Burunche’s Blog

Out of Egypt I Called My Son (Matthew 2:13-15)

“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son. But the more I called Israel, the farther they departed from Me. They sacrificed to the Baals and burned incense to carved images. It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them in My arms, but they never realized

that it was I who healed them. I led them with cords of kindness, with ropes of love; I lifted the yoke from their necks and bent down to feed them. Will they not return to the land of Egypt and be ruled by Assyria because they refused to repent? A sword will flash through their cities; it will destroy the bars of their gates and consume them in their own plans. My people are bent on turning from Me. Though they call to the Most High, He will by no means exalt them.

God’s Love for Israel

How could I give you up, O Ephraim? How could I surrender you, O Israel? How could I make you like Admah? How could I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart is turned within Me; My compassion is stirred! I will not execute the full fury of My anger; I will not turn back to destroy Ephraim. For I am God and not man—the Holy One among you—and I will not come in wrath. They will walk after the LORD; He will roar like a lion. When He roars, His children will come trembling from the west.

They will come trembling like birds from Egypt and like doves from the land of Assyria. Then I will settle them in their homes, declares the LORD. Ephraim surrounds me with lies, the house of Israel with deceit; but Judah still walks with God and is faithful to the Holy One.”

The amazing thing about God the Father, the King and Sovereign of the entire universe is that He continues to forgive us, even when we have made a complete mess of things. For generations, the Israelites have turned their back on the God who has delivered them out of slavery and has given them a land with all kinds of resources. “But the more I called Israel, the farther they departed from Me. They sacrificed to the Baals and burned incense to carved images. It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them in My arms, but they never realized that it was I who healed them. I led them with cords of kindness, with ropes of love; I lifted the yoke from their necks and bent down to feed them.”  How frustrating! All these years, God has wanted to bless His people, but they have steadfastly ignored His laws, pursuing idols instead.  

“My people are bent on turning from Me. Though they call to the Most High, He will by no means exalt them.” God does not withdraw blessings from people; however, people choose to turn away from God. Once people choose to ignore God, they cannot suddenly turn around and call on Him as a last resort. God realizes that as soon as the crisis abates, His people will turn away again.

“How could I give you up, O Ephraim? How could I surrender you, O Israel?… My heart is turned within Me; My compassion is stirred! I will not execute the full fury of My anger; I will not turn back to destroy Ephraim. For I am God and not man—the Holy One among you—and I will not come in wrath.” Even though the Israelites must go into exile, God refuses to destroy them completely. God’s compassion is stirred, compassion that surpasses anything we can possibly conceive.

“They will come trembling like birds from Egypt and like doves from the land of Assyria. Then I will settle them in their homes, declares the LORD. Ephraim surrounds me with lies, the house of Israel with deceit; but Judah still walks with God and is faithful to the Holy One.”   Even though many of the people of Judah have embraced idolatry, some faithful remain. Eventually, the Northern Kingdom is conquered by Assyria and go into exile. But when the Babylonians conquer Judah, eventually, King Cyrus calls for the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem, resulting in a return of many citizens of Judah to their land. And in modern times, Jews from all over the world have returned to Israel to rebuild the nation.

APPLICATION: Few heartbreaks are worse than having done your best to raise a child, only to have that child rebel, rejecting all of your teachings and pursuing foolish actions that can lead to disaster. Getting a call from the police in the middle of the night is every parent’s nightmare. Parents whose kids are addicted to drugs or alcohol can certainly identify with God in these passages. How do you draw the line between administering “tough love” and being too harsh or too lenient?

God’s cry here is the cry of every parent who has ever had problems with a child. “How could I give you up, O Ephraim? How could I surrender you, O Israel?” At one point, one of our friends had to force her son to live in his car for three weeks in the middle of the winter cold before he stopped bringing drugs into the house. Our friend scarcely slept for those three weeks; however, her choice saved her son.

This passage from Hosea gives all of us hope. God is a God of compassion and forgiveness if we are truly repentant. 1 John 1:8-9 tells us, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us.” None of us is without sin. We all need forgiveness several times a day. God knows our hearts better than we know ourselves. If we will simply ask God to show us the things we need to confess, He will do so. Once we acknowledge our sins and confess them, God forgives us promptly and completely. And there’s even better news. If we ask God to help us change so that we will not repeat those sins, God will gladly help us, cleansing us from all unrighteousness. We can drop our load of sin on God, knowing that He will forgive and help transform us into His image. This is truly good news!

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, help us to trust You and to confess our sins. Thank You, that You are compassionate and willing to change us if we will only ask. Please change us into Your image. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

 “Israel empties his vine; he brings forth fruit for himself.
According to the multitude of his fruit he has increased the altars; according to the bounty of his land they have embellished his sacred pillars. Their heart is divided; now they are held guilty. He will break down their altars; he will ruin their sacred pillars.

For now they say, “We have no king, because we did not fear the Lord. And as for a king, what would he do for us?” They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant. Thus judgment springs up like hemlock in the furrows of the field.

The inhabitants of Samaria fear because of the calf of Beth Aven. For its people mourn for it, and its priests shriek for it—because its glory has departed from it. The idol also shall be carried to Assyria as a present for King Jareb. Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel. As for Samaria, her king is cut off like a twig on the water. Also the high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed. The thorn and thistle shall grow on their altars; they shall say to the mountains, “Cover us!” and to the hills, “Fall on us!”

“O Israel, you have sinned from the days of Gibeah; there they stood. The battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake them. When it is My desire, I will chasten them. Peoples shall be gathered against them when I bind them for their two transgressions. Ephraim is a trained heifer
that loves to thresh grain; but I harnessed her fair neck, I will make Ephraim pull a plow. Judah shall plow; Jacob shall break his clods.”

Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, till He comes and rains righteousness on you. You have plowed wickedness; you have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies, because you trusted in your own way, in the multitude of your mighty men.
Therefore tumult shall arise among your people, and all your fortresses shall be plundered as Shalman plundered Beth Arbel in the day of battle—A mother dashed in pieces upon her children.
Thus it shall be done to you, O Bethel, because of your great wickedness. At dawn the king of Israel shall be cut off utterly.

“according to the bounty of his land they have embellished his sacred pillars .” Poor Hosea! As he looks out his doorway, he can see altars and sacred pillars throughout the town and on the top of every hill. Evidently, every time there was a good harvest, rather than offering the Lord the first fruits, the Israelites set up another altar and worshiped another idol.

 “For now they say, “We have no king, because we did not fear the Lord. And as for a king, what would he do for us?” Evidently, by this point, the king had already been carried off into exile, and he must not have been much of a king in the first place. “The inhabitants of Samaria fear because of the calf of Beth Aven. For its people mourn for it, and its priests shriek for it—because its glory has departed from it. The idol also shall be carried to Assyria as a present for King Jareb.” As far as the Lord is concerned, they might as well carry off that calf; it is totally worthless. “The thorn and thistle shall grow on their altars; they shall say to the mountains, “Cover us!” and to the hills, “Fall on us!” There will come a day when the people of the Northern Kingdom will be desperate for places to hide from the Assyrian invaders, but there will be no place of escape.

“Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves to thresh grain; but I harnessed her fair neck, I will make Ephraim pull a plow. Judah shall plow; Jacob shall break his clods.” Both the Northern and the Southern kingdoms are going to be destroyed and their people will go into slavery.

“Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, till He comes and rains righteousness on you. You have plowed wickedness; you have reaped iniquity.” Even now, there is still a small chance if the Israelites will turn and repent. But time is running out; if they persist in wickedness, they will be destroyed.

APPLICATION: Relentless dedication to evil – how can anyone be so stupid and short-sighted? But how many people want to boast about being “bad – ass?” Why doesn’t anyone want to be complimented for virtue?

When I was growing up in a small farming community in the Middle West, hard work and honesty were highly-prized attributes. Two of the biggest compliments going were “he/she’s a good worker” and “he/she’s as honest as the day is long.” These days, school systems that teach the Ten Commandments are mocked and ridiculed; yet, Mosaic Law forms the basis for much of our current laws.

Why do we think that we can fence off portions of our lives and allot parts of them for bad behavior while reserving a tiny part for virtue? Proverbs 23:7 tells us that “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.”

The amazing thing about Hosea is that God is using Hosea to try to pull His people back from the brink one more time. “Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, till He comes and rains righteousness on you.” God is begging His people to repent.

Here in Ghana, we have to be particularly careful when eating local rice; otherwise, we may break a tooth on a small rock. When we cherish little bits of rebellion, it’s as dangerous as finding a rock with your teeth. The Bible tells us that “rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft.” Practicing even small bits of rebellion against God’s laws can result in spiritual disaster.

“You have plowed wickedness; you have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies, because you trusted in your own way, in the multitude of your mighty men.” When we refuse to do things God’s way, we may be courting destruction, not only for ourselves, but for our families and our communities, and even our countries. Let us plow up our fallow ground!

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to follow Your Laws and to seek Your Will and not our own. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Judgment of Israel’s Sin

“Do not rejoice, O Israel, with joy like other peoples, for you have played the harlot against your God. You have made love for hire on every threshing floor. The threshing floor and the winepress shall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail in her.

They shall not dwell in the Lord’s land, but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and shall eat unclean things in Assyria. They shall not offer wine offerings to the Lord, nor shall their sacrifices be pleasing to Him. It shall be like bread of mourners to them; all who eat it shall be defiled. For their bread shall be for their own life; it shall not come into the house of the Lord.

What will you do in the appointed day, and in the day of the feast of the Lord? For indeed they are gone because of destruction. Egypt shall gather them up; Memphis shall bury them. Nettles shall possess their valuables of silver; thorns shall be in their tents.

The days of punishment have come; the days of recompense have come. Israel knows! The prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is insane, because of the greatness of your iniquity and great enmity. The watchman of Ephraim is with my God; but the prophet is a fowler’s snare in all his ways—
enmity in the house of his God. They are deeply corrupted, as in the days of Gibeah. He will remember their iniquity; he will punish their sins.

“I found Israel Like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstfruits on the fig tree in its first season. But they went to Baal Peor, and separated themselves to that shame; they became an abomination like the thing they loved. As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird—No birth, no pregnancy, and no conception! Though they bring up their children, yet I will bereave them to the last man. Yes, woe to them when I depart from them! Just as I saw Ephraim like Tyre, planted in a pleasant place, so Ephraim will bring out his children to the murderer.” Give them, O Lord—What will You give? Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts!

 “All their wickedness is in Gilgal, for there I hated them. Because of the evil of their deeds I will drive them from My house; I will love them no more. All their princes are rebellious. Ephraim is stricken,
their root is dried up; they shall bear no fruit. Yes, were they to bear children, I would kill the darlings of their womb.” My God will cast them away, because they did not obey Him; and they shall be wanderers among the nations.”

When the Israelites were in Egypt, they longed to live as free people in the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God delivered the Israelites and gave them His Law, so that they might live righteously in the land He was giving them. God delivered the Israelites from tribes far stronger than they were and eventually led them into the Promised Land. But God repeatedly warned the Israelites that if they refused to honor Him as their Lord and insisted on worshiping the idols of surrounding nations, He would eventually turn them out of the Promised Land to be exiles and fugitives in distant lands. Now Hosea is issuing one more warning from the God of Israel.

“Do not rejoice, O Israel, with joy like other peoples, for you have played the harlot against your God. You have made love for hire on every threshing floor. The threshing floor and the winepress shall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail in her.” Harvest times are times of feasting and rejoicing. But here God is comparing faithless Israel to a common prostitute who will take advantage of drunken revelers to have sex for hire on threshing floors. The nation of Israel will prostitute itself, going after any idol promising wealth, prosperity, and success. Israel is not even behaving like a high – class prostitute but rather like a common slut, desperate for anything she can get. (For a graphic description of high – class prostitutes, see Proverbs 7.)

“They shall not dwell in the Lord’s land, but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and shall eat unclean things in Assyria. They shall not offer wine offerings to the Lord, nor shall their sacrifices be pleasing to Him. It shall be like bread of mourners to them; all who eat it shall be defiled. For their bread shall be for their own life; it shall not come into the house of the Lord.” The Mosaic Law set standards for foods that were clean and unclean. Evidently, even though the Israelites are consumed with idolatry, they are still observing dietary laws. But slaves and exiles can’t be choosy.

“For indeed they are gone because of destruction. Egypt shall gather them up; Memphis shall bury them. Nettles shall possess their valuables of silver; thorns shall be in their tents.” Repeatedly, God has warned the Israelites never to return to Egypt; however, God knows that as exiles, they will return and will die there. Lacking buildings, these exiles will be living in tents in thorny wastes.

“Because of the evil of their deeds I will drive them from My house; I will love them no more. All their princes are rebellious. Ephraim is stricken, their root is dried up; they shall bear no fruit. Yes, were they to bear children, I would kill the darlings of their womb.” My God will cast them away, because they did not obey Him; and they shall be wanderers among the nations.” The very fate the Israelites fear and hate the most will come upon them; they will cease being a nation and will remain scattered throughout the nations until the time God brings them back.

APPLICATION: Reading these dire predictions, we wonder if anyone repented. Certainly, most of the citizens of Israel and Judah did not repent and suffered for it. Not until King Cyrus ordered the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem did Jews return, and most of the Jews wandered throughout the world for centuries, driven from one country to another. Only in modern times has the State of Israel become firmly established in fulfillment of Biblical prophecy.

“I would never be so stupid!” you might think. Oh? I read cartoons on line. Recently political cartoonists have been mocking the governor of Texas for “forcing” the Ten Commandments down the throats of school children, as if these tenets were something awful. One cartoon even showed school children hiding behind the Ten Commandments engraved in stone to avoid school shooters. But if we flout God’s command, “Thou shalt not kill!”, what can we expect? Go through many states and you will find that our forebears engraved those commandments on public buildings because they believed those commands to be the basis for our laws. If we are now forsaking God’s teaching, perhaps this might explain why mass shootings have become rampant. If we truly believe in the Ten Commandments, then we would not allow violent video games such as Grand Theft Auto to be developed and sold.

WASHINGTON – Playing violent video games like Doom, Wolfenstein 3D or Mortal Kombat can increase a person’s aggressive thoughts, feelings and behavior both in laboratory settings and in actual life, according to two studies appearing in the April issue of the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Furthermore, violent video games may be more harmful than violent television and movies because they are interactive, very engrossing and require the player to identify with the aggressor, say the researchers.” (https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2000/04/video-games#)

Notice the date. This article appeared well before many of the most horrifying mass shootings occurred. Since then, many more violent video games have been developed and marketed. Video games are addictive and some gamers will remain on-line for hours and even days at a time. These days, many industries such as the airlines use simulators to train pilots to handle real situations. So what are violent video games teaching?

Google a list of the most violent video games and you get the following: 10 Most Violent Video Game Series Of All Time (List compiled in February 2023)

• 8 Splatterhouse (1988)
• 7 God Of War (2005)
• 6 Grand Theft Auto (1997)
• 5 Gears Of War (2006)
• 4 Doom (1993)
• 3 Postal (1997)
• 2 Manhunt (2003)
• 1 Mortal Kombat (1992)

Notice that Mortal Kombat, the leader on the list, came out in 1992, 31 years ago. The rest of the games came out by 2006, 17 years ago. Most of the worst mass shootings have taken place since then.

Where are spiritual leaders when these games are introduced? Why is nobody speaking out against them? The problem is that these games are worth billions of dollars. In this case, money is trumping ethics and morals with deadly results. May God forgive us for tolerating such abominations!

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, help us not to tolerate evil, even when it becomes socially acceptable. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Israel Will Reap the Whirlwind

Put the ram’s horn to your lips! An eagle looms over the house of the LORD, because they have transgressed My covenant and rebelled against My law. Israel cries out to Me, “O our God, we know You!” But Israel has rejected good; an enemy will pursue him. They set up kings, but not by Me. They make princes, but without My approval. With their silver and gold they make themselves idols, to their own destruction. He has rejected your calf, O Samaria. My anger burns against them.

How long will they be incapable of innocence? For this thing is from Israel—a craftsman made it, and it is not God. It will be broken to pieces, that calf of Samaria. Indeed, they sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. There is no standing grain; what sprouts fails to yield flour. Even if it should produce, the foreigners would swallow it up. Israel is swallowed up! Now they are among the nations like a worthless vessel. For they have gone up to Assyria like a wild donkey on its own.

Ephraim has hired lovers. Though they hire allies among the nations, I will now round them up, and they will begin to diminish under the oppression of the king of princes. Though Ephraim multiplied the altars for sin, they became his altars for sinning. Though I wrote for them the great things of My law, they regarded them as something strange. Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to Me, and though they eat the meat, the LORD does not accept them. Now He will remember their iniquity and punish their sins: They will return to Egypt. Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces; Judah has multiplied its fortified cities. But I will send fire upon their cities, and it will consume their citadels.”

“Put the ram’s horn to your lips! An eagle looms over the house of the LORD, because they have transgressed My covenant and rebelled against My law.” God is warning the Israelites that the day of reckoning is arriving. In the Bible, “Eagles” frequently refer to vultures. The birds of prey are looming over the house of the Lord, waiting to consume all those who have habitually sinned against the Lord. Belatedly, the Israelites have suddenly remembered that there is a God in Israel and are calling on Him; however, they have already rejected everything good.

“How long will they be incapable of innocence? For this thing is from Israel—a craftsman made it, and it is not God. It will be broken to pieces, that calf of Samaria. Indeed, they sow the wind and reap the whirlwind.” People do not simply wake up one morning and decide to be evil; they slide into evil gradually, one idol at a time. The “calf of Samaria” is the huge statue of a calf that Jeroboam set up in Dan and in Bethel when he was creating his own religion to avoid having his people travel to Jerusalem. Rather than continuing to follow the God of Israel, the people of the Northern Kingdom eagerly accepted all kinds of idolatry.

“Though Ephraim multiplied the altars for sin, they became his altars for sinning. Though I wrote for them the great things of My law, they regarded them as something strange. Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to Me, and though they eat the meat, the LORD does not accept them. Now He will remember their iniquity and punish their sins: They will return to Egypt. Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces; Judah has multiplied its fortified cities. But I will send fire upon their cities, and it will consume their citadels.” Both kingdoms have persisted in sin and are fated to go into exile as a result. Now that the allies of Israel seem to be deserting them, the Israelites are suddenly offering the sacrifices to God that they have refused to do through the years. But all these sacrifices and ceremonies are simply for show and God knows the details of the hearts of His worshipers.

APPLICATION: As we read the Book of Hosea, we have the advantage of hindsight. We know that the Northern Kingdom fell to the Assyrians and that the Southern Kingdom of Judah eventually fell to the Babylonians. We know that the people who were mocking Hosea suffered the results of their sins in horrible ways and that eventually only some of the descendants of the citizens from the Southern Kingdom of Judah made it back to resettle Jerusalem and to rebuilt the temple. Those Israelites coming from the Northern Kingdom never returned as a group and were considered “the lost tribes of Israel.”

Frankly, reading Hosea’s prophecies in the light of history is a lot like watching a violent horror movie; you know terrible things are going to happen, but you’re still fascinated and you can’t look away. But if we find this horrifying, think about Hosea. These prophecies concern Hosea’s friends, his neighbors and his relatives. How frustrated Hosea must have been and how desperate to try to get people to change when they had no desire to do so.

Many of us are horrified by what is happening in our societies and we may be able to identify with Hosea. For those of us in professional circles, being a person of faith may make us a big target and the subject of intense scrutiny. We are held to a different standard of behavior; while others may cheat or lie, we dare not even give the appearance of such things. Innocent behaviors on our part may still be misinterpreted by those who have an agenda to pursue. As an example, brave indeed are those who work in the entertainment industry and who succeed in maintaining a righteous stance. Sometimes we might wonder if it’s really worth it.

But God sees. God knows. God is not mocked, and God will eventually settle all scores. May God help us, so that we stand against opposition, knowing that if our God is for us, nobody can stand against us.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, there are many of us who may be under attack because of our faith in You. Help us to realize that following You is worth more than anything someone can pay us. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

“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.

A Call to Repentance

“Come, and let us return to the Lord; for He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight. Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth.

Impenitence of Israel and Judah

“O Ephraim, what shall I do to you? O Judah, what shall I do to you? For your faithfulness is like a morning cloud, and like the early dew it goes away. Therefore, I have hewn them by the prophets, I have slain them by the words of My mouth; and your judgments are like light that goes forth. For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, (Or faithfulness or loyalty) and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

 “But like men (Adam) they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt treacherously with Me. Gilead is a city of evildoers and [Lit. foot-tracked]defiled with blood. As bands of robbers lie in wait for a man, so the company of priests murder on the way to Shechem; surely they commit lewdness. I have seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel: there is the harlotry [spiritual adultery] of Ephraim; Israel is defiled. Also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed for you, when I return the captives of My people.”

WOW! Now we are learning just how terrible things have gotten in Hosea’s Israel. “Gilead is a city of evildoers and [Lit. foot-tracked]defiled with blood. As bands of robbers lie in wait for a man, so the company of priests murder on the way to Shechem; surely they commit lewdness. I have seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel: there is the harlotry [spiritual adultery] of Ephraim; Israel is defiled.” Gilead is the area east of the Jordan that Moses allotted to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh because of its excellent grazing lands.Ramoth Gilead was one of the  cities of refuge to which accidental murderers could flee for sanctuary. Now the priests have become robbers and murderers. God is so revolted by the actions of His people that He refers to it as “spiritual harlotry.”

Once more, God is pleading with His people to repent so that He can pardon them. “Come, and let us return to the Lord; for He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight.” God is still hoping to restore His people. “Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth.”

The land of Israel has always been heavily dependent on two rainy seasons, the latter and former rain referred to in these verses. Without these rains, agriculture in Hosea’s time would be impossible, and crop failures would mean famine and death. The arrival of these rains would mean life and hope for the Israelites.

Contrast the faithfulness of God with the unfaithfulness of the people of Ephraim, the Northern Kingdom and Judah, the Southern Kingdom. “O Ephraim, what shall I do to you? O Judah, what shall I do to you? For your faithfulness is like a morning cloud, and like the early dew it goes away. Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets, I have slain them by the words of My mouth; and your judgments are like light that goes forth. For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, (Or faithfulness or loyalty) and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” Evidently, the people of both kingdoms have simply been playing religious games, going through meaningless rituals. God knows the hearts of these people and compares their faithlessness to clouds and dew that appear early in the morning and immediately disappear. God wants His people to be merciful, faithful, and loyal to Him; otherwise, the most elaborate offerings are worthless.

APPLICATION:  One of the amazing things about the Book of Hosea is the wonderful gems of faith we find there. “Come, and let us return to the Lord; for He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight. Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth.” Who among us has not messed up? Who among us does not need forgiveness and restoration? God is prepared to heal and restore us. But we must pursue the knowledge of the Lord. We need to be merciful, faithful, and loyal to Him. The most acceptable offering to the Lord is the offering of our lives to Him. If we confess our sins and ask God to forgive us, “His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth.”

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, we confess that we are sinners and that we cannot earn our way into heaven. Forgive our sins and restore and revive us. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Impending Judgment on Israel and Judah

“Hear this, O priests! Take heed, O house of Israel! Give ear, O house of the king! For yours is the judgment, because you have been a snare to Mizpah and a net spread on Tabor.
The revolters are deeply involved in slaughter, though I rebuke them all. I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me; for now, O Ephraim, you commit harlotry; Israel is defiled.

“They do not direct their deeds toward turning to their God, for the spirit of harlotry is in their midst, and they do not know the Lord. The pride of Israel testifies to his face; therefore Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity; Judah also stumbles with them. “With their flocks and herds they shall go to seek the Lord, but they will not find Him; He has withdrawn Himself from them. They have dealt treacherously with the Lord, for they have begotten pagan children. Now a New Moon shall devour them and their heritage.

“Blow the ram’s horn in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah! Cry aloud at Beth Aven, ‘Look behind you, O Benjamin!’ Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke; among the tribes of Israel I make known what is sure. The princes of Judah are like those who remove a landmark; I will pour out My wrath on them like water. Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he willingly walked by human precept. Therefore I will be to Ephraim like a moth, and to the house of Judah like rottenness.

“When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria
And sent to King Jareb; yet he cannot cure you, nor heal you of your wound. For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear them and go away; I will take them away, and no one shall rescue. I will return again to My place till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”

Talk about being confused, Hosea’s fellow citizens of Israel are really blinded. ““They do not direct their deeds toward turning to their God, for the spirit of harlotry is in their midst, and they do not know the Lord. The pride of Israel testifies to his face; therefore Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity; Judah also stumbles with them. “With their flocks and herds they shall go to seek the Lord, but they will not find Him; He has withdrawn Himself from them. They have dealt treacherously with the Lord, for they have begotten pagan children. Now a New Moon shall devour them and their heritage.”

The longer the people of Israel revolt against the God of Israel, the further they move from Him. Now the people of Israel are running around like chickens with their heads cut off, looking for protection in all kinds of unlikely places. The last source of help these people are considering is the original Source, the Lord God of Israel who has delivered Israel so many times in the past. “Blow the ram’s horn in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah! Cry aloud at Beth Aven, ‘Look behind you, O Benjamin!’ Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke; among the tribes of Israel I make known what is sure.”

“The princes of Judah are like those who remove a landmark; I will pour out My wrath on them like water. Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he willingly walked by human precept. Therefore I will be to Ephraim like a moth, and to the house of Judah like rottenness.” According to Mosaic law, those who removed landmarks were held contemptible and punished severely because these landmarks showed the boundaries of ancestral lands. Now the princes of Judah have become as corrupt as those who remove landmarks. God has no regard for either Israel (Ephraim) or Judah.

“For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear them and go away; I will take them away, and no one shall rescue. I will return again to My place till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.” God is about to withdraw His presence from both Israel and Judah and leave them to their enemies. Only when the Jews repent and return to the Lord will God favor them.

APPLICATION: If the Book of Job asks the question “Why do the righteous suffer?”, these passages from Hosea demonstrate why the unrighteous suffer. Bluntly speaking, God has delivered the Israelites innumerable times and has warned them that if they persist in idolatry, He will leave them to suffer the consequences. God has not forced these people to offer child sacrifices or indulge in fertility rites; in fact, God has expressly warned them not to copy the pagans around them. But God has also told the Israelites that if they persist and do not repent, He will withdraw His protection so that they will see the worthlessness of their idols.

God has called a godly man, Hosea, to marry a prostitute as a graphic lesson to the people of Israel and Judah. Every detail of Hosea’s marriage serves to demonstrate God’s continuing love and care for His people. Hosea’s children and their names are signs from God. When Hosea’s wife runs off and he buys her back, that act is also a sign from God. God is doing everything He can to arouse the Israelites from their spiritual stupor. In some respects, Hosea’s actions foreshadow those of Jesus Christ. While Hosea does not die for the sins of those around him, he certainly suffers emotional trauma, shame and the relentless judgement and criticism from those around him. Hosea has sacrificed his right to a happy home life for the sake of the Word of God that burns in his heart and that must be spoken.

Millenia later, we might well ask if Hosea’s sacrifices have been worth it? Were there actually people in Hosea’s day who saw Hosea’s example and repented? We want to believe that there were such cases. If some people truly did repent, then God had ways of protecting those people, even if they were forced into exile with the unbelievers. But we know that Hosea’s suffering has continued to serve as a graphic example of God’s love for the unfaithful and His willingness to buy each of us back from our sins. The cost of our freedom has been the blood that Jesus Christ shed on that cross at Calvary when He died for the sins of anyone who would believe on Him.

Eventually, the people of Israel were carried off by the Assyrians while the people of Judah were carried off by the Babylonians. Did these people remember Hosea, his prostitute wife, and his children with the God-given names? We don’t know. We only know that there were those who were found faithful, some of whom would eventually return to rebuild Jerusalem. Hosea was obedient, even when God asked him to do the unthinkable. Today, what is God asking you to do?

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to follow hard after You all the days of our lives and to be obedient, even when You call us to do difficult things. Help all who read these words to realize what a great gift You have given us – the gift of salvation from our sins! In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

God’s Charge Against Israel

“Hear the word of the Lord, you children of Israel, for the Lord brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land: “There is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land. By swearing and lying, killing, and stealing and committing adultery, they break all restraint, with bloodshed upon bloodshed. Therefore the land will mourn; and everyone who dwells there will waste away with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; even the fish of the sea will be taken away. “Now let no man contend, or rebuke another; for your people are like those who contend with the priest. Therefore you shall stumble in the day; the prophet also shall stumble with you in the night; and I will destroy your mother.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. “The more they increased, the more they sinned against Me; I will change their glory into shame. They eat up the sin of My people; they set their heart on their iniquity. And it shall be: like people, like priest. So I will punish them for their ways, and reward them for their deeds. For they shall eat, but not have enough; they shall commit harlotry, but not increase; because they have ceased obeying the Lord.

The Idolatry of Israel

“Harlotry, wine, and new wine enslave the heart. My people ask counsel from their wooden idols,
And their staff informs them. For the spirit of harlotry has caused them to stray, and they have played the harlot against their God. They offer sacrifices on the mountaintops, and burn incense on the hills, under oaks, poplars, and terebinths, because their shade is good. Therefore, your daughters commit harlotry, and your brides commit adultery. “I will not punish your daughters when they commit harlotry, nor your brides when they commit adultery; for the men themselves go apart with harlots, and offer sacrifices with a ritual harlot. Therefore, people who do not understand will be trampled.

“Though you, Israel, play the harlot, let not Judah offend. Do not come up to Gilgal, nor go up to Beth Aven, nor swear an oath, saying, ‘As the Lord lives’—“For Israel is stubborn like a stubborn calf; now the Lord will let them forage like a lamb in open country. “Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone. Their drink is rebellion, they commit harlotry continually. Her rulers dearly love dishonor. The wind has wrapped her up in its wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.”

Here Hosea is specifically speaking out against the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Israel was founded when Jeroboam led ten of the tribes in a rebellion against King Rehoboam, King Solomon’s son. Rehoboam was a proud weakling who refused to take advice from the elders who had tried to advise Solomon. It seems that the glories of Solomon’s building programs had come at an extremely high price. The elders advised Rehoboam to speak gently and respectfully to the people and to relent from the high taxes and forced labor drafts that had blighted the latter part of Solomon’s regime. Unfortunately, Rehoboam chose to listen to fools his own age who advised that he show that he was large and in-charge. “My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.” This ridiculously arrogant answer was all that Jeroboam and ten tribes needed for them to vote with their feet, saying, ““What share do we have in David, what part in Jesse’s son? To your tents, Israel! Look after your own house, David!” When the dust settled, Rehoboam found himself king of only Judah and Benjamin, while Jeroboam was king of the remaining ten tribes.

Fearing that fickle people would desert if they kept attending feasts  in Jerusalem, Jeroboam established his own religion with huge altars at Dan and Bethel. This new religion suited many of the Israelites just fine-they could do anything they wanted-no limits! No pesty restrictions! No commandments! No demands for personal holiness! Given paganism as a foundation, the nation of Israel could only deteriorate spiritually, and it did. Now the Israelites are reaping the results of generations of paganism. “There is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land. By swearing and lying, killing, and stealing and committing adultery, they break all restraint, with bloodshed upon bloodshed.”  Even the land and the water bodies in the Northern Kingdom are languishing. “Therefore the land will mourn; and everyone who dwells there will waste away with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; even the fish of the sea will be taken away.”

The most horrible result is that the knowledge of the Lord God of Israel is nowhere to be found in the kingdom of Israel. “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. “The more they increased, the more they sinned against Me; I will change their glory into shame. They eat up the sin of My people; they set their heart on their iniquity. And it shall be: like people, like priest. So I will punish them for their ways, and reward them for their deeds. For they shall eat, but not have enough; they shall commit harlotry, but not increase; because they have ceased obeying the Lord.” Israel is about to suffer the consequences of rebellion against God. And God is also warning the nation of Judah that if Judah copies Israel, Judah will suffer the same fate. “Though you, Israel, play the harlot, let not Judah offend.”

APPLICATION: What happens to a nation that forsakes God and worships idols instead? We become what we worship. If we worship demons, demons will take over our lives and even our country. Our spiritual deterioration will blight the land, the water bodies, and the animals and birds will also suffer. But by the same principle, if we repent, turn back to God and worship Him and Him alone, we can transform our entire society as well as our environment.

Today there are lots of arguments regarding control of weapons. But as long as people entertain themselves with violent video games, pretending to be assassins, people will always know how to kill and maim. Those skilled in marital arts fully realize that any object can be turned into a weapon. As long as people refuse to acknowledge their sins, society will continue to deteriorate.

Change depends on us. If we continue to blame others, nothing will change. We must repent and change if we want others to change.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to face our sins and repent. Please forgive us and cleanse us. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

“Then the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by a lover and is committing adultery, just like the love of the Lord for the children of Israel, who look to other gods and love the raisin cakes of the pagans.”So I bought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver, and one and one-half homers of barley. And I said to her, “You shall stay with me many days; you shall not play the harlot, nor shall you have a man—so, too, will I be toward you.”

For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod or teraphim. Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the latter days.”

All this time, the Israelites have been taking the One True Living God for granted, thinking they can play loose and free with the Creator of the Universe while they enjoy pagan rituals and feasts. The citizens of both Israel and Judah have been engaging enthusiastically in Ishtar worship, cherishing little house gods, teraphim, and enjoying drunken orgies during fertility cult rites. And all this time, God has continued to wait patiently for His people to come to their senses. The message of this chapter is that God is finished waiting.

Evidently, after bearing Hosea three children, Gomer has gotten bored staying at the house. After all, prior to marrying Hosea, Gomer received all kinds of attention from handsome men who brought her lavish gifts. As a prostitute, Gomer is used to having a lot of sex on a daily basis; she’s the original party girl. Now Gomer is trapped in a home with three small children and a husband who insists on observing  traditional Jewish religious rituals. Frankly, Gomer is freaking out and cannot wait to leave at the first opportunity.

But things haven’t worked out quite the way Gomer has anticipated. Evidently, the man with whom Gomer has taken off is neglecting her and treating her like a slave. Hosea is able to buy Gomer back for fifteen shekels of silver, and one and one-half homers of barley, but there’s a catch. Now Hosea tells Gomer that they are going to live in the same house but that she will no longer engage in prostitution. Gomer’s favors will be exclusively for Hosea.

God wants the Israelites to know that a time is coming when they will have to do without all their religious props. “For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod or teraphim. Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the latter days.”

There is a popular saying that “You never miss the water till the well runs dry.”God knows full well that unless the Jews lose all the religious trappings on which they have depended, they are never going to return to Him. As long as there is a king or prince, as long as there are sacrifices, pillars, ephods, teraphim, sacred groves, etc., the Jews are going to cling to their religious pretenses. Only when all these things have been stripped away for generations will the Jews be willing to realize that the God of Israel is the One who can satisfy and provide. Ironically, it is during the time of exile that the Jews begin to seriously study the Mosaic Law and to observe the laws they have previously ignored.

Centuries earlier, God already knew what was going to happen. Deuteronomy 32 contains the Song of Moses, a prophetic song that God wanted the Israelites to teach their children for all generations. Deuteronomy 32:15-21 says this: “Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; filled with food, they became heavy and sleek. They abandoned the God who made them and rejected the Rock their Savior. They made him jealous with their foreign gods and angered him with their detestable idols. They sacrificed to false ods, which are not God—gods they had not known, gods that recently appeared, gods your ancestors did not fear. You deserted the Rock, who fathered you; you forgot the God who gave you birth. The Lord saw this and rejected them because he was angered by his sons and daughters. “I will hide my face from them,” he said, “and see what their end will be; for they are a perverse generation, children who are unfaithful. They made me jealous by what is no god and angered me with their worthless idols. I will make them envious by those who are not a people; I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding.”

APPLICATION: When I was a kid, we had a silly game in which one child would hold up a finger and proclaim that he or she was invisible to all those around. It is amazing that people persist in thinking that the Creator of the universe is either deaf or blind and that He does not know our thoughts or desires. God not only knows everything and sees everything, but God also knows what will happen in the future. God knows the end from the beginning, hence the prophetic Song of Moses. God commanded the Israelites to teach that song to their children to warn them of the consequences of failing to follow God; however, they failed to do so.

In total obedience, Hosea has not only married a prostitute and fathered three children by her, but when she has run off, he has bought her back to his home. God has ordered Hosea to do these things to demonstrate to the Israelites and to subsequent generations that He is willing to forgive and restore, even when people have sinned.    

1 John 1:8-10 reminds us, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” Confessing our sins is both the easiest and the hardest thing we can do. The difficult part is facing the fact that we are sinners and confessing our faults. But once we are willing to acknowledge our sins and to tell God about them, God forgives us. It only remains for us to repent, turning away from our sins and refusing to repeat them.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to be willing to confess our sins, knowing that You are willing to forgive us and help us keep from repeating them. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Israel Punished and Restored

“Say of your brothers, ‘My people,’ and of your sisters, ‘My loved one.’ “Rebuke your mother, rebuke her, for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband. Let her remove the adulterous look from her face and the unfaithfulness from between her breasts. Otherwise I will strip her naked and make her as bare as on the day she was born;  I will make her like a desert, turn her into a parched land, and slay her with thirst. I will not show my love to her children,  because they are the children of adultery.

Their mother has been unfaithful and has conceived them in disgrace. She said, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me my food and my water, my wool and my linen, my olive oil and my drink.’ Therefore I will block her path with thornbushes; I will wall her in so that she cannot find her way. She will chase after her lovers but not catch them; she will look for them but not find them. Then she will say, ‘I will go back to my husband as at first, for then I was better off than now.’ She has not acknowledged that I was the one who gave her the grain, the new wine and oil, who lavished on her the silver and gold—which they used for Baal.

“Therefore I will take away my grain when it ripens, and my new wine when it is ready.  I will take back my wool and my linen, intended to cover her naked body. So now I will expose her lewdness before the eyes of her lovers; no one will take her out of my hands. I will stop all her celebrations: her yearly festivals, her New Moons, her Sabbath days—all her appointed festivals. I will ruin her vines and her fig trees, which she said were her pay from her lovers; I will make them a thicket, and wild animals will devour them. I will punish her for the days she burned incense to the Baals; she decked herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers, but me she forgot,” declares the Lord.

“Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor [Achor means trouble.] a door of hope. There she will respond [Or sing] as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt.  “In that day,” declares the Lord,  “you will call me ‘my husband’; you will no longer call me ‘my master. [Hebrew baal]’ I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips; no longer will their names be invoked. In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky and the creatures that move along the ground.  Bow and sword and battle I will abolish from the land, so that all may lie down in safety.

I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the Lord. “In that day I will respond,” declares the Lord—“I will respond to the skies, and they will respond to the earth; and the earth will respond to the grain, the new wine and the olive oil, and they will respond to Jezreel. I will plant her for myself in the land; I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.’ (Hebrew Lo-Ruhamah)I will say to those called ‘Not my people,’ ‘You are my people’(Hebrew Lo-Ammi ); and they will say, ‘You are my God.’”

God has blessed Israel abundantly, just as He has promised through Moses and other prophets. Fruit, vegetables, grain, livestock-the Israelites have it all. And God has ordained set feasts during which the Israelites are to offer the best of their produce and livestock. But something has gone terribly wrong! Despite the fact that God has delivered the Israelites from slavery and has established them in their own land, the Israelites are saving their best to offer to idols and giving God leftovers. Now God is about to withdraw His blessings.

“Their mother has been unfaithful and has conceived them in disgrace. She said, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me my food and my water, my wool and my linen, my olive oil and my drink.’ Therefore I will block her path with thornbushes; I will wall her in so that she cannot find her way. She will chase after her lovers but not catch them; she will look for them but not find them. Then she will say, ‘I will go back to my husband as at first, for then I was better off than now.’ She has not acknowledged that I was the one who gave her the grain, the new wine and oil, who lavished on her the silver and gold—which they used for Baal.”

“Therefore I will take away my grain when it ripens, and my new wine when it is ready.  I will take back my wool and my linen, intended to cover her naked body. So now I will expose her lewdness before the eyes of her lovers; no one will take her out of my hands. I will stop all her celebrations: her yearly festivals, her New Moons, her Sabbath days—all her appointed festivals. I will ruin her vines and her fig trees, which she said were her pay from her lovers; I will make them a thicket, and wild animals will devour them. I will punish her for the days she burned incense to the Baals; she decked herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers, but me she forgot,” declares the Lord.

God knows that unless He allows the Israelites to suffer the results of their idolatry, they will never change. God is about to practice tough love with a vengeance! But there is still hope. ““Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor [Achor means trouble.] a door of hope.” “I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the Lord.” God is just and cannot overlook the sins of Israel and Judah. But God is also merciful and is already planning a glorious restoration. God plans to turn trouble into hope and is already looking forward to the day when the Israelites will truly serve Him.

APPLICATION: Who among us does not need hope? Hope is what we long for and live for. Without hope, most of us would simply give up. And who among us does not sin? If we are honest, we realize that we fall far short of God’s righteousness, holiness, and purity. No matter how hard we try, we simply can’t help ourselves. But God can. The message of this chapter of Hosea is simple: God is in the restoration business big – time and we qualify. All we have to do is to confess that we are sinners in need of a Savior and God will help us. 1 John 1:8-10 tells us “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”

God chose Gomer the prostitute as a wife for His prophet Hosea to graphically demonstrate that nobody is beyond the reach of God’s forgiveness or redemption. While we might not have practiced prostitution, how many of us gossip? How many of us are tempted to “fudge” our expense accounts? How many of us tell convenient lies to avoid having to stand for the truth? God does not grade on a curve; all sins are equally wrong and evil in the sight of a Holy God. But God is in the clean up business; all we have to do is to ask.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, we confess that we have sinned by what we have done and by what we have not done. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We have deliberately violated Your Word. Lord, forgive us and clean us. Thank You for loving us so much that You sent Your Son Jesus to die for our sins. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.