Sermon Tone Analysis

The Lord's Relentless Judgment on Israel

When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling.

He exalted himself in Israel, But through Baal he did wrong and died.

And now they sin more and more, And make for themselves molten images, Idols skillfully made from their silver, All of them the work of craftsmen.

They say of them, "Let the men who sacrifice kiss the calves!"

Therefore they will be like the morning cloud And like dew which soon disappears, Like chaff which is blown away from the threshing floor And like smoke from a chimney.

Yet I have been the LORD your God Since the land of Egypt; And you were not to know any god except Me, For there is no savior besides Me.

I cared for you in the wilderness, In the land of drought.

As they had their pasture, they became satisfied, And being satisfied, their heart became proud; Therefore they forgot Me.

So I will be like a lion to them; Like a leopard I will lie in wait by the wayside.

I will encounter them like a bear robbed of her cubs, And I will tear open their chests; There I will also devour them like a lioness, As a wild beast would tear them.

It is your destruction, O Israel, That you are against Me, against your help.

Where now is your king That he may save you in all your cities, And your judges of whom you requested, "Give me a king and princes"?

I gave you a king in My anger And took him away in My wrath.

The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; His sin is stored up.

The pains of childbirth come upon him; He is not a wise son, For it is not the time that he should delay at the opening of the womb.

Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol?

Shall I redeem them from death?

O Death, where are your thorns?

O Sheol, where is your sting?

Compassion will be hidden from My sight.

Though he flourishes among the reeds, An east wind will come, The wind of the LORD coming up from the wilderness; And his fountain will become dry And his spring will be dried up; It will plunder his treasury of every precious article.

Samaria will be held guilty, For she has rebelled against her God.

They will fall by the sword, Their little ones will be dashed in pieces, And their pregnant women will be ripped open.

“I WILL BE YOUR KING”

A. Two pictures of judgment.

1. (Hos_13:1-3) Sinful Israel will be scattered like the morning clouds.

When Ephraim spoke, trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended through Baal worship, he died.

Now they sin more and more, and have made for themselves molded images, idols of their silver, according to their skill; all of it is the work of craftsmen.

They say of them, “Let the men who sacrifice kiss the calves!”

Therefore they shall be like the morning cloud and like the early dew that passes away, like chaff blown off from a threshing floor and like smoke from a chimney.

a.

Now they sin more and more: God never blessed Israel when they worshipped Baal, but that didn’t stop them.

They kept after their idolatry more and more.

b.

The men who sacrifice may instead have the idea of engaging in human sacrifice, and could be translated “the sacrificers of men.”

In ancient Israel human sacrifice was almost always child-sacrifice.

Hosea has already spoken of this horrible practice in Hos_9:13 and perhaps in Hos_5:2.

i. “Viewed together, the sin is a total perversion of values.

A craftsman’s work is elevated to divine status; human beings sacrifice their offspring to a metal object from whose lifeless form they also beg help; persons embrace with adulation the images of the very animals that they use for ploughing, threshing and hauling.”

(Hubbard)

c.

Therefore they shall be like the morning cloud and like the early dew that passes: Because Israel trusted in themselves and in idols, they could not stand.

They would pass like the early dew.

Like the Morning Mist

Life Is Brief.

Gregory of Nazianzus: Such, brethren, is our life, we whose existence is so transitory.

Such is the game we play upon earth.

We do not exist, and then we are born, and being born we are soon dissolved.

We are a fleeting dream, [Job_20:8.]

an apparition without substance, the flight of a bird that passes, a ship that leaves no trace upon the sea.

[Wis_5:10-11.]

We are dust, a vapor, the morning dew, a flower growing but a moment and withering in a moment.

“Man’s days are as grass: as the flower of the field, so shall he flourish.”

[Psa_103:15 (102:15 LXX).]

How beautifully has holy David meditated on our weakness: “Declare unto me the fewness of my days.”

[Psa_90:12 (89:12 LXX).]

On His Brother St. Caesarius, Oration 7.19.

[FC 22:19*]

2. (Hos_13:4-8) Sinful Israel will be torn apart as if by a lion.

“Yet I am the LORD your God ever since the land of Egypt, and you shall know no God but Me; for there is no Savior besides Me.

I knew you in the wilderness, in the land of great drought.

When they had pasture, they were filled; they were filled and their heart was exalted; therefore they forgot Me.

So I will be to them like a lion; like a leopard by the road I will lurk; I will meet them like a bear deprived of her cubs; I will tear open their rib cage, and there I will devour them like a lion.

The wild beast shall tear them.”

a.

Yet I am the LORD your God ever since the land of Egypt: Israel changed, but the LORD God did not.

He is still the only God and the only Savior, and His people will be left desolate when they leave Him.

b.

They were filled and their heart was exalted; therefore they forgot Me: It is a strange and terrible aspect of human nature that when times are good, we often forget the God who blessed us.

When times are bad we are often more likely to turn our hearts back to God.

i.

At the end of the 20th Century, Americans were in a season of unprecedented prosperity.

Yet statistics show that in the 1990s churchgoers gave a smallest percentage of their income in contributions since the Great Depression.

Sadly, often when we are filled, then we find our hearts exalted, and soon we forget God.

c.

So I will be to them like a lion: When we neglect and affront God as He blesses, we then will often face the chastening hand of God.

It isn’t because God hates us, but because we have demonstrated that we will only turn to Him when times are bad.

i. “The three mentioned - lion, leopard, and bear - were all native to Palestine and known for their relentless manner of killing prey.”

(Wood)

B. God, the only hope of Israel.

No Other God

God Alone Is Creator.

Hilary of Poitiers: All things have been created by the Lord Christ, and therefore the proper name for him is that he is a creator.

The nature and title of what he himself produced is unsuitable for him.

Our witness is Melchizedek, who proclaims God as the Creator of heaven and earth in the following words: “Blessed be Abraham by the most high God, who created heaven and earth.”

[Gen_14:1.]

Hosea the prophet is also a witness when he says, “I am the Lord your God who strengthened the heavens and created the earth, whose hands created all the hosts of heaven.”

Peter also is a witness, who writes as follows: “Commending your souls as to a faithful creator.”

[1Pe_4:19.]

Why do we attribute the name of the work to the maker?

Why do we give God the same name as our own?

He is our Creator, the Creator of the whole heavenly array.

On the Trinity 12.4.

[FC 25:503.]

Devouring Like a Lion

The Suffering Lamb and the Victorious Lion.

Augustine: In fulfillment of holy Writ, the truth has resounded through the voice of the apostles, for the psalmist has sung, “Their voice has gone forth unto all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.”

[Psa_19:4 (18:5 LXX); Rom_10:18.]

So also “Christ our Passover is sacrificed,” [1Co_5:7.]