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Hosea 12 (ESV)

1 Ephraim feeds on the wind
and pursues the east wind all day long;
they multiply falsehood and violence;
they make a covenant with Assyria,
and oil is carried to Egypt.

The Lord’s Indictment of Israel and Judah

² The Lord has an indictment against Judah
and will punish Jacob according to his ways;
he will repay him according to his deeds.
³ In the womb he took his brother by the heel,
and in his manhood he strove with God.
⁴ He strove with the angel and prevailed;
he wept and sought his favor.
He met God at Bethel,
and there God spoke with us—
⁵ the Lord, the God of hosts,
the Lord is his memorial name:
⁶ “So you, by the help of your God, return,
hold fast to love and justice,
and wait continually for your God.”

 

REFLECTION:

• The focus of this chapter is to echo the accusation against the Israelis in 4:1: “There is no faithfulness in the land.” 11:12 has mentioned Ephraim’s “lie and deceit”, which will be described in this chapter.
• Jacob, who later changed his name to Israel, is the ancestor of the twelve tribes of Israel (2-5). Both Jacob and his descendants have committed frauds. The difference is that Jacob has been seeking God, wrestling with an angel in order to get blessings, and purge the Gentile gods from his home. However, his descendants refuse to give up worshiping idols and think that their blessings are obtained by their own hard work. The lesson left by Jacob’s experience is that you cannot use trick or deceit to achieve success; this is in vain and is not pleasing to God. Therefore the prophet exhorted the Israelites: “hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God.” (6)
• The principles Hosea called on the Israelites to observe—love and justice (6) are the most basic elements of God’s character. This is also essential for believers, but it is not easy for people to maintain a balance between the two. Some people emphasize love and tolerant of wrong; others insist on justice and forget love. Love without justice keeps people in sin because God’s standards have not been upheld; justice without love keeps people away from God because God’s love has not been manifested. Emphasizing one and despising the other tends to distort our testimony for God. The advice given to Israel by the prophet Hosea applies to the church today, and we must adhere to these two principles at the same time.

 

PRAYER:

Pray for the Lord to remove your falsehoods and tricks, so that you can be an honest and innocent person, and behave with the Lord’s love and justice.

 

HYMN: