Realization in Love

Introduction:

Hosea’s raises the issue with Israel and explains why God is upset with His people. He raises the issues of Israel's Spiritual Idolatry and provides compelling evidence for their charges of Sin.

I. Receive the Complaint of Love (4:1-5)

Charge (4:1-3) - “1 Hear the word of the Lord, people of Israel, for the Lord has a case against the inhabitants of the land: There is no truth, no faithful love, and no knowledge of God in the land!”

“Then I thought, "These are only the poor and ignorant. They behave foolishly; they don't know what their God requires, what the Lord wants them to do.” - Jeremiah 5:4 (GNT)

Silence (4:4-5) - “But let no one dispute; let no one argue, for My case is against you priests.”

“It is the duty of priests to teach the true knowledge of God. People should go to them to learn my will, because they are the messengers of the Lord Almighty.” - Malachi 2:7 (GNT)

II. Remember the Commands of Love (4:6-11)

Remember the Law (4:6-7) - “6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will reject you from serving as My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your sons. 7 The more they multiplied, the more they sinned against Me. I will change their honor into disgrace.”

“1 "Here are the laws that you are to obey as long as you live in the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. Listen to them! 2 In the land that you are taking, destroy all the places where the people worship their gods on high mountains, on hills, and under green trees. 3 Tear down their altars and smash their sacred stone pillars to pieces. Burn their symbols of the goddess Asherah and chop down their idols, so that they will never again be worshiped at those places. 4 "Do not worship the Lord your God in the way that these people worship their gods. - Deuteronomy 12:1-4 (GNT)

Remember Your Liability (4:8-11) - “They feed on the sin of My people; they have an appetite for their transgressions.”

III. Return to a Committed Love (4:12-19)

Return from the Scandal of their Promiscuity (4:12-14) - “12 My people consult their wooden [idols], and their divining rods inform them. For a spirit of promiscuity leads them astray; they act promiscuously in disobedience to their God.”

“It is the duty of priests to teach the true knowledge of God. People should go to them to learn my will, because they are the messengers of the Lord Almighty.” - Jeremiah 3:6 (GNT)

Return from the Shame of their Sacrifices (4:15-19) - “15 Israel, if you act promiscuously, don't let Judah become guilty! Do not go to Gilgal or make a pilgrimage to Beth-aven, and do not swear an oath: As the Lord lives!”

"Don't worry about them! They are blind leaders of the blind; and when one blind man leads another, both fall into a ditch." - Matthew 15:14 (GNT)

4 But this is what I have against you: you do not love me now as you did at first.5 Think how far you have fallen! Turn from your sins and do what you did at first. If you don't turn from your sins, I will come to you and take your lampstand from its place. - Revelation 2:4-5