Reading through Hosea has given me a truly reverent and healthy fear of the Lord. Hosea 9 says a lot. It starts off by defining where God’s anger is justified because of who the Israelites gave their glory to. They have turned to Baal instead of God. Because of this God lets them know that they will be driven out of the promised land. Showing us how persistent sin leads to separation from God. It also shows that we can enter phases in our lives where God’s presence and blessings are no longer with us because we constantly refuse to give God the glory and honor for what he has given and done for us. It also says that the Israelites sin had gotten so deep that they started referring to God’s Prophets as fools. This lets us know that rejecting God’s truth doesn’t stop judgement, it ensures it. God then reflects on how he saw the Israelites in the beginning. God says he saw them as precious and rare as grapes in a desert. Now that they have become corrupt, God says they will no longer have long lasting families and stability. Today we can equate this to how our Grandparents lived. In most cases (not all cases), we can look back and see how our Grandparents held our families together. I know in my family all of our family get togethers only happened because we knew our grandparents wanted them to happen. They knew how important it was for our family to stick together spiritually and relationally. As they are dying off we often times see families separate. Without God, we oftentimes don’t see the importance of family or we don’t see the value in family. Because Israel has become so corrupt, God says he will depart from them and that the Israelites will become barren. This shows us that sin has generational consequences. Persistent rebellion and ignoring God leads to separation from God and instability. We should always remember (especially in America) that God has mightily blessed us. We were founded under Christian principles and values. God has had his hand on us as a nation. As men we individually need to stay humble and stay in a repentful state of mind. It is easy to look at what we have and keep all of the glory for ourselves or think “look at me” or “look what I did.” This is a dangerous mindset to have. Make sure to stay humble and know where your blessings come from. God will not share his glory. He doesn’t demand perfection but he does demand that he be first in our lives and he demands our worship. What we live for is what we worship. We must always make sure we are living for God. Love y’all! Have a great day!
Hosea 9:1-17
Read scripture…
“Israel, do not rejoice jubilantly as the nations do, for you have acted promiscuously, leaving your God. You love the wages of a prostitute on every grain-threshing floor. Threshing floor and wine vat will not sustain them, and the new wine will fail them. They will not stay in the land of the Lord. Instead, Ephraim will return to Egypt, and they will eat unclean food in Assyria. They will not pour out their wine offerings to the Lord, and their sacrifices will not please him. Their food will be like the bread of mourners; all who eat it become defiled. For their bread will be for their appetites alone; it will not enter the house of the Lord. What will you do on a festival day, on the day of the Lord’s feast? For even if they flee from devastation, Egypt will gather them, and Memphis will bury them. Thistles will take possession of their precious silver; thorns will invade their tents. The days of punishment have come; the days of retribution have come. Let Israel recognize it! The prophet is a fool, and the inspired man is insane, because of the magnitude of your iniquity and hostility. Ephraim’s watchman is with my God. Yet the prophet encounters a bird trap on all his pathways. Hostility is in the house of his God! They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah. He will remember their iniquity; he will punish their sins. I discovered Israel like grapes in the wilderness. I saw your ancestors like the first fruit of the fig tree in its first season. But they went to Baal-peor, consecrated themselves to Shame, , and became abhorrent, like the thing they loved. Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird: no birth, no pregnancy, no conception. Even if they raise children, I will bereave them of each one. Yes, woe to them when I depart from them! I have seen Ephraim like Tyre, planted in a meadow, so Ephraim will bring out his children to the executioner. Give them, Lord — What should you give? Give them a womb that miscarries and breasts that are dry! All their evil appears at Gilgal, for there I began to hate them. I will drive them from my house because of their evil, wicked actions. I will no longer love them; all their leaders are rebellious. Ephraim is struck down; their roots are withered; they cannot bear fruit. Even if they bear children, I will kill the precious offspring of their wombs. My God will reject them because they have not listened to him; they will become wanderers among the nations.”
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