1 Put the ram’s horn to your lips!
An eagle looms over the house of the LORD,
because the people have transgressed My covenant
and rebelled against My law.2 Israel cries out to Me,
“O our God, we know You!”
3 But Israel has rejected good;
an enemy will pursue him.

4 They set up kings, but not by Me.
They make princes, but without My approval.
With their silver and gold they make themselves idols,
to their own destruction.5 He has rejected your calf, O Samaria.
My anger burns against them.
How long will they be
incapable of innocence?
6 For this thing is from Israel—
a craftsman made it, and it is not God.
It will be broken to pieces,
that calf of Samaria.

7 For they sow the wind,
and they shall reap the whirlwind.
There is no standing grain;
what sprouts fails to yield flour.
Even if it should produce,
the foreigners would swallow it up.
8 Israel is swallowed up!
Now they are among the nations
like a worthless vessel.
9 For they have gone up to Assyria
like a wild donkey on its own.
Ephraim has hired lovers.
10 Though they hire allies among the nations,
I will now round them up,
and they will begin to diminish
under the oppression of the king of princes.

11 Though Ephraim multiplied the altars for sin,
they became his altars for sinning.
12 Though I wrote for them the great things of My law,
they regarded them as something strange.
13 Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to Me,
and though they eat the meat,
the LORD does not accept them.
Now He will remember their iniquity and punish their sins:
They will return to Egypt.
14 Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces;
Judah has multiplied its fortified cities.
But I will send fire upon their cities,
and it will consume their citadels.

REFLECTIONS

Written by Matt Radloff

Are you “all in” on Team Jesus? Or do you still want to have it both ways?

In today’s chapter, God continues his condemnation of Israel through Hosea. Here we see that claiming to acknowledge God while seeking security in other things is a recipe for disaster. Time and time again throughout Israel’s history, God had saved them. And yet time and time again, they looked elsewhere for something more, as though He meant nothing to them. They kept on seeking security in idols, kings and foreign nations instead of the God who rescued them.

Sure, Israel offered sacrifices and cried out to God, but He sees what’s really going on. God always sees. While Israel claimed to acknowledge God, they’ve chased after the nations around them and even set up an idol the resembles the golden calf that Israel had worshiped way back in Exodus 32, at Mount Sinai. God wasn’t enough for them; they thought they needed more.

Are you in danger of having the same attitude? God has saved us in Jesus and given us everything we need. He’s our maker, and our saviour, and our loving Father, what more could we want? When we’re tempted to find security in money or status, God’s word reminds us to find security only in him. He’s the one who provides. He’s the one who sustains. He’s the one who cares. So, we can live confidently, going “all in” on Team Jesus.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Matt is one of our Student Ministers.