April 24, 2011 (Hosea 1-7)

As I read this verse I thought of how through Christ, we can be freed us sin and chains that bind us instantly. He has the power to break these bondages. Sometimes He doesn't instantly to teach us to trust Him and rely upon Him, but sometimes He does:

^1:7 But I will show love to the people of Judah. I will personally free them from their enemies—not with weapons and armies or horses and charioteers, but by my power as the Lord their God.”

As I am reading Hosea, I am struck by how much God loves His people and how it is He who provides everything for us. God instructed Hosea to marry a prostitute so God could use their lives as an example of Israel's idolatry. God makes this comment about her: "She doesn't realize it was I who gave her everything she has - the grain, the wine, the olive oil. Even the gold and silver she used in worshiping the god Baal were gifts from me!" The thing that stuck out to me there was that even the things used to worship a 'false god' were gifts from the true God. So he talks about allowing her to be punished for her ways - to receive 'the fruit of her doings'. But then - again - always the gift of mercy and His love:

^2:14 “But then I will win her back once again.
      I will lead her out into the desert
      and speak tenderly to her there.
 ¹⁵ I will return her vineyards to her
      and transform the Valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope.
   She will give herself to me there,
      as she did long ago when she was young,
      when I freed her from her captivity in Egypt.
 ¹⁶ In that coming day,” says the Lord,
      “you will call me ‘my husband’
      instead of ‘my master.’
 ¹⁷ O Israel, I will wipe the many names of Baal from your lips,
      and you will never mention them again.
 
 ¹⁹ I will make you my wife forever,
      showing you righteousness and justice,
      unfailing love and compassion.
 ²⁰ I will be faithful to you and make you mine,
      and you will finally know me as the Lord.

 ²²
   And they in turn will answer,
      ‘Jezreel’—‘God plants!’
 ²³ At that time I will plant a crop of Israelites
      and raise them for myself.
   I will show love
      to those I called ‘Not loved.’
   And to those I called ‘Not my people,’
      I will say, ‘Now you are my people.’
   And they will reply, ‘You are our God!’”

And although we are not quite here, it seems we are heading this direction more and more:

^4:1 Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel!
      The Lord has brought charges against you, saying:
   “There is no faithfulness, no kindness,
      no knowledge of God in your land.
 ² You make vows and break them;
      you kill and steal and commit adultery.
   There is violence everywhere—
      one murder after another.
 ³ That is why your land is in mourning,
      and everyone is wasting away.
   Even the wild animals, the birds of the sky,
      and the fish of the sea are disappearing.

And then God lays into the priests - who had turned corrupt because of greed.

⁴ “Don’t point your finger at someone else
      and try to pass the blame!
   My complaint, you priests,
      is with you.

 ⁶ My people are being destroyed
      because they don’t know me.
   Since you priests refuse to know me,
      I refuse to recognize you as my priests.
   Since you have forgotten the laws of your God,
      I will forget to bless your children.
 ⁷ The more priests there are,
      the more they sin against me.
   They have exchanged the glory of God
      for the shame of idols.

 ⁸ “When the people bring their sin offerings, the priests get fed.
      So the priests are glad when the people sin!
 ⁹ ‘And what the priests do, the people also do.’
      So now I will punish both priests and people
      for their wicked deeds.

There are a couple of great quotes in the remainder of chapter 4:

^4:11 Alcohol and prostitution have robbed my people of their brains.

¹⁴ 
   O foolish people! You will be destroyed, for you refuse to understand.


¹⁶ Israel is as stubborn as a heifer, so the Lord will put her out to pasture.
   She will stand alone and unprotected, like a helpless lamb in an open field.


18 Their love for shame is greater than their love for honor.

And then some wonderful verses about knowing God:

^6:2 In just a short time he will restore us,
      so that we may live in his presence.
 ³ Oh, that we might know the Lord!
      Let us press on to know him.
   He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn
      or the coming of rains in early spring.”

⁵ I sent my prophets to cut you to pieces—
      to slaughter you with my words,
      with judgments as inescapable as light.
 ⁶ I want you to show love,
      not offer sacrifices.
   I want you to know me
      more than I want burnt offerings.

And then more verses about the wayward:

^7:8 “The people of Israel mingle with godless foreigners,
      making themselves as worthless as a half-baked cake!
 ⁹ Worshiping foreign gods has sapped their strength,
      but they don’t even know it.
   Their hair is gray,
      but they don’t realize they’re old and weak.
 ¹⁰ Their arrogance testifies against them,
      yet they don’t return to the Lord their God
      or even try to find him.


¹⁴ They do not cry out to me with sincere hearts.


¹⁶ They look everywhere except to the Most High.

On this Easter Sunday, I will cling to the verse that exhorts me 'to press on to know the Lord'. Thank you Jesus for loving us enough to go to the cross for us. For not wanting our sacrifices, but our hearts.