Hosea

by David Gibb

Day 10

Read Hosea 5:8-14

God is patiently waiting for His people to return to Him. He has told them that He is going to withdraw His affection (Hosea 5:1-7), and now He shows us the second step in His strategy to cause the Israelites to come to Him: He will apply discipline.

It is wise to be humble and say sorry to God when we get things wrong

Verses 8-9 describe a military crisis. Assyria, under Tiglath Pileser III, was on the march. By then, Menahem was ruling Israel. He decided to pay Assyria a large tribute of silver to withdraw. This is probably what verse 13 means: ″When Ephraim* saw his sickness, and Judah his sores, then Ephraim turned to Assyria, and sent to the great king for help.″

Eventually, Pekah seized the throne and became king of Israel. Fearing another Assyrian attack, he persuaded the king of Damascus to side with him, and also tried to get King Ahaz of Judah to join them. But when Ahaz refused, Pekah invaded Judah and besieged Jerusalem. That drove Judah to seek Assyrian help, and Tiglath Pileser III duly invaded Israel and conquered much of her territory. A decade later, under Hoshea, Israel tried to regain her independence. This time, the Assyrians retaliated by completely destroying the kingdom and deporting the survivors; Israel was no more.

What does God say about all this? Read verses 13-14. God is saying: ″When Assyria pounces on Israel like a lion and when calamities descend on Judah, know that it is I who is coming against you!″ Sometimes, God will allow us to reap the consequences of what we have sown. At other times, He will actively intervene and come against us. Why? Remember verse 15: He is waiting for His people to admit their guilt and seek after Him earnestly.

But ″when Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his sores″, what did they do? ″Ephraim turned to Assyria, and sent to the great king for help″ (v. 13). How hard it is for us to say sorry to God! It's much easier to devise some man-made answer to our problems. In Israel's case, she turns to Assyria rather than face up to God and seek His forgiveness.

It is wise to be humble and say sorry to God when we get things wrong.

Heavenly Father, please help me not to become proud, but to keep coming to you for forgiveness. Through Christ, my Lord, amen.

*Prophets used the terms ″Ephraim″ and ″Israel″ interchangeably when they spoke of the northern kingdom of Israel.


Think through:

What does God promise to do to Israel (vv. 8-14)? Look at the images used and the use of ″I will″. What could prevent Israel from seeing these events as God's corrective discipline?

How did Israel respond (v. 13)? What does that reveal about us? What might God be revealing to you about himself and about your own character?

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About Author

David Gibb has a deep love for the Bible and a passion to communicate it relevantly. After ministering in churches in Oxford and northwest England for over 25 years, he is presently pastor and team leader of Duke Street Church in Birmingham, UK.

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Our Daily Bread Journey Through® Series is a publication of Our Daily Bread Ministries.

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