August 14, 2024 | Be God's Light
Israel Will be Caught in the Whirlwind
Scripture: Hosea 8(NIV)
1 “Put the trumpet to your lips!
An eagle is over the house of the Lord
because the people have broken my covenant
and rebelled against my law.
2 Israel cries out to me,
‘Our God, we acknowledge you!’
3 But Israel has rejected what is good;
an enemy will pursue him.
4 They set up kings without my consent;
they choose princes without my approval.
With their silver and gold
they make idols for themselves
to their own destruction.
5 Samaria, throw out your calf-idol!
My anger burns against them.
How long will they be incapable of purity?
6 They are from Israel!
This calf—a metalworker has made it;
it is not God.
It will be broken in pieces,
that calf of Samaria.
7 “They sow the wind
and reap the whirlwind.
The stalk has no head;
it will produce no flour.
Were it to yield grain,
foreigners would swallow it up.
8 Israel is swallowed up;
now she is among the nations
like something no one wants.
9 For they have gone up to Assyria
like a wild donkey wandering alone.
Ephraim has sold herself to lovers.
10 Although they have sold themselves among the nations,
I will now gather them together.
They will begin to waste away
under the oppression of the mighty king.
11 “Though Ephraim built many altars for sin offerings,
these have become altars for sinning.
12 I wrote for them the many things of my law,
but they regarded them as something foreign.
13 Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to me,
and though they eat the meat,
the Lord is not pleased with them.
Now he will remember their wickedness
and punish their sins:
They will return to Egypt.
14 Israel has forgotten their Maker
and built palaces;
Judah has fortified many towns.
But I will send fire on their cities
that will consume their fortresses.”
Devotional
“They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind” (v. 7). Oh, how this describes Israel’s past and future. The people of the northern kingdom of Israel had continuously abandoned the Lord for the false gods and practices of their pagan neighbors. Now they would face the whirlwind of destruction by the invading Assyrian army.
“Though Ephraim [Israel] built many altars for sin offerings, these have become altars for sinning” (v. 11). Their places of worship looked holy. But what took place there was far from it. Rather than making offerings for their sin, they had offered themselves to more sin.
“I wrote for them the many things of my law, but they regarded them as something foreign” (v. 12). Two hundred and fifty years earlier, the Lord had given them the Ten Commandments and the rest of the law. They knew right from wrong, but chose wrong over right.
“Israel has forgotten their Maker and built palaces” (v. 14). The people forgot that it’s all about God. Rather, they made it all about themselves. When some people hear, “Love the Lord with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself,” they say, “Oh good, I can love myself.”
Israel’s story is our story.
Sowing wild oats.
Profaning God’s holiness.
Disregarding God’s Word.
Forgetting our Maker.
How is God calling you to turn from your waywardness and turn toward Him?
Poem
Judgement Sifting
A time will be coming
When the LORD’s wrath releases
A great judgment sifting
When all chaff will be burned
When dark hearts are exposed
And our motives are measured
When evil is vanquished
And many will mourn
Then how will the righteous
Respond to the weeping?
Will they sit in sorrow
Paralysis feel?
Or will they join voices
Of praise jubilation
As Justice is poured out
The great scroll unsealed?
When finally the prayers
Of the martyrs in heaven
Whose blood is appealing
To God’s sovereign pow’r
Are answered--God’s vengeance—
With swift judgment sifting
The trumpets shall sound
At that great judgment hour
