When God Withdraws

EXCITE

Have you ever been shopping with a young child, and you’ve had to give them multiple warnings about staying next to you. However, they just can’t keep up because every flashing light is a new attraction begging for their attention.

Eventually the parent says, “Okay, I’m leaving,” and here comes that child running with all the gusto their little legs can muster.

That’s similar to the scene that plays out in Hosea 5. Every thing that promises pleasure has been pursued by Israel, and God says, “Fine, I’m leaving,” not because He has stopped loving them, but because He intends to draw His wandering people back to Himself.

Let’s read and pray.

EXPLORE

I. God Exposes Rampant Rebellion

Head:

We’re still in the courtroom, and God calls three into account: the priests, the house of Israel, and the house of the king. All of the leadership is called to account! Across the board, God’s people have been led astray!

Our leaders can lure us astray (vv.1-2)

The reason for God singling them out? They’ve been a snare at Mizpah and a net spread upon Tabor. Like Gilgal and Bethel in the previous passage, these places had connections to YHWH worship during her history. However, now they are all corrupt because of Israel’s pursuit of idols.

It’s deeper than God saying, “Your leaders are sinful.” It’s actually God saying, “Your leaders are making sin easier! Your leaders are normalizing sin for everybody else!”

It would be easy for many to look at this and say, “This doesn’t apply to me. This is clearly about church leadership.” And it’s true, if you lead a ministry, then you should take note. However, what about the home? What about your interactions in the workplace? What about the areas you have influence in? Your friendships and classmates?

God has given many of us leadership opportunities, even if they’re not necessarily in church roles. Somebody is watching you, so you’re leading someone. And here’s what we need to realize: people will follow what we normalize. What is acceptable in one generation becomes normal in the next.

Our sin can’t be hidden.

It is tempting to believe that we can hide our sin from God, but Hosea reminds the people that God sees it all. Though Israel refuses to know her God, she herself is known well by God. That’s a devastating irony that defiles Israel and makes them unfit to worship the One True God. Literally, God says “Their deeds do not permit them to return to God” (v.4). The Spirit of their rebellion—whoredom—is literally within them. Sin isn’t just something we do, it’s inside us, and repeated sin begins to shape not only what we want but literally who we are!

Pride becomes evidence against us.

In this courtroom, Israel's own pride takes the stand. No prosecutor is needed; their pride pleads, “Guilty.” And instead of confessing and repenting, they compare themselves to others. Pride says, “I'm not as bad as them.” Repentance says, “God, have mercy on me.” And notice what God says at the end of verse 5: Judah goes with them.

Their response? Add religious duty! Take our flocks and seek the Lord! However, returning to God requires true repentance, not adding religious duty. God wasn’t looking for more blood and sacrifice. What pleases the Lord is a broken and contrite heart (Ps.51:17).

You can increase your religious activity while decreasing your intimacy with God!

What a strange twist that ends verse 7. Because their false worship has tainted true worship, they will be consumed by their idolatry and even their fields (inheritances) would be swallowed up.

Let this be an encouragement to us to seek the Lord while He may be found (Isa.55:6), for there may come a time when He hides His face from rebellion. Thankfully, as long as it is called TOday and not THE Day of the Lord, there is still time to repent!

Heart:

Imagine a husband and wife who still live in the same house. They still eat dinner together. They still sleep in the same bed. They still go through all the routines of marriage. But somewhere along the way, they stopped talking. They stopped touching. They stopped pursuing each other. The routines remain, but the relationship is gone.

That's what Hosea is describing. Israel is still bringing sacrifices. They're still going through religious motions. They decide to seek the Lord with their flocks and herds. But God says, “You won't find Me.”

They had learned how to practice worship without pursuing God.

Hands:

Church, are we satisfied with our “religious doings,” or are we pursuing God? Is there sin you’ve normalized? Do you think adding another Bible study is the answer, rather than repenting and returning to God?

Bring God your broken heart, not just your guilty conscience!

II. God Announces Just Judgment

Head:

First, God exposes. Now, He announces danger…JUDGMENT…is approaching. There are three pictures that God uses over the next few verses.

The trumpet is sounding.

The trumpet blows and the alarm sounds. Both would be used to alert the community to danger. The warning alarm has been sounded: judgment is certainly coming—desolation—when Israel is punished. This is so certain that God says He makes known what is sure. In other words, this is the honest to goodness truth.

However, there is still something gracious about the warning—God tells them He is coming before He actually arrives. We would do well to remember that God’s warnings are first an invitation to repentance before the judgment arrives.

The boundary stone has been moved.

The character condition of the men of Judah is now addressed—they’re like those who move the landmark or “boundary stones.” This was a serious offense. Inheritances, like the fields mentioned earlier, were a big deal to God and Israelite culture. All were to enjoy their inheritance, and during the Year of Jubilee, inheritances were to be returned to their families. This type of dishonest greed ignored God’s intention and plan for inheritances in the first place.

It’s deeper than stealing property. They were moving God’s established boundaries. And, that’s exactly what sin seeks—sin always wants to move the boundaries of what God says is good. We justify it. We argue against it. “God said, but…” The goal isn’t merely to cross the boundaries, but to move them entirely.

The moth and dry rot slowly destroy.

Notice the latter part of v.11—Ephraim was determined to go after filth. Some understand filth as “vanity.” The end of the matter is the fact that they rejected the way of truth in order to pursue nothingness. The end result is that YHWH would become like a moth—something that slowly devours— and dry rot—something that gradually crumbles—to both Ephraim and Judah. 

Sometimes, the judgment is certain, but it’s slow and sometimes subtle at first. We expect it to be dramatic and all-of-a-sudden. Sometimes things simply start to splinter from the inside out. Could it be that God’s slow judgment is still a part of His patient grace? What if what we call “life falling apart” is actually God graciously exposing what we’ve been building apart from him?

Let us not miss the movement of the text:

The trumpet sounds—judgment is coming.

The boundary’s been moved—God’s standard has been moved.

The moth and dry rot destroy—though judgment may begin quietly, it eats away at everything.

Heart:

Do you ever forget about your smoke detectors? They're just there, doing their thing—until a little smoke sets one off. Then you remember real quick.

You might silence one while you're cooking. You might even pull the battery because it's annoying. But imagine doing that in the middle of the night when the alarm is warning you that something is actually burning. Ignoring the warning doesn't make the fire go away.

And that's what we do with God's warnings. He says, “Something is wrong. Judgment is coming. Turn around.” We rationalize it. Minimize it. Silence the warning.

But God's warning isn't an inconvenience. It's mercy.

Hands:

Don’t cover the warning sounds. Take note and turn around.

III. We Run To Substitute Saviors

Head:

God exposes and He warns. And verse 13 says Ephraim saw his sickness and Judah his wound. Finally, they recognize the problem. Finally, we’re getting somewhere.

But, instead of turning to God, they look to Assyria instead.

Listen, if we’re talking about worldly standards, it made sense. Assyria was powerful. From a worldly perspective, it was a logical solution. But that's precisely the problem. They trusted what made sense to them instead of trusting the God who was sovereign over everything, and they’ll find that Assyria is powerless to help.

Sadly, we do the same thing. When confronted with our sin, when dealing with the corrective discipline of the Lord or undergoing some character-producing trial…when life gets hard, we reach for relationships or entertainment or substances—anything that offers relief.

We don't always run from God when we're hurting. Sometimes we run from God by running to something else. Assyria couldn't heal a wound God Himself had inflicted. And look at the repetition in verse 14: “I, even I…” God is the lion. God is the One tearing. But don't miss the purpose: “Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us” (Hos.6:1).

What God tears, He intends to heal. What He strikes down, He intends to bind up.

Heart:

Imagine being diagnosed with a fatal heart disease and asking your mechanic to fix the issue. Maybe he’s got some tools that could open you up, but what’s he going to do once he gets inside?!

Hands:

So where do you run when God's discipline hurts?

What are your substitute saviors?

Don't run from the Healer. Run to Him.

IV. God Withdraws to Hasten us Home

Head:

Here's where the weight of this all lands. God exposes and warns, but we pursue substitute saviors. So God withdraws to hasten us home: I will return again to my place. God will withdraw His presence.

And Scripture gives us glimpses of how devastating this is—Ichabod, David's prayer, “Do not take your Holy Spirit from me,” Christ's words, “Apart from Me you can do nothing,” and His warnings to the churches in Revelation. The greatest judgment isn't that God takes something from us. It's that God removes His presence from us.

C.S. Lewis says...

"God made us: invented us as a man invents an engine. A car is made to run on petrol, and it would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other. That is why it is just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way without bothering about religion. God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing." Translation: as we’ve been saying, the thing we need most is the presence of God.

What would change tomorrow if God's presence were gone? Would it change the way I preach? The way I parent? The way I spend my money? The way I manage my time? My marriage? My private life?

And perhaps the more terrifying question: How long would it take me to notice?

O, that we would be obsess over the presence of God’s Spirit the way we obsess over other much lesser things!

But here's the mercy: God doesn't say, “I'll withdraw forever.” He says, “I will return to my place until…”

…until they acknowledge their guilt.

…until they seek His face.

…until they earnestly seek Him.

God withdraws to bring His people home.

Heart:

I've got a few battery-powered lights around my house. You don't notice the battery dying at first. The light still comes on. It still works. It's just a little dimmer. And that's a dangerous place spiritually, where you can keep functioning while the light is fading. You can still teach and sing and serve and show…everything appears to be working fine.

But what if the power source is never addressed?

Eventually, the light goes dark.

Hands:

Maybe you've noticed the light dimming.

Don't wait for the darkness. Seek Him now. Return today. Repent today. Don't wait until distress forces you to seek the face of God.

If you've drifted, return. If you've sinned, repent. If you've grown cold, seek Him.

Don't settle for religious activity without relationship.

Seek His face.

EXPERIENCE

Pursue Him. Heed His warning calls. Run to Him and return today.

So, then, what needs to change?

If you’ve drifted, return.

If you’ve sinned, repent.

If you’ve grown cold, pray that our God, an all-consuming fire, would set you ablaze again.

And if you’ve never trusted in the first place—hear the good news of Jesus Christ.