What other Scriptures warn against alliances with ungodly nations or influences? Hosea 7:11—A Flighty Dove Seeking Ungodly Help “So Ephraim has become like a silly, senseless dove—calling to Egypt and turning to Assyria.” Israel’s nervous flutter from one pagan power to another is God’s picture of a heart that refuses to settle under His wings. The rest of Scripture keeps echoing the same warning. Old-Testament Warnings and Commands • Exodus 23:32-33 – “You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods…they will be a snare to you.” • Deuteronomy 7:2-4 – “Make no treaty with them…for they will turn your sons away from following Me.” • Isaiah 30:1-3 – “Woe to the rebellious children…who make an alliance, but not of My Spirit…Therefore the strength of Pharaoh will become your shame.” • Isaiah 31:1 – “Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help…They do not look to the Holy One of Israel.” • Jeremiah 2:18, 36-37 – Egypt and Assyria will leave you “with your hands on your head, because the LORD has rejected those you trust.” Historical Examples That Drive It Home • Jehoshaphat rebuked – 2 Chronicles 19:2; 20:35-37: “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD?…Because you have made an alliance with Ahaziah, the LORD has destroyed your works.” • Hezekiah’s Babylonian show-and-tell – 2 Kings 20:12-18: his friendly tour for Babylon’s envoys led to Isaiah’s prophecy of future captivity. • Solomon’s foreign marriages – 1 Kings 11:1-2: “You must not intermarry with them…they will surely turn your heart after their gods.” Wisdom Literature—Daily Choices Matter • Psalm 1:1 – Blessed is the one who avoids the counsel, path, and seat of the wicked. • Proverbs 13:20 – “The companion of fools will be destroyed.” New-Testament Reinforcement • 2 Corinthians 6:14-17 – “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers…‘Come out from among them and be separate,’ says the Lord.” • 1 Corinthians 15:33 – “Bad company corrupts good character.” • James 4:4 – “Friendship with the world is hostility toward God.” Takeaways for Today • God views spiritual alliances the same way He did in Hosea’s day—dangerous compromises that reveal a restless, unbelieving heart. • Separation is not isolation; it is loving loyalty to the Lord that refuses to borrow strength, status, or strategy from ungodly sources. • The safest place is still under His wings, trusting His covenant promises instead of racing to Egypt, Assyria, or any modern substitute. |
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