[Anglican Devotional 1 February 2022] Topic: Idolatry And Its Consequences
TOPIC: Idolatry And Its Consequences
READ: Hosea 9 (NKJV)
Do not rejoice, O Israel, with joy like [other] peoples, For you have played the harlot against your God. You have made love [for] hire on every threshing floor.
The threshing floor and the winepress Shall not feed them, And the new wine shall fail in her.
They shall not dwell in the LORD’s land, But Ephraim shall return to Egypt, And shall eat unclean [things] in Assyria.
They shall not offer wine [offerings] to the LORD, Nor shall their sacrifices be pleasing to Him. [It shall be] like bread of mourners to them; All who eat it shall be defiled. For their bread [shall be] for their [own] life; It shall not come into the house of the LORD.
What will you do in the appointed day, And in the day of the feast of the LORD?
For indeed they are gone because of destruction. Egypt shall gather them up; Memphis shall bury them. Nettles shall possess their valuables of silver; Thorns [shall be] in their tents.
The days of punishment have come; The days of recompense have come. Israel knows! The prophet [is] a fool, The spiritual man [is] insane, Because of the greatness of your iniquity and great enmity.
The watchman of Ephraim [is] with my God; But the prophet [is] a fowler’s snare in all his ways — Enmity in the house of his God.
They are deeply corrupted, As in the days of Gibeah. He will remember their iniquity; He will punish their sins.
” I found Israel Like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers As the firstfruits on the fig tree in its first season. [But] they went to Baal Peor, And separated themselves [to that] shame; They became an abomination like the thing they loved.
[As for] Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird — No birth, no pregnancy, and no conception!
Though they bring up their children, Yet I will bereave them to the last man. Yes, woe to them when I depart from them!
Just as I saw Ephraim like Tyre, planted in a pleasant place, So Ephraim will bring out his children to the murderer.”
Give them, O LORD — What will You give? Give them a miscarrying womb And dry breasts!
“All their wickedness [is] in Gilgal, For there I hated them. Because of the evil of their deeds I will drive them from My house; I will love them no more. All their princes [are] rebellious.
Ephraim is stricken, Their root is dried up; They shall bear no fruit. Yes, were they to bear children, I would kill the darlings of their womb.”
My God will cast them away, Because they did not obey Him; And they shall be wanderers among the nations.
THE MESSAGE:
Idolatry is the worship of other gods or idols. It is fetishism or worship of trees, rivers, hills, stones, animals, etc. Idolatry starts in the heart through craving, wanting, enjoying, being satisfied by or treasuring anything above God. Idolatry is taking pleasure in ungodly living or material goods like money, media, possessions, etc, that divert our attention from serving God. Idolatry can occur when one begins to value things more than one values God.
The children of Israel went away from their God. They did not obey God’s injunction in Exodus 20:3-5: “Thou shall have no other gods before me. Thou shall not make to yourself any graven image. Thou shall not bow down to them nor serve them.” Several calamities were pronounced on them as follows: Their means of livelihood would fail; their offering and sacrifice would not be acceptable to God; their possessions would be overgrown with thorns; “Their glory shall fly away like a bird – no birth, no pregnancy, and no conception.” God would give them miscarrying wombs and dry breasts; they would be bereaved of their children. They would become a cast-away and wanderers (verses 7-17). These repercussions for idolatry still stand today, therefore, we must flee from idolatry (1 Corinthians 10:14). Whatever causes us to sin must be removed (Matthew 5:29-30).
PRAYER: Father, help me to serve You in holiness and righteousness with singleness of heart. Remove any idols from my heart, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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