YOU TRUSTED IN YOUR OWN WAYS
Hosea 10:1-15
Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers his righteousness on you. (12)
chapter 10
1. Israel was a spreading vine; he brought forth fruit for himself. As his fruit increased, he built more altars; as his land prospered, he adorned his sacred stones.
2. Their heart is deceitful, and now they must bear their guilt. The LORD will demolish their altars and destroy their sacred stones.
3. Then they will say, "We have no king because we did not revere the LORD. But even if we had a king, what could he do for us?"
4. They make many promises, take false oaths and make agreements; therefore lawsuits spring up like poisonous weeds in a plowed field.
5. The people who live in Samaria fear for the calf-idol of Beth Aven. Its people will mourn over it, and so will its idolatrous priests, those who had rejoiced over its splendor, because it is taken from them into exile.
6. It will be carried to Assyria as tribute for the great king. Ephraim will be disgraced; Israel will be ashamed of its foreign alliances.
7. Samaria’s king will be destroyed, swept away like a twig on the surface of the waters.
8. The high places of wickedness will be destroyed - it is the sin of Israel. Thorns and thistles will grow up and cover their altars. Then they will say to the mountains, "Cover us!" and to the hills, "Fall on us!"
9. "Since the days of Gibeah, you have sinned, Israel, and there you have remained. Will not war again overtake the evildoers in Gibeah?
10. When I please, I will punish them; nations will be gathered against them to put them in bonds for their double sin.
11. Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves to thresh; so I will put a yoke on her fair neck. I will drive Ephraim, Judah must plow, and Jacob must break up the ground.
12. Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers his righteousness on you.
13. But you have planted wickedness, you have reaped evil, you have eaten the fruit of deception. Because you have depended on your own strength and on your many warriors,
14. the roar of battle will rise against your people, so that all your fortresses will be devastated - as Shalman devastated Beth Arbel on the day of battle, when mothers were dashed to the ground with their children.
15. So will it happen to you, Bethel, because your wickedness is great. When that day dawns, the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
1. God established Israel and provided everything for them to prosper. But when their spreading vines started seeing crops, they started building altars—to worship idols like their neighbors. God will not tolerate such behaviors much longer. They will be scattered without a nation (3) and soon learn that their splendorous idols have no power to help them. Their beautiful altars will be destroyed with thorns and thistles growing on them.
2. And God will discipline Israel to live by His will (11). God challenges them to plow their hard heart and sow righteousness to reap unfailing love (12). He points out that their wickedness is rooted in their desire to depend on their own strength. They indulged in evil and deception when they refused to submit to the sovereign God. By replacing God with a man-made god that was supposed to do what they wanted it to do, they angered God and brought destruction on themselves (13).
3. What do you sow in your heart today? Are you willing to humble yourself and sow the righteousness of the Lord instead of your own ways?
Prayer: Father, you have the way and the life. I repent of my rebellious mind and desire to seek my own way. Please help me to open my spiritual eyes to see the truth clearly.
One Word: Proud heart produces deception