Give Up These Raisin Cakes For Life!

They traded their souls for raisin cakes!

It happened, sort of.  Take a look:  And the Lord said to me, “go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.”  (Hosea 3:1)

Ok, it obviously wasn’t just an issue of loving cakes of raisins; Israel had turned to other gods.  And the analogy that God was presenting was just as a woman might turn to another man who is not her husband and commit adultery with him, so Israel had left their God and had gone after other gods.

The Word of God has other descriptions of His people forsaking Him and going after other “gods”.  Take this one for example: 

The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil. He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!”  (Isa 44:13-17)

In case you are wondering if I need to provide much in the way of explanation in order to shed some light on the foolishness as described in this passage, read on to see God’s opinion on this:

No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?”  (Isa 44:19)

And if that example isn’t bad enough, take a look at this one:  “They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass.”  (Ps 106:20)

Can you imagine how insulting that must have been to God for His people to exchange His great glory for the statue of an ox that eats grass!

Back to those cakes of raisins, they were probably something used in the worship of those other gods. So it appears that not only were their hearts drawn to other gods, but their stomachs and taste buds followed suit!

Maybe it shouldn’t really need to be said but I’ll say it anyway, just as a precaution:  don’t forsake the living God and go after other gods.  And definitely don’t go trading your soul for a block of wood or the image of an ox or cakes of raisins!