Hosea
Chapter One.
You Married a What?
Prophets sometimes do strange things. For three years, Isaiah
embarrassed people by walking the streets dressed like a prisoner of war. For several months, Jeremiah carried a yoke on his
shoulders. The prophet Ezekiel acted like a little boy and "played war," and once he used a haircut as a theological object
lesson. When his wife suddenly died, Ezekiel even turned that painful experience into a sermon.
Why did these men do these peculiar things?
"These peculiar things" were really acts of mercy. The people
of God had become deaf to God's voice and were no longer paying attention to His covenant. The Lord called His servants to
do these strange things—these "action sermons"—in hopes that the people would wake up and listen to what they
had to say. Only then could the nation escape divine discipline and judgment.
But no prophet preached a more painful "action sermon" than
Hosea. He was instructed to marry a prostitute named Gomer who subsequently bore him three children, and he wasn't even sure
the last two children were fathered by him. Then Gomer left him for another man, and Hosea had the humiliating responsibility
of buying back his own wife.
What was this all about? It was a vivid picture of what the
people of Israel had done to their God by prostituting themselves to idols and committing
"spiritual adultery." Since God's people today face the same temptation (James 4:4), we need to heed what Hosea wrote for his people. Each of the persons in this drama—Hosea,
Gomer, and the three children—teach us important spiritual lessons about the God whom Israel was disobeying and grieving.
1. The Children: God Is Gracious (Hosea 1:1-2:1)
The times (Hosea 1:1). Hosea names
four kings of Judah and only one king of Israel, Jeroboam II. The kings of Judah,
of course, belonged to David's dynasty, the only dynasty the Lord accepted (1 Kings 11:36; 15:4). The kings of Israel were a wicked lot who
followed the sins of Israel's first king,
Jeroboam I, and refused to repent and turn to God (2 Kings 13:6)
After Jeroboam II died, his son Zechariah reigned only six months
and was assassinated by his successor Shallum who himself was assassinated after reigning only one month. Menahem reigned
for ten years; his son Pekahiah ruled two years before being killed by Pekah who was able to keep the throne for twenty years.
He was slain by Hoshea, who reigned for ten years, the last of the kings of Israel.
During his evil reign, the nation was conquered by Assyria, the Jews intermingled with the
foreigners the Assyrians brought into the land, and the result was a mixed race known as the Samaritans.
What a time to be serving the Lord! Murder, idolatry, and immorality
were rampant in the land, and nobody seemed to be interested in hearing the Word of the Lord! On top of that, God told His
prophet to get married and raise a family!
The marriage (Hosea 1:2). Here we meet
a bit of a problem because not every Bible student agrees on the kind of woman Hosea married. Hosea either married a pure
woman who later became a prostitute, or he married a prostitute who bore him three children.
In the Old Testament, prostitution is symbolic of idolatry and
unfaithfulness to God (Jer. 2-3; Ezek. 16; 23). Since the Jews were idolatrous from the beginning (Josh. 24:2-3, 14), it seems likely that Gomer would have to be a prostitute when she married Hosea; for this
would best symbolize Israel's relationship
to the Lord. God called Israel in the idolatry; He "married" them at Mt. Sinai when they accepted His covenant (Ex. 19-21); and then He grieved over them when they forsook Him for the false gods of the land of Canaan. Like Gomer, Israel began as idolater, "married"
Jehovah, and eventually returned to her idolatry.
If Hosea had married a pure woman who later became unfaithful,
"wife of whoredoms" in 1:2 has to mean "a wife prone to harlotry who will commit it later" but this seems to be a strained
reading of the verse. But could God ask His faithful servant to marry a defiled woman? Why not? We might as well ask, "Could
God permit Ezekiel's wife to die?" Though marrying a prostitute might not be the safest step to take, such marriages were
forbidden only to priests (Lev. 21:7). Salmon married Rahab the harlot who became the great-grandmother of King David and an ancestress
of Jesus Christ (Matt. 1:4-5).
The names (Hosea 1:3-9). As with Isaiah's
two sons (Isa. 7:3 and 8:3), and numerous other people in Scripture, Gomer's three children were given meaningful names
selected by the Lord.
The first child, a son, was called Jezreel (Hosea 1:4-5), which means "God sows" or "God scatters." Jezreel was a city in the tribe of Isaachar, near
Mt. Gilboa,
and is associated with the drastic judgment that Jehu executed on the family of Ahab (2 Kings 9-10; and see 1 Kings 21:21-24 and 2 Kings 9:6-10). So zealous was Jehu to purge the land of Ahab's evil descendants that he murdered far more
people than the Lord commanded, including King Ahaziah of Judah and forty-two of his relatives (9:27-10:14).
Through the birth of Hosea's son, God announced that He would
avenge the innocent blood shed by Jehu and put an end to Jehu's dynasty in Israel.
This was fulfilled in 752 b.c. when Zechariah was assassinated, the great-great-grandson of Jehu and the last of his dynasty
to reign. (See 2 Kings 10:30.) God also announced that the whole kingdom
of Israel would come to an end with the defeat of her army, which occurred
in 724.
The second child was a daughter named Lo-ruhamah (Hosea 1:6-7), which means "unpitied" or "not loved." God had loved His people and proved it in many ways,
but now He would withdraw that love and no longer show them mercy. The expression of God's love is certainly unconditional,
but our enjoyment of that love is conditional and depends on our faith and obedience. (See Deut. 7:6-12 and 2 Cor. 6:14-7:1.) God would allow the Assyrians to swallow up the Northern Kingdom,
but He would protect the Southern Kingdom of Judah (Isa. 36-37; 2 Kings 19).
Lo-ammi (Hosea 1:8-9) was the third child, a son, and his name means "not My people." Not only would God remove His
mercy from His people, but He would also renounce the covenant He had made with them. It was like a man divorcing his wife
and turning his back on her, or like a father rejecting his own son (See Ex. 4:22 and Hosea 11:1).
The new names (Hosea 1:10-2:1). Here is where
the grace of God comes in, for God will one day change these names. "Not my people" will become "My people," "unloved" will
become "My loved one." These new names reflect the nation's new relationship to God, for all of them will be "the sons of
the living God." Judah and Israel
will unite as one nation and will submit to God's ruler, and the centuries' old division will be healed.
Instead of "Jezreel" being a place of slaughter and judgment,
it will be a place of sowing where God will joyfully sow His people in their own land and cause them to prosper. Today, the
Jews are sown throughout the Gentile world (Zech. 10:9), but one day God will plant them in their own land and restore to them their glory. As God
promised to Abraham, Israel
will become like the sand on the seashore. (Gen. 22:17).
When will these gracious promises be fulfilled for the Jews?
When they recognize their Messiah at His return, trust Him, and experience His cleansing (Zech. 12:10-13:1). Then they will enter into their kingdom, and the promises of the prophets will be fulfilled
(Isa. 11-12; 32; 35; Jer. 30-31; Ezek. 37; Amos 9:11-15).
The three children teach us about the grace of God. Now we'll
consider the lesson that Gomer teaches us.
Hosea is preeminently the prophet of love, but unlike some teachers
today, he doesn't minimize the holiness of God. We're told that "God is love" (1 John 4:8, 16), but we're also reminded that "God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all" (1:5). God's love is a holy love, not a sentimental feeling that condones sin and pampers sinners.
The prophet focuses on three particular sins: idolatry (spiritual
adultery), ingratitude, and hypocrisy.
Idolatry (Hosea 2:2-5a). God speaks
to the children and tells them to rebuke their mother for her unfaithfulness. Israel
was guilty of worshiping the gods of the pagan nations around them, especially the Canaanite rain god, Baal. Whenever there
was a drought or a famine in the land, the Jews repeatedly turned to Baal for help instead of turning to the Lord. (See 1 Kings 18-19.) Pagan worship involved sensual fertility rites; and for these rites, both male and female
prostitutes were provided. In a literal as well as a symbolic sense, idolatry meant prostitution.
Since the people were acting like prostitutes, God would treat
them like prostitutes and shame them publicly. He would no longer claim the nation as His wife because she had broken the
solemn marriage covenant and consorted with idols. According to Hebrew law, adultery was a capital crime, punishable by death,
but God announced that He would discipline Israel
and not destroy her.
Unfaithfulness to the Lord is a serious sin, just as unfaithfulness
to one's mate is a serious sin. The man who says he's 90 percent faithful to his wife isn't faithful at all. As Israel was tempted to forsake God for idols, the
church is tempted to turn to the world system that hates God and wants nothing to do with God.
We must be careful not to love the world (1 John 2:15-17), be friendly with the world (James 4:4), become spotted by the world (1:27), or conform to the world (Rom. 12:2). Each believer and each local church must remain true to Jesus Christ the Bridegroom until
He returns to take His bride to the heavenly wedding (2 Cor. 11:1-4; Eph. 5:22-33; Rev. 19:6-9).
Ingratitude (Hosea 2:5b-9). Instead of
thanking the true God for His blessings of food, water, and clothing, the nation thanked the false gods and used those gifts
to serve idols. What ingratitude! God provided rain for the land (Deut. 11:8-17), but the Israelites gave the credit to Baal, the rain god. Because it is God who gives us power
to earn wealth (8:17-18) and enjoy the blessings of life (1 Tim. 6:17), we must thank Him and acknowledge His goodness. What wickedness it is to take the gifts of
God and use them to worship false gods!
God had every right to abandon His people, but instead, He chose
to discipline them. The nation would chase after false gods, but Jehovah would block their paths and confuse their plans so
that they would stumble on the way. He would take back His gifts and leave the nation as naked as a newborn baby and as barren
as a desert.
It's remarkable how many times God's people are admonished in
Scripture to be thankful. I've noted at least fifteen places where we're commanded to "give thanks to the Lord," and Psalm 100:4 and Colossians 3:15 both admonish us to be thankful. Both Jesus and Paul set the example by giving thanks often
to the Lord for His blessings. One of the first steps toward rebellion against God is a refusal to give God thanks for His
mercies (Rom. 1:21). God will not allow us to enjoy His gifts and at the same time ignore the Giver, for this is
the essence of idolatry.
Hypocrisy (Hosea 2:10-13). The people
still enjoyed celebrating the Hebrew festivals, but in their hearts, they gave the glory to Baal and the other false gods
that they worshiped. Unfortunately, the same sin was being committed by their brothers and sisters in the temple of Jerusalem (Isa. 1). How easy it is to attend divine services and go through the motions of worshiping God when
our hearts are really far from Him (Matt. 15:7-9).
But the truth would eventually come out, for God would judge
His people and expose their hypocrisy. He would take away their blessings and abandon them to their sins, for one of the greatest
judgments God can inflict on any people is to let them have their own way. God is holy and will not permit His people to enjoy
sin for long or to live on substitutes. Eight times in the Bible we read, "Be holy, for I am holy"; God means what He says.
The three children have taught us about the grace of God, and
Gomer has taught us about the holiness of God. Now Hosea will teach us about the love of God.
"Hosea takes his place among the greatest lovers of all the
ages," wrote Kyle M. Yates. "His love was so strong that the vilest behavior could not dull it.... Gomer broke his heart but
she made it possible for him to give to the world a picture of the heart of the divine Lover."
God's love promised (Hosea 2:14-23). The repeated
"I will" statements in these verses assure us that God has a wonderful future planned for the Jewish people. Let's note His
promises.
He begins with "I will allure" (v. 14). God doesn't try to force His people to love him. Instead, He "allures" (woos) them as a lover
woos his beloved, seeking her hand in marriage. Certainly God spoke tenderly to His people through His Word and through the
manifold blessings He bestowed on them in their land. Just as He led her through the wilderness and "married" her at Sinai,
so God will meet His beloved in the wilderness in the last days and lead her into her land and her glorious kingdom.
The next promise is "I will give" (v. 15) as the Lord guarantees a return to their land and a restoration of their prosperity. Once again,
the Lord changes the meaning of a name, this time, "the Valley
of Achor." To Israel, the Valley of Achor ("trouble") was the place where
Achan stole from God and brought shameful defeat to Israel's army (Josh. 7), but that memory would be erased from their minds. The valley would become a "door of hope"
through which Israel would enter into
a new life. The experience would produce singing, as when Israel escaped
from Egypt and saw her enemies defeated
before their very eyes (Ex. 14-15). "And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for the herds to lie
down in, for My people that have sought Me" (Isa. 65:10). This is an Old Testament version of Romans 8:28, for only the Lord can take defeat and shame and turn it into victory and glory.
God's third promise is "I will take away" (Hosea 2:16-17). God declares an end to idolatry among His people. They would have a new vocabulary and the
"baals" would never be named again. "Ishi" means "my husband" in Hebrew and "Baali" means "my master." Both terms were used
by Jewish wives when addressing their husbands, but in the future kingdom, every Jew will call God "my Husband," for the divine
marriage relationship will be restored. Israel
will no longer prostitute herself before idols, but will love and serve the true living God.
God's fourth promise is "I will betroth"(vv. 18-20). God's wooing of Israel
will result in her yielding to Him and entering into a covenant relationship that would never end. This new covenant will
include a restored creation (see Gen. 9:1-10; Rom. 8:18-22) and peace among the nations. Among the "wedding gifts" will be such blessings as righteousness,
justice, love, compassion, and faithfulness—everything that Israel
had lacked during her years of separation from her Husband, Jehovah God.
The fifth promise is "I will respond" (Hosea 2:21-22, niv), (kjv,
"I will hear"). These two verses describe a tremendous cosmic conversation in which the Lord speaks to the heavens and the
earth and they respond to each other and bring blessings to God's people. The heavens send the rain, the earth brings forth
the produce, and the Lord sends His rich blessings. It's the picture of a restored universe where sin and death no longer
reign (Rom. 5:12-21).
The final promise in this text is "I will plant" (Hosea 2:23, niv). The word "Jezreel" means "God sows." The
image is that of God sowing His people in their land the way a farmer sows seed. He says to them, "You are My people!" They
respond, "You are my God!" (niv) This relates back to the names of the children
that God in His grace had changed.
God's love pictured (Hosea 3:1-5). This is another
"action sermon" as Hosea reclaims his estranged wife and brings her home to himself. Gomer had left Hosea and was living with
a lover, another picture of the way Israel
had treated the Lord. Hosea had to buy her back at a cost of fifteen pieces of silver (half the price of a slave, Ex. 21:32) and about ten bushels of barley. This was not an exorbitant price, but she had cheapened herself
by her sins. We need to remember that God has purchased us at the tremendous cost of the precious blood of His only Son (1 Peter 1:18-19).
Hosea 3:3 suggests that Hosea didn't immediately enter into intimate relations with Gomer, but waited
awhile to make sure she would be true to him. It's also possible that he wanted to make sure she wasn't pregnant with another
man's child. But even this has a spiritual message attached to it: Israel
today, though purchased by their Messiah (John 11:47-52; Isa. 53:8), has not yet returned to the Lord.
Israel today is without a king because she rejected her King and therefore has no kingdom. "We will not
have this man to reign over us" (Luke 19:14). "We have no king but Caesar" (John 19:15). She has no prince because there is no reigning dynasty in Israel.
All the records were destroyed when the Romans captured Jerusalem
in A.D. 70, and nobody can prove to which tribe he or she belongs.
The Israelites have no sacrifice because they have no temple,
altar, or priesthood. They don't have a pillar (image) or a household god (teraphim), because idolatry was purged from their
culture during the Babylonian Captivity. (Like the Gentiles, they may have other kinds of idols in their hearts!) They lack
an ephod (Ex. 28:1-14), because they have no high priest. The only High Priest God will acknowledge is the interceding
Son of God in heaven.
But there is an "afterward"! Israel won't stay "without," for she will see her Messiah, repent of her sins,
and say, "You are my God!" They will enter into that blessed relationship in which the Lord says, "You are My people!" This
will occur in "the latter days" when the messianic King sits on David's throne and judges righteously (Matt. 19:28; Luke 1:32-33).
The key word is "return" (Hosea 3:5), a word that's used twenty-two times in Hosea's prophecy. When Israel
repents and returns to the Lord, then the Lord will return to bless Israel
(2:7-8). God has returned to His place and left Israel
to herself (5:15) until she seeks Him and says, "Come, and let us return to the Lord" (6:1, nkjv).
This is Hosea's message: "O Israel, return to the Lord thy God....
Take with you words, and turn to the Lord: say unto Him, 'Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously"' (14:1-2).
That prayer is good for any sinner, Jew or Gentile. To summarize:
God is gracious, and no matter what "name" our birth has given
to us, He can change it and give us a new beginning. Even the "valley of trouble" can become a "door of hope."
God is holy and He must deal with sin. The essence of idolatry
is enjoying the gifts but not honoring the Giver. To live for the world is to break God's heart and commit "spiritual adultery."
God is love and promises to forgive and restore all who repent
and return to Him. He promises to bless all who trust him.
Chapter Two.
What Will I Do With
You?
Hosea 4-10
"Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is
just."
Thomas Jefferson wrote those words about the United States of America, and as the Prophet Hosea surveyed the kingdom of Israel, he would have agreed. From
his bitter experience with his wife, Hosea knew that sin not only breaks the heart of God, but also offends the holiness of
God, for "righteousness and justice are the foundation of [His] throne" (Ps. 89:14, nkjv).
God wanted to forgive the sins of His people and restore their
fellowship with Him, but they weren't ready. They not only would not repent, they wouldn't even admit that they had sinned!
So God conducted a trial and brought them to the bar of justice. It's a basic spiritual principle that until people experience
the guilt of conviction, they can't enjoy the glory of conversion.
Just as Hosea had experienced a quarrel with his wife, so God
had a quarrel with His estranged wife, the people of Israel.
But it wasn't a personal quarrel; it was an official-controversy: "The Lord has a charge to bring against you who live in
the land" (4:1, niv). The picture of God bringing men and nations
to trial in His courtroom is a familiar one in Scripture (see Isa. 1:13; Jer. 2:9, 29; 25:31; Micah 6:2; Rom. 3:19). "Rise up, O Judge of the earth; pay back to the proud what they deserve" (Ps. 94:2, niv).
The Judge read the charges to the accused as they stood before
him.
The nation as a whole (Hosea 4:1b-3). The basis
for judgment was the holy law of God, the covenant God made with Israel
at Mt. Sinai.
"All that the Lord has spoken we will do," was their promise (Ex. 19:8), but that promise was soon broken. Just as Gomer didn't take her marriage vows seriously but
went to live with another man, so Israel
reneged on her promises to God and turned to pagan idols. There was no faithfulness (truth) in the land, no loyal love to
the Lord.
When people reject God's covenant, they begin to exploit each
other, for the Ten Commandments deal with our relationship with our neighbor as well as with the Lord. If we love the Lord,
we will also love our neighbor (Matt. 22:34-40; Rom. 13:8-10). But there was no mercy in the land, no love for one's neighbor, no compassion for the poor
and needy. People were falsehearted toward God and hardhearted toward one another.
The basic sin was ignorance; there was "no knowledge of God
in the land." "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" (Hosea 4:6). This means much more than knowledge about God; it refers to a personal knowledge of God. The
Hebrew word describes a husband's most intimate relationship with his wife (Gen. 4:1; 19:8). To know God is to have a personal relationship with Him through faith in Jesus Christ (John 17:3).
The Judge pointed to the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:1-17) and reminded the people of how they had violated His law by pronouncing curses, telling lies,
murdering, stealing, and committing adultery. As a result, they had brought suffering to themselves, to the land, and even
to the animals. God's covenant promise was that He would bless the land if the people obeyed Him, but that He would punish
the land if they disobeyed (Lev. 26; Deut. 27-28).
The land belonged to God (Lev. 25:23) and the sins of the people polluted the land (18:25-28; 26:32-33). Natural calamities like droughts, famines, and the devastations of war were sometimes sent
by God to discipline His people. Whether to bless or to judge, God always keeps His covenant promises.
The priests (Hosea 4:4-14). When Jeroboam
I set up his own religious system in Israel, many of the true priests fled
to Judah; so the king ordained priests
of his own choosing (2 Chron. 11:13-15). Of course, these counterfeit priests knew neither the Lord nor His law. They were primarily
interested in having an easy job that would provide them with food, clothing, and pleasure, especially opportunities to be
with the shrine prostitutes. "Don't blame the people for what's happening," Hosea said to the corrupt priests, "because they're
only following your bad example!"
When you obey God's word, you walk in the light and don't stumble
(Prov. 3:21-26; 4:14-19), but when you reject the Word, you walk in the darkness and can't find your way (Isa. 8:20). Worldly and ignorant spiritual leaders produce worldly and ignorant people, and this brings
destruction to the land. The phrase "your mother" in Hosea 4:5 refers to the nation of Israel
(2:2, 5). As goes spiritual leadership, so goes the church; as goes the church, so goes morality; and
as goes morality, so goes the nation. God's people are both salt and light in society (Matt. 5:13-16); when they are corrupt, society becomes corrupt.
God rejected Jeroboam's man-made religion and warned the priests
that their easy jobs would soon end in disaster. Instead of seeking God's will, they consulted their idols. The more the people
sinned, the more food the priests enjoyed. The more shrines the people built, the more they and the priests could indulge
in lustful pleasures as they participated in the fertility rites. But the rites wouldn't accomplish anything, because God
would cause the population and the produce to decrease instead of increase. Furthermore, the priests' own daughters and daughters-in-law
would become shrine prostitutes and commit adultery! Their sins would bring judgment to their families and to the land.
The spectators in the court (Hosea 4:15-19). Now the prophet
turns to the people of the Southern Kingdom of Judah who were carefully watching events in Israel. Hosea's warning is clear: don't meddle in the affairs of Israel because their doom is sure! "Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone"
(v. 17). The people of Judah were supposed to worship
in Jerusalem and not go to the hill shrines in Israel
or to the special shrines at Gilgal and Bethel. (Hosea calls
Bethel "Bethaven," which means "house of evil or deceit."
Bethel means "house of God.") Israel was like a stubborn heifer, not a submissive lamb; and God's whirlwind of
judgment would sweep the kingdom away.
Priests, rulers, and people (Hosea 5:1-7). This is a
summation of the evidence that the Judge applied to all the accused. He condemned the leaders for trapping innocent people
and exploiting them. There was no justice in the land. They were sinking deep in sin and lacked the power to repent and turn
back to God, for their sins had paralyzed them.
What was the cause? They did not know the Lord (5:4; 6:3) and their arrogance only led them to stumble and fall (5:5; Prov. 16:18). Even if they came to the Lord with entire flocks and herds to sacrifice, God would not meet
them; for He had withdrawn Himself from them. He rejected their illegitimate children, and their monthly feasts would soon
become funerals.
The sentence is pronounced (Hosea 5:8-15). There could
be only one verdict: "Guilty!" A day of judgment was coming when the cites of Israel
would be conquered by the invading Assyrian army and the citizens taken into captivity. "Ephraim will be laid waste on the
day of reckoning" (5:9, niv). The inner decay of the nation was like
the slow hidden destruction caused by a moth (v. 12), but the coming of the Assyrians was like the sudden open attack of a lion (v. 14). Both were unavoidable and both brought ruin.
Israel and Judah were weak, sick nations (Isa. 1:5-6; Jer. 30:12-13), but instead of turning to the Lord for healing, both of them turned to the king of Assyria
for help (Hosea 5:13). They needed prayer and true repentance, but instead, they trusted politics and useless treaties. All the Lord could do
was withdraw and wait for them to seek His face in truth and humility.
It isn't unusual for the accused in a trial to express regret
and remorse for what they've done and to ask for another chance. That's just what Israel did, but God anticipated their hypocritical subterfuge and exposed not only
their duplicity but the sinful way they had treated their Lord.
The nation's false repentance (Hosea 6:1-3). When you
read these words, you get the impression that the nation is sincerely repenting and seeking the Lord, but when you read what
God says, you see how shallow their "confession" really was. "They do not return to the Lord their God, nor seek Him" (7:10). "They have spoken lies against Me" (v. 13). "They return, but not to the Most High" (v. 16). What went wrong with this "confession"?
To begin with, their concern was for healing and not for cleansing.
They saw their nation in difficulty and wanted God to "make things right," but they did not come with broken hearts and surrendered
wills. They wanted happiness, not holiness, a change of circumstances, but not a change in character. Many times in my own
ministry I've met people in trouble who treated God like a celestial lifeguard who should rescue them from danger but not
deliver them from their sins. They shed tears of remorse over their suffering, but not tears of repentance over their sin.
Furthermore, the people of Israel thought that the remedy would work quickly: "After two days will He revive
us; in the third day He will raise us up" (6:2). What blind optimism! They were like the false prophets in Jeremiah's day who offered the nation
superficial remedies but never got to the heart of the problem (Jer. 6:14; 8:11-16). They were like physicians putting suntan lotion on a cancerous tumor instead of calling for
drastic surgery. Expecting a "quick fix" is one of the marks of an unrepentant heart that doesn't want to pay the price for
deep cleansing (Ps. 51:6-7).
There is a third evidence of their shallowness: they saw forgiveness
and restoration as a "mechanical" thing that was guaranteed and not as a relational matter that involved getting right with
God. To paraphrase Hosea 6:3, "If we seek Him, His blessing is sure to come just as the dawn comes each morning and the rains
come each spring and winter." This is formula religion, like getting a candy bar out of a vending machine: put in the money,
push the button, and out comes the candy. The Christian life is a relationship with God, and the relationships aren't based
on cut-and-dried formulas.
One more evidence of their shallowness is the fact that they
depended on religious words rather than righteous deeds. When we truly repent, our words will come from broken hearts and
they will cost us something. Hosea considered words to be like "spiritual sacrifices" brought to the Lord (14:2), and we must not give Him something cheap (2 Sam. 24:24). Words can reveal or conceal, depending on the honesty and humility of the sinner. We must
take to heart the warning in Ecclesiastes 5:1-2.
The nation's true condition (Hosea 6:4-7:16). In a series
of vivid similes and metaphors, Hosea revealed the true character of the people of Israel.
Their love for the Lord was like a morning cloud and the dew
(6:4-11). Early in the morning, the dew looks like sparkling jewels, but as soon as the sun comes up,
the dew is gone. Israel's devotion to
the Lord was temporary, lovely but not lasting. To give some substance to their faith, God sent them His prophets with the
Word of God which is like a penetrating sword (Eph. 6:17) and a flash of lightning (Hosea 6:5), but the people turned a deaf ear.
God doesn't want our relationship with Him to be one of shallow,
transient feelings and empty words and rituals, hearts that are enthusiastic one day and frigid the next. "For I desired mercy
[loyal love], and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings" (v. 6). A superficial ritual can never take the place of sincere love and faithful obedience (1 Sam. 15:22-23; Amos 5:21-24; Micah 6:6-8; Matt 9:13; 12:7).
"But like Adam they have transgressed the covenant" (Hosea 6:7, nasb). God promised Adam His blessings if he
obeyed His commands, but Adam deliberately destroyed and plunged the human race into sin and death (Rom. 5:12-21; 1 Cor. 15:21-22). God promised Israel
the blessings of the Promised Land if they would obey Him (Deut. 28), but they broke the covenant and suffered the consequences. For both Israel
and Judah, God had appointed a harvest,
and they would reap just what they had sown (Gal. 6:7-8).
Their lust was like an overheated oven (Hosea 7:1-7). It's probable that the last statement in 6:11 should be joined with 7:1 to read, "When I would have returned the captivity of My people, when I would have healed Israel." What prevented God from helping His distressed
people? They wanted Him to act on their terms and not according to the condition of His holy covenant. They thought they could
get away with their many sins, but God saw them all and remembered them (v. 2; contrast Heb. 10:16-17).
Their passion for sin was like a fire in an oven: bank the fire
at night, and it will be ready to blaze out in the morning. The oven was so hot that the baker could ignore it all night and
know it would be ready for baking his bread in the morning. The "fuel" for the fire was wine, for alcohol and sin often go
together.
Hosea describes a palace celebration during which the king and
his officers get drunk, and this gives the king's enemies opportunity to overthrow him and even kill him. Remember, Israel had five kings in thirteen years, and four
kings were assassinated in twenty years. From Jeroboam I, the first king of Israel,
to Hoshea, the last king, there were nine different dynasties! Because the leaders were far from the Lord, the political situation
was confused and corrupt.
The third simile is that of a half-baked cake (Hosea 7:8). The nomadic peoples of the East baked their bread on hot rocks. If the dough wasn't turned,
one side of the loaf would be burned and the other side uncooked. Instead of remaining separate from the nations, Israel mixed with the nations and became like them.
Because of her compromising political posture, the nation was "burned" by Assyria on the
one hand and left uncooked on the other.
When it comes to our relationship with the Lord, we must be
thorough and not "half-baked." His gracious work must permeate our whole being so that heart, mind, and strength are all devoted
to Him. Compromise with the world leads to unbalanced conduct and immature character.
Continuing the theme of compromise, Hosea pictures Israel as a man getting gray and not knowing it (vv. 9-10). By mixing with the nations and ignoring the Lord, the nation was secretly losing her strength,
like someone getting older and weaker but in her pride refusing to admit it. This is the tragedy of undetected losses that
quietly lead to ultimate failures. Samson made this mistake (Judges 16:20) and so did the church in Laodicea
(Rev. 3:17). Israel
saw her political strategy failing, but the leaders still refused to turn to the Lord. "The pride of Israel"
(Hosea 7:10; see 5:5) refers to Israel's
national glory which had greatly eroded since the days of David and Solomon. Selfish politicians and corrupt priests had brought
the nation to ruin.
In their political policies, the Israelites were like a silly
dove (7:11-12). First they turned to Egypt for help and
then to Assyria, and both nations proved to be false allies (5:13; 8:8-10; 12:1). If the leaders had listened to the prophets, they would have known that Assyria
would one day invade the land (9:3; 10:5-6; Isa. 7:18-8:10). God warned that Israel's
"flying here and there" would come to an end when He caught them in His net and gave them to the King of Assyria. God is in
control of the nations, but His people would not obey Him.
According to the covenant God had with His people, the Jews
could trade with the other nations, but they were not to enter into political alliances that would compromise their obedience
to the Lord. "I see a people who live apart and do not consider themselves one of the nations" (Num. 23:9, niv). 'You are to be holy to me because I, the
Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own" (Lev. 20:26, niv). Solomon used many wives to form alliances
with other nations, and this was the beginning of the nation's downfall (1 Kings 11:1ff).
The final image is a faulty bow (Hosea 7:13-16), because God couldn't depend on Israel
to be faithful. (This image is also used in Ps. 78:57.) God had called Israel
and trained them, so they should have been able to "hit the target." But because they had strayed from the Lord, rebelled
against Him, lied to Him (in their feigned repentance), and refused to call upon Him, so they could not win the battle.
As we review these images, we might take inventory of our own
devotion to the Lord. How lasting is it? How deep is it? How strong is it? How serious is it? How dependable is it?
3. God Pronounces the Sentence (Hosea 8:1-10:15)
For the second time, Hosea calls for the trumpet to be blown
(8:1; 5:8). According to Numbers 10, the Jews used trumpets to announce special occasions, to sound alarms, to gather the people
for assemblies, and to proclaim war. This call was a trumpet of alarm because the enemy was coming and God was giving His
people opportunity to repent. Hosea again used a number of familiar images to show the people what God would do to them because
of their sin.
The eagle (Hosea 8:1-6). "The house
of the Lord" refers to the nation of Israel,
for the people were God's dwelling-place (9:15; Ex. 15:17; Num. 12:7). The Assyrian eagle was about to swoop down and destroy God's house because the nation was
given over to idolatry, and the leaders were not seeking God's will in their decisions. They made kings and removed kings
to satisfy their own desires, and they manufactured gods (especially the golden calves at Bethel
and Dan) that could not help them.
Sowing and reaping (Hosea 8:7). The concept
of sowing and reaping as it relates to conduct is often used in Scripture (Job 4:8; Prov. 22:8; Jer. 12:13; Gal. 6:7-8), and Hosea used it twice (Hosea 8:7; 10:12-13). In their idolatry and political alliances, the Israelites were trying to sow seeds that would
produce a good harvest, but they were only sowing the wind—vanity, nothing—and would reap the whirlwind. Nothing
could stop the force of the Assyrian army. The harvest would be more powerful than the seed!
The sowing/reaping image continues with the picture of a blighted
crop of grain. The rulers of Israel thought
their worship of Baal and their foreign alliances would produce a good crop of peace and prosperity; but when the time came
for the harvest, there was nothing to reap. And even where heads of grain did appear, the enemy reaped the harvest and Israel gained nothing. In the image of the wind,
Hosea said, "You will reap far more than you sowed, and it will be destructive!" In the image of the grain, he said, 'You
will reap nothing at all, and your enemies will get the benefit of all the promises you made."
Worthless pottery (Hosea 8:8). There was
no grain for Israel to swallow, but she herself would be "swallowed up"
by Assyria. She was a useless vessel "in which no one delights" (nasb). Their compromise had so cheapened them that Israel
was of no value to the community of nations. Nobody feared them, nobody courted them, nobody wanted them.
A stupid donkey (Hosea 8:9a) Israel wanted to be a part of the alliances that were forming to fight Assyria,
but she was actually very much alone. She was like a dumb animal that had lost its way in the wilderness. Israel had forsaken her God, and she had been forsaken by her allies, so she was
abandoned to face a terrible future alone.
A prostitute (Hosea 8:9b-10). In negotiating with the Gentile nations for protection, Ephraim (Israel) acted like a common prostitute selling herself
for money. Israel's kings paid tribute to the king of Assyria and also
sent gifts to Egypt (12:1). Instead of being faithful to her Husband, Jehovah God, Israel
prostituted herself to the Gentile nations—and lost everything. God promised to gather them together for judgment and
they would "waste away" (niv) under the ruthless hand of the Assyrian king.
Egyptian bondage (
