PUNISHMENT IS COMING!

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In Christ, Mark

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

“The days of punishment are coming, the days of reckoning are at hand. Let Israel know this.”

“Because your sins are so many and your hostility so great, the prophet is considered a fool, the inspired person a maniac. The prophet, along with my God, is the watchman over Ephraim, yet snares await him on all his paths, and hostility in the house of his God. They have sunk deep into corruption, as in the days of Gibeah. God will remember their wickedness and punish them for their sins.”

“When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the desert; when I saw your ancestors, it was like seeing the early fruit on the fig tree. But when they came to Baal Peor, they consecrated themselves to that shameful idol and became as vile as the thing they loved. Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird—no birth, no pregnancy, no conception. Even if they rear children, I will bereave them of every one. Woe to them when I turn away from them! I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre, planted in a pleasant place. But Ephraim will bring out their children to the slayer. Give them, Lord—what will you give them? Give them wombs that miscarry and breasts that are dry.”

“Because of all their wickedness in Gilgal, I hated them there. Because of their sinful deeds, I will drive them out of My house. I will no longer love them; all their leaders are rebellious. Ephraim is blighted, their root is withered, they yield no fruit. Even if they bear children, I will slay their cherished offspring. My God will reject them because they have not obeyed Him; they will be wanderers among the nations.”

Hosea 9:7-17

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

As Hosea 9 opens, we find God calling out His people for their spiritually adulterous, idolatrous worship practices, practices that He called worthless and unacceptable in His sight.

So how would God respond to the sinful unfaithfulness of His people?

The opening words of the closing verses in Hosea 9 sum it up for us:

“The days of punishment are coming, the days of reckoning are at hand. Let Israel know this.” Hosea 9:7a

The message from God was simple for the Israelites.

Punishment is coming!

God was fed up with His people inclination toward wickedness and disobedience to His word, will, and way. They had chosen other gods over Him and that simply was not going to go unaddressed or uncorrected. Period.

So what did God have to say about the transgressive behavior of His people and the judgment He was sending in response to it?

Look at the remaining verses of this chapter:

“Because your sins are so many and your hostility so great, the prophet is considered a fool, the inspired person a maniac. The prophet, along with my God, is the watchman over Ephraim, yet snares await him on all his paths, and hostility in the house of his God. They have sunk deep into corruption, as in the days of Gibeah. God will remember their wickedness and punish them for their sins.”

“When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the desert; when I saw your ancestors, it was like seeing the early fruit on the fig tree. But when they came to Baal Peor, they consecrated themselves to that shameful idol and became as vile as the thing they loved. Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird—no birth, no pregnancy, no conception. Even if they rear children, I will bereave them of every one. Woe to them when I turn away from them! I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre, planted in a pleasant place. But Ephraim will bring out their children to the slayer. Give them, Lord—what will you give them? Give them wombs that miscarry and breasts that are dry.”

“Because of all their wickedness in Gilgal, I hated them there. Because of their sinful deeds, I will drive them out of My house. I will no longer love them; all their leaders are rebellious. Ephraim is blighted, their root is withered, they yield no fruit. Even if they bear children, I will slay their cherished offspring. My God will reject them because they have not obeyed Him; they will be wanderers among the nations.” Hosea 9:7b-17

First details on the ways the Israelites wronged God and His appointed messengers. These ways included:

1. Shunning God’s prophets and other messengers.

“Because your sins are so many and your hostility so great, the prophet is considered a fool, the inspired person a maniac. The prophet, along with my God, is the watchman over Ephraim, yet snares await him on all his paths, and hostility in the house of his God. They have sunk deep into corruption, as in the days of Gibeah.”

When sin gets a strong foothold in the life of a person, anything presented in righteousness to the sinner will be rejected as foolish, the messengers considered crazy. Believers experience this behavior all the time from self-proclaimed atheists or agnostics to mock and ridicule anyone who is living in the faith. Those stepping out and up to do the work of the Lord are often met with aggressive and antagonistic opposition from the wicked who have allowed their sins to be many and their hostility great toward all things concerning God.

2. Idolatry.

“When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the desert; when I saw your ancestors, it was like seeing the early fruit on the fig tree. But when they came to Baal Peor, they consecrated themselves to that shameful idol and became as vile as the thing they loved.”

When the people were devoted to God, they were like fresh fruit being bore, a people who would be fruitful in their efforts for the Lord because of their faithful trust and obedience.

But something happened, something deplorable and detestable to God.

For His people decided to trade in worshiping Him for adoring and bowing down to idols, idols that God called shameful. This reverence for false gods made the people vile in God’s sight, as vile as the idol they gave their affection to.

3. Appointing leaders who opposed God.

“All their leaders are rebellious.”

Rather that put people in power who were righteous and obedient to God, leaders who would be apt to direct their people to ways that would please and appease God, the Israelites put leaders in place that became enemies of God, rebellious against His word and will. Take a look at the scriptures and you will find all the kings leading up to God’s judgment against Israel and Judah were labeled evil.

4. Living in disobedience.

“They have not obeyed Him.”

All the Israelites had to do is live as God wanted them to. That was it. If they had simply turned away from the ways of the world and committed themselves completely to being loyal to God, then judgment wouldn’t have had to happen at all. God could have heaped blessings on His people instead.

But that’s not what happened, is it?

Instead of complying with God’s expectations, the people chose to not obey Him or any of His commands. They refused to respect God with their faithful observance of His will and word so He was forced to show them the gravity of that mistake.

Indeed, there was no shortage of transgressions committed by the Israelites against God. They had fully earned and deserved His displeasure, accurately captured by these words:

“God will remember their wickedness and punish them for their sins.”

You see, sin never goes unchecked. God despises it too much and in His effort to eradicate evil behavior, He will use whatever measures are needed. Here are just a few of the measures God promised He would use in the disciplining of His people:

1. A reduction in offspring.

“Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird—no birth, no pregnancy, no conception. Even if they rear children, I will bereave them of every one. But Ephraim will bring out their children to the slayer. Give them, Lord—what will you give them? Give them wombs that miscarry and breasts that are dry.”

“Even if they bear children, I will slay their cherished offspring.”

Why would God allow His people to procreate when they were living in willing, willful wickedness?

His people would just end up raising offspring who would learn sinfulness and not be exposed to righteousness.

And so God put a freeze on childbearing during His judgment period. There would be no birth, no pregnancy, and no conception.

2. A turning away from His people.

“Woe to them when I turn away from them! I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre, planted in a pleasant place.”

Imagine a world where God was not present. I don’t know about you but that’s a scary proposition but note that this is exactly where the Israelites would find themselves in judgment as God turned away from them, just as His people had turned away from Him and toward worshiping idols.

3. Directed hatred.

“Because of all their wickedness in Gilgal, I hated them there.”

“I will no longer love them.”

In case you weren’t already aware, God hates sin. He despises it and thus anyone who chooses to live in it, effective rejecting God in their lives, will find themselves rejected, unloved and in the crosshairs of His ire and judgment.

4. Driving His people from their homeland.

Because of their sinful deeds, I will drive them out of My house. Ephraim is blighted, their root is withered, they yield no fruit.

If the Israelites wanted to turn away from God, then He would no longer allow them to live in the land He had given to them through their ancestors. Through the assaults of the Assyrians and Babylonians, God would accomplish the judgment He promised.

5. Rejecting His people and making them wanderers.

My God will reject them because; they will be wanderers among the nations.”

God’s people had rejected Him and so He would reject them in return. They would end up deposed to foreign lands, caused to wander “among the nations”.

Indeed punishment was coming on God’s people because of their sinfulness. And rest assured it will come on us as well today if we choose to repeat the mistakes of the past and echo the behavior of the Israelites in Hosea’s day who decided to shun God, worship things besides Him, appoint sinful leaders, and live in disobedience to God’s word and will.

For the God we answer to is the same God they were accountable to, the Lord God Almighty, the Maker and Master of all things. Today and every day, give Him your full respect, honor, glory, praise, and devotion.

Amen

In Christ,

Mark
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