Threshing floors and winepresses will not feed the people; the new wine will fail them. – Hosea 9:2

Today's Scripture Reading (April 14, 2026): Hosea 9

I like the idea of repurposing some buildings. There was an old grocery store not far from where I live that remained empty for a long time. The problem, admittedly, was the price the owners wanted for the building and the cost of recreating something different within it. I thought the property would have made a good church. It had ample parking, which is often the nemesis of any church, and I often wished I were wealthy enough to buy the property and donate it to a church organization.

Churches are often forced to move to the suburbs and outskirts because undeveloped land is available there, and it is often cheaper to build on. But the flip side is that it leaves inner-city neighborhoods without nearby churches. Churches in the suburbs are often driven to rather than walked to. Admittedly, that is another problem of the contemporary church. We are creating churches that serve a particular niche rather than a community. I think the best solution to the problem is to repurpose buildings in the inner city. A local example is an inner-city theater that has been transitioned to a city-center church. It can be done, but it is never easy.

But that is not the situation about which Hosea is speaking. The threshing floor and winepresses have been repurposed into churches; however, these worship spaces were dedicated to honoring false gods. The problem was that there was a purpose to worship on the threshing floor. The hope was that the worship service on the threshing floor or winepress would increase the harvest. Maybe in contemporary times, it would be like holding a spring church service in your barn, hoping the worship would translate into a better harvest the next fall.

I have to admit that holding a worship service in a barn might be fun, but it would not guarantee a good harvest, even if the God of Israel were the one being worshiped. Jesus spoke directly to this situation in his "Sermon on the Mount."

But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous (Matthew 5:44-45).

Hosea's concern is the purpose of these worship events. It was not Yahweh who was being worshiped, but instead, the local false gods. As far as Hosea was concerned, they might as well have hosted a local hootenanny or dance, because that would probably at least encourage the neighborhood. But worshiping false gods would not increase the harvest, even if the worship was taking place on the local threshing floors and winepresses.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Hosea 10