Download
1 / 11
110 likes | 191 Views
Your mother likely told you. “That you are what you eat!” She meant it in a general and figurative sort of way- that if you eat junk , your body will be junky . But…. God, through Hosea , said.
E N D
Your mother likely told you... “That you are what you eat!” She meant it in a general and figurative sort of way- that if you eatjunk, your body will bejunky. But….
God, through Hosea, said “I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your forefathers as the earliest fruit on the fig tree in its first season. But they came to Baal-peor and devoted themselves to shame, and they became as detestable as that which they loved.” Hos.9:10 Food for thought….
Before tackling the main point, let’s clear up a few things: • “like grapes in the wilderness” and “the earliest fruit on the fig tree in its first season” Meaning: Israel’s early history gladdened the heart of Jehovah as would fresh fruit found in the midst of a barren wasteland; and as delightful as fruit born before itsexpected time. • “But they came to Baal-peor…” Num.25:1-13 Israel prostituted themselves to the Moabite god, Baal-peor, a local idol. This was apparently by the counsel of Balaam, who could not curse Israel as he desired, cf. 22:1ff; 31:16.
Now, here’s the other part of Hosea 9:10 “And they became as detestable as that which they loved.” Two things here: 1) Detestable is the from the Hebrew shiqquts, which means vileness, filth, a detestable thing, an abomination. Here it refers to Israel, which had become detested by God because of idolatry. 2) Lovedis the Hebrew word ahab and is an affection based on close relationship, as in Gen.22:2 and 24:67.
The obvious points are: • Israel, God’s fresh fruit in the wilderness, became as detestable to Him as was the idol which they served at Baal-peor. • It was their love of that which detested God that made them so to Him.
The less-obvious considerations are: • Our loves can also make us just as detestable to God! • They don’t necessarily have to bedetestableto make us detestable- they just have to be something we love more than Him!
So, what are your greatest loves? • Self? We can worship at the idol of Self by emphasizing whatwethink, want, and do. Whenwepray, how often doweinclude “Thy will be done.” ??? How often does whatwewant take precedence over what God wants?Matt.26:39 • Material Things? Matt.6:19-34 If you had nothing but“food and covering” would you be content withgodliness?1Tim.6:6-16
So, what are your greatest loves? • What about Life itself? Do we love life more than we love God? Life is a precious gift- but it is not the most precious gift we have been given, cf. Luke 16:19ff. Matt.16:21-26 covers a couple of the “loves” we are considering: >Jesus’ death was not what Peter wanted, vv.21-23 >Jesus emphasized self-denial, v.24 >If we love life more than following Jesus, we will lose it, v.25 Our most precious gift is our soul!v.26
Know this: • All of these things-ourselves,our possessions, even our lives can become“detestable” to God if we love or worshipthem instead of Him! • We’ve looked at this very generally… You look more specifically at Yourself and ask these questions: What is it that I love more than God? What am I allowing to come between me and God? What will I allow to make me detestable to Him?
