God's Family Rebels Against Him

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Scripture: Hosea 11:5-7

They will not return to the land of Egypt; But Assyria—he will be their king Because they refused to return to Me.  The sword will whirl against their cities, And will demolish their gate bars And consume them because of their counsels.  So My people are bent on turning from Me.  Though they call them to the One on high, None at all exalts Him.

Insights: Yesterday we learned God raises His family. You'll recall from the passage we looked at that God continually displayed His love for His people. In todays verses, however, we discover God's people continued to rebel against Him. Even though the Lord brought them out of Egypt, they were now going to be sent into Assyria. The Assyrian king become there ruler and he demolished their cities. Notice with me that the Israelites did receive council, but their counselors were bad. They informed them they would have no problems with the Assyrian king. This thought makes me wonder, how often do we receive bad counsel from those around us? All too often we look at our lives and bemoan our situation. Then before we know it, we find others around us who are sympathetic to our expressions of being a victim. Their identification with our problems help us to identify with them. The problem is that this creates groupthink and leads us down a spiral path toward destruction, which is exactly what happened to Israel. You'll also notice from this passage that none of God’s people bent their knee towards Him. Beloved, we are all fallen creatures and we will because of our sin nature rebel against God. The problem comes when we live in a state of rebellion and do not repent of our sinful ways. This lack of repentance is exactly what Israel did. Let us learn from their example and understand that God does discipline those who rebel against Him. Instead, let our lives model that of humility and let us quickly repent of our sins. May are example of repentance be observed by others and inspire them to follow our example. As a result, may the Lord God be brought glory.

Questions:

1. In what ways have you rebelled against God's love?

2. Are you aware that if you remain in your rebellion, God will judge you?

Prayer: Father, forgive me when I rebel against You, O Lord. Strengthen my heart, O God, and let me walk in a way that pleases You.  Amen.

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