September 5 A READ HOSEA 12–14
Promise of Israel’s Renewal
OVERVIEW
Hosea ends his book the same way he began it—by driving home his three-part theme: Israel’s past is stained with disobedience and rebellion, Israel’s future holds the ominous threat of calamity, and Israel’s present demands an immediate and complete change of heart if that calamity is to be averted. Hosea’s heart has already been broken by the adultery and shame of his wife, Gomer. Now he pleads one last time with his countrymen that they not duplicate Gomer’s folly: “Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God” (14:1).
MY DAILY WALK
Few sentences in the English language are more difficult to say than the little two-word phrase I’m sorry. You’ve sinned. How do you tell God about it? How do you make it right so you can enjoy fellowship once again?
Hosea 14 has been called by some the backslider’s chapter. It describes the steps necessary for God’s erring people to be restored to fellowship with him:
1. Return to the Lord (14:1). Remember, if God seems distant from you, it probably means you have moved.
2. Confess your sins to the Lord (14:2). Agree with him that what you have done is wrong and needs to be forsaken.
3. Put your confidence in the Lord (14:3). Trusting your own strength or understanding can only bring disappointment. Instead, lean on the Rock that can never be moved.
Are you, like Israel in Hosea’s day, estranged from your God? Restoration is only a prayer away. Read chapter 14 twice. Then do business with God. He’s waiting for you, and his door is always open.
AS LONG AS WE LIVE, WE SHOULD MORE AND MORE BE TURNING FROM ALL THAT IS EVIL AND TO ALL THAT IS GOOD.
INSIGHT
How Do You Plead? | Hos. 12:2
In 12:2 and following, the prophet uses legal language as God brings a lawsuit against his people for breaking the covenant. You’ll find other courtroom scenes in Hosea 4, Isaiah 3:13-14, and Micah 6:1-8.
1*The people of Israel* feed on the wind;
they chase after the east wind all day long.
They pile up lies and violence;
they are making an alliance with Assyria
while sending olive oil to buy support from Egypt.
2Now the LORD is bringing charges against Judah.
He is about to punish Jacob* for all his deceitful ways,
and pay him back for all he has done.
3Even in the womb,
Jacob struggled with his brother;
when he became a man,
he even fought with God.
4Yes, he wrestled with the angel and won.
He wept and pleaded for a blessing from him.
There at Bethel he met God face to face,
and God spoke to him*—
5the LORD God of Heaven’s Armies,
the LORD is his name!
6So now, come back to your God.
Act with love and justice,
and always depend on him.
7But no, the people are like crafty merchants
selling from dishonest scales—
they love to cheat.
8Israel boasts, “I am rich!
I’ve made a fortune all by myself!
No one has caught me cheating!
My record is spotless!”
9“But I am the LORD your God,
who rescued you from slavery in Egypt.
And I will make you live in tents again,
as you do each year at the Festival of Shelters.*
10I sent my prophets to warn you
with many visions and parables.”
11But the people of Gilead are worthless
because of their idol worship.
And in Gilgal, too, they sacrifice bulls;
their altars are lined up like the heaps of stone
along the edges of a plowed field.
12Jacob fled to the land of Aram,
and there he* earned a wife by tending sheep.
13Then by a prophet
the LORD brought Jacob’s descendants* out of Egypt;
and by that prophet
they were protected.
14But the people of Israel
have bitterly provoked the LORD,
so their Lord will now sentence them to death
in payment for their sins.