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The last two weeks in our study of Hosea we’ve reflected on God’s redemptive love and the human response to God’s love. We recognized that God sent the prophet Hosea to warn Israel of pending judgment and to woo Israel to repentance and faith, like a lover seeking to reconcile. However, Israel would not pay attention.

What about today – how do you know if someone is paying attention to you?

• They give eye contact.
• They return coherent and confirmed speech.
• They follow up with action steps.
• They maintain an ongoing relationship.

Today’s message will reflect upon our attention to the Lord in the ebb and flow of life.

2 lessons…

EXAMINE                             Hosea 10-13

Mismanaged blessings frequently result in unwelcomed burdens.

Hosea 10:¹ Israel is a luxuriant vine that yields its fruit. The more his fruit increased, the more altars he built; as his country improved, he improved his pillars.

Hosea describes Israel as a luxurious vine. The imagery of a fruitful vine goes all the way back to Noah planting a vineyard and drinking of its fruit (Gen 9:20-21). Onward Israel is promised to dwell in a fruitful land (cf Dt 6:11; Jos 24:13), and likewise Israel’s warnings of punishment would be invasion of its vineyards (2 Ki 5:26; Jer 5:17; 40:10; Hos 2:12). But one prophet is poignant in his description of Israel as the vineyard:

Isaiah 5:1-7 ¹ Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. ² He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. ³ And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. ⁴ What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? ⁵ And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. ⁶ I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns shall grow up; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. ⁷ For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel…!

God blessed Israel abundantly. He provided the land and farmed the soil. The Lord cleared the stony ground and planted it with choice seeds. Israel’s vineyard grew aggressively, yet its harvest was rotten. Israel was provided good soil, but it produced bad fruit. They more wealth and benefits they received, the more the nation selfishly hoarded blessings and spiritually whored itself with idols (cf Hos 13:5-6).

So, 10:2 God promised to do to Israel’s altars and sacred pillars what they were supposed to have done among the Canaanite gods (Dt 12:3). God promised total destruction.

² Their heart is false; now they must bear their guilt. The LORD will break down their altars and destroy their pillars.
¹⁰ When I please, I will discipline them, and nations shall be gathered against them when they are bound up for their double iniquity. ¹¹ Ephraim was a trained calf that loved to thresh, and I spared her fair neck; but I will put Ephraim to the yoke; Judah must plow; Jacob must harrow for himself.

Israel was trained and worked in cooperation with its owner, but now it has grown contrary. It needs to be placed under a heavy yoke.

Indeed, God’s discipline prunes and purifies those who are willfully disobedient. So, the prophet gives a command: ¹² Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.  

Prepare the soil / break up your fallow ground. The fallow ground is hard on the surface and shallow to any seeds planted. Ultimately, it is useless soil until it is broken and prepared.

• What has caused your heart to harden?
• What holds you back from breaking up and turning over the soil of your life?
• What preparations do you need to make to receive the seed of God’s word?

Plant the seed / Sow for yourselves righteousness. Sowing is the input of right things.

• What seeds are you internalizing?
• Where is your strength focused and energy poured out?
• How will you sow God’s word in your life?

Harvest the fruit / reap steadfast love /Reaping is not passive but active labor. And reaping only comes after sowing. There are some seasons for sowing, and others for reaping. So, if you’re not reaping it’s likely because God has placed you in a season to sow. 

Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.  Hosea 10:12
  

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• What season are you in?
• Are you reaping what you desire? You only reap WHAT you sow.
• If you’re reaping, don’t stop sowing. Does anyone say, “God, I have enough blessing and don’t want any more”?
• Don’t resist being yoked to the Lord.

Misunderstood gospel frequently results in inoculated faith.  

A person is inoculated when they receive a moderate dosage of a dead virus to prepare their body to resist the actual living virus. The inoculated person is not sick, and they feel safe. While the inoculation helps the person, unfortunately there is no guarantee the person is fully protected.

Spiritually speaking, a person can be inoculated to Christian faith because of a variety of factors.

• They’re born in a religious home or Christian family.
• They were baptized as an infant.
• They received a “booster shot” of a Christian friend.
• They experience vitamins such as church attendance, and perhaps even some Bible reading.

However, a person experiences an inoculated faith when they misunderstand the gospel. We misunderstand the gospel with either pendulum of legalism or licentiousness. Legalism adds behaviors and good works to earn God’s acceptance. Licentiousness reduces the gospel to fire insurance, or grace without truth. In all, misunderstanding God’s salvation leads a person to grow increasingly resistant to redemption. 

Hosea 11:1-12 ¹ When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. ² The more they were called, the more they went away; they kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning offerings to idols. ³ Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk; I took them up by their arms, but they did not know that I healed them. ⁴ I led them with cords of kindness, with the bands of love, and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them.

The Lord views Israel as His child, whom He loved and rescued out of Egypt. Yet, in this case, the child who experienced grace and goodness abused the blessing, and was unfortunately inoculated from saving faith. They experienced God’s kindness but they became prodigals and spiritual adulterers.

Through the NT, we also know Jesus is the greater Israel (Mt 2:15) – as a child, called out of Egypt to mature in faith, wage war against sin, and live victoriously. 

Unfortunately, Israel was not ready for its Messiah. Like a dog returns to its vomit, so Israel returns to its false gods and is enslaved in Egypt.

Hosea 11:⁵ They shall not return to the land of Egypt, but Assyria shall be their king, because they have refused to return to me.
⁶ The sword shall rage against their cities, consume the bars of their gates, and devour them because of their own counsels.
⁷ My people are bent on turning away from me, and though they call out to the Most High, he shall not raise them up at all.

Hosea 12:¹ Ephraim feeds on the wind and pursues the east wind all day long; they multiply falsehood and violence; they make a covenant with Assyria, and oil is carried to Egypt.

The rest of Hosea 12 is the prophet recounting Israel’s family history.

> Have you ever observed parent’s actions and promised, “I’m never going to do that to my children”?
Or, observe perpetual dysfunction and sin patterns from one generation to another: loud yelling / conflict avoidance / conflict about money – spenders vs savers / addiction habits / divorce statistics / etc.
For Israel, it started with its patriarch Jacob. He was a trickster and deceiver; one who frequently sought to fulfill self-interests over God’s glory. Thus, Israel repeated the dysfunction of their forefather. And if history would repeat itself, Israel would be left to wander aimlessly through dry desert lands. Nations have a bad habit of not learning the lessons from its past but repeating their former sins.   

Nations have a bad habit of not learning the lessons from its past but repeating their former sins.

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² The LORD has an indictment against Judah and will punish Jacob according to his ways; he will repay him according to his deeds. ³ In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his manhood he strove with God. ⁴ He strove with the angel and prevailed; he wept and sought his favor. He met God at Bethel, and there God spoke with us—
⁵ the LORD, the God of hosts, the LORD is his memorial name: ⁶ “So you, by the help of your God, return, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God.”
⁷ A merchant, in whose hands are false balances, he loves to oppress.

⁸ Ephraim has said, “Ah, but I am rich; I have found wealth for myself; in all my labors they cannot find in me iniquity or sin.” ⁹ I am the LORD your God from the land of Egypt; I will again make you dwell in tents, as in the days of the appointed feast.
¹⁰ I spoke to the prophets; it was I who multiplied visions, and through the prophets gave parables. ¹¹ If there is iniquity in Gilead, they shall surely come to nothing: in Gilgal they sacrifice bulls; their altars also are like stone heaps on the furrows of the field. ¹² Jacob fled to the land of Aram; there Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he guarded sheep. ¹³ By a prophet the LORD brought Israel up from Egypt, and by a prophet he was guarded. ¹⁴ Ephraim has given bitter provocation; so his Lord will leave his bloodguilt on him and will repay him for his disgraceful deeds.

Hosea 13:² And now they sin more and more, and make for themselves metal images, idols skillfully made of their silver, all of them the work of craftsmen. It is said of them, “Those who offer human sacrifice kiss calves!”

Israel became skilled at their idol addictions. And worse, they sacrifice their children to please pagan idols. Are we much different when we commit our time, devote our energy, and max spend resources for activities that will smolder in eternity?

³ Therefore they shall be like the morning mist or like the dew that goes early away, like the chaff that swirls from the threshing floor or like smoke from a window. ⁴ But I am the LORD your God from the land of Egypt; you know no God but me, and besides me there is no savior.
⁵ It was I who knew you in the wilderness, in the land of drought; ⁶ but when they had grazed, they became full, they were filled, and their heart was lifted up; therefore they forgot me. ⁷ So I am to them like a lion; like a leopard I will lurk beside the way.
⁸ I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs; I will tear open their breast, and there I will devour them like a lion, as a wild beast would rip them open. ⁹ He destroys you, O Israel, for you are against me, against your helper. ¹⁰ Where now is your king, to save you in all your cities? Where are all your rulers— those of whom you said, “Give me a king and princes”? ¹¹ I gave you a king in my anger, and I took him away in my wrath. ¹² The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is kept in store. ¹³ The pangs of childbirth come for him, but he is an unwise son, for at the right time he does not present himself at the opening of the womb. ¹⁴ Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from Death? O Death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is your sting? Compassion is hidden from my eyes.

Through the prophet we have a peak behind the curtain of God’s divine dilemma. Thankfully, we note God’s relentless grace and unfailing patience with Israel.

Hosea 11:⁸ How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? [cities destroyed with Sodom & Gomorrah; Gen 14:2; 19:25] My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender. ⁹ I will not execute my burning anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath.

> We must realize that God’s aim is not to condemn but save. Jesus is God’s salvation.
John 3 ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. ¹⁹ And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
²⁰ For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. ²¹ But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

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C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity said, “When a man is getting better he understands more and more clearly the evil that is still left in him. When a man is getting worse, he understands his own badness less and less.”

Hosea is a reality check.

It’s like driving down a highway and we see someone else distracted by texting. We become annoyed and angry, so we speed past not to be bothered by them. Yet, a few minutes later they race past you in the left lane. You decide to exit the highway for refueling. Yet, upon returning to the highway you see a traffic backup. You see the same car with the distracted driver texting, has tragically created a major crash and likely significant injuries. You almost think to yourself: “He deserved it.” But, you’re conscience gets the better of you. Instead, you ask the passengers in your vehicle, “Does everyone have their seat belts on?” You’ve obviously been alarmed. However, as you wade through the traffic and return to normal speed, you decide to text your spouse about the awful scene you saw and how terrible of a driver the person was. You do this because you think you’re better at distracted driving.

Hosea is a reality check.

• Do you have your seatbelt on?
• Are you busy evaluating and condemning the Gomer’s around you without considering the Gomer within?

Reading the Bible is like waking up and looking in the mirror with a choice. We can choose to think there is nothing to fix, zero to resolve, zip to prepare for the rest of the day.

OR

We can look closely and see the imperfections, face our flaws, and determine the tools that will help us become presentable.

James 1:21-25 ²¹ Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. ²² But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. ²³ For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. ²⁴ For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. ²⁵ But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

Hosea helps us to look at Jesus.

Jesus is the greater Israel

• The Son named and loved by the Father.
• Living in undistracted and faithful worship, and He’s purifying the temple of ego, greed, and evil.
• A king who humbly leads the people away from rote religion and fake devotion to genuine trust in the Lord.
• Not the lion in fierce wrath of Hosea 13, but instead is the lion of Judah pouncing upon sin, Satan, and death.
  So, that we can shout, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? Where is your sting? The sting of death is sin… but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1Cor 15:54-58).

*Pray for those who have mismanaged God’s blessings and experienced unwelcomed burdens – prioritizing God first!

*Pray for those who need fresh start, breaking fallow ground, and telling God He’s the artist and the potter while you’re the canvas and clay.

*Pray for those starting faith, needing to repent of sin, recognize relentless grace and walk with Jesus.