Hosea 4&5
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Find the “BIG IDEA” >> a. What is the author talking about? b. What is he saying about what he is talking about?
a. The priests and Israel have led themselves and their neighbors, Judah, into unfaithfulness and corruption
b. The Lord deals harshly to corruption, that they would repent
Find the FCF >>
1. What does the text say?
The priests and Israel are adulterous and corrupt, and so are their neighbors, Judah
2. What spiritual concern(s) did the text address (in its context)?
Unfaithfulness, wickedness, lacking knowledge of God
3. What spiritual concerns do listeners share in common with those to (or about) whom the text was written?
No knowledge of God leads to sin and ruin
[Kids Time!]
Jesus makes us right to God!
Walk through what a Priest is!
>> Religious Leader
>> Middleman between God and the people
>> Kept the place where God was (Tabernacle)
What is a priest?
>> Reconcile the people to God
>> Sacrifices, feasts, the law, educated the people
[Introduction]
>> Last week, we ended this first part of Hosea, in which God directly uses the prophet Hosea’s marriage between himself and his unfaithful wife, Gomer, as a symbol and image of Israel’s unfaithfulness to God.
I. Biographical: Hosea’s Family (1:1 - 3:5)
II. Accusations, Warnings, and Promises for Israel (4:1 - 14:9)
>> This theme continues as we enter the second, longer phase of the book of Hosea from chapter 4 to chapter 14, titled: Accusations, Warnings, and Promises for Israel.
[Introduce Text]
>> When I was a sophomore in High school My biology teacher was pregnant and midway through the year had her baby and spent the rest of the year away on maternity leave. During her absence, we had a substitute teacher named Miss Ritchey fill in. Miss Ritchey Was put in the unfortunate position of teaching sophomore students for about 4 months, sophomore biology. If that wasn’t bad enough it was very obvious to us that Miss Ritchie knew very little about biology. She would often grade our homework and our tests not based on the content of our answers but on our punctuation or spelling. I remember that I missed points on a homework assignment because I didn’t use an “and” symbol facing the right direction. Needless to say we all passed biology but I ran into an issue later on in my life when I went to college I went into a biology class and found that I knew literally nothing about biology. I knew how to write an “and” symbol! But I had no knowledge of Biology to help me be successful as a College student.
The failings of a teacher became the failings of me as a student. I didn’t know how to use the tools and microscopes used in the class, I didn’t have a basic understanding of biology that many of the other students had… Because THEY had proper knowledge from proper teachers on the subject of Biology.
>> In the book of Hosea, the prophet Hosea speaks out against the people of Israel. Even more earnestly, he speaks out against the priests of Israel, teachers whose responsibility was to teach God’s Law to the people and reconcile them to God as their representatives. The priests failure to do this left the people unfaithful, unloving, and opposed to God (4:1).
[Prayer]
[Main Point]
The main point of chapters 4 and 5 is that
God holds unfaithfulness accountable, that His people would return to Him
[Explanation]
>> Hosea returns to his prophesying to the Northern Kingdom of Israel with these accusations, starting in verse 1…
Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel,
for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.
>> Notice here the three things that the people lack...
There is no faithfulness or steadfast love,
and no knowledge of God in the land;
>> No faithfulness… No steadfast love… no knowledge of God…
>> Imagine a place like that. A place where people aren’t dedicated to their work, where they love someone for a moment and are quick to turn to their left or right to be with someone more interesting. Things get hard for them? They can’t handle it! And worst of all? They have no knowledge of God. Sound familiar? I’ve just described to you a daycare center!
(har har)
>> But seriously, let us be reminded of Proverbs 9:10 which says,
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.
>> No faithfulness… No steadfast love… no knowledge of God… The people are lacking! But here’s what they are known for having in abundance, in verse 2,
there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery;
they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
>> And what is the outcome of their wickedness?…
Therefore the land mourns,
and all who dwell in it languish,
and also the beasts of the field
and the birds of the heavens,
and even the fish of the sea are taken away.
>> 1.) They’re unlike God (v. 1b), 2.) They’re sinful and disobedient to His law (v. 2)...
THEREFORE
>> They and all of the creation suffer
>> Why did I say a daycare center before? Because I remembered that scene from Toy Story 3 when Woody and the gang find themselves donated to a daycare center. The other, more seasoned toys in the daycare hide in the darkest corners, hoping against hope that one of those little monster children wont gnaw, drool, or break them to pieces. And guess what? When we lack faithfulness, steadfast love, and knowledge of God? We become these little monsters! And like poor Woody and the other toys thrashed and dashed and broken, the creatures and creation around us mourns and languishes in our brokenness and ungodliness.
>> Yet, God’s got a rebuke firstly not for the people… Not for the toddlers… but for their teachers. Verse 4 says,
Yet let no one contend,
and let none accuse,
for with you is my contention, O priest.
>> The priests were the Religious leaders of Israel. They served as intermediaries between the people and God, and as advisors and leaders of the nation
Priest
Religious Leader
Middlemen between people and God
Advised the Nations
>> Responsible for teaching the people the Law of God (What do “God’s people” look like?), facilitating the sacrificial system (How do we reconcile to a Holy God?), and maintaining the dwelling place of God (The Tabernacle)
>> As we’ll read, the priests of Israel were failing… How do we know a bad teacher? Look for bad students… verse 5
You shall stumble by day;
the prophet also shall stumble with you by night;
and I will destroy your mother.
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.
>> God would reject a false priest, just like we would reject a teacher if we learned that they failed to teach correct information to their students.
>> I’m a nurse, and while I was working with folks in the hospital, I’d occasionally run into a caring, adult daughter who would start asking me about specific blood test results for their parent. I’d answer them, and immediately ask, “Do you work in the medical field?” You know, maybe they’re a doctor or something… Nope. They’d just been surfing WebMD the last 20 minutes, so, NOW… they had a doctorate.
>> It’s like God is saying, “I know you priests. I know of your lack of knowledge, your stumbling and misleading of my people. You are no priest. And you’re students are no students of me at all”.
>> Continuing in verse 7, we read more of these “students”…
The more they increased,
the more they sinned against me;
I will change their glory into shame.
They feed on the sin of my people;
they are greedy for their iniquity.
And it shall be like people, like priest;
I will punish them for their ways
and repay them for their deeds.
>> The priest is like his people; the people are like their priest...
>> … So, the punishment for the people shall be the punishment for the priest
>> They’ve sown sin and will reap judgement… Continuing in verse 10…
They shall eat, but not be satisfied;
they shall play the whore, but not multiply,
because they have forsaken the Lord
to cherish whoredom, wine, and new wine,
which take away the understanding.
>> They were greedy for iniquity? They will remain hungry
>> They’ll be sterile and barren due to their unfaithfulness, their forsaking the Lord, to instead pursue promiscuity, indulgences, and new indulgences which bring them to a depraved mind
>> verse 12 is maybe my favorite visual in the chapter…
My people inquire of a piece of wood,
and their walking staff gives them oracles.
>> What an image… to talk to inanimate objects, to treat them like sources of wisdom. Sound familiar, anyone?
>> The second of the ten commandments given to Moses in Exodus chapter 20 states,
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
>> God is a “jealous God”. Oprah Winfrey is known famously for walking away from her orthodox Christian faith when a pastor preached from the pulpit a “jealous God”. I’ve heard it said, “A jealous God is an insecure God”.
>> What we find from Oprah here is, unfortunately, also what the Israelites receive from their teachers, their priests… Misrepresentation of GOD!
>> If I found my wife, hauled up in her closet whispering sweet nothings to some AI app with a boyfriend voice on her phone? You know I’d be jealous. But my jealousy is only a shadow of God’s holy jealousy for His people. To compare anything to God, as if it’s some good and fulfilling representation of Him… is just not just offensive, it’s blasphemous. It’s not only untrue of God’s holiness, it dishonors and deceives those who misrepresent God.
>> When we lack a knowledge of God, we cheapen God’s image and ourselves when we give these objects devotion and worship… Looking at you, iPhones.
For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray,
and they have left their God to play the whore.
They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains
and burn offerings on the hills,
under oak, poplar, and terebinth,
because their shade is good.
>> Ezekiel 6:13 foretells of their destruction, at the places of their unfaithfulness,
And you shall know that I am the Lord, when their slain lie among their idols around their altars, on every high hill, on all the mountaintops, under every green tree, and under every leafy oak, wherever they offered pleasing aroma to all their idols.
>> And worse yet, we read of what follows of the priests unfaithful worship,
Therefore your daughters play the whore,
and your brides commit adultery.
I will not punish your daughters when they play the whore,
nor your brides when they commit adultery;
for the men themselves go aside with prostitutes
and sacrifice with cult prostitutes,
and a people without understanding shall come to ruin.
>> Because of the priests’ practices, their daughters and brides will also act unfaithfully...
>> Yet it’s the men who are the ones who take from them, the “students” of the priests! “a people without understanding shall come to ruin”…
>> We continue on in verse 15,
Though you play the whore, O Israel,
let not Judah become guilty.
Enter not into Gilgal,
nor go up to Beth-aven,
>> Gilgal and Beth-aven were in the Southern Kingdom, Judah.
and swear not, “As the Lord lives.”
Like a stubborn heifer,
Israel is stubborn;
can the Lord now feed them
like a lamb in a broad pasture?
Ephraim is joined to idols;
leave him alone.
>> Ephraim was the largest tribe of the N. Kingdom; often “Israel” is used interchangeably with “Ephraim”
>> And God says, “Ephraim wants his idols? Leave him to them”.
When their drink is gone, they give themselves to whoring;
their rulers dearly love shame.
A wind has wrapped them in its wings,
and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.
>> They’re out of control, chaotic like the “winds”, and their end result is shame because of the acts of the priests...
>> Hosea 5 continues this charge against the priests. Only, in this chapter, notice the inclusion of the Southern Kingdom, Judah:
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.
>> The “representatives of the people to God”… Their devoted instead to royalty.
>> Mizpah and Tabor were “historic high marks of Israel’s history...” now, places of snares and nets of capture…
>> Continuing on…
And the revolters have gone deep into slaughter,
but I will discipline all of them.
I know Ephraim,
and Israel is not hidden from me;
for now, O Ephraim, you have played the whore;
Israel is defiled.
Their deeds do not permit them
to return to their God.
For the spirit of whoredom is within them,
and they know not the Lord.
The pride of Israel testifies to his face;
Israel and Ephraim shall stumble in his guilt;
Judah also shall stumble with them.
>> The Lord “knows them”… their hearts and unfaithfulness are not hidden from him.
>> They do NOT know the Lord… Israel’s pride shows itself, and little brother Judah will stumble with them!
>> Speaking of the priests attempting to make sacrifices to the Lord, (Verse 6),
With their flocks and herds they shall go
to seek the Lord,
but they will not find him;
he has withdrawn from them.
They have dealt faithlessly with the Lord;
for they have borne alien children.
Now the new moon shall devour them with their fields.
>> The Lord will not accept their sacrifices, he “withdraws” from them!
>> And now, the “new moon” which they celebrated will not give, but “devour” them and their land...
>> Verse 8 introduces imagery of War…
Blow the horn in Gibeah,
the trumpet in Ramah.
Sound the alarm at Beth-aven;
we follow you, O Benjamin!
Ephraim shall become a desolation
in the day of punishment;
among the tribes of Israel
I make known what is sure.
>> The only thing “Known to be sure” will be their destruction in the “day of punishment”…
>> The Lord turns His attention to Judah once again,
The princes of Judah have become
like those who move the landmark;
upon them I will pour out
my wrath like water.
>> to “Move the landmark” was essentially to move the markers showing whose land was whose. The Lord says the royalty of Judah are like these thieves, pushing the boundary lines for their own gain…
Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment,
because he was determined to go after filth.
But I am like a moth to Ephraim,
and like dry rot to the house of Judah.
When Ephraim saw his sickness,
and Judah his wound,
then Ephraim went to Assyria,
and sent to the great king.
But he is not able to cure you
or heal your wound.
>> Here’s the icing on the cake… the “rubber meeting the road”. Who do they people go to in their distress? In their unhealth? To what do they hope, or go to for healing and reconciliation?...
>> The Assyrians. The big, advanced, pagan neighbors. And, spoiler alert, the ones who would sack Israel and drive them into exile in 722 BC.
>> And WHERE were the priests?? The ones whose job was healing, purifying the people, making them well and teaching them to not “go after filth”… but to “Go after God”!
>> Hosea chapter 5 ends with this final visual, this visual of a lion…
For I will be like a lion to Ephraim,
and like a young lion to the house of Judah.
I, even I, will tear and go away;
I will carry off, and no one shall rescue.
I will return again to my place,
until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face,
and in their distress earnestly seek me.
>> This is pretty striking language for us. We’re pretty attuned to a soft, fluffy, cuddly image of God. He might be like a lion, sure… In so far as a floor pelt is like a lion, amazing to look at behold, but, just as easy to step on. But one thing we MUST remember, and be reminded of, as had been said briefly last week…
God holds unfaithfulness accountable…
>> I love the description of the great lion, Aslan, from CS Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. To summarize briefly, 4 British children stumble into the magical land of Narnia through an old wardrobe while playing hide and seek. As they explore Narnia, they encounter talking animals named Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, who wish to introduce them to the great lion, Aslan. The oldest sister, Susan, has this to ask of the Beavers:
“Is he—quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”
“That you will, dearie, and no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver, “if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”
“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.
“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver. “Don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ’Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”
>> Spoiler alert: Aslan is a symbol in Lewis’ story, of the Son of God, Jesus
>> What Lewis touches on here is crucial. He so accurately reminds the reader of the posture we should have as we approach God. No one carelessly approaches a lion! And here, we consider approaching a Holy God when we have been completely unfaithful to Him. And listen, our God is not a God who will tolerate being cheated on. He will not allow for evil or wickedness or disobedience to be unchecked. And that is a GOOD thing! We don’t WANT a God who is UNJUST.
>> God describes a terrible end for Israel and Judah. But he doesn’t promise to just, tear them up and leave them alone. He ends the chapter with this:
I will return again to my place,
until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face,
and in their distress earnestly seek me.
>> God wants reconciliation with His unfaithful people. God established the priests for this purpose! That the people would know the Lord, that they’d obey His Law and be His people, in His presence… But what priest could do this kind of radical reconciliation?… Jesus!
>> The New Testament book Hebrews is saturated with language of Jesus, the Son of God, being our Great High Priest. Check out Hebrew 4:14-16…
Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
>> Jesus is without sin. He is ordained and set apart as the ultimate representative of Man, being fully man Himself. Jesus, being completely free of sin or wickedness or corruption, knew well the substitution needed for the sins of His people. No goat or sheep or ox would do. It had to be a sacrifice of such immense value, that the cost of their sacrifice would cover the debt of all those whose disobedience deserved destruction. Jesus, the Great High Priest, approaches the alter and offers Himself as the substitution.
[Worship Team, come up...]
Jesus says before His death on the cross, these three words:
… “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
>> God holds unfaithfulness accountable… and on the cross, we see that it is Jesus, the Great High Priest, the Lion of Judah, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords who perfectly and sufficiently satisfies the cost of His people’s unfaithfulness, finishing the reconciliation of His people to God, washing away the penalty of their sin, once on the cross and for all who put their trust in Him.
>> If we would be a blood bought people, we must repent and seek the Lord… Next week, we will begin our time together with these words from Hosea 6:1…
“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.
>> Do you lack faithfulness to God? … Do you lack steadfast love… Do you lack knowledge of God… As a people…
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
[Prayer]
