{"id":29261,"date":"2023-12-26T22:00:26","date_gmt":"2023-12-27T05:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/hosea-3_1-5-copy\/"},"modified":"2023-12-19T18:21:17","modified_gmt":"2023-12-20T01:21:17","slug":"hosea-4_1-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/hosea-4_1-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t Be So Quick To Judge"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hosea 4:1-19 <\/strong>\u00a0(CLICK HERE FOR\u00a0BIBLE VERSES)<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today’s passage is\u00a0Hosea\u00a04:1-19.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

Hosea 4:1-3 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Hear the word of the\u00a0LORD, you Israelites, because the\u00a0LORD\u00a0has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: “There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land.
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Because of this the land mourns, and all who live in it waste away; the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the fish of the sea are dying.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 1-3:\u00a0 Hosea speaks of rampant sin in the land (v1-2).\u00a0 As a result, the land and all who live in it \u2013 not only people but animals as well \u2013 suffer (v3).\u00a0 This suggests that sin has this way of not just separating human beings from God, but also of bringing destruction and death to all of creation.<\/p>\n

Hosea 4:4-5 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“But let no man bring a charge, let no man accuse another, for your people are like those who bring charges against a priest.
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0You stumble day and night, and the prophets stumble with you. So I will destroy your mother\u2014<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 4-5:\u00a0 I find that other translations of verse 4 are a little clearer than the NIV.\u00a0 The NLT translates verse 4 this way: \u201cDon\u2019t point your finger at someone else and try to pass the blame! My complaint, you priests, is with you.\u201d\u00a0 In other words, God was displeased with the priests of the time (v4) as well as the prophets (v5).\u00a0 When verse 5 says \u201cI will destroy your mother\u201d, scholars see that as a reference to the nation of Israel that brought forth these priests and prophets.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0Before we point the finger at others, we need to look at ourselves and ask, \u201cAre we the problem?\u00a0 Are we guilty of the very thing we accuse others of?\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hosea 4:6-9 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. “Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children.
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The more the priests increased, the more they sinned against me; they exchanged their Glory for something disgraceful.
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They feed on the sins of my people and relish their wickedness.
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And it will be: Like people, like priests. I will punish both of them for their ways and repay them for their deeds.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 6-9:\u00a0 Here God promises to hold the priests accountable for their sins.\u00a0 Similarly,\u00a0don\u2019t think that because we are called priests in God\u2019s kingdom (1 Peter 2:5) that we are somehow excused or exempt from accountability.\u00a0 In fact, God holds us to a higher standard (James 3:1)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Hosea 4:10-14 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“They will eat but not have enough; they will engage in prostitution but not increase, because they have deserted the\u00a0LORD\u00a0to give themselves to prostitution,
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0to old wine and new, which take away the understanding of my people.
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They consult a wooden idol and are answered by a stick of wood. A spirit of prostitution leads them astray; they are unfaithful to their God.
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They sacrifice on the mountaintops and burn offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar and terebinth, where the shade is pleasant. Therefore your daughters turn to prostitution and your daughters-in-law to adultery.
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“I will not punish your daughters when they turn to prostitution, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery, because the men themselves consort with harlots and sacrifice with shrine prostitutes– a people without understanding will come to ruin!<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 10-14:\u00a0 Here Hosea describes how the Israelites engaged in divination (v12) and prostitution (v12b-14).\u00a0 In particular, verses 13-14 are likely describing how the Israelites worshiped at Canaanite shrines located on mountaintops, hills, and oak, poplar and terebinth trees.\u00a0 Believing that the sexual union of the Canaanite gods of Baal and Asherah produced fertility and good harvests, worshipers of Baal and Asherah would practice \u201csympathetic magic\u201d, engaging in sex with one another as a way to get their gods to have sex with one another.\u00a0 This became the basis for religious prostitution where male priests acting as Baal and female priestesses acting as Asherah would have sex with worshipers in the name of Asherah and Baal to produce a harvest.\u00a0 By engaging in these practices, the Israelite women and men took God\u2019s wonderful gift of sex and twisted it into a religious form of prostitution and idolatry.<\/p>\n

Hosea 4:15-19 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Though you commit adultery, O Israel, let not Judah become guilty. “Do not go to Gilgal; do not go up to Beth Aven. And do not swear, ‘As surely as the\u00a0LORD\u00a0lives!’
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The Israelites are stubborn, like a stubborn heifer. How then can the\u00a0LORD\u00a0pasture them like lambs in a meadow?
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Ephraim is joined to idols; leave him alone!
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Even when their drinks are gone, they continue their prostitution; their rulers dearly love shameful ways.
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0A whirlwind will sweep them away, and their sacrifices will bring them shame.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 15-19:\u00a0 Here Hosea warns the nation of Judah not to follow in Israel\u2019s footsteps of adultery and idolatry.\u00a0 They were to leave Ephraim (a nickname for Israel) alone (v17).<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0When you see those close to you sinning, don\u2019t follow in their footsteps.\u00a0 Resolve to obey and honour God regardless of what else is going on around you.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Father,\u00a0<\/em>You alone are holy and blameless.\u00a0 May I be careful not to point the finger at others when I do the same things.\u00a0 May I be humble to repent of those ways that I have been unfaithful to You and turned from You to worship idols.\u00a0 Regardless of what else is going on around me, may I be faithful to obey and honour You.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2021 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today’s passage is\u00a0Hosea\u00a04:1-19.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

Hosea 4:1-3 (NIV)
\n1\u00a0\u00a0Hear the word of the\u00a0LORD, you Israelites, because the\u00a0LORD\u00a0has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: “There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land.
\n2\u00a0\u00a0There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
\n3\u00a0\u00a0Because of this the land mourns, and all who live in it waste away; the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the fish of the sea are dying.
\n\u00a0
\nOn verses 1-3:\u00a0 Hosea speaks of rampant sin in the land (v1-2).\u00a0 As a result, the land and all who live in it \u2013 not only people but animals as well \u2013 suffer (v3).\u00a0 This suggests that sin has this way of not just separating human beings from God, but also of bringing destruction and death to all of creation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29263,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29261"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29261\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29264,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29261\/revisions\/29264"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}