Daily Devotions
Hosea
"She did not know that I gave her grain"
Text: Hosea 2:8
THE ABUNDANT PROVISION THAT GOD GAVE
Israel did not know how to appreciate the many blessings that God had bestowed on the nation. This lack of knowledge was truly appalling!
“For she did not know
That I gave her grain, new wine, and oil,
And multiplied her silver and gold-
Which they prepared for Baal.”
Hosea 2:8
1. “For she did not know”
a) How could Israel not know?
b) This kind of ignorance is appalling.
c) It reflects the following things:
i) Taking things for granted.
ii) Deliberate denial of God’s blessings.
iii) Forsaking of that which had been taught by the prophets.
iv) Being spiritually blind.
v) Being insensitive to God.
vi) Spiritual amnesia.
vii) Spiritually dead.
2. “I gave her grain, new wine, and oil”
a) These provisions were clearly stated in Deuteronomy 8:6-13.
b) All these blessings were also noted by the Psalmists (Psalms 68, 103 etc.).
3. “And multiplied her silver and gold”
a) It was the Lord who gave Israel the power to get wealth (Deuteronomy 8:18).
b) God enabled King Uzziah to prosper (2 Chronicles 26:5).
c) God also blessed King Hezekiah with great wealth (2 Chronicles 32:27-31).
4. “Which they prepared for Baal”
a) Baal and other deities demanded much from their devotees.
b) Idolatrous Israel sacrificed much to the worship of Baal and other idols.
c) But Israel received nothing back in return.
d) Psalm 115:4-8 gave an apt description of the idols (also Psalm 135:15-18).
The cry of the Psalmists and the prophets was to return to the LORD and to bless His name (Psalm 135:19-21).