August 21, Hosea 12
"So you, by the help of your God, return, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God." - Hosea 12:6
Israel was consumed with idolatry and ungodliness. It was a terminal case. Their persistent pursuit of pleasure occupied their minds, filled their days and stole their hearts away from God. Their sins distanced them from God and ruined their relationships. They sought security from human partners. They sought a treaty with Assyria, who would eventually destroy them. They hoped to enrich themselves by trade with Egypt. Both plans were worthless attempts to fill the void they had without God as their defender and provider.
Israel was not alone in their disobedience. Judah was following in the dark footsteps of their sister kingdom, and their portion of the kingdom would be destroyed as well.
Israel and Judah had forgotten their humble beginning as a nation. Jacob left home with nothing more than his staff. He fled his homeland as a fugitive because his brother Esau had vowed to kill him to avenge Jacob's theft and deception. God met Jacob on his way to Laban's house, and changed his life.
Israel ignored God's commands to have no other gods and make no idols. When they lost respect for the Godward commands, they also ignored and broke God's laws about their interactions with one another. They cheated in business and shed innocent blood. Their lawlessness provoked the Lord to punish them. God meant what he said about blessing them when they obeyed him, and he had blessed them. He also meant what he said about cursing them when they disobeyed. Israel ignored the prophets' warnings and reached the point of no return in their disobedience. Swift, severe judgment soon followed.
Yet even in that late hopeless state for the nation as a whole, God still invited those who would hear and heed to turn back to him. Let's think through the components of that invitation.
First, God called them to "return" to him. The command to return implies that they had once been near God, but no longer were. Israelites who wanted to return to God had to turn away from the idolatry and other sins that had separated them from the Lord. It's foolish to think we can or have returned to God while we cling to the sins that caused the separation.
God admonished them to "hold fast to love and justice." They had embraced unloving behaviors and unjust principles. Those actions and thoughts not only separate people from God; they're also toxic to relationships with other people. The first step in mending broken relationships is to stop doing the destructive behaviors that broke those relationships. The commands to love God supremely and their neighbors as themselves would govern their conduct and realign them with God's will for their lives.
The Lord also told them to "wait continually for your God." They did not have to depend on their allies. It was pointless to expect a lifeless idol to help them in any way. When they were in distress, they did not have to invent the solution to their dilemma on their own. The right way to face adversity and threats is to wait on the Lord. When they returned to him, God would bless, protect and provide for them as he had always done when they were faithful to him.
Don't miss the first part of that summary statement of what the estranged Israelites needed to do: "So you, by the help of your God, return...." Their restoration would not be possible without his help. Fallen human beings will never be able on their own to find their way home or do the will of God. He was there, and he was willing to help those who would return to him and make the necessary changes in their lives.
Despite their smug, mistaken view that they had made their own prosperity, and that prosperity was evidence of God's approval, God wanted them to listen and return to him. They would wander and live in tents as their forefathers had done in the wilderness. They could have listened and turned back. But they would not.
God chose to make them a nation and bless them. But the same God who gave them their land and their freedom was about to take it all away, just as he warned them he would do from the very beginning of their covenant relationship with him.
Which part of Israel's restoration process speaks most clearly to you about your life right now? Do you need to return to the Lord? Do you need to recommit to live by love and justice? Do you need to wait on the Lord about all the things beyond your control? God bless us as we ponder these action steps, and give us grace to take the needed next steps.
Copyright © 2024 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Today in God's Word—August 2024
East Tallassee Church of Christ
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