Category Archives: Punishment

Accountability, Bible, Choices, Commands, Discipline, Faithfulness, Judgment, Opponents, Punishment, Rebuke, Scripture

REBUKED

HOSEA 5:2

“And the rebels have gone deep in depravity, but I will discipline all of them.”

There comes a time when wrong doers have to be confronted and put in their place. I worked for over thirty years with children and youth who had been abused and neglected. Some of those children were rebels. They fought against everything we did for them – at least for a while. Their past abuse damaged their ability to receive love and proper affection. We had to discipline them on occasion to point them towards the right path.

God is doing the same here in Hosea. These rebels in Israel had sunk deep in depravity. God said He will discipline all of them. Notice that. He said “all” of them. He couldn’t leave out one rebel. They all had to be disciplined. None would escape. Nothing’s changed! That’s still true today.

APPLICATION

Are you a rebel against the commands of God? Of course, not, Carl. I would never rebel. Really? I ask that question because we are all prone to wander, as the old hymn said. Our flesh wants what it wants when it wants it. We may think our rebellion is too small to be labeled as rebellion. So, how do you know if you’re a rebel?

It’s pretty simple. If you are not following the Lord’s commands that He has laid out in His Word, you are rebelling against Him. Does that sound harsh? It is. You can’t partially follow Him. You can’t have one foot in the world and one foot following Jesus.

Will you join me in confessing our rebellion? We’ve all done it. The good news is He is there ready to forgive our rebellion. He wants to place us where we need to be. He wants us to follow Him. He wants to drive out any spirit of rebellion we may have in our hearts. And through Jesus we can do that.

Father, I confess my rebellion against Your commands. Lead me and direct me each day.

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Accountability, Affliction, Bible, Blasphemy, Condemnation, Deception, Following, Forgiveness, Idols, Judgment, Obedience, Persecution, Punishment, Scripture

CARRIED BY THE WIND

HOSEA 4:19

“The wind wraps them in its wings, and they will be put to shame because of their sacrifices.”

The wind truly is amazing. We can’t see the wind, but we can see its effect. Gentle breezes over a lake are so peaceful, but you don’t want to be on that same lake if the winds get violent. I have had the displeasure of living through several hurricanes and tornadoes. No fun! Wind can be good, but it can also do a lot of damage.

Just ask the Israelites. They are being carried off to exile as if by an invisible wind. The nefarious forces that have swooped in like the wind are going to carry them away because of their disobedience and lack of faithfulness to our God. They never saw it coming before it was too late. Just like a tornado appears out of seemingly nowhere, they are wrapped up in the winds of exile.

APPLICATION

We may not have to worry about exile (notice I said “may not”), but we certainly have to be concerned about not being loyal to our heavenly Father. The same God who judged Israel and Judah judges us today. As a believer in Christ, your sins have already been judged. But don’t think that gives you the freedom to live as you want. We have commands to obey.

So, is God this ruthless, uncaring God who only wants to be obeyed? Of course, not. He loves us and wants us to want to obey Him. He won’t force us into submission. He desires that we willingly follow Him. That’s the way He operates.

But He still holds us accountable for following or not following His law. While we are under grace through Jesus, there are still expectations for holy living which the Lord places on us. He has given us these guidelines to follow to draw us closer to Him. Will you follow them today?

O God, I know You expect certain behaviors from me. Forgive me when I fall short. I do desire to follow You.

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Accountability, Advice, Bible, Choices, Comfort, Commands, Direction, Disciplemaking, Judgment, Obedience, Punishment, Stubbornness

LIVESTOCK

HOSEA 4:16

“Since Israel is stubborn like a stubborn cow, will the LORD now pasture them like a lamb in a large field?”

My Grandma Carter raised cows. The funny thing was she didn’t like to eat beef. She spent hours tending to, feeding and watering her cattle, but didn’t enjoy the fruits of her labor. I remember going out in the pasture with her at times. She always carried a whip with her and did not hesitate to use it on the stubborn cows. As a little boy I thought that was cruel. Now I know it wasn’t. She was just trying to move them.

Hosea uses the imagery of cows and sheep here. The cows are stubborn, and the sheep are unprotected in a large field. The people who heard this message understood this. They understood how you handle stubborn cows. God was doing the same with Israel. They also knew you didn’t place sheep in large fields with no protection. Israel was heading toward exile (a large, unprotected field).

APPLICATION

Now, let me ask you a question. How stubborn are you? Are you “pulling against the yoke”? Do you know what that does? When you pull against the yoke rather than in it, you develop blisters and raw spots. The yoke is designed to not do that. If a cow gets raw spots on their skin from rubbing against the yoke, they will be in pain and not pull as effectively.

Stubbornness may seem like a good thing, but it’s not. It especially isn’t when you are being stubborn against God. The Lord gives us specific commands to follow. When we bow up and refuse to obey, we are going to suffer the consequences. We will develop those blisters that will bring pain.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t like blisters. I don’t like the pain they bring. So, I have a choice. I choose to stay yoked to Jesus and follow His lead. When I do that, I will not develop those painful blisters. Following His lead will allow me to grow in my “pulling” status. I will get stronger and smarter as I follow Him.

Father, I thank You for discipline. When I am showing my stubborn streak, I ask You to correct it. I want to follow You.

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Accountability, Bible, Choices, Condemnation, Direction, Forgetting, Hypocrisy, Infidelity, Judgment, Lawlessness, Obedience, Punishment, Scripture

NO DEVOTION

HOSEA 4:10

“They will eat, but not have enough; They will play the prostitute, but not increase, because they gave up devoting themselves to the LORD.”

I have been devoted to a lot of things in life. I was devoted to football when I was in high school. I loved the game. Truth be known, I loved to hit people. I did everything the coach asked of me. But as soon as high school ended that devotion ended. There was no future in it for me.

Israel gave up devoting themselves to the Lord and reaped the consequences. Their resources would not be enough. No matter how much they had, it would fall short. Hosea said they played the prostitute. They had sinned and deserted the Lord. God cannot bless that kind of behavior. Israel was judged for this.

APPLICATION

What happens to us when we stop devoting ourselves to Him? The same thing. God will cease blessing us. We may not “play the prostitute,” but sin is sin. Anything can lead us away from the Lord. What in your life is doing that? If it replaces the time you spend with the Lord, it is sin. If it becomes your first love, it is sin.

Devotion to anything besides the Lord will only lead you down the wrong road. Our Lord expects obedience, but He won’t make us obey. We have to choose to obey Him. We have to choose to devote ourselves to Him. And when we do, He is there to bless and lead us. He rewards our devotion.

Now, here me clearly. We devote ourselves to Him not for what we can get out of it. We devote ourselves to Him out of love for Him. His love draws us to this point of devotion if we will only yield to it. His love will never lead us to anything but devotion.

I have devoted myself to You, O Lord. My devotion is based on my love for Your love.

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Advice, Bible, Choices, Condemnation, Deceit, Judgment, Lawlessness, Obedience, Punishment, Scripture, Surrender, Testimony

DON’T FOLLOW THE LEADER

HOSEA 4:9

“And it will be, like people, like priest; So I will punish them for their ways and repay them for their deeds.”

Did you ever play the game Follow the Leader? I used to love playing that game as a child. We would try to make our path as hard as possible to weed out our followers. Up hills, through ditches, whatever it took. The path was crooked and could even be considered dangerous to some.

Hosea is warning the people. Don’t follow these leaders. They are leading the people in the wrong direction. Their lifestyles are nothing to emulate. In fact, go the opposite direction is essentially what Hosea is saying. There are times when you don’t follow the leader.

APPLICATION

Have you ever been under a bad leader? What do you do? Do you follow them, no matter what? Of course, you don’t. We do have to submit to our leaders unless their leadership is illegal, immoral or unbiblical. Will that be an hard decision to make? It sure will. But to be true to the Lord, you have to make it.

When you make the decision to not follow the leader, be prepared for repercussions. You could lose your job. You could suffer payback. Remember, Peter tells us in 1 Peter that is better to suffer for doing what is right than for doing what is wrong. The Lord has your back. Trust Him.

I have faced this a couple of times. Each time I have prayed and then gone to the leader in question and made my opposition known. So far, each time the Lord had gone before me and had softened this person’s heart. They heard me. The turned from their announced course of action. That confrontation actually brought us closely.Lord, lead me down Your path, even when that means I have to stop following those over me. I have one Master – You.

DON’T FOLLOW THE LEADER

HOSEA 4:9

“And it will be, like people, like priest; So I will punish them for their ways and repay them for their deeds.”

Did you ever play the game Follow the Leader? I used to love playing that game as a child. We would try to make our path as hard as possible to weed out our followers. Up hills, through ditches, whatever it took. The path was crooked and could even be considered dangerous to some.

Hosea is warning the people. Don’t follow these leaders. They are leading the people in the wrong direction. Their lifestyles are nothing to emulate. In fact, go the opposite direction is essentially what Hosea is saying. There are times when you don’t follow the leader.

APPLICATION

Have you ever been under a bad leader? What do you do? Do you follow them, no matter what? Of course, you don’t. We do have to submit to our leaders unless their leadership is illegal, immoral or unbiblical. Will that be an hard decision to make? It sure will. But to be true to the Lord, you have to make it.

When you make the decision to not follow the leader, be prepared for repercussions. You could lose your job. You could suffer payback. Remember, Peter tells us in 1 Peter that is better to suffer for doing what is right than for doing what is wrong. The Lord has your back. Trust Him.

I have faced this a couple of times. Each time I have prayed and then gone to the leader in question and made my opposition known. So far, each time the Lord had gone before me and had softened this person’s heart. They heard me. The turned from their announced course of action. That confrontation actually brought us closely.

Lord, lead me down Your path, even when that means I have to stop following those over me. I have one Master – You.

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Accountability, Bible, Choices, Condemnation, Destruction, Judgment, Obedience, Punishment, Rejection, Scripture, Sin

MORE PEOPLE, MORE SIN

HOSEA 4:7

“The more they multiplied, the more they sinned against Me; I will change their glory into shame.”

I’ve been in crowds that have gotten out of control. You may have heard of the mob mentality. People feed off of each other. One bad decision leads to another bad decision. Before you know it, evil is reigning freely. It’s not a comfortable situation in which to find yourself.

Hosea tells us in today’s verse that as the numbers of people grew in the nation, the sin grew. God had promised to multiply Abraham’s seed as the stars in the sky. But as the numbers increased so did their sin. Instead of praising God for blessing them, they increased their sinning against Him.

APPLICATION

We are the same. The more God blesses us, the more we seem to turn against Him. All we have belongs to God, but we claim it as our own. In times of affluence, we forget about the very one who has sent His blessings our way. Why do we do that? Because we are just like the Israelites.

As you awake each day, take a moment to thank the Lord for all He has blessed you with. Thank Him for the bed you just got out of. Thank Him for the food you are about to eat for breakfast. Thank Him for your family. We have so much to praise Him for, don’t we?

Maybe you are going through a hard time right now and find it hard to thank Him. How about your breathe? How about one more day? We can always find something to thank Him for. He blesses us because He loves us. He doesn’t need our thanks, but it sure is good to tell Him anyway. Stop being part of that thankless crowd and tell the Lord today just how thankful you are.

I am so thankful, Lord, for all the blessings You give me daily. There is no way words can express my thanks.

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Accountability, Advice, Affliction, Bible, Darkness, Deceit, Deception, Judgment, Lies, Light, Obedience, Punishment, Satan, Scripture, Sin

STUMBLING

HOSEA 4:5

“So you will stumble by day, and the prophet also will stumble with you by night; And I will destroy your mother.”

Have you ever stumbled in the dark? Without a good light it is so easy. Since my chemotherapy I have developed pretty severe neuropathy in my feet. I can stumble so easily without shoes. I have to be very careful, whether I am walking in the dark or in the light. Stumbling is a real possibility.

Hosea is not referring to that kind of stumbling. He is talking about a spiritual stumbling. The Israelites had closed their eyes to God and were stumbling everywhere. Even the priests were stumbling. God warns them, through Hosea, that He was going to destroy their mother, referring to Jerusalem. That happened in the midst of their stumbling.

APPLICATION

How can you prevent spiritually stumbling? Just like physical stumbling, a good source of light can prevent most accidents. We have to keep the light of the Word shining brightly in our lives. That means we have to study it daily. You cannot get by with just an occasional quiet time. You need the equivalent of a million lumens shining on you daily.

The light of the Word exposes the darkness. It lets you see the approaching enemy. The beam of His Word points out the dangers lurking in your path, set by the devil, that could bring you down. But when you shine the light on the path, God directs each step you take.

I know I need a daily dose of God’s Word to keep me walking safely. It is amazing how clear your path becomes when you are seeing it through the lense of God’s Word. God’s Word always clarifies. Stop the stumbling.

Lord, keep my feet safe. Shine Your light on my path so I can avoid the devil’s snares.

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Accountability, Bible, Brokenness, Choices, Destruction, Direction, Following, Judgment, Leading, Obedience, Punishment, Scripture, Surrender

LEADERLESS

HOSEA 3:4

“For the sons of Israel will live for many days without a king or leader, without sacrifice or memorial stone, and without ephod or household idols.”

I have had the displeasure of working in some places that were leaderless. In order to protect the “guilty” I won’t name those places. There is nothing more disconcerting than coming to work each day not knowing which direction you are headed. No one takes charge. No one leads. Everyone is just wandering aimlessly. It really is a helpless feeling.

Hosea shifts his thoughts back to Israel in today’s verse. Israel, as a result of its sin, would be without a king or leader. This prophecy, of course, came true. Israel and Judah were taken into exile. They had no king to lead them. They were left leaderless. They had lost sight of the fact that Jehovah was their only true king.

APPLICATION

Who is your leader? To whom do you look up to? If you place your trust in a man or woman, you will be disappointed. No one can lead you like the Lord. He is the only one that will never lead you falsely. He will always point you in the right direction. So, who are you following?

Perhaps you are a leader. Where are you leading those following you? Listen carefully. If you are leading, you are going to be held responsible. That’s right. You can’t claim you didn’t know. Leaders are held to a higher level of scrutiny. That means you must take your guidance from the Lord so you can lead biblically.

As a Pastor, I am held to a higher standard by my Lord. I am responsible for the flock He has given me to lead. I do not want to find out that I have been misled and have led poorly. I pray you don’t either. Will you join me in leading well? Will you join me in following Jesus? He is worthy to lead.

O Father, I do not want to be leaderless. I desire to follow You. I know You will always lead me correctly.

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Abiding, Accountability, Affection, Bible, Cleansing, Confession, Confrontation, Direction, Disciplemaking, Encouragement, Forgiveness, Intimacy, Mercy, Protection, Punishment, Redemption, Repentance

QUARANTINED

HOSEA 3:3

“Then I said to her, ‘You shall live with me for many days. You shall not play the prostitute, nor shall you have another man; so I will also be toward you.’”

Don’t you just hate that word “quarantine”? Over this past year chances are you have been quarantined due to the covid-19 virus. If you haven’t, you must have been living on a desert island all by yourself. It has been just about impossible to avoid at least one quarantine period due to infection or exposure. Frankly, I am a little tired of it. How about you?

Hosea brought Gomer back but basically quarantined her. She would not be given access to him or any other man. He provided for her and treated her kindly, but she had to remain quarantined for a period of time. Her past behavior required it. She needed a cleansing period before reentering her husband’s home.

APPLICATION

Aren’t you grateful that God doesn’t require us to go through a cleansing period after we sin? We come to Him just as we are and confess our failures. He forgives us and casts our sins away. It says in Psalm 103:12 that He removes them as far as the east is from the west. We are washed whiter than snow.

With that said, we are not free to sin and just confess it. Sin does have consequences. Deliberate sin even more. Let me ask you to take a look at your sin life. My what? you say. Your sin life. Look at the patterns of sin in your life. Is sin accidental or planned? God may just put you in quarantine to get some of that sin out of you. He will not let you just sin willy nilly and think it’s nothing. He does expect obedience from His children.

Just like Hosea still cared for Gomer, God cares for us despite our sin. But it does break His heart when we sin against Him. He wants to love us and care for us. If we are insistent on living how we want, we restrict how much love He is able to show us. Sin is deplorable to God. Don’t ever forget that. Come to Him today and confess whatever is on your heart.

Lord, I know you love me despite my failures. Help me walk in victory today and only come to You for forgiveness when I have tripped up and fallen into sin.

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Advice, Beauty, Bible, Blasphemy, Direction, Encouragement, Following, Judgment, Obedience, Punishment, Scripture

NOSE RINGS

HOSEA 2:13

“‘I will punish her for the days of the Baals when she used to offer sacrifices to them and adorn herself with her nose ring and jewelry, and follow her lovers, so that she forgot Me,’ declares the LORD.”

I have never understood the fascination with nose rings. I would not want someone to drill another hole in my nose. I’ve seen nose rings with chains that attached to an earring. I’ve seen simple studs in a nose. I’ve even seen large hoops hanging from the center of the nose, actually covering their mouth. If that’s your thing, have at it. I just don’t get it.

Now, that I have offended half of you, lol.  Gomer was all about her nose rings and jewelry. But you need to understand something. She was doing that to make herself more presentable to her false gods. Israel was doing the same. They would dress up to worship the false gods that had infiltrated their land. It was all futility. God was going to show them that.

APPLICATION

What are you doing in the name of religion that is absolutely futile? We often dress up and put on airs to impress others in church. We pretend to be something we aren’t. We play the part well, don’t we? It used to be that people would dress to the nines with their suits or dresses. Now they see who can dress down the most. It seems jeans and sneakers have replaced the three-piece suit.

So, who are you trying to impress? It’s not about what you are wearing, is it? God could care less what we look like on the outside. It’s all about what is on the inside. You could have the most elaborate nose ring collection in the world, but it wouldn’t impress a holy God.

I want to ask you to examine how you come to worship. Do you come humbly, asking the Lord to teach you? Or are you coming to church to just hang with your friends and see what others are looking like? Will you step back and just take a look in the mirror before you leave your house for worship. Who are you dressing for?

Lord, I want to come before You in all humility. I also want to dress in a way that honors You.

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