Sep 15, 2022
HOSEA 13-14:
Yesterday’s reading had this significant
prophecy, prefaced by the words that God would not come to totally
destroy:
Hos.
11:10 NLT For someday the people will follow me.
I,
the LORD, will roar like a lion.
And
when I roar,
my
people will return trembling from the west.
11
Like a flock of birds, they will come from
Egypt.
Trembling
like doves, they will return from Assyria.
And
I will bring them home again,”
says
the LORD.
Hosea begins chapter 13 speaking against the tribe of Ephraim, but in the prophetic writings, that one tribe often stands for the whole northern kingdom. So the heading in the NLT says, “The LORD’s Anger against Israel.”
PROVERBS 25b:
Interesting and varied proverbs today include
this:
Pro.
25:20 NLT Singing cheerful songs to a person with a heavy heart
is like taking someone’s coat in cold weather or pouring vinegar in
a wound.
MATTHEW 7a:
Yesterday’s reading in the second half of
chapter 6 dealt with the subject of complete trust in God for all
that we need, seeking first the kingdom of God (meaning putting
God’s will as your top priority), and not bowing down at the altar
of money or material gain.
A part of that chapter which is often glossed over is this:
Mat.
6:22 NLT “Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body.
When your eye is good, your whole body is filled with
light.
23
But when your eye is bad, your whole body is filled with darkness.
And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep
that darkness is!
In Biblical culture, an ‘evil’ or ‘bad’ eye was one that is greedy. So this figurative speech is actually right on topic for this section. Note that our eye will be full of light if we keep our eyes on Jesus— like we read in Philippians 3.
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.