{"id":29323,"date":"2023-12-31T22:00:17","date_gmt":"2024-01-01T05:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/hosea-7_1-16-copy\/"},"modified":"2023-12-26T17:36:45","modified_gmt":"2023-12-27T00:36:45","slug":"hosea-8_1-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/hosea-8_1-14\/","title":{"rendered":"Are You Sowing the Wind?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hosea\u00a0 8:1-14 <\/strong>\u00a0(CLICK HERE FOR\u00a0BIBLE VERSES)<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today’s passage is Hosea 8:1-14.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

Hosea 8:1-14 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Put the trumpet to your lips! An eagle is over the house of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0because the people have broken my covenant and rebelled against my law.
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Israel cries out to me, ‘O our God, we acknowledge you!’
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But Israel has rejected what is good; an enemy will pursue him.
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They set up kings without my consent; they choose princes without my approval. With their silver and gold they make idols for themselves to their own destruction.
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Throw out your calf-idol, O Samaria! My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of purity?
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They are from Israel! This calf–a craftsman has made it; it is not God. It will be broken in pieces, that calf of Samaria.
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. The stalk has no head; it will produce no flour. Were it to yield grain, foreigners would swallow it up.
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Israel is swallowed up; now she is among the nations like a worthless thing.
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0For they have gone up to Assyria like a wild donkey wandering alone. Ephraim has sold herself to lovers.
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Although they have sold themselves among the nations, I will now gather them together. They will begin to waste away under the oppression of the mighty king.
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Though Ephraim built many altars for sin offerings, these have become altars for sinning.
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I wrote for them the many things of my law, but they regarded them as something alien.
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They offer sacrifices given to me and they eat the meat, but the\u00a0LORD\u00a0is not pleased with them. Now he will remember their wickedness and punish their sins: They will return to Egypt.
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces; Judah has fortified many towns. But I will send fire upon their cities that will consume their fortresses.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 1-14:\u00a0 In these verses, Hosea gives his people a word of warning for breaking their covenant with God and rebelling against His law (v1).\u00a0 The images in verse 1 of sounding a trumpet and an eagle hovering over the house of the Lord are meant to communicate a sense of urgency and warning.<\/p>\n

What does it mean when verse 7 says, “They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind”?\u00a0 In this case “the wind” represents vain pursuits, anything that doesn’t have any eternal value.\u00a0 When I sow the wind, it means I’m chasing after vain things that don’t last.\u00a0 Are you sowing the wind?<\/p>\n

How do you know if you’re sowing the wind?\u00a0 Hosea 8 identifies a number of ways that people can sow the wind:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0We sow the wind when we give God lip service (v2-3).<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hosea 8:2-3 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>Israel cries out to me, ‘O our God, we acknowledge you!’
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>But Israel has rejected what is good; an enemy will pursue him.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Lip service to God (i.e. giving praise to God with your mouth but not your heart) won’t do you any good.\u00a0 An enemy will still pursue you even if you pay lip service to God.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0We sow the wind when allow someone other than God to control us and rule over us (v4).<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0That won’t do us any good either.<\/p>\n

Hosea 8:4 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>They set up kings without my consent; they choose princes without my approval…\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0We sow the wind when we worship an idol (v4-6).<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Idol worship only leads to destruction — both for the idol and the idol worshiper.<\/p>\n

Hosea 8:4-6 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>…With their silver and gold they make idols for themselves to their own destruction.
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>Throw out your calf-idol, O Samaria! My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of purity?
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>They are from Israel! This calf–a craftsman has made it; it is not God. It will be broken in pieces, that calf of Samaria.<\/em><\/p>\n

4.\u00a0We sow the wind when we take what belongs to God and use it for other purposes\u00a0(v11).<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hosea 8:11 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>“Though Ephraim built many altars for sin offerings, these have become altars for sinning.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

5.\u00a0We sow the wind when we try to build a kingdom for ourselves while forgetting about God’s kingdom (v14).<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hosea 8:14 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces…<\/em><\/p>\n

What happens when we sow the wind in any of these ways?\u00a0 We reap a whirlwind.\u00a0 That is, we reap destruction, chaos, confusion and other problems, much like the problems a hurricane brings.\u00a0 In particular, when we sow the wind, we reap:<\/p>\n

– Fruitlessness (“The stalk has no head; it will produce no flour. Were it to yield grain, foreigners would swallow it up.” – v7)<\/p>\n

– Hopelessness (“Israel is swallowed up; now she is among the nations like a worthless thing.” – v8)<\/p>\n

– Isolation \u00a0(“For they have gone up to Assyria like a wild donkey wandering alone.” – v9a)<\/p>\n

– Selling yourself out to something or someone who is much less than the God you belong to (“Ephraim has sold herself to lovers.” – v9b)<\/p>\n

– Destruction (“…They will begin to waste away under the oppression of the mighty king.” – v10; ”\u00a0…Judah has fortified many towns. But I will send fire upon their cities that will consume their fortresses.” – v14b) \u00a0In fact the sounding of the trumpet and the eagle hovering in verse 1 are both pictures of impending destruction.<\/p>\n

– God’s Word will seem increasingly foreign to you (“I wrote for them the many things of my law, but they regarded them as something alien.” – v12)<\/p>\n

– God is not pleased with the worship of those who sow the wind (v13).<\/p>\n

What’s the lesson here? \u00a0Be careful what you sow because what you sow and how you sow it will determine what you reap.\u00a0 Sow the wind, reap a whirlwind. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Father, I pray that I would not sow the wind, lest I reap a whirlwind.\u00a0 Instead, I pray that I would sow faith and reap maturity.\u00a0 I pray that I would sow into my relationship with You, and reap peace, purpose and wisdom.\u00a0 I pray that I would sow the Gospel into the lives of people around me and reap new believers.\u00a0 I pray that I would sow perseverance and reap the crown God has waiting for me.\u00a0 In Jesus’ 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 Hosea 8:1-14.\u00a0 Let’s go!
\n\u00a0
\nHosea 8:1-14 (NIV)
\n1\u00a0\u00a0“Put the trumpet to your lips! An eagle is over the house of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0because the people have broken my covenant and rebelled against my law.
\n2\u00a0\u00a0Israel cries out to me, ‘O our God, we acknowledge you!’
\n3\u00a0\u00a0But Israel has rejected what is good; an enemy will pursue him.
\n4\u00a0\u00a0They set up kings without my consent; they choose princes without my approval. With their silver and gold they make idols for themselves to their own destruction.
\nOn verses 1-14:\u00a0 In these verses, Hosea gives his people a word of warning for breaking their covenant with God and rebelling against His law (v1).\u00a0 The images in verse 1 of sounding a trumpet and an eagle hovering over the house of the Lord are meant to communicate a sense of urgency and warning.<\/p>\n

What does it mean when verse 7 says, “They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind”?\u00a0 In this case “the wind” represents vain pursuits, anything that doesn’t have any eternal value.\u00a0 When I sow the wind, it means I’m chasing after vain things that don’t last.\u00a0 Are you sowing the wind?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29325,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29323","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\/29323","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=29323"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29326,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29323\/revisions\/29326"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}