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Today's Little Lift

    by Jim Bullington

I Strengthened Their Arms (Hosea 7:15)
Date Posted: April 11, 2023

See if you can finish this sentence: “Don't bite the hand that ________ ______.” In the English language, this is one of countless picturesque idioms (a phrase whose meaning differs from the literal image that it portrays). Of course most folks will recognize that the two missing words are “feeds you.” The meaning of the phrase is simply this: Do not act in a way that hurts or neutralizes those upon whom you depend. Though the wording of today's focus verse is quite different from the idiom that we cited, the meaning is the same.

Here is the quote: “Though I [God] disciplined and strengthened their [Israel's] arms, Yet they devise evil against Me.” (Hosea 7.15). The training [disciplining] and strengthening of their arms was, of course, a figurative expression meaning that God gave Israel aid on every hand, much like a skilled physician helps a patient by bringing bruised and broken arms back to full use. God had provided that kind of care for Israel, and what had they done? In the figure, once they were nursed back to health, they used their restored and strengthened arms to do violence to the healer who had attended them! They bit the hand that fed them! They used the strength that God gave them to figure out ways of offending and dishonoring Him (see the books of Exodus through 2Chroniclces)!

While this may not seem terribly relevant to us due to the time frame in which these things happened (well over two thousand years ago), the charge could well be made in every generation and in every land. Wherever and whenever humans rebel against God, they are biting the hand that feeds them. This mentality ran rampant at the crucifixion of Jesus Christ! In the most selfless act ever to have been performed (the self-sacrifice of Jesus Christ), men performed the most selfish deeds imaginable. For instance, false witnesses were willing to tell lies about Jesus for a few coins in their purses. Judus, a feigned friend of Jesus, was willing to take the tiny sum of 30 silver coins to betray the one who had possibly been the only true friend he had ever had. In addition to the paltry sums received by a few people, others engaged in this orchestrated ruse merely to gain political advantage. Pilate was a most notable example of selling one's soul in order to win the approval of the masses.

Remembering that biting the hand that feeds us means that we “...act in a way that hurts or neutralizes those upon whom we depend,” we would do well to think before we blame God every time something in our life does not go the way we want it to. How frequently must God hear the pious prayers we offer only to be disappointed at the way we treat Him when we are not in an attitude of worship. James warned that a spring could not send forth both sweet and salt water (see James 3.11) He reinforced his rhetorical statement by writing, “Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.” (James 3.12). Yet, when our mouth praises God one minute and curses Him the next, it is like the well that yields both sweet and bitter water. Any sweetness present is more than offset by the vile taste of the salt that counteracts it.

In reality, we bite the hand that feeds us every time we harm the earth. We bite the hand that feeds us every time we do violence to the relationships of love that exist in our lives (parents, children, spouses, friends, etc.). On a more abstract note, we bite the hand that feeds us every time we act in a manner that is inconsistent with God's will for us (every time we sin). If we could only see this God-connection for what it is, I am confident that we would view the sacrifice of Jesus Christ seriously and think twice before biting the hand that feeds us (grants us grace) – and created us, and sustains us, and loves us, and wants us to live with Him eternally!

Questions:

1. What had God done to strengthen and teach Israel?

2. As a nation, how had Israel reacted to God's goodness toward them?

3. What was selfless about the sacrifice of Christ? What was selfish in the deeds of those perpetrating this deed? What irony is there when selflessness meets selfishness?

4. Do you agree that when we fall of short of God's intention for us, we bite the hand that feeds us? Why or why not?

"Refreshment in Refuge" from Gina Burgess

The Servant Leader

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Biography Information:
Jim Bullington - A Christian writer whose insight into the scriptures is reflected in practical application lessons in every article. The reader will find that the Bible speaks directly to him/her through these articles. God is always exalted and His word is treated with the utmost respect in this column.
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