The trumpet has sounded and the eagle (or vulture) is hovering. Hosea uses these pictures to alarm Israel to the imminence of judgement. They had worn out the patience of God and this is no mean feat. It is not that God was requiring some onerous thing from them that they should avoid him. All God asked is that they turn to him and trust him. But they persisted in ignoring God, even though they made token gestures of acknowledging him. Instead of seeking God they turned to other nations and made alliances, even with Assyria. Israel sold herself into slavery to the nations rather than reach out for God. But these alliances would not only prove fruitless; the nations that they trusted in would eventually swallow them up. It is remarkable how averse we can be to trusting God. The human heart is so deeply resistant to God, and so attached to independence, that it takes no small amount of intentionality to go against this. Our natural tendency is to fall away from God. If you aren’t concentrating and living by faith intentionally, then you will drift the other way. It is easy not to pray and seek God and it is counter intuitive to do so. How easy it is to go day after day without giving God a thought! For this reason, we must intentionally work against our deepest inclinations and learn to follow the promptings of God’s Spirit within us. Seek and pray to God often. Ask him to lead you to a life of greater faith. Ask him to wake you up if you are slipping away. Refuse to live without God.
Commit yourself to God.
Read Hosea 8
