Loyal Week 6 Day 5
Hosea 9:6
[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. (ESV)
Did Israel believe that Egypt was a friend? Did Israel put their confidence in the assurance of help from a so-called ally? Egypt is like a two faced character who pretends to have a real and meaningful relationship, all the while having a hidden agenda. Death is fast approaching Israel because of Egypt and they will not be buried in Israel, which was disgraceful and abhorrent to the Israelites. In addition to this humiliation, the Israelites’ most prized earthly possessions will be devoured with the elements of nature.
Isaiah 5:6
[6] I will make it a waste;
it shall not be pruned or hoed,
and briers and thorns shall grow up;
I will also command the clouds
that they rain no rain upon it. (ESV)
Complete devastation will occur. A parched land that has no nutrients to provide because no nutrients have been put into it. No life-giving water released to give the substance needed for fruit to grow and animals to live. Therefore, all that Israel is left with is thorns, something that only takes and never gives. Will Israel yearn for the provider of living water to quench their thirst?
Hosea 9:7
[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. (ESV)
It is time to pay up. Israel has been adding up a debt of sin by rejecting GOD and His law, and this is the final notice from the collector before drastic measures are to be implemented.
The time for repentance is now!
1 Peter 4:12–19
[12] Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. [13] But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. [14] If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. [15] But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. [16] Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. [17] For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? [18] And
“If the righteous is scarcely saved,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”
[19] Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good. (ESV)
Matthew 5:11
[11] “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. (ESV)
Has Israel labeled Hosea, the prophet, as evil? Has Israel accused Hosea of great hatred and mentally unfit? Perhaps, they are throwing labels on Hosea to help them justify their own iniquity? Are the words of the prophet folly to Israel? Is the word of the cross folly?
1 Corinthians 1:18–25
[18] For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. [19] For it is written,
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
[20] Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? [21] For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. [22] For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, [23] but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, [24] but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. [25] For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. (ESV)
Today the word of the cross is either folly or the power of GOD. For those who it does not save, sneer at it and hate it. They would like to be rid of it and its limitations. They would like to live which ever way the wind blows and the desires that it brings, saying “If it feels right, how can it be wrong?” Don’t trust in the wind, but put your trust in the rock: the firm foundation that is never moving or wavering.
Put your complete trust in the LORD!
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.