COMPARE AND CONTRAST

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Is Gilead wicked? Its people are worthless! Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal? Their altars will be like piles of stones on a plowed field. Jacob fled to the country of Aram; Israel served to get a wife, and to pay for her he tended sheep.”

“But Ephraim has aroused his bitter anger; his Lord will leave on him the guilt of his bloodshed and will repay him for his contempt.”

Hosea 12:11-12, 14

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

How often do we compare generations?

It happens all the time, doesn’t it?

Often times we hear an older generation complaining about a younger one, usually in a negative context that asserts that a younger generation is taking society in the wrong direction morally. Maybe you have heard someone say something like this. Maybe you have even been the one saying it.

Well, as we turn to our scripture passage drawn from the closing verses of Hosea 12, we find God doing His own contrasting and comparing, speaking out against the Israelites of Hosea’s day while going back to examine an Israelite of old. Let’s look again at these verses now:

“Is Gilead wicked? Its people are worthless! Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal? Their altars will be like piles of stones on a plowed field. Jacob fled to the country of Aram; Israel served to get a wife, and to pay for her he tended sheep.”

“But Ephraim has aroused his bitter anger; his Lord will leave on him the guilt of his bloodshed and will repay him for his contempt.”  Hosea 12:11-12, 14

First, we find God speaking out against His people of the day, the Israelites in Gilead and Gilgal. Of interest, these two locations within the Promised Land were on opposite sides of the Jordan River, Gilead to the east and Gilgal to the west. But although these two places were opposite in their orientation to one another, they had one thing in common.

They both were practicing sinful idolatry.

God tells us through the words of His prophet Hosea. For Gilead was wicked and because of their blatant disrespect and disregard of God, they were considered worthless. Such will be the case for anyone who chooses to live in iniquity, shunning the righteousness God offers.

Gilgal was no better than Gilead. They were sacrificing bulls to pagan gods and idols on worship altars constructed specifically for that purpose, despite the fact that God had commanded His people to worship and bow down to no other god except Him (Exodus 20:3-4a). Note where God promised to bring destruction on those altars, leaving them like “piles of stones on a plowed field.”

But note that the sinfulness of the Israelites was not just limited to Gilead and Gilgal. Rather, it was a systemic issue across the entire nation. We know this because God calls out all of His people as having aroused His “bitter anger”, having sponsored bloodshed as well as practiced contempt in His sight. Thus God promised He would repay the Israelites for their transgressions which were born out of their disobedience.

It wasn’t a pretty picture of things in Hosea’s day. God was not happy with that generation of Israelites.

Contrast that with the matter of Jacob who is mentioned by God in this passage. Jacob wasn’t perfect, none of the human biblical people were, but he did show obedience to his father and his God. Look at this passage from Genesis:

Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. Then he commanded him: “Do not marry a Canaanite woman. Go at once to Paddan Aram, to the house of your mother’s father, Bethuel. Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples. May He give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham, so that you may take possession of the land where you now reside as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham.” Then Isaac sent Jacob on his way, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laban, son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau. Genesis 28:1-5

Note here that Isaac did not wish for his son to do something sinful and marry a woman who might lead him into iniquity and disfavor with God as the Canaanites worshiped false gods. Isaac knew his son could marry a woman who would be pleasing in God’s sight if he went to Aram and connected with Rebekah’s brother, Laban.

Now Jacob could have ignored his father’s request but we know he didn’t. He went to Laban, seeking a wife, and after making an agreement with him, he labored, tending sheep for fourteen years in order to marry Rachel, Laban’s youngest daughter. You’ll recall that he was only supposed to work for seven years but Laban duped Jacob into marrying his oldest daughter instead. When Jacob protested, Laban said he would let him marry Rachel, the daughter he truly loved, but he would have to work another seven years to marry her. Jacob consented to that deal (Genesis 29).

While it’s great to rekindle this story of marriage for Jacob, God’s point in comparing and contrasting Him with the Israelites of Hosea’s day is centered on the matter of obedience. Jacob was obedient to God and his father’s wishes to avoid marrying a woman who was practicing illicit worship by bowing down to false gods and idols. The people of God in Hosea’s time lived in a way that was completely opposite, choosing idolatry over worshiping the God who had so faithfully watched over, delivered, and redeemed their ancestors.

Given all this, maybe it would be a good idea to compare and contrast where we are today with the generations past. Are we as spiritually devoted and faithful here in the 21st century as believers were in the 20th century? The 19th, 18th, or 17th? How about in the earliest days of Christianity?

It’s definitely worth thinking about because we can either find ourselves living faithful to God as our ancestors did or going in the opposite direction, abandoning God altogether for the sinful ways of the world.

Which direction do you think we’re going?

Which direction are you going?

Amen

In Christ,

Mark
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