“When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was uncovered, and the wickedness of Samaria. For they have committed fraud; a thief comes in; a band of robbers takes spoil outside. They do not consider in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness; now their own deeds have surrounded them; they are before My face. They make a king glad with their wickedness, and princes with their lies. “They are all adulterers. Like an oven heated by a baker—He ceases stirring the fire after kneading the dough, until it is leavened. In the day of our king, princes have made him sick, inflamed with wine; he stretched out his hand with scoffers. They prepare their heart like an oven, while they lie in wait; their baker sleeps all night; in the morning it burns like a flaming fire.
They are all hot, like an oven, and have devoured their judges; all their kings have fallen. None among them calls upon Me. “Ephraim has mixed himself among the peoples; Ephraim is a cake unturned. Aliens have devoured his strength, but he does not know it; yes, gray hairs are here and there on him, yet he does not know it. And the pride of Israel testifies to his face, but they do not return to the Lord their God, nor seek Him for all this.
Futile Reliance on the Nations
“Ephraim also is like a silly dove, without sense—they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria. Wherever they go, I will spread My net on them; I will bring them down like birds of the air; I will chastise them according to what their congregation has heard. “Woe to them, for they have fled from Me! Destruction to them, because they have transgressed against Me! Though I redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against Me. They did not cry out to Me with their heart when they wailed upon their beds. “They assemble together for grain and new wine, they rebel against Me; though I disciplined and strengthened their arms, yet they devise evil against Me; they return, but not to the Most High; they are like a treacherous bow. Their princes shall fall by the sword for the cursings of their tongue. This shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.”
Here God continues His complaints against Ephraim/Israel. God has been observing as things have been going from bad to worse, and now the list of grievances is very long. God wants to heal Israel, but the Israelites don’t want to be healed. Fraud, theft, adultery, violent robbery, prevarication of justice-the Israelites are practicing all of these things while they continue to scoff at God and run after demons.
At the same time, the nation of Israel is attempting to form foolish alliances that will only entrap them like birds in a net. When the Rabshakeh attacks Jerusalem in the time of King Hezekiah, he describes Egypt as “a weak reed that will pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it.”(Isaiah 36:6) Not only will the Egyptians not come to the aid of Israel, but the Egyptians will also mock Israel; after all, it was the God of Israel who wiped out the Egyptian army. The Egyptians cannot understand why any nation with such a powerful God would seek other gods as have the Israelites.
Few things are nastier than a pancake that is only cooked on one side with the remaining dough oozing out the other. God uses that image to describe the kingdom of Ephraim/Israel. The people of that kingdom have refused to worship God, settling for worshiping gods instead. The result is moral stagnation, with foreign influences stealing the spiritual heritage God has given His people.
“Woe to them, for they have fled from Me! Destruction to them, because they have transgressed against Me! Though I redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against Me. They did not cry out to Me with their heart when they wailed upon their beds. “They assemble together for grain and new wine, they rebel against Me; though I disciplined and strengthened their arms, yet they devise evil against Me; they return, but not to the Most High; they are like a treacherous bow. Their princes shall fall by the sword for the cursings of their tongue. This shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.” The once-proud nation of Israel has devolved into a degenerate bunch of thieves and scoffers, addicted to wine and pagan celebrations.
APPLICATION: It’s likely that you might be reading these horrifying descriptions of ancient Israel and thinking, “Well! I would certainly never do something like that!” But do not be too confident. As we age, it’s easy to allow our passions to cool and to observe a form of religion without any substance. We can readily find ourselves reciting prayers without thinking about their meaning and singing hymns or worship and praise songs that neither worship nor praise because we are simply going through the motions.
“Aha!” you cry. “This writer doesn’t like liturgy and hymns!” Actually, nothing could be further from the truth. I find many of the hymns highly relevant and sometimes get up in the middle of the night to read hymns to myself. I also enjoy many of the contemporary worship songs. I find the mass in all its different forms continues to speak to my heart. But remember what Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well? “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24) No matter what kind of worship you favor, whether liturgical or non-liturgical, whether hymns or contemporary songs-none of this means a thing if you are simply going through the motions. In America, some people may hop up and down during lively praise music. Here in Ghana, many people will dance during the praise songs, and it can be a glorious demonstration of joy. The big question is this: If you hop up and down or dance, are you hopping and dancing to the glory of God or simply to show off? If you are hopping or dancing to the glory of God, I will be right there with you!
Only God knows the human heart and only God knows when you are truly worshiping Him. 1 Corinthians 13 tells us that our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect. That means that our worship will also be imperfect as well. But if we beg God to renew our passion for Him, then we need not fear that we will wind up like a half-baked pancake oozing dough. God knows, God sees, and God hears.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, renew our passion for You! Let us love You far more today than we did yesterday, and let that love grow from day to day. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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