Don't Forget Our Helper

"But I am the Lord your God from the land of Egypt; you know no God but me, and besides me there is no savior. It was I who knew you (intimate fellowship) in the wilderness, in the land of drought; but when they had grazed, they became full, they were filled, and their heart was lifted up; therefore they forgot me ...

... So, I am to them like a lion …and there I will devour them like a lion ...

... He destroys you, O Israel, for you are against me, against your helper" (Hosea 13:4-9).

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God calls on His people to lean on Him again, as they did once in the wilderness. To come back to Him.

He asks this in love, and because when His people follow His commands, He is with them, He protects them. He reminds them of their intimate fellowship in the wilderness. How He took care of them, but also how they rebelled from that care when they were satisfied enough to feel they could begin relying on themselves again.

Yet, a warning from Hosea, that great evils would befall them without God. Not because of God, as some would suggest when trying to paint a portrait of a distant or mean god, but because they did not rely on God, and only on themselves.

Historically, Israel knew God would fight for them when they were in fellowship with Him. And, they knew when they weren’t, their enemies would be against them.

Yet, as he says in verse 6, “when they had grazed they became full, they were filled, and their heart was lifted up; therefore they forgot Me.”

They are treating God as a lion, something to devour them, when He only wanted them to turn back to Him. The imagery is not God saying He is going to tear them open or devour them, he’s saying that they are treating Him as though He would. They are misunderstanding what it means to be in fellowship with God’s commands. And, therefore, they are bringing suffering upon themselves. Not from God, but from the enemies around them, whether it be other nations, fellow countrymen, or Satan manipulating these forces.

In verse 9, “He (Israel’s enemy) destroys you, O Israel, for you are against me, against your helper”

The Helper in the new Testament is spoken of regarding the Holy Spirit. The helper is there to help us to have fellowship with God, and Israel has forgotten, or have resisted the guidance of God’s Holy Spirit to the point of conflict with Him. Since Hosea is speaking on behalf of God, we can rightly associate this helper as potentially referring to him as well in the immediate context, though the bigger picture of Holy Spirit as our ultimately helper with God, is visible here, even years before Christ ascended and left us the Spirit.

The predictive prophecy here, speaking from God via Hosea the prophet, is letting Israel know that an enemy is coming. God will stand and defend them if they repent, turn back to Him.

Yet we know from history they did not, and the Northern Kingdom fell to Assyria.

Had they turned back, heeded the prophet’s call, such a fate may not have befallen them, for God fights for His people, as proven time and again with Israel.

Yet, time and again, they rebelled.

I sometimes wonder why we don't have everything we want, or why we often feel like maybe we don't have enough of something. Perhaps not having enough, or hardship, is a means of keeping us reliant on God. As he said, in times of fullness, Israel forgot him. When we are fully satisfied with everything around us, we are prone to forgetting God. It is why we pray most often when in distress, yet find everyday conversational prayer with God difficult. He is our rescue from the storm, but when the storm has passed, we go back to helping ourselves.

What if we relied on God in the midst of and out of the storm? Would he not fight for us, be our champion and helper? Of course He would. And we would not only be a great witness of what he did for us, but also would experience His multitude of blessings, knowing that no matter which way the wind blows, we would not forget our helper.

"'Yet even now,” declares the Lord,

'return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;

and rend your hearts and not your garments.'

Return to the Lord your God,

for he is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;

nand he relents over disaster.

Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,

and leave a blessing behind him,

a grain offering and a drink offering

for the Lord your God?" (Joel 2:12).