(REFLECTIONS ON Hosea 12:1-14)

1 Ephraim feeds on wind,
And pursues the east wind continually;

What happens when we feed on wind? Aren’t we just filled with a lot of hot air with no actual substance? That is what Ephraim or Israel experiences when they pursue the east wind continually, that is trying to depend on Assyria and Egypt rather than on the Lord that has known them since before they were a nation.

What happens sometimes when we are too hungry and we scarf down a meal? Besides enjoying the food, we also inhale a lot of air, and this air can create bubbles in our stomach giving us that bloated feeling.

God’s word is the bread of life, the substance and sustenance we need each day to fill us, satisfy us, and make us full. However, when we fill ourselves with too much air, like Israel feeding on the wind, then what we will be left with is a bloated and unsatisfied hunger.

6 Therefore, return to your God,
Observe kindness and justice,
And wait for your God continually.

Why would Israel go and feed on the emptiness of the wind, and pursue the east wind continually? Is it because they had lost sight of the Lord and became impatient rather than waiting for their God continually? Do we see the contrast held together by the word “continually” in today’s Scripture?

Brothers and sisters, no matter what circumstances we are living in now or in the future, are we willing to wait for our God continually? Or, will we be like Israel and rather than trusting in the Lord, trust in ourselves, and pursue other things, other people, other gods continually instead?

The gift of waiting in the Lord is that it builds endurance, builds trust in the Lord that has overcome, and helps us to be a people that overcomes in Him.

The gift of waiting in the Lord is remaining connected to the God that called us through Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit and knew us from before we were born, rather than putting our trust in a world that in many ways do not truly understand us.

The gift of waiting in the Lord is that the God that created the heavens and earth, that sacrificed His Son Jesus Christ for the sins of the world, and that works through the Holy Spirit in us will sustain us not only for a moment, filling our empty stomachs with wind, but continually filling us with the bread of life so that we will not hunger.

Pastor Michael Lu
Enduring Word Bible Commentary: Hosea 12