Day 271: Hosea 11, 12, 13 and 14

My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused. . . . For I am God, and not man (Hosea 11:8,9).

Some people say God cannot change his mind because that would imply imperfection. Hosea says that sometimes God changes his mind precisely because he is God.

Israel deserved to be punished: My people are determined to turn from me (v. 7). Whereas Israel, in its obstinance, was determined to turn away from God, God in his compassion was determined to turn toward Israel. How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? (v. 8).

God invites them: Return, Israel, to the Lord your God. Your sins have been your downfall! Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to him: “Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips. Assyria cannot save us; we will not mount war-horses. We will never again say ‘Our gods’ to what our own hands have made, for in you the fatherless find compassion” (14:1-3).

Five hundred years earlier, Moses had written: The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin (Exodus 34:6,7).

When you’re in trouble, do you turn to God, or do you turn away from God?

TODAY’S MEDITATION

Thank God for his compassion and his determination to turn “toward” his creation.
 

Day 270: Hosea 8, 9 and 10

Now Israel pleads with me, “Help us, for you are our God.” But Israel has rejected what is good (NLT, Hosea 8:2).

Hosea warns the people of Israel that, because of their spiritual adultery, Assyria is poised and ready to invade. They cry out to God for his help: Save us! We’re your people! But the writer makes it clear their words are incongruent with their actions. About this same time in history, the prophet Isaiah was writing to Israel’s sister nation in the south: [The people of Judah] come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me (Isaiah 29:13).

This passage reminds me of Eddie Haskell from Leave It to Beaver (1957-1963, ABC/CBS). He was an outwardly polite, smooth talking scoundrel, full of empty compliments: “Oh my, Mrs. Cleaver, don’t you look lovely today!” When the adults weren’t around he was a bully, always getting Wally and the Beav in trouble. But it didn’t take long to see through his shtick. And the best thing was he didn’t have a clue that people were on to him.

Likewise Israel wasn’t fooling anyone but themselves. Over 700 years later, Jesus would speak these words: Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven (Matthew 7:21).

When you ask for God’s help, does he think, “Good and faithful servant” or “Eddie Haskell”?

TODAY’S MEDITATION

Ask God to reveal where your actions and attitudes are incongruent with your words.
 

Day 269: Hosea 4, 5, 6 and 7

Judah’s leaders are like those who move boundary stones (Hosea 5:10).

While chapters 1-3 tell the story of Hosea and Gomer, chapters 4-14 detail Israel’s crimes in the form of lawsuits wherein God is the plaintiff. Israel’s chief crime? Adultery. Not that wives were cheating on husbands as in the opening chapters, but that Israel was chasing after foreign gods like an adulteress chases after her lovers.

Sometime after Israel’s fall to Assyria in 722 BC, this writing made its way south to Judah where the people saw themselves in Hosea’s story and the succeeding lawsuits. Since Judah is addressed in these chapters, we might ask if Hosea wrote about Judah (which seems unlikely) or if those references were later for a Judean audience.

One complaint directed at Judah: Judah’s leaders are like those who move boundary stones. Ancient property lines were marked with stones, easy to see but equally easy to move. Do not move an ancient boundary stone set up by your ancestors (Proverbs 22:28). In other words, don’t change the rules.

God calls his followers to be faithful. Even in the 21^st  we are tempted to follow after other lovers. They may not be named Baal or Molech, but they’re just as dangerous and just as wrong. You shall have no other gods before me (Exodus 20:3). This is just as much for us as it was for Israel in the time of Moses… or Hosea.

When they’re not convenient, do you try to change the rules?

TODAY’S MEDITATION

What ancient boundary stones should you leave where they are?
 

Day 268: Hosea 1, 2 and 3

Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress (Hosea 3:1).

On the surface, Hosea is the tragic story of a marriage ravaged by infidelity. Hosea’s wife Gomer is a prostitute. Written to the northern kingdom, the tale of the prophet and his wife parallels that of Yahweh and Israel. Yahweh is the husband, Israel is the wife, and Baal is her lover who threatens the marriage. The clear message is that God would be well within his rights to divorce Israel. He has been humiliated enough.

In a tender turn of events, God makes the choice to continue loving his wife. I am going to [romance] her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her (NIV 1984, 2:14). Likewise, even though Deuteronomy alludes to serving an unfaithful wife with a certificate of divorce (24:1), God tells Hosea to once again pursue his bride.

In what must have been a degrading response to his overtures of love, Gomer apparently demanded payment (a measure of barley and fifteen shekels of silver) before going home with her husband (3:2).

Hosea’s message is that God loves Israel not because it deserves to be loved, but because that’s the way God’s love is. It is also a wonderful reminder to us of God’s faithfulness.

What if we loved others the way God loves us?

TODAY’S MEDITATION

What does it mean to you that God remains faithful even when we are unfaithful?

Day 271: Hosea 11, 12, 13 and 14

My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused. . . . For I am God, and not man. (Hosea 11:8,9)

Some people say God cannot change his mind because that would imply imperfection. Hosea says that sometimes God changes his mind precisely because he is God.

Israel deserved to be punished: My people are determined to turn from me (v. 7). Whereas Israel, in its obstinance, was determined to turn away from God, God in his compassion was determined to turn toward Israel. How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? (v. 8)

God invites them: Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God. Your sins have been your downfall! Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to him: “Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips. Assyria cannot save us; we will not mount war-horses. We will never again say ‘Our gods’ to what our own hands have made, for in you the fatherless find compassion” (14:1-3).

Five hundred years earlier, Moses had written: The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin (Exodus 34:6,7).

When you’re in trouble, do you turn to God, or do you turn away from God?

Day 270: Hosea 8, 9 and 10

Now Israel pleads with me, “Help us, for you are our God.” But Israel has rejected what is good. (NLT, Hosea 8:2)

Hosea warns the people of Israel that, because of their spiritual adultery, Assyria is poised and ready to invade. They cry out to God for his help: Save us! We’re your people! But the writer makes it clear their words are incongruent with their actions. About this same time in history, the prophet Isaiah was writing to Israel’s sister nation in the south: [The people of Judah] come near to me with their mouth, and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me (Isaiah 29:13).

This passage reminds me of Eddie Haskell from Leave It to Beaver. He was an outwardly polite, smooth talking scoundrel, full of empty compliments: Oh my, Mrs. Cleaver, don’t you look lovely today. When the adults weren’t around he was a bully, always getting Wally and the Beav in trouble. But it didn’t take long to see through his shtick. And the best thing was he didn’t have a clue that people were on to him.

Likewise Israel wasn’t fooling anyone but themselves. Over 700 years later, Jesus would speak these words: Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven (Matthew 7:21).

When you ask God for help, does he think, “Good and faithful servant,” or, “Eddie Haskell”?

Day 269: Hosea 4, 5, 6 and 7

Judah’s leaders are like those who move boundary stones. (Hosea 5:10)

While chapters 1-3 tell the story of Hosea and Gomer, chapters 4-14 detail Israel’s crimes in the form of lawsuits wherein God is the plaintiff. Israel’s chief crime? Adultery. Not that wives were cheating on husbands as in the opening chapters, but that Israel was chasing after foreign gods like an adulteress chases after her lovers.

Sometime after Israel’s fall to Assyria in 722 BC, this writing made its way south to Judah where the people saw themselves in Hosea’s story and the succeeding lawsuits. Did Hosea write about Judah or were those references added for later readers?

One complaint directed at Judah: Judah’s leaders are like those who move boundary stones. Ancient property lines were marked with stones, easy to see but equally easy to move. Do not move an ancient boundary stone set up by your forefathers (Proverbs 22:28). In other words, don’t change the rules.

God calls his followers to be faithful. Even in the 21^st century we are tempted to follow after other lovers. They may not be named Baal or Molech, but they’re just as dangerous and just as wrong. You shall have no other gods before me (Exodus 20:3). This is just as much for us as it was for Israel in the time of Moses… or Hosea.

When they’re not convenient, do you try to change the rules?

Day 268: Hosea 1, 2 and 3

Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. (Hosea 3:1)

On the surface, Hosea is the tragic story of a marriage ravaged by infidelity. Hosea’s wife Gomer is a prostitute. The tale of the prophet and his wife parallels that of Yahweh and Israel. Yahweh is the husband, Israel is the wife, and Baal is her lover who threatens the marriage. The clear message is that God would be well within his rights to divorce Israel. He has been humiliated enough.

In a tender turn of events, God makes the choice to continue loving his wife. I am going to [romance] her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her (2:14). Likewise, even though Deuteronomy alludes to serving an unfaithful wife with a certificate of divorce (24:1), God tells Hosea to once again pursue his bride.

In what must have been a degrading response to his overtures of love, Gomer apparently demanded payment (a measure of barley and fifteen shekels of silver) before going home with her husband (3:2).

Hosea’s message is that God loves Israel not because it deserves to be loved, but because that’s the way God’s love is. It’s also a wonderful reminder to us of God’s faithfulness.

What if we loved others the way God loves us?

Day 271: Hosea 11, 12, 13 and 14

My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused. . . . For I am God, and not man. (Hosea 11:8,9)

Some people say God cannot change his mind because that would imply imperfection. Hosea says that sometimes God changes his mind precisely because he is God.

Israel deserved to be punished: My people are determined to turn from me (v. 7). Whereas Israel, in its obstinance, was determined to turn away from God, God in his compassion was determined to turn toward Israel. How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? (v. 8)

God invites them: Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God. Your sins have been your downfall! Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to him: "Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips. Assyria cannot save us; we will not mount war-horses. We will never again say, 'Our gods' to what our own hands have made, for in you the fatherless find compassion" (14:1-3).

Five hundred years earlier, Moses had written: The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin (Exodus 34:6,7).

When you're in trouble, do you turn to God, or do you turn away from God?

Day 270: Hosea 8, 9 and 10

Now Israel pleads with me, "Help us, for you are our God." But Israel has rejected what is good. (NLT, Hosea 8:2)

Hosea warns the people of Israel that, because of their spiritual adultery, Assyria is poised and ready to invade. They cry out to God for his help: Save us! We're your people! But the writer makes it clear their words are incongruent with their actions. About this same time in history, the prophet Isaiah was writing to Israel's sister nation in the south: [The people of Judah] come near to me with their mouth, and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me (Isaiah 29:13).

This passage reminds me of Eddie Haskell from Leave It to Beaver. He was an outwardly polite, smooth talking scoundrel, full of empty compliments: Oh my, Mrs. Cleaver, don't you look lovely today. When the adults weren't around he was a bully, always getting Wally and the Beav in trouble. But it didn't take long to see through his shtick. And the best thing was he didn't have a clue that people were on to him.

Likewise Israel wasn't fooling anyone but themselves. Over 700 years later, Jesus would speak these words: Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord," will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven (Matthew 7:21).

When you ask God for help, does he think, "Good and faithful servant," or, "Eddie Haskell"?

Day 269: Hosea 4, 5, 6 and 7

Judah's leaders are like those who move boundary stones. (Hosea 5:10)

While chapters 1-3 tell the story of Hosea and Gomer, chapters 4-14 detail Israel's crimes in the form of lawsuits wherein God is the plaintiff. Israel's chief crime? Adultery. Not that wives were cheating on husbands as in the opening chapters, but that Israel was chasing after foreign gods like an adulteress chases after her lovers.

Sometime after Israel's fall to Assyria in 722 BC, this writing made its way south to Judah where the people saw themselves in Hosea's story and the succeeding lawsuits. Did Hosea write about Judah or were those references added for later readers?

One complaint directed at Judah: Judah's leaders are like those who move boundary stones. Ancient property lines were marked with stones, easy to see but equally easy to move. Do not move an ancient boundary stone set up by your forefathers (Proverbs 22:28). In other words, Don't change the rules.

God calls his followers to be faithful. Even in the 21st century we are tempted to follow after other lovers. They may not be named Baal or Molech, but they're just as dangerous and just as wrong. You shall have no other gods before me (Exodus 20:3). This is just as much for us as it was for Israel in the time of Moses... or Hosea.

When they're not convenient, do you try to change the rules?

Day 268: Hosea 1, 2 and 3

Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. (Hosea 3:1)

On the surface, Hosea is the tragic story of a marriage ravaged by infidelity. Hosea's wife Gomer is a prostitute. The tale of the prophet and his wife parallels that of Yahweh and Israel. Yahweh is the husband, Israel is the wife, and Baal is her lover who threatens the marriage. The clear message is that God would be well within his rights to divorce Israel. He has been humiliated enough.

In a tender turn of events, God makes the choice to continue loving his wife. I am going to [romance] her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her (2:14). Likewise, even though Deuteronomy alludes to serving an unfaithful wife with a certificate of divorce (24:1), God tells Hosea to once again pursue his bride.

In what must have been a degrading response to his overtures of love, Gomer apparently demanded payment (a measure of barley and fifteen shekels of silver) before going home with her husband (3:2).

Hosea's message is that God loves Israel not because it deserves to be loved, but because that's the way God's love is. It's also a wonderful reminder to us of God's faithfulness.

What if we loved others the way God loves us?

Day 271: Hosea 11, 12, 13 and 14

My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused. . . . For I am God, and not man. (Hosea 11:8,9)

Some people say God cannot change his mind because that would imply imperfection. Hosea says that sometimes God changes his mind precisely because he is God.

Israel deserved to be punished: My people are determined to turn away from me (v. 7). Whereas Israel, in its obstinance, was determined to turn away from God, God in his compassion was determined to turn toward Israel. How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? (v. 8)

God invites them: Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God. Your sins have been your downfall! Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to him: "Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips. Assyria cannot save us; we will not mount war-horses. We will never again say 'Our gods' to what our own hands have made, for in you the fatherless find compassion (14:1-3)."

Five hundred years earlier, Moses had written: The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin (Exodus 34:6,7).

When you're in trouble, do you turn to God, or do you turn away from God?

Day 270: Hosea 8, 9 and 10

Now Israel pleads with me, "Help us, for you are our God." But Israel has rejected what is good. (Hosea 8:2)

Hosea warns the people of Israel that, because of their spiritual adultery, Assyria is poised and ready to invade. They cry out to God for his help: Save us! We're your people! But the writer makes it clear their words are incongruent with their actions. About this same time in history, the prophet Isaiah was writing to Israel's sister nation in the south: [The people of Judah] come near to me with their mouth, and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me (Isaiah 29:13).

This passage reminds me of Eddie Haskell from Leave It to Beaver. He was an outwardly polite, smooth talking scoundrel, full of empty compliments: Oh my, Mrs. Cleaver, don't you look lovely today. When the adults weren't around he was a bully always getting Wally and the Beav in trouble. But it didn't take long to see through his shtick. And the best thing was he didn't have a clue that people were on to him.

Likewise Israel wasn't fooling anyone but themselves. Over 700 years later, Jesus would speak these words: Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord," will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven (Matthew 7:21).

When you ask God for help, does he think, "Good and faithful servant," or, "Eddie Haskell"?

Day 269: Hosea 4, 5, 6 and 7

Judah's leaders are like those who move boundary stones. (Hosea 5:10)

While chapters 1-3 tell the story of Hosea and Gomer, chapters 4-14 detail Israel's crimes in the form of lawsuits in which God is the plaintiff. Israel's chief crime? Adultery. Not that wives were cheating on their husbands as in the opening chapters, but that Israel was chasing after foreign gods like an adulteress chases after her lovers.

Sometime after Israel's fall to Assyria in 722 BC, this writing made its way south to Judah where the people saw themselves in Hosea's story and the succeeding lawsuits. Did Hosea write about Judah or were those references added for later readers?

One complaint directed at Judah: Judah's leaders are like those who move boundary stones. Ancient property lines were marked with stones, easy to see but equally easy to move. Do not move an ancient boundary stone set up by your forefathers (Proverbs 22:28). In other words, don't change the rules.

God calls his followers to be faithful. Even in the 21st century we are tempted to follow after other lovers. They may not be named Baal or Molech, but they're just as dangerous and just as wrong. You shall have no other gods before me (Exodus 20:3). This is just as much for us as it was for Israel in the time of Moses... or Hosea.

When they're not convenient, do you try to change the rules?

Day 268: Hosea 1, 2 and 3

Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. (Hosea 3:1)

On the surface, Hosea is the tragic story of a marriage ravaged by infidelity. Hosea's wife Gomer is a prostitute. The tale of the prophet and his wife parallels that of Yahweh and Israel. Yahweh is the husband, Israel is the wife, and Baal is her lover who threatens the marriage. The clear message is that God would be well within his rights to divorce Israel. He has been humiliated enough.

In a tender turn of events, God makes the choice to continue loving his wife. I am going to [romance] her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her (2:14). Likewise, even though Deuteronomy alludes to serving an unfaithful wife with a certificate of divorce (24:1), God tells Hosea to once again pursue his bride.

In what must have been a degrading response to his overtures of love, Gomer apparently demanded payment (a measure of barley and fifteen shekels of silver) before going home with her husband (3:2).

Hosea's message is that God loves Israel not because it deserves to be loved, but because that's the way God's love is. It's also a wonderful reminder to us of how faithful is God's love for us.

What if we loved others the way God loves us?