Slices
Prepare
‘You are my Lord and my God. Amen.’
Bible passage
The Lord’s anger against Israel
13 When Ephraim spoke, people trembled;
he was exalted in Israel.
But he became guilty of Baal worship and died.
2 Now they sin more and more;
they make idols for themselves from their silver,
cleverly fashioned images,
all of them the work of craftsmen.
It is said of these people,
‘They offer human sacrifices!
They kiss calf-idols!’
3 Therefore they will be like the morning mist,
like the early dew that disappears,
like chaff swirling from a threshing-floor,
like smoke escaping through a window.
4 ‘But I have been the Lord your God
ever since you came out of Egypt.
You shall acknowledge no God but me,
no Saviour except me.
5 I cared for you in the wilderness,
in the land of burning heat.
6 When I fed them, they were satisfied;
when they were satisfied, they became proud;
then they forgot me.
7 So I will be like a lion to them,
like a leopard I will lurk by the path.
8 Like a bear robbed of her cubs,
I will attack them and rip them open;
like a lion I will devour them –
a wild animal will tear them apart.
9 ‘You are destroyed, Israel,
because you are against me, against your helper.
10 Where is your king, that he may save you?
Where are your rulers in all your towns,
of whom you said,
“Give me a king and princes”?
11 So in my anger I gave you a king,
and in my wrath I took him away.
12 The guilt of Ephraim is stored up,
his sins are kept on record.
13 Pains as of a woman in childbirth come to him,
but he is a child without wisdom;
when the time arrives,
he doesn’t have the sense to come out of the womb.
14 ‘I will deliver this people from the power of the grave;
I will redeem them from death.
Where, O death, are your plagues?
Where, O grave, is your destruction?
‘I will have no compassion,
15 even though he thrives among his brothers.
An east wind from the Lord will come,
blowing in from the desert;
his spring will fail
and his well dry up.
His storehouse will be plundered
of all its treasures.
16 The people of Samaria must bear their guilt,
because they have rebelled against their God.
They will fall by the sword;
their little ones will be dashed to the ground,
their pregnant women ripped open.’
Explore
The covenant had sealed the deal (v 4; Deuteronomy 5:1–21). God had rescued his people from Egypt, cared for them in the wilderness and led them home (vs 4–6). But they have turned against God (vs 2, 9); now he will take action against them (vs 7,8). No wonder they trembled. Here, God brings charges and the sentence.
They have embraced idolatry, even the evil practices of human sacrifice (v 2). Proud and self-satisfied, they reject God’s help. So much for the earthly rulers they had demanded (1 Samuel 8:19,20) – the people had got their own way, and what they deserved (vs 9–11). Now self-centred dreams ‘disappear like morning mist’ (v 3). And their sins are not forgotten (v 12). We can imagine God’s frustration with his people who won’t respond to his loving call – like ‘stupid’ babies at the point of birth, they haven’t got the sense to be born! So, judgement will come – the east wind will blow, crops and rains will fail, storehouses will be emptied and plundered (v 15). Rebellion against God will bring unimaginable atrocities (v 16). God will have no compassion. Even those who are doing well will not be safe (v 15).
And yet, still there is a whisper of God’s final triumph: ‘Where, O death, is your victory?’ (1 Corinthians 15:55; v 14). Judgement is not God’s final word.
Respond
Where do you see God’s judgement at work? How might we speak his Word into troubled situations?
Deeper Bible study
Holy God, we rely upon you for all things. Help us this day to trust in you, being thankful for all that you give. Lead us, we pray.
Right in the midst of a passage filled with God’s righteous judgement, we read, ‘Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O grave, is your destruction?’ (v 14). Paul, of course, takes these verses and encourages his readers that, through Jesus, there is a victory that transforms the mortal into the immortal.1 The experiences we have now are not the end of the matter. For those who place their faith in God, there is a redemption that lasts into eternity.
We look backwards to Jesus’ crucifixion, as we look forwards to our future hope. Hosea’s listeners, however, were reminded of other works of God to inspire their hope. The trouble with their history is that it was filled with an ebb and flow of their own faithfulness. As we read in verse 6, when they were satisfied with blessings, then they turned away from God. While things are different for us who follow Jesus, it is still easy to become complacent and lose our first love. It is quite easy to slip into a consumerist approach to church and forget the grace we have received, or the mission we are all called to. Let us draw close to God in the good times as well as the hard.
As we head towards the end of Hosea’s message, we must not forget that he is having to deliver this message to the people he lives with. On top of that, in some instances his life has been living out the prophetic message. The threat of God’s judgement, which he continues to deliver, is peppered with hope and grace, just as Hosea himself shows to his faithless wife. Through Jesus, our message is redemption and reconciliation, all based upon the judgement of God turned upon Jesus on the cross.
Be open to the possibility that there are areas in your life that are displeasing or dishonouring to God. Bring them to Jesus, allowing him to minister redemptive grace.
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Numbers 6,7; Psalms 26,27
Pray for Scripture Union
Please ask God to draw new young Christians close to him, including Ali and Ethan, and help them to grow in faith and understanding. (This week's prayers relate to this story.)
