Reaping Independance from God
Series: Hosea
Sermon #9
Text: Hosea 8:3
Title: Reaping Independence from God
Definition:
· a priest goes to God on behalf of the people;
· a prophet goes to the people on behalf of God;
Hosea is God’s prophet to Israel;
· Who does Hosea speak to?
· Who does Hosea speak for?
When Hosea speaks a prophetic message to Israel, he speaks the words of God.
Israel hears God speaking to hem when they hear Hosea prophesying
That same principle applies to “Bible preaching”.
· The prophets spoke to the people the words God had said.
· Bible preaching is proclaiming what God has said.
- accurate still today
- applicable to today
- to be accepted today
Paint the picture:
God gives Hosea a word of prophesy to give Israel.
· Would it be a word of encouragement?
· Would be a word of blessing?
o NO, it would be a word of warning.
“Set the trumpet to thy mouth”
Every city had guards, called watchmen. The watchman was to keep looking out away from the city, into the distance. He is watching for any sign of danger. If he spots an army approaching the city, the watchman would blow the trumpet. This alarm would give the men time to prepare for battle, and the women & children could run for safety.
God is telling Hosea to prepare to sound the alarm. Israel needed to make ready for an invasion.
The message implies the invasion would be:
· Soon – thus God tells him to put the trumpet to his mouth
· Swift – to paint the picture for Israel, God used the simile of an eagle swiftly flying in on it’s prey
· Severe – because of what Israel sowed they will reap
o Insufficient Provision (vr7b)
o Insufficient Protection (vr1b, 8, 14)
o Insufficient Praise (vr13)
Now we have the setting.
God is speaking to Israel
by prophesy
through Hosea.
God is speaking to you tonight,
by His word.
through the preacher.
Let’s answer the question ‘What is God saying?’
To Israel, they will reap what they sowed!
To you, you will reap what you sow!
Our sermon tonight comes from another question,
What did they sow?
Verse 7 “For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind”. But that is merely a metaphor.
What did they sow? They sowed their independence from God!
Verse 3 “Israel hath cast off the thing that is good…”
HOW THEY SOWED
Through Rebellion
· Vrs1 – Transgressed God’s covenant
o The covenant speaks of the fact that God would be their God, and that they would be God’s people
o Gen 17:7-9 God made a covenant with Abraham
§ And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. 8 And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. 9 And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations.
o For Israel to break the covenant is to seek their independence from it
· Vrs1 – Trespassed God’s law
o The law speaks of the how God’s people would serve Him
o Moses read Gods law to the people of Israel and they accepted it saying that they would obey God through it
o Exodus 24:7,8 And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient. 8 And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words.
o Hosea 8:12 God says that He had given them His word and they counted it as a strange thing
§ “Strange” means foreign, and implies that they need not obey it. They treated the law of God as if it were the law of another country which had no authority over them.
When God came to you as a lost sinner, bound to hell, He said to you “I will be your God”.
When you accepted the mercy of God, and repented of your sins, you were saying to God; “I will be your servant”
When you rebel on God, or you transgress His word, then you are in essence sowing your independence from God.
Through Reliance’s
· Vr4-6 Israel turned away from God as their ruler & turned to
o Government (vr4)
§ Kings – God had not appointed
· God appointed David but Israel chose their other kings
§ Princes – God had not appointed
o Idols– God had not appointed
§ Always represent the things
o Allies – (vr9 Assyria)
o Religion - Built temples (vr14)
o Defense: Multiplied fenced cities (vr14)
What did they sow? Their independence from God
What did they get? Their independence from God
VERSE 2 – Israel will cry unto me, My God we know thee.