Then they will seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”

Thank God I have an option for Physical Therapy – I can’t wait to stretch my muscles, I’m not sure what would damage and what is good for my hamstring pull and I have not been babying it much, healing on the go. It takes time. It’s not an alignment issue but an attachment one. That attachment restores alignment. 

I can’t complain, it will heal but need Physical Therapy to help to know which way to go. I’m looking forward to that. I joke a little bit of God touching Jacob’s hip as he struggled with God, and got Jacob’s attention. I was grumbling some last week about discomfort then drove by a one-legged man, oh, stop my grumbling… Similarly knowing past damage to my shoulder is completely healed – and so last week when I walked by a man with one arm, it was like seeing a child with one arm while mine was on the mend years ago, I again told myself to stop grumbling… Start stretching… 

I see in my reading about grumbling forgetful people who lived into generations of grumbling, and God knows they would have been better to count blessings and stretch. I feel like I have been reading a broken record in these chapters of Hosea, about Israel northern kingdom called Ephraim, the son of amazing Joseph, with the dreamcoat and amazing story going to Egypt and giving life-saving food for his brothers, father Jacob in a famine, and giving forgiveness to brothers who abandoned him. This now next few generations repeats the grumbling and eventually healing: Idolatry, abandonment, restoration. It’s both an attachment and alignment issue. They choose idols over God. 

Hosea writes of the long drift. “Ephraim” the son of Joseph’s name, is used for identifying the northern kingdom of Israel which drifted. With Judah not far behind, “Judah” (a brother of Joseph) being the identifier for the southern split kingdom. After Solomon’s line, it all fractured and yet a small remnant remained for God’s purpose of bringing Jesus through the line of David  who came from the line of Jacob, renamed Israel for the people of God. 

Maybe these people didn’t have the hip pain like Jacob to remind them to rely upon God, worship Him. Maybe our aches and pains are that too, not God inflicted but used for a God-convicted focused view to remember to rely upon Him. REATTACHMENT and RESTORATION.

WE ALL NEED OUR PHYSICAL THERAPIST IN JESUS… STRETCH US LORD, STRETCH OUT LOVE. 

AMEN 

—-

Hosea 4 and 5 NKJV

God’s Charge Against Israel

Hear the word of the Lord, You children of Israel, For the Lord brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land:

“There is no truth or mercy Or knowledge of God in the land. By swearing and lying, Killing and stealing and committing adultery, They break all restraint, With bloodshed upon bloodshed. Therefore the land will mourn; And everyone who dwells there will waste away With the beasts of the field And the birds of the air; Even the fish of the sea will be taken away.

“Now let no man contend, or rebuke another; For your people are like those who contend with the priest. Therefore you shall stumble in the day; The prophet also shall stumble with you in the night; And I will destroy your mother. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.

“The more they increased, The more they sinned against Me; I will change their glory into shame. They eat up the sin of My people; They set their heart on their iniquity. And it shall be: like people, like priest. So I will punish them for their ways, And reward them for their deeds. For they shall eat, but not have enough; They shall commit harlotry, but not increase; Because they have ceased obeying the Lord.

The Idolatry of Israel

“Harlotry, wine, and new wine enslave the heart. My people ask counsel from their wooden idols, And their staff informs them. For the spirit of harlotry has caused them to stray, And they have played the harlot against their God. They offer sacrifices on the mountaintops, And burn incense on the hills, Under oaks, poplars, and terebinths, Because their shade is good. Therefore your daughters commit harlotry, And your brides commit adultery. 

“I will not punish your daughters when they commit harlotry, Nor your brides when they commit adultery; For the men themselves go apart with harlots, and offer sacrifices with a ritual harlot. Therefore people who do not understand will be trampled.

“Though you, Israel, play the harlot, Let not Judah offend. Do not come up to Gilgal, Nor go up to Beth Aven, Nor swear an oath, saying, ‘As the Lord lives’— “For Israel is stubborn Like a stubborn calf; Now the Lord will let them forage Like a lamb in open country.

“Ephraim is joined to idols, Let him alone. Their drink is rebellion, They commit harlotry continually. Her rulers dearly love dishonor. The wind has wrapped her up in its wings, And they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.

Impending Judgment on Israel and Judah

“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.

“They do not direct their deeds Toward turning to their God, For the spirit of harlotry is in their midst, And they do not know the Lord. The pride of Israel testifies to his face; Therefore Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity; Judah also stumbles with them.

“With their flocks and herds They shall go to seek the Lord, But they will not find Him; He has withdrawn Himself from them. They have dealt treacherously with the Lord, For they have begotten pagan children. Now a New Moon shall devour them and their heritage.

“Blow the ram’s horn in Gibeah, The trumpet in Ramah! Cry aloud at Beth Aven, ‘Look behind you, O Benjamin!’ Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke; Among the tribes of Israel I make known what is sure.

“The princes of Judah are like those who remove a landmark; I will pour out My wrath on them like water. Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, Because he willingly walked by human precept. Therefore I will be to Ephraim like a moth, And to the house of Judah like rottenness.

“When Ephraim saw his sickness, And Judah saw his wound, Then Ephraim went to Assyria And sent to King Jareb; Yet he cannot cure you, Nor heal you of your wound. For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, And like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear them and go away; I will take them away, and no one shall rescue. I will return again to My place Till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”