Tag: Hosea 9-11
Un-plowed Ground
Scripture reading for September 9th: Hosea 9-11
“Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until He comes and showers righteousness on you. But you have planted wickedness, you have reaped evil, you have eaten the fruit of deception.” Hosea 10:12-13a
When I was younger, we would often plow under red clover that was sowed along with the oats crop. Red clover would produce nitrogen that would make the corn grow better the next year. The dirt turning over and the smell of that fresh soil was special. Usually a flock of seagulls would follow the plow to pick up worms and a chicken hawk would scout out scampering mice as they ran down the furrow. At night, coyotes and foxes would also come out and find rodents running in the furrows.
Hosea’s illustration was not about plowing dirt, but about the soil of hearts that had grown hard and had not produced a crop in a long time. The ground had to be broken up to receive the seed in hope of a crop. The sowing had to change, too. Instead of wickedness, false promises, lawsuits and idolatry, the people needed to sow a crop of righteousness so they could reap unfailing love. (Hosea 10:4-5, 12)
God often takes the weeds of our lives and uses them to become fertilizer for a good crop. For instance, if we were delivered from a life of drugs and drunkenness, we are able to minister to those who are bound by those habits. Someone else might have struggled with sexual temptations and upon breaking up their fallow ground, the old habits enable that person to minister to others who have similar strongholds. The plow has to be put to the hardened and overgrown ground to prepare it for the crop of righteousness.
Hosea encouraged the people to seek the Lord until He showered righteousness on them. We must ask and keep on asking, seek and keep on seeking until the answer and crop comes. Prayer keeps an open line with the Lord and keeps our ground broken and ready for a crop of righteousness. A broken and contrite heart, He will not despise! (Psalm 51:17)
Breaking up unplowed ground!
Scripture reading for September 7th: Hosea 9-11
“Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until He comes and showers righteousness on you. But you have planted wickedness, you have reaped evil, you have eaten the fruit of deception.” Hosea 10:12-13a
Hosea loved farming illustrations and so do I! I loved to plow ground when I was younger. We would often plow under red clover that was sowed along with the oats crop and it helped the corn grow next year. The dirt turning over and the smell of that fresh soil was special. Usually a flock of seagulls would follow the plow to pick up worms and a chicken hawk would scout out scampering mice as they ran down the furrow. At night, coyotes and foxes would also come out and find rodents running in the furrows.
Hosea’s illustration was not about plowing dirt, but about the soil of hearts that had grown hard and had not produced a crop in a long time. The ground had to be broken up to receive the seed in hope of a crop. The sowing had to change, too. Instead of wickedness, false promises, lawsuits and idolatry, the people needed to sow a crop of righteousness in order to reap unfailing love. (Hosea 10:4-5, 12)
God often takes the weeds of our lives and uses them to become fertilizer for a good crop. For instance, if we were delivered from a life of drunkenness, we are able to minister to those who are bound by that habit. Someone else might have struggled with sexual temptations and upon breaking up their fallow ground, the old habits enable that person to minister to others who have similar strongholds.
Waiting for the harvest required patience. Hosea encouraged the people to seek the Lord until He came and showered righteousness on them. We must ask, seek and knock in faith until the answer comes. Prayer keeps an open line with the Lord and keeps us moving forward in hope and expectation. He alone is our righteousness! (2nd Corinthians 5:21)
In summary, we must keep our heart’s soil soft and teachable through brokenness. As we sow righteousness by faith in Jesus Christ, we will reap the fruit of His eternal and unfailing love. A broken and contrite heart, He will not despise! (Psalm 51:17)
Plow That Fallow Ground!
Scripture reading for September 9th: Hosea 9-11
As a farmer, I learned that my farmland sometimes needed a rest. This was called letting the ground lie “fallow”. Occasionally we would be seed it down with a cover crop and let that crop grow and the land rest for a year. When it rested, weeds would also grow. Before they could go to seed in the fall, we would go out and plow that ground and turn all the cover crop and weeds under. That way the soil could be full of decaying plants and the next year it would produce a better crop.
“Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unpl
owed (fallow) ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until He comes and showers righteousness on you. You have planted wickedness, you have reaped evil, you have eaten the fruit of deception. Because you have depended on your own strength and on your many warriors.” (Hosea 10:12-13)
Right living according to God’s law and word brought a good crop for the Israelites. God’s unfailing love would bring blessing and a good harvest. But the Israelites had let their hearts rest and weeds of sin had grown up. Their land needed plowing! That fallow ground needed broken up. Hosea’s preaching was like the plow and God’s word was the plowshare that went into their hearts to break up the hardness and turn over the weedy growth! They had planted wickedness instead of righteousness and had eaten the fruit of deception. This is a reference to the Garden of Eden and the forbidden fruit that Eve and Adam ate! They depended on their own strength instead of God!
How like today this is in our own land! People have sown wickedness and our land is full of broken promises and false oaths. Lawsuits spring up everywhere. (Hosea 10:4) Guilt is upon the land and it’s people. Thorns and thistles, representing the curse of Genesis 3 are growing over the altars of wickedness. (Hosea 10:8) The fear of terror and war and economic hardship is in the air. The ground needs plowing!
How God yearns to love and have compassion on His wayward children! Let this ancient word from God do the work of the plow in the weeds of your heart! Sow righteousness and reap the crop of everlasting love! God will rain His righteousness upon you!
Break up the unplowed ground!
Scripture reading for September 9th: Hosea 9-11
“Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to see the Lord, until He comes and showers righteousness on you. But you have planted wickedness, you have reaped evil, you have eaten the fruit of deception.” Hosea 10:12-13a
Hosea loved farming illustrations and so do I! I loved to plow ground when I was younger. We would often plow under red clover that was sowed along with the oats crop. Red clover would produce nitrogen that would make the corn grow better the next year. It would be a lush crop and then we would plow it under. The dirt turning over and the smell of that fresh soil was special. Usually a flock of seagulls would follow the plow to pick up worms and a chicken hawk would scout out scampering mice as they ran down the furrow. At night, coyotes and foxes would also come out and find rodents running in the furrows. You could see them in the tractor lights as you plowed each round.
Hosea’s illustration was not about plowing dirt, but about the soil of hearts that had grown hard and had not produced a crop in a long time. The ground had to be broken up to receive the seed in hope of a crop. The sowing had to change, too. Instead of wickedness, false promises, lawsuits and idolatry growing and making bad seed, the people needed to sow a crop of righteousness so they could reap a crop of unfailing love. (Hosea 10:4-5, 12)
God often takes the weeds of our lives and uses those bad seeds to become fertilizer for a good crop. For instance, if we were delivered from a life of drugs and drunkenness, we are able to minister to those who are bound by those habits. Someone else might have struggled with sexual temptations and upon breaking up their fallow ground, the old habits enable that person to minister to others who have similar strongholds. The plow has to be put to the hardened and overgrown ground to prepare it for the crop of righteousness.
Waiting for the harvest requires patience. Hosea encourages the people to seek the Lord until He comes and showers righteousness on them. We must ask and keep on asking, seek and keep on seeking and knock and keep on knocking until the answer and crop comes. Prayer keeps an open line with the Lord and keeps us moving forward in hope and expectation.
In simple summary, we must keep our heart’s soil soft and teachable through brokenness. We must sow good seed of right living and make right choices to obey and follow God’s word and laws. As we sow righteous living, we will reap the fruit of His eternal and unfailing love. A broken and contrite heart, He will not despise! (Psalm 51:17)