Category: Hosea

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Hosea

Repentance

Repentance

Repentance.

It’s one of those words that you hear in the Christian church a lot, but not so much outside of the church walls.

What is it really?

That’s what Hosea addresses in this last chapter.

He told the Israelites,

Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God. Your sins have been your downfall! Take words with you and return to the Lord.

Say to him, “Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips.

Assyria cannot save us; we will not mount war horses.

We will never again say, ‘Our gods’ to what our own hands have made, for in you the fatherless find compassion.” (Hosea 14:1–3)

What does it mean to repent? It means to return to the Lord. To turn around from going in your own direction and follow the Lord once again.

It’s to confess our sins before God and ask for his forgiveness.

It’s to turn away from all the things we were chasing after in our lives, and to confess our need for God once again.

And it’s to throw ourselves upon the mercy of God.

That’s repentance.

And when we do, how will God respond?

I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them.

I will be a dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily. Like a cedar from Lebanon he will send down his roots; his shoots will grow.

His splendor will be like an olive tree, his fragrance like the cedar of Lebanon.

Men will dwell again in his shade. He will flourish like the grain. He will blossom like the vine, and his fame will be like the wine from Lebanon…I will answer him and care for him. (Hosea 14:4–8)

In other words, God will forgive, and we’ll know his love once again.

The areas in our lives that became dry and withered because of sin will once again grow strong, bringing blessing not only to ourselves, but to the people around us.

The question is, why do we stray in the first place?

God closes with these words,

Who is wise? He will realize these things. Who is discerning? He will understand them.

The ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them. (Hosea 14:9)

May we not only be wise enough to repent, but wise enough to stay under the shelter of God each and every day of our lives.

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Hosea

Unfaithful

Broken relationships

We live in a world today where it almost seems taken for granted that husbands will be unfaithful to their wives, and wives to their husbands. And because we take it for granted, we lose sight of how painful and destructive it is to a marriage.

I think the same thing can be said about our relationship with God.

God often compares our relationship with him to a marriage.

As Christians, we are the bride of Christ. And when we are unfaithful to him, it causes great pain to the heart of God and is destructive to our relationship with him.

That’s what God points out in these chapters. Time and again, he points out his faithfulness and love to Israel.

He reminds them how he showed grace and mercy to their father Jacob, though he started out as a deceiver and as one who fought against God.

He reminds them how he brought them out of Egypt, and cared for them in the desert through Moses.

But after Israel came into their land and became strong, they also became proud.

They were unfaithful to God, and started building and worshiping the works of their own hands.

From there, things went from bad to worse. They even started sacrificing their own children to these gods.

And when their enemies came against them, instead of turning to God, they made treaties with other nations and allied themselves with them.

You can see the pain in the words of God as he rebukes Israel. He sounds as a husband who has been scorned by his wife, saying,

Ephraim has surrounded me with lies, the house of Israel with deceit. (Hosea 11:12)

He told them that though he cared for them and redeemed them to be his wife, they had bitterly provoked him to anger. (Hosea 12:14)

And so God warned them of the judgment to come. He said that when it came, there would be no remedy.

No king they set up could save them. And because they had turned from their husband and helper, God wouldn’t help either.

Hosea 13:14 is probably better translated as a question.

Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from death?

O Death, where are your thorns? O Sheol, where is your sting? Compassion will be hidden from My sight. (NASB)

Paul would later use this passage to talk about how the thorns and sting of death would be pulled out by Christ’s victory over the grave.

But here, it seems that God is calling for the thorns of death and the sting of Sheol (the Hebrew word for the grave) to pour out all their wrath over the people of Israel for their unfaithfulness.

All Hosea prophesied would come to pass within the next 70 years or so. Israel would collapse as a nation because of their unfaithfulness to God.

Did God still love them?

Yes.

Would he eventually restore them?

Yes, because as I’ve mentioned before, he remains faithful even when we are not.

A marriage can survive unfaithfulness.

But there’s considerable pain and hardship when a partner is unfaithful.

The same is true with our relationship with God. That’s what Israel would eventually learn.

How often do we think about the considerable hurt and anger we cause God by our unfaithfulness to him?

We forget his love and faithfulness towards us and trample on them in order to pursue our other lovers, the things of this world.

Let us always remember that as much as we can cause pain to our husbands or wives by our unfaithfulness to them, we cause great pain to the heart of God by our unfaithfulness to him.

Let us not be that way.

Let us instead be faithful to the one who always has been, and always will be faithful to us.

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Hosea

The unfailing love of God

God's love

Does God love me?

That’s a question that echoes within the hearts of millions.

But there’s another question that aches within the hearts of many.

Does God still love me?

So often, we see the love of others and how quickly it can fade away, especially as they see our failings and our weaknesses.

And so we ask, if they are like this, what of God? Will he leave me too?

I think we find the answer here in this passage.

God talks about how he led them out of Egypt, how he led them with kindness and love, guiding them and healing their wounds. How he lifted the yoke of slavery from them and provided for their every need.

Yet in spite of all this, the people turned away from him, worshiping the Baals.

Instead of following God, they determined in their hearts to turn away from him.

And so God warned them of the judgment to come.

But in the midst of it all, he bares his heart saying,

“How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel…

My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused.

I will not carry out my fierce anger, nor will I turn and devastate Ephraim.

For I am God, and not man—the Holy One among you.” (Hosea 11:8–9)

In other words, no matter how far we fall away from him, though he may discipline us, he will never give us up. He will never hand us over to another.

He isn’t a man whose love changes and fades away. His love is constant, and continually reaches out, waiting for us to return.

Do you ever wonder at the love of God? Do you ever think that he couldn’t possibly still care for you?

Always remember the words of Jeremiah,

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.

They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22–23)

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Hosea

Refusing God as king

Hosea

Election time is coming in the States.

Every four years, people vote for the person they hope will lead the country to prosperity. And when a new president takes his place, there is often hope in the hearts of the people.

But no president or political leader is the key to a prosperous nation.

That’s what Hosea pointed out here.

Hosea warned the people that God was going to soon punish them for their sin. Though there was currently prosperity in Israel under a wicked king in Jeroboam, it wouldn’t last.

God was about to dethrone him and his descendants.

Hosea then told the people that at that time, they would say,

We have no king because we did not revere the Lord. But even if we had a king, what could he do for us? (Hosea 10:3)

In other words, things would get so bad that they would lose all hope in their political leadership.

Why? Because ultimately, there is no hope for a godless nation in which people live for themselves instead of for God.

There is no hope for a people that refuse to make God king in their lives.

What Hosea wrote about Israel, we could write about our culture today. So many people have lost faith in the political system.

I talk to many Japanese whenever a new prime minister takes power, and it’s very rare that they think it’ll make a difference.

Most simply say, “It doesn’t matter. Nothing will change.” And most times, nothing significant does.

Hosea also talked about how the people were so corrupt, few could be trusted to keep their agreements anymore, and that’s why there was a plethora of lawsuits.

Can anybody say, “America?”

Hosea then went on to say that when the gods people set up in their lives fall, the people mourn.

You only have to look at all of the financial crises in the world to see that.

So many people set god as their money, only to lose it all. As a result, people find themselves struggling financially, wondering how they’re going to survive.

And as they mourn,

[People] say to the mountains, “Cover us,” and to the hills, “Fall on us.” (Hosea 10:8)

Does that passage sound familiar?

Jesus quoted it on the way to the cross to the women who were weeping for him. The people had rejected him as king, and as a result, disaster would soon come in the fall of Jerusalem less than 40 years later.

And so Hosea admonished the people,

Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers righteousness on you. (Hosea 10:12)

God tells us the same today.

It’s time to seek the Lord. We’ll not find salvation in political leaders. Nor will we find it in the gods of this world that we seek. It can only be found in God.

So let us break up the hardened ground of our hearts and soften it to the seed that God wants to plant in us.

Let us sow the righteousness of God in our lives.

Only then will we reap the fruit of his unfailing love and find true joy and prosperity in our lives.

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Hosea

When we refuse to listen

Hosea

As I read this passage, verses 7–8 jump out at me.

Hosea writes,

The days of punishment are coming, the days of reckoning are at hand. Let Israel know this.

Because your sins are so many and your hostility so great, the prophet is considered a fool, the inspired man a maniac.

The prophet, along with my God, is the watchman over Ephraim, yet snares await him on all his paths, and hostility in the house of his God. (Hosea 9:7–8)

In Hosea’s time, evil was so rampant that the prophets and godly men were considered fools and maniacs.

As a result, all their warnings and admonitions to the people went largely ignored. Not only that, but people would openly attack God’s messengers in order to shut them up.

But because of this, the days of reckoning were soon to come. Judgment was close at hand.

Hosea compared his time to the days of Gibeah, the site of one of the most sordid stories in Israel’s history.

So sordid were the events, that they compared in many ways to the corruption found in Sodom and Gomorrah.

And so Hosea warned the people, “If you keep ignoring the words of God, you will become like Gibeah. You will become like Sodom and Gomorrah.”

Unfortunately, the people didn’t listen, and eventually judgment did come.

One wonders what God thinks of our world today. Many of the things Hosea told the people back then, you could say about our own culture today.

People preaching God’s word faithfully are often considered fools and maniacs. And while fortunately it’s rare to see them physically attacked, they are attacked on other levels.

They’re often called bigoted and intolerant, and their names are dragged through the mud.

And all the while, you see our values gradually sinking down to the levels of Sodom and Gomorrah itself.

God’s patience will not last forever, and if we don’t turn, judgment will come, just as it did to Gibeah, Sodom and Gomorrah, to Israel, and to Judah.

That’s what happens when we refuse to listen to God.

And like I mentioned a couple blogs before, if we the priests of God are ignoring his words, what hope does our culture have?

As God’s priests, let us not ignore his words, but listen to them.

Let us not take on the values of this world, but rather let God work in us and through us to transform them.

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Hosea

When words are not enough

Mischievous 3 year old

My daughter Yumi is now at an age (3) where she can communicate somewhat, and as a result, it’s very clear that she’s starting to understand the concepts of right and wrong.

It seems recently, especially, that she’s starting to put my wife and me to the test. She’ll start to climb the kitchen table, for example, we’ll tell her no, and she’ll immediately do it again.

After a warning or two, she gets sent to her room and isn’t allowed out until she apologizes for her actions.

There are times, however, when she will apologize, and she clearly doesn’t mean it.

She’ll put on the cutest face possible, and say “I’m sorry,” thinking that her cuteness will get her a pass.

But because she now knows the difference between right and wrong, it no longer does.

That was the situation with God and the Israelites.

At times they would make a show of seeking the Lord, but their actions the rest of the time showed “a spirit of prostitution.”

And so God told them,

When they go with their flocks and herds to seek the Lord, they will not find him; he has withdrawn himself from them. (Hosea 5:6)

Because of their unfaithfulness, God sent discipline in their lives.

But though the Israelites would eventually turn to God, their attitudes were much like my daughter’s. They said they were sorry, but didn’t really mean it.

This is shown in their words in chapter 6, where they said,

Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces, but he will heal us; he has injured us, but he will bind up our wounds.

After two days, he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence.

Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him.

As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth. (Hosea 6:1-3)

Beautiful words. But look at the Lord’s response.

What can I do with you, Ephraim? What can I do with you, Judah?

Your love is like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears. (Hosea 6:4)

In other words, “You say all these beautiful words. And for a short time, you seem to seek after me. But as soon as things get better, you quickly turn away from me once again.”

Throughout chapters 6–8 he accuses the people saying,

Whenever I would restore the fortunes of my people, whenever I would heal Israel, the sins of Ephraim are exposed, and the crimes of Samaria revealed… (Hosea 6:11–7:1)

They do not cry to me from their hearts but wail upon their beds… (Hosea 7:14)

Israel cries out to me, “O our God, we acknowledge you!” But Israel has rejected what is good…they set up kings without my consent; they choose princes without my approval.

With their silver and gold, they make idols for themselves… (Hosea 8:2-4)

Though Ephraim built many altars for sin offerings, they become altars for sinning…

They offer sacrifices given to me and they eat the meat, but the Lord is not pleased with them.

Now he will remember their wickedness and punish their sins. (Hosea 8:11-13)

So many times, we think we can impress God with our words or our pious actions.

But God isn’t interested in them if we’re just living for ourselves the rest of the week.

And so God told them things like,

“I desire mercy not sacrifice, an acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6:6)

“Throw out your calf-idol, O Samaria! My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of impurity?” (Hosea 8:5)

How about us? Are we truly seeking God every day?

Or are we merely making an elaborate (or perhaps a not so elaborate) pretense?

You cannot deceive God. He sees your heart.

So let us truly turn to him.

If we truly acknowledge him, if we truly press on to acknowledge him and return to him, then he will indeed heal us, bind up our wounds, revive us, and restore us.

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Hosea

When the priests fail to act as priests

Hosea

Why are morals collapsing in this world?

There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land.

There’s murder, adultery, stealing, cursing, lying.

All bounds are being broken. Bloodshed follows bloodshed.

Does this sound familiar?

Hosea wrote about all this nearly 2700 years ago.

It’s amazing how little things have changed.

And as God condemned the Israelites of that time, he put the blame on the priests.

These priests were probably the same ones who claimed to be following Yahweh but were doing so through the calf idols set up by Jeroboam.

It’s also possible they were starting to follow Baal as well.

It says in verse 7,

The more the priests increased, the more they sinned against me; they exchanged their Glory for something disgraceful. (Hosea 4:7)

Because of this, the true knowledge of God became lost, or at least greatly distorted.

And so God told the priests,

My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests. (Hosea 4:6)

He then said,

It will be: Like people, like priests. I will punish both of them for their ways. (Hosea 4:9)

I think much the same could be said today.

I’m not talking about the fallen pastors and priests of today. I’m talking about us as Christians. We are the priests of God in the world today. (1 Peter 2:9)

And when we prostitute ourselves to the gods of self, materialism, and the other things of this world, we lose our effectiveness as priests.

When we fail to bring the true knowledge of God to this world, and instead compromise our Lord’s teaching, is it any wonder that the world is in as bad shape as it is today?

But while this world may be going to hell, we will also be held responsible if we are unfaithful in our role as God’s priests.

What kind of priest are you?

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Hosea

The God who pursues us

Gomer and Hosea

This is definitely one of the more bizarre stories we see in scripture, God telling Hosea, one of his prophets, to get married to a woman who would be unfaithful to him.

As this story takes place, Jeroboam II is still on the throne in Israel, as is Uzziah in Judah. Hosea was primarily a prophet to Israel, but he had words for Judah as well.

And in this time of material prosperity, there was definitely a spiritual problem. The people were being unfaithful to God, following other idols, namely Baal.

And thus, the object lesson of Hosea to the nation.

Hosea marries this woman Gomer, and she soon bears him a son that God says to call Jezreel.

God told him to do so because of the massacre at Jezreel where Jehu went far beyond the words of God in committing bloodshed.

As a result, God warned that judgment was coming upon the house of Jehu and upon Israel.

Gomer then gets pregnant twice more, but the Bible never says they were Hosea’s children. The implication being that they were children born out of Gomer’s unfaithfulness to Hosea.

The first is named “Lo-Ruhamah,” meaning “not loved.” The second is named “Lo-Ammi,” meaning “not my people.”

The picture couldn’t be clearer. Hosea must have had a tough time loving these children that were not his, and could not call either child his own.

In the same way, because of Israel’s unfaithfulness to God, God could not call them his loved ones or his children. Instead, he would reject them and cause them to fall as a kingdom.

And yet even in the midst of this, God makes clear that this punishment would not last forever. The day would come when he would call them his people and his sons once again and would restore them.

But in chapter 2, he rebukes Israel for its unfaithfulness.

The people didn’t realize that all their blessings came not from the gods they were following, but from God.

And so God said the day was coming when he would cut off their blessings, and that he would strip them naked of every good thing.

Though they would pursue pleasure and happiness, they would not be able to find them. The only thing they would be able to find was shame.

And eventually, the time would come when they would be so desperate that they would have no choice but to return to God.

The amazing part of it all is that through all of Israel’s unfaithfulness to God, he would continue to pursue them. It says,

“Therefore, I am now going to allure her;
I will lead her into the desert, and tenderly speak to her…

I will make the valley of trouble (Achor) a door of hope.
There she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt.

‘In that day,’ declares the Lord, ‘you will call me “my husband”;
you will no longer call me “my master.”…

I will betroth you to me forever.
I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion.
I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the Lord…

I will show my love to the one I called “Not my loved one.”
I will say to those called “Not my people,” “You are my people.”’ (Hosea 2:14–16, 19–20, 23)

And to firmly imprint all of this in the minds of Israel, he told Hosea in chapter 3 to show his love to his wife once more, to buy her back from the one she was enslaved to, and to restore her to her position as his wife once again.

What does this mean for us?

No matter how far we fall away from him, God still loves us and pursues us.

He may discipline us. He may allow bad things to happen to us as a consequence for our sin.

But his main goal is to restore us. And all he does is out of his love and faithfulness towards us.

So as Hosea told his wife, let us not prostitute ourselves any longer to the world or the things in the world.

Rather, let us return to him and be faithful to the God who is faithful to us, and who loved us enough to redeem us by Christ’s death on the cross.