within the privacy of one’s own soul or in a group of believers, the return begins when the Holy Spirit speaks through a heart that has pledged, “Here am I, Lord, send me.” For both the messenger and the souls to whom the Word goes out, the path often leads “through hell to preach heaven.” Along this trail, there are no come-lately shortcuts. Its benchmarks have become largely overgrown by the foulness of glorified yet pagan-like practices. Be that as it may, pure and acceptable worship remains the same and can still be found and followed. Though the path is seldom well-trodden, it is one from which we can ill afford to stray.