Baalim (10:00)

The book of Hosea presents us with dark days for God’s people. The problem with Israel is summarized in the second verse of the first chapter:

the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD

Israel, being God’s people, and a picture of the church and of believers, demonstrates one of the most frustrating characteristics of humanity:  it is called the “preferential looking paradigm” referring to “the principle that we are attracted to novelty and prefer to look at new things.”

Another accompanying principle is habituation, “the predictable loss of interest that develops once a stimulus becomes familiar.”

From the time they left Egypt, the people of Israel had difficulty remaining focused in their service to God, becoming carried away with the gods of the heathen and bringing God’s judgment upon them.

Look in Judges 2;

Jdg 2:10  … there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.

Jdg 2:11  And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim:

The people would lose interest in God and would take up service and devotion to other gods. God, however, being full of mercy and grace, has an unconditional love for his people. Regardless of how abominable the people had become, he would always take them back when they repented, mostly after being afflicted by their enemies.

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