Hosea 5:8-6:3 | A death and a resurrection
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Question
Question
What does it take to bring people back into knowledge of God?
I wonder how you would answer that question.
It’s a question that many have tried to tackle over the years. As the number of Christians, according to surveys, drops year on year. Many have tried to tackle the problem.
Some through education. Perhaps by putting more RE lessons into schools, that might fix it.
Some through money. Perhaps putting money into this will cause more people to come to God.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying those things are bad in themselves. But the Bible actually tackles the issue. And it tackles it in a place that we hardly ever look.
Surprise, surprise, I’m going to say, it’s answered in Hosea! And Hosea presents for us one of the most well-known, but under-appreciated ideas in the whole Bible. You may have seen it in . Let me read that:
After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will restore us,
that we may live in his presence.
Sound like a familiar idea? Easter is coming up quickly afterall.
Well let’s look at the text, and see how we get there.
Context
Context
We’re at the end of the section in Hosea that deals with God’s charge back in chapter 4 verse 1 of no knowledge of God in the land.
No knowledge of God is one of the issues that is resulting in God’s judgement on the people and the land. This is an issue that needs fixing before God’s people can dwell with him, and enjoy his blessings.
This is one of the issues that is resulting in God’s judgement on the people and the land. This is an issue that needs fixing before God’s people can dwell with him, and enjoy his blessings.
We’ve had two weeks of looking at the problem. And now, as we come to the end of this section, we’ll finally see the solution.
So the question, once again. What does it take to bring people back into knowledge of God? The answer, we’ll see, is a death and a resurrection.
1) A death
1) A death
Let’s see that death. We’re in .
A battle is coming. You can see that in verse 8 and 9. An army is on their way.
The sound of trumpets in this case is not a good thing. It’s as good as an air raid siren going off in world war 2.
Israel is going to be laid to waste.
And this isn’t a possibility, A probable thing that will happen. No, look at the end of verse 9, it’s certain.
God has spoken, and when God speaks, it comes to pass. Ephraim, Israel, will be laid waste.
And it’s not just the north that will face this judgement, this destruction. Verses 10-14 shows that this death is coming to the whole land. To both Israel and Judah.
God, through Hosea, alternates between the two locations:
Ephraim will be laid waste -v9
Judah will have God’s wrath poured out on them - v10
Ephraim is trampled - verse 11
God will be like rot to Judah - verse 12
And on and on it goes. Like a pummelling in a fight. First the left, then the right fist. This destruction is coming to the whole land. This death is coming to the people.
It would be wrong of me to cause us to ignore the picture language here. As they say a picture speaks a thousand words. Just look at how devastating this judgment will be.
Verse 10: God’s wrath will pour out like a flood of water. Sweeping everything away.
Verse 11: God’s wrath will trample over the people in judgment. Like an ant and a boot.
Verse 12: God says he is like a moth. Just leave a suit in a wardrobe and see what happens there.
And same veese, He is like rot.
And put all those vivid images together, and you have complete and utter destruction, from God.
And the greatest picture of all. Verse 14
For I will be like a lion to Ephraim,
like a great lion to Judah.
I will tear them to pieces and go away;
I will carry them off, with no one to rescue them.
That’s terrifying isn’t it. God like a lion against you. We know the image of God being like a lion. But we tend to view it from only one angle. To have God like a lion against you is terrifying.
Noone can rescue from that. Going to Assyria, as in verse 13, won’t help when you’re under attack from the divine lion. Noone can help.
Noone except that lion.
If you’ve ever visited Whipsnade Zoo, you may have seen the lion’s den. They’re pretty docile most of the time. But when the feeders come, those sleeping lions destroy everything in their path.
Application
Application
It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
This section gives us a chilling picture of what being on the wrong side of God looks like doesn’t it? It’s the opposite of what most people say God is like.
When we picture God, do we think of Him that way? A ferocious lion, rather than a playful kitten. A mighty warrior, vs an old man in the sky?
It makes the difference as to where we put our trust. For Israel they were trusting in the wrong thing. They had their knowledge of God all wrong. They wanted to trust in Assyria rather than God to save them.
We can place our trust in all sorts of wrong things too. Whether that is money, education, fancy buildings. Instead God calls his people to place their full, unadulterated trust in him. He is the one you can place your trust in.
This death is what is promised by God at the end of Deuteronomy.
In fact God had told Israel this before. This death is what is promised by God at the end of Deuteronomy.
‘See now that I myself am he!
There is no god besides me.
I put to death and I bring to life,
I have wounded and I will heal,
and no one can deliver out of my hand.
If only they were wise, they would comprehend this;
they would understand their fate.
Deut 32:39
This wrath is not unexpected.
2. A resurrection
2. A resurrection
But neither is what comes next.
What does it take to bring people back into knowledge of God? A death, but also a resurrection.
Have a look at verse 1-3 of chapter 6.
In their distress Hosea says the people will search for God. Once they have recognised their guilt, they will seek his face.
And on that day, God will hear them.
Just like that passage in Deuteronomy had said, God is the one who puts to death. But also the one who brings life.
God is the one who wounds, and also the one who heals.
Israel should know that. And through national death, they will remember that again.
Let’s remind ourselves of verse 2 again:
After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will restore us,
that we may live in his presence.
The word there, ‘restore’, is the same word we have in the New Testament for ‘resurrection’.
But where does the idea come from? Remember, Hosea is a long time before Jesus’ death.
Well, the whole Bible has been pointing to resurrection after 3 days. Right from the book of Genesis.
For example, if you look at the story of Abraham and Isaac. On the day that God called Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, it took 3 days to reach the right spot. It’s as if Isaac comes back from the dead on the third day - an idea Hebrews picks up and runs with.
Or take Esther, if you’ve been in women’s group this year. Esther and her people go through three days of fasting - a death from food - and on the third day their fates will be sealed.
The stories go on and on. Three days of testing, with the decision coming on the third day. A seeming death, whether real or figurative, followed by life. This idea is massive in the Bible. In fact, a very conservative count gave me at least 47 times in the Old Testament where this is the case.
And since God does not change, the people can know that that is the same for them, if they repent and trust him. Just like Hosea returned to Gomer after judgment had fallen on her, so God promises to do the same for Israel.
Just like Hosea returned to Gomer after judgment had fallen on her, so God promises to do the same for Israel.
That’s what Hosea says in verse 3. God will do this, as surely as the sun rises. It always has so far. Like the predictability of the winter rains and spring rains. Bringing their life to the earth. God will do this.
Application
Application
So what should we do with that?
Exactly the same as the people here. Let’s press on to know the Lord. Let’s put our trust in Him, looking for refuge and security in him and him alone. Let’s trust in Him and not others for our day to day.
Daniel–Malachi Response
What should be the response of Christians to this? Let us press on to know the Lord, for his great salvation and blessings to us are as sure as the dawn, as refreshing as the spring rains. Let us also put away any vain thought of finding refuge or security in anything else, be it political alliances or our own pocketbooks. Let us no longer trust in other people for our well-being, but in faith let us look to Jesus.
Conclusion
Conclusion
What does it take to bring people back into knowledge of God? A death and a resurrection.
I hope you see how this points us to Jesus!
Hosea is pushing us to a solution, to the solution to all the problems in the book. And it gives us the answers. If the people are to solve the problem of a lack of knowledge, they will need to wholeheartedly return to God.
They’ll need to go through a death and a resurrection to achieve that. That’s what Hosea is saying. That’s what the whole Bible has been saying.
It’s a similar idea to being born again isn’t it? To die and be made alive. To be brought into knowledge, or relationship, with God. This idea is at the heart of Christianity.
And that idea climaxes, in the Lord Jesus. That is what Jesus did in our place. He was the one who brought true knowledge of God to people. He is the one who made God truly known. And He did so through a death and a resurrection.
And the Lord Jesus did. He was the one who brought true knowledge of God to people. He is the one who made God known. And he did so, dying in their place. And he did so rising again in their place.
And that is what the Lord Jesus did in our place. He was the one who brought true knowledge of God to people. He is the one who made God known. And he did so, dying in their place. And he did so rising again in their place.
You see, the resurrection of Jesus is more than just an added extra in the Bible. More than just a sidepoint, that was unexpected. No! It’s an idea that flows through the whole book. It’s what the whole Bible has been pointing towards. As Paul says in :
The resurrection of Jesus is more than just an added extra in the Bible. It’s an idea that flows through the whole book. It’s what the whole Bible has been pointing towards. As Paul says in :
Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel I preached to you, which you received, on which you have taken your stand and by which you are being saved, if you hold to the message I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers and sisters at one time; most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one born at the wrong time, he also appeared to me.
1 Cor 15:1-
For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
He was raised on the third day according the Scriptures.
What does it take to bring people back into knowledge of God? A death and a resurrection. Or to pin it to a person - through the Lord Jesus. So let’s look to him. Let’s speak of Him. And let’s put our full trust in Him.
Let’s pray.