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Daily Devotions

Hosea

Hosea 
Day 
Day 17

"I will go and return to my first husband"

Text: Hosea 2:7

RETURNING TO THE LORD

Life can be almost unbearable when there is so much hardship and pain experienced. Israel experienced war after war. There was so much turmoil on the land. The threat from Assyria was felt keenly.

“She will chase her lovers,
But not overtake them;
Yes, she will seek them, but not find them.
Then she will say,
‘I will go and return to my first husband,
For then it was better for me than now.'”
Hosea 2:7

1. “She will chase her lovers, but not overtake them”

a) The “lovers” were idols of surrounding nations.
b) But in the days of Jeroboam II, “the affliction of Israel was very bitter” (2 Kings 14:26).
c) The idols Israel worshipped offered no solace.

2. “Yes, she will seek them, but not find them”

a) Israel’s leaders sought the following things from the idols they worshiped.
i) Power
ii) Protection
iii) Provision
b) But they would go away empty.
i) The idols did not speak nor could they.
ii) They could not offer comfort or hope.
iii) They went with hands full of offerings, but they came away empty.

3. “Then she will say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband'”

a) Israel was forced to return to her roots.
b) The first husband was a reference to the LORD God.

4. “For then it was better for me than now”

a) The idols demanded many things.
The Lord offered many blessings.
b) The idols were powerless.
The Lord was their shield.
c) The idols were unable to even offer words of comfort.
The Lord spoke through His servants the prophets.
d) The idols offered no word of hope.
The Lord promised His grace, mercy and wonderful provision.

It would be pointless to continue to worship the idols they made with their own hands!