11,300 have died so far in the Libya flood and 10,100 are still missing. It is a tragic loss of life.
But flashing onto my news feed this morning was this: “Libya flood: fury that warnings went unheeded” The report goes on to say that a hydrologist researching the dams in the east, after gathering all his data, concluded, “I found a number of problems in the Derna Valley: in the cracks present in the dams, the amount of rainfall and repeated floods. I found also a number of reports warning of a disaster taking place in the Derna Valley basin if the dams were not maintained.” When was the research done?
17 years ago!
Let’s read our next verses:-
“Sound the trumpet in Gibeah, the horn in Ramah. Raise the battle cry in Beth Aven, lead on, Benjamin. Ephraim will be laid waste on the day of reckoning. Among the tribes of Israel I proclaim what is certain.” (Hosea 5 v 8-9)
God is releasing the alarm! The trumpet and the horn was the warning of an enemy approaching. It was going to happen. There was no turning back, God was proclaiming ‘what is certain.’ Assyria would come and not just for the northern kingdom but the south too.
These towns are all of the south, in Judah. Beth Aven is the prophet’s name for Bethel. Bethel meaning ‘the house of God’ has become the ‘house of wickedness’. Gibeah was the home of Saul, the first king of Israel and Ramah was the home of Samuel, the first prophet who anointed him king. These 3 places are mentioned simply because Hosea is calling to Judah in the south, ‘You are next!’
Ephraim (the largest of the 10 tribes of Israel and so often interchanged with the name Israel because of its size) will be ‘laid waste’ (it happened when Assyria invaded in 722 BC.) It would be a killer blow. There would be no recovery. But Judah was no better. Disaster was knocking on their door too. Benjamin should look over its shoulder because judgment was coming.
Can you hear the alarm?
These kinds of Bible verses can go over our heads so easily. It is historical prophecy. We do have Jesus and He is everything because as the perfect sacrifice we can find cleansing and redemption. He is our Saviour. The question is will we return to Him?
For the alarm is sounding. God will not be mocked.
There are cracks in the dam wall.
Let the prophet’s prophecy.
Return.
Missions Paul 