Milo

JUNE 23

Reading 174

ISRAEL INDICTED Hosea 4–6

“The Lord has a charge to bring against you who live in the land” (Hosea 4:1).The Old Testament mirrors the heart of God. In the charges brought by Hosea, we can see those issues of justice and righteousness which we must deal with in our society today.

Overview

After preliminary charges (4:1–4), Hosea detailed the sins of priests (vv. 5–11) and people (vv. 12–19). He warned individuals (5:1–7) and the nation (vv. 8–15), but there was only superficial repentance (6:1–3). Thus God’s indictment of His people goes on (vv. 4–11).

Understanding the Text

“A charge to bring” Hosea 4:1–3.

After the first three autobiographical chapters, this chapter samples Hosea’s preaching. This section, in the form of legal charges against Israel, begins with a general description of Hosea’s society. The itemized charges are: there is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God; instead there is cursing, lying, murder, stealing, adultery, and bloodshed. Out of curiosity I picked up this morning’s newspaper, and glanced at the headlines found in the section dedicated to our Florida county. Here are some of the stories that were featured: * 13 mall stores robbed. * Extra forces planned for Labor Day weekend to prevent drunk-driving accidents. * Van window shattered by bullet. * Armed robber arrested. * Crack sweep nets four more. * Teen charged with trying to run down boy with car. * Ex-fire fighter charged with forgery. * Man charged with DUI-manslaughter in 1988 accident. * 18-year-old leader of a group of 15 charged with threatening three with bats and tire irons. * Man 18, girl 14, charged with burglaries. I didn’t look closely at the stories. And I didn’t include the more spectacular big-city headlines, like the one reporting the life sentence given a woman who turned her 13-year-old daughter over to a convicted rapist for a one-time sexual assault, to pay for the mother’s crack cocaine. In a way, the local stories are more frightening. They suggest that the corruption has spread further in our society than we might suspect. Perhaps we should listen closely to Hosea, for our own times are very much like the times in which Hosea ministered! “I reject you as My priests; because you have ignored the law of your God” Hosea 4:4–11. The spiritual leaders of Israel were the first group to be indicted. They were to lead His people to godliness; instead they gave “themselves to prostitution, to old wine and new.” They even relished “their wickedness.” The TV today showed a stooped Jim Bakker being led into a North Carolina courtroom. Yesterday damaging testimony against him was given by a former PTL staff member. Today his lawyer described him as “huddled up in a fetal position, lying on the floor of my office with his head under the sofa, saying that bad people were trying to hurt him.” The Lord needs to protect me from my first reaction, which is that he deserves whatever he gets. Instead I need to be crushed. Crushed and humbled that a spiritual leader of my own day could have “exchanged the glory” found in faithful service to God for contemptible things like millions of dollars, luxury homes and cars, and sexual trysts with church secretaries. Jim Bakker’s indictment is an indictment of us all. “They are unfaithful to their God” Hosea 4:12–19. Hosea continued with an indictment of the whole population of Israel. They chased after idols and permitted their daughters to become cult prostitutes. Their very worship was corrupt. They used religious jargon in their speech (v. 15), but they loved their shameful ways. It’s fine to shout, “Praise the Lord.” But unless our shouts of praise are matched by an equal enthusiasm for obeying the Lord, our religion too is meaningless. “Hear this” Hosea 5:1–7. God brought charges against the priests, the people, and Israel’s royal house, and convicted them. “This judgment is against you.” What did the “guilty” verdict mean? It meant that the divine sentence had been imposed, a sentence that involved the Lord’s withdrawal from His people (v. 7). When troubles came, and Israel looked desperately for God to help her, He would not be found. There is really no greater penalty. Without the Lord we are helpless before circumstances, enemies, and the consequences of our own foolish choices. If God were not here to turn to, there would be nothing at all we could do. Let’s consciously reject Israel’s ways and attitudes whenever they crop up in our own lives. Let’s hold tight to the hand God reaches out for us to grasp. “He is not able to cure you” Hosea 5:8–14. Israel also renounced a national policy of reliance on God. Instead the nation relied on a treaty with Assyria to protect her against Syria. Assyria was only too happy to have this treaty as an excuse to march west. She gobbled up Syria—and then turned on her “ally” Israel. When any nation rejects God, it is in danger. It takes a national revival—admission of guilt and passionate seeking of God (v. 15)-to make any society safe.

DEVOTIONAL

Love Like a Morning Mist (Hosea 6)

Some people are hopelessly optimistic. “I know,” they say. “I know I did wrong, and God has punished me for it. But all I have to do is come back to Him. If I just say, ’I’m sorry,’ everything will be all right. Won’t it?” That’s the kind of blithe optimism portrayed in verses 1–3. And it makes God shake His head in frustration. These people seem to think that some superficial turning to religion is what God wants. They seem to think that if they come to God and say “please,” the Lord will be so delighted that He’ll fall all over Himself to do them good. But God wasn’t interested in superficial religion then. And He isn’t impressed by it today. God’s judgments were intended to bring about a fundamental change in attitude, not a return to church! And so God said, “Your love is like a morning mist,” and “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” What do these two phrases tell us? First, that God isn’t interested in fleeting emotions we may feel toward Him. He wants complete commitment. There’s a vast difference between the “I love you’s” breathlessly exchanged in the backseat of a car, and the “I do’s” shared at a wedding! Second, love for God is to be shown not in religious ceremonies but in daily life. Flowers are nice. But real love is better shown by helping with the dishes, changing dirty diapers, and “being there” when support and encouragement are needed. God isn’t satisfied with a bouquet tossed His way on Sunday. He wants us to show our love for Him daily by doing His will. And so God seems to shake His head, and in frustration wonder aloud, “What can I do with you, Ephraim?” Despite the testimony of God’s Law and the words of His prophets, Israel’s concept of relationship with the Lord still remained shallow. And today we also tend to have a shallow concept of God. God has no use for a “love” that is as fleeting and insubstantial as a morning mist.

Personal Application

Love God always, and you will always obey.

Quotable

“You wish to hear from me why, and how God is to be loved? My answer is: the reason for loving God is God Himself, and the measure in which we should love Him is to love Him without measure.”—Bernard of Clairvaux

Hosea

JUNE 22

Reading 173

AN ADULTEROUS PEOPLE Hosea 1–3

“Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness, because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the Lord” (Hosea 1:2).Christians today are to mimic at least one aspect of Hosea’s life. We are to model the way we live with others on the way that God relates to us.

Background

From its inception by Jeroboam I in 731B.C, the Northern Kingdom of Israel had practiced false religion. That ruler, sure reunion with Judah would follow if his people went regularly to Jerusalem to worship, as God’s Law required, set up a counterfeit religious system in his own land. He established two national worship centers, at Bethel and Dan, and set up golden calves at both places, upon which Yahweh was supposed to ride. He ordained a non-Aaronic priesthood and reorganized the religious calendar. Later Israel proved particularly vulnerable to a virulent form of Baal worship, actively promoted by King Ahab and his wife Jezebel. Even though this had been stamped out during the time of Elijah, Yahweh worship in Israel continued to be corrupt. Not only was the counterfeit system of Jeroboam I maintained, but elements of Baalism, including orgiastic rites and ritual prostitution, were practiced in the name of God. Israel had broken the covenant that bound her to the Lord; an act that was analogous to a woman breaking the marriage covenant. It is this analogy that is developed in the Book of Hosea. In order to demonstrate to Israel the dynamics of her rejection of the Lord, God permitted the Prophet Hosea to marry a wife who became unfaithful. Hosea’s visible suffering at the betrayal of a wife he sincerely loved enfleshed for God’s people the Lord’s own suffering at their betrayal of Him! But then, wonder of wonders, Hosea searched for and found his prostitute wife, purchased her out of the slavery into which she had fallen, and brought her home! How Hosea’s neighbors must have watched in awe. She deserved abandonment, yet an unquenchable love moved Hosea to restore her. Just as God’s unquenchable love will move the Lord, after letting Israel taste the consequences of her spiritual adultery, to rescue Israel and also bring her home. What a powerful reminder to us, first of all of the genuine character of God’s love. But next, of the fact that Hosea was called by God to act out on earth the realities of heaven. Just so, you and I are to respond to others not as they deserve, but as God in grace has responded to us. Like Hosea, each of us who knows Jesus is to be a living example of His unending love.

Overview

God commanded Hosea to marry a woman who would be unfaithful to him (1:1–11), even as Israel had been unfaithful to God (2:1–23). Showing genuine love for his wife, Hosea found her and brought her back, even as God will one day restore exiled Israel (3:1–5).

Understanding the Text

“During the reign of Jeroboam” Hosea 1:1.

With Assyria and Syria temporarily weak, the 40-year reign of Jeroboam was marked by military and economic resurgence in Israel. The king extended Israel’s northern and eastern borders to occupy most of the territory held in David’s day. Wealth flowed into Israel from trade, and local agriculture flourished. Everything seemed to be going so well! Yet spiritually Israel’s worship was corrupt, sprinkled with pagan practices. Society itself was corrupt, as the moral boundary stones too had been moved. Later Hosea cried, “There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land. There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds” (4:2). It is a tragic error to mistake GNP as a true measure of a nation’s well-being. This happened during the reign of Jeroboam II when Hosea began to minister. And the prosperous, complacent people of Israel were deaf to Hosea’s warning. Yet there’s a subtle message in this verse, which locates Hosea’s ministry in the time of Jeroboam of Israel, but also the time of Ahaz and Hezekiah of Judah. That message? During Hezekiah’s reign, some 30 years after Hosea began to preach, Assyria invaded and totally crushed the nation of Israel. The prophet lived to see his grim words of warning fulfilled. In many ways America stands at the same crossroad. Too many of our society’s moral boundary stones have been moved. There is too much violence, too much murder, too much stealing and adultery. And our strength can no more be measured in GNP and weapons systems than ancient Israel’s. Spiritual and moral unfaithfulness remain precursors of certain national disaster. “Go take to yourself an adulterous wife” Hosea 1:2–3. Scholars debate whether Gomer was perhaps a cult prostitute when Hosea married her. It seems unlikely, primarily because his marriage is intended by God to mimic the Lord’s own experience with Israel. It seems almost certain that Gomer was chaste when they married, even as Israel was initially faithful to the Lord. Yet as time passed, she abandoned her husband to pursue other lovers. I can’t explain it. Two of my close friends, both fine Christian leaders, have been abandoned by their wives. In each case the wife has gone on afterward to a series of marriages or affairs, even as Gomer did in leaving Hosea. Why would a woman leave a husband who loved her, who provided for her, with whom she’d had children? But then, why would anyone turn his or her back on relationship with God? Why abandon a God who loves us, who provides for us, who has sacrificed His own Son for us? Perhaps the explanation has to be sought in the grip sin has on the human heart. We can’t explain it. But each of us has to remain aware that deep within is the capacity to wander. Within each of us there lies a desire to go astray. When we think of Gomer—or when I think of my friends and their ex-wives—we need to acknowledge our own vulnerability. And then we need to ask the Lord to help us stay ever so close to Him. “Call him Jezreel” Hosea 1:4–9. The birth of each of Gomer’s three children while she was with Hosea became an occasion for prophecy. With each birth, and through the names given each child, Hosea delivered a new message to his contemporaries. “Jezreel” was the city where Jehu had slaughtered the family of King Ahab, and symbolized a similar destruction about to come on all Israel. Lo-Ruhamah means “not loved,” or “not an object of compassion.” God would soon cease to show favor to His people. Lo-Ammi means “not My people.” The nation which had rejected God would soon be rejected itself. God would withdraw, not Himself, but His protection. Each name confronts an unheeding Israel with the fact that sin has consequences. God would no longer intervene to protect His people from the natural consequences of their acts. Today some suggest that AIDS is a punishment from God on those who practice homosexuality. Others express shock: God couldn’t be so mean! Perhaps. But if AIDS is not a punishment, it surely is a consequence. Sin always has consequences. Some are just more easily identified than others. Jezreel is always just around the corner for those who practice sin. And “not loved” and “not My people” are the relational consequences for those who refuse to stay close to God but violate His precepts. “Say of your brothers, ‘My people’ ” Hosea 1:10–2:1. With the message of abandonment the Old Testament always includes a promise of restoration. Abandonment in the Old Testament is not rejection. It is much like a farmer, who leaves his fields to themselves for a time, letting the weeds that spring up when a field is untended flourish. In most Old Testament passages the word translated “abandon” actually means “withdraw.” If we persist in sinning, God may step back and permit us to experience the natural consequences of our wrong choices. But as Hosea said to Israel, God will surely step in again. He will purge His garden of corrupting weeds, and once again affirm “My people” and “My love.” “I will expose her lewdness” Hosea 2:2–13. In vivid poetic images Hosea now exposed the spiritual unfaithfulness of Israel, using the image of an adulterous wife. She is totally self-centered. She pursues lovers (other gods), but when they fail her she simply goes back to her husband, “for then I was better off than now” (v. 7). There is no sense of sin, no shame, no repentance. She simply comes back, as if she were doing her husband a favor by returning briefly before taking off again! God announced through Hosea that He would force His wife Israel to face reality and to deal with her sins. Every material blessing would be taken away, and she would be stripped of prosperity. Prosperity still insulates many people from spiritual realities. And it may be a blessing if all our “good things” are taken away. “I will give her back her vineyards” Hosea 2:14–23. Again we see the extent of God’s commitment to His own. Despite Israel’s unfaithfulness, the Lord will one day restore His people. “I will betroth you to Me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the Lord” (vv. 19–20). If you’ve ever felt too guilty or ashamed to approach God, remember this verse. No matter what you have done in the past, God loves you. His goal is to make you holy, to make you His own. And God will succeed with you, and with His beloved of the Old Testament, Israel.

DEVOTIONAL

As the Lord Loves(Hosea 3)

Divorce is one of the most traumatic experiences a person can go through. Although I don’t believe the statistics that supposedly indicate some 70 percent of the students in our local school system live with a single or remarried parent, I know that far too many adults and children know that terrible pain. I’m sure that some divorces are not only justified, but necessary. Yet all too many are not necessary at all. Even when one spouse has an affair, the marriage doesn’t have to end in divorce. The pain of betrayal is intense. The hurt, the shame, the anger, all well up. Sometimes it all seems too much to bear—to keep on seeing “him” (or “her”) every day. To imagine the spouse with the lover. For some, this is just too much to take. Still, before a person files for divorce, it’s important to consider Hosea. And to remember what God told him. “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is . . . an adulteress.” And then the Lord added, “Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites.” What a challenge! In our most intimate relationships, those relationships which have the capacity to cause us the deepest pain, we are to love as the Lord loves. To love through the hurts. To love through the misunderstandings. To love through thoughtlessness, selfishness, and unconcern. Sometimes to love even through betrayal! But however hard it may be, we Christians are called to love as the Lord loves. I know that if we took this principle to heart, and practiced it in our homes, the divorce rate for Christians would drop. And despite the pain of such loving, the rewards would be great.

Personal Application

God’s love won you. When you love as God loves, you win others.

Quotable

“If you truly want to help the soul of your neighbor, you should approach God first with all your heart. Ask Him simply to fill you with love, the greatest of all virtues; with it you can accomplish what you desire.”—Vincent Ferrer

Hosea

INTRODUCTION

Hosea began his ministry near the end of the reign of Jeroboam II of Israel (793-753 B.C.). At that time Israel prospered economically, but was marked by injustice and spiritual decline. Hosea’s message constitutes God’s final warning to apostate Israel, and the prophet lived to see his predictions of judgment fulfilled when the kingdom fell to Assyria in 722 B.C. The unique feature of Hosea is that prophet’s relationship with his unfaithful wife. Gomer abandoned her husband to pursue adultery, even as Israel had broken her covenant with the Lord. But like God, Hosea had a genuine love for his bride. In the end he found her abandoned, rescued her, and took her back. Today as throughout Old Testament times, the Book of Hosea testifies to the unshakable love of God for His own.

OUTLINE OF CONTENTS

I.	Israel’s Unfaithfulness	Hosea 1–3
II.	God’s Indictment of Israel	Hosea 4–6
III.	Israel’s Punishment	Hosea 7–10
IV.	Israel’s Restoration	Hosea 11–14

Rather, as it is written: “ No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.” But God has revealed it to us by the Spirit…

But as it is written – This passage is quoted from Isaiah 64:4. It is not quoted literally; but the sense only is given.

But it is evident that Paul had in his eye the passage in Isaiah; and intended to apply it to his present purpose. These words are often applied by commentators and others to the future life, and are supposed by them to be descriptive of the state of the blessed there. 

Eye hath not seen – This is the same as saying, that no one had ever fully perceived and understood the value and beauty of those things which God has prepared for his people. All the world had been strangers to this until God made a revelation to his people by his Spirit. The blessedness which the apostle referred to had been unknown alike to the Jews and the Gentiles.

Nor ear heard – We learn the existence and quality of objects by the external senses; and those senses are used to denote any acquisition of knowledge. To say that the eye had not seen, nor the ear heard, was, therefore, the same as saying that it was not known at all. All people had been ignorant of it.

Neither have entered into the heart of man – No man has conceived it; or understood it. It is new; and is above all that man has seen, and felt, and known.

Landing safely on Ireland’s shores marks the origins of one of the world’s most beloved hymns.

Although everyone knows this beautiful, uplifting hymn, Amazing Grace, not many people know its Irish origins.

The haunting hymn Amazing Grace was penned by the anti-slavery advocate John Newton when he landed in Donegal, safe, having survived a shipwreck. His arrival on Irish shores marked the beginning of his conversion to Christianity and the start of a life of good work. He wrote the first verse in Buncrana, County Donegal.

“Up until that point, he was self-described as a wretch. He was involved in the slave trade.

“He was traveling to Liverpool from Africa and because of the trade winds they had a very circuitous route.

“He was caught in a violent storm and found himself crying out for mercy. He thought: ‘what mercy can there be for me, a wretch?’”

The ship managed to make it to safety, but Newton “stepped ashore in Ireland a changed man.”

Even though he remained active in the slave trade for another six years, he later became a staunch opponent of the industry.

“It is extraordinary to think that John Newton’s safe delivery to these shores at Buncrana on that fateful night of April 8, 1748, inspired him to write one of the most well-known and best-loved hymns in the world,”