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Hosea 4 through Hosea 6 is a powerful passage of scripture that communicates a message of hope and restoration in the midst of pain and brokenness. At its core, the book of Hosea is a story about God's relentless love for His people, even in the face of their unfaithfulness and disobedience. The first chapter of Hosea illustrates this love as God commands the prophet to marry an unfaithful woman, a prostitute, whose name is Gomer. God commanded he do this to signify and symbolize to the people their unfaithfulness towards God. Hosea's life literally becomes a living parable of God's love for His people, and the story of Gomer and Hosea's relationship deeply parallels God's love for us, his creation.
In chapter 4, God announces that He's leveling a "lawsuit" against the nation of Israel, not literally, but figuratively. But how He delivers that lawsuit is very real - in the form of captivity by the Babylonians!
In this chapter, God highlights 6 major sins the nation has committed against Him.
1. Failure of the priests to preach God's Word! The priests fail to live up to God's standard and keep the people from learning about God's truth. In fact, the priests pervert God's truth and forsake him and the people. Their job was to share the great news about God and His love, but they didn't do it. In 4:6, God decries "My people are being destroyed because they don’t know me. Since you priests refuse to know me, I refuse to recognize you as my priests. Since you have forgotten the laws of your God, I will forget to bless your children."
2. Failure of the priests to know God! In verses 6 and 7, God tells them that because they have forgotten Him and His word that He'll forget about them and their children. What a horrible tragedy for both the people and the priests!
3. Idol Worship! These priests were so perverted that they exchanged the truth about God into lies. And, they encouraged the people to worship idols - things made up of stone, rock, and wood. This is just an example of how stupid people can be!
4. The priests got paid when people sinned! Can you imagine that? In 4:8, God tells it like it is. Since the people were to sacrifice animals at the altar when they sinned, the priests benefitted from this because it left them with a HUGE amount of food for their families. As such, they loved it when people sinned and were required by the Mosaic Law to bring the sacrifice to them. I seriously doubt if the priests would sacrifice the animals, but rather would receive the animal as though they were going to sacrifice them, but instead added them to their own personal flock. I don't know this for sure, but can't you see how sinful these priests were? Can you put it past at least one of them to come up with this idea?
5. Alcohol infused people! In 4:11, God says that alcohol and the worship of idols was the ruin of the nation. Wow! How often has alcohol ruined people, families, and nations?
6. They love shame more than honor! In 4:18, God puts it plain. They were more interested in doing the things that would one day bring them shame in front of an Almighty God than what it would take to honor him. Do you know of anybody like that? They were ok with their sinful lives. The were more interested in what pleased them now than what pleased God. In fact, they never gave it a thought that one day they would stand before God and give an account for the way they lived the one life God gave them. What about you? If we were to weigh out the measure of honor and shame that you've brought into your own life, which would weigh more? What do you think God will say to you in that day of Judgement?
Hosea 5 continues the prophetic message of Hosea, warning
Israel of their impending judgement and calling them to repentance. In this
chapter, God continues to remind Israel that they have rebelled against
Him, turning away from His commands and chasing after their own desires. Verse
2 highlights Israel's lack of knowledge of God, implying that their
disobedience is a result of a lack of understanding of who He is and what He
desires from them. This ignorance is not an excuse, however, as God expects His
people to seek Him and follow His ways. Verses 3-7 describe the consequences of
Israel's rebellion, including their oppression by Assyria and their own
internal conflicts. Despite these hardships, Israel does not turn to God for
help, but rather seeks out other nations and false gods for assistance. The
chapter ends with a call to repentance and an offer of forgiveness from God. He
promises to heal their waywardness and to love them freely if they would only
turn back to Him and acknowledge their sin. Overall, Hosea 5 serves as a
warning of the dangers of disobedience and a call to turn back to God in
repentance and faith.
In Hosea 6, God warns Israel of the day when they'll get on their knees and beg for His help, but He tells them that He won't help them. While God explains how He'd like to be merciful to them and not hurt them, they must make the first move towards repenting and turning their lives around.
He tells them a profound truth in 6:6 - "I want you to show love, not offer sacrifice. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings."
God wants obedience from us MORE THAN sacricial service to His name. What good is it to serve the Lord at church when you don't obey Him? You're only fooling yourself and presenting yourself as a hypocrite - the kind of individual everyone hates. No one like a hypocrite! However, so many "Christians" in our churches today are just that!
What about you?
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