"Assyria shall not save us, we will not ride upon horses; and we will say no more, 'Our God,' to the work of our hands." Reading a text that was written around 730 BC is not such an easy matter. Who were the Assyrians anyway - and what does it matter? To understand the text today we need to know that at the time Hosea was prophesying to the Jewish people, Israel was in a state of chaos: four of its kings had been assassinated in fifteen years, and the country was experiencing increasing religious and moral corruption.

The most serious threat was the expansion of the Assyrian Empire which threatened Israel from the North. The people were tempted to make political accommodations with the Assyrians in the belief that they could save themselves if they allied themselves with their enemy - but Hosea prophesies otherwise. Trust in political alliances or military strength, represented in our reading today by the image of horses, cannot save the people. Nor can any of the false gods to which they were inclined to worship. Hosea's message is clear: Only God is reliable. Only God can save.

And what is the message of our readings today in 2008, twenty-seven centuries later? The very same- only God can save; only God is reliable. If we place our trust in military power we delude ourselves - not even the strongest nation on earth can control world events any longer, nor can money be our security!