Allen J. Huth warmly invites you to reflect upon God’s enduring call for us to return to Him, inspired by Hosea Chapter 6. With personal anecdotes and thoughtful insights from extensive Bible reading journals, uncover the essence of loyal devotion over mere sacrifice. Gain practical advice on maintaining a consistent Bible reading habit, supported by resources from the Ezra Project. Be inspired by the story of a young boy and his grandfather, illustrating how regular engagement with the scriptures can clean and transform one’s life, even when understanding seems elusive. This episode serves as a reminder of the binding
Welcome to ADDBIBLE, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. We join Allen J. Huth as he shares Bible passages and comments from over 30 years of his personal Bible reading journals.
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Today we are in Hosea chapter 6. We will listen to Hosea 6 from our guest reader, my wife Terri, the 11 verses.
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Hosea chapter 6. Come, let us return to the Lord, for he has torn us, that he may heal us. He has struck us down, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us, and on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord. His going out is sure as the dawn. He will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth. What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? But, like Adam, they transgressed the covenant. There they dealt faithlessly with me. Gilead is a city of evildoers, tracked with blood. As robbers lie in wait for a man, so the priests band together. They murder on the way to Shechem. They commit villainy. In the house of Israel, I have seen horrible things. Ephraim’s whoredom is there. Israel is defiled.” For you also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed when I restore the fortunes of my people.
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Before I get into Hosea chapter 6, I want to discuss Bible reading. In these podcasts, I refer to my journals from various years. These are my personal Bible reading journals. I started journaling my Bible reading in 1983. I have over 30 years of Bible reading journals. As I prepared to record Hosea, I looked back through all those journals, and I learned that I read Hosea some 15 times since 1983. Sometimes I read a book of the Bible a chapter a day. Sometimes it’s several chapters a day, or portions of chapters, depending on what reading plan I’m using in a particular year. I vary my Bible reading plans year to year to keep my Bible reading fresh. Sometimes I read the Bible cover to cover, from Genesis to Revelation. Sometimes I read it chronologically, a different order than the Bible is arranged. Sometimes I only read the Old Testament, or sometimes I read just the New Testament. Other years I read a book at a time, or maybe even a book a month. I encourage you to not only listen to these podcasts, but read the Bible each and every day. I have done so for over 40 years. If you want some resources to help you get started or change the way you’ve been reading your Bible, visit EzraProject.net. We have some Bible reading journals and schedules to assist you. We even have a reading plan each year on our website so you can follow along with what I’m reading. So I encourage you to enjoy a portion of God’s Word each and every day. And again, if you need some resources to help you, visit EzraProject.net. Go to our resources page and see what we have to offer. Now back to Hosea chapter 6. I said all that to say that back in 1999, I’ve mentioned before that I read Hosea in four days. And so I haven’t had journal entries on every chapter in this book. But on this day, when I was reading Hosea 5 through 8, I did have some journal entries on chapter 6. I quoted verse 3. So let us press on to know the Lord. And then I quoted verse 6, For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, and in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. What you’ll notice in my journal entries in 1999 was sometimes I just quote a verse that meant something to me and write it down in my journal. So Bible journaling does not have to be intimidating. It’s just a way to capture your thoughts about what God is speaking to you as you read His Word. Other times I write a little bit more, like in 2007 when I wrote, To have hope, we must return to the Lord. Press on to know the Lord. But God knows whether we are sincere or not. For your loyalty is like a morning cloud and like the dew which goes away early, according to verse 4. He wants our sincere loyalty. That’s verse 6. In 2012, I noticed that I was writing this journal entry in Nashville, Tennessee. So sometimes it’s Alabama, sometimes it’s Tennessee. I do get to travel a lot, but travel never stops me from keeping in God’s word on a daily basis. So on this day, I was in Nashville, Tennessee, And I was reading Hosea 6, and I wrote, He has torn us that he may heal us. That’s quoting verse 1. God’s discipline is to bring us back to him. God wants our steadfast, consistent love. He restores. So from these journal entries, you can see that sometimes I just quote a verse, or sometimes I just write a phrase. I capture the major thought from the chapter and what it means to me that day. And sometimes I write a little bit more, a narrative. My encouragement to you, though, is that if you struggle with Bible reading, if you don’t quite remember what you’ve read or what you got out of the scriptures, try journaling. It will change the way you read the Bible. If you know that you’re going to write something down after the passage you read, You’ll pay more attention. You’ll listen to the Lord. And you’ll see what you’re really getting out of the scriptures. So journaling can change the way you read the Bible. And I encourage you to try it. Hosea chapter 6 begins with verse 1 saying, Come, let us return to the Lord. For he has torn us that he may heal us. He has struck us down and he will bind us up. So the theme continues in Hosea. God continually asks us to return to him. But Israel fails to do so, and maybe we fail to do so. Verse 4 says, What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away. Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets, I have slain them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light. In verse 7 he says, But like Adam they transgressed the covenant. There they dealt faithlessly with me. And verse 10 says, In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing. Ephraim’s whoredom is there. Israel is defiled. So the theme of Hosea continues. God continually asks Israel to come back to him. But they are a stubborn people and they continue to reject the offer. May it not be so with us. Lord, keep us in your word so that we can keep close to you. As we keep close to you, we’re less likely to wander off. Continue to teach us. Continue to draw us back to you through your word. We give you thanks for the word of God. In Jesus’ name, amen. Thank you for listening to AdBible. Though the Bible can be read at the speed I’m speaking in about 78 hours, surveys show we don’t read it. How many of you have ever read the Bible cover to cover? How many have tried and failed? I want to encourage you to try it again. I want to share with you what I call the Triple I Doctrine and some powerful reasons to stay in your Bible daily. I begin with a verse from 2 Peter 1.21. But holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. That’s how we got the Bible. The Holy Spirit moved holy men of God to write it, all of it. Because He did, we can now look at the Triple I Doctrine, the inspired, infallible, inerrant Word of God. But what do these terms mean? Inspired means God-breathed. 2 Timothy 3.16 says, What does infallible mean? It means no potential or ability to err. Totally reliable. It cannot contradict itself. And Hebrews 6.18 says, And the last one is inerrant. What does that mean? It means it’s technically correct. It’s free from falsehood and deceit. Wholly true. It’s doctrine. It’s history. It’s science. It’s geography. And Matthew 5.18 says, For assuredly I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. And Revelation 22, 18 and 19 say, For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book, if anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book. And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the book of life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. So the Triple I Doctrine is reason enough to be in God’s Word each day. But in case you need more encouragement, here are three more thoughts. First, improve your spiritual maturity. According to Barna Research, of the seven dimensions in which Americans were asked to rate their faith maturity, Bible knowledge ranked dead last. So if you want to improve your spiritual maturity, stay in God’s Word daily. Number two is develop a dynamic relationship with God. Dr. Woodrow Kroll, former president of Back to the Bible, wrote a book called Taking Back the Good Book. He said, When people tire of reading the Bible, it’s because they read it for the wrong reasons or in the wrong way. They read the Bible to gain knowledge, store facts, or pick up a few principles to live by. When you see the Bible as a means to a dynamic relationship with God, you can’t get enough of it because you can’t get enough of Him. And the third thought is to be transformed. Don’t read the Bible to be informed. Read it to be transformed. And I’m going to share a fun little story with you about being transformed by the Word of God. It’s about an old man who lived on a farm in the mountains of Kentucky with his young grandson. Each morning, Grandpa was up early, sitting at the kitchen table reading from his old worn-out Bible. His grandson, who wanted to be just like him, tried to imitate him in any way he could. One day the grandson asked, Papa, I try to read the Bible, just like you, but I don’t understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Bible do? The grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and said, Take this coal basket down to the river and bring back a basket of water. The boy did as he was told, even though all the water leaked out before he got back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, You’ll have to move a little faster next time and send him back to the river with the basket to try again. This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was impossible to carry water in a basket, and he went to get a bucket instead. The old man said, I don’t want a bucket of water. I want a basket of water. You can do this. You’re just not trying hard enough. And he went out the door to watch the boy try again. At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out before he got far at all. The boy scooped the water and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather, the basket was again empty. Out of breath, he said, See, Papa, it’s useless. So you think it’s useless, the old man said. Look at the basket. The boy looked at the basket, and for the first time, he realized that the basket looked different. Instead of a dirty old coal basket, it was clean. Son, that’s what happens when you read the Bible. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, it will change you from the inside out. So read the Bible so you can improve your spiritual maturity, develop a dynamic relationship with God, and be transformed, not informed. The Bible came to us from the Holy Spirit, directed by holy men of God. The triple I doctrine reminds us it’s inspired, God-breathed, infallible, without error, and inerrant, technically correct, and wholly true. Read it to grow spiritually, develop a dynamic relationship with God, and be transformed.
