Loyal Week 5 Day 5
Hosea 7:11–13a
[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.
[13a] Woe to them, for they have strayed from me!
Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against me! (ESV)
Will Ephraim be willing to admit that they have strayed from the LORD? Are they willing to repent and be redeemed by the LORD? Or is Ephraim going to use the last energy that they have, being trapped under a net, to search out every possible avenue of escape minus calling on the LORD?
Hosea 7:13–15
[13b] I would redeem them,
but they speak lies against me.
[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. (ESV)
GOD says that He would redeem Ephraim, but they speak lies against Him. Ephraim is in such despair that they cannot even speak truth. What lies are they speaking? Have they vilified GOD and His standards? Have they enjoyed their sin so much that they have become addicted, doing whatever it takes to protect their sin? Have they twisted the truth just slightly that it is mostly truth? Are they allowing a small amount of lies to act as yeast which inoculates the entire loaf? What percent of lies is acceptable to Ephraim? What percent of lies is acceptable to us?
1 Corinthians 5:6
[6] Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? (ESV)
Ephraim is besides themselves in grief. They yearn for food and drink, crying from their beds and gashing themselves like the worshippers of Baal. Ephraim is possibly gashing themselves in a worship to a false god, Baal, so that he will provide for them. Of course, a false god cannot do anything.
1 Kings 18:20–29
[20] So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel. [21] And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word. [22] Then Elijah said to the people, “I, even I only, am left a prophet of the LORD, but Baal’s prophets are 450 men. [23] Let two bulls be given to us, and let them choose one bull for themselves and cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. And I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood and put no fire to it. [24] And you call upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name of the LORD, and the God who answers by fire, he is God.” And all the people answered, “It is well spoken.” [25] Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many, and call upon the name of your god, but put no fire to it.” [26] And they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made. [27] And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.” [28] And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them. [29] And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention. (ESV)
No one answered.
No one paid attention.
A false god has no power to do anything.
Hosea 7:16
[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. (ESV)
Is Ephraim calling on the name of the LORD just with their mouth, but not repenting and committing to the LORD with their actions and deeds of their entire body? Do they want the benefits of belonging to the LORD with out the commitment? GOD says Ephraim is like a treacherous bow.
Psalm 78:56–57
[56] Yet they tested and rebelled against the Most High God
and did not keep his testimonies,
[57] but turned away and acted treacherously like their fathers;
they twisted like a deceitful bow. (ESV)
Is there anything worst than a bow that you cannot rely on?
Circle the words“insolence” and “derision” in Hosea 7:16 and look up the words in the dictionary.
Insolence-
Derision-
Ephraim’s princes shall fall by the sword because of what?
Leading to Ephraim’s what, in the land of Egypt?
Let us not repeat the history of Ephraim.
Works Cited
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. May not copy or download more than 500 consecutive verses of the ESV Bible or more than one half of any book of the ESV Bible.
“Dictionary by Merriam-Webster: America's Most-Trusted Online Dictionary.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/.
Green, Jay P. “Hosea.” The Interlinear Hebrew-Aramaic Old Testament: With Strong's Concordance Numbers above Each Word, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, MA, MA, 1985,
Publishing, Rose. Rose Book of Bible Charts, Maps, and Time Lines. Rose Publishing, 2015.
Strong, James. The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible: Showing Every Word of the Text of the Common English Version of the Canonical Books, and Every Occurrence of Each Word in Regular Order, Together with Dictionaries of the Hebrew and Greek Words of Th. Hendrickson Publishers, 1990.