Hosea 12-13 -- It Finally Comes To This ... In Love

What God was about to do to Israel, the Northern Kingdom, wouldn’t be good, but it was necessary.  My commentary said that they’d refused every other manifestation of His love, so now discipline was all that was left.  It wasn’t punishment; it was chastening.  “Chastening is a loving parent disciplining his child in order to perfect his character and build his endurance … chastening has to do with love.”

Hosea mentioned Jacob, rather than Abraham, for a reason.  “During most of his life, Jacob struggled with himself, with others, and with the Lord, and until he surrendered to God at Jabbok, he never really walked by faith.  God had to discipline him to bring him to that place of surrender.”

Jacob had met God at Bethel, and later he returned to Bethel for a new spiritual beginning.  “The victorious Christian life is a series of new beginnings.”

One of the reasons Hosea listed for Israel’s discipline was ingratitude.  “The Jews were glad for what God had done for their forefathers, but they didn’t really show Him sincere appreciation … In their prosperity, they became proud and turned away from God to idols.”

In 13:14, God says, “I will show them no mercy.”  The Living Bible says, “I will not relent.”  This wasn’t God saying that He no longer loved His people.  His discipline was another manifestation of His love for the.

Father, help me not to again get so far from You by my sin that Your discipline becomes necessary.  Remind me to be attentive to the little nudges You give me daily so I won’t need the whip.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford