Inductive Bible Study Hosea 2:8 4/20/15

Hosea 2:8 says, ”For she did not know that I gave her new grain, new wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold- which they prepared for Baal.”

So during my quiet time, I've been studying in the book of Hosea. Hosea was a prophet during a time where Israel was totally rebelling and pursuing other gods. God told Hosea to marry a harlot because He was making a symbol for His people. Hosea and his wife, Gomer, had a daughter and God told them to name her Lo-Ruhamah which means “not loved” or “no mercy”. And God told them to name one of their sons Lo-Ammi which means “not my people”. Most of the first two chapters of Hosea are God talking to His people through Hosea, telling them how they will be destroyed and He will turn away from them because of their adulterous sin.

In the verses surrounding this verse, God is talking about how He is going to take everything that they have from them so that they will turn back to Him. When they realize that the life they are choosing is fruitless and full of famine, He says that they will return to Him because they see that life was better for them then(2:7). In 2:8, He's saying that they didn't even realize that everything that they had came from Him. Aren't we like this so often? Everything that we have is from God. This isn't our world, and these aren't our bodies; nothing here belongs to us. God created everything and gives to us everything that we have. But I take all of this for granted. I forget that I wouldn't have anything if God didn't give it to me. So then when we make bad choices and turn from God, we get frustrated when opportunities don't work out or we lose the things that we had. Nothing I have is mine, so what makes me think that I can do whatever I want and still have all the blessings that I had when I was walking with God and trusting Him for everything?

Something else that I find interesting in this verse is when it says, ”which they prepared for Baal.” They took what God had given them and used them to worship other gods. This is something that I also tend to do. I use the talents and opportunities and other things that God has blessed me with and use them to pursue the things that I put above God.

Application:

So today, I will write “All I have is Yours” and post it on the wall above my bed so that I am reminded daily not to take the things that God has given me for granted.