Better Than A Sacrifice

King James Bible Daily Devotion – Learning Scripture One Day At A Time
Date: Thursday, September 17, 2015
Chapters: Hosea 1-6 http://imfollowingjesus.com/Bible-Reading-260.html
Message Title: Better Than A Sacrifice

Hello My Friend,

The book of Hosea is the twenty-eighth book of the Old Testament/Bible and contains fourteen chapters. The author of the book is Hosea and it was written to the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The timeline for these events took were approximately 790BC to 725BC, same as when Jeremiah prophesied in Judah. The purpose of the book was to alert Israel to her sinful condition and bring her back to God. What we are to learn from the book is that, only from falling that we can truly learn of God's love, mercy, and grace for all who seek and or return to Him. “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.” - Hosea 14:4.

God chose to use Israel as an example for the rest of the world to follow, His purpose for taking the children of Israel under his wings was to show all nations how blessed they can be by acknowledging, following, and only worshiping Him. From the time they were freed in Egypt, they did not always follow God, and their example was not always so good to follow either. Up until now we have been learning about God's judgment upon Judah, Hosea takes a look at God's judgment upon Israel. It had been centuries since God had even been mentioned there, they had no godly influence, and out of the nineteen kings to reign since the kingdom was divided, not one of them attempted to lead the people to God. God gave Hosea an unusual way to show Israel what was about to happen to them, he was to make a prostitute his wife.

“So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which conceived, and bare him a son. And the LORD said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel. And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel. And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And God said unto him, Call her name Loruhamah: for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away. Now when she had weaned Loruhamah, she conceived, and bare a son. Then said God, Call his name Loammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God. Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.” - Hosea 1:3-6,8-10.

Whenever God allows a godly person to interact with an ungodly one you have to wonder what He is up to. The three children that Hosea had with Gomer, were Jezreel which means, God scatters, it was symbolic of a great slaughter about to take place, Loruhamah which means, uncompassionated, it was symbolic of the utterly ruined condition of the kingdom of Israel, and Loammi, which means “not my people”, it was symbolic of God's rejection of the kingdom of Israel. God may have promised Abraham that his seed would be as the sand of the sea, but He did not promise that they would all be His. However, one day, He will return to Israel, all will become one in a marriage like you have never seen. Through Hosea, God reveals when He will become His people once again.

“And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD. And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the LORD, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel. And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.” - Hosea 2:19-23.

God does not want to see His people living in sin and trying to justify their actions through their salvation. While God does not forsake anyone that receives His Son, He will let them fend for themselves until they realize their sin and return to Him. God promised Israel that even though He turned His back to them in their sins He would always be there for them when they return to Him. “So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley: And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man: so will I also be for thee. For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.” - Hosea 3:2-5.




Although Hosea's wife was faithful for a time she left him, and returned to her old lifestyle. Hosea really loved her and was heartbroken, when he found her, he had a legal right to have her stoned and put to death because of her adultery, instead he chose to redeem her. He actually purchased the debt his wife owed to set her free and brought her back home. This is exactly what Jesus does for us, He purchased our souls with His life.

One thing we should all realize, is that we all have this flesh and until we get to heaven this flesh can fall into sin, especially if we take our eyes off God for a second. God knows this and even though we can fall away from His presence, He's not really gone, He will turn His back to the sin, but He forsakes us. He explains how His people destroy themselves in their sin. “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame. For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase: because they have left off to take heed to the LORD. I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom, nor your spouses when they commit adultery: for themselves are separated with whores, and they sacrifice with harlots: therefore the people that doth not understand shall fall.” - Hosea 4:6,7,10,14.

God does not want to see His people living in sin, it's one thing to sin and not know it, but it's another to knowingly commit sin and try to justify their actions through their salvation. If we choose sin over Him, we are going to be afflicted until we return to Him. “When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb: yet could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound. For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will take away, and none shall rescue him. I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.” - Hosea 5:13-15.

God's purpose in all this was to show Israel that they were living an adulterous life, He was going to remove Himself from their presence and they were going to be judged and scattered all over the world. Still today, Jews and even Christians are scattered all over the world because of this. God's gift of free will says that we choose the life we want to live, if we are going to live in our own will, we will suffer, and while we do suffer from time to time even in God's will, it's better to suffer in His will than our own. “Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth. For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” - Hosea 6:1-3,6.

Today's Prayer: God, Sometimes it can be so confusing following Your will because it just seems like something that does not come from You. While we may not always understand Your will, there will come a day when we will see the purpose of it. No matter what we go through, whether it's joyous or grievous, we will be blessed and find meaning in it as we remain faithful to You. Lord, give us Your power, wisdom, and guidance, help us to understand and know if the things we are doing is in Your will or something we just drummed up ourselves. Give us Your strength, mercy, grace, and patience as we grow closer to You. In Jesus' name. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

Subscribe To Our Devotions: http://eepurl.com/2WMzT
Do You Know For Sure You Are Going To Heaven?: http://godsprice.com/
Visit I'm Following Jesus: http://imfollowingjesus.com/index.html
Like I'm Following Jesus On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/byhisstrength
Copyright © 2015 I'm Following Jesus, All rights reserved.