Hosea 11 1-7 More Than Words

Daily Devotionals
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HOSEA 11:1-7 MORE THAN WORDS
1 "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.
2 But the more I called Israel, the further they went from me. They sacrificed to the Baals and they burned
incense to images.
3 It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms; but they did not realize it was I who healed them.
4 I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love; I lifted the yoke from their neck and bent down to
feed them.
5 "Will they not return to Egypt and will not Assyria rule over them because they refuse to repent?
6 Swords will flash in their cities, will destroy the bars of their gates and put an end to their plans.
7 My people are determined to turn from me. Even if they call to the Most High, he will by no means exalt them."
Even in the face of Israel's rejection, God's loving-kindness was manifested. As he nurtured his son in
Egypt during the time of Joseph, God continued to love him when he returned him safely home and established
him as a nation. Yet, even in the midst of their homecoming, the people of Israel revolted and made for
themselves an idol to worship (Exodus 32) and demonstrated their fickle nature. But God chastised them like a
parent and led them through the desert like a father. Still God brought them home and continued to dwell
among them as their God. He established them and gave them success among the nations. However, Israel's
memory and gratitude were as fleeting as the dew in the morning sun. Their hearts became so hardened that
they became not only unrepentant, but unreachable. They sentenced themselves to return to Egypt-not the
incubator of the nation under Joseph, but the abject misery of slavery under pharaoh. Their protests and laments
will be heard as if they were the ephemeral expressions of gratitude in the past-no weight-no lasting power.
In the midst of our earthly troubles, merely calling on the Lord for deliverance is not the answer to our
plight. Humankind has demonstrated repeatedly that its word is only good for the moment and under the
specific circumstances of the present. We call out to God from the foxholes of our lives and make grand
promises to him, but when we return stateside and enjoy the relative peace of "our world," we soon forget those
pledges. When the bullets and bombs are no longer raining down upon us, we turn to the gods of our daily
culture and sequester our relationship with God between the pages of a book or codified in some liturgy. God is
vibrant and strong in our times of trouble, but in our daily lives he is more of a doting old man we warehouse in
his home, the church, where we visit him on occasion. God will continue to love us even under those
circumstances. But a time will come when our hearts are so hardened, we will cut ourselves entirely off from
God and his love. While a hard heart can call out for deliverance, only a repentant heart can call out for the
restoration of our relationship with God. That is the prayer God hears and acts upon.
Lord of compassion, you loved me: you called to me as a mother calls to her child. But the more you
called to me, the more I turned away. Yet you were the one who taught me to walk; you took me up in

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your arms. But I did not acknowledge that you took care of me. You drew me to you; you picked me up,
and held me to your cheek. You bent down to me and fed me. Lord of compassion, do not give me up; do
not abandon me. Do not punish me in your anger! Amen. (Philip Law)