Podcast

Welcome and prayer: Jim Calhoun

Come Lord, join us here today
If the proof is in the pudding
Then the pudding for us
Is how we treat other people.
We can claim you love us
And set us free
And made us whole
And we can claim we love You
With all we are
It is easy.
And the words can be
Dead empty

Help us to love those
Near to us
Giving up
Our desire to be right
Or one up
Instead treating them with tenderness
Patience
Gentleness
Kindness
Bearing their burdens
Lightening their loads
Standing with them
Standing up for them
Sharing their joys
and fears

And let us
Do good for all people
Defending the vulnerable
Feeding the hungry
Welcoming the stranger
granting hospitality
Sacrificing for others
No longer standing in the way
But letting justice roll down
Because we really do love you
And honor your love
And your sacrifice
For us
Amen

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.

Intro: Friday morning, near the end of a long walk,

I passed by a mother and her toddler son
– he was on a small four-wheel bike, perfectly fitted to him
• he was poised to move from asphalt to a dirt slope
◦ I said, “Looks like you’re about to go off-roading,”
◦ more for his mom’s sake than his
• he looked at me with the most engaging smile
◦ it was the loveliest moment of my morning
– I kept walking, but he didn’t take his eyes off of me
• he turned his head as I passed,
◦ so I had to walk backwards to hold his gaze
◦ his mom was quiet, but enjoying her son’s response
• if cherubs were small, toddler-looking angels,
◦ he could have been a model for the prototype

My mind kept returning to him as I prepared for this morning
– that’s because we have come to an unexpected twist
• God drops the unfaithful wife theme and shifts to a paternal analogy
• there is a gripping message here of God’s intense love
◦ only now it is not for his wife, but for his son
– chapters 11 and 12 paint a picture of God as parent and Israel as child
• the focus of chapter 11 is on the parent – God
◦ the focus of chapter 12 is on the child; who is both:
◦ Jacob the man and Israel the nation–moving back and forth from one to other
• and as we read these chapters, we wonder, how God could love these people as deeply as he does

God opens his heart in a rare display of vulnerable love
For Israel was a lad and I loved him,
and from Egypt I called to My son.
They called to them,
yet they went off from them.
To the Baalim they sacrificed,
and to the idols they burned incense.
Yet I taught Ephraim to walk,
took him by his arms,
but they did not know that I had healed them.
With human cords I tugged them,
with bonds of love,
and I became to them
like those who lift an infant to their cheeks,
and I bent over them and fed them Hosea 11:1-4

In chapter 12, God will explain that he communicated with Israel though his prophets
“[with] many visions [and] showed forth images”
– we also see that much of the prophetic word was cast in the form of poetry,
• which is the expressive language of the human soul
◦ poetry is meant to speak to our experience, move our emotions, and inform our thoughts
• here, at beginning of chapter 11, Israel is a lad, God’s son
◦ and God’s comment regarding him goes right to my heart, “and I loved him”
◦ this is a love poem to from God to his people
– he called his son out from Egypt
• the “they” in verse 2 probably refers to God’s agents who called to his people
◦ e.g., Moses, Aaron, and the prophets
• but after leaving Egypt, Israel went off from them,
◦ making sacrifices and offering incense to the Baal gods (Canaanite deities)

Yet I taught Ephraim to walk
– this is a big moment for every parent – their baby’s first step
• one that mom and dad enjoy sharing together
◦ those wobbly steps take clumsy steps forward, as their brain creates new neural pathways
• and in this particular instance, we watch God as he’s bending over his toddlers,
◦ holding onto their arms to steady them
◦ sharing his children’s joy as they develop this new skill
“but they did not know that I had healed them”
– I imagine God thumbing through his photo album
• we begin to see a pattern: God acts in love for Israel, but they fail to reciprocate
• of course, teenagers don’t remember learning to walk
◦ they hardly understand how much attention they received when very small

“I became like those who lift an infant to their cheeks”
– it is not just that an infant’s cheeks are smooth and soft,
• but the skin of a parent’s cheek is more sensitive than their calloused hands
◦ this physical touch communicates love and connection
• then the human cords and bonds of love become critical factors in the child’s care
◦ the psychology of attachment formation has taught us,
◦ how our ability to form healthy relationships later on,
depends on these interactions between child and care giver

Again, the pattern of this chapter, as God loves and the child pulls away
No! He turned back to the land of Egypt,
and Assyria was his king,
for they refused to come back to Me.
And the sword shall swoop down on his towns
and destroy his limbs
and devour because of their counsels.
And My people cling to rebellion against Me.
When they call him on high,
he does not rise up Hosea 11:5-7

To me, this looks like adolescent rebellion,
– when our children don’t feel they need or want our help
• what they go through may be a normal phase of maturing
• but it’s a phase that if not carefully approached, in wisdom and love, can become a way of life,
in which they habituate a fixed attitude of fighting and rebelling

If we don’t read this next passage well, we are like to get wrong ideas|
How can I give you over, Ephraim
surrender you, Israel?
How can I make you like Admah,
set you like Zeboiim?
My heart churns within me,
My compassion altogether is stirred.
I will not act in My blazing wrath,
I will no more destroy Ephraim.
For I am God and not a man,
the Holy One in your midst,
and I do not desire to root out.
After the LORD they shall go,
like a lion He shall roar.
When he roars,
the sons shall hasten from the west.
They shall hasten like a bird from Egypt,
like a dove from Assyria’s land
and I will settle them in their homes, said the LORD Hosea 11:8-11

The Bible is not at all embarrassed by representing God as human
– he is clearly not human, but infinitely more and “other than” human
• but if his true nature is transcendent, and beyond our experiencing, or knowing, or understanding,
◦ how can we say anything about him?
◦ our human words and concepts will always be inadequate, and if inadequate, then wrong
• God presents himself to us with ideas, pictures, analogies, metaphors, parables, and so on
◦ the human aspect of these stories are meaningful to us, because they fit in our world
◦ so God’s self-revelation is generally:
anthropomorphic: as having a human form
anthropopathic: as having human feelings and emotions
– this is how God reveals himself to us in these verses, and it is overwhelming

God reveals himself as torn up by an intense inner turmoil
– he knows, if he can create in us a feeling of total frustration,
• then we’ll understand something about his experience with Israel
“How can I give you over? How can I surrender you?”
• he can’t bring himself to let go of his people or see them destroy themselves
◦ his love for them won’t allow him to give up on them
◦ Admah and Zeboiim were two cities that were destroyed along with Sodom and Gomorrah
“My heart churns within me,” God says
◦ we might say, “My stomach is in a knot”
This is a frustration so great that it is felt in the deepest regions of the body
– then God comes to a decision, “I will not act in My blazing wrath”
• how can he do this? How can he suspend judgment?
• he is able to come to this decision on the basis of who he is
“For I am God and not a man” – God always has the ultimate and final say
◦ he leans on his own authority to determine how he will respond to Israel

What God is saying in verses 10-11, is that when the lion roars, it is call its cubs to come running. This reminds me of the way Dad would signal my brother to rush home. He could whistle so loudly three specific notes, that we could hear him from several blocks away and would immediately race home. Both Isaiah and Zechariah make reference to God’s whistle:
“He will raise a signal for nations far away,
and whistle for them from the ends of the earth;
and behold, quickly, speedily they come!” (Isa. 5:26)
“I will whistle for them and gather them in,
for I have redeemed them,
and they shall be as many as they were before” (Zech. 10:8)

Chapter 12 offers us a different way to review Israel’s history

It is biography of Jacob–wrestling: with Esau in womb; with Laban; and with God
– in his third contest, God renamed him Israel
• the biography splices together Jacob and nation of Israel,
◦ moving from one to the other and back again

“Ephraim encircled Me in denial,
and the house of Israel in deceit.
But Judah still stays with God
and with the holy ones is faithful.
Ephraim herds the wind
and chases the east wind all day.
Lies and plunder he multiplies
and seals a pact with Assyria,
oil to Egypt is brought” Hosea 12:1-2)

This is a brief introduction to the chapter
– the two halves of the nation went different ways–Israel to the north while Judah remained in the south
“Ephraim herds the wind” is a way of saying they will come to nothing but futility and emptiness (v. 12)

From their births on, Jacob was a “cheat”
“And the LORD has a cause against Judah
to make a reckoning with Jacob for his acts,
by his deeds He shall pay him back.
In the womb he cheated his brother,
and with his power he strove with God.
He strove with the Messenger and prevailed—
he wept and pleaded with him.
At Bethel he did find him,
‘And there he spoke with us’” Hosea 12:3-5

– Bethel is prominent in Jacob’s story for two reasons:
• first, he rested there on his way to Laban and again returning home twenty years later
• second, God appeared to him and spoke to him both times

God had a destiny for Jacob other than what he engineered
“And the LORD God of Armies,
the LORD is what He is called.
As for you, to your God you shall turn back,
faithfulness and justice keep,
and hope for your God always” Hosea 12:6-7

“the LORD God of Armies” is a title for God found many times in the Psalms and Prophets

A one word description of Israel
“A huckster in whose hand are cheating scales
loving to exploit!
And Ephraim said,
“’Why I have grown rich,
found power for myself.
All my gains do not expose for me
a crime that is an offense’” Hosea 12:8-9

The Hebrew word translated “huckster” (or merchant) is the name of the land of Canaan
– situated along three important trade routs, Canaan was naturally a land of merchants
• God named his people “Israel,” but they became Canaan
• and Jacob, likewise, was a clever and unscrupulous trader
– previously we’ve seen how materialism has become a deity that competes with God for our hearts
• what is sad about Ephraim, is the justification they used to exploit others to expand their riches
“All my gains do not expose for me
a crime that is an offense”
• if we’re making lots of money, we need to ask ourselves, “Who is benefitting and who is burdened?”
◦ lots of people (even some ministers) assume their material success proves that they’re pleasing God
◦ a believer may think, “I happen to be good at what I do,”
while God observes them and says, “Huckster”

God was determined to bring Israel to their appointed destiny

“But I am the LORD your God
from the time of the land of Egypt
Once more will I settle you in tents
as on the festival days.
And I spoke to the prophets,
and I framed many visions
and through the prophets showed forth images.
If Gilead does wrong,
they become an empty thing.
At Gilgal they offered bulls.
Their altars, too, are like heaps of ruins
in furrows of the field.
And Jacob fled to the field of Aram,
and Israel labored for a woman,
(referring to Jacob serving Laban for seven years in exchange for his daughter, Rachel, to be his wife)
and for a woman he guarded the flocks.
But by a prophet the LORD brought up Israel from Egypt,
and by a prophet it was guarded” Hosea 12:10-14

Whereas they boasted their wealth, God was going to again settle them in tents
– at the end of the chapter, Jacob is contrasted to Moses
Robert Alter, “There is an antithesis here: Jacob labored for a woman, but it was by Moses that God rescued the Hebrews from slavery. . . . . The guarding of the people by a prophet is a nobler thing than the guarding of flocks by Jacob.”

Conclusion: Of course, Hosea can’t leave us on an up note!
“Ephraim was bitterly vexing,
and his bloodguilt shall be set upon him,
and his Master shall pay him back for his shame” Hosea 12:15

But then again, we do have to make a decision regarding God’s faithful love
Will I make my home in the world’s iniquity or God’s intimacy?

My first real encounter with Hosea (and it was life-changing)
occurred when reading a devotional book by the Reverend G. Campbell Morgan:
Hosea: The Heart and Holiness of God
Morgan explains that the right thing to do with Israel, would be to abandon them,
to leave them to the destructive consequences of their sins
God knew what they deserved, but something was holding him back
G. Campbell Morgan, “It was not something in Israel, but something in God.”
The same thing is true of all of us
“As God is my witness, I cannot see it when I look at myself. That is the amazing thing. Because of what God is, He sees me, and sees my possibility….”
He sees our possibility, because he placed it there within us
And through the wrenching ordeal his love for us caused him,
he will preserve, promote and perfect that possibility
until it is the shining characteristic of our life in him

Podcast

Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun

Come Lord, join us here today
Together
We come
Our hearts full
And we offer
Our gratitude
Our thankfulness
Our praise
For all of it
Every joy
Every lament
All of it

We are ready to sing
Every smile and giggle
Every surprise
Every blessing
Every sweet memory
That have filled our days
For us
This is easy

Let us,
Cause us to also
sing our sorrows with you
Of our losses
Of our hearts being torn
Of lives broken before our eyes
About cruelty
And injustice
And destruction
We are seeing
Experiencing
Of lies being told
And repeated
And repeated
And repeated

And show us the way
Back to joy
And justice
And peace
And we will come along
And sing that song too
Amen

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr

Imagine you’re walking through an art gallery, and standing nearby is the artist whose work you admiring. So you point to an object in one corner of an especially beautiful painting, and ask the artist, “Why did you put this right here? What does it mean?” The artist–if a true artist answers, “Well, if I could explain it, I would not have had to paint it.” You would get a similar answer from a poet, a composer, a sculpture, and most any other artist. “If I could explain it, I would not have had to write it, compose it, sculpt it.” Their work does not always begin with an idea, but oftentimes with an inspiration.

Intro: I’m not trying to avoid jumping into Hosea

However, I want to enter Hosea’s by way of Matthew’s gospel
“When [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Mt. 9:36-37)
– this is a simple observation, the Lord saw something, and it made an impression on him
• but Matthew provides more than the bare details of the narrative.
◦ he includes a description of how the people looked to Jesus: “like sheep without a shepherd”
• we’re not supposed to read this literally
◦ Jesus was looking at people, not sheep,
◦ and they appeared to be leaderless, but they did not need a shepherd
– we refer to literary analogies like this as metaphors
• if we’re going to be technical, this instance is not a metaphor, but a simile
◦ that is, a comparison of an act or object to something unrelated using words “like” or “as”
(metaphors do not use those words)
◦ but since we’re not writing an essay, and I’m not going to be graded on this, I’ll use only the word metaphor
• there are two ways that I want to demonstrate how metaphors assist the reader:
◦ first, comparisons can add a different dimension of information that clarifies a statement
◦ second, metaphors appeal to emotion and generate feelings regarding literal statements
(That is what I like about this example of Jesus; seeing through his eyes we’re able to feel what he felt)

Hosea, chapters 7 and 8 are peppered with metaphors

Those will be our way points through these chapters
– we’ll see that most of them are introduced with “like a . . .”
• for instance, in 7:4 (the first of our metaphors) reads, “All of them are adulterers like a burning oven”
• let’s get started

When I would restore the fortunes of My people,
and I would heal Israel,
Ephraim’s crime is laid bare
and the evils of Samaria,
for they have acted in lies;
the thief comes within
and the gang raids outside.
And let them not say in their heart
that I have recalled all their evil.
Now their deeds have turned them around —
before My face they are.
In their evil they gladden the king,
and with their deceits, the nobles.
All of them are adulterers,
like a burning oven.
The baker ceases from stirring,
from kneading the dough till it rises.
On the day of our king
the nobles made him sick with poisoned wine.
He had set his hand with the scoffers.
For they drew near in their ambush,
their hearts like an oven.
All night their leader sleeps,
in the morning he burns like a tongue of flame.
They all grow hot like an oven,
and devour the judges
All of their kings have fallen,
none among them calls to Me Hosea 7:1-7

The phrase “restore the fortunes” occurs many times in Hebrew Scriptures
– it is the promise that God would bring Israel to the blessings they once enjoyed in a previous era of prosperity
(a promise of healing, repair, and renewal of their covenant relationship)
• if some of Israel’s people were held captive in foreign lands, “restore the fortunes” would mean their return to their own land
• if the nation had been looted by enemy invaders or devastated by crop failure, “restore the fortunes” would mean God replenishing Israel with new blessings
– by far, the majority of times this phrase appears is in the books of the prophets
• mostly Jeremiah and Ezekiel, though we also find it in Deuteronomy, Job, and the Psalms
• God is saying that he was prepared to do this again for Israel — and it was long overdue
◦ however, their spiritual and moral failure got in their way
◦ theirs was a society compromised by lies (e.g., “the deceits of the nobles”)
• and the corruption was internal as well as external
“the thief comes within
and the gang raids outside”
• and God had not even “recalled all their evil”
◦ we might hope that the nation’s rulers would put a stop to the lies and corruption
◦ but those sins “gladdened the king” and their deceits pleased his nobles
▫ that is, those who shared and enforced his rulership

This brings us to our first metaphor,
“all of them are adulterers
like a burning oven”
– heat is introduced here and becomes theme for several verses
• but the metaphor will have different applications
◦ here, the heat refers to sexual passion (like an “animal in heat”)
◦ next, it is their hearts that are “like an oven,” cooking up plots and conspiracies
◦ then their leader responds when he wakens in the morning, burning “like a tongue of flame”
• as this metaphor fades, we learn why we don’t play with fire
“All of their kings have fallen”
◦ this was the fate of every king in northern Israel
◦ and why had they fallen? We’re told, “none of them calls to Me”
– this completes the thought that began in verse 1
• God was ready to restore their fortunes
◦ but none of their leaders were seeking God or his help
◦ so the restoration had not occurred

In the next metaphor Israel appears as a half-baked nation
Ephraim among the nations —
it is he who mingles.
Ephraim is like a loaf
not turned over.
Strangers consume his strength,
but he did not know.
His hair turned suddenly gray,
but he did not know.
And Israel’s pride bore witness against it,
yet for all that they did not seek him. Hosea 7:8-13

“Ephraim” became the leading tribe of northern Israel
– here Ephraim represents the entire nation
• God set Israel apart from all the nations, but they mixed in with them
◦ they were compromised by their idolatry and pagan gods
• the next metaphor is,
“a loaf
not turned over”
◦ and refers to a flat bread, like pita, baked over coals
◦ if it isn’t turned, it bakes on one side and is raw on the other
– half-baked devotion to God is a divided loyalty
• Jesus’ lesson comes to mind, “No one can serve two masters”
◦ but what is really scary about this condition, is that,
◦ the nation was deteriorating, and no one noticed it!
“Strangers consumed his strength,
but he did not know.
His hair turned suddenly gray,
but he did not know
(Who doesn’t notice when their hair turns gray?!)
• do we get a clue as to why they were unable to see their demise?
◦ it was their “pride [that] bore witness against it”
◦ and they continued down this road because “they did not seek him”

Two more impressive metaphors
And Ephraim became like a
foolish senseless dove.
To Egypt they called,
to Assyria they went.
Where they go
I will spread my net upon them.
Like the fowl of the heavens I will bring them down.
I will bind them as their kinfolk listen.
Woe to them for they have wandered from Me.
Disaster for them, as they rebelled against Me!
Shall I redeem them
when they have spoken against Me lies?
And they did not cry out to Me from their heart,
but they wailed upon their couch,
over grain and new wine they gashed themselves,
they swerved away from Me.
I braced, I strengthened their arm,
but against Me they plotted evil.
They go back to what is worthless,
they are like a faulty bow.
Their nobles shall fall by the sword
because of their angry tongue,
which is their mockery in the land of Egypt Hosea 7:14-16

How was it that Ephraim was “a foolish senseless dove”?
– first it flitted off to Egypt, and then flew up to Assyria
• in other words, they lack a dove’s powerful homing instinct
◦ they can’t find their way back to their dove cote
◦ their true home was God and not in the other nations
“Woe to them for they have wandered from Me”
• what does God do about this silly dove, flying in circles?
“I will spread my net upon them”
◦ obviously, nets were used to snare birds
◦ then, with another metaphor,
“Like the fowl of the heavens I will bring them down”

And then:
Woe to them for they have wandered from Me.
Disaster for them, as they rebelled against Me!
– wandering away is one thing, rebellion is another thing altogether
• but wandering can easily evolve into rebellion
• implies they had indeed cried out to God, but not from their heart
(that is, not sincerely, not to prepared to surrender to him completely)
◦ I’m going to be blunt regarding how this appears relevant
◦ ninety percent of what I see posted in social media that is meant to represent scripture or the mind of God, is either wrong, offensive, or nonsense
– there are many people who assume they are Christians, doing God’s will
• but if you don’t even know God’s will, how can you possibly be doing it?

The last metaphor in the chapter, “they are like a faulty bow”
– with a warped or broken bow, you’re going to miss the target or possibly harm yourself

Chapter 8 begins with something like an air-raid siren
A ram’s horn to your lips!
—he is like an eagle against the LORD’s house.
For they have breached My covenant
and rebelled against My teaching.
To me they cry out —
“We know you, O God of Israel!”
They set up kings but not through Me,
installed nobles but without My knowledge.
From their silver and their gold
they made themselves idols,
that they might be cut off.
Your calf rejects you, Samaria,
My wrath against them flares.
How long will they fail to be clean?
And it—a craftsman made it,
and it is not a god.
For shards it shall become,
the calf of Samaria.
For they sow the wind
and harvest a storm.
Standing grain that has no sprouts,
it will not make flour.
If it should perhaps make some,
strangers will swallow it up.
Israel has been swallowed,
now they have become among the nations
like a vessel no one wants.
For they have gone up to Assyria,
a wild ass on its own is Ephraim,
they have made courtship’s plea.
Though they give gifts among the nations,
now will I gather them up,
and they will soon tremble
from the burden of kings and nobles.
For Ephraim made many altars
an offense they were for him,
altars to offend.
I wrote for him My many teachings —
like something strange they were viewed.
The sacrifices I gave they slaughtered,
it was flesh, and they ate.
The LORD did not accept them favorably.
Now will their crime be recalled,
and a reckoning made for their offense.
They shall go back to Egypt.
And Israel forgot his Maker
and he built palaces.
And Judah made many fortified towns,
but I set fire to his towns,
and it consumed his citadels Hosea 8

I think we’ve caught the rhythm of Hosea’s poetry,
– so we’ll move faster through this chapter
• the first metaphor, “like an eagle” appears here in contrast to the silly dove
• Israel attempted to defend themselves, “We know you, O God of Israel”
◦ but God immediate exposes the shallowness of that claim
“Israel rejects what is good”
◦ I think there is an equivalent of this error today, when people who think they’re Christians assume they can dispense with Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount
• another big problem is when nobles were installed without God’s knowledge;
◦ this doesn’t mean knowledge of God, but not adhering to the truth God had revealed
“I wrote for him My many teachings” (v. 12)
◦ they either rejected it or ignored it in making decisions and running the country
– God has an ultimate word regarding their idols:
“a craftsman made it,
and it is not a god”
• in my opinion, this could apply to a lot of religious products and productions

Let’s look at three more metaphors

the metaphor in verse 7:
“They sow to the wind
and harvest a storm”
– Paul filled out this metaphor a little more in Galatians: “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap” (Gal.6:7)
the metaphor in verse 8:
“now they’ve become among the nations
like a vessel no one wants”
– a misshapen pot, perhaps, or a jug that was leaky
– in context, this would be a prostitute with no clients
the metaphor in verse 9:
“a wild ass on its own is Ephraim”
Israel did not fit in anywhere in the world
Robert Alter, “The wild ass figures in biblical poetry as a creature that cannot be
tamed, living solitary in the wilderness.”

For me, the final verses in this chapter describe a sad and tragic situation
– people think that they’re worshiping God by performing religious rituals
• they pour themselves into it with out knowing God is rejecting it
• stoked up emotions in worship cannot replace daily service to God
◦ caring for the widow, the orphan, the poor, and the sojourner
– when all is said and done, Israel “shall go back to Egypt” (v. 13)
• a centuries-long journey only to end up where they began — a tragic waste

Conclusion: I’m going to suggest something – something “creative”

At the risk of sounding really lame, let’s try our hand at poetry
Find a moment to sit in stillness and reflect on your life
This is exactly what Israel failed to do – and it has often been one of our failures
Have you achieved your life’s work and so retire now?
Or does it seem like there’s still much that is missing or unfinished?
Create a metaphor to describes where you find yourself at this moment in life
It doesn’t have to be clever, beautiful, or awesome
It only has to be carefully thought-out, true, and sincere
Then make that metaphor your prayer for this week
And may God use this to take us further on this amazing journey

Podcast

Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun

Come Lord, join us here today
Sometimes
Our good intentions
Fall flat
Miss the mark
Fail
Sometimes our disappointments
Gather together
Pile up
Envelope us

Please Lord
As we face this
Let us find our shelter in you
Let us find our peace in you
Let us find our way in you

Instead of nurturing resentments, teach us to praise
Instead of complaining, teach us to ask
Instead of judging, teach us to be still
Instead of fear, teach us to love

Show us the path to be like you
To grow whole
To heal
Show us how this life is for loving
And let us know
And experience
Your great love
All along the way
Amen

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.

Hear this, you priests,
and listen, house of Israel,
and the house of the king, bend your ear,
for against you is the judgment.
For a trap you have been to Mizpah,
and an outspread net against Tabor,
and have dug a deep pit at Shittim,
but I am a chastisement for them all Hosea 5:1-2

Intro: We are returning to Hosea this morning

The prophet who had to experience in his own life, with his wife, what God had experienced with Israel
– a people who were unfaithful to him, not only by adultery,
• but prostituting themselves with other gods
• you may have guessed that I’m not comfortable with Hosea
◦ I’d rather be with Jesus in the New Testament, loving and rescuing sinners
◦ instead, Hosea delivers a barrage of condemnations
– Israel had a long history of turning their backs on Yahweh
• and he repeatedly called them to return to him
◦ when they didn’t return , he withdrew from them
◦ and there were consequences–enemy invasion and crop failure
• this time, they were reaching a point of no return
◦ I think it’s okay to say God was desperate to stop them, to reach them and motivate them to return
◦ so he used strong language and threats of calamity

Haven’t we done something similar raising our children
– are we cruel or unloving to tell them, “Don’t run into street. If you do you could be killed”?
• or, “Don’t play with matches, because if you do you could suffer severe burns or destroy our home”?
◦ is it cruel to make clear the potential consequences of wrong or dangerous actions?
• there are natural consequence for a society in moral decline
◦ what God does through his prophets, is to make those natural consequences personal
– God doesn’t have to cause the suffering
• it’s enough for him to withdraw his presence and let the chips fall where they may
◦ Israel needed God’s warnings, yet his prophets were hardly ever well received
The Israelites “are a rebellious people,
lying children,
children unwilling to hear the instruction of the LORD;
who say to the seers, ‘Do not see,’
and to the prophets,
‘Do not prophesy to us what is right;
speak to us smooth things,
prophesy illusions,
. . . let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel’” (Isa. 30:9-11)
• I’ve learned to be thankful for God’s “severe mercy”
◦ I am grateful when he pulls in the reins

5:1-2, God begins here by calling out Israel’s leaders

First, Hosea identifies three sets of people, then three places, and then adds his remarks on them
v. 1: priests – house of Israel – house of the king
– they are to hear – listen – and bend your ear
v. 2: a trap – an outspread net (for catching birds or wild game) – a deep pit
each snare is related to a place: Mizpah – Tabor – Shittim
– then a final statement, “but I am chastisement for them all”
• verse 1, average citizens were sandwiched between priests and rulers
◦ they were subject to clergy and king – religion and politics
◦ but that doesn’t make them innocent
• God frequently comes down hard on Israel’s leaders
“Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been wronged. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place” (Jer. 22:1-3)
“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” . . . “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds” (Jer. 30:1-2)
“prophesy against the shepherds of Israel . . . and say to them . . . Thus says the Lord GOD: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not the shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep” (Eze. 34:1-10)
◦ last year, reading through the Bible, I was amazed at how the messages of the prophets fit the time in which we live
“Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness,
and his upper rooms by injustice,
who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing
and does not give him his wages,
who says, ‘I will build myself a great house
with spacious upper rooms,’
who cuts out windows for it,
paneling it with cedar and painting it with vermillion.
Do you think you are a king because you compete in cedar?
. . . But you have eyes and heart only for your dishonest gain,
for shedding innocent blood,
and for practicing oppression and violence” (Jer. 22:13-17)
– God begins at the top of the social structure – those in charge get hit the hardest
• I cannot see how many North American preachers and politicians
◦ will avoid answering for what they have done,
◦ removing necessary provision for poor, infirm, and resident aliens while enriching themselves

God calls Israel out – he knows their betrayal
I know Ephraim,
and Israel is not hidden from Me.
For now you have whored, Ephraim,
Israel is defiled.
Their acts do not let them
turn back to their God.
For the spirit of whoring is within them,
and the LORD they do not know.
And Israel’s pride bore witness against him
and Israel and Ephraim stumbled in their crime,
Judah, too, has stumbled with them.
With their sheep and their cattle they go
to seek out the LORD.
But they do not find Him.
He slipped away from them.
The LORD they betrayed,
for alien sons they bore.
Now the new moon shall consume them,
together with their fields Hosea 5:3-7

Verse 4, God identifies a tragic condition that results from habitual sin
– and that is when indulgence becomes an addiction
• it’s no longer an enjoyable activity, but a necessity
◦ the New Testament word for addiction is slavery
“Their acts do not let them
turn back to their God”
• there is a pathetic moment in Jeremiah’s ministry
God told his people to stop wearing themselves out chasing after other gods;
“Keep your feet from going unshod
and your throat from thirst.
But you said, ‘It is hopeless,
for I have loved foreigners,
and after them I will go” (Jer. 2:25)
– so, while God knows their betrayal, “the LORD they do not know”
• we’ve seen that knowing is a persistent reminder in Hosea’s prophecies
◦ and their ignorance of God’s will is their own fault
“My people is destroyed without knowledge,
for you—you rejected knowledge” (Hos. 4:6)
◦ I’m surprised at the biblical ignorance of so many Christians today
• people post Bible verses online without any idea of what they mean
◦ perhaps they’ve never read or understood the passage from which the quote is drawn
maybe they’ve just heard preachers use the quote, so they assume they understand it
◦ they assume they’re making a point, but in reality they’re missing the point

There is a scene in verse 6 that is sad, and also, again, very much like today
– the people go off with their sacrificial animals to seek Yahweh,
• but they don’t find him – he’s “slipped away from them”
◦ I don’t think they realize, he’s not present to them
◦ since they’ve lost touch with God, don’t realize when he’s not there
“this people draw near with the mouth, and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me . . .” (Isa. 29:13)

When the church I planted in Dana Point went from hymns to contemporary songs of praise and worship, there was a backlash–and especially so when we rolled in the drums. But we began to meet God in a way we never had before experienced him in worship. Now every new church has a band and hundreds of praise songs. I can’t judge anyone else’s experience, but I’ve heard from new believers exposed to moving experience standing, lifting their hands, and singing along with a loud band, that the emotional energy is almost identical to a rock concert.
When we transitioned to music and intimate expressions of our longing for God and love for Jesus, we made learning the biblical concept and theology of worship a central focus. I don’t think any true believer is interested in worshiping “what you do not know” (John 4:22). At that time, I taught on worship as we came to it from one end of the Bible to the other.

◦ We can be very religious and assumed we have pleased God, and yet be far from him
◦ we need to be aware of the worship and service we offer is that which God chooses
• for instance, what we offer him in worship (i.e., “mercy and not sacrifice” Hos. 6:7)
◦ and the kind of fasting that he chooses (Isa. 58)

Notice that God has included the southern kingdom of Judah and brings his charge against them as he had the northern kingdom of Israel
– he will continue to include Judah in the remainder of the chapter

God has an announcement for Hosea to make
Sound the ram’s horn at Gibeah,
the trumpet at Ramah.
Shout out at Beth-Aven:
“After you, Benjamin!”
Ephraim shall be a desolation
on the day of stern rebuke.
Among the tribes of Israel
I have faithfully made it known.
The nobles of Judah have become
like those who remove boundaries.
Upon them I will pour
My wrath like water.
Exploited is Ephraim,
and crushed in justice,
For he undertook to go
after an empty thing Hosea 5:8-11

– like a town crier ringing a bell
– only here, a ram’s horn is blown along with a shout, but to the same effect
• Israel is doomed, and they have only themselves to blame,
• because, God has given them fair warning, “I have faithfully made it known”

God uses a cluster of metaphors to describe how he will destroy them
And I am like a moth to Ephraim
and like rot to the house of Judah.
When Ephraim saw his sickness
and Judah his running sores,
Ephraim went off to Assyria
and sent out to King Jareb.
But he cannot cure you
and will not give you healing.
For I am like a lion to Ephraim
and like the king of beasts to the house of Judah.
I, I will maul the prey and go off,
bear it away and no one will save it.
I will go, return to My place,
until they sense their guilt and seek Me.
when in straits they shall search for Me Hosea 5:12-15

First, God is “like the moth” – moths that ruin clothing and crops
Second, he is “like rot” – perhaps an internal decaying bones
Third, “sickness” and “running sores” – a miserable illness
Fourth, God is “like a lion” – mauling his prey then dragging the carcass off to his lair
– and so the chapter ends with God abandoning Israel
• but it is not that he intends never to reunite with them
• he will wait until they feel the loss and then begin an authentic search for him

So the next message Hosea delivers is a call to exactly this–seek God
Come let us return to the LORD,
for He mauled but He will heal us,
He struck but He will bind up.
He will revive us after two days,
on the third day raise us up,
that we may live in his presence,
and that we may know, pursue knowing the LORD.
Like daybreak His emergence is sure,
and he will come to us like the rain,
like the latter rain He will shower the earth Hosea 6:1-3

I love this invitation!
– there would be punishing hardship, but there will also be healing
• I can imagine that Israel’s greatest pain was mental anguish over what they forfeited
◦ being abandoned generates psychological misery
• remember the message of the formulaic three that began chapter 5?
◦ Israel’s healing corresponds to their illness — from revival to restoration
Their previous problem: they didn’t know Yahweh; now the solution is for them to pursue knowing him
(cf. Php. 3:7-12)
Their previous problem: they had lost sight of Yahweh; now the solution is to live in his presence
– God’s cure works quickly–after just two days they would be up and walking around
• again God uses metaphors, but these are very different from than before
Like daybreak His emergence is sure,
and he will come to us like the rain,
like the latter rain He will shower the earth
◦ we see here Hosea’s absolute certainty of God’s restoration
• did the sun rise this morning? was the earth refreshed with rain today?
(“Yes” to both here in S. Orange County, CA)
◦ so certain is God’s return to his people

Conclusion: This chapter ends with God’s dilemma
What shall I do for you Ephraim,
What shall I do for you, Judah,
When your trust is like a morning cloud,
like early dew that melts away?
Therefore I hacked among you your prophets,
slain the with the utterances of My mouth,
and your sentence will come out like light.
For trust did I want and not sacrifice
and knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
But they like humankind breached the covenant,
there they betrayed me.
Gilead is a town of criminals,
covered with tracks of blood.
And like gangs who lie in wait for a man
is the band of priests.
They murder on the road to Shechem.
Why, debauchery the perform!
In the house of Israel I have seen a horror.
There the whoring is Ephraim’s,
Israel is defiled.
Judah, too, He sets a harvest for you Hosea 6:4-11

God’s dilemma is that when Israel returns to him, he must ask “What am I going to do with you?”
Every time they had returned to God, it had always been short-lived
And it had been more religious than relational
What he wanted was
“mercy and not sacrifice
and knowledge of God more than burnt offering”
Anyway, whatever the problem, the solution is always the same:
“Come, let us return to the LORD”
Wherever we find ourselves, no matter how far from home
at any moment in our lives, we can choose to return to God
We are never stuck!