Hosea 8 - Day 749

Hosea 8 - Day 749 (link to reading)

Scripture: Hosea 8:11

Commentary (wernerbiblecommentary.org): According to God’s law to Israel, only one altar for burnt offerings was authorized for continued use. (Deuteronomy 12:4-6, 13, 14, 27) Ephraim, representing the entire ten-tribe kingdom by reason of its being the dominant tribe, violated this law. The first king of the ten-tribe kingdom set aside Dan and Bethel as centers for calf worship to prevent his subjects from going to Jerusalem for worship. (1 Kings 12:25-33) In time, many altars were erected for sacrificing to other deities. (Amos 2:8) In itself, increasing the number of altars would have been sinful. Their use for idolatrous purposes compounded the sin.

Application: My "challenge" (sin), is my pride and arrogance which causes me to think that I'm always right.  The Israelites, knowing that they needed to offer sacrifices to YHWH, built alternative altars thinking that, it was the best that they could do and YHWH would accept their offering because they couldn't go to the temple in Jerusalem (the northern tribes rebelled against Judah and the monarchy, causing a family feud).  Their ability to rationalize and justify their sins only accelerated their descent toward sheol.  YHWH tells us to seek wise counsel before making decisions so our pride won't get in the way.

Prayer: Lord, You alone I long to worship...