the days of retribution are here,
and Isra’el knows it.
[Yet they cry,] “The prophet is a fool,
the man of the spirit has gone crazy!”
Because your iniquity is so great,
the hostility [against you] is great.
8 The watchman of Efrayim is with my God,
but a prophet has a fowler’s snare set on all his paths
and hostility even in the house of his God.
9 They have deeply corrupted themselves,
as in the days of Giv‘ah.
He will remember their guilt,
and he will punish their sins.
10 “When I found Isra’el, it was like finding
grapes in the desert;
when I saw your ancestors, it was like seeing
a fig tree’s first figs in its first season.
But as soon as they came to Ba‘al-P‘or,
they dedicated themselves to something shameful;
they became as loathsome
as the thing they loved.
11 The glory of Efrayim will fly away like a bird —
no birth, no pregnancy, no conception.
12 Even if they raise their children,
I will destroy them till none is left —
and woe to them when I leave them, too!”
13 Efrayim, as I see it, is like Tzor,
planted in a pleasant place;
but Efrayim will bring out his children
to the slaughterer.
14 Adonai, give them — what will you give?
Give them wombs that miscarry and dried-up breasts!
15 “All their wickedness was already there in Gilgal;
that’s where I came to hate them.
Because of the wickedness of their deeds
I will expel them from my house,
I will love them no more;
all their leaders are rebels.
16 Efrayim has been struck down,
their root has been dried up,
they will bear no fruit.
Even if they do give birth,
I will kill their cherished offspring.”
17 My God will cast them aside,
because they wouldn’t listen to him,
and they will become wanderers
among the Goyim.
"Time For Repentance" by Author: Rhonda Carrim
Have you ever delivered bad news? It’s no fun. Especially when the recipients turn against the messenger as the Israelites turned against Hosea for delivering God’s message of judgment. Yet Hosea’s message was intended to warn the people and encourage them to return to God. Otherwise, grim consequences loomed, culminating in rejection by God. Despite the nation’s history of idolatry and wickedness, all the way back to their days in the wilderness at Baal Peor recorded in Numbers 25, God repeatedly forgave and sent signs and warnings to draw the people to repentance. Yet they persisted in replacing God with degrading idols (Hosea 9:10).
Perhaps the Israelites felt they had time; the Baal Peor incident had occurred centuries earlier, and the nation still existed. Surely Hosea was a fool, if not completely insane!People today are not so different. After all, haven’t we been waiting 2,000 years for Christ’s return? But God's perspective of time is very different from ours. One day or a thousad years seems to make no difference on God's timetable. Delayed judgment demonstrates God’s patience; God doesn’t want anyone to perish, but draws all to repentance and abundant life! (2 Peter 3:8-9).
Hymn for Today: "Give Me Thy Heart" by Eliza E. Hewitt
1. “Give Me thy heart,” says the Father above—
No gift so precious to Him as our love;
Softly He whispers wherever thou art,
“Gratefully trust Me and give Me thy heart.”
Refrain:
“Give Me thy heart, give me thy heart”—
Hear the soft whisper, wherever thou art;
From this dark world He would draw thee apart,
Speaking so tenderly, “Give Me thy heart.”
2. “Give Me thy heart,” says the Savior of men,
Calling in mercy again and again;
“Trust in Me only, I’ll never depart—
Have I not died for thee? Give Me thy heart.”
Refrain:
“Give Me thy heart, give me thy heart”—
Hear the soft whisper, wherever thou art;
From this dark world He would draw thee apart,
Speaking so tenderly, “Give Me thy heart.”
3. “Give Me thy heart,” says the Spirit divine;
“All that thou hast to My keeping resign;
Grace more abounding is Mine to impart—
Make full surrender and give Me thy heart.”
Refrain:
“Give Me thy heart, give me thy heart”—
Hear the soft whisper, wherever thou art;
From this dark world He woulFor d draw thee apart,
Speaking so tenderly, “Give Me thy heart.”
Thought for Today:
"Therefore you too must always be ready, for the Son of Man will come when you are not expecting him." Matthew 24:44.
Please pray:
For extension education in Mesoamerica.---------------------
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