This is a warning, of course.

Hosea wrote this phrase under the inspiration of the Lord, as part of a litany of threats against Israel: The people have broken my covenant and rebelled against my law…Israel has rejected what is good…with their silver and gold they make idols for themselves…my anger burns against them.

They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind.

Reminds me of Dust in the Wind, by Kansas (fyi, one of the greatest bands of the rock era).

Hosea preached his sermons to a nation far removed from its devotion to the Lord under kings David and Solomon. Every compromise over the years, every giving in to the expediency of leaving the rigorous path laid out by the Lord, constituted sowing to the wind.

The whirlwind blew back in the form of invaders who raped and pillaged and hauled off most all the people. Total disaster.

I glimpse how this principle—sowing and reaping—worked in world affairs through the centuries. A study of history, the causes of wars and famines for instance, reveals how bad decisions or lack of action or ignoring clear warnings often led to catastrophe. Our present climate crisis seems to meet the criteria.

Sowing to the breeze and reaping a tornado applies on a personal level as well. Which means I need to examine my life and ask—where might I be sowing in a frivolous or harmful nature? Maybe it’s time to finally stop smoking?

Or, on a positive spin, am I sowing among the better things in life? Deeper relationships with others? Stronger commitments to knowing and following the ways of Lord? Serious practices of reading and understanding and applying God’s Word?

Sowing in the soil of God and His Word results in a plentiful yield–so much better than throwing my energy to the wind.

Hosea 8 in week thirty-two of reading the Bible cover to cover

Photo by Nikolas Noonan