Hosea 9

Today's Passage: Hosea 9

Like grapes in the wilderness,
    I found Israel.
Like the first fruit on the fig tree
    in its first season,
    I saw your fathers.
But they came to Baal-peor
    and consecrated themselves to the thing of shame,
    and became detestable like the thing they loved.


Remember the story in chapters 1–2. Hosea rescued a wife of harlotry. Hosea loved her even to the point of letting her flee to other lovers. He provided for her even then. What was true of Gomer then, is true of Israel in chapter 9.

When God called Abram out as the father of a nation, he chose an idolatrous man from an idolatrous nation. In the hopelessness of the “wilderness” sweet relief was found. God offered “grapes” and ‘figs” symbolizing the sweetness of a covenant-making, covenant-keeping God. God and Israel said, “I do,” but Israel’s affections soon strayed.

Verses 1 and 2 make clear that Israel credited the bounty of their harvest to Baal. This is just like chapter 2 when Gomer was spoiled by her old lovers, but really it was Hosea doing the providing. Instead of Israel receiving their harvest as a good gift from their beloved, they have loved a “prostitute's wages.” It was already theirs to have freely, but by crediting the bounty to Baal, they soiled the fruit of their union.

Reflecting on this passage I kept coming back to a simple truth—We should never try to take for ourselves that which the Lord wants to give.  How do we do this? I think we do it in two different ways.

First, I think we take for ourselves by stealing credit from the Lord. Sometimes we credit ourselves for the things we have “built.” From our career to various status symbols, we take pride in what we’ve “earned.” We say to the Lord in our actions, “I don’t want your blessing by grace, I will earn it.” That’s the same as saying, “I don’t want your love, I want your money.”

Second, I think we take for ourselves by trying to steal God’s blessing at the wrong time. When we pray, God always answers “yes, no, or later.” I’ve found that “later” is a hard pill to swallow. You’ve heard it said a blessing at the wrong time is a curse. God often delays blessing until we’re seasoned enough to handle it. This is like the sad reality that so many lottery winners go bankrupt—they don’t have the maturity to deal with such an overflow of “blessing.”  

We try to short-circuit God’s best for us all the time. One obvious example is in relationships and purity. God has a plan for marriage and intimacy. However, how many times do we see a person settle for someone who is unequally yoked? Or, pursuing gratification away from God’s design for marriage. This is the proverbial mud pies instead of God’s provision of a holiday at the sea.

God has a plan for our absolute best, but it will not look anything like what we can dream up. Sometimes we try to take the things we want, but it will never be as good as what the Lord wants to give. I’m not talking health, wealth, and prosperity—sometimes what the Lord gives is endurance and peace in the hard circumstances. The Lord gives and the Lord takes, we can trust him in both because it’s always better than trying to take for ourselves.

Written By: Tyler Short


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