 Hear this, O priests! Pay attention, O house of Israel! Give ear, O house of the king! For the judgment is for you; for you have been a snare at Mizpah and a net spread upon Tabor.2 And the revolters have gone deep into slaughter, but I will discipline all of them. 3 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from me; for now, O Ephraim, you have played the whore; Israel is defiled. 4 Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God. For the spirit of whoredom is within them, and they know not the Lord. 5 The pride of Israel testifies to his face; Israel and Ephraim shall stumble in his guilt; Judah also shall stumble with them.
6 With their flocks and herds they shall go to seek the Lord, but they will not find him; he has withdrawn from them. 7 They have dealt faithlessly with the Lord; for they have borne alien children. Now the new moon shall devour them with their fields. 8 Blow the horn in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah. Sound the alarm at Beth-haven; we follow you, O Benjamin! 9 Ephraim shall become a desolation in the day of punishment; among the tribes of Israel I make known what is sure. 10 The princes of Judah have become like those who move the landmark; upon them I will pour out my wrath like water. 11 Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment, because he was determined to go after filth. 12 But I am like a moth to Ephraim, and like dry rot to the house of Judah. 13 When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria, and sent to the great king. But he is not able to cure you or heal your wound. 14 For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear and go away; I will carry off, and no one shall rescue. 15 I will return again to my place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face, and in their distress earnestly seek me. Meditation The salvation of God communicated by the prophets is so majestic the angels of Heaven long to see into the mystery (1 Peter 1:10-12). Today’s reading is a window with a view into God’s ancient plan of rescue. Do you remember Daniel and the lion’s den? We like to identify with Daniel whose courage was honored by God. Hosea condemns the people of God who compromise their faith by comparing them with the guards who were fed to the lions when Daniel was rescued! We need a Savior to rescue us from the penalty from our sin! God identifies Himself as the lion, one whose righteous anger and justice will devour sinful and idolatrous people. God declares, “no one shall rescue” us from just judgment. Have we passed the point of no return, destine for destruction and a life of distress? NO! God’s direction for rescue is that we “acknowledge guilt and seek God’s face.” We are guilty. God is gracious. Grace compels us to repent and return to His love. On our own we are destined for destruction. Salvation through our Savior is shown through the Spirit’s empowerment for us to repent and return to wholehearted relationship with God. Jesus has done all we need to return, ripped apart by the lion of justice on the cross, so all who trust His work can have salvation. Jesus had the Father’s face turn away so we could begin again and seek God’s face.- This is amazing grace! Will you repent and return to relationship with God? Richly Dwelling -Does it disturb you to be compared to those who were fed to the lions in the story of Daniel and the lion’s den? -“No one shall rescue” is pointed and powerful. Do you feel the weight of the desperation of your sinful position, the penalty of death rightly pronounced? -How does the rescue and grace of God lead you to repent, love, and obey God? In what areas of your life do you need to apply this reality? Key Verse … and no one shall rescue. 15 I will return again to my place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face, and in their distress earnestly seek me. Comments are closed.
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