365 Reflections

Hosea 9:1–3 (ESV) 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. Israel thought they could succeed like the other nations, worshipping the gods of fertility and winning at life, becoming rich. God said no. They had a larger purpose to fulfill for the world. They were the nation that brought an end to the silliness of idolatry and false gods.  The problem is that they would have to learn this purpose the hard way, by experiencing the devastating consequences of idolatry, rather than the delight it offered.  Israel, in following the nations around them, became blind and deaf to the Word of God.  Hosea 9:7 (ESV) The days of punishment have come; the...

The picture Hosea 8 paints of the house of Israel is one of a dumb, useless, isolated nation, left to its own devices and struggling for any sense of self. Thus, the picture of what idolatry does to the human heart becomes clear through this ancient picture.  Hosea 8:1 (ESV) 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. The trumpet call for Israel was typically for holy occasions, joyful assemblies, or rallying cries for war. Here it is the announcement of judgment. The nation is prey for the vultures of other nations. Notice the designations of this nation from the prophetic oracle of this chapter: Hosea 8:4 (ESV)  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. They established leaders whom God did not give, and they set up idols that soon took them over.  Hosea 8:6 (E...

Hosea chapter 7 is perhaps the toughest assessment against Israel thus far. God is thoroughly distressed over their rebellion, sin, lies, and wickedness. Hosea 7:1–2 (ESV) 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. The first verse seems to suggest that God would heal Israel, but their sins are overwhelming them. In the NLT, it reads: Hosea 7:1–2 (NLT) “I want to heal Israel, but its sins are too great. Samaria is filled with liars. Thieves are on the inside and bandits on the outside! 2 Its people don’t realize that I am watching them. Their sinful deeds are all around them, and I see them all. Sin was everywhere, surrounding them, dominating their whole nation. God's healing does not arrive on their terms (Hosea 6:1-3) but on the Lord's, a...

Hosea 6:1–3 (ESV) “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.” On the surface, this text looks like Israel heard Hosea's strong words and repented. They did not. There are clues in these lines that the nation told itself that make clear this repentance was hollow and superficial.  They blame the Lord for their condition, saying, "he has torn us", but it was their own rebellion that led them into misery. They also do not at all mention forgiveness for their sin, but only speak about healing, binding up, and revival. Notice as well, they believe a simple turn to God will be enough to bring immediate change to their condition. Within thre...

Hosea 5:1–2 (ESV) 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. God pronounces judgment on unfaithful Israel by calling out the leaders. In verses 1 and 2, the priests, the civic leaders (house of Israel), and the kings have led Israel into the idolatrous practices of the nations around them. Leadership is always in the line of sight with the Lord. He knows people are easily swayed to believe the loudest and strongest voice. When leaders fail His people, God comes against them.  We should be glad about this. As we see in America, leadership can go too far and also seek to undermine the trust of the people while presenting themselves as noble and trustworthy. I'm glad to know God is never fooled.  Hosea 5:3 (ESV) I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from m...

A key phrase repeats in Hosea 4, cluing us into one of the most beneficial aspects of the Christian faith. We learn this, as usual, from Israel's failure. The people failed to know the Lord and the prophet makes clear that this failure leads to their downfall. Hosea 4:1 (ESV) Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel, for the LORD has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land; Hosea 4:6 (ESV) My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. Verse 1 stipulates the lack of knowledge of God, and verse 6 reveals the results: Destruction. The people failed to abide by the covenantal stipulations; they sought after the Baals and Ashtoreths. They forsook the knowledge of God for the worship of created things. As a result, their community wa...

This verse has to be the biggest gut punch for knowing God's love in the Bible.  Hosea 3:1 (ESV) And the LORD said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the LORD loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.” Could you imagine this ask of the Lord? He wants Hosea to remarry his wife, purchasing her out of slavery while she is the property of another man. And God says plainly, this is how the LORD loves the children of Israel.  Hosea actually has to purchase her.  Hosea 3:2 (ESV) So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley. We see in this passage a picture of two things. The insidious nature of sin and the indescribable love of God. Hosea's name is close to the name of Jesus in Hebrew. This is on purpose for Jesus is the true Hosea who does not give up on wayward people. He loves us even when we are ensnared in our sin. Moreover, He PAYS for u...

The Lord does not give up on His people. And sometimes that's what hurts the most in the process of sanctification.  Hosea married a whore. Gomer deserted him as an illustration of the desertion the Lord experienced with Israel. They took His good gifts and worshipped foreign gods with them. Moreover, they credited the pagan gods of Baal for the good things the Lord actually provided. You can see why God was speaking of disowning the Northern Kingdom in chapter 1 of this prophetic book.  Now in Hosea 2 we have a poetic dialogue from the Lord on how He determined to sanctify this people and tear their hearts away from the false idols in which they trusted.  Hosea 2:2 (ESV) “Plead with your mother, plead— for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband— that she put away her whoring from her face, and her adultery from between her breasts; The poetic oracle looks backward and forward. The nation is cast away from the Lord. Why? Because they have committed spiritual adulter...