#DailyDevotion Will We Learn Our Lesson From Israel?
Hos. 8Israel will be swallowed up. Already they are among the nations like a bowl no one wants. 9They went up to Assyria — like a wild donkey wandering off alone. Ephraim has hired lovers. 10Even now, though they have hired among the nations, I want to gather them up. They will soon become smaller under the burden of the king of princes. 11Ephraim has made many altars for sin offerings, but they are now altars on which he sins. 12Though I write ten thousand things in My law for him, they are treated as something strange. 13They offer Me meat as gifts so they can eat the flesh; but I, the LORD, do not accept them. Now He will remember their wrongs and punish their sins; they will go back to Egypt. 14Israel has forgotten his Maker and has built palaces; Judah has built many fortified cities. But I will send a fire on his cities to burn down his palaces.”
Paul in 1 Corinthians would have us look to the Israelites in the Old Testaments to learn from their mistakes. What mistakes are they accused of here that perhaps we should not emulate as Christians and as Christ’s Church?
As we see in the initial verses here, Israel went looking after allies. They did not turn to the LORD their God for help nor did they turn to Him in repentance. At some point they became like a bad penny (a bowl no one wants). In other words, they, as a nation, lost their usefulness to other nations. They went to Assyria and they went to Egypt, the two superpowers. They had become so weak, no one considered a treaty with them worthwhile. It was easier simply to conquer them.
While our translation has, “I want to gather them up,” and sounds like Gospel, it doesn’t seem to be. The LORD is going to gather them up by the hands of the nations and move them out of the land. They are going to be smaller under the hand of the king of Assyria (king of princes).
You would think making altars for sin and making sin offerings would be a good thing, but it is not. The LORD told the Israelites to offer up sacrifices only at the place He put His name in the Torah. That place at this time was in Jerusalem’s temple. When the kingdoms divided, Jeroboam I built two temples so his people would not go to Jerusalem and made golden calves at each one representing the LORD. The LORD was not pleased with this. So even their sin offerings were sin. But now in their desperation, but not faith, they made more altars for more sin offerings hoping to appease God. On top of that, these were offered not in humility and faith but just in case. Are you are Christian just in case it is true or do you believe the Christian faith is true?
The LORD had given the Israelites plenty of instructions on how to please Him. They were paying attention to none of them. If only they would have confessed their sins and turned to Him with all their heart. But they would not. The LORD would not and did not accept them. He was going to remember their wrongs and punish them. They would be enslaved in a foreign country of the Assyrians (Egypt is a symbol for this). They and Judah both had forgotten their Maker and built many palaces, in which they trusted. The LORD would have the Assyrians burn them all.
Who are we and the Church trusting in? Is it Jesus? Is it politics and politicians? Is our heart divided? Do we repent with our hearts, turn from our sins and turn to Jesus for all help?
Heavenly Father, give us true repentant hearts so we may look to Jesus alone for all power, might and help every day. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.