Anglican Daily Fountain Devotional Monday, January 31, 2022
TOPIC: THE EFFECT OF ISRAEL'S SEVERANCE FROM GOD. Anglican Daily Fountain Devotional Monday, January 31, 2022.
TOPIC: THE EFFECT OF ISRAEL'S SEVERANCE FROM GOD
TEXT: Hosea 8
“Put the trumpet to your lips!
An eagle is over the house of the Lord
because the people have broken my covenant
and rebelled against my law.
2 Israel cries out to me,
‘Our God, we acknowledge you!’
3 But Israel has rejected what is good;
an enemy will pursue him.
4 They set up kings without my consent;
they choose princes without my approval.
With their silver and gold
they make idols for themselves
to their own destruction.
5 Samaria, throw out your calf-idol!
My anger burns against them.
How long will they be incapable of purity?
6 They are from Israel!
This calf—a metalworker has made it;
it is not God.
It will be broken in pieces,
that calf of Samaria.
7 “They sow the wind
and reap the whirlwind.
The stalk has no head;
it will produce no flour.
Were it to yield grain,
foreigners would swallow it up.
8 Israel is swallowed up;
now she is among the nations
like something no one wants.
9 For they have gone up to Assyria
like a wild donkey wandering alone.
Ephraim has sold herself to lovers.
10 Although they have sold themselves among the nations,
I will now gather them together.
They will begin to waste away
under the oppression of the mighty king.
11 “Though Ephraim built many altars for sin offerings,
these have become altars for sinning.
12 I wrote for them the many things of my law,
but they regarded them as something foreign.
13 Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to me,
and though they eat the meat,
the Lord is not pleased with them.
Now he will remember their wickedness
and punish their sins:
They will return to Egypt.
14 Israel has forgotten their Maker
and built palaces;
Judah has fortified many towns.
But I will send fire on their cities
that will consume their fortresses.”
Anglican Daily Fountain Devotional Monday, January 31, 2022
INTRODUCTION TEXT
Here, we see the house of Israel under the besiegement of Assyria. This precarious state should elicit an alarm (v.l). 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 the hardness of the 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 in 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.
