Hosea’s Prayer and God’s Answer

Text: Hosea 9:14-10:4

Introduction: (What?)

After hearing God’s judgment pronounced on Israel because of their idolatry, Hosea prayed a simple prayer in vs 14. Immediately in vss 15-16 God answered and then in vs 17 Hosea declared God’s answer. Once again it is easy to look at our country in the light of what God did when Israel rebelled and see His hand at work today. How should we be praying for America in light of what is happening in our country?

Examination: (Why?)

1. Hosea’s prayer (v 14)

Hosea 9:14 “Give them, Lord— What should you give? Give them a womb that miscarries and breasts that are dry!” With Israel’s disobedience and idolatry in mind, Hosea felt the need to approach God in prayer. Remembering what God had said in Hos 9:11-12 “Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird: no birth, no pregnancy, no conception. Even if they raise children, I will bereave them of each one. Yes, woe to them when I depart from them!” Hosea prayed the first part of that back to God. One principle that we must realize is that all prayer starts with God and comes to us either through knowledge, experience or circumstances. Then we should respond to God in prayer that is in keeping with what He has allowed or caused in our lives or in the lives of those for whom we pray. In 1 John 5:14-15 we find this principle. “This is the confidence we have before him: If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked of him.”

If we know in advance what God has said about a matter, then we can confidently ask Him to do what He has said.

Interestingly enough, Baal worship was actually worship of a “fertility god”. They believed that Baal made their crops and their women fertile. An article on Baal worship which I recently read made an astounding comparison with life in America today. Baal, being a fertility god, had worship that involved sex orgies. They worshiped an idol which was in the shape of an enlarged male sex organ, an asherah. Temple prostitutes supported the temple worship of Baal. Its worship was filled with perversion, homosexuality, immorality and sexual promiscuity. Could this possibly be the spirit behind much promiscuity, perversion, homosexuality and pornography in America today?

In God’s pronouncement in vv 11-12 and Hosea’s prayer in v 13, the result for Israel was the exact opposite of what they sought. They sought fertility and they got barrenness.

2. God’s Answer (vv 15-16)

Hos 9:15-16 “All their evil appears at Gilgal, for there I began to hate them. I will drive them from my house because of their evil, wicked actions. I will no longer love them; all their leaders are rebellious. Ephraim is struck down; their roots are withered; they cannot bear fruit. Even if they bear children, I will kill the precious offspring of their wombs.”

Gilgal was a center of idol worship. God absolutely hates idolatry. These Israelites who supposedly worshipped God in the temple also made their sojourns to Gilgal to participate in Baal worship. God’s response was what we might call the first acts of “church discipline”. In our day there is so little “church discipline” that the mention of it requires a definition. Simply put: Church discipline is the practice of church members calling upon an individual within the Church to repent for their sins. Church discipline is performed when one has sinned or gone against the rules of the church. Church discipline is practiced with the intent to make the offender repent and be reconciled to God.

God’s intent in driving out those who pretended to worship Him was to bring about repentance. The CSB Study Bible notes “Worship in God’s house by uncaring sinners sparks God’s wrath. He withdraws His love, rejecting a people who say the right words in worship but do all the wrong things in daily life.”

Hosea noted in Hos 9:17 “My God will reject them because they have not listened to him; they will become wanderers among the nations.”

We just assume that anyone is welcome to worship God. However, when a person refuses to listen to God, He will refuse to pay attention to their “worship”. It is the same with prayer. Ps 66:18 “If I had been aware of malice in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.”

Isa 59:2 “But your iniquities are separating you from your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not listen.”

Notice both verses indicate that God makes a choice NOT to listen when known sin exists without repentance.

3. What Happened Next (10:1-4)

Hos 10:1-4 “Israel is a lush vine; it yields fruit for itself. The more his fruit increased, the more he increased the altars. The better his land produced, the better they made the sacred pillars. Their hearts are devious; now they must bear their guilt. The Lord will break down their altars and demolish their sacred pillars. In fact, they are now saying, “We have no king! For we do not fear the Lord. What can a king do for us?” They speak mere words, taking false oaths while making covenants. So lawsuits break out like poisonous weeds in the furrows of a field.”

Because the crops were thriving Israel decided they did not need God. Rather they erected Ashera poles for Baal worship throughout the land. When the economy is booming in America we are prone to dally in idolatry rather than give thanks and praise to God. He will not stand idly by and allow us to continue to ignore Him and worship our possessions or our positions. Notice that Hosea reported, “Now they must bear their guilt.” Unless and until we repent of our sin, get rid of our idols and submit to God as LORD, He will spring into action, and then it is too late.

The statements about having no king and not fearing the LORD were the precursor to the end of the Northern Kingdom. Their last five kings were incompetent and unable to enforce their own laws. The people ignored the laws of the land and almost dared God to do anything about it. Does that sound a little like what we are facing in our country today?

They were taking one another to court over frivolous things. Look at TV ads today. You will probably notice more lawyer ads than any other type. Most of them brag about the large settlements they have won for their clients. I jokingly told someone recently that the name of a TV show “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” should be the tag-line for a large law firm.

Application: (How?) How does this impact my life right now?

Are you praying daily for revival in America?

Are you being drawn into the world system of “going with the flow” instead of standing strong on Biblical principles?

Are there idols in your life that you have not acknowledged and repented from?