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In Hosea 7, God gives us four pictures of Ephraim (Israel).
Israel was compared to an overheated oven
(7:4); a half-baked bread (7:8); a silly dove (7:11); and a
deceitful bow (7:16). These four pictures are illustrations
of the nature, the depth and the consequences of Israel’s
sins.
+ Do not be a half-hearted believer. “Let your heart
therefore be perfect with the LORD our God, to walk in his
statutes, and to keep his commandments” (1 Kings 8:61).
Sowing the Wind
Hosea 8:7 gives us the law of harvest – we will reap what we
have sown (Proverbs 22:8; Galatians 6:7-8). Hosea 8 presents
the picture of the farmer sowing, but he does not take into
consideration the importance of his actions. The man sowing
the wind is playing the fool; it is to live life without
purpose and oblivious of God’s will. Sowing the wind is the
neglect of the graces and the gifts that God has bestow upon
a person.
+ Do not waste your life. Take the opportunities and
talents that God has given you to glorify Him.
The people of Israel were sowing the wind by…
·
Transgressing the Law of God (8:1). This is to reject God
and His commandments.
·
Transgressing the Covenant of God (8:1). This to repudiate
the relationship with God.
·
Embracing idolatry (8:3-5, 11, 14).
+ Be careful of building altars of sin (8:11) in your
life.
Reaping the whirlwind
The law of the harvest means that with every sowing, there
will be a reaping. “Our deeds are the seeds which will be
multiplied in harvest.”
A. You Reap What You Have Sown
The kind of seeds you sow will determine the kind of harvest
that you will reap (10:12-13; Galatians 5:19-23; 6:7-8).
+ Be careful what you sow (Proverbs 11:18).
B. You Reap After You Have Sown
The fruit of your sowing is not immediately known. Example:
Adam did not immediately die after eating of the forbidden
fruit. David did not suffer the consequences of his sin of
adultery until much later in his life. On the positive side,
it also means that our sowing of blessings will bring forth
an abundant reaping.
+ “Be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the
work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is
not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58; Galatians
6:9)
C. You Reap Disproportionately to What You have Sown
This disproportionate effect can be seen in two ways. First,
in the sense that a person’s futility in his pursuit of this
world’s goods. His sowing produces emptiness (8:7b; 2:6;
Ecclesiastes 5:10).
Second, the disproportionate effect can also be
seen in the multiplication of the effects of our sins. The
children of Israel were sowing to the wind, but little did
they know that they would be reaping the whirlwind.
+ “For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh
reap corruption” (Galatians 6:8a)
D. You Cannot Not Sow
Whether we like it or not, we are all sowing. By default, we
are sowing the wind and reaping the whirlwind. To sow
righteousness and reap mercy, we must “break the fallow
ground” (10:12)
+ You cannot not sow. Christians must consciously and
persistently do right.
Conclusion
What is true of sin – reaping more than we have sown – is
also true of the sowing of the Gospel seed. The seed that
fell on good ground will bring “forth fruit, some an
hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold” (Matthew
13:8).
We can sow the Gospel seed because of the
redemptive work of our Lord Jesus Christ (John 12:24). We
are the fruit of His sowing. And we must now bring forth
fruit (John 15:16). Let us be those who “sow in tears” and
“reap in joy” (Ps. 126:5-6)
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