TOTAL ALLEGIANCE FROM GOD'S PEOPLE - 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: FRIDAY, 21ST JANUARY, 2022
TOPIC: TOTAL ALLEGIANCE FROM GOD'S PEOPLE
TEXT: HOSEA 1:1- 2:1
1. The word of the LORD that came to Hosea the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, [and] Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.
2. [When] the LORD began to speak by Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea: "Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry And children of harlotry, For the land has committed great harlotry [By departing] from the LORD."
3. So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
4. Then the LORD said to him: "Call his name Jezreel, For in a little [while] I will avenge the bloodshed of Jezreel on the house of Jehu, And bring an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.
5. It shall come to pass in that day That I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel."
6. And she conceived again and bore a daughter. Then [God] said to him: "Call her name Lo-Ruhamah, For I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, But I will utterly take them away.
7. Yet I will have mercy on the house of Judah, Will save them by the LORD their God, And will not save them by bow, Nor by sword or battle, By horses or horsemen."
8. Now when she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, she conceived and bore a son.
9. Then [God] said: "Call his name Lo-Ammi, For you [are] not My people, And I will not be your [God.]
10. " Yet the number of the children of Israel Shall be as the sand of the sea, Which cannot be measured or numbered. And it shall come to pass In the place where it was said to them, 'You [are] not My people,' [There] it shall be said to them, '[You are] sons of the living God.'
11. Then the children of Judah and the children of Israel Shall be gathered together, And appoint for themselves one head; And they shall come up out of the land, For great [will be] the day of Jezreel!
2:1. Say to your brethren, 'My people,' And to your sisters, 'Mercy is shown.'
MESSAGE:
God's relationship with Israel is frequently compared to a marriage contract (Jer. 3:14). Israel's departing from the Lord (Hos. 1:2) in order to worship idols was treated by God as spiritual infidelity or prostitution. Hosea's marriage was to be an object lesson for the unfaithful norther Kingdom. Gomer was likely not a prostitute at the time of her marriage, but she would later turn to an adulterous and immoral life which God hates.
"You shall have no other gods before me" (Exo. 20:3). God hates idolatry. "No one can serve two masters, neither you will hate one and love the other nor you will still be devoted to one and despise the other, you cannot serve God and money" (Matt. 6:24).
God demands total allegiance from his people; He hates disloyalty. He looks forward to seeing His people obey Him and in return bless them. "Be it far from me for them that honour me, I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed" (1 Sam. 2:30).
PRAYER:
Dear Father, may all the glory and honour be ascribed to You now and forevermore. Amen.
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