Hosea 10 & 11 - Israel's Sin and Captivity

 

Hosea 10 – Israel’s Sin and Captivity

 

The more prosperous Israel became with a multitude of fruit, increased altars, and sacred pillars, the more they increased their idolatry and rejected the Lord. God accused them of being double-minded. (Matt. 6:24).

 

Jeroboam had set up the calf of Beth Aven (Bethel). Hosea indicated the idol would be carried to Assyria, while the people and priests would mourn and shriek. Israel would also mourn the loss of their king and the destruction of their high places. If only the people of Israel had grieved their sin and their loss of God’s favor!

 

Hosea urged Israel to see the Lord by sowing righteousness and reaping God’s mercy. God’s future gift of righteousness would be so abundant that it would be as rain.

 

Hosea 11- God’s Continuing Love for Israel.

 

God is both angry and compassionate as God’s commitment and Israel’s contempt meet head-on. It would be difficult to understand such a rebellious response to such a perfect love, except that we today are so much like Israel.

 

Because God is not man, He does not act as a human would – in blind, unbridled vengeance. Rather, God expresses a love reminiscent of Jesus’ lament over Jerusalem. (Matt.23:37). Jesus’ unshakeable devotion to the city that rejected Him is consistent with the heart of His Father, a heart filled with compassion for the rebellious nation of Israel.

 

The wicked cities of Admah and Zebolim were destroyed along with Sodom and Gomorrah.  The Lord’s lion-like roar will someday call His exiled people home and they will, like swift birds, return to their land.

 

Unlike Ephraim, Judah had a few kings and priests who continued to honor God. Yet Hosea often spoke direct warnings to Judah.

 

Please read the chapter listed so that you can understand God’s Word better.

If you have missed any lessons, you can go to: God Plans For You at https://sherrysouthard.blogspot.com.

Nelson’s Quick Reference Commentary.      J. Vernon McGee Through the Bible

Dr. David Jeremiah Study Bible.

 

Hosea 8 & 9 - When God Blows the Trumpet

 

Hosea 8 – When God Blows the Trumpet!

 

The trumpet was blown in Israel to warn of impending battle. In this case, Assyria, was coming, and there would be no escape. Israel claimed to know God and yet disobeyed Him (Titus 1:16). They made kings and rulers without seeking God’s will, and they made idols in defiance of the Lord. The famous calf of Samaria would be destroyed (I Kings 12:28-30) when the eagle swooped down, and the whirlwind came. What seems a lovely soft wind today can become a storm tomorrow.

 

Israel had become like a piece of junk pottery on the trash heap. They trusted the gentile nations to protect them but left God out of their plans. Israel multiplied altars and Judah multiplied fortifications, but neither could deliver from judgment. Israel would be taken by Assyria and Judah by Babylon, and God’s judgment would fall on a sinful people.

 

When God blows the trumpet, we had better wake up and listen!

 

 

Hosea 9 – Judgment of Israel’s Sin

 

Israel was accustomed to plentiful harvest, but the threshing floor, winepress, and new wine in the coming harvest would no longer produce a satisfying crop because their idols could not give them what they needed. Nettles and thorns would surround them. And in exile, Israel would eat the bread of mourners- bread considered unclean because it came from a house of death.

 

The people of Israel ignored and derided Hosea, calling him a fool and insane. Hosea was a watchman, sounding the alarm for God of coming danger to His people.

 

Hosea spoke of a miscarrying womb and dry breasts to show Israel that their worship of the fertility god Baal (who promised offspring to his worshipers) would bring only barrenness and divine judgment.

 

 

Please read the chapter listed so that you can understand God’s Word better.

If you have missed any lessons, you can go to: God Plans For You at https://sherrysouthard.blogspot.com.

J. Vernon McGee Commentary and Nelson’s Quick Reference Commentary. The Jeremiah Study Bible.

 

Hosea 7- The Battle Against Evil

 

Hosea 7 – The Battle Against Evil

 

The desire for sin can smolder like a fire in an oven and then blaze forth when the opportunity comes. If you have “burning desires,” be sure that they are under God’s control or they may destroy you.

 

If the fire is not watched, it can burn the cake, and then the cake must be thrown away. The people were “half-baked”: there was no depth to their religious experience. The nation was aging and did not realize it, and national death would come much sooner than the people realized. Even the kings and princes were wicked, with hearts that burned for more power.

 

In their foreign policy, the officials flitted between Egypt and Assyria, playing one against the other; eventually the nation was trapped. Instead of trusting the Lord and obeying His Word, they depended on politics and failed.

 

God could not depend on His people. They sinned against Him, lied to Him, and did not profit from His discipline. He tried to straighten them out, but they preferred to be substandard. In the battle against evil, we must be the weapon God can depend on.

 

God longed to heal Israel, but they continued to sin and did not remember that their wicked deeds were before His face. The omniscient God is aware of everything people do.

 

Please read the chapter listed so that you can understand God’s Word better. If you have missed any lessons, you can go to: God Plans For You at https://sherrysouthard.blogspot.com.Nelson’s Quick Reference Commentary. J. Vernon McGee Through the Bible. Dr. David Jeremiah Study Bible.

 

Hosea 6 - There is Hope

 

Hosea 6 – There is Hope

 

When we come back to God, He brings the dawning of a new day with the refreshing showers. The God who chastens us also heals and revives us.

 

Israel’s loyalty did not last but vanished like a cloud and evaporated like the dew. They brought sacrifices and engaged in religious services, but those activities made no difference in the way they lived. Their sacrifices were substitutes for obedience. (I Sam. 15:21-23.

 

Hosea included the confession that the future repentant generation would speak, asking God to heal, bind up , revive, and raise up. This new generation would be certain of God’s mercy to the repentant and the return of His favor to those who sincerely acknowledged Him.

 

The people of Hosea’s day transgressed the covenant they made with God at Mount Sinai (Ex. 19-20). According to this covenant, God would punish them for their disobedience (Deut. 28). Which was a personal affront to Him (they dealt treacherously with Me).

 

In the middle of his prophecies of impending judgment, Hosea called out to the Israelites to repent: “return to the Lord.” With this warning, Hosea, was in effect, saying there was still hope. Despite God’s punishment, God would restore those who turned back to Him. He would heal, bind up, and revive, if only they would “pursue the knowledge of the Lord.” Sometimes we may feel we have gone too far – that we have sinned too many times or too seriously to ever be forgiven. Hosea’s call to the wicked Israelites demonstrates that if we return to God. He will forgive us.  

 

Please read the chapter listed so that you can understand God’s Word better.

If you have missed any lessons, you can go to: God Plans For You at https://sherrysouthard.blogspot.com.Nelson’s Quick Reference Commentary.

Dr. David Jeremiah Study Bible. J. Vernon McGee Through the Bible

Hosea 5 - Condemnation

 

Hosea 5 – Condemnation

 

God condemns the leadership of the nation of Israel. He says the priest and the people are of the same character. The priests are no more leading the people than the people are following a leader. He rebuked them for their brutality, murder, violence, and war.

 

It is no different today. We talk of war and not of our ministry in bringing the Word of God to our enemies. He rebukes them for their idolatry. It is a sin of a people who had the Word of God and who knew God but had turned from Him and no longer knew Him or worshipped Him. As a result, there was immorality and deterioration of the nation.

 

Does that sound familiar to our nation also? The people have deserted God, but when trouble comes and they have tried every other resource, they will turn to God. God tells them they will not find Him because He has withdrawn from them. For many people, turning to God is the last resort. When trouble comes, it should be our first resource.

 

The Word of God is like a fire extinguisher to most people. They have it on hand and hope they never have to use it, but it is there just in case the need arises.

Not only is this a judgment against Israel, we can consider it is a judgment against our nation also, but there is still hope. Israel will come again seeking the Lord and not as a last resort but in a manner of repentance. They will confess their sins, have a change of heart and obey the Lord. When they come in this fashion, God will turn back to them.

 

We too, must recognize our sins, change our ways, and turn back to God. That is the only way God will recognize us. We must stand up to our wrongs, confess them and change them. It is through God’s mercy and grace that we can do this and be fully confident that we are in God’s favor. God is not our last resort, where we repent only because we got caught sinning but is our first resort in knowing we have sinned, and we want to make it right with God.

 

Please read the chapter listed so that you can understand God’s Word better.

If you have missed any lessons, you can go to: God Plans For You at https://sherrysouthard.blogspot.com.

Nelson’s Quick Reference Commentary. J Vernon McGee Thru the Bible

Dr. David Jeremiah Study Bible.

Hosea 4 - Children of Israel

 

Hosea 4 – Children of Israel

 

God chastised Israel for breaking five of the Ten Commandments. Swearing, lying, killing, stealing, and committing adultery. He also elaborated on the sin of idolatry. The Israelite people were tripped up by sin and consequently fell to their run. Those who allow the Lord to lead them will not stumble (Isa. 63:12, 13).

 

God wanted Israel to experience Him through their loyal obedience; instead, the people and priests violated His covenant law and forfeited their blessings.

 

The priests were eager to eat up the sin of the people. They did this by urging the people to offer hypocritical, ineffective sacrifices for sins. The more the people sinned, the more the priests ate and sold the sacrificial meat to make money. The people enjoyed sin in excess while the priests, who should have been faithful, encouraged it.

 

Israel’s practice of idolatry included widespread prostitution, and the men who participated were even more responsible in the Lord’s eyes than the daughters who committed harlotry. False religion leads to spiritual adultery, and these work their way into a society and ultimately produce an immoral generation.

 

Israel’s primary shrines were at Gilgal and Beth Aven. The Lord urged Judah to avoid the sins of the stubborn, rebellious Israel. Hosea refers to the Northern kingdom as Ephraim, a reference to the largest of the 10 northern tribes.

 

Please read the chapter listed so that you can understand God’s Word better.

If you have missed any lessons, you can go to: God Plans For You at https://sherrysouthard.blogspot.com.

Nelson’s Quick Reference Commentary.

Dr. David Jeremiah Study Bible. J. Vernon McGee Through the Bible

 

Hosea 3 - Addictions

 

Hosea 3- Addictions

 

Addictions are powerful enemies to our relationship with God. Whether the addiction is alcohol, drugs, sex, gambling, web-surfing, shopping, or whatever addicted people can attest to their seeming inability to control their desires.

Gomer had an addiction. As a harlot, she sold herself for money. Hosea knew what he was getting in Gomer. She married Hosea, lived with him, and had children, but the children were not Hosea’s but children of her sinful ways. Despite Gomer’s actions, Hosea loved her. She sought comfort not in his love, but in her addiction. She ran to others who made love but did not love her. They used her and left her alone and empty. Then Hosea brought her back.

The story illustrates the power of love, and the faithfulness of God toward His sinful people. It also tragically illustrates the results of an addiction. For Gomer, her addiction pulled her away from her family and then left her alone and empty, needing to have Hosea pay a large amount of money to redeem her. No one else wanted her.           

 

Addictions usually begin very subtly, an experience, substance, or individual that brings pleasure begins to become an obsession. Eventually, the obsession takes control. Rarely can a person escape the addiction without some sort of intervention. Addicts must determine to change, replace the addictive substance with something more wholesome, and then finally find a way to meet their need differently. Addictions destroy individuals, families, friendships, reputations, and careers. Addictions make people victims of their own desires. Despite all this, God offers hope to the addict. God wants to free His people from anything that take His rightful place in their lives. He wants to show them that He can meet all their needs. With God’s help and the compassionate accountability of other believers, addicts can be set free, brought back. Jesus has already paid the price.

When Gomer was committing adultery. God told Hosea to bring her back and love her. Hosea could have refused; he could have had her stoned. Or he could have simply ignored God’s request. In obedience to God, Hosea went to Gomer and used his own money to buy her back. Reaching out after being rejected, being faithful to the unfaithful is difficult. Yet that is the kind of love God has shown us. God reaches out to us every day, calling us back to Him.

 

Please read the chapter listed so that you can understand God’s Word better.

If you have missed any lessons, you can go to: God Plans For You at https://sherrysouthard.blogspot.com. Nelson’s Quick Reference Commentary.

Dr. David Jeremiah Study Bible. J. Vernon McGee Through the Bible.