The High price of Unfaithfulness

Intro

Actions have consequences, and as much as we like to thing that what we do will never effect our lives it is just not true. I had a friend who really loved his wife, he really did. But one of his jobs was coaching high school softball, and his wife wanted him to reduce how much time he spent coaching in the off season. He agreed to reduce that time, and then just kept spending the same amount of time coaching and developing players in the off season, because as much as he loved his wife, he loved coaching. It was not long after he made the decision to ignore his wife's wishes that his marriage started to fall apart. Once he realized his marriage was in trouble he did everything he could to rectify the situation, nut by that time it was to late, and his past actions had sealed his current situation. I commiserated with him, but I realized that he had clearly done a poor job communicating with his wife, and that is what led him to the situation he was in. His actions had dire consequences for his relationship with his wife. And the same thing is true in our relationship with God. Their is a high price to our unfaithfulness to God.

The State of Israel

As we start to dive into this chapter we see that God is speaking through Hosea about the people of Israel. Looking at what is said we can see that though God is still speaking in terms of Hosea’s marriage with Gomer, that he is actually using that marriage as an illustration of what is actually wrong in Israel. So as we go through the chapter remember this is focused on God’s people not just Gomer.

Starting in verse two we get a description of the state of the marriage. Which is really the state of Israel’s relationship to God. It is not good clearly. It starts with a plea to the people of Israel to turn back to God. verse two tells us that God desires that Israel puts away their unfaithfulness. What unfaithfulness was it? The unfaithfulness of putting other god’s before God. the unfaithfulness of forgetting the priorities that God had laid out for the Israelites. From their very beginning as a country, when God split Israel into Israel and Judah, the people of Israel, the country of Israel had been unfaithful to their God, who chose them as his people, as his bride. So we have the situation that Israel is in now where God is angry because they could not remain faithful. and God is conveying that anger in a way that should be easy enough for everyone to understand, he is comparing the religious unfaithfulness of his people to marital unfaithfulness. God is declaring that he is done with this relationship, and that he is going to make it clear to all the world that this relationship is over.

The Judgement of Israel

So once God has described the situation that Israel is in, and his anger, God is going to go on to describe the Judgment that Israel must face for their unfaithfulness, and lets be clear it isn’t pretty. Because God is dealing with a sinful people the judgment is going to fit the crime. The first thing he is going to do is make her unsatisfied. vs 6 tells us that God is going to hedge her way with thorns. Essentially what God is saying is that Israel is going to be prevented from finding other things to worship. Or if she does they will not be satisfying, they will not provide Israel with what she thinks she needs. So much so that verse 7 says that she will say “I will return to my husband, for it was better with me then now.” That sounds a lot like the parable of the prodigal son. where the son who has taken his inheritance and left the country realizes that his life sucks and would be way better off being a servant of his father, rather than continuing to dwell in a foreign land. The judgement on Israel will be so harsh she will be forced to realize that life was better with God.

Then God says that because he was the one providing for Israel the whole time he will take back the provisions because everything God gave Israel they gave away to other gods. The provisions that God is talking about range from food and drink to wool and flax. In other words Israel will not be able to feed or clothe themselves. In fact because of God’s judgment no one will be interested in attempting to save the people of Israel from God’s judgment, because Israel will be worthless in the eyes of the world. The judgment will be so harsh that the people will not even get to remember the Sabbath day. God’s Holy day. vs. 11 tells us “i will put an end to all her mirth, her festivals, her new moons, her sabbaths, and all her appointed festivals. Clearly God is angry if he is going to make it so His people cannot even celebrate the Sabbaths and the festivals that God gave them. This is some type of anger. Have you ever known someone who will get so mad about a situation that they make decisions that seem to hurt themselves just because they can’t stand to let the person they are mad at do anything for them. That is the type of angry that God is. But of course God’s judgment is not done yet.

in verses 12 and 13 God describes how he will lay waste to the land so it will not be useful, and how he will punish Israel for their false religion. The land will face judgment because of what the Israelites were doing in the land. They were supposed to give glory to God for all that he had provided, and yet they decided to worship other gods. It was more than they just forgot to worship God, they were actively choosing to worship other things instead. God is not happy, and yet God is not done. because even though God has said that the people of Israel are not his people, and He is not their God. They are still the people that God chose and so, somehow for some reason we may never understand God is going to do something

The Forgiveness of Israel

Verse 14 tells us that God is not just going to wait for Israel to seek forgiveness. the verse says “Therefore, I will now allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.” God is going to chase after his people, even though he was so angry, because God loves his people. God wants them to be with him. God desires his people to worship him. And we see that God is going to restore back to his people what he took away. vs 15 says that he will give Israel back her vineyards. Saying the land will be restored to the Israelites That there will be hope in the land.

God then says that there will be a relationship change. In vs 16 it says that the people of Israel will no longer call God My Baal, which means my Lord, but instead will call God, my Ish, or my husband. God desires that there will be a change in how the relationship is viewed. He desires that the people understand that the relationship that God has with them is one of love instead of one of power. Even though God does have the power, God acts through love. And God’s people will come to understand this and love God back in such a way that the people of Israel will no longer desire other gods but be focused on God and God alone. God will give his people protection. They will be safe in the land. When this happens for the people of Israel God will renew his covenant. As he says in verse 19, He will take his people as his wife forever. It is a renewal of the marriage vows. God truly loves his people. and will do whatever it takes to get them to come back to him. The Chapter ends with these words, And I will say to the people who are not my people, You are my people. Even though God has rejected his people, they will once again be made his people.

Conclusion

As we draw to a close it is important to remember that God did not need the Israelites. God needs no one, and yet he chose Israel and even pursued them when they were unfaithful to him. Why did God do this? He did it because God loves his people. And when I say god loves his people I do not just mean that God loves Israel. God loves all of his creation. God desires that all his people return to him so that they can be in relationship with God. God desire his people to be in relationship with Him at any cost. We know that God did not have to go into the desert to pursue Israel after he had rejected them, and we know that Jesus did not have to die on the cross for all people when they rejected him. And yet God did. Because our relationship with God is that important. It was not something that God was willing to leave just up to us. God has worked a plan out throughout history to draw all people to him. And we have one bad day and think that God does not care about us. We need to wake up and realize that God has already done the hard work. All we have to do is keep following him. Because that is what God wants from us.