Anglican Daily Fountain 31 January 2022
Topic: The Effect Of Israel’s Severance From God
Read: Hosea 8 (NKJV)
“Set the [a]trumpet to your mouth! He shall come like an eagle against the house of the Lord, Because they have transgressed My covenant And rebelled against My law.
2 Israel will cry to Me, ‘My God, we know You!’
3. Israel has rejected the good; The enemy will pursue him.
4. “They set up kings, but not by Me; They made princes, but I did not acknowledge [them.] From their silver and gold They made idols for themselves — That they might be cut off.
5. Your calf is rejected, O Samaria! My anger is aroused against them — How long until they attain to innocence?
6. For from Israel [is] even this: A workman made it, and it [is] not God; But the calf of Samaria shall be broken to pieces.
7. ” They sow the wind, And reap the whirlwind. The stalk has no bud; It shall never produce meal. If it should produce, Aliens would swallow it up.
8. Israel is swallowed up; Now they are among the Gentiles Like a vessel in which [is] no pleasure.
9. For they have gone up to Assyria, [Like] a wild donkey alone by itself; Ephraim has hired lovers.
10. Yes, though they have hired among the nations, Now I will gather them; And they shall sorrow a little, Because of the burden of the king of princes.
11. ” Because Ephraim has made many altars for sin, They have become for him altars for sinning.
12. I have written for him the great things of My law, [But] they were considered a strange thing.
13. [For] the sacrifices of My offerings they sacrifice flesh and eat [it,] [But] the LORD does not accept them. Now He will remember their iniquity and punish their sins. They shall return to Egypt.
14. “For Israel has forgotten his Maker, And has built temples; Judah also has multiplied fortified cities; But I will send fire upon his cities, And it shall devour his palaces.”
Anglican Daily Fountain 31 January 2022 STUDY
Here, we see the house of Israel under the besiegement of Assyria. This precarious state should elicit an alarm (v.1). The reason for this ugly situation is found in verse 1. Israel had broken God’s covenant. They only acknowledged God with their lips (v.2), but rejected Him in their deeds (v.3). This is a demonstration of hardness of heart.
How often have we rejected God in our deeds and attitude? Has God’s approval for life’s major and minor decisions become of little or no consequence? Have worldly festivities found their ways into our gatherings with religious connotations? If these have become the cases, then we should go back to God for renewal (Ezek. 36:26-27).
The effect of Israel’s severance from God is seen from verses 7 to 14. God judges His people and we have to bear in mind that He is fair and just. With a fearful prospect of His judgment, let us live in awe of Him lest we be judged with the rest of the world.
PRAYER: Almighty God, grant me the grace to serve and worship you in truth and spirit through Christ our Lord. Amen.
