LifePoint Lubbock

Day 201
Hosea 1-7

In the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” they will be called “children of the living God”. Hosea 1:10b (NIV)

The book of Hosea begins with these words: “The word of the LORD”. Hosea spoke the word of the LORD and applied it to his life and the people of Israel and their circumstances. Because these are the words of the LORD, we can apply their principles to our own lives and circumstances.

God instructs Hosea to take a pr******te for a wife to show how Israel has committed adultery against the Lord. Israel had continually been unfaithful despite God’s faithfulness. They had pushed away the Lord God and followed other gods. Hosea not only delivered a difficult message, but he also lived it out. As illustrated in the marriage of Hosea and Gomer, God is faithful even when we are unfaithful. God loves us because He has chosen to love us, not based on our actions but based on His choice. Judgment would not last forever.

The names of Hosea’s children aptly describe us. We were scattered in our sins, with no hope of receiving mercy, and we were not His people. But Jesus came to redeem us. He gathers us, shows mercy, and makes us the people of God. We are like Gomer who in our unfaithfulness have followed after the lustful desires of this world and forsaken the God who has shown us His great faithfulness and mercy and love. Our Yeshua, our salvation, comes to redeem us, to buy us back from our sinful bo***ge. May God’s faithfulness draw us out from our unfaithfulness. May we be His people and He, our God

Day 197
Isaiah 13-17

The LORD will have compassion on Jacob; once again He will choose Israel and will settle them in their own land. Isaiah 14:1a (NIV)

Chapter 13 begins a section where Isaiah prophesies against the nations. The LORD has first spoken to Israel and Judah. Now the LORD will speak against the nations beginning with Babylon. The term “burden” when used by the prophets denotes a heavy message meant to produce sorrow. This burden against Babylon was never intended for Babylonian ears. It was intended to help God’s people. It revealed God’s justice. At the end of the judgment against Babylon comes the reassurance that God had chosen His people. God chose us and continues to choose us, time and time again. We are His children, and He still chooses us. He is our faithful Father, even when we are not the best children.

Isaiah 14 promises rest from sorrow, fear, and bo***ge. Rest is the birthright of every follower of Jesus Christ. He said to come to Him and He would give us rest (Matthew 11:28).

The Moabites were Israel’s great enemies, but they were also relatives of Israel, descendants of Abraham’s nephew, Lot. Isaiah calls for Israel to be a place of refuge and protection for Moab. The church should be a place of refuge for those who humbly seek the Lord. Isaiah weeps for the people of Moab as they seek answers in the wrong places. Just as Jesus wept for Jerusalem, we weep for those who turn to themselves instead to the LORD. Isaiah prophesies that Damascus will be reduced to a heap of rubble, despite being one of the great cities of the ancient world and the capital of Syria. Severe judgment should result in humble respect for God. One of the purposes of judgment is to turn the focus away from the idols man has created and the things in which he has trusted and return it to where it belongs. One day every man will look to his Maker and have respect for the Holy One of Israel!