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HOSEA 12 PRIDE GOES BEFORE SIN

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December 31

HOSEA 12

7 A merchant, in whose hands are false balances, he loves to oppress.
8 Ephraim has said, “Ah, but I am rich; I have found wealth for myself;
in all my labors they cannot find in me iniquity or sin.”
9 I am the Lord your God from the land of Egypt;
I will again make you dwell in tents, as in the days of the appointed feast.

10 I spoke to the prophets; it was I who multiplied visions,
 and through the prophets gave parables– Hosea 12:7-10

HOSEA 12 PRIDE GOES BEFORE SIN

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

Those who boast about their wealth and riches

Are deceived because every good gift comes from God above

The wicked does not acknowledge that there is a God

They manipulate others so they can profit well

The proud thinks that his wealth is his own doing

He doesn’t recognize God’s provision and blessing.

In these following verses, the prophet Hosea presents the manifestations of the wicked and the proud. He describes a merchant who has false scales to trick people into thinking they got a good deal. They actually deceive the buyers so they could earn more profit. During the time this was written, the market was the shopping mall. The vendors could easily do something with the scale to trick the weight of the goods they are buying. Even in our online shopping, we could still find dishonest sellers. They could easily pay someone to write dishonest reviews so they could sell their product and then deliver a much inferior item to their customer. Another way to cheat consumers is to put false promises of the product that it cannot truly deliver.

In verse 8 the self-made man who thinks that it is his own hard work and effort which made him wealthy. They forget that every blessing they have is from God. They become proud and self-reliant and do not thank or acknowledge God’s provision for them. It is foolish to think you can do anything without God’s hand in it. Everything comes from him.

REFLECTION

  • How are self-sufficiency and deceitfulness both sins that stem from pride?

HOSEA 11 GOD’S COMPASSION & MERCY TO HIS BELOVED

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December 29

HOSEA 11

8 How can I give you up, O 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.
9 I will not execute my burning anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim;
for I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath.

10 They shall go after the Lord; he will roar like a lion; when he roars,
his children shall come trembling from the west;
11 they shall come trembling like birds from Egypt,
and like doves from the land of Assyria,

and I will return them to their homes, declares the Lord.
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.

                                                                     – Hosea 11:8-12

HOSEA 11 GOD’S COMPASSION & MERCY TO HIS BELOVED

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

If God has chosen you as his beloved, you will be loved like no other

God loves unconditionally but for your own sake stay steadfast

Loyalty to God is your protection against the systems of the world

It will equip you with discernment and help you see what is wrong.

In verse 8, God wanted to spare his people what he did to those lands that were utterly wicked. Deuteronomy 29:23 mentions the different lands that God overthrew and destroyed out of his anger. Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim were among these lands. According to sources Admah and Zeboiim were the little towns outside of Sodom and Gomorrah, which were burned up with the larger cities when the sulfury fire of God fell from heaven in judgment on them. In verse 9 he manifests his mercy on the sinfulness of his people. Another source says “To be made like Admah and treated like Zeboiim is not only to pass out of existence but out of memory. In the riches of his grace it is abhorrent to the Most High God to drop his people into the flames of the memory hole, as they deserve.”

REFLECTION

  • Cite instances when God has shown his compassion and mercy to you?

HOSEA 11 GOD’S LOVE REPAID WITH IDOLATRY

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December 28

HOSEA 11

When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.
2 The more they were called, the more they went away;

 they kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning offerings to idols.

3 Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk; I took them up by their arms,
but they did not know that I healed them.
4 I led them with cords of kindness, with the bands of love,
and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws,

and I bent down to them and fed them. They shall not return to the land of Egypt,
but Assyria shall be their king, because they have refused to return to me.
6 The sword shall rage against their cities, consume the bars of their gates,
and devour them because of their own counsels.

7 My people are bent on turning away from me,
 and though they call out to the Most High, he shall not raise them up at all.

                                                                        – Hosea 11:1-7

HOSEA 11 GOD’S LOVE REPAID WITH IDOLATRY

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

Do you know that I watched you as you were formed?

I knit you inside to be like me in your mother’s womb

I love you without bounds and gave you mercy and grace

And yet you repaid me by bowing down to other gods.

In this account, God reminds his people how he loved them so much. He took both the roles of a mother and father to them.  He took care of their safety and also provided for all their needs. He led them out of slavery from the Egyptians and ensured they would not starve and die in the desert. God guided them towards the Promised Land, but how did the Israelites repay God’s kindness and love? They served the gods of Baal and completely forgot all the manifestations of the love  he had for them.

Humans can easily forget the things that they were rescued from as soon as they are in safety and needs are met. We tend to forget how God pulled us out of the predicament we were in as soon as we get comfortable and out of danger.

REFLECTION

  • How can we resist the temptation to repay God with idolatry?

HOSEA 10 BECAUSE YOU HAVE TRUSTED IN YOUR OWN WAY

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December 27

HOSEA 10

11 Ephraim was a trained calf that loved to thresh, and I spared her fair neck;
but I will put Ephraim to the yoke; Judah must plow; Jacob must harrow for himself.
12 Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground,
for it is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.

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 multitude of your warriors,
14 therefore the tumult of war shall arise among your people, and all your fortresses shall be destroyed, as Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle;
mothers were dashed in pieces with their children. 15 Thus it shall be done to you, O Bethel, because of your great evil. At dawn the king of Israel shall be utterly cut off.

                                                                     – Hosea 10:11-15

HOSEA 10 BECAUSE YOU HAVE TRUSTED IN YOUR OWN WAY

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

If you continually rely on your own understanding and strength

You will exhaust yourself and still feel inadequate

Because you have trusted in your own way, you will fail

But if you trust only in the Lord, you will conquer them all.

Kidner explains about threshing which was mentioned in verse 11. He says that “Threshing was a comparatively light task, made pleasant by the fact that the creature was unmuzzled and free to eat . . . as it pulled the threshing sledge over the gathered corn.”

Some commentary also said that “Ephraim had abandoned this comparatively light service in preference for becoming yoked to sin.” When we choose to trust in other gods or even in our own understanding and strength, we are provoking God’s wrath and it will definitely bear consequences. Wood comments that “Judah” refers to the South Kingdom and Jacob to the Northern, using the name of the patriarch that stresses this ancestor’s rebelliousness. Or possibly “Jacob” refers to all 12 tribes. As punishment Yahweh would yoke the people of both Northern and Southern Kingdoms to an enemy who would greatly restrict their movements and force them to do hard work.  When we trust in our own ways, we are competing with a God who knows all things and is All-powerful.

REFLECTION

  • How is trusting your own understanding a form of idolatry and pride?

HOSEA 10 ASSURANCE FROM GOD ALONE

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December 26

HOSEA 10

6 The thing itself shall be carried to Assyria as tribute to the great king.
Ephraim shall be put to shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his idol.

7 Samaria’s king shall perish like a twig on the face of the waters.
8 The high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed.
Thorn and thistle shall grow upon their altars,
and they shall say to the mountains, “Cover us,” and to the hills, “Fall on us.”

9 From the days of Gibeah, you have sinned, O Israel; there they have continued.
Shall not the war against the unjustovertake them in Gibeah?
10 When I please, I will discipline them, and nations shall be gathered against them
when they are bound up for their double iniquity. – Hosea 10:6-10

HOSEA 10 ASSURANCE FROM GOD ALONE

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

If a believer truly serves the Lord God Almighty

He will only trust in God and not in any other authority

Not kings, princes or human masters can give you assurance

Only the One true God who truly loves and cares for you can.

According to sources, the Assyrians would carry the golden calf to their land in honor of their king. Israel would then feel great shame because the Israelites had decided to trust in a foreign alliance with the Assyrians for their security instead of trusting their God. James Pritchard comments: “In those days the secular state did not exist, and so in practice it was impossible to distinguish between a state and its gods. In an extant treaty of peace between Rameses II of Egypt and Hattusilis the Hittite king it is a thousand of their gods on either side who are the witnesses to and guarantors of it.” Ellison also comments “Even a treaty on equal terms with a neighboring country would have involved for Israel a recognition of the other country’s deities as having reality and equality with Jehovah. To turn to Assyria or Egypt for help implied of necessity that their gods were more effective than the God of Israel.”

History has proven that rulers of nations who do not acknowledge God will naturally be wicked and evil. We become slaves to whoever we serve, their idols become ours.

REFLECTION

  • How is Psalm 1 reiterated in the following verses?

ISAIAH 9 FOR TO US A CHILD IS BORN

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December 25

ISAIAH 9

6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given;

and the government shall be uponhis shoulder, and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.– Isaiah 9:6-7

ISAIAH 9 FOR TO US A CHILD IS BORN

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

One silent night a son is given and to us a child is born

The Lord God loved us so much so He gave his Only Begotten Son

He rules over all kingdoms and he is the Prince of Peace

He makes sure that justice and righteousness reigns on earth

Praise the Son of God who is the Only Way to the Father

Believe in Him so you can have a life that is eternal.

What a privilege and honor it was for the prophet Isaiah to be given this revelation about our Prince of Peace, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God and Everlasting Father thousands of years ago before we were born. Scholars and bible experts calculate Jesus’ time at the same time of King Herod which was between 6 and 4 BC. The Father gave us a resume of Jesus before he was born. Isaiah became God’s spokesperson to give us the identity of his Son Jesus Christ.

In this account we hear of different attributes of God: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, Just and Righteous God. The Old Testament books of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel contain much of God’s promises to his people. These two verses hold a big chunk of those promises. It assures us of good counsel from the Lord Jesus Christ, unending peace and strength, assurance that He is the one in control and that anyone who believes in him will have everlasting life. It brings comfort and security for the believers who live in a very corrupt world. It gives them hope and expectancy.

REFLECTION

  • What among these traits of God mentioned in these two verses are the most significant to you and why?

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 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 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?”