Hosea 7:4 KJV
They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker, who ceaseth from raising after he hath kneaded the dough, until it be leavened.
After I finished preaching last night my wife told me she liked those messages best where I use illustrations. She jabbed just a little about the fact that I don't always use them. My reply was that I only use illustrations when the Lord gives them to me; I don't go searching for ways to make them up.
This morning's Bible reading brought me to this passage where our God uses an illustration to make his point. In fact, a large number of the prophets brought their messages by way of illustration. And this illustration illustrates both the strengths and the weaknesses of illustrations.
Of course, the strengths of using illustrations to reinforce a message are obvious. People are able to picture the truth through the familiar. I used an illustration in my message from Hebrews 6:17-20 last night with a boat being anchored. The boat is our hope of eternal life. The anchor is Jesus Christ who has already entered into heaven. The boat is fastened to the anchor by not one, but two immutable ropes; the promise of God and the character of God (He cannot lie). In my mind's eye, I can immediately picture that boat, the two ropes extending from it into the waters of life and reaching all the way to the anchor now firmly fixed in heaven.
But this is also the weakness. I am able to picture that because I have been in a boat that had two ropes fastened to the anchor in a strong current. It would not be impossible that there is someone else who has no experience in a boat and who is therefore not so able to picture it. Our text gives the illustration of a baker who has kneaded his bread and is now letting the leaven raise it. While I can make that picture in my mind, I have to study the text better to tie it together with the lesson that the kings and princes are all adulterers. An illustration is only effective on two conditions;
That the hearer already understands the connection or,
That the hearer is willing to research to make the connection.
They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker, who ceaseth from raising after he hath kneaded the dough, until it be leavened.
After I finished preaching last night my wife told me she liked those messages best where I use illustrations. She jabbed just a little about the fact that I don't always use them. My reply was that I only use illustrations when the Lord gives them to me; I don't go searching for ways to make them up.
This morning's Bible reading brought me to this passage where our God uses an illustration to make his point. In fact, a large number of the prophets brought their messages by way of illustration. And this illustration illustrates both the strengths and the weaknesses of illustrations.
Of course, the strengths of using illustrations to reinforce a message are obvious. People are able to picture the truth through the familiar. I used an illustration in my message from Hebrews 6:17-20 last night with a boat being anchored. The boat is our hope of eternal life. The anchor is Jesus Christ who has already entered into heaven. The boat is fastened to the anchor by not one, but two immutable ropes; the promise of God and the character of God (He cannot lie). In my mind's eye, I can immediately picture that boat, the two ropes extending from it into the waters of life and reaching all the way to the anchor now firmly fixed in heaven.
But this is also the weakness. I am able to picture that because I have been in a boat that had two ropes fastened to the anchor in a strong current. It would not be impossible that there is someone else who has no experience in a boat and who is therefore not so able to picture it. Our text gives the illustration of a baker who has kneaded his bread and is now letting the leaven raise it. While I can make that picture in my mind, I have to study the text better to tie it together with the lesson that the kings and princes are all adulterers. An illustration is only effective on two conditions;
That the hearer already understands the connection or,
That the hearer is willing to research to make the connection.
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