Hosea 5-9
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Psalm 106:1-21 Don't Forget to Wait for It

Give Thanks to the Lord, for He is Good

1 Praise the LORD!
Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
 for his steadfast love endures forever!
2 Who can utter the mighty deeds of the LORD,
 or declare all his praise?
3 Blessed are they who observe justice,
 who do righteousness at all times!

4 Remember me, O LORD, when you show favor to your people;
 help me when you save them,
5 that I may look upon the prosperity of your chosen ones,
 that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation,
 that I may glory with your inheritance.

6 Both we and our fathers have sinned;
 we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness.
7 Our fathers, when they were in Egypt,
 did not consider your wondrous works;
they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love,
 but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.
8 Yet he saved them for his name's sake,
 that he might make known his mighty power.
9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it became dry,
 and he led them through the deep as through a desert.
10 So he saved them from the hand of the foe
 and redeemed them from the power of the enemy.
11 And the waters covered their adversaries;
 not one of them was left.
12 Then they believed his words;
 they sang his praise.

13 But they soon forgot his works;
 they did not wait for his counsel.
14 But they had a wanton craving in the wilderness,
 and put God to the test in the desert;
15 he gave them what they asked,
 but sent a wasting disease among them.

16 When men in the camp were jealous of Moses
 and Aaron, the holy one of the LORD,
17 the earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,
 and covered the company of Abiram.
18 Fire also broke out in their company;
 the flame burned up the wicked.

19 They made a calf in Horeb
 and worshiped a metal image.
20 They exchanged the glory of God
 for the image of an ox that eats grass.
21 They forgot God, their Savior,
 who had done great things in Egypt,

Application

Being mindful of God's goodness, hesed, and promises, enables us to wait for Him to fulfill our desires, giving what's best, when it's best.

Prayer

My Lord and Savior, I will not forget Your goodness, but dependently wait for You to provide what's best when it's best. Amen.

Proverbs 24:15-18 The Righteous Rise Again and Again and...


15 Lie not in wait as a wicked man against the dwelling of the righteous;
 do no violence to his home;
16 for the righteous falls seven times and rises again,
 but the wicked stumble in times of calamity.

17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls,
 and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles,
18 lest the LORD see it and be displeased,
 and turn away his anger from him.

Application

If you find yourself down, you're not out nor defeated if you get back up and keep trying.

Prayer

Lord, when I fall, pull me back up so I can continue walking with You; don't let me ever lose perspective and quit. Thanks for being there. Amen.

Hosea 5-9 Call to Relationship

In Chapter 5 God continues to elaborate on the charge of ignorance (see last post on chapter 4), then turns His attention to the major indictment of disloyalty or lack of hesed/covenantal loyalty and love. He enumerates sin, announces impending judgment, and calls His people to repent and seek Him. If they seek Him, they will find Him. If they persist in their sin, they will find pain and judgment, and God will hide Himself from them until they acknowledge their sin and seek Him earnestly, which will happen in the future.

Hosea 5 Attack Lion and Son

Judgment on Israel and Judah

1 Hear this, O priests!
 Pay attention, O house of Israel!
Give ear, O house of the king!
 For the judgment is for you;
for you have been a snare at Mizpah
 and a net spread upon Tabor.
2 And the revolters have gone deep into slaughter,
 but I will discipline all of them.

3 I know Ephraim,
 and Israel is not hidden from me;
for now, O Ephraim, you have played the whore;
 Israel is defiled.
4 Their deeds do not permit them
 to return to their God.
For the spirit of whoredom is within them,
 and they know not the LORD.

5 The pride of Israel testifies to his face;
 Israel and Ephraim shall stumble in his guilt;
 Judah also shall stumble with them.
6 With their flocks and herds they shall go
 to seek the LORD,
but they will not find him;
 he has withdrawn from them.
7 They have dealt faithlessly with the LORD;
 for they have borne alien children.
 Now the new moon shall devour them with their fields.

8 Blow the horn in Gibeah,
 the trumpet in Ramah.
Sound the alarm at Beth-aven;
 we follow you, O Benjamin!
9 Ephraim shall become a desolation
 in the day of punishment;
among the tribes of Israel
 I make known what is sure.
10 The princes of Judah have become
 like those who move the landmark;
upon them I will pour out
 my wrath like water.
11 Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment,
 because he was determined to go after filth.
12 But I am like a moth to Ephraim,
 and like dry rot to the house of Judah.

13 When Ephraim saw his sickness,
 and Judah his wound,
then Ephraim went to Assyria,
 and sent to the great king.
But he is not able to cure you
 or heal your wound.
14 For I will be like a lion to Ephraim,
 and like a young lion to the house of Judah.
I, even I, will tear and go away;
 I will carry off, and no one shall rescue.

15 I will return again to my place,
 until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face,
 and in their distress earnestly seek me.

Application

Confession and repentance are the way to find God, even when we have forsaken Him and are being judged for our sin. It's never too late to do the right thing.

Prayer

Gracious God, may I be quick to acknowledge my sin, rebellion, independence, self-centeredness, pride, and anything else that would cause You to want to abandon and judge me. Amen.

Hosea 6 Knowing God

The Unrepentance of Israel and Judah

1 “Come, let us return to the LORD;
 for he has torn us, that he may heal us;
 he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.
2 After two days he will revive us;
 on the third day he will raise us up,
 that we may live before him.
3 Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD;
 his going out is sure as the dawn;
he will come to us as the showers,
 as the spring rains that water the earth.”


4 What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?
 What shall I do with you, O Judah?
Your love is like a morning cloud,
 like the dew that goes early away.
5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets;
 I have slain them by the words of my mouth,
 and my judgment goes forth as the light.
6 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
 the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

7 But like Adam they transgressed the covenant;
 there they dealt faithlessly with me.
8 Gilead is a city of evildoers,
 tracked with blood.
9 As robbers lie in wait for a man,
 so the priests band together;
they murder on the way to Shechem;
 they commit villainy.
10 In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing;
 Ephraim's whoredom is there; Israel is defiled.

11 For you also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed.

 When I restore the fortunes of my people,

Application

Knowing God (as He's revealed Himself in His word) takes effort, but is worth far more than any amount of ritual, resulting in an intimate relationship and blessing. See: Barriers to Intimacy with God on Truthbase.net

Prayer

God, I will press on to know You intimately: Your awesome character, Your plans and purposes, Your guiding Lordship, Your sustaining grace, Your delightful presence, Your likes and dislikes, and Your protection, prosperity, and blessing; don't let me settle for less. Amen.

Hosea 7 Useful as a Half-Baked Pancake

Ephraim’s Iniquity
1 when I would heal Israel,
 the iniquity of Ephraim is revealed,
 and the evil deeds of Samaria,
for they deal falsely;
 the thief breaks in,
 and the bandits raid outside.
2 But they do not consider
 that I remember all their evil.
Now their deeds surround them;
 they are before my face.
3 By their evil they make the king glad,
 and the princes by their treachery.
4 They are all adulterers;
 they are like a heated oven
whose baker ceases to stir the fire,
 from the kneading of the dough
 until it is leavened.
5 On the day of our king, the princes
 became sick with the heat of wine;
 he stretched out his hand with mockers.
6 For with hearts like an oven they approach their intrigue;
 all night their anger smolders;
 in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
7 All of them are hot as an oven,
 and they devour their rulers.
All their kings have fallen,
 and none of them calls upon me.

8 Ephraim mixes himself with the peoples;
 Ephraim is a cake not turned.
9 Strangers devour his strength,
 and he knows it not;
gray hairs are sprinkled upon him,
 and he knows it not.
10 The pride of Israel testifies to his face;
 yet they do not return to the LORD their God,
 nor seek him, for all this.

11 Ephraim is like a dove,
 silly and without sense,
 calling to Egypt, going to Assyria.
12 As they go, I will spread over them my net;
 I will bring them down like birds of the heavens;
 I will discipline them according to the report made to their congregation.
13 Woe to them, for they have strayed from me!
 Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against me!
I would redeem them,
 but they speak lies against me.

14 They do not cry to me from the heart,
 but they wail upon their beds;
for grain and wine they gash themselves;
 they rebel against me.
15 Although I trained and strengthened their arms,
 yet they devise evil against me.
16 They return, but not upward;
 they are like a treacherous bow;
their princes shall fall by the sword
 because of the insolence of their tongue.
This shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.

Application

Those who fear God, keep themselves from sin, and call to Him for help when tempted.

Prayer

God, please keep me from missing the obvious, and help me see the realities of how You operate in the world, and what You require of me; may You be my sole source of delight. Amen.

Hosea 8 Reaping the Whirlwind

Israel Will Reap the Whirlwind

1 Set the trumpet to your lips!
 One like a vulture is over the house of the LORD,
because they have transgressed my covenant
 and rebelled against my law.
2 To me they cry,
 “My God, we—Israel—know you.”

3 Israel has spurned the good;
 the enemy shall pursue him.

4 They made kings, but not through me.
 They set up princes, but I knew it not.
With their silver and gold they made idols
 for their own destruction.
5 I have spurned your calf, O Samaria.
 My anger burns against them.
How long will they be incapable of innocence?
6 For it is from Israel;
a craftsman made it;
 it is not God.
The calf of Samaria
 shall be broken to pieces.

7 For they sow the wind,
 and they shall reap the whirlwind.
The standing grain has no heads;
 it shall yield no flour;
if it were to yield,
 strangers would devour it.
8 Israel is swallowed up;
 already they are among the nations
 as a useless vessel.
9 For they have gone up to Assyria,
 a wild donkey wandering alone;
 Ephraim has hired lovers.
10 Though they hire allies among the nations,
 I will soon gather them up.
And the king and princes shall soon writhe
 because of the tribute.

11 Because Ephraim has multiplied altars for sinning,
 they have become to him altars for sinning.
12 Were I to write for him my laws by the ten thousands,
 they would be regarded as a strange thing.
13 As for my sacrificial offerings,
 they sacrifice meat and eat it,
 but the LORD does not accept them.
Now he will remember their iniquity
 and punish their sins;
 they shall return to Egypt.
14 For Israel has forgotten his Maker
 and built palaces,
and Judah has multiplied fortified cities;
 so I will send a fire upon his cities,
 and it shall devour her strongholds.

Application

Those who reject God's law/revelation reject God, and bring upon themselves ruin.

Prayer

God, You've made me and given me Your word, so I can obey it and You can bless me as promised; help me keep that in the forefront of my thinking so I don't forget what life is about, and wind up reaping the judgment You've promised. Thanks. Amen.

Hosea 9 Reaping Judgment Rather than Rejoicing

Israel’s Punishment

1 Rejoice not, O Israel!
 Exult not like the peoples;
for you have played the whore, forsaking your God.
 You have loved a prostitute's wages
 on all threshing floors.
2 Threshing floor and wine vat shall not feed them,
 and the new wine shall fail them.
3 They shall not remain in the land of the LORD,
 but Ephraim shall return to Egypt,
 and they shall eat unclean food in Assyria.

4 They shall not pour drink offerings of wine to the LORD,
 and their sacrifices shall not please him.
It shall be like mourners' bread to them;
 all who eat of it shall be defiled;
for their bread shall be for their hunger only;
 it shall not come to the house of the LORD.

5 What will you do on the day of the appointed festival,
 and on the day of the feast of the LORD?
6 For behold, they are going away from destruction;
 but Egypt shall gather them;
 Memphis shall bury them.
Nettles shall possess their precious things of silver;
 thorns shall be in their tents.

7 The days of punishment have come;
 the days of recompense have come;
 Israel shall know it.
The prophet is a fool;
 the man of the spirit is mad,
because of your great iniquity
 and great hatred.
8 The prophet is the watchman of Ephraim with my God;
yet a fowler's snare is on all his ways,
 and hatred in the house of his God.
9 They have deeply corrupted themselves
 as in the days of Gibeah:
he will remember their iniquity;
 he will punish their sins.

10 Like grapes in the wilderness,
 I found Israel.
Like the first fruit on the fig tree
 in its first season,
 I saw your fathers.
But they came to Baal-peor
 and consecrated themselves to the thing of shame,
 and became detestable like the thing they loved.
11 Ephraim's glory shall fly away like a bird—
 no birth, no pregnancy, no conception!
12 Even if they bring up children,
 I will bereave them till none is left.
Woe to them
 when I depart from them!
13 Ephraim, as I have seen, was like a young palm planted in a meadow;
 but Ephraim must lead his children out to slaughter.
14 Give them, O LORD—
 what will you give?
Give them a miscarrying womb
 and dry breasts.

15 Every evil of theirs is in Gilgal;
 there I began to hate them.
Because of the wickedness of their deeds
 I will drive them out of my house.
I will love them no more;
 all their princes are rebels.

16 Ephraim is stricken;
 their root is dried up;
 they shall bear no fruit.
Even though they give birth,
 I will put their beloved children to death.
17 My God will reject them
 because they have not listened to him;
 they shall be wanderers among the nations.

Application

Rejoicing in the wrong things (teaching ourselves to like what isn't good for us) results in a corrupted value system which prevents us from being able to do what results in real and enduring joy.

Prayer

Lord, may loving You wholeheartedly be my greatest delight, and serving You with all my strength my desire; may there be no room in my heart for sin. Amen.

Digging Deeper

God in a nutshell: God calls people into a relationship with Him, but if they reject Him, He will reject them. He will let them reap the consequences of their actions until they return to their senses (if ever). He will hide Himself from those who hide themselves from His law, which He gave so they could have a relationship with Him. Although He summons people to repentance, when they refuse He cannot justly have a covenantal relationship with them, and has to bring the promised cursing rather than blessing upon them. He has plans to eventually regather Israel and live in covenantal relationship (hesed) with them.

Us in a nutshell: We can be deceived by sin to the point where we can't find our way back home. Rejoicing in the wrong things (teaching ourselves to like what isn't good for us) results in a corrupted value system which prevents us from being able to do what results in real and enduring joy. When we acknowledge our sins, and God's right to rule our lives we can re-establish the relationship with Him that our infidelity and disloyalty broke. If we don't repent, He will break us. If we fear God, and pay attention to His word, He will bless us. If we choose to do our own thing, He will curse us.

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