In the book of Hosea, Hosea said, “as for Samaria, her king is cut off as the foam upon the water”, and in chapter ten and verse eight of Hosea, Hosea shared about, “the high places also of Aven” and “the sin of Israel” where we read,
The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed:
the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars;
and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.
The verse begins, “The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed:” Hosea began with the words, “the high places also” or “the heights, mountains and elevated places of worship even so and indeed” “of Aven” which means “belonging to Aven whose name means trouble, wickedness and sorrow”, “the sin of Israel” or “the missing of the mark, error and wrong offering belonging to Israel whose name means God prevails and is the name of the descendants and the nation of descendants of Jacob”, “shall be destroyed” which means “will exist as exterminated, annihilated and devastated”. Hosea shared how the exalted worship places belonging to “Aven” where the people of “Israel” offered their “sin offerings” was to be ruined and annihilated.
The verse continues, “the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars;” Hosea added the words, “the thorn” or “the prickling thickets and inflicting irritants” “and the thistle” which means “and the wilderness weeds” “shall come up on their altars” or “will ascend and rise upon their, the people of Israel's, sacrificial places”. Hosea shared how “thorns and thistles” would rise up upon the sacrificial places in Israel and overgrow them.
Finally the verse says, “and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.” Hosea concluded with the words, “and they shall say” or “and they, the people of Israel, will utter, declare and proclaim” “to the mountains” which means “to the risings above the plain, range of hills and hill country”, “cover us” or “conceal and hide us, the people of Israel”; “and to the hills” which means “and to the little risings and mountains”, “fall on us” or “be cast down, prostrate and settle upon us, the people of Israel”. Hosea ended this verse by sharing how the people of Israel called out to the risings above the plains to conceal and be cast down upon them.
When we consider Hosea's words in this verse, we learn how God would devastate the high worship places of the people of Israel to the state that they would be overgrown with “thorns and thistles”, and the destruction would be so great, the people would want the “mountains” to hide and come down upon them. This is the fate of those who worship “idols” and make sacrifices to false gods in “high places”. In other words, loss, ruin and devastation will come to those who worship any other god than Jehovah God Himself. Only Jehovah God sent His Son Jesus into the world to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind, and when we surrender our lives to Him, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and put within us a passion to love and serve Him and Him alone so we never suffer the destruction, overgrowth and mountainous threats that come upon those who refuse and reject Him.
Next time Hosea says, “O Israel, you have sinned from the days of Gibeah”, 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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