The Bible

 

Hosea 12

Study

   

1 Ephraim is enjoying wind, And is pursuing an east wind, All the day lying and spoiling he multiplieth, And a covenant with Asshur they make, And oil to Egypt is carried.

2 And a controversy hath Jehovah with Judah, To lay a charge on Jacob according to his ways, According to his doings He returneth to him.

3 In the womb he took his brother by the heel, And by his strength he was a prince with God,

4 Yea, he is a prince unto the Messenger, And he overcometh [by] weeping, And he maketh supplication to Him, At Bethel He doth find him, And there He doth speak with us,

5 Even Jehovah, God of the Hosts, Jehovah [is] His memorial.

6 And thou, through thy God, dost turn, Kindness and judgment keep thou, And wait on thy God continually.

7 Canaan! in his hand [are] balances of deceit! To oppress he hath loved.

8 And Ephraim saith: `Surely I have become rich, I have found wealth for myself, All my labours -- they find not against me iniquity that [is] sin.'

9 And I -- Jehovah thy God from the land of Egypt, Again do I turn thee back into tents, As in the days of the appointed time.

10 And I have spoken unto the prophets, And I have multiplied vision, And by the hand of the prophets I use similes.

11 Surely Gilead [is] iniquity, Only, vanity they have been, In Gilead bullocks they have sacrificed, Also their altars [are] as heaps, on the furrows of a field.

12 And Jacob doth flee to the country of Aram, And Israel doth serve for a wife, Yea, for a wife he hath kept watch.

13 And by a prophet hath Jehovah brought up Israel out of Egypt, And by a prophet it hath been watched.

14 Ephraim hath provoked most bitterly, And his blood on himself he leaveth, And his reproach turn back to him doth his Lord!

   

Commentary

 

Restore

  

Everyone knows the phrase "the natural order of things." It means that everything is in its proper place, occupying the niche it is meant to fill. There is also the phrase "the spiritual order of things," meaning that every spiritual thing is in its proper spiritual place, occupying the spiritual niche it is meant to fill. This is, of course, what the Lord intends for us, and happens when we accept life and love from Him by willing what is good and acting according to truth. Of course, things are frequently out of order, because even the best of us indulge in unhealthy self-obsession and attachment to the material world. Ideally, we will repeatedly turn to the Lord and ask for His help with the cleanup, putting things back where they belong in the "spiritual order of things." This is what is meant when the Bible talks about restoring things -- it means putting them back into their proper spiritual place.