TODAY IN THE WORD

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Hosea 1:6-2:1
-
TODAY IN THE WORD
The name of the sea that separates Korea from Japan has been the source of much contention over the years. Official geographic records identify it as the Sea of Japan. But a map from the early 19th century labels this body of water as the Sea of Korea. Koreans themselves prefer the name East Sea, saying that Japan's expansionism and annexation of Korea in 1910 allowed Japan to exert undue influence in the region. But so far, Korea's appeals to change the sea's name have been refused by international geographical authorities.

So what's in a name? Quite a lot, depending on who is doing the naming. Through the prophet Hosea and his family, God hung several well-deserved but painful names on the northern kingdom of Israel: ""not loved"" and ""not my people."" He also said, ""I am not [their] God"" (Hos. 1:9).

God's people had drifted so far from Him that through the birth of Hosea's daughter, Lo-Ruhamah, God made his announcement of judgment.

However, even God's judgment would not obscure His mercy and grace. The ""birth announcement"" of Lo-Ruhamah was followed by a promise of deliverance for Israel's sister kingdom, Judah. Although Israel would fall to the Assyrians, Judah was to be delivered from the conqueror's hand (v. 7).

This deliverance is described in 2 Kings 19:32-36. It was accomplished by the power of God alone rather than any military might on Judah's part: King Sennacherib of Assyria besieged Jerusalem, but God sent an angel to destroy the king's army and send him home in defeat.

Through this, God gave a glimpse of His grace in the midst of declaring severe discipline. As another forewarning of judgment, God gave Hosea and Gomer a third child, named Lo-Ammi, meaning ""not my people"" (Hos. 1:9).

What a vivid object lesson of God's intention! The people could no longer claim immunity from judgment.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
All Christians experience the disciplining hand of God.

The writer of Hebrews reminds us that discipline is a sign, not that God has rejected us, but that we are His children. The author does admit, however, ""No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful"" (Heb. 12:11a).

[Soldier4Christ]

TODAY IN THE WORD
One of the premier sporting and social events in Great Britain did not happen as scheduled after bomb threats forced police to evacuate 60ꯠ spectators at the Grand National steeplechase. Race fans, including members of the British royal family and an American film celebrity, swarmed out of the stands and onto the racetrack as authorities searched for the suspected bombs. Nothing was found.

In light of the potential tragedy, the party being cancelled was the last thing on the spectators' minds. As we see in today's text, Israel's ""party"" was about to be canceled too, the difference being that God's warning of judgment was no empty threat.

Hosea 2 contains some sobering charges against unfaithful Israel--and against any nation that forsakes the Lord, looking elsewhere for provision and protection. Notice the seriousness of the charges God makes.

First, Israel had proved to be an unfaithful wife to the Lord, her Husband (v. 2). The imagery of marriage was a powerful one in the Old Testament prophetic books. Fidelity is the hallmark of marriage; but Israel was committing spiritual adultery against the Lord by worshiping the Canaanite god, Baal.

The Israelites even credited Baal with providing the abundant food, drink and clothing that were gifts from the gracious hand of God, her true Husband.

God's second charge follows from this. Israel failed to acknowledge Him as the source of her blessings (v. . She would be punished by being deprived of these good things and held back even from the feasts and Sabbath observances that marked her worship of the true God. All of this would be accomplished in Israel's defeat and exile into Assyria.

The physical and spiritual blessings mentioned in today's passage were for Israel as a result of God's covenant with the nation. But the curses that God pronounced were the result of covenant-breaking.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Living in a country where we have enjoyed God's abundance for so long can give us amnesia regarding the Source of our blessings.

How long has it been since you paused to thank God for His gifts of your daily bread and other necessities of life?

We hope this is a daily practice in your home, especially if there are children watching your example. Today, why not look around and take note of a particular blessing that God has provided for you in recent days?

[Soldier4Christ]

TODAY IN THE WORD
D.L. Moody once wrote: ""The church is full of people who want one eye for the world and the other for the kingdom of God. Therefore, everything is blurred; one eye is long and the other is short; all is confusion...When the Spirit of God is on us, the world looks very empty; the world has a very small hold on us, and we begin to let go our hold of it and lay hold of things eternal. This is the church's need today.""

Israel in Hosea's day sounds very much like the people D.L. Moody described. The Israelites had at least one eye on the world, if not both eyes.

But Hosea's writings also contain the promise of restoration, much like Moody's expressed desire for the church. This interplay of God's judgment and mercy weaves its way throughout today's text.

Israel, God's adulterous wife, will one day be fully restored. In that day, which we believe is the coming millennial kingdom, God will reverse the pronouncement of judgment and call them His beloved people (Hos. 2:23).

After the judgment of the Assyrian captivity, which Hosea prophesied, God will come to His unfaithful people and woo them back to Himself like a suitor pursuing his first love. And they will respond to His overtures.

We haven't gone very far into the book of Hosea yet. But based on what we already know about Israel's spiritual condition and God's intense displeasure, these verses are a remarkable picture of tenderness and healing. Even though Israel went after other husbands--the false gods of the Canaanites--God would separate her from them and ""speak tenderly to her"" (v. 14).

What is being described here is a renewal of God's covenant with Israel. And these blessings are clearly yet in the future, for God promises total peace in the land and the abundant response of nature to His people's needs.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Though sometimes as God's children we are faithless, God remains faithful (2 Tim. 2:13). He is always desiring to draw us to Himself.

[Soldier4Christ]

TODAY IN THE WORD
Over the past year or so, we have witnessed some unusual auctions of memorabilia offered by the rich and the famous. The unusual thing about these celebrity ""garage sales"" has been the way bidders have driven the prices of the items far higher even than the most generous pre-sale estimate of their value. Whether it was a presidential rocking chair or a cigar humidor, eager buyers have paid wildly inflated prices.

The prophet Hosea went to an auction of sorts, but there were no wild bidders and no outrageous prices paid. Hosea paid an inexpensive fifteen shekels to buy back his wife Gomer.

Hosea followed the Lord's command when he purchased Gomer to bring her back, just as he did in marrying her. Through Hosea's act, God showed His people that He was taking the initiative to reveal His love to a faithless nation.

We can only imagine the condition in which Hosea found Gomer. As one Bible commentator observed, even if Gomer had been an attractive woman before this occasion, it is doubtful that any man looked on her with desire at the time her husband purchased her back. She had traveled the hard way of the transgressor.

But Hosea reconfirmed his love for Gomer and helped lead her to restoration (v. 3). All the while, the prophet's actions were a mirror of God's loyal love for the nation.

Israel's guilt as a spiritually adulterous wife has already been established, although there are more indictments to come. The people thought they were just ""partygoers,"" when in reality they were prisoners of their gross sins.

Exile in Assyria lay ahead, a time when the people would be forced out of the land as slaves and captives. No ruler would sit on Israel's throne, and no sacrifices would be offered (v. 4).
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
It's hard not to notice the parallels between Israel in Hosea's day and our nation today.

Spiritually, modern-day America is forsaking the Lord and running after gods of materialism, pleasure, and power. Our need is the same as that of the church at Laodicea (Rev. 3:14-22). We need to open our eyes to our great spiritual needs and repent of our sin.

[Soldier4Christ]

TODAY IN THE WORD
Either a misunderstanding of orders or the personal rivalry of two British officers was responsible for one of the most celebrated, but senseless, moments in military history. During the Battle of Balaklava in the Crimean War, a brigade of British cavalry charged into a heavily fortified Russian position. The attack had no effect whatsoever on the battle's outcome and was very foolish. More than 250 of the 670 men in the brigade were killed or wounded. But British poet Lord Tennyson immortalized the attack in his poem, ""The Charge of the Light Brigade.""

It's fair to say that in the spiritual realm, Israel was mimicking that British brigade's foolish charge. Everyone, from the man on the street to the priests, was charging headlong into the judgment of God--with equally disastrous results.

Hosea 4 is a powerful and specific indictment against the sins of God's people. Their guilt was beyond question. In verse 2 alone, the Lord cited five of the Ten Commandments the people were breaking!

Since the Ten Command-ments were the heart of Israel's covenant with God, the people's actions were a very serious breach of their promise to obey God's law and serve Him alone. God's love--His loyal, covenant-keeping love--was being repaid with faithlessness on His people's part (v. 1). Yes, the people were charging into the judgment of God, rather than toward victory.

As God specified His charge, it soon became apparent where a great part of the problem lay. The prophets associated with Israel's royal court, and particularly the priests, were wicked, faithless men leading the nation even further into the teeth of God's wrath.

God's people were perishing for lack of knowledge (v. 6). And the priests, who were charged with teaching the people about God, bore much of the blame. They not only rejected the knowledge of God and ignored His law, but they also benefited from the people's sins.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
This is another sobering passage, partly because we also are capable of the same sins that drove Israel into exile.

However, today's verse contains a wonderful reminder of the blessing we can bring by teaching God's way of righteousness. You can do that even today, by following this simple suggestion. Turn to Exodus 20:1-17 and read the Ten Commandments.

[Soldier4Christ]

TODAY IN THE WORD
The towering monument to George Washington dominates the skyline in our nation's capital, and intentionally so. Buildings in Washington, D.C. are restricted to a heighth of nine stories so that they will not overshadow the Washington Monument. This is symbolic of a truth that has existed since the day God called Abraham to leave his homeland and go to Canaan: a nation seldom rises above the character of its leaders.

Not only that, but it also seems that after awhile a country's national ""persona"" begins to reflect the character, or lack thereof, of its leaders.

We are seeing another illustration of this principle in the nation of Israel in the eighth century B.C. The nation had gone bad, but the problem was not just that everybody was sinning against the Lord. Unfortunately, the Israelites had help--the terrible example of their priests and kings.

Chapter 4 of Hosea's prophecy seems to contain just about any sin that could be named. The mention of seeking answers by means of ""a stick of wood"" (v. 12) refers to one ancient form of divination, a pagan practice strictly forbidden to God's people.

The priests, who had already come under God's indictment, were guilty because they offered sacrifices to idols in numerous locations, accompanied by immoral practices. It's little wonder that the young women of Israel turned to immorality and prostitution as a way of life (v. 13).

Things were so bad that the prophet warned the southern kingdom of Judah to stay away from Israel so as not to duplicate Israel's sins. Specifically, Judah was warned to avoid the formerly holy sites of Gilgal and Bethel, the ""house of God,"" which had become Beth Aven, the ""house of wickedness.""

All of this starkly constrasts the way God wanted to tend, feed, and lead His people. He wanted to be their Shepherd, gently leading His lambs to safety and abundant provision.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Today's lesson is one that should cause us to pause and reflect, since the principle of ""like people, like priests"" (v. 9) is still in effect--except today we might reword it to say, ""as a country's leaders are, so will its people be.""

We could argue about individual leaders, or champion our particular cause or party. But our first duty as Christians and citizens is to offer up prayer for those in authority (1 Tim. 2:1-2). Regardless of denominational or political identity, this is a command that all of God's people can obey.

[Soldier4Christ]

TODAY IN THE WORD
As his ministry responsibilities in Chicago grew, D.L. Moody began to realize how unprepared he was for the work ahead of him. The tragic fire of 1871 that burned down most of Chicago deepened his despair. It was in this context that Moody experienced a new touch of God's Spirit and power during a trip to New York City. The sense of God's presence was so overwhelming that Moody said later, ""I had such an experience of [God's] love that I asked Him to stay His hand.""

We read accounts like this and say to ourselves, ""Wouldn't it be great if God would do that today?"" The good news is, He is doing it today! And He is ready to move in power and blessing in our own lives if we will only seek Him and yield ourselves to Him.

You may wonder what all of this has to do with the book of Hosea. The answer is that it has everything to do with Hosea. The God who sent Hosea to seek out and buy back his wayward wife desperately desired to heal, forgive, and bless Israel. But His people ran from Him, straight into the unfeeling arms of pagan idols. And they sinned against God, offending His holiness by committing the grossest sins possible.

This is the backdrop for the verses before us today. Notice once again that the nation's priests and kings, its leaders, were singled out for condemnation (v. 1). They had failed in their divinely ordained mission of leading Israel in righteous and faithful living. Instead, they themselves were the biggest stumbling blocks to the people.

Ephraim was the most prominent tribe in the northern kingdom, so Hosea often used this name to represent the entire nation. By now the charges against God's people are familiar. The people were, in fact, seized by a ""spirit of prostitution"" (v. 4), suggesting that their sin was not occasional or casual immorality. They had given themselves over to their corruption.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Hosea has a double importance for us. America needs to hear the message that national unfaithfulness to God will ultimately bring serious consequences.

On the individual level, the book of Hosea also challenges us to be faithful and thankful children of our loving God. We know that Israel was faulted for its empty worship. Evaluate your own worship today, using our verse for the day as a guide and test to answer this question, ""In what ways does my worship evidence sincere, wholehearted love and devotion to the Lord?""

[Soldier4Christ]

TODAY IN THE WORD
Adolph Hitler's destruction of thousands of Jews during the holocaust will go down in history as one of the fiercest, most inhumane acts of all time. He and his soldiers conquered nations, bringing humiliation and death to every person they suspected was a Jew. As word spread of Hitler's conquests and his ferociousness, his soldiers inspired paralyzing fear in the people who lay in their path.

The Assyrians who were threatening Israel in the days of Hosea were much like Hitler and his men. They were known for their brutality and cruelty toward their defeated foes. Add to this the Assyrians' utter contempt for the God of Israel, and Israel's actions described in Hosea 5:13 become shocking.

As Israel (referred to here as Ephraim) staggered under the discipline of God, the nation did not turn to Him in confession and repentance, but to its nemesis Assyria! It was like trying to draw up a peace treaty with Adolph Hitler.

The historical incident in view here is likely the submission of Israel's King Hoshea to Shalmaneser V of Assyria. Hoshea paid tribute to the Assyrian king, but then tried to make a secret alliance with Egypt. His trickery was discovered! Assyria invaded and conquered the land, deporting its people. This was the judgment prophesied by Hosea (2 Kings 17:1-6).

Today's reading shows the real problem with Israel's political scheming. Her problem was not military, but spiritual. The solution for Israel was not an alliance with Assyria, but a renewal of her true alliance--her covenant with God.

Israel needed a doctor to heal her sores (v. 13), but she ignored God and went to the wrong place. The images of God's discipline in these verses are remarkable. Moths and rot (v. 12) cause destruction, and a ""great lion"" tears to pieces (v. 14). Israel experienced all these miseries on ""the day of reckoning"" (v. 9), the Assyrian conquest.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
The picture of a powerful enemy pressing at the gates of a fortified city has a parallel in our spiritual lives.

Our enemy the devil is a tireless invader, constantly seeking to penetrate our defenses and cause us to fall under his attacks. But we know from God's Word that Satan is a defeated enemy through the power of Christ.

[Soldier4Christ]

TODAY IN THE WORD
The great colonial preacher and theologian Jonathan Edwards was not only a powerful influence for Christ through his pulpit and his pen. He and his wife Sarah also established a godly heritage through their children, one that bore incredible fruit. Someone has traced the Edwards family line and concluded that Jonathan and Sarah's 929 descendants include 430 ministers, 86 university professors, 13 university presidents, 75 authors, 7 U.S. congressmen, and one U.S. vice-president.

Who wouldn't want to look down the generations and see the fruit of one's faithfulness to the Lord? That's a goal all of us can pray and work toward, both personally and on a national level.

But what happens when a particular generation is not faithful to God? He can still overrule and pour out His blessing on future generations. That's something of what we see in the opening verses of Hosea 6.

The laser beam of the prophet's message in the book of Hosea was focused on the generation of Israelites to whom he spoke and to those who would immediately follow. They were, as we have noted more than once, hurtling headlong into God's judgment.

But right in the middle of this prophecy of judgment we are given a fascinating glimpse of the restoration that still awaits Israel.

The generation that speaks the words of verses 1-3 in today's text is the generation that will be alive when Jesus returns. Paul describes this glorious day of healing and spiritual revival in Romans 11:25-27, where he says that ""all Israel will be saved"" when the Messiah, the Lord Jesus, comes again.

Romans 11 is an encouraging picture of a repentant generation, but Hosea 6:4 brings us back to the present day of Hosea's time. There was no explaining Israel's future blessing and repentance by the actions and attitudes of that generation.


TODAY ALONG THE WAY
There probably isn't one Today in the Word reader who wouldn't want to leave a spiritual heritage like that of Jonathan and Sarah Edwards.

That kind of fruit isn't borne in one day, of course. But what we do each day contributes to the building of a godly heritage. With that in mind, take time to review your week and identify those occasions when you made a spiritual investment in someone's life.

[Soldier4Christ]

TODAY IN THE WORD
Many readers of Today in the Word will remember a very effective anti-smoking television commercial from several decades ago. It showed a young father and his toddler son washing the family car. Every motion the father made was imitated by his son. Finally, the dad lit up a cigarette as the boy watched carefully, then picked up the pack. The message was clear: like father, like son.

Earlier this month we learned that eighth-century B.C. Israel illustrated a variation of this principle: like leaders, like people. One reason for the nation's sin and lack of faithfulness to God was its leaders' treachery. The priests failed miserably in their ministry of offering pure worship to God and teaching the people His ways. And Israel's kings were weak and opportunistic, often taking the easy way instead of showing regard for God and His laws.

Hosea 7 contains important messages of warning and instruction that can relate to America today. Leaders both in the church and in the government would do well to read God's indictments of Israel. We will pay close attention to this important chapter today and tomorrow.

God's desire to heal and restore is obvious once again. But He cannot and will not overlook flagrant sin, especially when there is no sign of repentance. This was Israel's condition in the final years before Assyria's conquest of her.

By now, we are well acquainted with Israel's sins. What is truly amazing is that the people acted as if God was oblivious to what they were doing and was incapable of doing anything about it. On the contrary--their sins were fully ""exposed,"" ""revealed,"" and ""always before [God]"" (vv. 1-2).

The political intrigue swirling about the capital city of Samaria is alluded to in verses 3-7. Four of Israel's final kings were assassinated, and King Hoshea sealed the nation's doom by trying to double-cross the king of Assyria.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
What an awesome responsibility it is to be a leader!

Most of us would not classify ourselves as leaders. But like the father in the old television commercial, each of us is setting an example for someone else. So it is helpful to ask: how is your Christian example to your family, co-workers, fellow believers at church, or even the neighbors?

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Hosea 7:8-16
-
TODAY IN THE WORD
From the New Deal of the 1930s to the Great Society of the 1960s, America has been the object of a number of social programs designed to address some of our deepest human problems. These efforts have often been well-intentioned, but they have failed to alleviate, let alone eradicate, many of the problems they were intended to cure. Dr. Tony Evans, Bible teacher and Moody Press author, pinpoints part of the problem when he says we have asked the government to do what it was never designed by God to do.

As Dr. Evans says, ""If God is your problem, only God is your solution."" In other words, a problem that has spiritual roots will not be fixed by government action alone.

We referred to this issue several days ago because it applies to Israel in the days of Hosea. When Israel sinned and God afflicted her, instead of running to God, the leaders and their people ran everywhere else looking for relief.

Today's text maps out the foolish routes Israel's kings took. We already know that the nation knuckled under to Assyria for awhile in an attempt to stave off military disaster and that King Hoshea then foolishly tried to make a deal with Egypt.

These actions left Ephraim, or Israel, like a flat cake on a hot grill. This is vivid imagery, likening the nation to a piece of dough that lay burning and was soon to be discarded (v. .

The imagery changes in verse 9, but the result is the same. Like a man trying to deny that he is growing older, losing his strength and his dark hair, Israel blindly plunged on in arrogance and refused to seek the Lord for relief.

So God let His rebellious people fly into their trap, like senseless birds being snared by a crafty hunter. Amazingly, even as Israel reeled under God's discipline and yet refused to acknowledge Him, the people still expected the land to produce abundant grain and wine (vv. 11-14).
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
We are still witnessing the ancient problem of nations pinning their hopes for peace and security on manmade alliances and military might.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Hosea 8:1-7
-
TODAY IN THE WORD
As recently noted by Christian writer Kurt De Haan, a group of more than 100 scientists keep a close eye on outer space, watching for hurtling objects such as asteroids or comets. The concern is that one of these heavenly bodies could be thrown out of its orbit and collide with earth, having a devastating outcome. De Haan observes: ""Frankly, I'm one of those people who is not terribly worried about an asteroid hit."" He says he is much more concerned about our readiness for an event we know is going to happen: the return of Jesus Christ (2 Pet. 3:10).

De Haan's point is well made. It's easy to be concerned about the wrong thing. Just look at Israel in the text before us.

The nation's rulers were wandering around like wild donkeys (Hos. 8:9), worrying about the armies of Assyria massed against Samaria. And all the while, Israel completely ignored the One she should have been keeping an eye on, her covenant-keeping God.

The pattern of Israel's disobedience has become familiar to us. Like a loving and forgiving Husband, God had done everything possible to turn His wayward people back to Himself. But they did everything possible to spurn His love. So He sent a great eagle, the army of Assyria, to swoop down on His hapless people.

But what else could we expect from a people who offered God hollow, hypocritical worship, chose its leaders without consulting Him, and then constructed and bowed down to calf-idols? We can hear the anguish in God's complaint concerning His people: ""How long will they be incapable of purity?"" (v. 5). Hosea must have wondered the same about his wife Gomer.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Our God is always faithful in His relationships with us as believers. But how often do we find ourselves responding to Him with the exact opposite attitude?

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Hosea 8:8-14
-
TODAY IN THE WORD
Earlier this year, television coverage of the terrible flooding from the Red River brought us a very unusual sight. Fire raged through a three-block area of buildings in downtown Grand Forks, North Dakota, even though the city streets stood under several feet of flood water. Fire crews were slowed by the icy, sewage-filled water flooding the streets. They finally managed to bring the fire under control, but only after it had destroyed at least six buildings.

Watching a building burn as it stands in water is, thankfully, something we don't see every day. But it's an appropriate picture of the situation Israel found herself in as the Assyrians closed in from the east and God closed in from above.

You could say that Israel couldn't seem to do anything right. The nation incurred God's anger and invited His judgment as we see in verse 14 of today's passage: ""I will send fire upon their cities."" Even when Israel's leaders made an attempt to do something about their situation, they turned to the wrong source and added ""flooding to their fire.""

Hosea refers to Israel's attempt to seek an alliance with Assyria as the act of a ""wild donkey"" (v. 9). Most wild animals will do anything to avoid being brought under control, even if their resistance is self-destructive. That was the case with Israel as the nation resisted God's every attempt to bring His people back to Himself.

In verse 10, God says He will gather Israel together, although the nation had sold herself to other nations. But this was for judgment, not for redemption. God would gather Israel together to send the people into exile in Assyria.

The reasons for Israel's punishment are stated again in verses 11-14, this time in very personal terms. God's law and His sacrifices were precious and holy gifts to Israel, but the people disregarded them and defiled themselves. God could not overlook these offenses.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
You probably know people who, like Israel, can't seem to make right decisions. As a result, they go from one situation of bondage to another.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Deuteronomy 11:8-12; Hosea 9:1-9
-
TODAY IN THE WORD
Two small children are playing on the floor, each with plenty of toys. Suddenly, Junior decides he doesn't like what he has and wants the toy his sister is playing with. So he proceeds to confiscate it, and a struggle ensues. After the dust settles, his sister loses interest in the toy and discards it. Interestingly, the toy is now Junior's, but he doesn't want it any more. Every parent has witnessed a scene like this at one time or another.

This is a rough analogy of Israel's attitude toward God's abundant blessings. He had blessed the nation with material and spiritual gifts beyond what any other nation had ever enjoyed. In fulfillment of God's covenant promises, the fertile land produced an abundant harvest (Deut. 8:7-9).

But Israel was not content to worship God for these blessings. The people looked at the pagan nations around them and decided they liked the idols these nations worshiped. So instead of serving God, the Israelites bowed down to Baal, the Canaanite fertility god. They then attributed their abundance to him and implored him for continued fruitfulness.

God had no choice but to punish such arrogant faithlessness. And as we have seen throughout the book of Hosea, God's judgment was perfectly appropriate to Israel's sin. If the people wanted to defile themselves by worshiping unclean idols, God would see to it that they would eat unclean food during their captivity in Assyria (Hos. 9:3).

Moreover, while in exile Israel would not be able to offer the sacrifices to God prescribed by the Mosaic covenant, and her great feast days would pass unobserved. Once more, God matched His chastening to Israel's sins. They had treated His blessings as nothing and discarded Him. So they would waste away in a foreign land while their possessions and homes back in Israel became overgrown with briers and thorns (v. 6).
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Today's verse offers us an antidote to the snares of pride, lust, and greed that trapped ancient Israel.

In fact, we recommend that you take an extra five minutes today to read the 25th Psalm.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Hosea 9:10-17
-
TODAY IN THE WORD
Someone has wisely said that many times the worst thing that can happen to us is getting what we want. If our desires for possessions, position, or power are misguided, then reaching our goal and acquiring the object of our desire brings with it some built-in consequences--even though they may not surface until years later.

In the years immediately before its conquest by Assyria, the northern kingdom of Israel was experiencing this principle. In verse 10 of today's text, the Lord looked back to Israel's early history of flourishing as a nation, a reference we will see again in Hosea 10:1 and 11:1.

There is real irony in these word pictures. Even while Israel was taking her delight in spiritual adultery and immorality rather than in the Lord, God still found great delight in her.

No one would expect to find sweet, refreshing grapes in a desert, but God had found this kind of surprising delight in Israel's fathers. God's chosen people were to Him like the first fruit on a fig tree, which one Bible commentator describes as ""irresistible"" (Isa. 28:4).

But the Israelites spoiled God's taste for His people by engaging in immorality and the idolatry of Baal at Peor (Num. 25:1-3). And in Hosea's day, Israel had established immoral pagan worship at Gilgal (Hos. 9:15).

We have seen time and again how God tailored the nation's judgment to its sin. Verses 11-14 contain another example of the punishment the people were bringing on themselves. Because Baal was believed to grant human fertility, the Israelites looked to him for fruitfulness in child-bearing.

But their worship, of course, was tragically misplaced. God would judge this hideous sin by closing the wombs of those who sought fertility through Baal. Others would see their children die, most likely in the coming invasion by Assyria (v. 16).
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Today's verse, ""the first and greatest commandment"" (Matt. 22:37-38), is another powerful remedy for spiritual unfaithfulness.

Praise is one way to keep your love for God glowing brightly. Here are three priceless blessings for which you can praise God today: praise Him for His light (1 John 1:5) that penetrates the darkness of sin, for His truth (John 17:17) that leads us in our relationship with Him, and for His love (John 3:16) that caused Him to give His Son for us.