Daily Devotional for Sunday, July 5

Israel’s Salvation

“For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king; and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days,” Hosea 3:4, 5.
When I was a young teenager, my friends and I did something that we should not have done and one of the the other parents found out about it and told my parents. I was convinced that my parents were very disappointed with me, and it caused me a lot of shame. I felt very disconnected from my parents and uncomfortable for them to even see me. I remember thinking that I could not wait to get to church because I knew that I would feel safe there. I knew that the Lord had forgiven me, but I still was not sure about my parents or what my friends parents would think of me.
The people of Israel would have to go through a very long period of being removed from their land and the house of the Lord. Even though the Lord would punished them for their sin, the Lord always had a plan to restore them back into their land and be the One that would save them. This, of course, would be conditioned on them seeking the Lord their God (Hosea 3:5). In that day will they say, “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation” (Isaiah 12:2). Ultimately, the Lord will finish up his determined time of punishment and restoration with Israel in the times of the end (Daniel 9:24-27).

REFLECTION
How long have you gone in your sin without the Lord? Have you longed for the salvation from your sins that can only come from the Lord?

Tim Chambers