The Purge

“And I said to her, ‘You must dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you.’ For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods. Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the Lord and to His goodness in the latter days.”

(Hosea 3:3-5)

As the month of July is underway, many people are reflecting on the first 6 months of the year, and if they are wise, will strategize how to make the remaining 6 months even more fruitful. If you’re anything like me, there are habits that I picked up in January-June that will be detrimental to the success of my year if I allow them to continue. Even now, I am sure you can picture some aspect of your life that you know is not conducive to a healthy personal, physical, financial, or spiritual life. In the book of Hosea, the prophet Hosea (go figure) details how his marriage to Gomer is an illustration for the state of Israel’s relationship with God. Gomer’s repeated acts of adultery are not only unacceptable in her marriage, but ought to bring us as readers to repentance as we examine our own hearts, and the ways we are unfaithful to the Almighty.

In this particular passage of Hosea, we catch a glimpse of God’s character, which is always the goal when reading scripture. God is a redeemer. In verses 1-2, we see how God instructs Hosea to continue loving his wife, even in light of her blatant acts of adultery. Now he doesn’t love her with the romantic Hollywood version of love, but with the agape love that God shows us—Hosea redeems Gomer from slavery! If we read this through carnal eyes, we’re thinking “could not be me! I wish my husband/wife would cheat on me!” But this highlights the great mystery of the love of God and how we are incapable of replicating such a love without the power of Holy Spirit within us.

After Hosea redeems his wife, he gives her an instruction that mirrors God’s command to the children of Israel. Both Gomer and the children of Israel are instructed to purge the very behaviors that got them bound to begin with. For Gomer, that was her unfaithfulness and probably her tendency to be in places she shouldn’t; with people she shouldn’t. For the Israelites, they had to go without idol worship, the leadership that led them away from God, the tools used to dabble in witchcraft…all of it. Here we learn an important lesson for deliverance: God is faithful to redeem us and deliver us from the snares of sin cycles. In fact, He did the hard part by sending Christ to die a death that would permanently make sin powerless over us! However, there is one step that lies in our control: the purge.

God has done his part to deliver us but we keep dabbling in the areas that keep us bound! What would you give up if you knew it would lead to your full restoration? Would you change what you listened to and watched? Would you humble yourself and find an accountability partner? Would you move jobs or cities if it meant you could truly force a system reset? In this season I believe God wants to revive his relationship with his people. He wants to be close to us in a way that we have drifted away from, or have never experienced. He wants to redeem and restore us completely so we are free to worship and serve Him with our whole hearts. However, we limit what God can do in our lives when we refuse to be all-in. Revival is near; a revival of repentance and returning hearts. This repentance must be more than “sorry” but a full reset. And I am going through it right with you.

Reflect:

-What are you choosing over God?

-In what ways have you been unfaithful to God like Gomer was unfaithful to Hosea?

-What is getting in the way of your full devotion?

Ask God to reveal what you should unplug from in order to reset your heart; and how you can replace those spaces with more of Him.

Praying with and for you,

Mik