Wife of Whoredom Part Eight “Strange Teachings” Ep. #110 Hosea Ch 8 Podcast

Israel was trusting the wrong things.
Welcome to another episode of Bible Shorts With Biblebob. We’ve been having a blast studying the Minor
Prophet Hosea. If you’re just joining us, I’ll give you a quick overview of where we’ve been, but I encourage you
to check out the first seven episodes in this series. Hosea was told by God to marry a wife who would
cheat on him. It’s a true story and metaphor of the way Israel (and sometimes us) was committing spiritual
adultery. Hosea is the bridegroom as is Christ and we are the bride of Christ. This is a story of common people like
you and I who often forget God’s goodness, grace, mercy and forgiveness.
Let’s dive right into reading the Eighth Chapter of Hosea.
“Put the trumpet to your lips and give the warning! The
enemy swoops down on my people like an eagle.
The Israelites have broken my agreement.
They have turned against my teachings.
They cry out to me, ‘Our God, we in Israel know you!’
But Israel has rejected what is good. So the enemy chases
them.
They chose their own kings without asking my
permission. They chose their own leaders, men I did not
know.
They made their silver and gold into idols. For all this they
will be destroyed. I hate that calf-shaped idol. I am very
angry with the people. How long will they remain unclean?
The idol is something a craftsman made. It is not God.
Israel’s calf-shaped idol will surely be smashed to pieces.
“Israel’s foolish plans are like planting the wind. But they
will harvest a whirlwind.
Her plans are like a stalk with no head of grain. It
produces nothing.
Even if it produces something, other nations would eat it.
Israel is destroyed.
The people are mixed among the other nations. They have
become useless to me.
Like a wild donkey, Israel has run to Assyria. Israel has
hired other nations to protect her.
Although Israel is mixed among the nations, I will gather
them together.
They will become weaker and weaker as they suffer under
the great king of Assyria.
“The more altars Israel built to remove sin, the more they
have become altars for sinning.
They reject the many teachings I have written for them.
They act as if the teachings were strange and foreign to
them.
The Israelites offer sacrifices to me and eat the meat. But
the Lord is not pleased with them.
He remembers the evil they have done. And he will punish
them for their sins.
They will be slaves again as they were in Egypt. The
people of Israel have forgotten their Maker.
They trust in the palaces they have built. And Judah trusts
in her many strong, walled cities.
But I will send fire on their cities and destroy their strong
towers.””
8:1-14 ICB Hosea
The Israelites, like myself, were guilty of worshipping
idols, being ungrateful and being hypocrites.
Looking back over my life before I became a BibleBob
dude, I had many successes that turned into what seemed
like double the amount of failures. The beauty of my
blunders is that God turned them into wisdom, insight,
knowledge - the amount of those learnings are invaluable,
innumerable and continue to multiply.
I was like the wind, no; I was more like a whirlwind-
always on the move. Adrenaline was my fuel. In my mind
there was no mountain I couldn’t move. No storm I couldn’t
go through. Hard times just meant I should try harder. I
believed that if I tried hard enough I could overcome any
obstacle in my way.
Dumb.
That’s the only word that comes to mind when I think of
who I was back in the day. It was dumb to pursue success
without seeking the Sustainer and Creator of life.
The season of my life where it seemed like everything I
touched turned to gold quickly fell apart. I entered a new
season - my fall. Everything I touched became like the falling
leaves of Autumn trees as they headed toward decay on the
ground below. Nobody likes to lose.
As my losses mounted, my busyness increased - my wind
became a whirlwind. I was chasing after the wind until I was
too exhausted to continue.
Finally I turned to God, but not until my own efforts
collapsed and my flesh was emptied of all physical energy.
My hustle was halted by humility. I was humbled to the point
of inactivity - a totally foreign concept to me.
When we trust in the wrong things, wrong things will
eventually happen to us. It’s always wise to include God in
our plans and conversations - everyday.
The drifting into idolizing our desires is a slow motion
away from God. Ingratitude becomes like scales over our
eyes as a spiritual blindness - our memories of all that God
has done for us fade like flames from an extinguished fire.
Hypocrisy is a two-faced lip service of mockery and
insincerity. Deliberately rejecting the goodness of God and
becoming apathetic and indifferent to the suffering of others
is hypocrisy at its worst.
It would be wise to choose this day whom you will serve.
You can do what’s right in your own eyes or do what’s right
in God’s eyes.
I’ll leave this episode with two beautiful Bible verses for
your heart to chew on.
“Do what is right and good in the Lord’s eyes. Then things
will go well with you. You will go in and take over the land.
It’s the good land the Lord promised to your people of long
ago.”
Deuteronomy 6:18 NIRV
The second verse is from Micah 6:8.
The Lord has shown you what is good. He has told you
what he requires of you.
You must act with justice.
You must love to show mercy.
And you must be humble as you live in the sight of your
God.”
Thanks for your time. Go do something nice for somebody
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word. Thank you.
Until next time, on Biblebob, I hope you have a special day
and always know - you are special. Jesus loves you and so do
we.

https://youtu.be/jecDYX2EXak