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Backsliding Heifer
By Louis Rushmore
Hosea 4:16
illustrates the rebellious disposition of
the northern kingdom of Israel by referring to that nation as a
“backsliding
heifer.” The Hebrew word for “backsliding” here appears in other
passages as
“stubborn,” “rebellious,” “revolters” and “withdrew.” This malignant
response
to a benevolent God led God to remove his benevolent protection from
Israel,
resulting in the Assyrian captivity for the survivors of the ferocious
Assyrian
horde that descended upon the nation. The image of a “backsliding
heifer” is
that of the animal backing away or withdrawing from a yoke; Israel
refused to
have the yoke of God on it. There is still a yoke that God intends for
his
people to bear (Matt. 11:29-30).
My own image of
a “backsliding heifer” in my mind is of
a young cow stuck in a mud hole. Imagine trying to manhandle (or
womanhandle) a
muddy, filthy heifer from some bog into which it has gotten itself.
Pull or
push as one might, the heifer falters and even works violently against
every
effort to rescue it.
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Table of Contents
Louis Rushmore, Editor
Paul Mobley, proofreader
Crossword Puzzle By Bonnie
Rushmore
Priscilla's Page By Marilyn LaStrape
Youth Page By Mark McWhorter
Since You Asked By Louis Rushmore
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Frankly, nothing has changed. God’s people are still
like that “backsliding heifer” of which the prophet Hosea wrote. It is
hard to
keep the saved, saved! Push, pull, coax and coddle, but still wayward
members
often remained bogged down in their apostasy. It seems that for some
Christians, if they make it to heaven, it will only be if someone has a
rope
around their necks, tugging and dragging them, they resisting all the
way—kicking and screaming.
Two other Hebrew words appear in the Old Testament as
“backsliding,” also having to do with apostasy. God said to the prophet
Jeremiah, “Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done?”
(Jer. 3:6).
Three more times God indicts “backsliding Israel” for her crimes (Jer.
3:8,
11-12). God refers to his apostate people as “backsliding children”
(Jer. 3:14,
22) and twice calls his people a “backsliding daughter” (Jer. 31:22;
49:4). God
cites his people for “perpetual backsliding” (Jer. 8:5). Indeed,
perpetual sin
persists to this day.
As anciently, so now, often God’s people are “bent to
backsliding from me [God]” (Hos. 11:7). Happily, though, God will take
his
backsliding people back to himself upon repentance. “I will heal their
backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away
from him”
(Hos. 14:4). What congregation wouldn’t be teeming with live bodies
were all
the backsliding heifers rounded up? Oh, that congregational concerns
were with
providing enough seating for those present rather than trying to rope
heifers!
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