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HOSEA 6:1-7:2
(Reading: Matthew 12:1-14; Isaiah 1:1-20)
The People Refusing To Repent
Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ…
It was like the tiniest of buds that appeared at the end of chapter 5.
There in verse 15 the Lord spoke just briefly of when His people would seek His face.
Out of their misery, He said, they will seek me.
Now, as chapter 6 begins, the bud has flowered!
For in the verses 1 till 3 we have God’s detailing the deep conversion He’s working for.
This is the spiritual change He will bring to fruit.
In fact, this is the harvest completely lighting up the last chapter of Hosea!
In a moment we will draw out the marvellous character of repentance through these verses.
But first we must consider the other suggestions given as to what’s happening here.
Because at first doesn’t this seem like the people have repented?
Even if only for a short while, isn’t this describing a turning to the Lord in genuine sorrow for sin?
I mean, the plural pronoun is used – “we” and “us”.
But there is no record of such a mass repentance in that time.
Nowhere do we find an account of this then in the northern kingdom.
Another suggestion has been that it’s a deceptive response by the people.
In other words, this is a very shallow confession.
One commentator suggests that this may have happened during the reign of Hoshea, the last king of Israel.
For there was a brief period during that otherwise rather dangerous time that there seemed to be some hope.
That was in 733 BC when the Emperor of Assyria, Tiglath-pileser III, recognised King Hoshea ben Elah as his vassal.
This interpretation requires certain cultic references to be understood in the references to the seasonal rains.
Because that would prove there wasn’t real change on the part of the people.
And given the strong connection of the language in verses 1 and 2 to the previous three verses, this isn’t consistent either.
A much better understanding would be that these are the words of the prophet himself.
It’s not the people’s genuine response or even their deceptive response.
Rather, here is God’s prescription for being made right with Him.
In the words of the first aspect to the text this afternoon, THIS IS THE WAY IT SHOULD BE.
Congregation, we have already noted that most of Hosea consists of sermons preached by the prophet to the people.
Here we see a clear indication of such a proclamation.
For listen to how verse 1 begins: “Come, let us return to the LORD.”
Now we could say that there’s no way Israel is remotely ready for this repentance.
But that fails to see whom the prophets serve.
Because God’s Word must constantly be declared to His people.
Just as today God’s Word has to be proclaimed to all people.
And isn’t it when God’s people seem furtherest away from Him that His Word should be declared all the more?
Because that’s what they truly need, isn’t it?
Mind you, it’s usually at those times when God’s people are furtherest away from Him that there is usually very little preaching of His Word.
At least not that which is truly based on His Word and which confronts people with their true position before the Lord.
Then the prophets there are false prophets.
They are those we read of in Jeremiah 6 verse 14.
The prophet said there, “They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious.
“‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace.”
Hosea is certainly a true prophet then.
He doesn’t sweep under the carpet the severe punishment they have received from the Lord.
He doesn’t say, ‘Now, now, don’t you worry about all that terrible wrong you’ve done.
‘The Lord forgives you.’
Instead, he is clear about the price they had to pay for going against God.
The Lord has torn them to pieces and severely injured them, as verse 1 describes.
But by returning to Him there will begin to be healing and treatment.
There’s also the power of the word “return” here.
It’s a word seen in the theme of God’s reclaiming His bride.
And how much didn’t we see this portrayed in Hosea’s own home?
There we saw a lot of turning happening!
Hosea goes out and marries Gomer and thus turns her life around.
But she turns around and goes back to the life.
And then he goes and turns her once more.
With one kind of turning there’s the dark scene of desertion and separation.
That’s when one spouse turns his or her back on the other.
But the other kind of turning couldn’t be more different.
For then they turn away from going apart and come together.
That brings repentance and changed, topped off with reconciliation!
In terms of the nation of Israel it means that their being apart from God – their turning away from Him – has brought pain.
There’s been the anguish of foreign invasions, and the moral deterioration we saw in chapter 5.
But now they could all see that in the most positive light.
As Joseph said to his brothers in Genesis 50 verse 20, “you intended to harm me, but God intended it for good.”
We can very much see that these are the words of the prophet.
Verse 2 confirms this even more.
In fact, in verse 2 the prophet speaks in a way of being reconciled with God far beyond he could have known at the time.
‘How come?’ you might wonder.
Because then to say that after two days the Lord would revive acknowledges it will take time.
But that time will be short.
In fact, on the third day they will right with Him again.
Then they would be accepted in His presence.
So when did that revival come, if it did indeed came?
Because these words mean nothing less than Israel being brought to life out of its death-like state of rejection from the face of God.
This could only come after its conversion to the Lord.
Could this have happened when the exiles returned?
No, it didn’t.
Because, first of all, none of those in the ten tribes exiled to Assyria did come back.
And while there were those of the southern tribes who did come back from Babylon, they were never involved in such a whole-hearted recommitment and rededication to the Lord.
Who can forget the sorry sight Nehemiah saw after Ezra had been graciously enabled to lead many of the people back to Palestine?
And who can forget how quickly those who rebuilt Jerusalem’s walls so quickly turned from the Lord’s ways?
As C. F. Keil writes, this true reformation does not occur until after the conversion of Israel to the Lord her God, on the ground of faith in the redemption done through the atoning death of Christ.
This only comes true after Christ’s resurrection from the grave.
And so it is the apostle Paul could well be connecting with these words in 1st Corinthians 15 verses 3 and 4.
For there he declares, “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the twelve.”
Think about it, congregation.
Isn’t it only in Christ’s resurrection that His people are actually raised up?
Verse 3 even goes on to show how this isn’t only about this people’s continued existence but also about a developing bonding with God.
“Let us acknowledge the LORD” is about a maturing connection in the closest of relationships.
Naturally the picture of the marriage relationship comes to the fore here.
That’s what God is after with His people, isn’t it?
There has to be fruit coming out of this.
In marriage there is the fruit of the loins – the birth and nurture of children.
And in this relationship the Lord will rise upon Israel like the morning dawn, and come down like fertilising rain.
In Deuteronomy 11 verse 14 the seasonal rains are mentioned among the blessings the Lord pours out on His people, when they serve Him with all their hearts and with all their souls.
This is the promise the Lord will carry out in His revived people.
This is the promise fulfilled through the Messiah.
Psalm 72 verse 6 is but one proof for this.
There Solomon sings of the Messianic King, “He will be like rain falling on a mown field, like showers watering the earth.”
Congregation, the verses 1 till 3 tell us THIS IS THE WAY IT SHOULD BE.
And, as we have seen, it tells us of the way one day it will be.
But now we must go back to Hosea’s time and place.
And thus we see in the verses 4 till 6, THIS IS WHAT THEN WILL ACTUALLY BE.
Verse 4 opens in antithesis, completely opposite, to the previous verses.
If we though for a moment there was a sincere return then and there it’s quickly squashed!
For what despair is here!
Because the Lord has bent over backwards for them.
He sent punishment after punishment to try and turn them but all to no avail!
And yet even despite such provocation from Israel, the divine response is calm and measured.
He exposes the facade that is the northern kingdom.
For what is morning mist and the early dew?
It’s certainly not something which is going to last.
Puff!
It’s gone – just like that!
And though verse 5 might seem a rather violent reaction, let’s note what it actually says.
For while it ends declaring God’s judgments flashing like lightning upon them, they have already been warned continuously for centuries by His prophets.
As Derek Kidner writes, “The fierceness of verse 5, with its cutting and killing, is not blind fury, but has the clarity of light, the purity of justice and the constructiveness of love.”
Then when it says that His judgments flash like lightning upon them isn’t that also declaring how obvious His judgment of Israel was?
They should have seen it!
He definitely showed it!
I mean, simply think of which prophets there had been!
God has a history of rejection from His people even though He’s sent Elijah and Elisha and Ahijah and Amos.
And now Hosea who even pictured it in his own physical family so vividly!
Still, despite all that, Israel just didn’t have the heart for it.
And this heart refers to nothing less than their souls.
For it had all been on the outside.
They had simply done the regular rituals.
Yet all that time they hadn’t connected at all with the Lord God.
This is what the Lord brings out in verse 6 through His prophet.
In what became a saying especially loved by our Lord during His earthly ministry, Hosea speaks from God, saying, “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.”
The times our Lord uses this saying help us to see what this means.
Because in Matthew 9:13 and Matthew 12:7, Jesus quotes this verses.
And what do we see when we read them?
Well, in both instances He is speaking to the Pharisees.
They were those who in both references were condemning Jesus for doing what they believed to be unlawful.
But the Lord replies by saying that it’s not what we do on the outside which matters.
It can only be true humbleness on the inside which counts.
And that was exactly where Israel had gone wrong in Hosea’s time.
They weren’t truly converted.
And so while they seemed to follow the rituals of the law on the outside, inside they weren’t the Lord’s at all.
They were only full of themselves and only concerned for themselves!
That’s why in both Hosea’s time and Jesus’ time the poor were so badly despised.
These are not just Hosea’s words either.
All those true prophets who were his contemporaries at that time stated the same forceful words.
Isaiah chapter 1, Amos chapter 5, and Micah chapter 6 ring out this identical theme.
Congregation, this means positively that what the Lord truly wants from His people is the genuine steadfast love and knowledge of Himself.
This covenantal language declares that God desires strong and enduring love and fellowship from His people.
Then the sacrifices and the burnt offerings have their right place.
Because then they come from the heart.
It’s because the have not been truly loving and serving God that Israel is such a mess.
The verses 7 till verse 2 of chapter 7 illustrate how that is.
For in the words of a third aspect to this text, THIS IS WHY THAT HAS TO BE.
Here we go first of all on a bit of a tikky-tour through the nation of Israel.
There are a number of place names mentioned in the verses 7 till 9.
Mind you, the first name might seem to be a very clear reference to everyone’s common forefather.
Because verse 7 begins with Adam’s name.
And yet it is not actually about Adam the man, it is about Adam the town.
Now, we might think it could very well be Adam the man.
Wasn’t he the one who first broke the covenant with God?
Didn’t he bring this all on in the first place?
The next line in verse 7, however, challenges this.
When it says “they were unfaithful to me there” it’s hard to explain if there’s no place name mentioned here.
And there is a town called Adam.
In Joshua 3 verse 16 it is mentioned in connection with the Israelites crossing the Jordan under Joshua.
It is obviously a place where Israel has been disobedient to her covenant God.
This would explain why some translations state the beginning of verse 7 with the words, “At Adam they have broken the covenant.”
The verses 8 and 9 go on to identify two more places of such wilful disobedience.
Gilead is said to be “stained with footprints of blood.”
Now Gilead is not a specific city.
It is more like a province, so a wider area, and is close to Adam and east of the Jordan.
But obviously something very terrible happened there.
Something Hosea’s listeners would have known about very well.
It was an event or events which a bloody murder or massacre.
With verse 9 the priests are brought back into the picture.
But again it is not a positive picture.
In this scene they are at the forefront of the robberies and violence.
Here the town called Shechem is mentioned.
From Joshua 20 we know this town was set apart as a city of refuge.
This was where a man could go who believed he had accidentally killed someone.
There he could be assured of a fair trial.
Verse 9 tells us, though, that he doesn’t even get to the city!
For those who should have been the very pillars of right in the city are those murdering in the countryside!
Congregation, we see here why the people’s punishment then was well deserved.
It seemed that everywhere you visited you found a catalogue of the most terrible crimes.
Imagine going through Australia that way!
Instead of finding in local histories some of the beneficial things done for people in that area, or for our country as a whole, there are only memorials to cruelty and bloodshed and devastation!
It’s a wonder anyone’s left alive!
Certainly the common people wouldn’t have had a life!
And then the next four verses dig into the depths of this depravity.
For we must understand that all those horrible acts didn’t come out of a vacuum.
These bloody acts weren’t the result of a bad hair day!
Mind you, we have to wonder what kind of an excuse “a bad hair day” is when people use it to excuse some very nasty things!
“I have seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel,” Hosea says.
And here the Lord’s looking inside.
Because what do we see here but that the people simply dismiss God altogether!
How close to home this is!
To so many in our nation God is irrelevant.
In fact, they laugh at religion.
Whether in a subtle way or quite blatantly so they pooh-pooh the Christian faith.
To them it’s some laughable throw back to a primeval time.
But it’s certainly no laughing matter to God.
To Him a people and its sins are anything but irrelevant.
Indeed, what verse 2 sums up is exactly how deep the rot is.
The guilt of what they have done doesn’t go away after time.
It just gets worse because it’s never cleaned out.
And the worse it gets the more it opposes God.
So badly are they caught up in this, there is no way they worship God.
And while the Lord would heal them that can only come through dealing with the layers upon layers upon layers of their evil.
These are the layers described in verse 1 of chapter 7.
Notice that practicing deceit becomes thieves breaking into houses and that becomes bandits robbing in the street.
What started off so surreptitiously becomes something seen quite conspicuously.
Sin is indeed a slippery slope.
We see again the truth of James 1 as it describes the process of wickedness.
As verses 14 and 15 tell us there, the giving in to the temptation leads to the wrong action and that leads to increased sin, which results in death itself.
The only way to deal with this would be to have a complete purging.
The Word of God would have to so penetrate their hearts and minds that they’re completely exposed before God.
For so far gone are these people that even their consciences are completely dulled.
Forget any excuse that it’s what they feel they have to do because their feelings aren’t connecting with faith anymore.
So verse 2 of chapter 7 ends with the most terrible description.
Both king and nation have totally lost it.
Unlike previous chapters, there’s not even a glimmer of hope here.
But there is still the Lord here.
He will work out His will as He has declared in His Word.
Let us be exhorted to always turn to that Word and so have our consciences ever brightened and enlightened!
Amen.
PRAYER:
Let’s pray…
O Lord God…
We thank and praise You for this opportunity of again hearing Your Word.
May it comfort and challenge us in the precious faith.
In the words of the apostle Paul, may this lesson from the Old Testament be a warning for us today.
But especially, Lord, stir us to realise the difference the coming of the Messiah has made and is making.
Help us to live out every day knowing that on the third day He did rise victorious over sin.
And now we may live setting our minds on things above, not on earthly things.
Help us to so do by the power and guidance of Your Holy Spirit.
In Jesus’ saving Name we pray, Amen.
* As a matter of courtesy please advise Rev. Sjirk Bajema, if you plan to use this sermon in a worship service. Thank-you.
(c) Copyright 2008, Rev. Sjirk Bajema
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