Daily Devotional--1/13/2011

Hosea 5:8-15

⁸ "Sound the trumpet in Gibeah, the horn in Ramah. Raise the battle cry in Beth Aven; lead on, O Benjamin. ⁹ Ephraim will be laid waste on the day of reckoning. Among the tribes of Israel I proclaim what is certain. ¹⁰ Judah's leaders are like those who move boundary stones. I will pour out my wrath on them like a flood of water. ¹¹ Ephraim is oppressed, trampled in judgment, intent on pursuing idols. ¹² I am like a moth to Ephraim, like rot to the people of Judah. ¹³ "When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his sores, then Ephraim turned to Assyria, and sent to the great king for help. But he is not able to cure you, not able to heal your sores. ¹⁴ For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, like a great lion to Judah. I will tear them to pieces and go away; I will carry them off, with no one to rescue them. ¹⁵ Then I will go back to my place until they admit their guilt. And they will seek my face; in their misery they will earnestly seek me."

In these verses we find the consequences of Israel’s unfaithfulness continue to unfold. In this text God likens himself to a moth that would devour, dry rot that would cause decay, and a lion that would destroy His people.

• How long does God say He will bring judgment upon His people? [v.15]
• How does the word “until” in verse 15 give us a picture of God’s redemptive heart?
• God desires His people to turn to Him in faithfulness & love in the face of their judgment. Who do they turn to for help, comfort, & salvation [v.13]?
• Who will you turn to and “earnestly seek” for help, comfort, & salvation when you experience the temporal consequences of your sin?