SCRIPTURE: HOSEA 12
ISRAEL’S SIN (vs. 1-14)
- Ephraim multiplies lies and violence. He makes aa a treaty with Assyria and sends olive oil to Egypt. (v. 1)
- Jacob grasped his brother’s heel in the womb and struggled with God. (v. 3)
- Jacob struggled with the angel and overcame him. (v. 4)
- The merchant uses dishonest scales to defraud people. (v. 7)
- Ephraim boasts of his wealth. (v. 8)
- The people sacrificed bulls in Gilgal. (v. 11)
THOUGHTS:
Hosea called on two principles – LOVE and JUSTICE for the nation to live by. But they were not easy to keep it in balance. Some people put emphasis on love to the point of exercising wrongdoings while other put emphasis on justice to the extent of forgetting love. Love without justice leaves people in their sins because it it not aiming at a higher standard. Justice without love drives people away from God because it has no mercy at all. Today, church must live by both principles.