Sunday, June 21, 2015

The Nations True Condition PT-2 (Hosea 7:1-7)


SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/21/2015 11:35 PM

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  The Nations True Condition PT-2

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Hosea 7:1-7

            Message of the verses:  “1 When I would heal Israel, The iniquity of Ephraim is uncovered, And the evil deeds of Samaria, For they deal falsely; The thief enters in, Bandits raid outside, 2 And they do not consider in their hearts That I remember all their wickedness. Now their deeds are all around them; They are before My face. 3 With their wickedness they make the king glad, And the princes with their lies. 4 They are all adulterers, Like an oven heated by the baker Who ceases to stir up the fire From the kneading of the dough until it is leavened. 5 On the day of our king, the princes became sick with the heat of wine; He stretched out his hand with scoffers, 6 For their hearts are like an oven As they approach their plotting; Their anger smolders all night, In the morning it burns like a flaming fire. 7 All of them are hot like an oven, And they consume their rulers; All their kings have fallen. None of them calls on Me.”

            We are looking at the nation of Israel’s true condition by looking at several similes’ from chapters six and seven of Hosea.  In today’s SD we will be looking at “Their lust was like an overheated oven.”

            Dr. Wiersbe states that it is probable that the last statement from chapter six (6:11) should be joined with 7:1”  Let us look at it in that light “11  Also, O Judah, there is a harvest appointed for you, When I restore the fortunes of My people.  1 When I would heal Israel, The iniquity of Ephraim is uncovered, And the evil deeds of Samaria, For they deal falsely; The thief enters in, Bandits raid outside.”  What was it that prevented God from healing His people?  We looked at this in an earlier SD, and the answer is that Israel was trying to dictate how God was going to help them, and God would not do that for it had to be in His way.  God had made a covenant with them and it would be through the terms of that covenant that He would act, by either destroying them or healing them as both were in the covenant. 

            Israel had a great passion for sin as it was like an oven which was overheating. The fuel for this fire was wine for we know that alcohol and sin usually go together.

            Dr. Wiersbe concludes “Hosea describes a places celebration during which the king and his officers get drunk, and this gives the king’s enemies opportunity to overthrow him and even kill him.  Remember, Israel had five kings in thirteen years, and four kings were assassinated in twenty years.  From Jeroboam I, the fist king of Israel to Hoshea, the last king, there were nine different dynasties!  Because the leaders were far from the Lord, the political situation was confused and corrupt.”  Israel had as many kings in a shorter time than Judah did.

6/21/2015 11:52 PM   

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