Slices
Prepare
How are people in your country (community, church) being hurt because they have put something/someone else in God’s place? Pray for them.
Bible passage
Israel to reap the whirlwind
8 ‘Put the trumpet to your lips!
An eagle is over the house of the Lord
because the people have broken my covenant
and rebelled against my law.
2 Israel cries out to me,
“Our God, we acknowledge you!”
3 But Israel has rejected what is good;
an enemy will pursue him.
4 They set up kings without my consent;
they choose princes without my approval.
With their silver and gold
they make idols for themselves
to their own destruction.
5 Throw out your calf-idol, Samaria!
My anger burns against them.
How long will they be incapable of purity?
6 They are from Israel!
This calf – a metalworker has made it;
it is not God.
It will be broken in pieces,
that calf of Samaria.
7 ‘They sow the wind
and reap the whirlwind.
The stalk has no head;
it will produce no flour.
Were it to yield grain,
foreigners would swallow it up.
8 Israel is swallowed up;
now she is among the nations
like something no one wants.
9 For they have gone up to Assyria
like a wild donkey wandering alone.
Ephraim has sold herself to lovers.
10 Although they have sold themselves among the nations,
I will now gather them together.
They will begin to waste away
under the oppression of the mighty king.
11 ‘Though Ephraim built many altars for sin offerings,
these have become altars for sinning.
12 I wrote for them the many things of my law,
but they regarded them as something foreign.
13 Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to me,
and though they eat the meat,
the Lord is not pleased with them.
Now he will remember their wickedness
and punish their sins:
they will return to Egypt.
14 Israel has forgotten his Maker
and built palaces;
Judah has fortified many towns.
But I will send fire on their cities
that will consume their fortresses.’
Punishment for Israel
9 Do not rejoice, Israel;
do not be jubilant like the other nations.
For you have been unfaithful to your God;
you love the wages of a prostitute
at every threshing-floor.
2 Threshing-floors and winepresses will not feed the people;
the new wine will fail them.
3 They will not remain in the Lord’s land;
Ephraim will return to Egypt
and eat unclean food in Assyria.
4 They will not pour out wine offerings to the Lord,
nor will their sacrifices please him.
Such sacrifices will be to them like the bread of mourners;
all who eat them will be unclean.
This food will be for themselves;
it will not come into the temple of the Lord.
5 What will you do on the day of your appointed festivals,
on the feast days of the Lord?
6 Even if they escape from destruction,
Egypt will gather them,
and Memphis will bury them.
Their treasures of silver will be taken over by briers,
and thorns will overrun their tents.
7 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.
8 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.
9 They have sunk deep into corruption,
as in the days of Gibeah.
God will remember their wickedness
and punish them for their sins.
Explore
People say that they acknowledge God. But their lives tell a different story (8:1–4). God’s ways are rejected. Self rules, and people choose their own priorities without consulting God. They regard silver and gold as their own, turning it into their gods (8:6). What parallels do we see in our own societies? Even, perhaps, in our churches? Such behaviour brings brokenness and failure. It isn’t just that God is angry with their faithlessness; they are responsible themselves for the degradation and want in which they find themselves (8:7–9).
They’ve sown the wind; now comes the whirlwind (8:7) – defeat, oppression and ignominy. Like a prostitute, God’s people have sold themselves (8:9). Their many altars are not signs of repentance, but are caught up in the sinful practices of idolatrous culture (8:11). God’s own words and laws are foreign to them (8:12). They have forgotten their Maker – but God remembers their sin (8:13,14).
Unfaithfulness to him brings its own punishment. The wages of ‘prostitution’ do not satisfy (9:1,2). There is never enough – and half-hearted tokens of God-worship are defiled by death (‘bread of mourners’) (9:4). Broken idols, destruction and weed-covered ruin loom (9:6). Those who continue to speak up for God are mocked (9:7,8), but there will be a reckoning (9:9).
Respond
Take time to grieve society’s rejection of God.
Deeper Bible study
Dear God, may your holiness inspire me to turn away from anything that is contrary to you. Shine your light through the Holy Spirit, into the depths of my heart.
Today’s passage must have been deeply troubling to hear. At best, Hosea’s audience were offering sacrifices and offerings, but these were devoid of the all-important right attitude. At worst, they were rebelling and rejecting all that is good, all that is from God. The people had chosen their own path: they made idols and appointed leaders without God’s consent. All these sins would lead them into exile; Hosea’s warnings would fall, largely, on deaf ears.
It’s not easy to be told that you are wrong, nor that your lifestyle is wrong. As a pastor, some of the most challenging conversations I have ever had were with people in my congregation who were making sinful choices. It is a desperately hard thing to talk about. Jesus reminds us to take a good look at ourselves first, because it is always far easier to find fault in others. The choice to walk away from church and God can offer itself as an easier option than to admit fault and repent. However, it is often through the more challenging things that we grow.
Hosea’s message did not lead to widespread repentance. That was not the fault of the messenger, nor of the message. Today we are able to point people to Jesus who, having given himself, forgives all who come with faith and repentance. Pointing people to Jesus is a fruitful way in which lives can be changed. It is far less my job to point out someone’s fault; rather, the Holy Spirit, who lets me know when I need to repent, is able to guide others. Our lives should emulate the grace of Jesus, while acknowledging the incredible holiness of God. Let our words be salted with the healing and fragrance of the grace we have received.
Pray for those who have walked away from church and God. Pray that they may be drawn back and find hope in the community of faith.
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Leviticus 23,24; Acts 12
Pray for Scripture Union
Pray for Tanya Pencheva as she administers the Global Resource Portfolio, which allows SU movements around the world to access and use some of the SU England and Wales published resources. Thank God for the children and young people around the world who will hear of the love of Jesus through this new venture.
