MOTIVATE

When we watch a show for the first time, we watch it sequentially. We identify the characters’ names and discover their backstory. We learn the relationships between the characters and their circumstances. Hopefully, the show is engaging to hold our attention and gain our investment to watch through the climactic plot twists and turns to reach the end of the story or multiple episodes. Each episode is fresh and new because we have never viewed it before.

Yet, if you were the executive producer of the show, then you have already read the script and viewed the scenes both live and through video edits. You watch the show from an entirely different perspective. The producer is not freshly learning the script but is evaluating the living actors for how they are responding to the storyline, and ultimately how they are representing the movie’s name and company brand. So, the producer is not watching their show sequentially but with depth of analysis for quality and meaning.

Likewise, readers of the book of Hosea attempt to read it chronologically. Yet, once they understand the storyline from the first 3-chapters, they realize the book is not meant for chronology as much as it is meant to apply the content deep into our heart and mind.

So, we turn to Hosea 6-9 for 2 principles of our love for the Lord.

EXAMINE                     Hosea 6-9

Hosea is a parable of perversion for marriage when it should be a parable of permanence. The Bible illustrates our relationship with God like a marriage. While we should be faithful, we sometimes/frequently fail… and sometimes willfully. Our heart idols are described as spiritual adultery toward God because faith is not abstract but relational. So, this book reminds us that our sin is not just abstract mistakes but is a personal betrayal to God and causes brokenness and pain in the relationships around us.

Last week’s message identified principles of God’s redemptive love. This week we want to identify principles of our response to God’s love.

Our love for God requires recognition of His worth and repentance of our wrongs.

Hosea 6:1-11 ¹ “Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. ² After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. ³ Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.”

The prophet Hosea has told Israel judgment is coming. But he is still holding out hope

¹ “Come, let us return to the LORD…
³ Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD

God’s judgment upon Israel was not reckless but calculated. He was like a surgeon tearing flesh and cutting out the infectious sin disease in their souls. God’s wounding judgment had the intention to cure and repair.

Further, see the relational aspect of God with the call for faithful return and first-hand knowledge. The blessing of God is that He wants us to come.

And don’t you just marvel at the prophet’s words
² After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. It was poetic device to portray emphasis by numbering certain items (“two days”) and then in the very next breath to add another number (three days).^[1] Reading with NT eyes, we understand that Jesus was “wounded for our transgressions; crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed” (Isa 53:5-6). We also know that on the third day, Christ was raised up – and “he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days” (Isa 53:10), and that we walk in the newness of resurrection life.

Yet, amid God’s forgiving grace offering fresh starts and marvelous mercy, is the painful accuracy of our ungrateful hearts and fickle commitment.

^6:4 What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away. ⁵ Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light. ⁶ For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

^7:10 The pride of Israel testifies to his face; yet they do not return to the LORD their God, nor seek him, for all this. ¹³ Woe to them, for they have strayed from me! Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against me! I would redeem them, but they speak lies against me. ¹⁴ They do not cry to me from the heart, but they wail upon their beds; for grain and wine they gash themselves; they rebel against me.

Hosea admonishes Israel for its wavering worship and disappearing devotion. He advises them that God does not want rote sacrifice without relational sincerity and steadfast love.

Likewise, Jesus quotes Hosea 6:6 at least two times in the Gospels (Mt 9:13; 12:17) to expose religious hypocrisy and call true disciples to genuine recognition of God’s worth and repentance of their wrongs.

Illus[2]: It seems like a weekly occurrent when a public figure offends someone or crosses a moral boundary for a segment of people. So, they make a statement about a topic and even express an apology, while not actually admitting personal wrongdoing. “I’m sorry that people were offended, or that you got upset.” “I recognize that mistakes are part of life.” “I hope we can all move beyond the past and move forward to a better future.” Thus, such language enables a person to retain their public credibility but never confess personal sin or accept consequences. These are faux-apologies, or a non-contrite confessions.

This is also similar to the child who is more regretful that they were caught doing something they shouldn’t have, so immediately they shed tears and state regret but without actual repentance.

When it comes to our faith and love for God, we must take responsibility for our sin. 7-A’s of Confession (Ken Sande, Peacemaking For Families).

1. Address everyone involved. Private sin should be confessed personally, but public sin should be confessed publicly.
2. Avoid vagueness using “if,” “but,” and “maybe” language.   
3. Admit specifically your sin, the biblical principle, and the personal hurt.
4. Apologize with empathy; seeing from their perspective.
5. Accept the consequences instead of trying to turn circumstances into your own best interests.
6. Ask for forgiveness but remember forgiveness is about the past but reconciliation is about the process of getting to the future. Forgiveness is about one person, but reconciliation takes two. Ultimately rebuilding trust takes time.
7. Alter your behavior and attempt to make restitution by repairing the damage you have caused.

We take responsibility not just through biblical confession but drawing close to God and others. Our sin wants us to feel shame and isolation. But the gospel wants us to embrace the refuge of grace. The criteria for coming to Jesus is not flawlessness but weariness. It’s admission of being overwhelmed and under pressure. It’s recognition that God is the solution to your struggles and the source of your strength. Come to Jesus.

Our love for God requires urgent attention and abandoned loyalty.

Hosea sounds the alarm, with the trumpet alerting attention to ominous threat and impending doom.  8:1-14 ¹ Set the trumpet to your lips! One like a vulture is over the house of the LORD, because they have transgressed my covenant and rebelled against my law. ² To me they cry, “My God, we—Israel—know you.” ³ Israel has spurned the good; the enemy shall pursue him. ⁴ They made kings, but not through me. They set up princes, but I knew it not. With their silver and gold they made idols for their own destruction.

The Lord denounces their alliances with kings, armies, and financial agreements. From the beginning, Israel was to wait upon the Lord to anoint one on the throne. Israel’s kings did not promote monogamy but plurality with countless monarchies of immorality, idolatry, and independence from God’s ways.

⁷ For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. The standing grain has no heads; it shall yield no flour; if it were to yield, strangers would devour it. ⁸ Israel is swallowed up; already they are among the nations as a useless vessel. The nations they sought alliance became their adversaries.

This happens to us today.

• We think $ will give us fulfillment – and it does – for a season. But then we want more – or we realize it’s not the supreme satisfaction we thought it was. Pleasure becomes a different type of pain to dull the hidden hurts and sorrows that we dare not speak about or let anyone in.
• We think a hot guy/ pretty girl will give us happiness – and they do – until they don’t. Conflict occurs. The changes we wished never come and the changes we never expected are happening at a frequency you can’t control. Before long, you’re in a relationship that you’ve desperately regretted.
• Whether it’s people or purchases or plans, those we align our hopes and dreams can easily shift from an ally to an adversary.   

⁹ Ephraim has hired lovers…. ¹⁴ For Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces, and Judah has multiplied fortified cities; so I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour her strongholds.

• Applying urgent attention
  •  Pray each day. Sincerely. Let Scriptures inform your prayers. Php 4:4-8
  •  Link weekly. Prioritize Sundays not as an last or extra do to weekend, but as the first day of week as the Lord’s Day. Heb 10:24-25
  •  Accept accountability. Consider the sources of speaking truth in love and allow them to sharpen your thinking and refine your actions.

• Applying abandoned devotion:
  • Jesus said, “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a person to gain the whole world and forfeit their soul? For what can a person give in return for their soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in he glory of his Father with the holy angels.” (Mk 8:35-38)
  • Following Jesus requires sacrifices but each one is worth it. BECAUSE, without abandon to Jesus there is annihilation from God.
    Hosea 9

⁷ The days of punishment have come; the days of recompense have come; Israel shall know it.
¹¹ Ephraim’s glory shall fly away like a bird— no birth, no pregnancy, no conception!
¹² Even if they bring up children, I will bereave them till none is left. Woe to them when I depart from them!
¹⁴ Give them, O LORD— what will you give? Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.
¹⁶ Ephraim is stricken; their root is dried up; they shall bear no fruit. Even though they give birth, I will put their beloved children to death.
¹⁷ My God will reject them because they have not listened to him; they shall be wanderers among the nations.

APPLY/THINK

At this point you might be thinking, “This is intense. The book of Hosea presents God as trouble and tragedy.”

But I would suggest that God will create all sorts of circumstances to catch your attention.

Think about it.

• A parent might clasp the cheeks of their child to look face to face.
• A teacher might stop the lecture to produce the awkward silence for focused listening.
• A teen or young adult assembly might place wrecked vehicles in a visible setting to show consequences of drunk/distracted driving.
• An organization might send notices of employee reductions.

In this case, Israel wasn’t listening or attentive to the LORD. So, God sent prophets to warn, punishment to reprove, and judgment to separate those with stubborn and prideful hearts.

à What might God be doing in your life to gain your attention, motivate your devotion, and focus your faith?

• Pray for Gomer’s around you; in your home; present in your life. You cannot control circumstances or change hearts, but you know who can. Pray.
  James 5:16 “The prayer of a righteous person has great power.”
  
  But don’t just pray.
  James 5:20 “whoever brings back a sinner from their [spiritual] wandering will save their soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.”

>Realize we may be Gomer….

• Rededicate life and faith to Jesus.
  • A rededication means you are recognizing that you’ve drifted, and God has not. You’re not blaming Him but accepting responsibility for what you need to do for spiritual growth, life direction, and focused purpose. This is urgent attention and abandoned loyalty. You’re turning away from whatever – even good things – that were distracting you from following Jesus without rival, and you’re rededicating to set disciplines to aid your spiritual growth.
• Recommit to meaningful membership. You recognize there are areas you have been a consumer but not a contributor. You have been passive attender instead of a meaningful member of the body. And today the Spirit says, “Go again.” Rekindle relationships and service. And perhaps you may not be able to serve in the same ways you previously did, but there is still something you can do to offer what’s in your hands for the Lord to multiply.

• Find the confident hope and trustworthy promises of Jesus that “He has torn us that He may heal us…” and “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” (Ps 147:3).

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^[1] George M. Schwab Sr., “Hosea,” in Daniel–Malachi, ed. Iain M. Duguid, James M. Hamilton Jr., and Jay Sklar, vol. VII, ESV Expository Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2018), 211.

[2] Thoughts inspired from https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/repentance-non-apology-apology/