Delicious Grapes and Stubborn Calves
Ponder: God delights in His people. How do we treat Him in return?
Scripture: “For Israel is stubborn, like a stubborn calf” (Hosea 4:16 NKJV).
As Hosea’s unfaithful wife broke his heart, so unfaithful Israel broke God’s heart. Lukewarm Christians break His heart today! Amid rebukes and prophecies of doom, God made it crystal-clear to His people how deeply He loved them and longed for them to return to Him.
“I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness . . . as the firstfruits on the fig tree in its first season” (Hosea 9:10). Picture yourself in the dry, dusty desert. You are hot, tired, thirsty, hungry, and just plain miserable. Suddenly you see them! Clusters of ripe grapes hang from a fine, and sweet, tender figs adorn the branches of a young tree. Delicious! That’s how God felt when He rescued Israel from Egyptian slavery and made a covenant with them at Mount Sinai. What a delight Israel was to Him!
Sad to say, they began disappointing Him almost immediately. Even during the wilderness wandering, they frequently resorted to idolatry and fornication. By Hosea’s time (about seven centuries later), Israel was so corrupt that God was about to send them into captivity in Assyria. Hosea used another simile to describe the wayward nation: “For Israel is stubborn, like a stubborn calf” (4:16). Stubborn calves plant their hooves in the ground and will not be led! (Are any 4-H or FFA folks reading this? Can you identify?) Or, a stubborn calf yoked to a cart may just refuse to pull.
Israel stubbornly refused to be led by God’s law. They rejected the yoke of service God placed upon them. When the Lord sent His prophets to call them to repentance, Israel rebuffed them.
Do you know people who balk at the leading of God’s word? Before pointing your finger, look in the mirror! Beloved, let us not be like a stubborn calf!
In a future devotional, we’ll look at additional similes Hosea used to describe Israel. They, too, will apply to us in the church.
Song: “Where He leads me I will follow”
Prayer: Father, we thank You for loving us and delighting in us. Help us not to disappoint you, but to submit willingly to Your leading through Your word. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Joe Slater (Justin, TX)