Whole-Hearted Faith

2/20/26 Bible Thought (Hosea 13)

Photo by Zdeněk Macháček on Unsplash

Main Idea: God desires whole-hearted devotion from His people.

A Brief Backdrop:

God had said from the beginning of His covenant with Israel that they were to have no other gods (see Ex. 20:3-4). He made it clear that He was the One who delivered them from Egyptian slavery (Ex. 20:2). As such, because He was their Redeemer, He was entitled to their wholehearted devotion.

Yet, sadly enough, Israel’s history was marked with consistent departure from the Most High in favor of human invention. As we’ve already seen, the times of prosperity brought a departure from worship (Hos. 13:6).

A Look at the Text:

As a result, God would act in judgment. He would come like a lion, or leopard (Hos. 13:7). He would come as a bear robbed of her cubs (Hos. 13:8). With this, His goal was to showcase that He was the One who was actually their Help.

The people depended upon their idols. They depended upon their kings. They forsook God for that which was seemingly more practical. Walking by faith is hard. It’s much easier to have a visible idol. It’s easier to have a king they could follow into battle rather than the invisible God.

So, in judgment, God was going to show them just how foolish it was to depend upon these other things and how powerless they were to save compared to the God who could raise the dead (see Hos. 13:14).

Bringing it Home:

While we might not be in the same natural predicaments as ancient Israel, we, too, can be tempted to abandon faith in favor of more pragmatic things. It’s certainly easier, naturally speaking, when we can see the object of our devotion and the source of our salvation.

Yet, God has tasked us with walking by faith, not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7; see also Heb. 11:1).

Perhaps then, we ought to trust Him, even when, and especially when we cannot see. He is the God of dead-raising power. Nothing is too hard for Him. He might be invisible—but for Him, nothing is impossible.

Let us take heart knowing that the same God who brings judgment also brings salvation. The same God who kills is the God who gives life. The end of the story needn’t be death—it can be resurrection.

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Challenge:

Do I see God as my supreme Help? Or do I rush to other things?

Let us be careful not to replace faith with pragmatics, for He just might remove the other things, laying us bare, to make it clear where our dependence actually lies.