Thursday, July 27, 2017

Hosea 11:1

Hosea 11:1 says, When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.  When Israel was as a child, looking to God for their deliverance, God called them His children.  God had delivered them out of Egypt, not just with their lives, but with a purpose.  They were to show God's love and mercy to the people around them and rely on God for their strength.  We, as followers of Christ, have been freed from the power and penalty of sin, becoming children of God.  Yet too often we place ourselves back under the power of sin.  The penalty has been paid by Christ, but we can still put our lives under the power of sin.  Anytime we fail to follow God, Who has redeemed us by His mercy, we allow sin to have power over us once more.  We must remember that the devil cannot make us do anything, but we can choose to give in to the temptation that he leads us to.  Verse two adds, As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images. The temptation of the world, of those false gods, called to God's people, and they followed.  God through His power had made them His people and protected them, but they wanted what they thought was more that was promised by false gods.  We today may be tempted to chase after any number of false gods, but we need to remember that through God alone can we find true peace and purpose.  Verse three continues, I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms; but they knew not that I healed them. God was reminding His people that He had delivered and healed them, but they no longer acknowledged this.  We cannot become so self-satisfied that we begin to feel that we do not need God. So often, when we think we have accomplished something great in life it is because God has been working through us without our even realizing it.  God was the reason for the success of Israel, but they didn't acknowledge it.  Verse four states, I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them.  God was continuing to remind the people of Israel of all that He had done for them.  We shouldn't need that reminder.  When we are following God's leadership, we will always know that He is the reason for every good thing in our lives.  Verse five adds, He shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian shall be his king, because they refused to return. Israel was not going back to Egypt, but since they refused to return to God, they were going away into captivity.  When we turn away from God as followers of Christ, we do not go back under the everlasting death sentence of sin, but we do put ourselves back under the power of sin.  We cannot be neutral.  We either follow God or we follow sin.  Verse six continues, And the sword shall abide on his cities, and shall consume his branches, and devour them, because of their own counsels.  When Israel followed their own council instead of the council or leadership of God, they were destroyed.  As followers of Christ today, when we follow our own council instead of the council of God, we will have the things that we accomplish ultimately destroyed.  Only those things that we do under the leadership of God will bear everlasting fruit.

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