#triunegod

Hosea 9:2

Threshing-floors and winepresses will not feed the people; the new wine will fail them.

-          If you are somebody who believes that their problems in life will be solved if they had money, then you are wrong! Those problems will still be there! Yes, you may be taken care of financially, but money cannot fill the void that is deep within your heart, only the blood of Jesus can! He can purify you from the calamities of LIFE.

Hosea 9:7

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.

-          Because people in the world refuse to see the light of God, men of God are ridiculed and therefore, not taken seriously. In today’s world people would rather glorify a celebrity atheist, such as Richard Dawkins, than hear the Word of the Living God. Think about it! How did these persons become celebrities in the first place? Wasn’t it by gaining popularity and thousands of supporters for their views that slandered the existence of Jesus?

Hosea 9:8- speaks about how the prophet has been anointed and appointed by God as a watchman. This reminds me of Ezekiel chapter 3, when God says to him, “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel…” (v.17.) In the Old Testament, when a prophet would arrive in town, people will tremble with fear out of reverence for him because they knew that he carried God’s message (1 Samuel 16:4). Today, the beliefs of the man of God are disregarded or seen as ancient or even ungodly. In fact, many people would go as far to say that God brings calamity because of all the disasters that have taken place in the world. As a result of this, God was saying that the Israelites would not be acknowledged before Him. They were starting to give into the world and listen to teachings that clearly contrasted with His righteousness. They followed gods made of human hands and stone, practiced sexual immorality and thus, sunk deeper and deeper into sin, making God turn his head.

(I think just like the last chapter has a theme of ‘you will reap what you sow’) this chapter continues that theme, and even goes farther to show how a separation from God will ruin your life. The dark imagery is seen throughout this chapter, especially verse 14, when it says ‘…Give them wombs that miscarry and breasts that are dry.’ Just like God offers us the wine  of everlasting righteousness, the world offers us a temporary new wine. Perhaps that is why in v.2, it says the new wine will fail them, and in verse 4, it says how God will be displeased with this offering. Perhaps the new wine offerings that were presented to the Lord by the Israelites, were done in vain and only because they wanted God’s supply, not knowing that if they sought Him, they would have everything they need because He is Our bountiful supply. He supplies all of our needs, and gives us a better option than what we had in mind. We too can fall into the trap of relying on God only when we need something. Of course, God will always come through for us, but it is much better to commune with God, to talk to Him, to read His Word because if you do all these things, you would know the great supplies He has in store for you. You would know that even if your life does not reflect good things, God’s Word stands firm in the heavens forever (Psalm 119:89) and so, if He says He has great plans for you to prosper and not to harm you, to give you a hope and a future, then that is what it means!

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Give Jesus a try! He wants a relationship with you, not a religion!

Hosea 8:2

Israel cries out to me, “Our God we acknowledge you!”

Acknowledging the Lord does not make you justified before Him, but knowing Him does! Paul said in Philippians 3:10 “That i may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made comfortable unto His death;” Therefore, this phrase indicates that once me move past religion and into a relationship with God, we can experience the fullness of Christ and apprehend His dimensions (2 Cor 2:12). 

Hosea 8:4

They set up kings without my consent; they chose princes without my approval. With their silver and gold they make idols for themselves to their own destruction.

  - The Divine Right of Kings was a belief prominent in the Middle Ages, that a monarch could execute earthly authority, since they have been granted powers by God. The first sign of earthly kings was mentioned in the book of 1 Samuel. The Israelites asked the prophet Samuel to ask God to give them a king, and though He was greatly displeased by this (as it showed that they did not trust Him) God still granted them this desire (1 Samuel 18:22). 

 -The Lord told Samuel in 1 Samuel 8:7 “and the Lord told Him: ‘Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected Me as their king.” This was the exact reason why Samuel was upset, he felt God’s pain as he knew how upset the Father would be that His Chosen people wanted a mere human being to rule over them, instead of Him.

Hosea 8:10 

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.

OH oh! At first glance, this phrase seems horrific; why would God declare that His Chosen ones will waste away, when he was the one who created them in the first place? It is important to know that the reason why the Israelites wanted an earthly king in the first place, was because they believed that God was unable to supply all their needs. They lacked faith! However, God’s plan was probably to show that just because they had a king, it did not mean that your needs would be taken into account. For example, if we looked at the king in the Old Testament, even Herod in the New Testament, we can easily come to the conclusion that many of them exploited their powers and worked against the people. Yet God still remained faithful and offered them things that no one else could offer them. Some trust in fools and chariots, but WE trust in the Name of the Lord our God, they are brought to the knees and they fall down, but we rise up and stand firm!

Hosea 8:11

"Though Ephraim built many altars for sin offerings, these have become altars for sinning.”

Even the altars that were used to sacrifice to God, had become a place of sin. This  is seen in the example of Eli’s two sons (Phinehas and Hophni) who would sleep with women outside the tabernacle, yet they were both priests. Today, the altars for sinning can still be prevalent in a church. In some “churches”, people only preach for money and use church as a business exchange. For example, setting a target of how much money you are going to make within a service. Offerings Some preachers normally use phrases along the lines of, “thus saith the Lord, you should give this amount....” However, offerings should be from the heart as God loves a cheerful giver. As believers, we need to use the spirit of discernment more so that we will not be carried away or succumb to false shepherds. If we fix our gaze on the author and perfecter of our faith, the True Shepherd, then our worries would be overcome by the peace within that God wants us to draw upon (John 14:27).

Hosea 8:13

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.

 -This conveys that the only way that the Lord could get angry at one’s sacrifice is if it is done in vain. I honestly believe that the Israelites got too comfortable and even proud, that they were God’s Chosen people. It seems as if they had the type of mindset that said, “It does not matter what I do, as long as i remember to do all the sacrifices for my sin.” 

-Similarly, we too can have that kind of mindset which goes along the lines of, “It doesn’t matter what I do because Jesus loves me, therefore I am going to heaven!”