Saving from Relentless Judgment

Hosea 13:1-16 

1 When Ephraim spoke, trembling,
He exalted himself in Israel;
But when he offended through Baal worship, he died.

2 Now they sin more and more,
And have made for themselves molded images,
Idols of their silver, according to their skill;
All of it is the work of craftsmen.
They say of them,
"Let the men who sacrifice kiss the calves!"

3 Therefore they shall be like the morning cloud
And like the early dew that passes away,
Like chaff blown off from a threshing floor
And like smoke from a chimney.

4 "Yet I am the LORD your God
Ever since the land of Egypt,
And you shall know no God but Me;
For there is no savior besides Me.

5 I knew you in the wilderness,
In the land of great drought.
6 When they had pasture, they were filled;
They were filled and their heart was exalted;
Therefore they forgot Me.

7 "So I will be to them like a lion;
Like a leopard by the road I will lurk;
8 I will meet them like a bear deprived of her cubs;
I will tear open their rib cage,
And there I will devour them like a lion.
The wild beast shall tear them.

9 "O Israel, you are destroyed,
But your help is from Me.

10 I will be your King;
Where is any other,
That he may save you in all your cities?
And your judges to whom you said,
'Give me a king and princes'?
11 I gave you a king in My anger,
And took him away in My wrath.

12 "The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up;
His sin is stored up.
13 The sorrows of a woman in childbirth shall come upon him.
He is an unwise son,
For he should not stay long where children are born.

14 "I will ransom them from the power of the grave;
I will redeem them from death.
O Death, I will be your plagues!
O Grave, I will be your destruction!
Pity is hidden from My eyes."

15 Though he is fruitful among his brethren,
An east wind shall come;
The wind of the LORD shall come up from the wilderness.
Then his spring shall become dry,
And his fountain shall be dried up.
He shall plunder the treasury of every desirable prize.

16 Samaria is held guilty,
For she has rebelled against her God.
They shall fall by the sword,
Their infants shall be dashed in pieces,
And their women with child ripped open.

Israel faced relentless judgment on their sins of idolatry and immortality, driven by the pride of life and subsequent rejection of His word.  God therefore did according to the covenant made with them for their unrepentant disobedience and brought them to nothing as fading morning dew and as discarded worthless chaff of threshed wheat tossed in the air (Psalm 1:4, Luke 3:17) and as smoke from a chimney as the only residue of what has been burned to nothing.  He reminded His people that He was still and always would be their God.  They were to know no lifeless substitute of their own hands because they were the work of His hands.  He alone was their Savior and no other, a reminder for us in these times where the deceiver would have us believe there are different saviors according to what you want to see or believe.  Even now when times are plentiful many will follow the bad example of Israel and forget who God really is who provides us with all things for true prosperity of life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3).  May we never imagine ourselves joining in with them by forgetting where plenty and scarcity alike come from and the sovereign hand of providence that works all for our ultimate good (Romans 8:28).  Yet as they faced judgment for stored up sins, they also were assured that their help was offered from Him.  This is merciful grace, just as we now clearly see fulfilled in Christ Jesus our Lord from the beginning of time.  The LORD promised ransom from the power of death which God personally would defeat in the Christ to come (1 Corinthians 15:54-55) and as promised to Israel here in verse 14.  Where is death’s sting and punishment when God defeats death then?  Our victory and theirs is in Christ alone (1 Corinthians 15:57) as foretold then in the mystery to be revealed later (Colossians 1:27, Ephesians 3:9)!  Though we are all under the sentence of death for our sin, God paid the price and did the only work able to pay the divine court to release we who believe and trust in Him and His work (John 6:29) forever from judgment (Romans 3:23, 6:23, John 5:24).  Like Israel before us, we all need a Savior because of our inherited iniquity and willful sins (Romans 5:14-15, 17-18, 21) to escape the certain judgment of our idolatry and immortality which results in the sinful desires of our focus, feelings, and pride (1 John 2:15-16) of life instead of following Him according to His word.  This is our saving from relentless judgment we are all due from birth.  May we learn from these examples therefore and turn from prideful sin to follow Him.