People acquainted with me know that I enjoy cooking, especially baking. From when I was relatively young, my mom taught me how to make pancakes and waffles from scratch. Since then my love for baking and sharing with others (not to mention eating!) has continued to grow. Some days I will simply open my Betty Crocker cookbook for inspiration and make something I've never made before. The house favorites these days are pancakes, Wacky chocolate cake, pineapple upside-down cake, sour cream coffee cake, and lava cake. It's shocking with all those cakes I can still fit into my pants! To tweak a quote my Grandpa says affectionately about "Ol' Uncle August, a Lutheran minister who only lived to be 96, he preached moderation: one cake at a time."
Last night I was reading to our family from Hosea and was intrigued by Hosea 7:8: "Ephraim has mixed himself among the peoples; Ephraim is a cake unturned." God had commanded his people not to adopt the abominable and idolatrous practices of the nations around them. They were not to intermarry with people who did not fear the LORD or keep His Word. Because Israel had been disobedient to this command and had been integrated among the heathen nations, God compared them to a "cake unturned." What they called cakes we would likely call flatbread. This might seem like a silly or even ridiculous analogy. But when I took a moment to meditate upon the passage, how true it is!
Unlike today where most baking is done in electric or gas ovens, in Bible times people commonly cooked over a fire. Those who bake know temperature control in an oven is very important. I purchased a special thermometer for inside my oven because scorched baked goods revealed the temperature on the dial did not match the internal temperature! Too low a temperature leads to rubbery cakes that do not rise properly, and too hot scorches the top which conceals a raw center. Can you imagine trying to cook a cake over a fire without turning it over? The bottom would burn black and stick to the pan, while the top would be raw and runny. If you chipped out this cake and threw it to the dogs they would likely just sniff at it and walk away! A cake unturned is a useless waste of good ingredients. All the potential for a wholesome, delicious cake was there. Neglect in baking properly led to a total culinary disaster.
The tribe of Ephraim were part of God's chosen people, the children of Israel. Ephraim and Manasseh were a unique couple of "half-tribes," because they were descendants of Joseph, son of Israel. After Joseph was raised as a ruler in Egypt, he had Ephraim and Manasseh. Before his death, Israel (originally known as Jacob) adopted Joseph's two sons as his own and gave them an inheritance in place of Joseph among his other eleven sons. In a similar way, Gentiles (non-Jews) have been grafted into the family of God through the New Covenant in Christ's blood. If we confess our sins, repent, and trust in Jesus Christ as LORD and Saviour who was sent by God to seek and save the lost, we are accepted into the beloved (Eph. 1:6). By grace through faith, we are regenerated by the Holy Spirit (born again), and He takes up residence within us. The power which raised Christ from the dead now lives in every believer, guiding, empowering, and teaching us in all things according to God's will.
By grace, God has given every Christian all that pertains to life and godliness. Instead of the filth of sin, we have been cleansed and filled with the goodness and glory of God. Every Christian has the potential to be fruitful and profitable for God's glory. We are like a cake mixed of the finest ingredients by a Master Chef, and God has appointed us to be responsible for how we are baked. If we choose to adopt the wisdom of the world, become unequally yoked with unbelievers, love the world, and make fleshly lusts our pursuit, we are like a cake unturned. Our usefulness becomes stunted. Instead of a sweet, spongy cake with a delicate scent, a cake unturned begins to smoke and causes God to wrinkle His nose in disgust. Our lives can be an invitation to know Jesus Christ which is attractive. But no one wants an unturned cake burned over a fire.
I am not my own because I have been bought with the blood of Jesus Christ. In my flesh dwells no good thing, but all the good "ingredients" of my life I have been freely given by God for God's glory. Let us be careful that we do not adopt the practices and philosophy of the world. We must be careful that we do not integrate sinful practices into our households and lives. We are not just to avoid evil, but to live righteously. Titus 2:11-14 reminds us: "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, 12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works." Instead of mixing with the world, let us remain pure and set apart for God!
Last night I was reading to our family from Hosea and was intrigued by Hosea 7:8: "Ephraim has mixed himself among the peoples; Ephraim is a cake unturned." God had commanded his people not to adopt the abominable and idolatrous practices of the nations around them. They were not to intermarry with people who did not fear the LORD or keep His Word. Because Israel had been disobedient to this command and had been integrated among the heathen nations, God compared them to a "cake unturned." What they called cakes we would likely call flatbread. This might seem like a silly or even ridiculous analogy. But when I took a moment to meditate upon the passage, how true it is!
Unlike today where most baking is done in electric or gas ovens, in Bible times people commonly cooked over a fire. Those who bake know temperature control in an oven is very important. I purchased a special thermometer for inside my oven because scorched baked goods revealed the temperature on the dial did not match the internal temperature! Too low a temperature leads to rubbery cakes that do not rise properly, and too hot scorches the top which conceals a raw center. Can you imagine trying to cook a cake over a fire without turning it over? The bottom would burn black and stick to the pan, while the top would be raw and runny. If you chipped out this cake and threw it to the dogs they would likely just sniff at it and walk away! A cake unturned is a useless waste of good ingredients. All the potential for a wholesome, delicious cake was there. Neglect in baking properly led to a total culinary disaster.
The tribe of Ephraim were part of God's chosen people, the children of Israel. Ephraim and Manasseh were a unique couple of "half-tribes," because they were descendants of Joseph, son of Israel. After Joseph was raised as a ruler in Egypt, he had Ephraim and Manasseh. Before his death, Israel (originally known as Jacob) adopted Joseph's two sons as his own and gave them an inheritance in place of Joseph among his other eleven sons. In a similar way, Gentiles (non-Jews) have been grafted into the family of God through the New Covenant in Christ's blood. If we confess our sins, repent, and trust in Jesus Christ as LORD and Saviour who was sent by God to seek and save the lost, we are accepted into the beloved (Eph. 1:6). By grace through faith, we are regenerated by the Holy Spirit (born again), and He takes up residence within us. The power which raised Christ from the dead now lives in every believer, guiding, empowering, and teaching us in all things according to God's will.
By grace, God has given every Christian all that pertains to life and godliness. Instead of the filth of sin, we have been cleansed and filled with the goodness and glory of God. Every Christian has the potential to be fruitful and profitable for God's glory. We are like a cake mixed of the finest ingredients by a Master Chef, and God has appointed us to be responsible for how we are baked. If we choose to adopt the wisdom of the world, become unequally yoked with unbelievers, love the world, and make fleshly lusts our pursuit, we are like a cake unturned. Our usefulness becomes stunted. Instead of a sweet, spongy cake with a delicate scent, a cake unturned begins to smoke and causes God to wrinkle His nose in disgust. Our lives can be an invitation to know Jesus Christ which is attractive. But no one wants an unturned cake burned over a fire.
I am not my own because I have been bought with the blood of Jesus Christ. In my flesh dwells no good thing, but all the good "ingredients" of my life I have been freely given by God for God's glory. Let us be careful that we do not adopt the practices and philosophy of the world. We must be careful that we do not integrate sinful practices into our households and lives. We are not just to avoid evil, but to live righteously. Titus 2:11-14 reminds us: "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, 12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works." Instead of mixing with the world, let us remain pure and set apart for God!
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