"A God Who Judges" May 18 Readings: Hosea 8-14

 

Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2026

This year, we will read the Bible chronologically, as it happened, instead of simply reading from Genesis to Revelation. The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but we will give more emphasis to the New Testament, spending half the year in the Old Testament and half in the New. 

Bible Readings: Hosea 8-14

In Bible Gateway, we will link to the NIV this year, though you can choose any version you prefer. 

Background:  

Hosea is largely written against the Israelite Tribe of Ephraim. Today's reading contains a series of oracles - prophetic words - against Israel/Ephraim, ending in a word of hope. Hosea's prophecy is the first to compare marriage to the human relationship with God.

Daily Devotional: A God Who Judges

"It isn't my fault."
"It was just bad luck."
"They did it first."
"I'm only human."

We are so often people of excuses, rationalizations, and justifications. We push the blame off on others, and we deny our culpability for sin. Evidently, this was a problem with Israel (and Judah) as well. They had been told that God would bless them if they were obedient, but that their sin would bring the judgment of devastating consequences. Yet, when Israel began to suffer for their wickedness and idolatry - in exact measure as Leviticus and Deuteronomy had predicted - they were dumbfounded that their sin could possibly be the cause of their problems. They were the chosen people, special to God. Surely he wouldn't let this happen.

In Hosea 10:13-15, God makes his purposes plain.

“But you have cultivated wickedness
and harvested a thriving crop of sins.
You have eaten the fruit of lies—
trusting in your military might,
believing that great armies
could make your nation safe.
14 Now the terrors of war
will rise among your people.
All your fortifications will fall,
just as when Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel.
Even mothers and children
were dashed to death there.
15 You will share that fate, Bethel,
because of your great wickedness.
When the day of judgment dawns,
the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.

They were reaping what they were sowing, and the horror coming their way was laid at their own feet.

There are many reasons that we suffer. Sometimes we suffer for the sins of others. Sometimes it is just the fruit of life in a fallen world. Sometimes God is doing something we don't understand to accomplish his purpose, and sometimes he is testing us. But if we look at the word of God and at our lives and realize that what is happening is tied to our choices and our actions, it does little good to attempt to deny responsibility. Better to repent and seek God - he is always gracious and just, a God willing to forgive and restore.

Father, help me to better understand what you are doing in my life and what your actions mean. 

 

Consider God's Word:

Look at the suffering and hardship going on in your life.
What might God be doing in that?
What could be the possible reasons for these?