Hosea 12:1-6 NIV
1 Ephraim feeds on the wind; he pursues the east wind all day and multiplies lies and violence. He makes a treaty with Assyria and sends olive oil to Egypt.
1 Ephraim feeds on the wind; he pursues the east wind all day and multiplies lies and violence. He makes a treaty with Assyria and sends olive oil to Egypt.
2 The LORD has a charge to bring against Judah; he will punish Jacob [a] according to his ways and repay him according to his deeds.
3 In the womb he grasped his brother's heel; as a man he struggled with God.
4 He struggled with the angel and overcame him; he wept and begged for his favor. He found him at Bethel and talked with him there-
5 the LORD God Almighty, the LORD is his name of renown!
6 But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always.
Hosea was a prophet. His prophecies were to admonish the Israelites of their sins. At that time there was a lot of idolatry. Hosea tells them to repent and God will have mercy upon them and will restore them. God sees their sins and wants them to come back to Him. Ephraim made a treaty with Assyria and sent olive oil to Egypt. In Verse 1 it says he multiplied lies and violence. You know how you can tell a lie then you have to tell another lie to cover up the first lie, etc. So basically he told lies upon lies. He went against the prophets. These Scriptures also talk about Jacob and is reminding them of Jacob's history. God wants them to repent, turn back to Him and then wait on Him always. If Ephraim wouldn't confess his sins then they would again be without a country because of the idolatry and corruption. It is here that Hosea tells them remember what happened back in the time of Genesis. Take time to go back and read about Jacob in Genesis 25:21-28. It will help to explain what Hosea is talking about here. God's prophets were always speaking to Israel and telling them not to do these things but they continued. God promised to keep Israel safe but they kept looking to other countries instead of relying on God. Hosea keeps telling them that if they keep disobeying God, there will be consequences.
How many times do we keep disobeying God and think there won't be any consequences? Yes God is a merciful God but He is also a just God. So there will be times when He says enough is enough. Why do we constantly keep looking to everyone else but God instead of listening to Him and believing that He knows what is best for us? Stop looking to idols - anything that we desire more than God is an idol. So we need to crush those idols! We need to keep His commandments, listen to Him, rely on Him, repent when we sin and stop thinking we know everything and just wait on the Lord - always
