Episode Details

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I praise and worship you, for you are good and upright, and without injustice. Lord, in my own heart I find such sin, such a devious bent toward sin. I am not worthy of the least of your mercies. O Lord, at the beginning of this day, as I open your word, O Lord be merciful to me. Speak, O Lord, cast me not away from your presence, take not your Holy Spirit from me. For the sake of the Lord Jesus, who died for me, please speak and renew my heart, be gracious to me, O Lord. Let your steadfast love be renewed to me this morning, O Lord, great is your faithfulness. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Reading

Hosea 1

The word of the Lord that came to Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.

When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.” 3. So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

4 And the Lord said to him, “Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. 5. And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.”

6. She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the Lord said to him, “Call her name No Mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all. 7. But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God. I will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.”

8. When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son. 9. And the Lord said, “Call his name Not My People, for you are not my people, and I am not your God.”

10. Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “Children of the living God.” 11. And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head. And they shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

Meditation

“Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout is a beautiful woman without discretion.” So we read in Proverbs 11:22. It’s a striking contrast isn’t it? First, you’ve got the image itself – a gold ring in a pig’s snout. It’s quite striking, try and imagine actually seeing this! There you are in a pig pen, the pigs are snorting, they’re bumping up against you and jostling among themselves to get the best of the swill. And the stench! All you can think about is getting out of there because of the stench! The pigs continue to squeal and snort, your gumboots are thick with mud, you keep slipping around on the ground, and there’s mud and muck getting smeared all over your clothes. Then you spot it – in the snout of one of these pigs you see a 24 carrot gold ring. You stare dumbly, struggling to really believe what you’re seeing. But, yes, sure enough, in the midst of all this filth, and in the ugly face of the pig itself, there’s a ring in its nose worth $20 000.

Now hold that image in your mind and consider further the shocking parallel that Solomon makes of this scene. “Like a ring a pig’s snout, so is a beautiful woman without discretion.” The woman who flaunts her beauty, which is a precious gift from God, she shows it off, she displays it for all to see. She tries to capture the eyes of men and arouse the envy of women, she uncovers her body in public ways. Yes, she may look beautiful, just like a $20 000 ring is beaut