#DailyDevotion Who Or What Are We Trusting For All Good Things?

Heb. 2 ⁹And so I will take back My grain when it gets ripe and My fresh wine in its season. I will take away My wool and My flax that was to cover her naked body. ¹⁰And I will uncover her naked shamefulness for her lovers to see, and no one will rescue her from Me. ¹¹I will bring to an end all her happy times, her festivals, her celebrations on the first of the month, her Sabbaths, and all her meetings. ¹²I will destroy her vines and fig trees, of which she said, “These are the pay my lovers have given me,’ and I will make them a jungle where the wild animals will devour them. ¹³I will punish her for the days she spent on the Baals when she sacrificed to them and made herself pretty with her rings and necklaces and went after her lovers and forgot Me,” says the LORD.

Ok, so here’s your chance to not be ignorant. There’s a good chance you are reading this online. If you are online then you are probably on a couple of social apps. When you are on social apps you will probably find some “biblical” scholars who will try to make a big deal over archaeological evidence that the Israelites were not monotheistic. Even if you don’t use them, you may find yourself on the History or Discovery channel with these same people. They are playing off people’s biblical ignorance. But Hosea should sweep away your (if this applies to you) ignorance. There are very few times in pre-Babylonian captivity history of the people of Israel they were monotheistic for any length of time. That is the complaint of the prophets and that is what we should find in the historical/archaeological record. That is indeed what we do find.

Which tells us we should really pay attention to the prophets and their warnings. Israel and Judah did not listen to the warnings and we can see what happened to them. The LORD spells out here what He is going to do to Israel because they would not worship Him alone but worshiped the Baals, Astoroth and other gods. Everything the LORD gave them while they worshiped other gods, He is taking back. He was patient and kind. He sent warning after warning. He’s warning them here! But they will not listen. They attributed all the good things they had gotten to these other gods they were worshiping and offering the fruits of their labor and the lives of their children which were however given to them by the LORD in His great mercy and kindness. Well the check has come due and they are going to have to pay. They would not repent. The LORD is going to take it all away. The gods they worshiped will not be able to help them nor would the demons behind them want to help them. They never did anything for them in the first place. Behind the scenes these demons mocked and laughed at them for their folly.

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians to look at the Israelites and to learn from them. Do we give thanks to the God, the LORD, through Jesus Christ for all His benefits to us? Do we give thanks before meals? Or do we attribute every good thing we have to our own work? Do we attribute our success to our country, our political party or politicians? Are we toying with the occult, witchcraft for a better life (you’d be surprised at the number of Christian women in particular under the guise of feminism who do some sort of wiccan practices on the side). Do we delve into self-help books instead of looking into what the Scriptures, God’s Word says on how to live our lives? I’ve read enough of them to know occasionally they steal from the Scriptures because of the good there but also know they misuse the Scriptures in their context for a man-made philosophy which sounds good on the surface. Let us trust in the God of Israel alone.

Kind and gracious Father, give us Your Holy Spirit so we may learn Israel’s mistakes and trust You alone for every good thing. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.