trusted online casino malaysia
Realizing the presence, promise, and power of the Kingdom of God.
The Scriptorium

His Guilt upon Him

Israel's condemnation was her own choice.

Hosea 12

Week 7, Sunday: Israel left to her guilt

God is only allowing Israel to experience the wages of her sinful choices. Having turned from the promises of God and His prophets, she must bear the consequences of her rebellion.

Read Hosea 12

Meditate on Hosea 12.11-14

1.  All idols are “vanity.” What does that mean? How should knowing this counsel us?

2.  Verse 12 is very strange. It refers to Jacob’s sojourn among his mother’s relatives, where he was able to secure Rachel as his wife (Genesis 29-31). Why do you suppose this reference is inserted here? Does it have anything to do with faithfulness, either God’s or His people’s? Or with God’s promises?

3.  Verse 13 seems to speak to the authority of prophets – how God uses them. What purpose does this verse seem to have?  

4.  Verse 14 again reminds the people of Israel that what is coming upon them is of their own choosing. Were they trusting and obedient, like Jacob? Did they heed the prophet and experience God’s good work through him? What did they do instead?

5.  We might be tempted to find Hosea’s preaching of the same message over and over a little tiresome. Why would it not be a good idea to do that? What should we do instead?  

Summary
Israel had forgotten her history and heritage. She had also forgotten her God. But God had not forgotten her, and now Israel would have to bear the judgment of God for the vain and unwise decisions she had made.

Closing Prayer
Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us,
But to Your name give glory,
Because of Your mercy,
Because of Your truth.
Why should the Gentiles say,
“So where is their God?”
But our God is in heaven;
He does whatever He pleases.
Their idols are silver and gold,
The work of men’s hands.
They have mouths, but they do not speak;
Eyes they have, but they do not see;
They have ears, but they do not hear;
Noses they have, but they do not smell;
They have hands, but they do not handle;
Feet they have, but they do not walk;
Nor do they mutter through their throat.
Those who make them are like them;
So is everyone who trusts in them.
O Israel, trust in the LORD;
He is their help and their shield.

Psalm 115.1-9

T. M. Moore

The Week, T. M.’s daily print and audio offering of worldview insights, musings, and reflections, is now available for a free subscription. You can subscribe to The Week by going to www.ailbe.org and, when the pop-up appears, put in your email, click on The Week, then click to update your subscriptions. You’ll be sent an email allowing you to add The Week to your list of subscriptions.

Each week’s studies in our
Scriptorium column are available in a free PDF form, suitable for personal or group use. For all available studies in Hosea, click here.

A primary theme of the book of Hosea is Israel’s failure to keep covenant with the Lord. God’s covenant is a central theme and provides the organizing motif for all of Scripture. Learn more about God’s covenant by ordering a copy of T. M.’s book,
I Will Be Your God, from our online store (click here).

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He and his wife, Susie, make their home in the Champlain Valley of Vermont.
Books by T. M. Moore

Subscribe to Ailbe Newsletters

Sign up to receive our email newsletters and read columns about revival, renewal, and awakening built upon prayer, sharing, and mutual edification.