READ: HOSEA 9:1-9 AND ISAIAH 10:1-4; SOAP: HOSEA 9:9
Hosea Announces Israel’s Punishment
O people of Israel,
do not rejoice as other nations do.
For you have been unfaithful to your God,
hiring yourselves out like prostitutes,
worshiping other gods on every threshing floor.
2 So now your harvests will be too small to feed you.
There will be no grapes for making new wine.
3 You may no longer stay here in the Lord’s land.
Instead, you will return to Egypt,
and in Assyria you will eat food
that is ceremonially unclean.
4 There you will make no offerings of wine to the Lord.
None of your sacrifices there will please him.
They will be unclean, like food touched by a person in mourning.
All who present such sacrifices will be defiled.
They may eat this food themselves,
but they may not offer it to the Lord.
5 What then will you do on festival days?
How will you observe the Lord’s festivals?
6 Even if you escape destruction from Assyria,
Egypt will conquer you, and Memphis[a] will bury you.
Nettles will take over your treasures of silver;
thistles will invade your ruined homes.
The time of Israel’s punishment has come;
the day of payment is here.
Soon Israel will know this all too well.
Because of your great sin and hostility,
you say, “The prophets are crazy
and the inspired men are fools!”
8 The prophet is a watchman over Israel[b] for my God,
yet traps are laid for him wherever he goes.
He faces hostility even in the house of God.
9 The things my people do are as depraved as what they did in Gibeah long ago.
God will not forget.
Hosea Announces Israel’s Punishment
What sorrow awaits the unjust judges
and those who issue unfair laws.
2 They deprive the poor of justice
and deny the rights of the needy among my people.
They prey on widows
and take advantage of orphans.
3 What will you do when I punish you,
when I send disaster upon you from a distant land?
To whom will you turn for help?
Where will your treasures be safe?
4 You will stumble along as prisoners
or lie among the dead.
But even then the Lord’s anger will not be satisfied.
His fist is still poised to strike.
Hosea was accused of being a fatalist by Israel when the truth is Israel was gravely unaware of the pending disaster.
Read today’s LGG Blog to see why they were so unaware –
Gibeah is remembered for several things but one especially horrendous incident is what God was referring to here when He compared Israel’s corruption to Gibeah’s. For the full story and the answer to today’s reflection question read the brutal story, at the link below, that God included in His Word for us to read – Reflection Question: In light of what we know about Gibeah, what possible good could come from God’s reminder and comparison of Israel’s sin to that of Gibeah? — Share your thoughts in the comment bar.
https://www.gotquestions.org/Gibeah-in-the-Bible.html