DRAW IN CLOSE TO GOD
Opening Prayer
Thank you, Father, for your love and patience, for the mercy and grace that you offer me each day.
Read HOSEA 5:8–6:11a
“Sound the trumpet in Gibeah,
the horn in Ramah.
Raise the battle cry in Beth Aven[a];
lead on, Benjamin.
9 Ephraim will be laid waste
on the day of reckoning.
Among the tribes of Israel
I proclaim what is certain.
10 Judah’s leaders are like those
who move boundary stones.
I will pour out my wrath on them
like a flood of water.
11 Ephraim is oppressed,
trampled in judgment,
intent on pursuing idols.[b]
12 I am like a moth to Ephraim,
like rot to the people of Judah.
13 “When Ephraim saw his sickness,
and Judah his sores,
then Ephraim turned to Assyria,
and sent to the great king for help.
But he is not able to cure you,
not able to heal your sores.
14 For I will be like a lion to Ephraim,
like a great lion to Judah.
I will tear them to pieces and go away;
I will carry them off, with no one to rescue them.
15 Then I will return to my lair
until they have borne their guilt
and seek my face—
in their misery
they will earnestly seek me.”
Israel Unrepentant
6 “Come, let us return to the Lord.
He has torn us to pieces
but he will heal us;
he has injured us
but he will bind up our wounds.
2 After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will restore us,
that we may live in his presence.
3 Let us acknowledge the Lord;
let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises,
he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains,
like the spring rains that water the earth.”
4 “What can I do with you, Ephraim?
What can I do with you, Judah?
Your love is like the morning mist,
like the early dew that disappears.
5 Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets,
I killed you with the words of my mouth—
then my judgments go forth like the sun.[c]
6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.
7 As at Adam,[d] they have broken the covenant;
they were unfaithful to me there.
8 Gilead is a city of evildoers,
stained with footprints of blood.
9 As marauders lie in ambush for a victim,
so do bands of priests;
they murder on the road to Shechem,
carrying out their wicked schemes.
10 I have seen a horrible thing in Israel:
There Ephraim is given to prostitution,
Israel is defiled.
11 “Also for you, Judah,
a harvest is appointed.
“Whenever I would restore the fortunes of my people,
Footnotes
- Hosea 5:8 Beth Aven means house of wickedness (a derogatory name for Bethel, which means house of God).
- Hosea 5:11 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
- Hosea 6:5 The meaning of the Hebrew for this line is uncertain.
- Hosea 6:7 Or Like Adam; or Like human beings
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
May we know the cost of our Savior’s love, that we may be able to cling to Jesus and find the comfort he promised.
Think Further
This passage reminds us, as followers of God, that when we are disciplined we must draw near to God rather than turn away and seek help elsewhere. Hosea’s audience had rebelled against God and reaped the consequences. In their pain, they were now looking to find help from other nations. Those nations, however, could not offer the kind of help that the people needed. Running to God is always better than running from God.
There are plenty of examples in the Bible of people who try to run from God. Jonah is the classic example. No matter how far we go or how fast we think we are, God is always there. For us who love Jesus, the principal challenge we face revolves around our obedience to God’s command and call. Jesus, who took our punishment, commands us to love and calls us to serve. However that love and service may manifest in your experience, there will be times when it hurts, costs, and feels hopeless. It is at those times that we may choose to give up, in effect running away to others for comfort. It is here, however, in the hurt and the pain, that we find that our Savior understands us perfectly.
Just as Hosea declares, with God there is healing, revival, restoration, and an abiding presence. His listeners could have a hope that goes beyond their circumstances. We, today, have a hope too, one that looks back at the cross of Jesus and one that looks forward to our eternal experience; both the backward and forward hope help us to have a living hope today. That hope inspires us to press in close to God, no matter what we are feeling, and there we can find his healing, revival, restoration, and presence.
Apply
Think about your community of faith. Are there people who currently need to hear this message of hope? How can you show them this life of hope?
Closing prayer
Wherever I go, whatever I do, Lord God, you are with me, whether or not I am focused on you and your will for me. Help me, that my life daily reflects the reality of your presence and abiding, loving care.
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