devotional post # 2128

Hosea 10:5-7

Hos 10:5 The residents of Samaria are afraid for the calf of Beth-aven. Its people mourn for it, and so do its idolatrous priests– those who had partied over it and over its glory– because it has departed from them.
Hos 10:6 The thing itself will be carried to Assyria as tribute to the great king. Ephraim will be put to shame, and Israel will be ashamed of his idol.
Hos 10:7 Samaria’s king will perish like a twig on the face of the waters.

king and calf

The party’s over. The king who thought he was great is now wiped away like a twig over a waterfall. The great foreign king now reigns over the land, and he has taken their precious calf idol. The great king has replaced it with his own idol, and the residents of Samaria are ashamed of it. They should be ashamed of themselves, because they brought this judgment upon themselves by betraying the LORD.

LORD, build in us a strong loyalty to you and your word. Destroy our idols.