Daily Devotions
Hosea
"They sacrificed to the Baals"
Text: Hosea 11:2
GOING ASTRAY
Though God loved Israel tenderly and faithfully, the nation did not reciprocate. Even in the days of Moses, Israel worshipped idols.
“As they called them,
So they went from them;
They sacrificed to the Baals,
And burned incense to carved images.”
Hosea 11:2
1. “As they called them”
a) The pronoun “they”:
i) The prophets of God primarily.
ii) Godly and concerned individuals who are troubled by so much sinfulness in the land.
b) The pronoun “them”:
i) The royal family.
ii) The false prophets and priests.
iii) The wicked and the unrighteous.
2. “So they went from them”
a) The particle “so” was not without significance.
b) It is descriptive.
i) As much as the godly servants of God spoke to the sinful.
ii) The wicked became even more entrenched in their unrighteousness.
3. “They sacrificed to the Baals, and burned incense to carved images”
a) Baal worship was only one form of idolatry.
b) There were many other idols that were worshiped.
c) A short list of idolatrous practices was noted in 2 Kings 17:13-23:
i) Calf worship
ii) Witchcraft
iii) Soothsaying
d) Israel had in fact:
i) Rejected God’s statutes and commandments.
ii) Stiffened their necks against God to follow idol worship.
Israel paid a heavy price for their foolishness in abandoning their God who loved them dearly