Hosea 4:1-19

Hosea 4:1-19

Cause & Effect

I.                    To reject God is to reject life; so we must seek to know God intimately (Vv. 1-10)

a.       God has laid the foundation for the revealing the iniquity of His Israel through the example of Gomer’s prostitution, unfaithfulness, and ultimate slavery. But God has also given hope through the example of the mercy, love, and grace displayed by Hosea as he faithfully gave all he had to redeem his wayward wife from the auction block of slavery. Now God brings His charges against the people directly. The people lack “faithfulness” or “truth”, which refers to their lack of integrity to know the truth and live by it consistently. The people also lack “kindness”, or loyal and faithful love. They had no desire to forgive, no spirit of generosity, and no gentleness with one another; and they were callus, abrasive, and lacked commitment to anyone other than themselves. This lack of faithfulness and kindness was the result of having no “knowledge of God”. This doesn’t mean memorizing facts about God and His law, but speaks to an intimate and personal relational knowledge. Now God continues to charge the people by describing the qualities they do possess. They swear falsely, deceive to avoid responsibility and accountability, take what’s not theirs, live unfaithfully to God and each other, and commit murder; and they use violence to intimidate and gain advantage, and crime dominates society. Everything is broken, and even creation suffers because of the selfish acts of the people. But God isn’t done yet, He says the behavior of the people is really an indictment on the priests, who God appointed to teach the people about Him through His law and call them to obedience to Him. However, while the times were prosperous, religion was booming, and the priests were riding the gravy train instead of stewarding the truth. Like Gomer, they thought they were getting everything they wanted in life, but their lack of relationship with God was only robbing them of life and bringing destruction on the people! When God isn’t enough, nothing else can be. (Vv. 1-10; Exod. 20:7, 13-16; Lev. 18:26-28; Ps. 139: 1-16, 23-24; Eccl. 2:1-11; 3:9-15; Isa. 24:1-3; 55:1-3, 6-13; Amos 7:10-17; Matt. 5:22-45; 7:12; 15:14; John 1:1-5, 14, 16-18; 4:13-14; 6:26-29; 17:3, 7, 17; Rom. 1:18-32; 8:19-22; 11:33-36; 2 Cor. 3:2-3; 2 Tim. 3:1-7; 4:1-4; Jas. 1:14-21; 1 Pet. 2:9-12; 1 John 3:15)

II.                 To reject God is to reject life; so He must reign rightfully on the throne of our hearts (Vv. 11-19)

a.       As the people of Israel drifted away from God and the true knowledge of Him, they did what all humans do, they gave their worship and affection to idols in His place. We are created in the likeness of God to worship and glorify Him, steward His creation of which He gave us charge, and fill it with godly people who love Him and reflect His glory into His creation. There is no question whether or not we’ll worship, the only question is the object of our worship; and we all become like that which we worship. As Israel continued to worship the pagan idols, seek superstitious direction in life, and attempt to avoid their spiritual accountability to God by relying on the convenience of mechanical religion, they were led continually more astray and without understanding and relational knowledge of God were ruined. They thought they found an easier way to receive life without responsibility to God and accountability of the law. But instead all they found were cheap substitutes that brought want and ruin. Israel had stubbornly rejected God and chosen to pursue idolatry and promiscuous living. So God finally gave Israel over to their stubbornness, and in His just nature was unable lead or bless them. However, God issues a warning to Judah about the subtle mechanism behind Israel’s fall. Their false worship began by sacrificing their faithfulness to God on the altar of politics, as they pridefully refused to worship in Jerusalem, and defiled Gilgal and Bethel as their disobedient worship became tainted with idolatry. But even in the end God alludes to the eventual shame, repentance, and restoration of His faithful remnant from within His wayward people. We reject God by giving His rightful place in our hearts to other things, none of which bring life and fulfillment. Idols can’t be removed from our hearts; they must be replaced by something we love more. God alone must be enthroned in our hearts. No one else compares to God and no one else loves us like God. Life is only found in Him and then only through Christ. God must rightfully reign on the throne of our hearts, and we must filter all of life and every response through the true intimate and relational knowledge of Him in Christ, or we reject Him and reject life. (Vv. 11-19; Gen. 1:26-31; Exod. 20:1-6; Ps. 86:8-10; 89:14-18; 128; Isa. 44:9-20; Jer. 31:15-22; Amos 4:4; 4-6; Luke 15:11-32; John 3:16; 14:6, 9; 1 Cor. 6:19-20; 7:22-23; 2 Tim. 2:12)