devotional post # 2115

Hosea 7:8-10

Hos 7:8 Ephraim mixes himself with the peoples; Ephraim is a half-baked cake.
Hos 7:9 Foreigners devour his strength, and he does not get it; gray hairs are sprouting on him, and he does not get it.
Hos 7:10 The arrogance of Israel testifies against his own face; yet they do not return to Yahveh their God, nor seek him, in spite of all this.

denying the mirror image

Israel’s commission from God was to keep covenant with him, and testify to his grace and goodness to the nations around them. But they spent too much time blending in with those nations, and not enough time being God’s particular possession. As a result, you could see the result by looking at their faces. But, instead of repenting of their idolatry and syncretism, the nation was in denial. They testified against their own mirror image.

LORD, we have spent too much time identifying with this world you called us to change. Change us, before we share its fate.