BeingSpiritually Fed!

“…He I led them with cords of a man, with bonds of love, And I became to them as one who lifts the yoke from their jaws; And I bent down and fed them..…” Hosea 11:4 (compare with full chapter)

When we think of “being fed” most of us consider a kind of “Bible study” or session of information transference whereby we go to God and take from Him what we need to be “full.” However, there is a concept of “being fed” that many of us have never considered – a concept that nothing to do with our movements toward God (although they are very important to our development as well). The aspect of “being fed” that I would like to discuss is ONLY about the movements of God towards us!

The beginning of this chapter teaches us the far reaching effects of God’s Love. From verse through four we see how much God endures to prove His Love in application. God communicates to us here that He has loves for his own beyond the places, people and things that might be presented as “hindrances” to the experience of feeding– even the hindrances that we have set up on our own (read chapter 11:1-4).

In verse four, God uses the some very strong metaphors to communicate the application of feeding. First, He says, “…I led them with cords of a man, with bonds of love….” (NASV). The “cords of a man” is a Hebrew grouping phrase that carries the word, “Meythar” (may-thar) which has a direct reference to ropes that are tied around the neck of oxen. This is done by farmers to control the direction of the oxen when they are at work. This task is one that sometimes requires a strong pulling effect on the ropes to communicate the farmer’s desire to the oxen. God is saying, however, that His cords are “bands of love”, which simply communicates that His preeminence over us is one that will not hurt us. Therefore, the control of God in our lives is essential to Him providing us the opportunity to feed.

In fact, He further says, “…I became to them as one who lifts the yoke from their jaws….” When oxen are tied up, they have “bits” in their mouth for two reasons: To make steering easier and to prevent them from eating. God says to us, however, that he removes the “bit” [yoke] from our mouths [jaws]. This says some very important things to us. First, it says that the opportunity for me to feed is a process by which I have welcomed the advances of God toward me [I became to them]. Through the development of this “process”, God created a way for me to obtain freedom to feed and inward strength to serve Him. Secondly, it says that He is allowing me the chance of giving Him my best work through the strength that he provides me. In this way, He is really allowing my “best” to come out of me… He is the one who gave it to me in the first place!

Finally, He says, “…I bent down and fed them….” The word “bent” here is a strong word, “Natah” (naw-taw) essentially meaning to stretch out, extend and bring low. It carries the inference of sacrifice – giving up something of great value to obtain a greater value (which is what Jesus did for us in dying and being raised from the dead). God is communicating to us that he has extended himself that we might obtain the opportunity to feed from Him. If we are hungry, we should definitely move toward God, but there are also times when we are un-able to feed due to many different circumstances in our lives. In these times, God has shown us that He will “bend down” and feed us what we need!

“…Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness….” Isaiah 41:10


Grace & Peace,
Roc