Pursue Love and Justice
Unit 3: Called to God's Work of Justice • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 17 viewsLet love and Justice characterize your life!
Notes
Transcript
Key Verse
Key Verse
6 Therefore turn thou to thy God:
Keep mercy and judgment,
And wait on thy God continually.
Introduction
Introduction
One hot summer day the cool green watermelon was as appealing as gourmet ice cream. A swift stroke of a knife later, though, and everyone gathered around the table winced in disgust. The watermelon had rotted from the inside out. The Rhine was perfect, but the dead white insides reeked of decay. Disappointment quickly gave way to revulsion as we try to escape the nauseating stench. The beautiful fruit was rotten at the core.
The Northern Kingdom of Israel of the mid-8th Century BC looked beautiful on the surface as well, like the nation had it all together. But it too was rotten at the core. And God had had enough of Israel’s revolting behavior.
Lesson Context
Lesson Context
Love conquers all
Love conquers all
King Jeroboam II, one of the worst kings in Israel's history.
He was a strong ruler politically.
He expanded Israel’s border and made Israel the leading nation in Palestine and Syria.
He grew apathetic and allowed idol worship to run amok in the nation, opening the doorway for Israelites to cheat, steal, have unlawful sex with, and even murder each other on a constant basis.
Growing cold and distant, they had forgotten about knowing God as their intimate first love, ushering in a disaster that would imminently strike through Assyria's siege.
Israel was wealthy and proud of its success.
Turning their backs on God, the people also found it also too easy to shift allegiance to the fictitious deity known as Baal
8 For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil,
And multiplied her silver and gold,
Which they prepared for Baal.
13 And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them,
And she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels,
And she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the Lord.
This went hand in hand with injustice
1 Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel:
For the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land,
Because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.
2 By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out,
And blood toucheth blood.
But God does not forget Israel even in their self-destruction, and He teaches us that love is the strongest force of all, even over sin.
Hope would still come through God's Messiah.
Milestones
Milestones
Idolatrous Israel
Hosea prophesies against the corruption of Israel's priests, who led Israel away from knowing God and into idol worship. Judah, too, is warned against their sins.
Adulterous Gomer
God's relationship with Israel is demonstrated through Hosea's marriage with the prostitute Gomer. Like Gomer, Israel has committed adultery against God by worshipping foreign gods.
Adulterer Redeemed
Though adulterous Israel worships idols, God's never-ending love will buy them back. He will restore Israel again and bring a Messianic King from David's family.
God Cries Out
In a moving allegory of a father and son, God expresses His love and heartbreak for Israel and their constant rebellion, pleading for them to repent.
Almost Redeemed
Even though God confronts Israel's wrongdoings, He longs to restore them. God will heal their faithlessness if they choose to repent. Sadly, Israel doesn't listen.
A general timeline for Hosea’s prophetic ministry is 755 to 725 BC.
In confronting this idolatry, God called Hosea to live out a unique and difficult parable of God's love for Israel.
Father's Faithfulness (Hosea 11:1,2,7-10)
Father's Faithfulness (Hosea 11:1,2,7-10)
God’s Action (v.1)
God’s Action (v.1)
1 When Israel was a child, then I loved him,
And called my son out of Egypt.
Hosea tells the story of God's interaction with Israel beginning with the Exodus out of Egypt.
That event and the giving of the law at Sinai launched Israel as a nation.
Calling Israel, a child reinforces that this was a formative experience.
God is determined that the leadership and people of Israel understand the coming prophecy first and foremost in terms of His love.
Matthew uses This text to describe the return of young Jesus from Egypt
15 And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.
That story too should be read in light of God's love. Jesus is the ultimate expression of that love.
Israel’s Reaction (vv.2,7)
Israel’s Reaction (vv.2,7)
2 As they called them, so they went from them:
They sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images.
The designation Baalim, the plural of the word Baal, refers to the fictitious gods of other nations, particularly the Canaanites.
This is a term that generally has the sense of “lord” or “master.”
But no matter how persistently God has called Israel to Him, the people insist on doing the opposite and embracing idolatry.
examples
15 And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them, that they should not do like them. 16 And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.
7 And my people are bent to backsliding from me:
Though they called them to the most High,
None at all would exalt him.
1 When Ephraim spake trembling, he exalted himself in Israel;
But when he offended in Baal, he died.
Though the people may still be offering sacrifices to the Lord and celebrating His feast they also burn incense to idols.
compare
16 And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.
13 And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them,
And she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels,
And she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the Lord.
The hearts of the people are untrue to the very God who gave birth to their nation by bringing them from Egypt and giving them a land of their own.
7 And my people are bent to backsliding from me:
Though they called them to the most High,
None at all would exalt him.
God's frustration with the Israelites is quite apparent.
Their choice is not accidental due to ignorance.
Quite the opposite - theirs is a commitment intent to turn away from Him.
The Northern Kingdom of Israel mirrors the southern Kingdom of Judah in this regard,
we see this in
5 Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.
7 And my people are bent to backsliding from me:
Though they called them to the most High,
None at all would exalt him.
In the large context of Hosea 11 this verse suggests that Israel is mixing practices and religious vocabulary.
Likely the people are worshiping Canaanite deities even as they continued to say the right things about the most High God.
Because of their utter refusal to abandon idolatry, God would not exalt them by delivering them.
God's Decision (vv. 8,9)
God's Decision (vv. 8,9)
8 How shall I give thee up, Ephraim?
How shall I deliver thee, Israel?
How shall I make thee as Admah?
How shall I set thee as Zeboim?
Mine heart is turned within me,
My repentings are kindled together.
The parallel structure of Hebrew poetry is evident here as the second question creatively rephrases the first.
Ephraim is another way of referring to the Northern Kingdom of Israel
3 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me:
For now, O Ephraim, thou committest whoredom, and Israel is defiled.
10 I have seen an horrible thing in the house of Israel:
There is the whoredom of Ephraim, Israel is defiled.
8 How shall I give thee up, Ephraim?
How shall I deliver thee, Israel?
How shall I make thee as Admah?
How shall I set thee as Zeboim?
Mine heart is turned within me,
My repentings are kindled together.
Likewise, the 4th question rephrase is the third:
Admah and Zeboim were sister cities of the infamous Sodom and Gomorrah
2 That these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar.
8 And there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar;) and they joined battle with them in the vale of Siddim;
23 And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the Lord overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath:
8 How shall I give thee up, Ephraim?
How shall I deliver thee, Israel?
How shall I make thee as Admah?
How shall I set thee as Zeboim?
Mine heart is turned within me,
My repentings are kindled together.
The thought of punishing Israel as He did those cities breaks God's heart.
He is one who takes
11 Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?
8 How shall I give thee up, Ephraim?
How shall I deliver thee, Israel?
How shall I make thee as Admah?
How shall I set thee as Zeboim?
Mine heart is turned within me,
My repentings are kindled together.
Language of turned and repentings does not mean that God is feeling remorse as though He has done or is planning to do wrong.
Rather, the sense is that compassion tempers His anger; see the next verse.
9 I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger,
I will not return to destroy Ephraim:
For I am God, and not man;
The Holy One in the midst of thee:
And I will not enter into the city.
This is not the first time that God's compassion tempers His anger.
Unlike people prone to overact in their anger, God is always thoughtful and measured in His actions.
For God to refer to Himself as the holy one in the midst of thee reminds His covenant people that although He is present with them, He also is entirely different from them.
How is He different you ask?
His ways are not human ways
19 God is not a man, that he should lie;
Neither the son of man, that he should repent:
Hath he said, and shall he not do it?
Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
Neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are my ways higher than your ways,
And my thoughts than your thoughts.
9 I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger,
I will not return to destroy Ephraim:
For I am God, and not man;
The Holy One in the midst of thee:
And I will not enter into the city.
This verse in its context is valuable for glimpsing God’s two overarching characteristics of holiness and love.
For Holiness lets compare
3 And one cried unto another, and said,
Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts:
The whole earth is full of his glory.
and
8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.
and for love lets compare
8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
Neither one (holiness and love) is subordinate to the other.
God's holiness calls forth retributive expressions of His wrath.
Example
5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. 7 And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
God's love calls forth restorative expressions of His wrath
5 Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee.
5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
Centuries after the time of Hosea, the self-sacrifice of Jesus on the cross will satisfy the requirements of both Gods holiness and love.
As sin is punished to satisfy the requirements of God’s holiness, the path to eternal life is thereby opened in satisfying the requirements of God's love.
Life in the presence of our holy God becomes possible as sin’s price is paid
21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
Israel’s Future (v. 10)
Israel’s Future (v. 10)
10 They shall walk after the Lord: he shall roar like a lion:
When he shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the west.
They shall walk after the Lord will be the result of God’s restorative discipline.
The figurative roar like a lion by God will be the sign of Israel to return home.
The return from exile by the southern Kingdom and Judah will be from the East, but this return with trembling from the West is clarified as “tremble as a bird out of Egypt” in
11 They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt,
And as a dove out of the land of Assyria:
And I will place them in their houses, saith the Lord.
This brings us full circle to the “out of Egypt” of
1 When Israel was a child, then I loved him,
And called my son out of Egypt.
But Israel should realize that God can just as well act as a lion in a destructive since
14 For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion,
And as a young lion to the house of Judah:
I, even I, will tear and go away;
I will take away, and none shall rescue him.
Lord’s Resolution (Hosea 12:1,2, 6-14)
Lord’s Resolution (Hosea 12:1,2, 6-14)
Charges of Sin (v. 1,2)
Charges of Sin (v. 1,2)
1 Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind:
He daily increaseth lies and desolation;
And they do make a covenant with the Assyrians,
And oil is carried into Egypt.
For Ephraim (meaning Israel; see on Hosea 11:8, above) to feedeth on wind, and followeth after the East wind can be another way of referring to a covenant with the Assyrians an economic treaty with Egypt that involves oil.
Rather than seeking God as an ally, the king of Israel has turned to world powers for security
compare
13 When Ephraim saw his sickness,
And Judah saw his wound,
Then went Ephraim to the Assyrian,
And sent to king Jareb:
Yet could he not heal you,
Nor cure you of your wound.
11 Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart:
They call to Egypt, they go to Assyria.
2 The Lord hath also a controversy with Judah,
And will punish Jacob according to his ways;
According to his doings will he recompense him.
This is the formal language of a lawsuit
compare
13 The Lord standeth up to plead,
And standeth to judge the people.
13 Hear ye, and testify in the house of Jacob,
Saith the Lord God, the God of hosts,
2 Hear ye, O mountains, the Lord’s controversy,
And ye strong foundations of the earth:
For the Lord hath a controversy with his people,
And he will plead with Israel.
Like any legal arrangement, there are consequences for breaking the contract.
These consequences are agreed on before signing
This has already been commited to in
16 Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;
As the Ephraim in Hosea 12:1 refers to the entire Northern Kingdom of Israel, so also Jacob here in v. 2 represents all of Judah (or even both kingdoms in totality).
Judah would do well to see how God judges the North and repent while there is time.
Direction for a Return (v. 6)
Direction for a Return (v. 6)
6 Therefore turn thou to thy God:
Keep mercy and judgment,
And wait on thy God continually.
The language of turn thou to thy God is language of repentance from sin.
But this turn of the heart must be evidenced by turn in behavior.
Any turn of heart must be accompanied by exercising the mercy and judgment (justice) that mirrors God's own character.
Further, to wait on thy God continually is not a suggestion of mere passive patience; rather, this imperative conveys the idea of an active and complete trust in God's plans and timing
Like
5 I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait,
And in his word do I hope.
and
17 And I will wait upon the Lord,
That hideth his face from the house of Jacob,
And I will look for him.
7 Therefore I will look unto the Lord;
I will wait for the God of my salvation:
My God will hear me.
This would demonstrate repentance from relying on earthly powers instead of the Lord.
Persistence and Wickedness (vv. 7,8)
Persistence and Wickedness (vv. 7,8)
7 He is a merchant, the balances of deceit are in his hand:
He loveth to oppress.
The nation is portrayed as a greedy shopkeeper who gleefully uses balances of deceit (false weights on a balance scale) to oppress, or cheat, customers
Like in
36 Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have: I am the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt.
5 Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn?
And the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat,
Making the ephah small, and the shekel great,
And falsifying the balances by deceit?
8 And Ephraim said, Yet I am become rich, I have found me out substance:
In all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me that were sin.
Ill-gotten gain breeds arrogance
we see that in
5 By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches:
Unchecked arrogance eventually results in a self-deluding sense of invincibility (they shall find non inquity in me).
17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
warns against the same self-delusion in the 1st century AD.
This danger seems even greater today.
Plan of Reconciliation (vv. 9,10)
Plan of Reconciliation (vv. 9,10)
9 And I that am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt
Will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles, as in the days of the solemn feast.
Mention of the exodus from the land of Egypt again brings the prophecy back to
1 When Israel was a child, then I loved him,
And called my son out of Egypt.
Lets go back to
9 And I that am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt
Will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles, as in the days of the solemn feast.
To dwell in tabernacles refer to the annual feast of Tabernacles.
During this week-long observance,
Israelites live in temporary huts, or booths (tabernacles),
to remember their days of God's protection in the wilderness,
to bring the people back to Him, God will send them through a wilderness experience again in the form of exile.
10 I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions,
And used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets.
By this time, God has spoken by the prophets plainly we see this in
14 But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments; 15 And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant: 16 I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. 17 And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you.
He has also communicated through visions
4 He hath said, which heard the words of God,
Which saw the vision of the Almighty,
Falling into a trance, but having his eyes open:
16 He hath said, which heard the words of God,
And knew the knowledge of the most High,
Which saw the vision of the Almighty,
Falling into a trance, but having his eyes open:
He has also spoken to them in similitude or riddles or parables
2 I will open my mouth in a parable:
I will utter dark sayings of old:
Resistance to the Plan (vv.11-14)
Resistance to the Plan (vv.11-14)
11 Is there iniquity in Gilead? surely they are vanity:
They sacrifice bullocks in Gilgal;
Yea, their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the fields.
This is a good example of a prophetic Riddle God poses to Israel.
Earlier in Hosea’s prophecies, he introduced Gilgal as the site of a major Pagan shrine.
Gilgal is West of the Jordan River and close to Jericho.
The location of the city of Gilead is unknown, but it parallels Gilgal in iniquity
8 Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity,
And is polluted with blood.
God speaks of the people's pride in both the shrine and their agricultural wealth.
But Gilead’s altars to other gods make it as unfruitful as if its fields were sown with rocks instead of fertile soil.
12 And Jacob fled into the country of Syria,
And Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep.
God continues the Riddle by noting Jacobs experiences with Laban.
Although Jacob initially fled to Laban for safety.
Jacob did not find the haven he hoped for.
Jacob (later renamed Israel) was deceived in marriage and ultimately sensed the need to flee.
Similarly, Israel is looking to Egypt and Assyria for safety but will eventually find Egypt to be powerless and Assyria to be a deadly enemy.
13 And by a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt,
And by a prophet was he preserved.
God now speaks plainly again.
Listening to Hosea is the same as listening to the Prophet Moses of long ago.
Both speak God’s words.
Just as God led Israel out of slavery under Moses, God can lead the Israelites away from a second captivity and exile if they listen to Hosea.
14 Ephraim provoked him to anger most bitterly:
Therefore shall he leave his blood upon him,
And his reproach shall his Lord return unto him.
God repeats His warning:
Ephraim (Israel) will face the consequences of its actions compare
13 Hath given forth upon usury, and hath taken increase: shall he then live? he shall not live: he hath done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him.
God's protection will be withdrawn.
Arrogant Israel’s injustice in idolatry will result in national destruction.
In closing
All too frequently we feel the sneaky satisfaction of having gotten away with something.
And our choices often convey to others that we are the most important people in our lives.
We feel secure because of what we own or who we know when trouble comes, we try to solve our own problems by way of people and stuff.
Suddenly, Israel looks as familiar as our reflection in the mirror.
It's time to leave those things behind and trust in God.
It's time to show through our actions that we follow God only.