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?
