Day 527: Hosea 13- Death Is Dead

When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling;
    he was exalted in Israel,
    but he incurred guilt through Baal and died.
2 And now they sin more and more,
    and make for themselves metal images,
idols skillfully made of their silver,
    all of them the work of craftsmen.
It is said of them,
    “Those who offer human sacrifice kiss calves!”
3 Therefore they shall be like the morning mist
    or like the dew that goes early away,
like the chaff that swirls from the threshing floor
    or like smoke from a window.
4 But I am the Lord your God
    from the land of Egypt;
you know no God but me,
    and besides me there is no savior.

5 It was I who knew you in the wilderness,
    in the land of drought;
6 but when they had grazed, they became full,
    they were filled, and their heart was lifted up;
    therefore they forgot me.
7 So I am to them like a lion;
    like a leopard I will lurk beside the way.
8 I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs;
    I will tear open their breast,
and there I will devour them like a lion,
    as a wild beast would rip them open.
9 He destroys you, O Israel,
    for you are against me, against your helper.
10 Where now is your king, to save you in all your cities?
    Where are all your rulers--
those of whom you said,
    “Give me a king and princes”?

11 I gave you a king in my anger,
    and I took him away in my wrath.
12 The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up;
    his sin is kept in store.
13 The pangs of childbirth come for him,
    but he is an unwise son,
for at the right time he does not present himself
    at the opening of the womb.
14 I shall ransom them from the power of Sheol;
    I shall redeem them from Death.
O Death, where are your plagues?
    O Sheol, where is your sting?
    Compassion is hidden from my eyes.
 
15 Though he may flourish among his brothers,
    the east wind, the wind of the Lord, shall come,
    rising from the wilderness,
and his fountain shall dry up;
    his spring shall be parched;
it shall strip his treasury
    of every precious thing.
16 Samaria shall bear her guilt,
    because she has rebelled against her God;
they shall fall by the sword;
    their little ones shall be dashed in pieces,
    and their pregnant women ripped open.
 
Meditation
The resurrection of Jesus Christ invites you to live in His victory over the penalty and power of sin. Paul uses today’s key verse in 1 Corinthians 15:55-57 as final steps in reaching the climax of the gospel invitation of resurrection: thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! God desires for you to live from this victory.
 
Today’s reading is a difficult passage of condemnation resulting from the rejection of the Lord. Idolatry was the norm in Israel (1-3), manifest in every time God gave prosperity and abundance Israel turning it into evil (4-6), forgetting it was the Lord who blessed them. The result of rejecting relationship with the Lord was ruin, judgment represented by ravenous animals (7-8) from which none of their leaders could save them (9-11). Israel was an unwise son, too foolish to choose life (12-13). Their end was destruction (14-16) but in covenant relationship with God judgment is not the end of the story.
 
The light of God’s promises shines brightly in the dark articulation of judgment. God promises to rescue His people from condemnation, redeeming them from death. The Lord mocks the grave by revealing His grace.
 
Jesus is the resurrection and the life (John 11:25). The penalty of sin is paid. The power of sin waylaid. Death is dead, love has won! Jesus took the judgement for our sin so in Him we can have no condemnation, living from Christ’s victory.
 
Richly Dwelling
-Do you live from victory, knowing Christ has paid the penalty for your sin and that in Him the power of sin is gone?
 
-How does the articulation of condemnation and judgment highlight the compassion and covenant love of the Lord?
 
-Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Jesus is the person who embodies the promises of God. Jesus gives us victory over death, redeeming us with His blood. Take a moment to focus your heart on Jesus, gaining perspective for your soul. Through Jesus all sad things become untrue. Death has died. Love has won!
 
Key Verse
14 I shall ransom them from the power of Sheol; I shall redeem them from Death. O Death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is your sting? Compassion is hidden from my eyes.