01-30-2007, 01:00 PM
Good Morning, Everyone! :hibye: It's been kinda quiet around ye olde Paradise Cafe, here lately. I s'pose folks are doing a lot of ponderin' and less posting. It's all good! :ok:
Daily Scriptural Text for Tuesday, January 30, 2007:
2 When [YHWH] first began speaking to Israel through Hosea, he said to him, "Go and marry a prostitute,* so that some of her children will be conceived in prostitution. This will illustrate how Israel has acted like a prostitute by turning against [YHWH] and worshiping other gods."--Hosea 1:2, New Living Translation.
(*Or, a promiscuous woman.)
Complimentary Scriptures:
12 "They ask a piece of wood for advice!
They think a stick can tell them the future!
Longing after idols has made them foolish.
They have played the prostitute, serving other gods and deserting their God.
13 They offer sacrifices to idols on the mountaintops.
They go up into the hills to burn incense in the pleasant shade of oaks, poplars, and terebinth trees.
That is why your daughters turn to prostitution, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.
14 But why should I punish them for their prostitution and adultery?
For your men are doing the same thing, sinning with whores and shrine prostitutes.
O foolish people! You refuse to understand, so you will be destroyed."--Hosea 4:12-14, ibid.
4 And [YHWH] said [to Hosea], "Name the child Jezreel, for I am about to punish King Jehu’s dynasty to avenge the murders he committed at Jezreel. In fact, I will bring an end to Israel’s independence."--Hosea 1:4, ibid.
9 "And what the priests do, the people also do.
So now I will punish both priests and people for their wicked deeds."--Hosea 4:9, ibid.
5 You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.--Ephesians 5:5, ibid.
27 The form of worship that is clean and undefiled from the standpoint of our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their tribulation, and to keep oneself without spot from the world.--James 1:27, New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures.
My comment: In the days of the prophet Hosea (eighth century, BCE), the nation of Israel (specifically, the ten tribe kingdom with its capital at Samaria) had become extremely "promiscuous" in their worship. They practiced spiritual fornication, adultery, harlotry. And, it seems they engaged quite heavily in those same things in the physical sense, as well. Look again, please, at Hosea 4:9, and 4:10-12, quoted above. The priests and the people were in the habit (or, routine) of engaging in what we would rightly consider shocking behavior, ... on a daily basis. With the benefit of hindsight, we may well look back and wonder, ...
"How could they???"
They had allowed themselves to lose their focus. They lost sight of what is truly important; of what really matters. They lost their good, healthy, vibrant relationship with their God and Creator. Once that occurs, there is no telling what can follow. But, it is certain to amount to a downward spiral, just such as the Israelites suffered. They, no doubt thought that they were really living; really enjoying life to the hilt. But, how could they ever do so, without God included? Also, consider:
There is something which Stephen Covey calls, ... "The Law of the Farm." Brian Tracy calls it, ... "The Law of Unavoidable Consequences." And, here is how the apostle Paul put it:
7 Do not be misled: God is not one to be mocked. For whatever a man is sowing, this he will also reap.--Galatians 6:7, ibid.
When the Assyrian armies came into the land of the ten-tribe kingdom of Israel, killing, pillaging, plundering, and carrying off captives, the Israelites learned this lesson. The hard way.
Have A Terrific Tuesday, Everybody! :giverose:
May We NEVER Drift Away Or Draw Away From Our God! :clap:
Much LOVE to ALL! :love: isomam
Daily Scriptural Text for Tuesday, January 30, 2007:
2 When [YHWH] first began speaking to Israel through Hosea, he said to him, "Go and marry a prostitute,* so that some of her children will be conceived in prostitution. This will illustrate how Israel has acted like a prostitute by turning against [YHWH] and worshiping other gods."--Hosea 1:2, New Living Translation.
(*Or, a promiscuous woman.)
Complimentary Scriptures:
12 "They ask a piece of wood for advice!
They think a stick can tell them the future!
Longing after idols has made them foolish.
They have played the prostitute, serving other gods and deserting their God.
13 They offer sacrifices to idols on the mountaintops.
They go up into the hills to burn incense in the pleasant shade of oaks, poplars, and terebinth trees.
That is why your daughters turn to prostitution, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.
14 But why should I punish them for their prostitution and adultery?
For your men are doing the same thing, sinning with whores and shrine prostitutes.
O foolish people! You refuse to understand, so you will be destroyed."--Hosea 4:12-14, ibid.
4 And [YHWH] said [to Hosea], "Name the child Jezreel, for I am about to punish King Jehu’s dynasty to avenge the murders he committed at Jezreel. In fact, I will bring an end to Israel’s independence."--Hosea 1:4, ibid.
9 "And what the priests do, the people also do.
So now I will punish both priests and people for their wicked deeds."--Hosea 4:9, ibid.
5 You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.--Ephesians 5:5, ibid.
27 The form of worship that is clean and undefiled from the standpoint of our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their tribulation, and to keep oneself without spot from the world.--James 1:27, New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures.
My comment: In the days of the prophet Hosea (eighth century, BCE), the nation of Israel (specifically, the ten tribe kingdom with its capital at Samaria) had become extremely "promiscuous" in their worship. They practiced spiritual fornication, adultery, harlotry. And, it seems they engaged quite heavily in those same things in the physical sense, as well. Look again, please, at Hosea 4:9, and 4:10-12, quoted above. The priests and the people were in the habit (or, routine) of engaging in what we would rightly consider shocking behavior, ... on a daily basis. With the benefit of hindsight, we may well look back and wonder, ...
"How could they???"
They had allowed themselves to lose their focus. They lost sight of what is truly important; of what really matters. They lost their good, healthy, vibrant relationship with their God and Creator. Once that occurs, there is no telling what can follow. But, it is certain to amount to a downward spiral, just such as the Israelites suffered. They, no doubt thought that they were really living; really enjoying life to the hilt. But, how could they ever do so, without God included? Also, consider:
There is something which Stephen Covey calls, ... "The Law of the Farm." Brian Tracy calls it, ... "The Law of Unavoidable Consequences." And, here is how the apostle Paul put it:
7 Do not be misled: God is not one to be mocked. For whatever a man is sowing, this he will also reap.--Galatians 6:7, ibid.
When the Assyrian armies came into the land of the ten-tribe kingdom of Israel, killing, pillaging, plundering, and carrying off captives, the Israelites learned this lesson. The hard way.
Have A Terrific Tuesday, Everybody! :giverose:
May We NEVER Drift Away Or Draw Away From Our God! :clap:
Much LOVE to ALL! :love: isomam