Hosea 13:1-16
When Ephraim spoke, people trembled; he was exalted in Israel. But he became guilty of Baal worship and died.
Therefore they will be like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears, like chaff swirling from a threshing floor, like smoke escaping through a window.But I have been the Lord your God ever since you came out of Egypt. You shall acknowledge no God but me, no Savior except me. I cared for you in the wilderness, in the land of burning heat. When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me. So I will be like a lion to them, like a leopard I will lurk by the path.
The guilt of Ephraim is stored up, his sins are kept on record. Pains as of a woman in childbirth come to him, but he is a child without wisdom; when the time arrives, he doesn’t have the sense to come out of the womb.
I will deliver this people from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O grave, is your destruction?
I will have no compassion, even though he thrives among his brothers.
Israel may turn to Baal and other idols, but there is in fact no God but God. People may forget him, or discount him, but he exists, and he has the power to carry out all that he has warned of.
Why?
Israel has the consequence of their sins, even though they look great, but like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears. All they have are temporaly, then go away.
God's anger and mercy are in his hands, no matter what Israel has done, God has always been their God since they came out of Egypt.
I will deliver these people from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. God's power over the death and plague...
God is righteous and full of mercy. The Lord always gives his people the opportunity to return from sins and turn to the Lord.
What do I rely on? The Lord and Jesus Christ. With the Lord I have nothing.
How?
Be humble before the Lord, everything I need the Lord has prepared for me and beyond I can imagine.
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