Day 247

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One of Hosea's Description of a Sinful Nation

Scripture

September 3—Hosea 7-8: A Rebellious Union

Observation

Like an eloquent prosecuting attorney, Hosea illustrates his case against wayward Israel with vivid word pictures, comparing the sinful nation to a raging fire, half-baked cake, a witless dove, a crooked bow, a broken pot and a wild ass. The coming destruction will be the result of the nation's own doing. The people have willfully sown the wind of disobedience; they must now reap the whirlwind of God's judgment—the inevitable horror of consequences for their sin.

It was political whirlwinds in Hosea's day. Even as Hosea prophesied in Israel, the political consequences of the nation's sin were being felt in the form of cruelty and brutality. Four of the nation's last six kings were brutally assassinated, and a fifth was deported to Assyria.

Application

Farming is based on two fundamental laws of nature: 1. You reap what you sow (a qualitative law). 2. You reap more than you sow (a quantitative law).

Plant a seed of corn, and it will yield a harvest of corn and nothing else. Not beans, or potatoes or cabbage. And that seed of corn will return the original investment with interest, producing many ears of corn with hundreds of kernels per ear.

Hosea applies these "laws of the harvest" to Israel's sin. The people have sown evil; they should not expect good to come of it. And they have sown so much evil for so long that the harvest of God's wrath will be nothing short of a bumper crop."

But these simple farming truths apply to good deeds as well. The small seeds of goodness and godliness that you plant today will come back to you "pressed down and running over" (Luke 6:38).

So, what will you sow today? A bad habit, a sinful attitude, a lopsided priority or a good deed done from honest, truthful and loving motives? Write out your response. And as you do, remember that the harvest is never far behind the planting!

Prayer

Dear Lord God, thank you for sending us a Savior that's making atonement for our sins and when He left to go and prepare a place for us He left us a comforter, the Holy Spirit while we wait for His return. With the Holy Spirit living in us, we know that we will not be tempted beyond what we can bear as we navigate through this thing called life. We worship you and praise you and give you all the honor. In Jesus' name!  Amen!

The Comforter!



© Odessa Mathis about my Father's business! 2020

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