They got what they ask for

Hosea 13:10-16

When we get what we ask for, but it was not what we had hoped for, in fact, it was made very clear by the spokesmen of God, the ones we refer to as prophets, that it would not go well but we still wanted it, that is called delusional by people of sound minds.  But where can we find people of sound minds?  Verse 10, this question is asked; “Where now is your king, to save you in all your cities?  Where are all your rulers—those of whom you said, “Give me a king and princes”?  We also have God’s reply, for it was a rhetorical question, God was not waiting for a reply; “I gave you a king in my anger, and I took him away in my wrath.”

Do you recall the people of Israel wanting a king like all their neighbors had, but God was their king, and yet the people wanted to be like their neighbors?  You can read all about it in 1 Samuel chapter eight, where Samuel is getting old and the leaders and elders come to him asking for a king like all the neighboring countries have.  And God told Samuel to give them what they wanted, it was not Samuel they rejected but God, in fact, they have been doing that since I brought them out of Egypt but warn them of the price they are going to pay to have a king.

This is what Samuel revealed to them, and they still wanted a king; “So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him. He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”  (1 Samuel 8:10-18)

Now it is clear Israel was very prosperous, it was a good time, no one was giving notice to the fact they were only giving lip service to God, and more dependent on nations that had disdain for their way of life.  God had lifted His protective hand, and the leaders were interested only in living a good life no matter the cost to the nation, it reminds me of 2016 in the United States of America.  Hosea is yelling out the warning to all with ears to hear, but there is a problem, few have ears to hear, and yet the warning goes out, this is it: “Though he may flourish among his brothers, the east wind, the wind of the Lord, shall come, rising from the wilderness, and his fountain shall dry up; his spring shall be parched; it shall strip his treasury of every precious thing.  Samaria shall bear her guilt because she has rebelled against her God; they shall fall by the sword; their little ones shall be dashed in pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open.”  (Hosea 13:15-16)

If only a nation would seek God, He is merciful to a repentant person or nation; listen to Hosea 6:1-3, “Come, let us return to the Lord; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.  After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.
Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn;
he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.”

Nations are like people they are proud, arrogant, and foolish and most will not agree they missed the mark, they are ruined, messed up beyond repair, and only God’s favor can save them, and that is where we find ourselves in the USA.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice