May 25

Hosea 13-14

Today we finish the book of Hosea in the Exile Stream. We are reading from the New International Version this week.

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Commentary by Dr. Drake Travis

Lord we hear your heart today in this – Hosea’s finale~ You so long to bless and heal and be with and shower good upon your own. May we be a people who hear and obey and let you touch our lives. Amen.

We finished the words of Hosea today. He began his ministry around 760 B.C. and prophesied to the northern Kingdom until it’s final end in 722 B.C. He lived in the north and, by God’s command, lived in and among the Israelites; a nation turned completely pagan. Hosea knew the pain that this paganism was causing God. The adultery hit home even for him as his wife was committed to adultery as a lifestyle. He had seen seven kings come and go. All were wretched.

13 – The people of the north had been so regal (until rebelling). Ephraim was a noteworthy place – once upon a time it was noteworthy for a good reason – now it is noteworthy for a bad reason. The Kingdom splitting was the occasion for calf worship to be instituted. [This was ca. 160 years before Hosea showed up.] Jeroboam wanted all loyalty to be up north and away from the Temple. <–[This was the late 900’s B.C.] About two generations later, King Ahab added Baal worship to the calf worship. The calf worship started the spiritual bleeding whereas with the Baal worship, an artery had been “nicked”. The story of Ahab doing this is told in I Kings 16:30-33. Ahab had been gone for just over a century now and Israel was about to bleed out and be a lifeless place. The death of a nation is at hand. And this is what Hosea is speaking to to begin the reading today. They will be pounced as if by a wild animal, the wells will go dry, even the babies will draw no compassion from the hoards that will pour in to kill everything they see.

14 – It has been a terrible 200 years for Israel. “The curtain” is about to be drawn. Not much good at all if any has come out of a land that has dedicated itself to being rebellious to the Lord, to the south, to the Temple and all else that God stands for. The Assyrians are coming. Israel will be decimated. This is where rebellion ends up 100% of the time when God is being rebelled against. Does that make God mean? Not at all. Listen to the beauty of what God wants to do with His people. Were His people to repent, all would be forgiven. And He still beckons them to repent! Their gracious God would heal them and their wayward hearts. They would be loved and know love. Wow, were they to listen to God -the wonders and rejuvenation, the communication with God, the fruitfulness – good heavens what can happen at the hands of a loving God! God wants them to walk again; walk with Him. This invitation stands for all of us.

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