Old Testament: Hos 13.2–3

To read the Bible in a year, read Hosea 12–14 on December 12, In the year of our Lord Christ 2022

By Don Ruhl 

The tribe of Ephraim represented the ten northern tribes in the same way that Judah represented the two southern tribes. Ephraim had become great, so much so that when Ephraim spoke, there was trembling in Israel (Hosea 13.1), but they eventually turned to idols: 

Now they sin more and more,
And have made for themselves molded images,
Idols of their silver, according to their skill;
All of it is the work of craftsmen.
They say of them,
“Let the men who sacrifice kiss the calves!”
Therefore they shall be like the morning cloud
And like the early dew that passes away,
Like chaff blown off from a threshing floor
And like smoke from a chimney.

– Hosea 13.2–3 

Many times had Israel had this problem, and eventually Judah did the same thing, and the Hebrew Scriptures show many other nations doing the same. 

This happens nationally, in whole denominations, in congregations, and in individuals. Perhaps you have seen this happen in others. They start out well, following the Lord, but as they become more comfortable with their faith, they start looking elsewhere for the answers to life, like Ephraim did, and they abandon the Lord. 

Keep yourself in the Lord that you may never commit the greatest mistake ever, that of falling away. 

Questions: 

• What did Hosea say Ephraim made for himself? 
• How long would Ephraim last, according to the last several lines? 

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Don preaches with the Savage Street Church of Christ in Grants Pass, Oregon. 

Listen to his sermons here: GrantsPassChurchOfChrist.com