Hosea 12
COMMENTARY:
: 4 Yes, he wrestled with the angel and won. He wept and pleaded for a blessing from him. There at Bethel he met God face to face, and God spoke to him. (2603 “pleaded” [chanan] means supplication, to favor, to earnestly request compassion, implore favor, intreat for mercy, or plead for grace.)
DEVOTION: In theology there is a word used when it is thought that God the Son came down to earth before HE came as a baby. The word is Theophany. This word means visible appearing of deity in the Old Testament. Who was the deity? Well, we know that no one has seen the Father face to face. We know that the Holy Spirit has never taken on a bodily form except that of a dove. Here we have God the Son, Jesus Christ, appearing to Jacob and wrestling with him.
We know that God is all-powerful but here we have Jacob seeming to beat this messenger of God. Did Jesus lose on purpose? YES. HE wanted to bless Jacob and teach him a lesson. The lesson being that God was the only resource that could really help Jacob through all of his trials.
God is the only one who can give us the strength to help us through every trial or temptation that comes our way. We need to pray for deliverance from all of the things that happen in our life. Our enemy wants us to fail.
CHALLENGE: What are we wrestling with God about today? Is God speaking to you today about something you need to do for HIM?
: 6 Therefore turn you to your God: keep mercy and judgment and wait on your God continually. (6960 “wait” [qavah] means look for, hope for, wait in ambush, look eagerly for, linger for, tarry or expect.)
DEVOTION: Ephraim is chasing after the wind. Ecclesiastes has a theme of a life that is chasing after the wind or vanity. The children of Israel were only interested in making money. Money was their god. They thought they were rich but in reality they were poor without the LORD.
A history lesson is given regarding Jacob and his wrestling with an angel. He was running from his brother Esau because he had tricked him out of his birthright and blessing. He had done wrong. One his trip to his uncle’s house he met the LORD. He wept. He prayed. He wanted the LORD’S blessing on his life. He made a promise to the LORD there.
Now his descendents loved sin. Hosea asked them to turn or return to serving the LORD. He wanted them to show mercy to those around them instead of taking advantage of them. He wanted them to treat them right when they went to court. He wanted them to eagerly look for the LORD.
We are to eagerly look for the LORD and HIS blessings on our lives. There is a waiting in silence for the LORD to work in our lives. Here we have the children of Israel told to turn from their sins and keep mercy and judgment and expect the LORD to do something in their lives. They are supposed to do it continually. They choose to not look for the LORD. They chose to go to other nations for help. They didn’t want the help of the LORD.
So often we go to the LORD last when we should be going to the LORD first. We sin and try to get ourselves out of it instead of repenting and asking the LORD to forgive us. We should be opposite of the children of Israel. We should go to the LORD first. We should keep mercy before our eyes. We should keep righteous judgment before our eyes. We should reverence the LORD in all that we do.
One of the hardest things to do is look for the LORD to work. HE never seems works in our time frame. Here we have Hosea telling the children of Israel to expect the LORD to help continually. Are we doing that in our daily lives? What do we expect from the LORD? What do we hope for from the LORD? Can HE still forgive us and raise us up to serve HIM again?
CHALLENGE: Are we looking eagerly for the LORD to work in our life? If HE did would we be surprised or expectant? It is my prayer that I would expect HIM to work and praise HIM for it.
: 8 And Ephraim said, ‘Surely I have become rich, I have found wealth for myself; In all my labors they shall find in me no iniquity that is sin. (4672 “find” [matsa’] means find out, secure, encounter, learn, devise, or detect.)
DEVOTION: Cheating seems to be normal in our world. There are college students that pay someone for the answers to the tests. In fact there are students taking tests for other students for money.
In business, it seems that those who worked on Wall Street didn’t think it was wrong to trade stocks that were worthless and make a profit. There are banks that loaned money that they would never get in return and they sold those mortgages to others knowing that there was no money.
Our government allows one of its companies to lend money to people who can’t afford a home and when they default nothing happens. Politicians use their office to find out what is going to happen and then put their money on it and make a profit without any consequence.
The people in the ten tribes told the LORD that they made themselves rich by using scales that were false to weight things. They thought that any way they could make a profit was fair to the people they were robbing. They didn’t think they were doing anything wrong; they were just practicing good business. These were supposed to be the LORD’S people. They were cheating their neighbors. They were cheating other nations. What kind of testimony was this to those around them?
Today we find that there are people in business who call themselves Christian but they are cheating everyone they can to make a profit. They seem to think that everyone is doing it so why shouldn’t they. It is not Biblical thinking. It is wrong. It is sin.
CHALLENGE: God can’t bless us if we are cheating. If we treat those around us fairly the LORD will honor us.
: 10 I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets. (1819 “similitudes” [damah] means in the likeness of, compare, resemble, speak in parables, think, imagine, or representation.)
DEVOTION: The LORD used all means at HIS disposal to reach the people with HIS message. It was a message of hope for those who would listen and a message of judgment for those who were unwilling to change direction. The majority fell into the second category. They didn’t care to listen to the LORD and they didn’t want to change.
HE continued to send them for years with the same message of judgment or change. HE is sending the same message today through HIS disciples. We are all HIS disciples once we become a follower of Jesus Christ. We have the same message but one that includes the sacrifice of Jesus Christ in the past. The Old Testament saints were looking forward to the coming of the Messiah, we look back at HIS coming.
Our ministry is supposed to be practiced until we die. There is no retirement in our service for the LORD. Each person we meet needs to hear the message. We can use many ways to give them the message: personal testimony, tracts, invitation to our church, etc.
Some people will listen. There were some in Israel who listened. There were some in Judah that listened. There are some in America that will listen. There are some in other countries. We should never give up getting the message of salvation out to all those in our world.
CHALLENGE: I don’t know if we will have to face people, we have met on judgment day and have them say to us “why didn’t you tell me.”
DONATIONS:
Remember that all donations to Small Church Ministries are greatly appreciated. The treasurer will send a receipt, at the end of the year unless otherwise requested. Please be sure to make check out to “Small Church Ministries.” The address for the treasurer is P.O. Box 604, East Amherst, New York 14051. A second way to give to the ministry is through PayPal on the website: www.smallchurchministries.org. Also, if you can support this ministry through your local church please use that method. Thank you.
Visit our Facebook page for Small Church Ministries – please invite others to join us on Facebook. Thank you. Look for the logo from the devotionals.