Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for the Bible Recap.

Today we finished our 21st book of the Bible.

Josea continues today to prophesy to God's people, and he reminds them that there are consequences

for their sins. Their hearts have wandered far from God, and it doesn't just show up in their

religious practices. It shows up in their autonomous choice of leaders and how they don't consult

God about those decisions. It shows up in the way they look to other nations for help and pay tribute

to pagans instead of trusting

in God for their needs. Our relationship with God isn't isolated to where we spend our Sunday mornings.

Nearness to God impacts every area of our lives, and so does turning away from him.

They tried to solve the problem by becoming more religious, but they were just adding

false gods and pagan altars into the mix instead of turning to Yahweh. He compares their actions to

another tragic event we've read about. Remember back in Judges 19 when a man and his concubine

were traveling home and stopped to spend the night in the town of Gebeah and the tribe of

of Benjamin? Then a bunch of the leaders of Gabaea kidnapped her, raped her, beat her, and left her

for dead. God is saying that Israel as a whole has acted that way. Imagine a whole nation of people

who just do whatever they want to please themselves, harm others in the process,

and feel no remorse. And you may recall that the wicked actions of those leaders in the tribe

of Benjamin led to a major rift among the tribes. Sin brings division. As a result of the way

God's people have abused his blessings and forgotten him, God says he will reverse their

freedom. They will go back to Egypt and Assyria as captives and exiles. After all this time,

they still haven't learned to trust God. And after all this time, they'll return to their original

place of bondage in Egypt. This will serve as discipline for them, training them to trust him.

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