SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/13/2015
9:39 PM
My Worship Time Focus: The Spectators in the Court
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Hosea
4:15-19
Message of the
verses: “15 Though you, Israel, play the harlot, Do not
let Judah become guilty; Also do not go to Gilgal, Or go up to Beth-aven And
take the oath: "As the LORD lives!" 16 Since Israel is stubborn Like
a stubborn heifer, Can the LORD now pasture them Like a lamb in a large field? 17
Ephraim is joined to idols; Let him alone. 18 Their liquor gone, They play the
harlot continually; Their rulers dearly love shame. 19 The wind wraps them in
its wings, And they will be ashamed because of their sacrifices.” (NASB)
“15 “Though you, Israel, are a prostitute, may Judah
avoid such guilt. Do not join the false worship at Gilgal or Beth-aven, 16
Israel is stubborn, like a stubborn heifer. So should the LORD feed her like a
lamb in a lush pasture? 17 Leave Israel alone, because she is married to
idolatry. 18 When the rulers of Israel finish their drinking, off they go to
find some prostitutes. They love shame
more than honor. 19 So a mighty wind will sweep them away. Their sacrifices to idols will bring them
shame.” (NLT)
We conclude the fourth chapter of Hosea in today’s SD,
and although there are only these five short verses we will dig to find the
meaning of them and try also to learn what they can mean to benefit our lives
too. Remember we are in the third
sub-point from Dr. Wiersbe first main point and at the end of his introduction
to this section he wrote “The Judge read the charges to the accused as they
stood before him.” It is the spectators
in the court that the Judge is dealing with in today’s SD.
The spectators in the court our the Southern Kingdom, the
Kingdom of Judah who are the ones watching what the Lord is going to do with
Israel, the Northern Kingdom. Hosea is
saying to the Southern Kingdom not to meddle into the affairs of the Northern
Kingdom, for their fate is set as the Lord is going to use the Assyrians to
destroy them. Hosea says to Judah in
verse seventeen “Leave Israel alone, because she is married to idolatry.” (NLT)
Judah was suppose to worship the Lord in Jerusalem and not go to worship
Him in the hill shrines of Israel or even in the special shrines at
Gilgal. Let’s look at a couple of verses
that speak of the fact that Gilgal was once a wonderful place that the Lord was
worshiped rightly in. First 2 Kings 2:1 “And
it came about when the LORD was about to take up Elijah by a whirlwind to
heaven, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.” Next 2 Kings 4:38 “When Elisha returned to
Gilgal, there was a famine in the land. As the sons of the prophets were
sitting before him, he said to his servant, "Put on the large pot and boil
stew for the sons of the prophets."”
Dr. Wiersbe writes “Hosea calls Bethel ‘Bethaven,’ which means ‘house of
evil or deceit.’ Bethel means ‘house of
God.’ Israel was like a stubborn heifer,
not a submissive lamb; and God’s whirlwind of judgment would sweep the kingdom
away.” We have already seen in our
studies of Jeremiah and Ezekiel that Judah did not learn the lesson that it
should have learned from Israel for just over one hundred years after Israel
fell, Judah did so too, and one of the big reasons was idolatry.
6/13/2015 9:59 PM
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