The Necessary Judgement of God

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Introduction

Im going to show you some of my favorite pictures. These pictures mean a lot to me. As most of you know, I am a sports fanatic. I find a lot of joy in participating, cheering, sometimes crying....... over all kinds of sports. I have been able to snag a picture with several that I respect and admire and some that I cannot find. Maybe insert story of meeting Archie Manning. This last one is of me and Kyle Hendricks. he pitched in the World Series for the Cubs and was a Cy Young winner. He is the greatest I have seen since Greg Maddux. He doesnt throw fast, but he doesnt need to because he can put the ball perfectly in the strategic parts of the zone. This is known as a Rembrandt, he paints the corners. His knickname is the Professor. He never smiles on the mound and he has a look the entire game as if he could be bothered by no one and that he is focusing on one thing, the next batter. So I was waiting for him to come out of the Locker room and he steps out and he has the biggest smile on his face. He was a nice as could be. Polite to everyone and genuinely enjoyed meeting his fans. I, being an idiot, said “I almost didnt recognize you with this smile on your face”........great first impression, I know. And he replied, “I am actually happy most of the time. People see me at work, but I dont live my life that way”. I was honestly humbled and embarrassed that I said such a stupid thing to my favorite pitcher to ever where a Cubs jersey.
I honestly thinking this week that there are so many in and outside if the church who do the exact same thing with God. When they look at passages like we will handle this week, they see the judgement and wrath of God. And when they see bad things that take place in this world and the evil that takes place, they blame him and claim that he is just a mean God that is like a angry kid with a magnifying glass standing over an ant hill. These arent just ideas and teachings of the foolish outside of the church, but there are times the church claims these teachings as well. We dont know how to handle Gods judgement because we are insecure in God’s love. I can honestly look at you or anyone that holds to an idea that God is cruel and his judgement is harsh and I can say, You dont know God like I do, and you dont know your sin like He does. Today will be one of those days where we see the judgement of God on his children that have disobeyed and fallen in love with other false gods and the things of this world and we will contrast it to the teachings of Paul in the first chapters of Romans where the indictment is as serious and true of us.
Fear not because next week we see the redemption through Jesus and we will even discuss some of that plan today. How true when Hosea writes

14 “I will deliver this people from the power of the grave;

I will redeem them from death.

Where, O death, are your plagues?

Where, O grave, is your destruction?

And when Paul echoes

54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” k

55 “Where, O death, is your victory?

Where, O death, is your sting?” l

The Indictment of Israel and the Sinner

Hear the word of the LORD, you Israelites,

because the LORD has a charge to bring

against you who live in the land:

“There is no faithfulness, no love,

no acknowledgment of God in the land.

2 There is only cursing, lying and murder,

stealing and adultery;

they break all bounds,

and bloodshed follows bloodshed.

3 Because of this the land dries up,

and all who live in it waste away;

the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky

and the fish in the sea are swept away.

4 “But let no one bring a charge,

let no one accuse another,

for your people are like those

who bring charges against a priest.

5 You stumble day and night,

and the prophets stumble with you.

So I will destroy your mother—

6 my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.

“Because you have rejected knowledge,

I also reject you as my priests;

because you have ignored the law of your God,

I also will ignore your children.

I could go on and on with more of these verses, but you get the drift of where we are going. I hope you have been reading through Hosea and are comfortable with this text, but this certainly sets the scene.
Here is the scene I want in your head this morning. All of his this morning have stepped into the courtroom. There is a police officer who has warned you and he is reading your rights, that is Hosea. He of course is only reading what has been approved and the authority of the court. The Judge and ruler of the court is God. He sits in authority and He alone has the qualifications to judge the innocent and the guilty. Israel sits in the place of the defendant. The actions of this court and the suit is placed against Israel. Then their is the plaintiff and his attorney. The plaintiff is the sins of Israel and Evil and satan argues their case for disobedience.
So in chapter 4 through 6:3 the Judge lists the indictment or the list of offenses through the prophet Hosea. Lets discuss a few of these offenses this morning.
The first one is that there was no faithfulness, no love, and no knowledge of God in the land. This offense is great. The Israelites have nothing to show for any of their own work. They were and are a small and insignificant group of people. Yet God chose them to be HIS people. They were promised descendants as their are stars in the skies. They were promised land that would be given and the ability to rule all nations and be God’s chosen people that would act as His priest. Every defeat they claimed, every dollar they had, even the clothes on their back were all thanks to their God. They disobeyed and found themselves enslaved in egypt, and God sent them Moses and delivered them and set His people free. Yet how do his people repay God. They make idols of money, they claim other kings and nations are the reason they have all that they have. They worship foreign gods. They turn the temple into a place of prostitution and sin unimaginable. They ignore is laws and decrees and laugh at God and his prophets. They cease to fear God and be desperate for Him. WOW
And we expect God to just roll over and do nothing? We think it isnt a big deal and that God is somehow mean? The fact that he did not send yet another flood and wipe them all out was staying true to His covenant with Noah and an act of grace.
Then we have the beginning of chapter 5

Hear this, you priests!

Pay attention, you Israelites!

Listen, royal house!

This judgment is against you:

You have been a snare at Mizpah,

a net spread out on Tabor.

2 The rebels are knee-deep in slaughter.

I will discipline all of them.

3 I know all about Ephraim;

Israel is not hidden from me.

Ephraim, you have now turned to prostitution;

Israel is corrupt.

Mizpah and Tabor were once holy places. Just like these places, Israel has taken what was once holy and turned it for their own evil. They actually believed they could hide these things from God or that they somehow had him fooled.
Just a PSA to us this morning. God has never and can never be fooled. The things that take place in our lives that we think are in secret, we only look foolish when trying to decieve God. And something we should know is that the very things we are trying to hide from Him, he has the solution for it.
And then if your not careful, you hide and hide things from God and we think that getting caught is the worse thing that can happen and getting “caught” was not the worse thing that could happen to Israel. The worse thing is WE QUIT HIDING....... We don even care anymore, Israel didnt care about their sin anymore and didnt even recognize it as sin. We brag and boast in our sin. How disheartening it is to God.
God has been gracious time and time again to his people. and instead of turning to Him in repentance, they hide and carry on in evil.
So this was for Israel, this letter from Hosea was prophecy to Israel and about Israel? Yes that is correct. So we are off the hook? In the words of the great Theologian, Lee Corso, not so fast my friends. We have this same courtroom scene that I laid out for you earlier and it isnt just Israel in the hot seat, we are as well.
Turn to Romans 1:18-23 and lets read the indictment on all of man.

18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

Now, lets forget about guilty Israel for a second. As guilty gentiles, we have nothing going for us. Without Jesus, all of us have this indictment. We have been read our rights and we cant go through all of romans today but we are all guilty of breaking the law. Romans 3:23. We have nothing to boast in and just like Israel, we stand before a righteous, perfect, and holy God with nothing in our favor.
Its a crazy feeling when there is no defense. I can remember, back in my more foolish days.......Yes Rachel I have wisened up at least a little. A bunch of my buddies and I were standing outside of Waffle House on Papermill around 1 am, probably up to no good. The waffle house was packed, it was a saturday night after a game I believe and there were tons of people standing inside and there was no room for us to even wait for a table. So one of my buddies thought it would be a great idea for us to stage a fight and give all the people standing in the glass windows something to be entertained by. So here we go, look a bunch of morons we start fighting and wrestling on the ground and on the cars and people are loving it. We think we are the stuff, but guess who was sitting back in a corner booth hidden behind all the people standing and waiting.........Mr Police officer. Needless to say, he was in no way entertained and fully prepared to make us all suffer the consequences. He comes out and yells at the top of his longs and we immediately freeze and I died 1000 deaths in that moment. We were standing there and we had nothing to say for ourselves. He had every right to punish and thanks be to God he chose to send us home......Words could not even come to our mouths, we were guilty of being a bunch of young punks and there was no defense and it was on display for all to see.
That is us before God. Without an advocate or a way to erase our foolish actions. We have no defense.
​
Now back to Hosea 6. Its almost like Israel seems have this idea of repentance and God will always accept the repentence of his Children.
Its like in the courtroom and the guilty charges have been laid out and there is this feable defense that is blurted out from Israel.

“Come, let us return to the LORD.

He has torn us to pieces

but he will heal us;

he has injured us

but he will bind up our wounds.

2 After two days he will revive us;

on the third day he will restore us,

that we may live in his presence.

3 Let us acknowledge the LORD;

let us press on to acknowledge him.

As surely as the sun rises,

he will appear;

he will come to us like the winter rains,

like the spring rains that water the earth.”

4 “What can I do with you, Ephraim?

What can I do with you, Judah?

Your love is like the morning mist,

like the early dew that disappears.

5 Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets,

I killed you with the words of my mouth—

then my judgments go forth like the sun. w

6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,

and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.

7 As at Adam, they have broken the covenant;

they were unfaithful to me there.

They are full of words and show. Their repentance is superficial. God says their love is like the morning midst. Two things about the morning midst. Its not enough water to actually be of any good. It produces nothing on its own. and the second thing is that it goes away at the first sign of sunlight. It cant endure the heat. Israels repentance was superficial.
Simply put, turning to God because you simply recognize you are guilty and that you have been caught isnt enough. As if God could not see straight through this. He desires mercy not sacrifice and acknowledgement rather than burnt offerings.
It was more than just killing an animal to God. It was about obedience. Jeremiah even said to Israel, you can go sacrifice and eat as many as you want. But all I asked was that you obey. God always blesses obedience.
Hosea Chapter 7 mentions Israels Ignorance and that it is like a senseless dove that is easily deceived and continues to stray from God rather than return to Him. They head to Israel just as they did Egypt.
He longs to redeem them and He says “ I was the one who strengthened them”......Honestly folks. It was at this point in the book that my heart began to break for God and I began to feel sorry for God. I want you to put a bookmark in that thought and we will return to that.
Hosea 8 is more judgement of Israel. They called out to kings that they set up without the consent of God. They sow the wind and they reap the whirlwind. In other words, they will get Exactly what they have asked for.God’s laws became foreign to them and they have become insignificant
Hosea 9-10 lays out the punishment in detail. They will not remain in the Lord’s land and they will return to captivity. No more offering or celebrations or festivals. The day of reckoning is at hand. Lets look at the last part of 10

8 The high places of wickedness z will be destroyed—

it is the sin of Israel.

Thorns and thistles will grow up

and cover their altars.

Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!”

and to the hills, “Fall on us!”

9 “Since the days of Gibeah, you have sinned, Israel,

and there you have remained.

Will not war again overtake

the evildoers in Gibeah?

10 When I please, I will punish them;

nations will be gathered against them

to put them in bonds for their double sin.

11 Ephraim is a trained heifer

that loves to thresh;

so I will put a yoke

on her fair neck.

I will drive Ephraim,

Judah must plow,

and Jacob must break up the ground.

12 Sow righteousness for yourselves,

reap the fruit of unfailing love,

and break up your unplowed ground;

for it is time to seek the LORD,

until he comes

and showers his righteousness on you.

13 But you have planted wickedness,

you have reaped evil,

you have eaten the fruit of deception.

Because you have depended on your own strength

and on your many warriors,

14 the roar of battle will rise against your people,

so that all your fortresses will be devastated—

as Shalman devastated Beth Arbel on the day of battle,

when mothers were dashed to the ground with their children.

15 So will it happen to you, Bethel,

because your wickedness is great.

When that day dawns,

the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.

Part of this is echoed when Jesus is carrying the cross in Luke 23
Luke 23:29–31 NASB95
29 “For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’ 30 “Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ 31 “For if they do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
Israel is receiving exactly what it had asked for us. And it is truly a difficult thing to read. Just as it is difficult to see any parent have to punish their child. And in this courtroom setting, the Judge has read the punishment for the great offense. And just like earlier this is true of us, look again in Romans 1:28-32

28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

This is a picture of a father who stops and allows his son to walk into sin that he has longed for time and time again. We see this in Luke 15. It is not that the Father wants it but it is in hope that they will return and know God greater than before.
These passages are difficult for Israel. They longed for sin and did not acknowledge their God. These passages in Romans are hard for us as we know our flesh and those who do not believe longs for sin and does not acknowledge God. We stand in a courtroom guilty. The book has been thrown at us and we have no defense. We have sinned against a perfect and Holy God and we are truly helpless.
Next week we will finish with 11-14 but I want to read the first few verses of Hosea 11 and I want you to remember the bookmark I told you to place earlier on feeling sorry for God.

11 “When Israel was a child, I loved him,

and out of Egypt I called my son.

2 But the more they were called,

the more they went away from me. x

They sacrificed to the Baals

and they burned incense to images.

3 It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,

taking them by the arms;

but they did not realize

it was I who healed them.

4 I led them with cords of human kindness,

with ties of love.

To them I was like one who lifts

a little child to the cheek,

and I bent down to feed them.

5 “Will they not return to Egypt

and will not Assyria rule over them

because they refuse to repent?

6 A sword will flash in their cities;

it will devour their false prophets

and put an end to their plans.

7 My people are determined to turn from me.

Even though they call me God Most High,

I will by no means exalt them.

​
This imagery in Hosea hit me in a way and affected me in a way that I view my sin differently than ever before. I have three little children under the age of 3. Parenting them is very hands on. When Kids get older you dont hold them like you once did or help them like you once did, but at this time I help my children walk, eat, stand, sit up; I console them when they are upset, hug them and kiss them constantly, and their are moments when I honestly cant hold them close enough or hug them hard enough. Its just a parent thing. The thought of me seeing my children, and I am aware this may have even happened to families int this room, but the thought of my children cursing me, betraying me, wanting other parents, stealing from me, mocking me, doesnt make me angry but it breaks my heart. And if it ever does happen, I would be longing and praying for the moment that my child would return and love me. And I read this passage and my heart began to break for God and tears began to fill my eyes. Israel did this to their God time and time again. And even worse I have done this to my heavenly father time and time again. I even wrestled with is it ok to feel sorry for God. And George and I talked through that just this week and the answer is yes and that leads me to my first takeaway this morning.
This feeling sorry for God is what should genuinely lead us on our knees in repentance. Its not that I have been caught in my sin. But I have broken the heart of my loving God. So let me ask you is there anything in your life you need to repent of? You have hidden sin for so long that you do not even care anymore. Maybe you are here this morning and you dont know Jesus and you never even thought there was a God you needed to repent to? We have a loving father who is ready to restore us and even if Israel had turned with a genuine heart they would have been spared.
The second takeaway is this. I know this morning has been a hard text and one that can be difficult to swallow. But guess what Hosea does not end at chapter 11 and Romans doesnt end at chapter 1. Next week we get to see Jesus in Hosea and the restoration of God’s people and our Hope in Jesus. But I cannot leave this week giving you all the judgement and not get us excited about our advocate in Jesus. Remember I told you that this story and Romans both are like a courtroom scene. The perfect and holy God sits as the judge and we stand guilty and there is no defense that we can come up. But guess what. Just like here on earth if you cant afford a judge one will be appointed to you and we have the greatest attorney of all time that fights our cause and he doesnt say “hey tj hasnt been to bad just let him go” but he stood before me in the courtroom and said “I know there must be a punishment, and I will take it”. Jesus, the righteus. The just and the justifier is the only one who can. And you and I can be reconciled to God........Folks the judgement and punishment of God is not meant to torture you, but it is meant to show you your need for Jesus. Thats why the law is like a mirror. it is not for you to just live perfectly, because you cant, but it is to see your need for a Saviour in jesus Christ. When we read Hosea, God will one day restore Israel, and it is ultimately this punishement that makes Israel eventually lift their eyes to acknowledge their God.
So the takeaway and the challenge is this, you have been reconciled, and our told our students to do the same. Lets take a spiritual inventory of what we have in Christ Jesus and lets read this together with joy.

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Lets pray.
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