Hosea 5:1 - 6:13

I'll confess to you that I find this a difficult passage, as you probably do as well, reading it.

It's some difficult things in it, but I hope we can look at this and unpack a bit what's going on here.

Richard Dawkins, the atheist, we mentioned him, it seems, from time to time here, and it's, to be honest, because he's said such provocative things about the God of the Bible.

He's an easy target for ridicule.

But Richard Dawkins said in his book, The God Delusion, the God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction.

He's jealous and proud of it.

And then he goes on to say more, but I'll stop there, because I think there's two things that I want to point out about it.

One, Richard Dawkins' reading comprehension is somewhat selective.

But secondly, he actually gets a little bit right, despite his selective reading.

God is jealous, isn't he?

And that's what we see here.

And what I want to suggest to you this afternoon is that a jealous God is the best God to have.

A jealous God is actually exactly the God that you need.

It might not be the God you think you want, but he's the God that you absolutely need.

God is indeed a jealous God, and that's why he's actually so good.

Would you really want a God who isn't jealous?

Would you really want a God who isn't jealous?

A God who isn't jealous is sort of like the wife who doesn't care if her husband is sleeping around.

There's no true loving relationship there.

It's a marriage of perhaps convenience at best.

My wife and I have been watching the show Mr. Selfridge about the turn of the century, early 1900s turn of the century.

A mogul who came over from America and decided he was going to conquer the London store scene.

And he builds this huge store down on Oxford Street, what they called the dead end of Oxford Street.

And he said it's going to be the live end of Oxford Street soon.

And they present him as this very well put together man who has wealthy backers and he has a loving wife.

And they look at this relationship with his wife.

And at first it looks like he's a happily married man, a man who has a special relationship with his wife.

But very quickly we learn that Mr. Selfridge is in fact a playboy.

That he jumps from one lover to the next.

That he occasionally shows some interest in his wife.

And he'll shower her with special gifts that no other man could possibly provide for her.

He's around for the holidays.

But it isn't really a marriage.

There's not really true love there.

And it's at best convenience and perhaps even a security blanket.

And that's exactly where we find Israel in this passage.

In their relationship to God, isn't it?

Their relationship to God has become at best a convenience.

At most a security blanket.

They go through the motions of being God's people.

They still follow the ceremony.

But they've taken on many lovers.

They're pursuing many other gods.

And what we see in our passage this afternoon.

Is actually the true character of God being revealed.

He is a jealous God.

Yes.

Absolutely.

And that is a good thing.

In fact, God is so good.

That he will not allow his people to pursue evil unhindered.

That's our first point.

God is so good.

That he does not allow his people to freely pursue evil.

Last week, Stuart laid out God's accusations of what his people were doing.

And today we really get to see God's judgment on all of those accusations.

The results of those accusations.

How bad had things gotten?

I think it's safe to say, reading what we have before us, that Israel had become a people who we could say were spiritual but not religious.

Have you heard that phrase before in our modern times?

When I was on the university campus doing ministry in the States, I heard that a lot from students.

Well, I'm a spiritual person, but I'm not really religious.

And what they meant by that was, I like to think about God.

I like to sort of reflect on spiritual things.

I like to maybe go to a yoga class where we talk about meditation and then go to a Passover feast with a group of Jewish people.

And then maybe on occasion even visit the church.

But I'm not actually really committed to anything.

I'm not actually pursuing a faithful relationship with God.

And what we see here is Israel pursued openly other gods.

Look in verses 3 and 4 here.

I know Ephraim and Israel is not hidden from me.

For now, O Ephraim, you have played the whore.

Israel is defiled.

Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God.

That's an important phrase.

We'll come back to that.

For the spirit of whoredom is within them, and they know not the Lord.

See, the picture God paints of his people here is a people who would, in their words and their deeds, perhaps say,

We are God's people.

But they're wandering.

As Hosea uses the term, they're pouring themselves out to other gods.

Israel goes through the motions of worship.

In verse 6 we see they continue to bring their sacrifices, their flocks and their herds.

They're going through the motions of worship.

But there's no heart that's pursuing God.

And probably the most damning thing here is verse 7.

They have dealt faithlessly with the Lord, for they have born alien children.

Now what does that phrase mean?

There's a lot of controversy and discussion over what this verse actually points to.

But if you understand the covenant relationship that God had with his people Israel,

then this verse makes a lot of sense.

Because what the promise of the covenant was, was that God would love his people for generation after generation after generation.

If they pursued him and were faithful to his commands and to his loving help.

And what God means when he says, you have born alien children.

He says, you are raising children to not know me and to not love me.

To forsake your God, the true God.

It's an awful thing, isn't it?

To say that your children are alien to me.

I don't know them.

They are not my children.

So what does this mean for us?

Well, let me ask this question.

Why do so many people go to church at Christmas, but we never see them any other time of the year?

I was talking to a friend of mine.

Her children go to my son's school.

She was asking me about church.

And we were having a discussion.

I said, do you attend somewhere?

Do you have a church?

And she said, well, my husband and I never really grew up in that.

It's not something that we really pursue.

But at Christmas, we like to make sure our son knows the Christmas message and the Christmas story.

See, it's spirituality without any real religion.

Without any real calling and commitment to the God of the universe.

And how does God respond to his people?

Well, the response is punishment, isn't it?

But not just punishment.

It's a withdrawal of his presence.

Look at verse 6.

He says, the second half of verse 6.

He says, they will not find him.

That's God.

He has withdrawn from them.

That's an awful thing to hear, isn't it?

But God has withdrawn himself from his people.

And the result of that withdrawal is that now Israel is susceptible to invaders.

There's no longer the protection of God over his people.

And we see in verses 8 and 9 that this call of warning.

Blow the horn and the trumpet.

Sound the alarm.

Why?

Because the Assyrians are going to come.

And they're going to invade Israel.

And they're going to crush God's people.

And even more than that, in verse 10, we see that Israel's leaders are powerless to help them.

Why?

Because they're completely corrupt.

We tend to end up with the leaders we deserve, don't we?

That's really what God's saying there, isn't it?

We tend to end up with the leaders we deserve.

It's always dangerous to tread on politics.

So I'll just tread on American politics, if you don't mind.

In the States, we've had for many, many years now this promise of hope and change, if you've followed politics at all.

And what happens after eight years of hope and change?

Well, now you've got one party saying, we're going to be the real party of hope and change.

Then you have another party that says, well, no, no, no.

Things are going really well.

You want to stick with us.

And that's been going on.

That's not a new thing.

That's been going on for 2030.

Well, probably really as long as the U.S. has been going on.

Why?

Well, because people think that their leaders can save them.

And what God says here is that there is no political solution to the problem.

Even in verse 13, we see when God's people recognize their sickness, it says, and their wounds.

What do they do?

Well, they look for a political solution, don't they?

They go to the great king of Assyria.

And they ask him to save them.

And what's the result?

He's not able to cure you or heal your wounds.

There's no political solution to the problem that Israel has.

Because it's a spiritual problem.

See, God is clearly in control.

And his wrath cannot be stopped by man.

Because it's all-consuming.

And Hosea drives home the terror of this point by showing a series of images of what God's punishment will be like.

He says in verse 10, it will be like a flood of water.

A flood of water, of course, is an unstoppable thing, right?

When it happens, it takes over.

It consumes.

It can't be stopped.

It's going to be like a devouring moth in verse 12.

That's an interesting image for us, isn't it?

But moths could destroy and can still even destroy so much.

When I read that, though, I always think of the Japanese films with Mothra in them.

You know, the monster film.

But that's not what's meant here.

As a just an aside, if you want to know my taste in film.

It's going to be like corrosive rot.

This is one that I can relate to.

Do you know why I love renting a house?

Because when I owned a house, every time I turned around,

something was broken.

Because I owned an old house in the States.

Old by United States standards.

It was built in 1930.

So a new development for the UK.

But every time I turned around,

a water pipe was rusted through.

Or the roof was leaking.

Or there was dry rot on some board somewhere that needed to be released.

Or the electrical system was going bad.

And every time I turned around,

something was not right with my house.

And God says,

that's exactly what my punishment is going to be like for you.

It's going to eat away.

It's slowly and surely,

it's going to eat away at you.

And it's going to drive you mad.

And it's going to leave you destitute.

Verse 13,

I think it uses the imagery of a festering wind.

Something that can only be fixed through the cutting it off.

And then finally,

verse 14,

a vicious lion

who tears and devours

and drags off

and no one can rescue.

So what do we do with this?

What do we do with this?

It sounds so terrible, doesn't it?

Maybe Richard Dawkins is right.

Maybe God is a monster.

But to understand this,

we really have to first examine

our own cultural assumptions about God.

We have to reflect on those for a moment.

We tend to assume

that God is far off.

That He's sitting up in the clouds

and He's watching us.

And we assume that we need to get His attention

and that He's there to

every now and then

give us a little push along, right?

Just to help us along our way.

Maybe to inspire us to be better people

or to help us get what we want in our lives.

Or we assume that God should be primarily concerned

with our happiness.

Or we assume

we can get God to do what we want

if we keep a few rules

like going to church at Christmas

or praying every now and then

when things get difficult.

But that's not

the picture of God

that this passage presents, is it?

It's a picture of a God

who is active

and present

in our world.

It's a picture of a God

who is intimate

with His people.

And that's the key for us to understand.

that this is a God

who wants

a true relationship

with His people.

He wants to know them

deeply.

And their unfaithfulness

causes real hurt

to God.

He is a God

who is passionate

for the good of His people.

And He knows

that they will not find

what they desire most

in the arms of

one of their lovers.

See, it's with this understanding

that we can say

God is good

even in His wrath.

Because His wrath

is calling His people

back to Him.

How good is God?

He is so good

that He withholds

the fullness

of His wrath.

That's what we see

in verse 15.

He doesn't completely

destroy

His people

the nation Israel.

But He shows

there is purpose

to His discipline.

Verse 15

He says

I will return again

to my place

until they acknowledge

their guilt

and seek My face

and in their distress

earnestly seek Me.

He doesn't completely

destroy His people.

It isn't petty

vengefulness

but purposeful

discipline.

His full wrath

could have completely

annihilated His people

couldn't it?

That's the kind of God

we're talking about.

He's a big God.

But His wrath

His punishment

has clear purpose.

And that purpose

is to restore

His people

to a right relationship

with Him.

See, God knows

that when Israel

realizes their misery

at His absence

they will return to Him

because they are

first and foremost

His people.

And this was a time

for Israel

of first reflection.

And the calling

of this verse

is relevant to us

today, isn't it?

It's a calling

to consider

our own disease

and our own sin

that separates us

from God.

And it's healthy

and necessary

for us to do that.

It's healthy

and necessary

for us to reflect

on the ways

that we have sinned

and the ways

that we have

damaged our relationship

to God

and separated ourselves

from Him.

It's healthy

for us to be

convicted of that

and to seek out

God for forgiveness.

Does God seem

distant to you?

Does God ever

seem distant to you?

Or perhaps in that

He's actually

speaking to you

and calling you

to repentance.

See, God is so good

that He pauses

the fullness

of His wrath

and withholds

its fullness

in order to bring

us to Himself.

God is a good God.

How good is He?

Well, God is so good

that He heals

the brokenness

of His people.

Look at

chapter 6

verses 1-3.

And just to warn you,

what we have here

are the words

of true repentance.

We have a picture

of true repentance.

The words

of true repentance

are written here.

Unfortunately,

we're going to see

next week

that Israel

lacked

truly repentant hearts.

But that's going

to be next week.

Stuart just told me

I should give you

that spoiler alert.

But for now,

let's look at what's

said here.

Why return to the Lord?

Why do they return

to the Lord?

Because they see

that in Him alone

they can find healing.

It's out of a recognition

that only the one

the only one

that could heal them

was the one

who tore them.

How can God

be both

the punisher

of His people

and the healer

of His people?

Well,

we have the full

answer to that,

don't we?

In the personal

work of Jesus Christ.

When we look

at the cross,

we see how God

can be both

the punisher

and the healer.

See,

it's at the cross

where we see

the fullness

of God's wrath

poured out

on His Son

for us.

where Jesus Christ

is torn

for your sins

and my sins.

It's there

that we see

the fullness

of restoration,

the fullness

of healing

as Christ

is raised

on the third

day.

And it's there

that we find

our own

restoration

in a Savior

who has purchased

us by His blood.

So what Israel

only saw in shadow,

we get to see

in fullness.

in the calling

on our lives

from this chapter

is really a simple

one.

And it's stated

very simply

in the final verse.

Let us press

on to know

the Lord.

The calling

on our lives

is to press

on to know

the Lord.

The calling

of this verse

for you today

is to leave

behind your sin

and your guilt,

to flee

the people

and the things

that you've been

seeking fulfillment

in and to find

your healing

by seeking

to know God

through Jesus Christ.

And we know Him

because we have

seen Him fully

in the work

of Christ Jesus.

Press on

to know the Lord.

Please pray with me.