walking dead

Posted on September 12, 2017 by Jefferson Vann

20160216-12

devotional post # 2137

Hosea 12:14-13:3

Hos 12:14 Ephraim has bitterly irritated him; so his Lord will leave his death sentence on him and will repay him because his disgrace.
Hos 13:1 When Ephraim spoke, there was terror; he had been exalted in Israel, but he became guilty by following Baal and died.
Hos 13:2 And now they sin more and more, and make for themselves metal images, idols skillfully made of their silver, all of them the work of craftsmen. It is said of them, “They offer human sacrifices and kiss calves!”
Hos 13:3 for this reason they will be like the morning dew or like the spray that goes early away, like the chaff that blows from the threshing floor or like smoke from a window.

walking dead

Hosea describes Ephraim as the walking dead: spiritually dead because of rebellion, and awaiting the punishment for their sins. Morning dew, chaff, and smoke all have this in common. They only last a short time before they are gone forever.

Friend, if you are not in Christ, that is you. The Lord offers you forgiveness and restoration now, but that offer is only for now. Come to the grace of God while he still offers it. Later may be too late.

LORD, rescue more today from the consequences of their own rebellion.

Posted in destruction in hell, judgment | Tagged , | Leave a comment

prophecy for hire

Posted on September 11, 2017 by Jefferson Vann

20160216-11

devotional post # 2136

Hosea 12:10-13

Hos 12:10 I spoke onto the prophets; it was I who made many visions, and gave parables at the hand of prophets.
Hos 12:11 Because there is iniquity in Gilead, they will surely come to nothing: they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal; their altars also are like piles of stone on the furrows of the field.
Hos 12:12 Jacob escaped to the land of Aram; there Israel served to get a wife, and to get a wife he guarded sheep.
Hos 12:13 By a prophet Yahveh took Israel up from Egypt, and by a prophet he was watched over.

prophecy for hire

The Israelites could boast in Hosea’s time that they had many prophets who told them what they wanted to hear. Those prophets prophesied for hire, just like Jacob had served Laban to get a wife. But The LORD reminded the Israelites that he is the real power behind prophetic visions and parables. It is his voice they should listen to, and it is the LORD that watches over them.

LORD, we do not trust in the number of prophets among us; we trust in the Holy Spirit within us, and seek your pure word given in scripture.

Posted in dependence upon God, guidance, prophecy | Tagged | Leave a comment

back to shacks

Posted on September 10, 2017 by Jefferson Vann

20160216-10

devotional post # 2135

Hosea 12:7-9

Hos 12:7 A merchant, in whose hands are dishonest scales, he loves to cheat.
Hos 12:8 Ephraim has said, “Not me, I am rich; I have found wealth for myself; in all my labors they cannot find in me a sign of iniquity or sin.”
Hos 12:9 I am Yahveh your God from the land of Egypt; I will make you dwell in shacks again, like you did in the days you celebrate with the traditional feast.

back to shacks

The Israelites still celebrated the feast of booths, where they constructed temporary shacks to live in, symbolizing their dependence upon God for protection and provision. But now Israel is so fat and rich and self-reliant that the LORD threatens to strip them of all that they rely on, and return them to shacks. The LORD reminds them that they were slaves in Egypt, and that their freedom was given by him.

Ephraim thinks he is sinless because he is wealthy. God knows differently.

LORD, rescue us from our own sinful self-reliance.

Posted in dependence upon God, judgment, wealth | Tagged | Leave a comment

keep fighting

Posted on September 9, 2017 by Jefferson Vann

20160216-09

devotional post # 2134

Hosea 12:1-6

Hos 12:1 Ephraim feeds on wind and chases the east wind all day long; they keep coming up with more falsehood and violence; they make a contract with Assyria, and oil is transported to Egypt.
Hos 12:2 The LORD has an problem with Judah and will punish Jacob according to his ways; he will repay him according to his actions.
Hos 12:3 In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his manhood he strove with God.
Hos 12:4 He strove with the angel and succeeded; he wept and sought his favor. He met God at Bethel, and there God spoke with us–
Hos 12:5 Yahveh, the God of armies, Yahveh is his memorial name:
Hos 12:6 “So you, by the assistance of your God, return, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God.”

keep fighting

Hosea pleads with the northern kingdom to act like Jacob, who kept fighting until God blessed him. Yahveh is the God of armies. His followers need to hold fast to him and his ways, not trust in foreign gods and foreign kings.

Christian, I know your life is a struggle. Mine surely is. Keep fighting. Do not give up.

LORD, strengthen us for the fight to stay true to you.

Posted in discipleship, perseverance | Tagged | Leave a comment

not what God wants

Posted on September 8, 2017 by Jefferson Vann

20160216-08

devotional post # 2133

Hosea 11:8-12

Hos 11:8 How can I surrender you, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender.
Hos 11:9 I do not want to execute my burning anger; I do not want to destroy Ephraim again; because I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your presence, and I do not want to come in wrath.
Hos 11:10 They will go after Yahveh; he will roar like a lion; when he roars, his children will come trembling from the west;
Hos 11:11 they will come trembling like birds from Egypt, and like doves from the land of Assyria, and I will return them to their homes, declares Yahveh.
Hos 11:12 Ephraim has surrounded me with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit, but Judah still walks with God and is faithful to the Holy One.

not what God wants

I think that Hosea is voicing God exasperation here. He hears the pleas of the Israelites, and their promises to return to him, and he wants to believe them, even though he knows that they are all liars. He does not want to come in judgment. He wants to just roar through his prophet, and see them all come trembling back to him. But he knows that is not going to happen.

LORD, turn our nations back to you. If we do not listen to your prophets in the Bible, send us to warn our own people of your coming wrath.

Posted in Bible, prophecy, wrath of God | Tagged | Leave a comment

whirling sword

Posted on September 7, 2017 by Jefferson Vann

20160216-07

devotional post # 2132

Hosea 11:5-7

Hos 11:5 They will not return to the land of Egypt, but Assyria will be their king, because they have refused to return to me.
Hos 11:6 The sword will whirl in their cities, eat up the bars of their gates, and consume them because of their own counsels.
Hos 11:7 My people insist on turning away from me, and even if they call out to the Most High, he will not raise them up at all.

whirling sword

Hosea pictures the sword of war and execution being used so much that it seems to whirl about and consume everything in its path. This is the fate of a people who had all the blessings of God but chose to be like everybody else and worship other gods.

LORD, if it is not too late, bring us back to yourself. We want to be yours alone.

Posted in idolatry, judgment | Tagged | Leave a comment

straying from love

Posted on September 6, 2017 by Jefferson Vann

20160216-06

devotional post # 2131

Hosea 11:1-4

Hos 11:1 When Israel was a child, I showed love to him, and from Egypt I called after my son.
Hos 11:2 The more they were called after, the more they strayed away; they kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning offerings to images.
Hos 11:3 Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk; I took them up by their arms, but they did not know that I was the one who healed them.
Hos 11:4 I led them with cords of kindness, with the bands of love, and I became to them as one who slackens the pressure of the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them.

straying from love

The LORD wants the Israelites to know that all he has ever done is love them, but they kept straying away from his love and care. He wants his children today to see the signs of his love, and return them.

LORD, forgive us for straying from your love and care.

Posted in faithfulness, love, loyalty | Tagged | Leave a comment

spoiled heifer

Posted on September 5, 2017 by Jefferson Vann

20160216-05

devotional post # 2130

Hosea 10:11-15

Hos 10:11 Ephraim was a trained heifer who loved to thresh, and I have so far spared her tender neck; but I will harness Ephraim to the yoke now; Judah will have to plow; Jacob will have to harrow for himself.
Hos 10:12 Plant for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, because it is the time to seek Yahveh, so that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.
Hos 10:13 You have plowed iniquity; you have reaped injustice; you have eaten the fruit of lies. Because you have trusted in your own way and in the number of your warriors,
Hos 10:14 For this reason the roar of war will arise among your people, and all your fortresses will be destroyed, as Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on battle day; mothers were dashed in pieces with their children.
Hos 10:15 This is how it will be done to you, Bethel, because of your great evil. At dawn the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.

spoiled heifer

Hosea describes his people as a spoiled heifer, only threshing grain, never having felt the heavy yoke of the oppressive plow. But they chose to do injustice and lies. So, now the spoiled heifer will lose its freedom, and have to plow for a foreign king. God wanted his people to rest in his love and enjoy his blessings. But now they will have to pay for their rebellion.

LORD, show us how to demonstrate your easy yoke, remove the heavy yoke that we have been giving ourselves because of selfishness and falsehood.

Posted in freedom, idolatry, war | Tagged | Leave a comment

double violation

Posted on September 4, 2017 by Jefferson Vann

20160216-04

devotional post # 2129

Hosea 10:8-10

Hos 10:8 The high places of Aven, the mistake of Israel, will be made useless. Thorn bush and thistle will grow up on their altars, and they will say to the mountains, “Cover us,” and to the hills, “Fall on us.”
Hos 10:9 From the days of Gibeah, you have failed, O Israel; there they have continued. Should not the war against the unjust overtake them in Gibeah?
Hos 10:10 When I want to, I will discipline them, and nations will be gathered against them when they are tied up because of their double violation.

double violation

The Gibeonites were almost destroyed after their horrible crime of raping and murdering a Levite’s concubine. But those tribes who carried out that punishment continued in the same crimes of lust and violence, and added betrayal and idolatry to their rap sheets. So, now the LORD is going to punish them, with a war against them that will overtake them at Gibeah. Just like a group of tribes zeroed in on Gibeah, so now a group of nations will zero in on Israel.

LORD, purge us of the evil we accomplish even when we are trying to do what is right.

Posted in idolatry, judgment, violence, war | Tagged | Leave a comment

king and calf

Posted on September 3, 2017 by Jefferson Vann

20160216-03

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.

Posted in commitment, idolatry, judgment, loyalty | Tagged | Leave a comment