In the book of Hosea, Hosea said, “The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of Bethaven: for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the priests thereof that rejoiced on it, for the glory thereof, because it is departed from it”, and in chapter ten and verse six of Hosea, Hosea said, “Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed” where we read,
It shall be also carried unto Assyria for a present to king Jareb:
Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel.
The verse begins, “It shall be also carried unto Assyria for a present to king Jareb:” Hosea began with the words, “it shall be also carried” or “it, the idolatrous calf, will even so and indeed be brought away and lead forth” “unto Assyria” which means “toward Assyria whose name means a step and was the name for the people of Assyria” “for a present” or “as a gift, tribute, offering, oblation and sacrifice” “to king Jareb” which means “to the royal ruler and leader named Jareb whose name means contender and was an epithet given to the king of Assyria”. Hosea shared how the idolatrous calf of “Samaria” in “Bethaven” would be given to “Jareb” who was the royal ruler in Assyria.
The verse continues, “Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel.” Hosea added the word, “Ephraim” whose name means “double ash-heap or I shall be doubly fruitful and was the name sometimes used for the northern kingdom” “shall receive shame” which means “will get, fetch, lay hold of, seize and acquire humiliation, ignominy and embarrassment”, “and Israel” or “and Israel whose name means God prevails and is the name of the descendants and the nation of the descendants of Jacob” “shall be ashamed” which means “will exist as humiliated, embarrassed and chagrined” “of his own counsel” or “pertaining to his, Israel's, own personal advice, plan and purpose”. Hosea shared how the nation of “Ephraim” would lay hold of humiliation and embarrassment, and “Israel” would be chagrined and humiliated by their own advice.
When we meditate upon Hosea's words in this verse, we learn how the idolatrous calves within “Samaria” and “Bethaven” were to be presented to the royal ruler of “Assyria”, and both “Ephraim” and “Israel” would be embarrassed and humiliated because of their losing the idols and their own personal advice. In other words, their calf idols would be useless to the people of “Ephraim and Israel”. God wants to be the only God people worship because all other gods may be carried off, cause embarrassment and bring people to ruin. “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life” (See John 3:16), and when we yield to Him, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and put within us a desire to worship Him alone and no other gods or idols that can be given away and cause humiliation.
Next time Hosea says, “As for Samaria, her king is cut off”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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