The Consequences of Sin
Hosea • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 4 viewsWe are fully known by our God, both good and bad. Our sin will not be overlooked and it will not come without consequence.
Notes
Transcript
TITLE: The Consequences of Sin
TEXT: Hosea 8-9.
Introduction: Last Week - Hosea 6-7.
The words of Israel and Judah were promising, seemingly going in the right direction. The call to the people was to return to the LORD. The LORD had pronounced his judgment upon them, but He would indeed revive them, raise them up once again that they may live before Him.
Hosea 6:3 “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.””
So.… what was the problem?
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.
Israel and Judah said the right things. They knew they ought to seek the LORD… but they were unrepentant. They were unchanged and their sin would be revealed by their God.
Their sin had transformed them from the covenant people of God to a people steeped in wickedness, treachery, spiritual adultery, and evil.
In all of this, the LORD’s redemption was not far off....but they did not cry out from their hearts. They still loved and cherished their sin more than the Holy One, their Deliverer from bondage in Egypt and their Covenant Maker in the wilderness.
Israel’s sin would be judged.
THIS WEEK: Hosea 8-9.
Full Disclosure - This is not a light week when it comes to the heaviness of the prophet’s message to God’s covenant people. The LORD has been largely describing Israel’s sin, but here He shifts to tell of the consequences due their sin.
Illustration: Working on Poppie’s Barn
Re-roofing my grandfather’s barn in high school.
I received multiple warnings of the open holes in the rafters since the old metal roofing had been removed. “Do not step in that hole” my grandfather would say… as if I did not already know that. Two or three more times, I received the same warning, but I knew the holes were there.
A few moments later… I’m guessing you know what happened. My entire leg fell through the hole, and great pain flooded in quickly. I looked up at my grandfather, my protector, for a helping hand or maybe mercy.....
I quickly reminded of how dumb I was to step in the hole after being warned so many times.
I knew where the holes were. I could even repeat what my grandfather’s words of warning… but did I really know? Had I taken his words of warning to heart? I could speak the part but my actions did not reflect a knowledge at all. In fact, my actions in fact displayed a disdain for his loving instruction that warned me off pain in mu future if I was not careful.
Main Idea: The true affections of our hearts are known by God, and our sin will lead to consequence.
Outline:
Religious Action does not prove a knowledge of God (Hos8.1-14)
Unrepentant Sin Welcomes the Judgment of God (Hos9.1-9)
Sin is Never Without Consequence (Hos9.10-17)
PRAYER
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.
5 I have spurned your calf, O Samaria.
My anger burns against them.
How long will they be incapable of innocence?
6 For it is from Israel;
a craftsman made it;
it is not God.
The calf of Samaria
shall be broken to pieces.
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.
9 For they have gone up to Assyria,
a wild donkey wandering alone;
Ephraim has hired lovers.
10 Though they hire allies among the nations,
I will soon gather them up.
And the king and princes shall soon writhe
because of the tribute.
11 Because Ephraim has multiplied altars for sinning,
they have become to him altars for sinning.
12 Were I to write for him my laws by the ten thousands,
they would be regarded as a strange thing.
13 As for my sacrificial offerings,
they sacrifice meat and eat it,
but the Lord does not accept them.
Now he will remember their iniquity
and punish their sins;
they shall return to Egypt.
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.
Religious action does not prove a knowledge of God (Hos8.1-14)
Religious action does not prove a knowledge of God (Hos8.1-14)
Set the trumpet to your lips" (v.1a)
This is a call of warning in Israel to all people. This is a pronouncement, a declaration for all of Israel to hear. This would be the Lord's judgment for their unfaithfulness, their spiritual idolatry.
At this time in Israel’s history, a trumpet blast was customarily used to sound a warning. And this was not the first time in the prophet Hosea’s writing that he has used this imagery to simply call for Israel to: Pay Attention!
In General, A Call to Pay Attention
1 Hear this, O priests!
Pay attention, O house of Israel!
Give ear, O house of the king!
For the judgment is for you;
for you have been a snare at Mizpah
and a net spread upon Tabor.
Another Warning via Horn Blast
8 Blow the horn in Gibeah,
the trumpet in Ramah.
Sound the alarm at Beth-aven;
we follow you, O Benjamin!
This reminded me specifically of a time back in college when I worked at Centri-Kid Camps. We all had a group of kids in our class for the week, and at key points during the week you are bringing out all these tricks to maximize the number of kids that are actually looking at you and listening to you.
It also reminded me of our Lord Jesus’ earthly ministry.
A Call To Listen
23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”
In first century Israel, were there some people with ears and some people without ears? Dumb question.
Either during or immediately following an important teaching, Jesus would use this phrase to call His people to listen and take to heart what he was teaching. Imagine like somewhat of a warning saying - DON’T MISS THIS!
For Hosea, it was very similar.
“One like a vulture is over the house of the Lord” (v.1b)
Because of Israel has transgressed (passed over, passed by, ignored) their covenant with the Lord, a vulture was circling over the house of Israel waiting to devour. The imagery here is powerful.…what are vultures attracted to? Death and Decay.
Vultures are scavengers that flock to easily devoured prey that no longer has life within it. This was Israel. A spiritually dead people with plenty of religious behavior that was done “in the name of the Lord” but was mixed with the pagan practices of the surrounding nations.
The cross referenced verse here actually brings the reader back to Deuteronomy 28 and the promised curse for disobedience to the covenant.
Section opener...
Deuteronomy 28:15 “15 “But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.”
49 The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, swooping down like the eagle, a nation whose language you do not understand, 50 a hard-faced nation who shall not respect the old or show mercy to the young.
Eagle = Vulture (same Hebrew word)
Again in Hosea, God’s faithfulness to His word here in bringing curse upon his covenant people should cause us to stand in fear and awe of our Lord who is serious about His Word. Israel’s mixing of religious practices “in the name of the Lord” with the false gods of pagan nations was not honoring to who He truly is.
“To me they cry, ‘My God, we – Israel – know you’” (v.3-6)
With their words, Israel cries out claiming to know God… but we must wonder: Are they that deceived? Hosea has just thoroughly laid out their sin against God, their spiritual adultery with the false idols of the surrounding nations, and yet they cried out...Hosea 8:2 “2 To me they cry, “My God, we—Israel—know you.””
Illustration: Knowing Someone vs Knowing Things About Someone
Knowing someone is not the same as knowing things about someone. In the time that we live, we can know things/facts about almost anyone whose life is either displayed on social media or public ins someway.
But truly knowing someone, a close relationship, is not just learning facts about them. You know what brings them joy and what concerns them. You know what they are passionate about and what they couldn’t care less about. You know how they have grown personally and even spiritually over the years if they are a believer.
All of these things come from spending close, personal, intimate time investing in the relationship. This was not true of the people of Israel and their God during Hosea’s ministry. Whether this is an appeal to their heritage as God’s covenant people or just a deceived understanding, I do not know.
Israel had spurned goodness, loved wickedness, and Assyria was coming.
The Lord’s Evidence
Hosea 8:4 “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.”
Israel established its own leaders, and the Lord was no part of it. Back in 1 Samuel 8, this process of rejecting the Lord as their true king did not go well for them. They wanted to be like the nations, and the Lord gave them over to their decisions.
Under the leadership of these kings, Israel crafted their own destruction by fashioning idols from silver and gold.
Hosea 8:5–6 “5 I have spurned your calf, O Samaria. My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of innocence? 6 For it is from Israel; a craftsman made it; it is not God. The calf of Samaria shall be broken to pieces.”
The anger of the Lord burned against Israel. When we think of anger, we often think of it being exercised in a sinful manner. The Lord’s anger is altogether perfect and righteous in every way, for He will share His glory with no one.
4 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
evil may not dwell with you.
5 The boastful shall not stand before your eyes;
you hate all evildoers.
6 You destroy those who speak lies;
the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
This is likely specifically focused on the northern kingdom as a whole and Jeroboam (1 Kings 12.28-30) repeating the error of his ancestors during the Exodus, casting their worship and affection on things created by the hands of sinful man.
They know God? No, they did not know the Lord. The coming destruction from Assyria, the judgment of God, was because they had rejected knowledge. They had exchanged the truth about God for a lie.
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge;
because you have rejected knowledge,
I reject you from being a priest to me.
And since you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.
What was the lie? - We can worship God in whatever way we want.
“For they sow wind and they shall reap the whirlwind.” (v.7-14)
This is a transitional phrase that sets the stage for the rest of this chapter. The ideas of sowing a reaping are certainly agricultural language. As a whole, this points to the futility of Israel’s idolatrous worship and their pursuing of strength and protection from other nations around them.
“Wind” her represents something that is without substance, and is therefore of no help or benefit.
29 Whoever troubles his own household will inherit the wind,
and the fool will be servant to the wise of heart.
Israel’s actions (living outside the will of God for them) had only brought forth corruption in their flesh and an extra measure of destruction.
The Flesh vs The Spirit
8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
Hosea said there were no good things from Israel’s religious behavior, no fruit of righteousness. Anything that was produced was corrupted, only fit for destruction. Anything that did spring up was crushed, swallowed up, devoured by the overwhelming sinful pursuits of the masses.
Israel was only a useless vessel.
Illustration:
They ran to Assyria for allied support instead of trusting in the Lord.
“I will gather them up” looks forward to the coming exile in Assyria shortly following the end of Hosea’s ministry.
The Lord does not receive their offerings….? But why? Bc the position of their hearts was corrupt. He remembers their sin and will punish their iniquity.
What does sin do?
1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save,
or his ear dull, that it cannot hear;
2 but your iniquities have made a separation
between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden his face from you
so that he does not hear.
3 For your hands are defiled with blood
and your fingers with iniquity;
your lips have spoken lies;
your tongue mutters wickedness.
In Adam, our sin keeps us in a state of separation from our Holy God.
In Christ, our sin stifles our sanctification and distracts us from the mission of the church.
In short, what was Israel’s sin? (To the Church in Ephesus)
2 “ ‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. 3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. 4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.
Even in all of its religious activity, Israel had lost its first love.
Application: How is this text applicable for the church today?
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
It seems that we can do religious things thinking our service is honoring the Lord, thinking we know the God revealed in the Scriptures, but yet we remain in our sin and God does not call us His own.
How is this possible? This happens when the church, like Israel, departs from the knowledge of God revealed in the Law, the Prophets, the Gospels, and the Epistles….and we end up proclaiming a cheap imitation of the Gospel that does not save, it only provides false assurance that is based on self-effort or cultural identity.
God has clearly revealed Himself in His Word and it alone...
guides our worship,
shapes our mission
fuels our preaching
equips our evangelism
grounds our discipleship
builds our love for one another
leads in our loving correction of one another
is the purpose of our weekly gatherings..… You get the point.
If we do not know the God of the Scriptures, then we do not know God.
Quick Note: This does not mean we lack assurance in our salvation! Hosea 8 or Matthew 7 should not cause us doubt concerning our salvation. It only means if our hope in life and death is not in Him alone, then it is likely misplaced.
13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.
1 Rejoice not, O Israel!
Exult not like the peoples;
for you have played the whore, forsaking your God.
You have loved a prostitute’s wages
on all threshing floors.
2 Threshing floor and wine vat shall not feed them,
and the new wine shall fail them.
3 They shall not remain in the land of the Lord,
but Ephraim shall return to Egypt,
and they shall eat unclean food in Assyria.
4 They shall not pour drink offerings of wine to the Lord,
and their sacrifices shall not please him.
It shall be like mourners’ bread to them;
all who eat of it shall be defiled;
for their bread shall be for their hunger only;
it shall not come to the house of the Lord.
5 What will you do on the day of the appointed festival,
and on the day of the feast of the Lord?
6 For behold, they are going away from destruction;
but Egypt shall gather them;
Memphis shall bury them.
Nettles shall possess their precious things of silver;
thorns shall be in their tents.
7 The days of punishment have come;
the days of recompense have come;
Israel shall know it.
The prophet is a fool;
the man of the spirit is mad,
because of your great iniquity
and great hatred.
8 The prophet is the watchman of Ephraim with my God;
yet a fowler’s snare is on all his ways,
and hatred in the house of his God.
9 They have deeply corrupted themselves
as in the days of Gibeah:
he will remember their iniquity;
he will punish their sins.
Unrepentant sin welcomes the judgment of God (Hos9.1-9)
Unrepentant sin welcomes the judgment of God (Hos9.1-9)
Illustration: Do you want to get in trouble?
If you are a parent or if you have ever cared for a child for any period of time, you have likely thought or actually voiced this question to them - Do you want to get in trouble?
The question comes from a place of bewilderment. It is like the child sees the two paths, one heading towards joy and peace...and the other headed towards chaos and punishment, and yet they take deliberate steps towards the latter.
This will drive you crazy! It makes no sense. All you want is what is best for the child, and yet they are waking up and choosing chaos for the day.
So it was with Israel and God. In His grace, the Lord had blessed them as his covenant people AND also warned them against judgment that would come if they violated the covenant. He was patient with them in their disobedience, not immediately judging them, but their continual rejection of Him almost seemed to welcome God’s judgment. In the least, it displayed no fear of God.
The fruit of Israel’s life has proven to be corruption, not righteousness, and so Hosea warns further here what will come from her unrepentant sin.
Hosea warned - Do not rejoice in expectation of the coming harvest.
In previous years, Israel had brought in their great harvests, and instead of giving praise to the One that causes the sun to rise in the morning, who brings the rain needed for growth.… Israel attributed their great prosperity in theuir harvests to Baal.
8 And she did not know
that it was I who gave her
the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and who lavished on her silver and gold,
which they used for Baal.
The glory that was due to God for His great blessing was instead cast at the feet of Baal. Israel honored Baal at the threshing floors (A level outdoor area used for threshing sheaves of grain). As they looked upon the wealth of their crop, they cried out “Praise be to Baal who has given us all these things!”
The Lord said - No more. He would remove His blessing.
9 Therefore I will take back
my grain in its time,
and my wine in its season,
and I will take away my wool and my flax,
which were to cover her nakedness.
As we see throughout the OT and Israel’s history, their thriving or success as a people was purely based on God’s grace. And here God’s patience with them had come to an end, His longsuffering with the sin of His covenant people would come to a close.
The Lord would remove his hand of blessing from their harvest, and it would come to an end! Their plentiful harvests of grain and wine would be over, and their dwelling in the land would come to an end as well.
A Similar Pronouncement to Judah
7 And I brought you into a plentiful land
to enjoy its fruits and its good things.
But when you came in, you defiled my land
and made my heritage an abomination.
All of these judgments (a fulfillment of the prophecies of the Lord in Deut 28) would be accomplished through their invasion and exile.
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QUICK NOTE:
Let us stand in Awe of the Sovereignty of God. Nothing is outside of his control. Nothing catches Him by surprise. He is all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful. Nothing happens that He does not ordain or permit to happen. Furthermore.… He is powerful enough to use all things (from the greatest good to the worst evil) to bring about His glory and our good.
14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.
33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?”
35 “Or who has given a gift to him
that he might be repaid?”
36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
When you feel like the walls of stress are pressing in, when you feel like life is spiraling out of your control, know.....know that you are not forgotten and that He is at work. He is not absent, but He is close. His love and care for you has not changed.
Proverbs 3:5–8 “5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. 7 Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. 8 It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.”
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Israel would be forced to eat ceremonially unclean food (cf.
The Privilege of Worship Removed (v4-6)
In their exile in Assyria, the privilege of formal worship according to the Law would be removed, a highly appropriate punishment. Israel’s hypocrisy in their worship did not honor the formal requirements outlined in Leviticus, and thus this privilege of worshipping the Lord rightly would be removed. They had spurned the Lord’s kindness! The Almighty had instructed them - “This is the manner in which your worship will be received” and they counted not its value.
Illustration: This is My Car
In college, I had a little too much fun driving my car at the time, a Mini Cooper. It is fair to say a was a little reckless, and did not understand the privilege that had been given to me by my parents.
One day, my father caught wind of something that I had done, and he asked - “Whose car is this?”
I immediately thought this was a dumb question. Was my father losing his memory in some way? And so I answered - “Mine.” This is where I received a reality check. My father responded - “Wrong...this is my car.”
What he meant was this - I bought this car. I pay for the insurance. If it breaks, I pay to fix it. So, if you are not going to steward this responsibility well, then I will remove this privilege from you.
So it was with Israel. Their sacrifices would no longer please the Lord. On the day of the appointed festival, Israel would be unable to observe it properly. If they did not value the Lord and the privilege of their formal worship, then God would give them over to their sin and their transgression of the Law would increase in exile.
The mention of Memphis here (a famous place of burial in Egypt) symbolized their going away to destruction, Few would return. Briars and thorns would overtake their precious things and homes.
What summarizes this section (Hos9.1-9)?
7 The days of punishment have come;
the days of recompense have come;
Israel shall know it.
Israel considered its prophets to be fools. Even as the prophet of God stood as watchman over the city, warning of the coming an approaching enemy or danger, Israel’s hatred of them grew.
Hosea connected Israel’s sin to “the days of Gibeah” which is a reference to Judges 19 and the cruel, unthinkable violence committed by the men of Gibeah.
I’ll spare us the details of the story this morning, but Hosea’s reference here is to note that Israel’s blatant sin against the Lord rivaled such evil behavior.
he will remember their iniquity;
he will punish their sins.
Application: Do you fear the Lord?
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of al wisdom, and today is the day to ask ourselves honestly - Do we fear Him? Do we stand in awe of Him?
Our Lord Jesus spoke on the well in Luke 12 when speaking to his disciples.
4 “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. 5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. 7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.
This is not intended to invoke terror in anyone. Take note of the last verse here - Your value comes from your Creator!
The Creator of all things, who will judge sin justly, is calling you out of your sin and into a marvelous light this morning. The awareness of the weight of our sinfulness before a holy God makes His grace and mercy infinitely more amazing.
9 He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
10 He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
13 As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
One day, each one of us will pass from this life into eternity. And on that day will come judgment. We will stand before the One and only God, and we will give an account of our lives.
Hear me this morning - On that day, you do not want to bear your own sin. The day of repentance is today! Cast your cares, your worries, all your sin on the one who can bear it fully and did so at the cross where His blood was poured out for you for the forgiveness of sins.
Do not bear the weight of your sin. Give it all over to our Lord Jesus, and receive His righteousness today.
10 Like grapes in the wilderness,
I found Israel.
Like the first fruit on the fig tree
in its first season,
I saw your fathers.
But they came to Baal-peor
and consecrated themselves to the thing of shame,
and became detestable like the thing they loved.
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!
13 Ephraim, as I have seen, was like a young palm planted in a meadow;
but Ephraim must lead his children out to slaughter.
14 Give them, O Lord—
what will you give?
Give them a miscarrying womb
and dry breasts.
15 Every evil of theirs is in Gilgal;
there I began to hate them.
Because of the wickedness of their deeds
I will drive them out of my house.
I will love them no more;
all their princes are rebels.
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.
With sin comes consequence from God (Hos9.10-17)
With sin comes consequence from God (Hos9.10-17)
The idea of “Consequences” is something we are discussing currently in our home with our boys. A consequence is not always a bad thing, even though I think we naturally think in this manner.
CONSEQUENCE: A result or effect of an action or condition.
In verse 10, we see that God found Israel “like grapes in the wilderness” meaning he found extreme delight in the people. He refers to their forefathers as “the first fruit on the fig tree”, an anticipated moment of excitement and joy.
God had brought his covenant people out of bondage in Egypt and planted them in the promised land, nourishing them that they may prosper and be a blessing unto the nations.
7 Restore us, O God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved!
8 You brought a vine out of Egypt;
you drove out the nations and planted it.
9 You cleared the ground for it;
it took deep root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shade,
the mighty cedars with its branches.
11 It sent out its branches to the sea
and its shoots to the River.
What happened? Israel consecrated themselves to shameful things and became detestable to the Lord.
The Consequences of Israel’s Sin
Back in Hosea 4, the Lord promised to turn Israel’s glory into shame and here we finally see how that would play out.
As Israel who flocked to the worship of Baal seeking fertility would become barren. The promised blessings of the Lord for His chosen people included a fertile land and people.
12 “And because you listen to these rules and keep and do them, the Lord your God will keep with you the covenant and the steadfast love that he swore to your fathers. 13 He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock, in the land that he swore to your fathers to give you. 14 You shall be blessed above all peoples. There shall not be male or female barren among you or among your livestock.
God would no longer allow their fruitfulness in this manner, but barrenness would be their plight in exile. Their children would also be killed during Assyria’s invasion. God would remove His love and drive them out of His house.
Israel, the healthy vine planted by the Lord in the land, is described as dried up and bearing no fruit. God has rejected them and sent them out to be wanderers in exile.
You may be thinking - I thought God was gracious, merciful, loving? These consequences seem harsh.
The consequences extended to Israel here by the Lord should cause pause in us. It is difficult to stomach at times, knowing these things are coming from the Lord.
When we get here, we must ask this question - Does the God of the Scriptures have all authority?
Not to Us, Not to Us
1 Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,
for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!
2 Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
3 Our God is in the heavens;
he does all that he pleases.
Nebuchadnezzar Restored
34 At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever,
for his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
and his kingdom endures from generation to generation;
35 all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing,
and he does according to his will among the host of heaven
and among the inhabitants of the earth;
and none can stay his hand
or say to him, “What have you done?”
Either He has all authority in heaven and on Earth, or He does not! There is no in between. So when it comes to understanding difficult texts like Hosea, we must trust the Lord in who He has revealed Himself to be that He is judging all things rightly.
Unlike Israel, we must be a people (who were also in Him before the foundation of the world) that trusts our Lord in all things and worships Him for who He has revealed Himself to be in His word. Our Lord is indeed longsuffering and patient, wishing that all would reach repentance, but He will judge sin rightly.
And for us, that will sometimes come with earthly consequences. Let us take sin seriously. Let us call sin for what it is, first in ourselves and then lovingly in one another. Be killing sin or it will be killing you.
A Final Encouragement
Do not bear the weight of your sin and guilt like Israel did, but be free from it today. Not tomorrow, today, right now. Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved,
A day is coming when sin and death will be no more. We will be with him and we will see His face. He will be our light, our everything, and we will dwell with Him forever.
54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55 “O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
