devotional post # 2107

Hosea 5:5-7

Hos 5:5 The presumption of Israel testifies to his face; Israel and Ephraim will trip over his guilt; Judah also will trip with them.
Hos 5:6 With their flocks and herds they will go to seek Yahveh, but they will not find him; he has withdrawn from them.
Hos 5:7 They have dealt deceitfully with Yahveh; because they have given birth to alien children. Now the new moon will devour them along with their fields.

withdrawn from them

The northern kingdom presumed that they could get in bed with the gods of other nations, and still find a faithful husband waiting when they came to worship Yahveh. It doesn’t work that way. They will trip over the invisible furniture of their own guilt, because Yahveh has withdrawn from them. The next new moon festival will bring loss, not harvest. Violence will come to the northern house. There is no God there to protect them from the consequences of their own pride.

LORD, come back to us, before there is nothing left to return to.