A Common Problem: Hosea 12-13

Our scripture text this morning comes from the book of Isaiah, chapter 12 and 13.

Isaiah 12 · chapter mention

Chapter 12 alone is printed in the bulletin because of the length, but this might be a good week to have your chair Bible open to these passages to follow along.

Before I read the text, I'd like to put a plug-in for the men's retreat.

Today's the last day to sign up, guys, and uh I'm looking forward to it myself.

A time to get away from DC for a couple days playing golf on Friday for those that like to golf.

There's gonna be a battlefield tour.

Uh connect with friends, make some new friends.

It's a great time to do all those things.

I hope to see you there on the weekend, but today is the last day to sign up, as I said.

Reading from God's Word, Hosea chapter 12, beginning in verse 2.

Hosea 12 · chapter mention

The Lord has an indictment against Judah and will punish Jacob according to his ways.

He will repay him according to his deeds.

In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his manhood he strove with God.

He strove with the angel and prevailed.

He wept and sought his favor.

He met God at Bethel, and there God spoke with us.

The Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord is his memorial name.

So you, by the help of your God, return, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God.

A merchant in whose hands are false balances, he loves to oppress.

Ephraim has said, Ah, but I am rich, I have found wealth for myself.

In all my labors they cannot find in me iniquity or sin.

I am the Lord your God from the land of Egypt.

I will again make you dwell in tents, as in the days of the appointed feast.

I spoke to the prophets, it was I who multiplied visions, and through the prophets gave parables.

If there is iniquity in Gilead, they shall surely come to nothing.

In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls.

Their altars also are like stone heaps on the furrows of the field.

Jacob fled to the land of Aram.

There Israel served for a while, and for a while he guarded sheep.

By a prophet the Lord brought Israel up from Egypt, and by a prophet he was guarded.

Ephraim has given bitter provocation.

So his Lord will leave his blood guilt on him and will repay him for his disgraceful deeds.

This is the reading of God's holy, infallible, inerrant word.

Let's pray for the Spirit's work.

Father, we we thank you for giving us such a vivid portrayal of what it means to be your bride in this book.

And Lord, we confess that we have been the unfaithful bride.

Far too many times we've run away from you, not toward you.

But Lord, we've already asked once again this morning for your forgiveness.

Would you speak to our hearts?

Would you reach our hearts?

Would you reach our consciences by your spirit this morning that the gospel, that the gospel will bring further, deeper healing to each of us, we pray.

In Jesus' name, amen.

What a series this has been.

I can't remember the last time I preached a more draining sermon series.

We talk about an emotional roller coaster.

Jose is taking us on.

The highs and the ups and the downs.

I don't know another book in the Bible that has more highs and lows.

And yet, I'm more convinced than ever after going through it again that as much as we see these dark clouds of judgment in this book, in the hard news of judgment, that there are rays of sunshine that just break through like every week.

And it's what my soul needs.

Because we want to be realistic about living the Christian life.

We don't want to pretend that things are better than they are.

We want to be honest with God.

But we also want to be hopeful in living this life.

Right?

You're with me on that, right?

We don't want to pretend, but we want to be hopeful.

Only the gospel can do that.

Only the gospel can lead me to see what's really going on in my heart and not crush me, but bring me hope.

This is what we've seen in this series.

Two weeks ago we looked at the word deception.

Boy, how good we are at self-deceiving.

Remember, we have a way of putting moves on ourselves.

We convince ourselves that we're not deceiving God.

We convince ourselves that we're not deceiving other people when reality, oftentimes we do.

But the Spirit cuts through the word.

And the Spirit says, wait a minute, what are you doing?

Are you trying to negotiate with God again?

Are you trying to bargain with God again?

That's not for you.

I see sunshine breaking out through the dark clouds of this book.

But if you don't see the dark clouds, you're not going to see the sunshine.

You understand?

If you just insist that it's all good news, if you just insist that it's all been covered and taken care of, and I don't really need to take this journey, I'm good, you don't, you're not going to understand the good news.

We go, you go to a jeweler.

What's the background for that jewel?

Dark.

Dark blue or black.

Why?

It just makes it makes the the jewel just sparkle more.

You know it's that way with God's grace.

God's grace always shines the brightest against the darkest background.

We see that in Hosea.

Last week we looked at the compassion of God.

Boy, I needed that.

How about you?

God says, I can't give up on you.

I can't give up on my kids.

And how many times, how many times should he have with my my unfaithfulness?

He says, I can't do it.

You've got my heart.

I my my compassion is all aroused within me, is what we saw last week.

I can't walk away from you.

This is the gospel.

It brings us back to the real God.

But we have to bring our real heart.

See, worship transformation takes place when you bring your real self to the real God.

And only the Holy Spirit can do that.

That's why we ask the Spirit to work.

And so Hosea is going to start by taking us back to a lesson in the Old Testament with Jacob.

He wants us to learn from Jacob's life about grasping, ignoring, and forgetting God.

But it did get better.

Grasping.

Look at the first verse we read.

The Lord has an indictment against Judah.

An indictment, a formal charge or accusation of a serious crime.

So even that language reminds us, as long as we see our sins as misdemeanors, we're not going to get this.

And it's only as I see that that I'm going to be prepared to be able to see the good news and receive the good news.

Israel and Ephraim have fallen, he says, yet there is still hope for Judah.

But will she listen?

So at this point in time when Hosea is writing, and he had a long ministry, probably around 50 years.

That's a long ministry.

But by this time it seems that the ten tribes to the north, Israel, they're gone.

Some of them will be redeemed, most likely.

But most of them have, this is all fallen on deaf ears.

They're not listening.

They're going to church.

They're going to the temple.

They're taking their sacrifices, but their hearts are far from God.

That's one of the things we've seen, right?

You can do all the right things and be far from God.

Jesus says, These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

God wants my heart.

And he wants your heart.

But will Judah listen?

It's not too late for Judah at this point.

And he says, Judah, are you listening?

This book has been about a wayward wife.

Last week we saw a wayward son.

It's about a wayward nation.

Again, the example from the life of Jacob, three different points in Jacob's life he touches on.

The first one is his birth, verse 3, that we read.

From birth in the womb, he strived with his brother.

He couldn't stand being the second born.

He thought he needed to be the firstborn.

Boy, talk about pride.

The twin struggling in the womb with Esau.

Although Jacob was born second, the younger brother, he lived much of his life grasping for the things that were beyond his reach.

That's what the Hebrew word means.

To grasp the heel.

Meaning to be but to go behind one's back in order to deceive, to trick.

This was characteristic of Jacob for much of his life.

He was always second, second in birth, second in strength.

Esau was the man's man.

He was the hunter.

He was the sports guy.

Jacob was more of a mama's boy.

He didn't like it.

He didn't know what to do with it.

He didn't like his identity.

He didn't like his place in life.

So he tried to change it.

He deceived his brother Esau out of his birthright and his blessing.

He deceived his father Isaac.

He deceived his uncle Laban.

The word deception describes Jacob very well.

The word deception describes Israel very well.

They thought that they could fool God through all their religious rituals that God would respond, that God would bless, that God would give in.

Now we've talked about this in the series, right?

Because it just keeps coming up.

When we think that we can negotiate with God, because outwardly it seems like we're doing all the right things, trying to get God under our control.

How silly is that?

That the God who created the heavens and the earth, who created us, that we're going to put a move on Him?

But sometimes we do.

God, I'll do this if you do that.

You ever said that?

You ever prayed that?

God, If you'll just give me this, then I'll do that.

That's not repentance.

That's not faith.

That's negotiating.

We talked about that a few weeks ago.

That's negotiating with God.

God doesn't negotiate with sinners.

God saves sinners, but he never negotiates with them.

But then we come to a second place in Jacob's life at Jabok, the river.

Now remember a little history, Old Testament history.

Remember after Jacob deceived his brother Esau?

Esau wanted to kill him.

So remember he goes far away to his uncle Laban's place in Aram.

He's gone over 20 years.

Now the Lord has said it's time to go back to your homeland.

But he's scared.

Because he knows he's got a very vengeful, violent brother waiting for him.

So what does he do?

What does the schemer do?

Well, you make a plan.

And so he makes a plan.

He gets all of his animals, and by this time he was quite wealthy, so he had quite the herds.

He takes all of his animals and he starts sending them back to his brother Esau, you know, piecemeal.

Sort of like, you know, I don't know.

Christmas morning, you know, you get some gifts, and then they keep you.

Oh, there's another one.

There's another one.

And sometimes, you know, you get the best one at last, maybe.

To kind of soften his brother up.

That was his desire.

So he sends all the animals and then he sends his family.

You remember which wife he loved most?

Rachel.

So he sends Leah first.

He's trying to protect himself.

He's trying to manage.

He's trying to control his life as much as he can.

So he sends Leah and all of her children.

And then finally, he sends Rachel and all of her children.

And then finally, last but not least, he has to go himself.

And he's just hoping and praying that the con job will work.

Soften his brother's heart.

Forgive and forget.

But that night he had a dream.

And it was more than a dream.

An angel showed up who wanted to wrestle with him.

And once again, true to form for Jacob, Jacob thought he was winning.

Jacob thought he had the angel pinned until the angel whooped him.

Breaks the socket of his hip.

The angel pins him.

And that night Jacob finally surrenders to the God that he was running from all of his life.

That night he surrendered.

Why does Hosea take us back there?

It's pretty clear, isn't it?

They were a lot like Jacob.

We can be a lot like Jacob.

That night he surrendered.

When he wrestled with the angel, and true spiritual change came that night.

Have you ever wondered and thought, like, why does spiritual change so hard?

Why do we talk about spiritual change more than we experience spiritual change?

The church could be really bad at this.

We can talk and talk and talk about how much we've changed or how much we've been changed, but the proof is in the pudding.

We don't change until we surrender.

We don't surrender until we see the con job.

We don't surrender until we see where we've been trying to put a move on God through our efforts, our good behavior.

This has been the book of Hosea.

And it still happens today.

Oh, friends, pray.

Pray that you, if you haven't met the angel of the Lord in that wrestling match, pray that you meet him.

Because until then, you're just going to be enslaved in ways that you don't want to be enslaved.

To whatever it is, the idols that we looked at in this series.

He was changed.

His name was changed.

He was no longer the one who's grasping at a hill.

He was the one, what does Israel, the new name, mean?

The one who struggled with God and has been overcome.

You don't become a Christian until you've been overcome.

You don't become a Christian until you have that wrestling and lay down your life and your heart and take that record of your sin and give it to Jesus.

We're going to talk about that more in a moment.

We pray for true spiritual change in this series in Hosea.

I think we're seeing true spiritual change.

The elders have discussed that.

We've taken note that there is more and more evidence in this church of true spiritual change.

But this is what it looks like.

And then there's the third mention where Jacob was back at Bethel.

But this time, going back, he's no longer bargaining with God.

Remember what he did the first time at Bethel?

He was scared.

God, I know you're driving me away.

If you bless me, if you enlarge my herds, if you enlarge my family, if you give me all this, then God, I'm going to give you so much.

But remember we've already said that's not obedience.

That's not trust.

God, if you do these things, then I'll.

You know what that is?

It's like tipping the waiter.

You don't do that.

This time he means business.

He comes back to Bethel the second time and he's a changed man.

He has experienced spiritual transformation.

Judah, what will you do with all this?

This is what Hosea is saying.

How are you going to respond to the judgment of God?

How are you going to respond to the grace of God?

It's always both.

You see, without the bad news, you're not going to be ready to hear the good news.

It was true then, and it's true today.

But the good news is in this book.

We're going to see that in some surprising ways today.

The second point, ignoring God's judgment.

Verse 2.

He will punish Jacob according to his ways, according to his deeds.

Verse 10, they refuse to hear God's prophets.

The threat.

See, this was a threat of judgment, not blessing, when he says, I'm going to take you back to the desert.

But what does that remind us of?

Chapter 2, verse 14.

In his mercy, God says to a people, I will allure my people into the desert.

Do you remember that verse?

I will allure my people into the desert so that I might what?

Speak tenderly to their heart.

God will do whatever he needs to do to get your attention.

God will do whatever he needs to do to get your heart, my heart.

That's what he's saying here.

And that's his mercy.

If it wasn't his mercy, he would just let us go our way.

Fine, have it your way.

But that's not the God of mercy.

He is conflicted, as we saw last week.

Do I punish my people?

Or do I am I going to heal my people?

One Old Testament scholar, Alec Moter, says this is the spirit of the whole book of Hosea.

But just because it seeks a free response, it may be refused.

And there is no attempt to hide that possibility or to Mask its fatal consequences.

This is tough medicine, but we all need to take it.

And then finally, there's this forgetting that we see in the life of Israel.

Chapter 13, verse 6.

But when they were fed, they became full.

And when they were filled, their heart was lifted up.

Therefore they forgot me.

Therefore they forgot me.

Isn't that human nature?

Forgetting the source of our blessings when we're fed, forgetting the purpose of our blessings, which is to grow our faith, to grow our gratitude, to grow our worship.

That's what he's taking us back to.

Verse 12.

His sins are kept on record.

That's how the several translations translate it.

I like that translation.

ESV says his sin is kept in store.

You know God keeps records.

God has a record of every one of our sins.

But he also has a record of the perfect life of his son Jesus Christ.

And so if this is the record of my life, if this is the record of all my sins, what does Isaiah tell us?

But the Lord has laid on him, Jesus, the iniquity of us all in Christ.

This is the gospel showing up once again in Hosea.

All my sins in Christ, laid on Christ.

In return, what does he give us?

All of the righteousness of his son.

Put on us, charged to our account.

This is the gospel.

God keeps records.

Is he looking at your record today or is he looking at Christ's record for you?

If he's looking at your record today, I don't think you're going to sleep.

I don't see how you can sleep well tonight, honestly.

If it's your record, how can you sleep?

If it's your record?

Aren't there things that we all are ashamed of?

Aren't there things that we've all done that are a stunch to God?

But you put yourself in the hands of Jesus and you receive his finished work on the cross, and you're covered by his blood, and God doesn't see your record.

He sees the record of his son.

This is the gospel.

This is where we find hope.

This is the God of compassion, even when there's a lot of dark clouds all around.

Alec Moter, it is the special danger of a once enlightened nation, church, or individual whose appetite for truth has failed their doing truth.

The one dazzling exception, he says, I see in the book of Hosea, to the darkness of this chapter is the great taunt of verse 14 of chapter 13.

If your Bibles are open, look at it.

Chapter 13.

Right in the midst of all the dark clouds.

O death, where are your plagues?

O Sheol, where is your sting?

Do those words sound familiar?

Yeah.

1 Corinthians chapter 15.

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

Paul preaching on the power of the resurrection.

What's going on here?

I'm going to be honest with you.

Commentators really fight over this translation.

So here's a question.

Are these words the final nail in the coffin?

Or is this the sun breaking out one more time and God offering hope to people who otherwise would have no hope?

I think it's the latter.

It can be translated into Hebrew.

I will ransom them from the power of the grave.

I will redeem them from death.

I think I just believe God's forgiveness and mercy more and more.

The longer I live, the more I understand and understand this Bible.

And I don't take it for granted.

And ought to lead all of us to just stop trying to bargain with God.

Stop trying to control our lives.

Stop trying to control other people.

Surrender.

Spiritual transformation happens through surrender.

Like Jacob.

Like us.

Here's the good news we close with this morning.

That there is going to be a resurrection again.

Jesus conquered death.

We know that.

We celebrated that just a few weeks ago.

Death was conquered through the power of the risen Christ.

Jesus has power over the grave.

Jesus has power over your grave one day.

But you don't want to wait to that day.

Experience the power of Jesus to raise you from the dead spiritually now.

And he will raise your body from the grave that day.

And that's the good news of the gospel.

He's calling us all to.

And if you say, well, I know that.

I believe that.

Good.

Maybe you'll just be a little bit more in tune when you start trying to control again.

Maybe you'll just be a little bit more aware of your need for the Holy Spirit to dig up the hard soil and ground that we looked at last week.

And you'll realize this power is true.

That Jesus is a real Savior for real sinners.

And you'll start believing that more and more.

And you'll see spiritual transformation in new ways.

This is the power of the gospel.

Would you pray with me?

Father, I thank you for your grace.

I thank you for your amazing grace.

Lord, we know what our sins deserve.

But we thank you that you sent your Son so that we will never be punished for our sins.

We will be disciplined for our sins.

But Jesus, you took the punishment.

You bore our guilt, our sin, our shame.

That we might be freed to stay with you, Lord.

We don't want to run into the arms of others.

Keep us in your arms.

May we feel your embrace.

May we experience further healing in our lives.

You know how much still holds us back, holds us down.

Oh God, continue to show us that your grace is greater than our sin.

We love you.

We surrender to you this morning.

In the name of Jesus.

Amen.