Category: Devotions

It isn’t my fault! It was him or it was that. It wasn’t me!

“Is Gilead wicked? Its people are worthless! Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal? Their altars will be like piles of stones on a ploughed field. Jacob fled to the country of Aram; Israel served to get a wife, and to pay for her he tended sheep. The Lord used a prophet to bring Israel up from Egypt, by a prophet he cared for him. But Ephraim has aroused his bitter anger, his Lord will leave on him the guilt of his bloodshed and will repay him for his contempt.” (Hosea 12 v 11-14)

God asks the rhetorical questions and the answer to both is YES.

Gilead whose name means ‘stones of testimony’ was the place where Jacob fled to from Laban. Jacob the deceiver discovered and acknowledged in Gilead that God was indeed the one who cared for him, see Genesis 31. God says this historical place (the stones of testimony) which was a declaration altar of His care has now been laid to waste, a pile of stones. Why? His people were to blame.

Gilgal was the first place the Israelites set up camp on crossing into Canaan and an altar/pillar was set up in honour of God’s leading. But in Hosea’s day there was no leading hand, God had stopped making a way. Gilead had become a worthless site full of idolatry. Why? His people were to blame.

Why had they not learned from Jacob?

Jacob had worked for a wife for 7 years and then he and his family moved to Egypt because of a severe famine. Egypt was tough. The next generation of Jacob/Israel was brought out of Egypt by the prophet Moses. God used his prophet to lead out and also to keep the people through the Wilderness.

Why is God reminding them/us of this story?

It is because whenever we are in trouble then the way out of it is through listening to God and being obedient. The opposite is also true. If you want it to get worse then don’t listen and don’t obey. If that be the case then there is no one to blame but ourselves if destruction comes to our door. If ruin comes because you haven’t kept an altar then the consequence is on you.

These are important lessons for us all.

Are they like Jacob?

Did they have a Jabbok River experience?

Did they have a Peniel experience?

Did they come back to Bethel?

Did they practice loving kindness, mercy and justice with one another?

Did they return to waiting on God?

“The merchant uses dishonest scales and loves to defraud. Ephraim boasts, “I am very rich; I have become wealthy. With all my wealth they will not find in me any iniquity or sin.” “I have been the Lord your God ever since you came out of Egypt; I will make you live in tents again, as in the days of your appointed festivals. I spoke to the prophets, gave them many visions and told parables through them.” (Hosea 12 v 7-10)

They are a merchant who cheats because they alter the scales so that the weight looks a certain amount but it isn’t the truth.

They have moved the goalposts for their convenience.

They have taken the Bible and change the interpretation and understanding of it so that they can live as the world lives.

God says, His people have placed themselves above accountability. Whether in wealth, popularity of position no one is above being held accountable especially before their God.

Riches, fame and title can easily lead to entitlement. Entitlement says, ‘no one can touch me.’ Touch not the wealthy, the famous and the anointed. Many an old man or woman have lived like this and even in their old age and towards the end of their long working life judgment has come.

God’s response, “Hey! Over here! Remember Me?!”

“I was the one who brought you out of Egypt. I was the one who brought you out of those wilderness tents. And I am the one who can put you back into them! And you will have no excuse. For I have spoken through the prophets down the generations and you have and are still not listening!”

You have become too big for your boots. But you are never too big.

These timeless words could be spoken today. The day of the Minor Prophet is not over.

Hosea calls for the people to learn from the life of their ancestor Jacob.

“But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always.” (Hosea 12 v 6)

Be kind, the word is ‘hesed’. It was used in chapter 6. “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6 v 6) He is looking for ‘mercy’ – ‘hesed’ – it is a faithful and loyal love.

The term ‘justice’ means to treat one another in the right way, to be right with one another.

Basically, think less of you and more of others.

And then wait upon God; have faith that God will move towards you. Be dependent on Him. Don’t try and make things happen yourself, pray, seek and trust God.

That was the call Hosea gave and it is still the call today.

Are you stuck between a rock and a hard place?

Hosea’s people were in that place. Trapped between 2 great empires of Assyria and Egypt. But they were also in the best place to have a revelation of a much greater Empire!

Having reminded them of the story of their ancestor Jacob there is an announcement from God:

“… the Lord God Almighty, the Lord is his name!” (Hosea 12 v 5)

This declaration of His name should have caused a turn from their lifestyle back towards God.

Maybe you are facing something this week and perhaps it is great and maybe it is more than one enemy.

I love the different translations of this verse:

“That is, the Lord God of hosts. The Lord is His memorable name.” (NKJV)

The word ‘hosts’ can also be translated ‘armies’ or ‘war’ and it speaks of God fighting for us, or striving for us as was the new name given to Jacob, the meaning of Israel. God strives.

He will fight for you in whatever you are facing this week. He is the God of hosts. He is full of power. There is no one greater than Him.

So take your eyes off the rock and the hard place and turn to HIM!

They hadn’t learned from their history. The life of their patriarch Jacob was still teaching them however they were not listening nor learning. 

“In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel; as a man he struggled with God. He struggled with the angel and overcame him; he wept and begged for his favour. He found him at Bethel and talked with him there –” Hosea 12:3-4 

Bethel means house of God. Jacob arrived at a place where he encountered an open heaven. He fell asleep one night totally reliant on God and had a dream of a heavenly staircase. When he woke in the morning he said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!” (Genesis 28:16)

It was there that he received the commission into the Promised Land and where God again promised him His presence. This was Bethel.

Hosea says, ‘He found him at Bethel’. Those words are found later in the story in Genesis 35.

(Remember in Hosea’s generation Bethel had become Beth-Aven meaning house of iniquity. It was a place for idol worship instead of the place of an open heaven. They had forgotten their history and the story of this awesome place).

God found Jacob at Bethel again. The point being He can find His people in every generation – if they want to be found.

• He reminded him of his new name, Israel, we all need reminding of the transformation He has done.
• He commissioned him again.
• And he worshipped God there with an offering and with oil poured on the altar.

A discipleship check:

1. If we build the house of God in our lives He will move towards us again and again.
2. Build your life in such a way that heaven is open and the divine exchange happens easily.
3. Truth is to be reminded. We need to be reminded of who we are in Him, what He has commissioned us for and the need to pour out our lives in worship to Him. The enemy of our soul will continually lie to us so we need regular Bethel moments. Bethel is the truth.

They hadn’t learned from their history. The life of their patriarch Jacob was still teaching them however they were not listening nor learning. 

“In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel; as a man he struggled with God. He struggled with the angel and overcame him; he wept and begged for his favour. He found him at Bethel and talked with him there –” Hosea 12:3-4 

From the womb Jacob was deceptive to his brother Esau and even when they were grown men Jacob stole the birthright from his brother for the price of a meal. Esau was angry and Jacob fled across the Jabbok River. Esau continued to chase after him.

So Jacob did what he always had done. He tried to solve it himself. He sent gifts and animals across the Jabbok to appease his brother. Manipulative ways can stay within our characters all our lives. He then sent his family. He was then alone. At Jabbok. 

It was there he wrestled with God through the night. It was there God touched him in such a way that he would forever walk with a limp. And it was there he was given a new name. Jacob the supplanter became Israel the ‘one whom God will strive for’. In the morning this man started a new life. He was a changed man and he walked awkwardly but it reminded him that God had touched his soul. He named that place Peniel meaning ‘the face of God’ for that is what he experienced and survived. 

If only Hosea’s people had learnt from Jacob and sought after God. 

If only the Church today knew a Jabbok experience leading to a Peniel experience. 

A discipleship check:

1. Spiritual transformation is needed throughout our whole life and the battle is always within our soul.
2. The Jabbok experience is to get alone with God and to hand over the control of our life to Him who will strive for us. 
3. The Peniel experience is to stop looking at what is in the hands of others that we want, or what is in our hands to sort things ourselves, or even what is in God’s hands to bless, and in that place to pursue the face of God and to know Him intimately. 

We must learn from the past.

The charge is that God’s people have been lying, deceiving and pursuing idolatry which was like the chasing after the wind.

“The Lord has a charge to bring against Judah; he will punish Jacobaccording to his ways and repay him according to his deeds. In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel; as a man he struggled with God. He struggled with the angel and overcame him; he wept and begged for his favour. He found him at Bethel and talked with him there. The Lord God Almighty, the Lord is his name! But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always.” (Hosea 12 v 2-6)

God’s charge is that they haven’t learned from the mistakes of one of the founders of their faith, Jacob. He uses this name for both the northern and southern kingdom. But He is definitely reminding them of the real Jacob and the fact that they have not learnt anything. Nothing has changed. The present is no better than the past.

Just like Jacob in the womb (Genesis 25:23-26) grasping at his brother’s heel which he inherited by deception they could not be trusted, what you saw wasn’t the truth. This was the mark of the man. This birth story is what built the foundation of his life and how he was known as the ‘deceiver’ or the ‘supplanter’. On one hand his achievements could be celebrated but his ambitious achievements were duplicitous. Not every ‘blessing’ is a gracious gift from God. Some blessings are stolen. But God sees everything.

A discipleship check:

1. Grabbing for what God wants to give reveals a damaged heart condition.
2. Selfish ambition is not better than apathy.
3. Blessings can blind.

We must learn from the past.

Some don’t stay long enough in the Minor Prophets because they see it as too gloomy. They don’t want to be warned they want pats on the back. They don’t want to be corrected they want encouragement to carry on regardless. 

Hosea wouldn’t probably get booked for the guest speaker in conferences and churches today. It’s not what we want to hear. But it is certainly what we need to hear. 

“Ephraim feeds on the wind; he pursues the east wind all day and multiplies lies and violence. He makes a treaty with Assyria and sends olive oil to Egypt” Hosea 12 v1

Why would we want to be satisfied on things that amount to nothing? (Feeds on the wind)

Why would we want to chase after things that are harmful to us? (the east wind was the scorching desert wind)

Why would we want to make close friendships with people who only want to control our lives? (Assyria)

Why would we want to seek security for our lives from man? (Egypt)

Why would we do those things when as God’s people we can get all those things from Him and a relationship with Him?

The multiplication of lies and violence is not against anyone but ourselves. 

Our pursuit of hedonistic idols and selfish gain only leads to emptiness, harm, intimidation and being controlled by others. 

When will this stop? That’s the timeless message of Hosea.

Though we may want to carry on reading about the compassion of God and that He cannot let go of His people and that it will be all okay in the end, we cannot. We are not there yet. Hosea continues. The pain is still there. God’s people are still in trouble.

“Ephraim has surrounded me with lies, Israel with deceit. And Judah is unruly against God, even against the faithful Holy One.” (Hosea 11 v 12)

Just like Gomer did not keep her vows to Hosea, God’s people have broken their vows to God.

The northern kingdom (Ephraim/Israel) were lying and deceitful before God. They broke their own covenant law which stated they should be truth-telling.

The southern kingdom (Judah) was also guilty and their sin was wandering off away from relationship with God.

And all this was done against the faithful One.

Interestingly the words ‘Holy One’ are plural in the Hebrew text and it reveals not only were His people lying, deceitful and wandering away from God the Father but also the Son and the Spirit.

And that is exactly what has happened throughout the generations.

Whether to Jesus the Holy One who was rejected by his own or the Holy Spirit poured out but who again is grieved.

The lying, deceiving and wandering off continues and it is found in people who should know better.

Surely in 2023 there is a need to respond to the call of repentance and to get right before the Holy One. He will not be lied to nor deceived and He will not stand back and let the godly be unruly.

So many are held by what they did or what was done to them. Even when exiles are over people can live in exile within. It seems the delight of God is to lead us into the next season and not to be held back in what has happened in our past.

In a sudden pause within the prophetic message ahead of the exile we have this:

“They will follow the Lord; he will roar like a lion. When he roars, his children will come trembling from the west. They will come from Egypt, trembling like sparrows, from Assyria, fluttering like doves. I will settle them in their homes,” declares the Lord.” (Hosea 11 v 10-11)

The exile is completed and they are walking with Him in faithful relationship. This may have been the remnant of Judah but it can also be seen in the coming Messiah. Some link it to the repopulation of Israel in 1948.

But more importantly is to know the heart of God towards us.

They will follow, he will roar. When he roars, his children will. They will come. I will settle them.

God is there, in your tomorrow, in your new day, your new beginning and He is calling you back to Him.

God is more concerned about your future than your past.