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Prophets and Kings
be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his
roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be
as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon. They that dwell under
His shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the
vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon. Ephraim shall
say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, and
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observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From Me is thy fruit found.
“Who is wise, and he shall understand these things?
Prudent, and he shall know them?
For the ways of the Lord are right,
And the just shall walk in them:
But the transgressors shall fall therein.”
Hosea 14:4-9
.
The benefits of seeking God were strongly urged. “Seek ye Me,”
the Lord invited, “and ye shall live: but seek not Bethel, nor enter
into Gilgal, and pass not to Beersheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into
captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought.”
“Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the Lord, the
God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken. Hate the evil, and
love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the
Lord God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.”
Amos
5:4, 5, 14, 15
.
By far the greater number of those who heard these invitations
refused to profit by them. So contrary to the evil desires of the impeni-
tent were the words of God’s messengers, that the idolatrous priest at
Bethel sent to the ruler in Israel, saying, “Amos hath conspired against
thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all
his words.”
Amos 7:10
.
Through Hosea the Lord declared, “When I would have healed
Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the wickedness
of Samaria.” “The pride of Israel testifieth to his face: and they do not
return to the Lord their God, nor seek Him for all this.”
Hosea 7:1, 10
.
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From generation to generation the Lord had borne with His way-
ward children, and even now, in the face of defiant rebellion, He still
longed to reveal Himself to them as willing to save. “O Ephraim,” He