Corona Devo 78

Anyone speaking out to proclaim God's ways is often teaching a counter-cultural and socially unpopular message.  

The life of a prophet was a tough row to hoe back in the days of the Old Testament.  Basically, the Israelites (God's people) had chosen to walk away from God's laws and honoring Him, and their lives were steeped in sinful pleasure and idol worship...and they were happy for it.

Then came the age of God's prophets, who were men chosen by God to speak out to the people about their sinful ways, and hopefully turn the people's hearts back to the Lord. 

The Lord used the prophets and their lives to make dramatic points to the Israelites, and these men were amazingly obedient to God, in order to advance God's truth and purpose.

One such prophet was Hosea.  The people of Israel had turned away from the Lord, and were worshiping many false idols and living for their own pleasures.  Our God is loving and kind, but He is also holy.  And He is a jealous God for our hearts and faithfulness.  He has good and positive plans for us, and they are brought to fruition by our obedience and faithfulness to Him.  The Lord was not happy about the Israelites "cheating" on him with idols.

2 When the Lord first began speaking to Israel through Hosea, he said to him, “Go and marry a prostitute, so that some of her children will be conceived in prostitution. This will illustrate how Israel has acted like a prostitute by turning against the Lord and worshiping other gods.”  ~Hosea 1:2

In complete faithfulness, Hosea was obedient to God.  He married Gomer, and he loved her.  Regardless of her past or her continued sin during their marriage-He continued to forgive her and love her.

Sound familiar?  Their marriage is an illustration that the Lord gives us of His love and patience with us and our wandering (in sin) from Him.  But He loves us still.

Side-note and Caution!--The next pieces of scripture are hard to read because as I mentioned--God is holy, and cannot look upon sin.  That is why Jesus' sacrifice at the cross is so critical to our salvation--It placed Jesus in between us and God.  We are permitted in Glory because Jesus paid the price for our sin.  Hosea was written before Jesus made that sacrifice, and so back then people had to bring (animal/grain) sacrifices to the Temple to propitiate for their sins.  Jesus took care of all of that for us.

Hosea's people were not living for God in any way, and God was not happy about it.

6 Soon Gomer became pregnant again and gave birth to a daughter. And the Lord said to Hosea, “Name your daughter Lo-ruhamah—‘Not loved’—for I will no longer show love to the people of Israel or forgive them. 7 But I will show love to the people of Judah. I will free them from their enemies—not with weapons and armies or horses and charioteers, but by my power as the Lord their God.”

8 After Gomer had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she again became pregnant and gave birth to a second son. 9 And the Lord said, “Name him Lo-ammi—‘Not my people’—for Israel is not my people, and I am not their God.  ~Hosea 1:6-9

The Bible is so fascinating!  Doesn't this rival any show you might watch on TV?  And yet God is making a point to His people, and also trying to teach them about His holiness and the consequences for not walking in His ways.

The names of Gomer's children make me so sad.  God is so upset by the sin of the Israelites that He says that He "will no longer show them love" and that they are "not His people".  Wow.  What could be worse than God not showing His love to me or saying that I am not His?

But--please don't miss the big picture of what God is demonstrating through Hosea and Gomer and their kids.  The truth for the Israelites is the same for us today--God is perfect and sinless.  We cannot do whatever we want and live only for our own glory and expect His blessing on our lives.  Living for God means dying to ourselves, and falling in step with His plan for us (instructions in the Bible) and living out that plan.  

God is holy, and He is making that point.  We have to "get" that point, just as the Israelites needed to.

But...Redeeming love.  God is holy and cannot look upon sin, but he is also love.  Redeeming love.
In the very next verses, God makes the beautiful reminder that He will return to His children (Israel and us!), and He will restore them.  He will again call them (us!) His children.  The Israelites need to stop sinning and worshiping other idols (and we do too), and He also speaks of their renewed relationship that will be restored:

10 “Yet the time will come when Israel’s people will be like the sands of the seashore—too many to count! Then, at the place where they were told, ‘You are not my people,’ it will be said, ‘You are children of the living God.’ 11 Then the people of Judah and Israel will unite together. They will choose one leader for themselves, and they will return from exile together. What a day that will be—the day of Jezreel—when God will again plant his people in his land.  ~Hosea 1:10-11

Awesome!  Did you catch the promises He had for the Israelites?  They would multiply and "be like the sands of the seashore—too many to count!" (Hosea 1:10).  They will reunite with others who love the Lord and "What a day that will be"! (Hosea 1:11)

Even though we fall to sin (and we all do), the Lord welcomes us back in relationship and love, when we simply return to Him.  

If that is you today, and you have been far away from the Lord--He is waiting in love to welcome you back and call you a  'child of the living God' (Hosea 1:10).

Let's return to God and His plan for us today.  
"What a day (today) will be"! (Hosea 1:11)

Blessings,

sarah

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com/