Hosea 14 - Salvation

At last we get to the salvation message. The instruction is to "return to the Lord your God. Your sins have been your downfall". Sin is our biggest problem, not doing things God's way is the root cause of our problems. So the only answer is to return to the Lord.

They had to "take words" to the Lord. Animal sacrifices would not do the trick. They needed to admit their guilt and rely upon the Lord to be merciful to them. The same applies to us. Yet we find this so hard to do. We want to justify ourselves, we want to prove that we aren't so bad after all. None of this will work. 

Similarly Israel had to admit that Assyria and the false idols she worshipped were useless and could not offer any salvation.

God's response to this would be first heal our waywardness. Through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, God brings changes about in the very heart of our being. He loves us freely, and holds no anger against us.

Israel would become like a cedar of Lebanon, sending its roots deep into the ground to seek its sustenance from the Lord. The fruit of this would be that Israel would become something to be admired and respected. The Holy Spirit works in our lives to change us, to make us people worthy of honour. 

We become a source of shade for others. So instead of Israel running off to other nations for "help", other nations would come to her for wisdom. This is the way it is meant to be with us. We are meant to be people who learn from the Lord, and so the world can then learn from us. And the world can only learn from us if we are learning from the Lord.

The truly wide person knows that wisdom resides only in the Lord.

Hosea 13 - More destruction

Israel became a feared nation because of the things that the Lord did for her. However, he then turned to worshipping idols. This was not a one-off aberration, but a lifestyle. They made more and more idols. The idols were cleverly fashioned. Ie they devoted much care and attention to making the idols.

The worst thing is that they offered human sacrifices to these idols. When we worship things, the thing becomes more important than people. When we worship God, people become more important. A key fruit and test of whether someone is worshipping God is their love (or lack of love) for people. So the nation would become nothing at all.

Yet this would not be the end. They were God's people. And they were God's people because God had chosen them, not because they chose God. Time after time He had rescued them, but as soon as the immediate danger was over, they became proud, thinking that they could manage without God.

In turning against God, in denying Him, there were denying the one who was their helper, the One who gives them life. This is true of the whole human race.

A terrible fate would befall the nation.

In the midst of all this we get verse 14 which seems strangely out of place. It is a verse quoted by Paul at the end of 1 Corinthians 15, declaring the victory of the resurrection over death.

Hosea 12 - Disobedient Israel

Ephraim just went whichever way the wind was blowing, making a treaty with Assyria, trying to placate Egypt. All this ended up in disaster. We too can be tempted to "go with the flow". This too can end up in disaster. We need to be people who walk in step with the Spirit.

God then brings a charge against Judah. he goes right back to Jacob. Jacob was Esau's twin, and even in the womb he struggled with Esau.  Later he wrestled with the angel of the Lord, seeking God's favour. If he wanted to prosper then Judah needed once again to earnestly seek the Lord, to go after God with all her energy.

There was corruption within Israel, yet they boasted that they had made money without sin. People very easily become deceived.

The Lord had devoted much effort to looking after Israel, now the nation would suffer the consequences for her disobedience.

Hosea 11 - Judgement and love

Israel was created by God, without God there would have been no nation of Israel. Just as without God there would be no humankind at all. Israel, as with all mankind, was loved by God, and Israel was brought out of Egypt at the Exodus.

God frequently called to Israel, but the more He called the more they worshipped idols (the Baals). Everything good that Israel had came from the Lord, just as everything good any of us has comes from the Lord.

Since they chose not to have the protection of the Lord, they would end up in captivity, with many of them dying by the sword. This would be the consequence of their choice. Likewise, it says in Romans 1 that God gave man over to his evil desires. 

Then we get a sudden change in verse 8: "How can I give you up.." God would indeed save them. 

So what is all this about? We need to understand that the horror and revulsion at Israel's sin is real, just as God's revulsion at our sin is real. Yet despite this He chose to save us.

Hosea 10 - The results of not turning to God

As Israel prospered she just built more altars to false gods. She did this because her heart was deceitful. As a nation does well it seeks to find any reason to attribute this to other than God. See how desperate some atheists are to attribute creation to anyone and anything but God. So the Lord would demolish their altar stones. Remember that these altars were also places where child sacrifice and all sorts of prostitution took place. On the altar of a godless society all sorts of atrocities can take place. 

"Lawsuits spring up like a poisonous weed". This sounds like a very apt description of society today. Our justice systems seems to do anything but dispense justice. This happens because we are a society without a compass, without moral direction from God.

So the nation would be taken into exile and her altars destroyed. Their she would mourn.

Yet towards the end of this chapter we get a ray of hope in verse 12. There is always a way out, if only we will turn to the Lord. We are to sow righteousness, then we will reap the fruit of God's unfailing love. We are to seek the Lord. This breaks up us the unploughed ground. Problems and situations that seemed intractable will suddenly become solvable if only we will turn to the Lord.

Instead the nation had planted wickedness, instead they had relied upon their own strength. So disaster will come.

Hosea 9 - Rejection of Israel

The relentless judgement against Israel continues. She could not be jubilant like other nations for she belonged to God and had sinned against Him. In fact they would not be allowed to remain in the land and would end up in exile in Egypt and Assyria. They would have no place to offer sacrifices to the Lord. One might think that this would not be a problem seeing as they seemed to care so little for God. Yet when someone turns away from God there is still a part of us that knows we actually need to worship God, so we go on seeking something and end up living in frustration.

All this would happen because of the sins of the people. This was not a one-off sin, but the accumulation of many sins. God is often accused of being vindictive, but the truth is that He is tremendously patient. When judgement does come we can be sure that it was fully deserved, and every other avenue had been explored, every chance of repentance given. The reference to Gibeah is referring to the Benjaminites and the concubines (Judges 19:16-30). They had never repented of this sin, and so it had been remembered.

Israel had promised much, but ended up utterly corrupt. Because of this she will be utterly rejected by the Lord.

Hosea 8 - Reap the whirlwind

"Reap the whirlwind" is a phrase in common use, and like any commonly used phrases it comes right from the Bible. In fact, most people do not realise just how often they quote from the Bible.

Israel declared that they acknowledged God, but their actions said otherwise. The words of our mouth are worthless unless they are backed up by our actions. Indeed Jesus said, "not everyone who says 'Lord, Lord" will enter the kingdom of heaven".

The particular actions of Israel that are singled out here are: appointing kings and princes without God's consent; and making idols. The Bible is vehemently against idols and ridicules them in several places. Why is this? Because they are worthless, and they make man worthless. What is the point in  worshipping a piece of metal or wood? 

They sow the wind. The wickedness of the people brought far worse destruction than they ever imagined. This is true of all evil. Man never realises what the full consequences will be. He imagines that he can get away with a little bit of evil, with maybe some minor bad effects. But the truth is that the returns on a little evil are far worse than we ever envisage.

Israel had sold herself to Assyria, believing it would bring safety. In fact it would only bring oppression. 

Israel had forgotten her God. Judah's attempts to fortify her cities would be futile. All action is futile if God is against us. Turning to God is the only answer.