Hosea 8
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Background
Background
I’m sure you guys know the background...
Let me refresh and get new people caught up quickly
Two kingdoms after king Solomon - Israel north, Judah South
Eventually, both would be conquered and the people exiled
Israel first by who? Assyrians...
Judah later by who? Babylonians...
Israel was in big trouble by the time Hosea comes
Biggest issue is idolatry - what god were they primarily worshipping? Ba’al...
He’s been a problem from the very beginning...
Hosea was a prophet at the end of Israel’s sin before God enacted punishment
That’s when Assyria came in and took Israel into captivity
They never formerly returned and so the ten tribes (Judah and Benjamin in south) were essentially lost
Hosea focuses on this process, a call to repentance before the bad stuff happens
As we go, it’s important to think of two representations of God’s relationship in Hosea:
God as a faithful husband
You probably all remember the story of Hosea and Gomer
His wife was unfaithful and slept with a lot of men
God had Hosea go and payer her debts and restore her
That is an image of God’s love for Israel as a nation AND His love for us
Remember, Christians are heirs of Abraham so we are connected to these OT stories
When you think of God’s husbandly example, think of the type of pain you feel when your partner has an affair
That is how God felt towards Israel
Pain and hurt because of His love
Yet, just like Hosea illustrated, God still pays for our debts in sin, even though we (and Israel) have hurt Him
2. God as a loving father
When you get to chapter 11, we see a picture of God the Father and His son Israel
God taught him, loved him, led him, etc.
But Israel grows up and rebels against his Dad
This is where Israel is during the time of Hosea - in rebellion
We see God experiencing three emotions here
Anger at His son’s sin
Sadness and heartbreak for His son
Finally, His wonderful compassion
Each of those brings something to the table
Anger brings punishment - AKA exile
Heartbreak brings desperate pleading - Hosea’s poems (along with Isaiah, Amos, Elijah, etc.)
Compassion would ultimately bring Jesus and the future reestablished kingdom of Israel
I think it’s good to keep that in mind
It’s tempting to focus on - Oh Israel, you’re terrible...
But don’t forget to see who God is in this story
And it’s also helpful to realize that we are just like Israel too
So, let’s jump into chapter 8...
Hosea 8:1–3 (NASB95)
1 Put the trumpet to your lips!
Like an eagle the enemy comes against the house of the Lord,
Because they have transgressed My covenant
And rebelled against My law.
2 They cry out to Me,
“My God, we of Israel know You!”
3 Israel has rejected the good;
The enemy will pursue him.
We start with a trumpet -why?
Trumpets were used to assemble God’s people together and bring troops into battle
It was an attention getter - God’s saying, “Everybody listen up!”
He’s saying something everyone needs to hear - what’s he say?
Ya done messed up - You’ve transgressed My covenant, you rebelled against the Law
I gave you ten rules... you broke them all
I made deals with Abraham, Moses, David… you threw them away
I gave you a list of things to do, and people in charge of remembering… you still forgot
Now, someone’s coming for you - an enemy is coming like an eagle
Who is that enemy? Assyria...
God is responsible for this, but so is Israel
Israel kept attacking Judah - God’s chosen people fighting each other
Shouldn’t the people of God be unified?
Anyway, the north attacks, gets really close to taking Jerusalem, and then Judah asks for help
From who?
2 Kings 16:7–9 (NASB95)
7 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son; come up and deliver me from the hand of the king of Aram and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are rising up against me.”
8 Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king’s house, and sent a present to the king of Assyria.
9 So the king of Assyria listened to him; and the king of Assyria went up against Damascus and captured it, and carried the people of it away into exile to Kir, and put Rezin to death.
Because Israel was attacking Judah, they paid Assyria to attack Israel, and Assyria wiped them out
Had Israel and Judah stayed one nation, this problem wouldn’t have existed
So there sins were a punishment from God, but their own actions literally made the fall happen
So God is announcing His wrath - how do they respond?
V. 2 “My God, we of Israel know You!”
No you don’t...
We’ll see that here:
Hosea 8:4–6 (NASB95)
4 They have set up kings, but not by Me;
They have appointed princes, but I did not know it.
With their silver and gold they have made idols for themselves,
That they might be cut off.
5 He has rejected your calf, O Samaria, saying,
“My anger burns against them!”
How long will they be incapable of innocence?
6 For from Israel is even this!
A craftsman made it, so it is not God;
Surely the calf of Samaria will be broken to pieces.
When the kingdoms first spilt, Rehoboam took over from his dad Solomon
Solomon raised taxes to build the Temple
The Temple was done, so the north wanted a tax cut
Rehoboam decided to threaten them instead
1 Kings 12:11 (NASB95)
11 ‘Whereas my father loaded you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’ ”
The north wasn’t too happy, they rebelled and made their own king - Jereboam
From the first king, it took about 97 years to tear the kingdom apart
And you thought our government was bad...
The first thing Jereboam does, is make a couple of Temples in Dan and Bethel
Then, he makes the northern version of Jerusalem in a city called Samaria
This was because the Temple and Jerusalem were now in the southern kingdom of Judah
And, he decides to change his sponsorship from God the Most High, to some golden calfs!
That’s why God is saying, “You know Me?!”
I didn’t make you king...
I didn’t make you a nation...
I am not a golden calf!
At some points these idols are removed, and replaced, and removed, and replaced...
At this point, God has had enough
That’s why Assyria is coming...
Hosea 8:7–10 (ESV)
7 For they sow the wind,
and they shall reap the whirlwind.
The standing grain has no heads;
it shall yield no flour;
if it were to yield,
strangers would devour it.
8 Israel is swallowed up;
already they are among the nations
as a useless vessel.
9 For they have gone up to Assyria,
a wild donkey wandering alone;
Ephraim has hired lovers.
10 Though they hire allies among the nations,
I will soon gather them up.
And the king and princes shall soon writhe
because of the tribute.
Notice the wind and whirlwind references
This is a picture of sin and punishment
In one sense, you might say, “Dang, my sin is wind but my punishment is the whirlwind?”
Seems a little unfair! The punishment is bigger than the crime
Sort of, but not really
Whirlwinds AKA tornados average time for existence is 5-10 minutes
But winds are constantly blowing, shaping the earth and creating destruction over time
Often with sin, it lingers and affects our lives constantly, so we don’t notice it
And then the punishment is obvious, but usually they happen quickly
And just like sin, it can have permanent consequences
For Israel, the northern kingdom will simply never exist again
However, Israel as a whole will be “gathered again” as God mentions
Judah will be exiled too, but they will return and eventually come under Rome
But then will be dispersed, and then reborn again in 1948
And ultimately, all of Israel will be united under Christ someday
So there is mercy in God’s judgement here
For now, Israel has decided to do it’s own thing and wander alone like a donkey - apart from God
What Israel has done with Assyria up to this point is pay tribute
Show map
King Pul of Assyria attacked in 740BC
18 (722 BC) years later, Shalmaneser V went after Samaria (the capital)
They pay them tribute to hold them off - but then they stop
About 3 years later, Samaria fell to Assyria
Another 18 years later (701 BC), they go after Judah but are stopped by God
Hosea 8:11–13 (ESV)
11 Because Ephraim has multiplied altars for sinning,
they have become to him altars for sinning.
12 Were I to write for him my laws by the ten thousands,
they would be regarded as a strange thing.
13 As for my sacrificial offerings,
they sacrifice meat and eat it,
but the Lord does not accept them.
Now he will remember their iniquity
and punish their sins;
they shall return to Egypt.
Israel built altars for sin
The altar is bad, but what’s worse is that now creates more sin because of opportunity
Often in life, our sin gets worse when we build opportunity
A young guy and gal start shacking up - it creates opportunity for sin
Even if you want to stop that sin, it’s hard because, “what about the bills, moving her stuff, too much together...”
I know a guitarist who did the whole “sex, drugs and rock n’ roll” lifestyle
He found Jesus and sold his stuff
Man, why not worship?
Nope, it was an alter to sin and if I keep it I’ll go right back
Temptations are always going to happen, but when our life systems are build around sin, it’s hard to stop
The strange thing to God, is He says, “I’ve written to you, and if I wrote you thousands of times, you still wouldn’t know Me.”
That’s why studies like this are important
Remember, Israel said, “We know You.”
There’s a difference between knowing about someone and knowing someone
In Hebrew, there’s the word da’at - means knowledge
But there’s a verb yadah, means to know in an intimate way
My wife’s name is Tasha
She’s 5’5, born in Texas, is interested in home decor, loves Alaska...
I could write a book on the facts of her life and you could read it
You would gain great knowledge of her
But it’s doesn’t mean you know her like I do
I am an intimate student of her, and I know her… yadah
That’s what Israel is claiming, but God is denying that
So they will return to Egypt
Probably not literally - probably a figurative illustration of slavery/captivity
But the ten tribes are said to be lost, so maybe there’s a literal sense there too
Hosea 8:14 (ESV)
14 For Israel has forgotten his Maker
and built palaces,
and Judah has multiplied fortified cities;
so I will send a fire upon his cities,
and it shall devour her strongholds.
To close the chapter, we see judgment not just on Israel, but Judah too...
Israel committed the outright, clearly visible sin of idolatry...
Judah was a little more subtle, but just as sinful
They put their hope in fortresses and other nations
As well as themselves
And here’s the thing we need to take home
Israel trusted false gods to provide for them
They let taxes come before seeking the Lord
They believed they were holier than they were
They thought they could choose to duplicate everything God did
What about Judah?
They decided to be ruthless in stead of peaceable
They chose to out their hope in their own physical buildings
They chose to seek help instead of desperation...
But it didn’t have to be that way...
Later on, Sennacherib of Assyria will go after Hezekiah of Judah, and look at what happens:
Isaiah 37:33–36 (ESV)
33 “Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there or come before it with a shield or cast up a siege mound against it. 34 By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the Lord. 35 For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.”
36 And the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.
Why would God interfere? What was different?
Isaiah 37:15–20 (NASB95)
15 Hezekiah prayed to the Lord saying,
16 “O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.
17 “Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and listen to all the words of Sennacherib, who sent them to reproach the living God.
18 “Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have devastated all the countries and their lands,
19 and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them.
20 “Now, O Lord our God, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, Lord, are God.”
King Hezekiah saw his need to repent and he called out to the Lord
That has been the story of mankind from the first sin until today
Don’t bother trying to fix it yourself,
But don’t be foolish enough to think you don’t need fixing!
Call out to God
Yes, we have all fallen short, but God is so excited to change everything when you seek Him out
If you learn anything from these Israelites, learn that!
Seek the Lord...