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ISRAEL'S UNFAITHFULNESS CONDEMNED - THE DAILY FOUNTAIN DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE OF THE CHURCH OF NIGERIA (ANGLICAN COMMUNION)

THE DAILY FOUNTAIN DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE OF THE CHURCH OF NIGERIA (ANGLICAN COMMUNION)

DATE: SATURDAY, 22ND JANUARY, 2022 

TOPIC: ISRAEL'S UNFAITHFULNESS CONDEMNED 

TEXT: HOSEA 2:2-17

2. " Bring charges against your mother, bring charges; For she [is] not My wife, nor [am] I her Husband! Let her put away her harlotries from her sight, And her adulteries from between her breasts;
3. Lest I strip her naked And expose her, as in the day she was born, And make her like a wilderness, And set her like a dry land, And slay her with thirst.
4. "I will not have mercy on her children, For they [are] the children of harlotry.
5.  For their mother has played the harlot; She who conceived them has behaved shamefully. For she said, 'I will go after my lovers, Who give [me] my bread and my water, My wool and my linen, My oil and my drink.'
6.  " Therefore, behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns, And wall her in, So that she cannot find her paths.
7.  She will chase her lovers, But not overtake them; Yes, she will seek them, but not find [them.] Then she will say, 'I will go and return to my first husband, For then [it was] better for me than now.'
8.  For she did not know That I gave her grain, new wine, and oil, And multiplied her silver and gold -- [Which] they prepared for Baal.
9.  " Therefore I will return and take away My grain in its time And My new wine in its season, And will take back My wool and My linen, [Given] to cover her nakedness.
10.  Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, And no one shall deliver her from My hand.
11.  I will also cause all her mirth to cease, Her feast days, Her New Moons, Her Sabbaths -- All her appointed feasts.
12.  "And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, Of which she has said, 'These [are] my wages that my lovers have given me.' So I will make them a forest, And the beasts of the field shall eat them.
13.  I will punish her For the days of the Baals to which she burned incense. She decked herself with her earrings and jewelry, And went after her lovers; But Me she forgot," says the LORD.
14.  " Therefore, behold, I will allure her, Will bring her into the wilderness, And speak comfort to her.
15.  I will give her her vineyards from there, And the Valley of Achor as a door of hope; She shall sing there, As in the days of her youth, As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.
16.  "And it shall be, in that day," Says the LORD, "[That] you will call Me 'My Husband,' And no longer call Me 'My Master,'
17.  For I will take from her mouth the names of the Baals, And they shall be remembered by their name no more.

MESSAGE:
Israel wrongly attributed its agricultural fertility to Baal, a Canaanite god. A false god! They erroneously believed that Baal controlled weather and thus, farming. Instead of the Lord God Almighty, who gave all the blessings and protection, the Children of Israel ran to false gods. Israel became unfaithful to God. Prophet Hosea condemned Israel's unfaithfulness to the true God. For this infidelity, the Lord first initiates a divorce against Israel, the promiscuous wife. The prophet prophesied that the Lord would fence Israel in "with thorn bushes" and "block her path" by making the rewards of idol worship so disappointing that the people would be persuaded to turn back to God. Despite Israel's unfaithfulness, God was still faithful and merciful. God promises a re-betrothal. He would continue to hold His arms out to His people, even to the point of placing obstacles in their wayward path to turn them back to him. 

What can couple, families, friends, churches, pastors and individuals learn from this experience? Infidelity breaks covenants; unfaithfulness spoils a good relationship. Idolatry provokes God Forgiveness heals injuries and restores good relationships. The Lord is the great Provider, Preserver and Sustainer of life. The Lord God, not Baal is Israel's Benefactor. 

PRAYER: 
Dear Father, please, forgive me for my unfaithfulness and grant me grace to love You most dearly. Amen.

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