IIT UBF - University Bible Fellowship at IIT

Daily Bread

How Can I Give You Up?

Date: Jun. 23, 2019

Passage

Hosea 11:1-11 (ESV)

  When Israel was a child, I loved him,
    and out of Egypt I called my son.
  The more they were called,
    the more they went away;
  they kept sacrificing to the Baals
    and burning offerings to idols.
  Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk;
    I took them up by their arms,
    but they did not know that I healed them.
  I led them with cords of kindness,
    with the bands of love,
  and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws,
    and I bent down to them and fed them.
  They shall not return to the land of Egypt,
    but Assyria shall be their king,
    because they have refused to return to me.
  The sword shall rage against their cities,
    consume the bars of their gates,
    and devour them because of their own counsels.
  My people are bent on turning away from me,
    and though they call out to the Most High,
    he shall not raise them up at all.
  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.
  I will not execute my burning anger;
    I will not again destroy Ephraim;
  for I am God and not a man,
    the Holy One in your midst,
    and I will not come in wrath.
10   They shall go after the LORD;
    he will roar like a lion;
  when he roars,
    his children shall come trembling from the west;
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.

Daily Bread

Key Verse: 11:8

  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.

1. God's tender love to Israel (1-7)

God called the descendants of Abraham out of Egypt, led them, grew them, and cared for them, just like parents who feed their children and teach them to walk. God's goal was to build an eternal love relationship with his people. But the more God called them, the more they turned away to idols. Because they were determined to turn from him, God would frustrate their plans. We can grow when we recognize God's personal care upon our lives.

2. "My compassion is aroused" (8-11)

After all the proclamations of judgment and punishment, God reveals his inner heart of love for his people. God's love for his people is unchanging. Even though he devastated the nation, he would not treat them the same as the Gentiles. The holy God is not changeable like people. At the right time he would call them with a lion's roar, and they would return and settle in their homes.

Prayer: Father, thank you for your unchanging love for me in Jesus Christ. Help me to live by depending on your love.

One Word: God never gives up his children

Daily Bread

God Restores Eden

Revelation 22:1-9

Key Verse: 22:3

No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.

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Intro Daily