“Hear this, O priests! Take heed, O house of Israel! Give ear, O house of the king! For yours is the judgment, because you have been a snare to Mizpah and a net spread on Tabor. The revolters are deeply involved in slaughter, though I rebuke them all. I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me; For now, O Ephraim, you commit harlotry; Israel is defiled.” (vv.1-3)
When God saw the sinful state of the nation of Israel, He saw that it was because the leaders did not lead in a godly way. It would be tempting for the priests to blame the people, but it was really the fault of the spiritual leadership (priests) and political leadership (house of Israel) of the nation. They were corrupt cheaters. The kind of men who would change property boundaries to their advantage if they thought they could get away with it.
Ephraim’s sinned by living by man’s standards and opinions, instead of God’s. We can’t walk by human precept unless we first reject God’s precepts, and that was exactly what Israel did - being foolish enough to trust in man (her eventual conqueror) instead of trusting in God. Choosing a King Jareb instead of the LORD, was never going to end well for them.
The real tragedy of Israel’s sin wasn’t so much that they stumbled. It was more so that they did not respond to God’s rebuke when they did stumble. If a man knows how to humbly respond to God’s correction, He will always work with him.
The Truth: “If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin, and to cleans us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
When God saw the sinful state of the nation of Israel, He saw that it was because the leaders did not lead in a godly way. It would be tempting for the priests to blame the people, but it was really the fault of the spiritual leadership (priests) and political leadership (house of Israel) of the nation. They were corrupt cheaters. The kind of men who would change property boundaries to their advantage if they thought they could get away with it.
Ephraim’s sinned by living by man’s standards and opinions, instead of God’s. We can’t walk by human precept unless we first reject God’s precepts, and that was exactly what Israel did - being foolish enough to trust in man (her eventual conqueror) instead of trusting in God. Choosing a King Jareb instead of the LORD, was never going to end well for them.
The real tragedy of Israel’s sin wasn’t so much that they stumbled. It was more so that they did not respond to God’s rebuke when they did stumble. If a man knows how to humbly respond to God’s correction, He will always work with him.
The Truth: “If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin, and to cleans us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
