What does God look like in this passage?
Where is the law at work, and where is the gospel, in this part of the story of Hosea?
What's the deal with Ephraim? (historical context, betrayal, what is the "vanity?")
Have we drifted from the intial story/context of Hosea?
Some stuff to chew on this Wednesday morn...
"Blow the horn in Gibeah,
the trumpet at Ramah.
Sound the alarm at Beth-aven;
look behind you Benjamin!
Ephraim shall become a
desolation
in the day of punishment;
among the tribes of Israel
I declare what is sure.
The princes of Judah have
become
like those who remove the
landmark;
on them I will pour out
my wrath like water.
Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment,
because he was determined to
go after vanity.
Therefore I am like maggots to
Ephraim,
and like rottenness to the house
of Judah.
When Ephraim saw his sickness,
and Judah his wound,
then Ephraim went to Assyria,
and sent to the great king.
But he is not able to cure you
or heal your wound.
For I will be like a lion to
Ephraim,
and like a young lion to the
house of Judah.
I myself will tear and go away;
I will carry off, and no one shall rescue.
I will return again to my place
until they acknowledge their
guilt and seek my face."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
God looks like maggots and a lion...interesting similies for God to use. To imagine God like maggots or like rottenness is hard to get my head to do. And to think of him as a lion that tears people away and carries them off without rescue doesn't match up with the God I imagine. What does this mean?
Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgement, because he was determined to go after vanity...God says he will return again to his place until they acknowledge their guilt and seek his face...
Until...
This rottenness, this tearing of a lion, will continue until...they acknowledge their guilt and seek his face. That's what they, as we, must do as Christians.
Post a Comment