Author Archives: ilmaarts

HOSEA 9 WHEN GOD’S PEOPLE REJECT GOD

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December 23

HOSEA 9

15 Every evil of theirs is in Gilgal; there I began to hate them.
Because of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of my house.
I will love them no more; all their princes are rebels.

16 Ephraim is stricken; their root is dried up; they shall bear no fruit.
Even though they give birth, I will put their beloved children to death.
17 My God will reject them because they have not listened to him;
they shall be wanderers among the nations. – Hosea 9:15-17

HOSEA 9 WHEN GOD’S PEOPLE REJECT GOD

In Isaiah 1 the prophet saw a vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Isaiah spoke as the Lord has spoken: “Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged. Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. The prophet is speaking about the abomination they committed in Gilgal. Because of their wickedness, they will be shunned out of the Lord’s house. Calvin comments “When God threatens to eject Israel from his house, it is the same as though he said, “I will wholly cast you away;” as when one cuts off a withered branch from a tree, or a diseased member from the body.”

In Deuteronomy 28, God gave them a blessing and a curse before they entered the land. The blessing was dependent on their obedience, and they would be cursed if they didn’t obey. One of these blessings for obedience would be a fruitful womb, and one of the curses for disobedience would be a barren womb. Hosea pronounces the consequence of their idolatry which reaps fruitlessness. Because they have rejected God, they shall be wanderers among the nations. Some commentaries say that since the exile of Israel and then later Judah, this is still the case almost three thousand years later.

No one who claims they are believers can run from a life of hypocrisy. It will be dealt with harshly by the Lord himself.

REFLECTION

  • What leads a believer to live a life of hypocrisy?

HOSEA 9 OUTPOURING OF GOD’S WRATH ON HIS PEOPLE

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December 22

HOSEA 9

10 Like grapes in the wilderness, I found Israel.
Like the first fruit on the fig tree in its first season, I saw your fathers.
But they came to Baal-Peor and consecrated themselves to the thing of shame,
and became detestable like the thing they loved.

11 Ephraim’s glory shall fly away like a bird—no birth, no pregnancy, no conception!
12 Even if they bring up children, I will bereave them till none is left.
Woe to them when I depart from them!
13 Ephraim, as I have seen, was like a young palm planted in a meadow;
but Ephraim must lead his children out to slaughter.
14 Give them, O Lord— what will you give?
Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts. – Hosea 9:10-14

HOSEA 9 OUTPOURING OF GOD’S WRATH ON HIS PEOPLE

A poem by ILMA inspired by theses verses

When you test the Lord your God with unfaithfulness

Be prepared to experience his wrath in fullness

He will not let his people perish in their sinfulness

He is a jealous God who won’t stand infidelity.

According to a commentary, the phrase like grapes in the wilderness, I found Israel. They were likened to grapes and figs which was interesting since they were very complaining people. The commentator said that though they weren’t perfect, God still chose them. They were undefiled under Moses’ leadership since they kept themselves free of idols. In Numbers 25:3-18, when the Israelites came to Baal-Peor, they consecrated themselves to things of shame. They were seduced by Moab and many of the men fell into sexual sin and they also worshipped Baal and sacrificed to him. They committed unfaithfulness to God.

Verses 11-14 give us details of the wrath of God against his own people as a consequence of their idolatry. They will be barren. They won’t have children. Verse 12 sounds so harsh that even if they raise whoever children were left to them, they won’t make it since God will take them. A commentary says “Was this unfair to the children? Many biblical scholars believe that children who die before the age of accountability are accepted into heaven. If this is the case, and it likely is, then this could be a blessing for those very children who would have had to grow up in that world.”

REFLECTION

  • Do you think it was cruel of God to kill those children of the Israelites as a consequence of their idolatry? Why or why not?

HOSEA 9 THE DAYS OF PUNISHMENT HAVE COME

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  December 21

HOSEA 9

5 What will you do on the day of the appointed festival,
and on the day of the feast of the Lord?
6 For behold, they are going away from destruction;
but Egypt shall gather them; Memphis shall bury them.
Nettles shall possess their precious things of silver;
thorns shall be in their tents. 7 The days of punishment have come;
the days of recompense have come; Israel shall know it.
The prophet is a fool; the man of the spirit is mad,
because of your great iniquity and great hatred.
8 The prophet is the watchman of Ephraim with my God;
yet a fowler’s snare is on all his ways, and hatred in the house of his God.
9 They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah:
he will remember their iniquity;  he will punish their sins. – Hosea 9:5-9

HOSEA 9 THE DAYS OF PUNISHMENT HAVE COME

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

In this account, Hosea declares to the Israelites that the days of punishment have come. They will surely not miss it for they miscalculated God’s response to their terrible adultery. Hosea points out that when he warned them to not rejoice in their harvest in the previous verses, he was giving them time to repent so they can avoid the punishment of their sin.

They laughed at the prophet and called him a fool when in reality, they are the fools for thinking that they can get away with their sins and not bear the consequences of it. When they flee to Egypt after the Assyrians have destroyed their land hoping they could find comfort in them and later on come back to rebuild what they lost, they will soon find out that they have fled to their own graves. Memphis is a city of Egypt that will eventually devour them too. According to Matthew Henry’s commentary, “They shall be demolished and laid in ruins to such a degree that they shall be overgrown with nettles; so that if they survive the trouble and return to Israel, they would find it neither fruitful or habitable.”

This is what Hosea has warned them, the day of their punishment has arrived. If only they had heeded his warning, they could have been spared of it.

REFLECTION

·       Why do you think the Israelites ignored Hosea’s warnings?

HOSEA 9 WHEN YOU FORSAKE THE LORD

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December 20

HOSEA 9

Rejoice not, O Israel! Exult not like the peoples;
for you have played the whore, forsaking your God.
You have loved a prostitute’s wages on all threshing floors.
2 Threshing floor and wine vat shall not feed them,
 and the new wine shall fail them.3 They shall not remain in the land of the Lord,
 but Ephraim shall return to Egypt and they shall eat unclean food in Assyria.  

4 They shall not pour drink offerings of wine to the Lord,
and their sacrifices shall not please him. It shall be like mourners’ bread to them;
all who eat of it shall be defiled; for their bread shall be for their hunger only;
it shall not come to the house of the Lord. – Hosea 9:1-4

HOSEA 9 WHEN YOU FORSAKE THE LORD

Hosea warns the Israelites of the consequences of their adultery. He cautions them not to be so secure about their wages since they have forsaken the Lord and preferred to rely on their idols. According to some sources, at the time Hosea was alerting them of the coming doom, it may have been during harvest time when there was much rejoicing and fun because of the bountiful harvest they had. Boice comments “It was probably the case, though we do not know this for sure, that Hosea delivered the opening part of this oracle as a sermon on the occasion of a harvest festival…characterized by feasting, mirth, and dancing.”

In verse 2, the threshing floor was a place where grain was processed. Guzik comments that “Israel practiced idolatry on the threshing floor. They worshipped idols here because they believed that it helped the harvest. Because of their idolatry, the LORD would curse their harvest, and the threshing floor and the winepress shall not feed them.” In our times now, we can easily do this by forgetting that all good things come from the Lord as James 1:17 reiterates. We think that we did well because we are talented or gifted or hardworking.

Aside from such curses, they would also be sent back both to Egypt and Assyria, where they would once again suffer the enslavement of these pagan wicked people. They will be eating unclean food in Assyria and they would only sacrifice to the Lord for their own survival and not to worship and thank the Lord.

REFLECTION

·       What are some ways that a believer can forsake the Lord?

HOSEA 8 DEFILED BY SIN

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December 19

HOSEA 8

11 Because Ephraim has multiplied altars for sinning,
    they have become to him altars for sinning.
12 Were I to write for him my laws by the ten-thousands,
    they would be regarded as a strange thing.
13 As for my sacrificial offerings, they sacrifice meat and eat it,
    but the Lord does not accept them. Now he will remember their iniquity
    and punish their sins; they shall return to Egypt.
14 For Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces,
    and Judah has multiplied fortified cities;
    so I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour her strongholds.

                                                                  – Hosea 8:11-14

HOSEA 8 DEFILED BY SIN

A Poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

If you intentionally sin against God, you are stained

Because God is holy, he cannot tolerate sin

God won’t put up with adultery and idolatry

These sins are against His design for eternity

It defies God’s salvation plan for his people

When we sin, we turn to the world and reject Him.

In this account, God lays down his verdict on the sins of His people. When they built many altars, they were challenging God. They know very well that God would not tolerate sins of idolatry and they still did it anyway. As a result, they became blind to the truth and to the wisdom that God has given them. In verse 12, God comments to them that even if they gave them His word, they view it as strange. Because they have now been blinded by seeking their idols and defiling the covenant they made with God, they became foolish. God was giving them great things but they view it as strange.

David Guzik comments “while Israel practiced outright idolatry, Judah was guilty of a more subtle sin. They trusted in the fortified cities they built against the Assyrians.”

REFLECTION

  • What happens to believers when they defy God’s laws as shown in these verses?

HOSEA 8 FRUITLESS & USELESS

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December 18

HOSEA 8

7 For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.
The standing grain has no heads; it shall yield no flour;
if it were to yield, strangers would devour it.
8 Israel is swallowed up; already they are among the nations
as a useless vessel.9 For they have gone up to Assyria,
a wild donkey wandering alone; Ephraim has hired lovers.
10 Though they hire allies among the nations, I will soon gather them up.
And the king and princes shall soon writhe because of the tribute.

                                                                            – Hosea 8:7-10

HOSEA 8 FRUITLESS & USELESS

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

God gave us our lives to be vessels for his purpose

We are not to use his gifts for our own pleasures

The Lord expects us to fulfill his salvation plan for humanity

We cannot be useless vessels for his big design of eternity.

In this account, Hosea continues to list all the foolish things that Israel did to anger the Lord. They continued to make idols to worship instead of focusing on honoring the One true God whom they made a covenant with. As a result of this intentional sin, they won’t yield any fruit at all and even if they did, it will be devoured by strangers who didn’t work for it. Haggai 1:6 reiterates verse 7 when he said “You have planted much but harvest little. You eat but are not satisfied. You drink but are still thirsty. You put on clothes but cannot keep warm. Your wages disappear as though you were putting them in pockets filled with holes!”

The consequence of idolatry against the Lord manifested in their fruitlessness and uselessness. Solomon also speaks about the vanity of life in Ecclesiastes chapter 1. We can chase anything we want to achieve, but in the end, it is vanity if it is done for humanity instead of for the Lord’s glory. Everything is useless and fruitless in the greater scheme of God’ redemption plan.

REFLECTION

  • What are the signs of fruitlessness and uselessness in a Christian’s life?

HOSEA 8 SOW THE WIND & REAP THE WHIRLWIND

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December 17

HOSEA 8

Set the trumpet to your lips! One like a vulture is over the house of the Lord,
because they have transgressed my covenant and rebelled against my law.
2 To me they cry, “My God, we—Israel—know you.”
3 Israel has spurned the good; the enemy shall pursue him.

4 They made kings, but not through me. They set up princes, but I knew it not.
With their silver and gold they made idols for their own destruction.
5 I have spurned your calf, O Samaria. My anger burns against them.
How long will they be incapable of innocence? 6 For it is from Israel;
a craftsman made it; it is not God. The calf of Samaria shall be broken to pieces.

                                                                       – Hosea 8:1-6

HOSEA 8 SOW THE WIND & REAP THE WHIRLWIND

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

As you serve the Lord Jesus Christ, obeying his law is your life

God is faithful and expects your whole heart, soul and mind

When you don’t follow his law, you are rebelling against him

You will surely reap the consequences of this grievous sin

God hates all forms of wickedness, idolatry and adultery

Turn away from sins that He hates, repent and return to Him.

Coffman’s commentary summarizes this chapter as “sow the wind reap the whirlwind.”

He says that this chapter is a continuation of the sad lament and prophecy of the forthcoming destruction. In verse 1, trumpets usually alarm or give notice of either a victory or some threat coming to them. It was a warning of coming doom to them as a consequence of their sin against the Lord. According to Ward’s commentary, “the vulture was referring to Assyria since it was the obvious threat to Israel’s sovereignty in the eighth century B.C.”  Verse 2 is an insincere cry for help to God when they are actually asking the other gods for help as well. In verse 4, Boice comments “To choose leaders without the direction of God is not only sinful, it is foolish. Those who follow their own wisdom in the choice of leaders inevitably get what they deserve.”

REFLECTION

  • Why do you think some commentaries summarize this chapter as “sow the wind and reap the whirlwind?”

HOSEA 7 THE INSOLENCE OF GOD’S PEOPLE

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December 16

HOSEA 7
14 They do not cry to me from the heart,
but they wail upon their beds;
for grain and wine they gash themselves;
they rebel against me.
15 Although I trained and strengthened their arms,
yet they devise evil against me.
16 They return, but not upward;
they are like a treacherous bow;
their princes shall fall by the sword
because of the insolence of their tongue.
This shall be their derision in the land of Egypt. – Hosea 7:14-16

HOSEA 7 THE INSOLENCE OF GOD’S PEOPLE
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
Though God has shown steadfast love to his people
They did not reciprocate back his faithfulness
Instead, they pretended they worshipped the Lord
But simultaneously devised evil and insolence against God.

Some sources mentioned that in verse 14, God’s people said that they repented of their sins and promised to change. They made a show of worshipping God in their lips, but their hearts weren’t involved. Gill’s commentary says “when they howled upon their beds, lying sick or wounded there; or, as some, in their idol temples, those beds of adultery, where they pretended to worship God and pray to God through these idols.
In verse 16, God confronts their evil defiance. Instead of returning to Jerusalem and the temple of the Lord there, they went to Egypt. Gill comments on “treacherous bow” as “They were missing the mark it is directed to which being designed to send its arrow one way, causes it to go to the revere or its arrow returns upon the archer or drops at his feet; so, these people deviated from the law of God, acted contrary to their promises.” Mixing with pagans led them to compromise their covenant promise to the Lord.

REFLECTION
• What are the dangers of yoking with unbelievers as illustrated in these verses?

HOSEA 7 ON SPEAKING LIES AGAINST GOD

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December 15

HOSEA 7

8 Ephraim mixes himself with the peoples; Ephraim is a cake not turned.
9 Strangers devour his strength, and he knows it not;
gray hairs are sprinkled upon him, and he knows it not.
10 The pride of Israel testifies to his face; yet they do not return

to the Lord their God, nor seek him, for all this.

11 Ephraim is like a dove, silly and without sense,
calling to Egypt, going to Assyria.12 As they go,

 I will spread over them my net; I will bring them down like birds of the heavens;
 I will discipline them according to the report made to their congregation.
13 Woe to them, for they have strayed from me!

Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against me!
I would redeem them, but they speak lies against me. – Hosea 7:8-13

HOSEA 7 ON SPEAKING LIES AGAINST GOD

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

As a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ

One is expected to obey his will and commands

His servant is to abide in him and live his truth

He is to keep away from the corruption of the world

It is evil and wicked to speak lies against God

You are serving the enemy when you do so.

In this account, Hosea describes what evil things Ephraim has done against the Lord. In verse 8, they were illustrated as “mixing with the peoples.” God specifically told them not to intermarry from outside the covenant people and is what exactly what they did. Without them even noticing it, they began to worship the pagan idols that their partners practiced. They didn’t keep their hearts pure for the Lord. Hosea also mentioned their pride in verse 10, they did not seek God anymore. They went to Assyria, a pagan country for help instead of going to their covenant God.  This stirred God’s jealousy and brought about destruction unless they repent and return back to the Lord.

REFLECTION

  • How can a Christian lie against the Lord without them even noticing it?

HOSEA 7 THEY HAVE FORGOTTEN GOD

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December 14

HOSEA 7

When I would heal Israel, the iniquity of Ephraim is revealed,

and the evil deeds of Samaria, for they deal falsely;

the thief breaks in, and the bandits raid outside.
2 But they do not consider that I remember all their evil.
Now their deeds surround them; they are before my face.
3 By their evil they make the king glad, and the princes by their treachery.
4 They are all adulterers; they are like a heated oven

whose baker ceases to stir the fire, from the kneading of the dough until it is leavened.
On the day of our king, the princes became sick with the heat of wine;
he stretched out his hand with mockers.
6 For with hearts like an oven they approach their intrigue;
all 5 night their anger smolders; in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
7 All of them are hot as an oven, and they devour their rulers.
All their kings have fallen, and none of them calls upon me. – Hosea 7:1-7

HOSEA 7 THEY HAVE FORGOTTEN GOD

John Gill’s introduction to chapter seven says that it is either a new sermon, a discourse or a prophecy or a continuation of the former except that this time it is only directed to Israel. They are charged with ingratitude to God. They became complacent and expected that what they were doing was going to be tolerated by God. They have forgotten that God hated sin and they indulged in these immoral acts.

The Israelites lived with pagans and embraced their culture. As a result, they learned their ways and brought their superstition and idolatry into the worship of God. They have forgotten that God required them to worship Him in truth and in Spirit. They were so ensnared with their beliefs that they have compromised their worship of God. They have defiled themselves and are no longer pure and holy to be worthy of worshiping the Lord. As a result of such defilement, they continued seeking after wickedness. They engaged in drunkenness, sexual immorality, theft, corruption and many other sins. “He stretched out his hand with mocker” meant according to Gill’s commentary that the king forgot his dignity by too much familiarity with persons of low life and ill behavior.”

REFLECTION

·       Why is it important to choose our friends according to Proverbs 22:24-25?