Fri.’s Devo - Judgment by Fire

Read: Hosea 10:1-14:9; Jude 1:1-25; Psalm 127:1-5; Proverbs 29:15-17
Hosea gave Israel a picture of their history as a nation. They had grown and prospered. Instead of letting God be their king they had rejected him and made idols out of wood and altars out of mortar. He called Ephraim and Judah back to the Lord so that God could bless them. But, they chose to do evil and believe a lie. They trusted in their own strength and the strength of their army which could not save them.
God had called his children out of Egypt with Moses but the more he called them, the more they ran the opposite direction.
God didn’t want to have to treat them like Admah or Zeboim who were two of the five cities destroyed along with Sodom and Gomorrah. In other words, God did not want to have to judge them and destroy them too. In all their sins, God would rather have compassion. Ephraim had made alliances with Assyria and Egypt, wooing God’s enemies.
God understands man’s struggles with Him as long as man learns the truth and humbles himself before God. Jacob struggled for things that were not lawfully his, like the birthright and the blessing. He got both when he cried out to the Lord, after struggling with the angel all night.
God had led Israel by Moses out of Egypt but they worshiped Baal and the golden calves. When they asked for a king, he gave them one which he had to take away because of his disobedience. Israel and Ephraim stored up their sin until now and God was ready to repay. They will lose it all but one day return to Him and be restored.
Jude is one of the most interesting books in the Bible to me. It gives us a glimpse into the angels who rebelled against God in Genesis 6 and are now being held in chains awaiting judgment. They committed sexual perversion having sex with human women and having offspring with them. God compared their sin to Sodom and Gomorrah’s sin. Both caused the Lord to judge them and destroy them from the face of the earth. They are a picture of the final judgement which will be by fire also.
Jude gives us a picture of false prophets who prophecy their words without any fear of God. They do it for money and man’s worship. Deepest darkness has been received for them. Even Enoch warned of these deceivers. The answer to how to avoid being deceived by them is to build yourself up by praying in the Holy Spirit. God is able to keep us from falling and present us faultless before God.
Lord, help us to be busy building a temple in our hearts for the Holy Spirit to dwell.