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Hosea Continued...

Scripture:

Hosea 2:1-4 (ESV)

Say to your brothers, “You are my people,” and to your sisters, “You have received mercy.”
“Plead with your mother, plead for she is not my wife,
    and I am not her husband—
that she put away her whoring from her face,
    and her adultery from between her breasts;
lest I strip her naked
    and make her as in the day she was born,
and make her like a wilderness,
    and make her like a parched land,
    and kill her with thirst.
Upon her children also I will have no mercy,

Verse 13:
And I will punish her for the feast days of the Baals
    when she burned offerings to them
and adorned herself with her ring and jewelry,
    and went after her lovers
    and forgot me, declares the Lord.

Devotional:

Israel has left God, her husband.  God equates Israel’s seeking other gods as woman being a prostitute.  After many attempts to get Israel’s attention trying to win them over God will turn the nation over to her enemies.  Israel will face exile.  It would seem God has abandoned His people.  God removes His favor. 

God will leave us to our sins.  He will allow us to seek our other gods.  Just as Israel had to face their consequences so will we.  The good news is that all we need to do is turn to Him.  If we repent, really and truly repent God will show us mercy.  We will receive grace.  We need to get our compass out and get our bearings.  We need to head true North, head toward God.  He is there waiting for us to return to Him.  We will still face the consequences of our actions, but we have grace and mercy.  God will not abandon us.  I urge each and everyone of us to head the lessons we learn from the book of Hosea.  We need to learn from Israel’s mistake and not turn away from our true love, God.