INSTABILITY

Mike Johnson

“O Ephraim, what shall I do to you? O Judah, what shall I do to you? For your faithfulness is like a morning cloud, And like the early dew it goes away.” (Hosea 6:4)

Hosea uses two figures in this verse to describe the spiritual condition of Ephraim (Israel) and Judah.  Their goodness is said to be “Like a morning cloud, and like the dew which goes away early” (NASB).  Both of these figures describe instability.  A cloud can quickly come to view and then blow away across a summer sky, perhaps taking with it the promise of rain.  The morning dew can be lovely; it can shine in the sun as diamonds on the ground. Nevertheless, like the clouds, the dew is very transitory.  One footstep can push it away, or it can be quickly dried up by the morning sun.  These pictures of instability well describe the spiritual state of the Jews throughout Old Testament history, especially during the time of Hosea.  Both Israel and Judah had goodness (loyalty) that was very inconsistent and unstable.  They did not remain faithful to God.  They would, at times, repent, but their repentance would not last very long.

The Bible frequently speaks of certain ones who were unstable.  Reuben, for example, is described in Genesis 49:4 as “unstable as water.” Peter criticizes certain ones in II Peter 2 and describes them in verse 14 as “enticing unstable souls.”  In II Peter 3:16, he speaks of those who twist the Scriptures to their destruction.  They are described as unlearned and unstable.  Ephesians 4:14 says we are not to  lack stability in doctrine.  Here Paul admonishes us not to be “ . . . children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting.”  Many are completely unstable today when it comes to doctrinal issues.  We must change when we are wrong, but we also need to diligently search the Scriptures to find the truth and then stay with it.

Today, Christians need to be stable in their service to God; they need to be loyal to the Lord.  Paul said in I Corinthians 15:58 that we must be “steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.”  We want to avoid being like the person represented by the stony soil in the Parable of the Sower (Mt. 13), who heard and received the word but only endured for a short time.  Tribulation and persecution caused this unstable person to fall away.

We need to make sure that our loyalty is not as a morning cloud or as the early dew.