Hosea 11:8–11 (ESV) —
8 How can I give you up, O Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, O Israel?
How can I make you like Admah?
How can I treat you like Zeboiim?
My heart recoils within me;
my compassion grows warm and tender.
…
11 they shall come trembling like birds from Egypt,
and like doves from the land of Assyria,
and I will return them to their homes, declares the
Lord.
NOTE: I believe this
is in reference to the end times. The cities mentioned in verse 8 were cities
completely destroyed with Sodom and Gomorrah. Israel would be destroyed, but
not in the same way. Even today, Israel returns to the land. It could be the final
restoration, but I think the verse refers to the days after the tribulation.
Near the end of the tribulation, Israel will flee the land and hide in the
region of Edom. But after Israel calls upon the Lord, he will come and defeat
the Antichrist, and the people will once again resettle the land, this last
time in true belief and in true safety. Why did this happen? Because of
apostasy, the same thing that is affecting many churches today. We have the
truth of the bible and inserted our own ideas from the world's way of thinking.
We have become inclusive, which is good, but we have also become inclusive of
ideas that are not good (living together before marriage, sex outside marriage,
same sex, sexual change, etc). We accept these things, but the bible says they
are sin. Certainly, men can choose how they want to live and we can't force
them to believe or behave a certain way, but the real danger is that the church
accepts practices within the church that God has said are sin. In fact, these
statements are almost certainly wrong to say in many churches today.
PRAYER: Father, give
us courage to stand up for your truths. May we do it in a gentle and respectful
way. I do pray we would be more inclusive and less judgmental. But for people
who call themselves believers, we have a responsibility to rebuke sin in our
midst. Give us the wisdom to deal kindly and appropriately.
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