A Nation Stumbling
Notes
Transcript
Scripture Reading
Scripture Reading
1 “Hear this, you priests!
Pay attention, you Israelites!
Listen, O royal house!
This judgment is against you:
You have been a snare at Mizpah,
a net spread out on Tabor.
2 The rebels are deep in slaughter.
I will discipline all of them.
3 I know all about Ephraim;
Israel is not hidden from me.
Ephraim, you have now turned to prostitution;
Israel is corrupt.
4 “Their deeds do not permit them
to return to their God.
A spirit of prostitution is in their heart;
they do not acknowledge the Lord.
5 Israel’s arrogance testifies against them;
the Israelites, even Ephraim, stumble in their sin;
Judah also stumbles with them.
6 When they go with their flocks and herds
to seek the Lord,
they will not find him;
he has withdrawn himself from them.
7 They are unfaithful to the Lord;
they give birth to illegitimate children.
Now their New Moon festivals
will devour them and their fields.
Introduction
Introduction
As we’ve been working our way through Hosea, we’ve been shown the very clear picture of the idolatrous and adulterous nature of Israel’s worship. God has been speaking through the prophet Hosea, telling Israel that they have forsaken him as the true and living God, and they are serving false gods. As a result of this, they will be punished by Him.
Only the true and living God is worthy of praise and adoration. He has created us. He is the one who gives us life, and created us for the express purpose of worshiping Him. Besides Him, there is no God.
As we continue in our study, I remind you that Hosea has begun to outline in some further detail the sins of Israels as they have turned away from God. He has moved away from the picture of Hosea and Gomer, which set the scene for understanding how terrible the sins of Israel were. We our now in the midst of a courtroom scene, where is pronouncing His judgments upon Israel as a result of their waywardness.
In this sermon, we will be considering the stumbling of Israel, as well as the fact that they lead others to stumble along with them. The structure of these verses is such that the key focal point is found in verse 5 of our text, where it says that...
“…the Israelites, even Ephraim, stumble in their sin; Judah also stumbles with them...”
And so the focus is on the stumbling that has taken place.
The first thing that we see from our text this evening, is...
1. Warnings (vv.1-2)
1. Warnings (vv.1-2)
1 “Hear this, you priests!
Pay attention, you Israelites!
Listen, O royal house!
This judgment is against you:
You have been a snare at Mizpah,
a net spread out on Tabor.
2 The rebels are deep in slaughter.
I will discipline all of them.
As we read these words, we see the call of God as he speaks to the people Israel. There is a threefold call to the people Israel, one emphasizing the other.
Hear this, you priests!
Pay attention, you Israelites!
Listen, O royal house!
There are three cries, three imperatives that bring the attention of the accused to the judge. They must pay attention to the words that He has to say.
Notice that the cry goes to all cross sections of the Israelite society.
God addresses the priests. They were the ones that were tasked with telling the people about God. Their task was to bring knowledge of God to the people so that they could listen and take heed, and thus live their lives according to the ways and will of God.
Then we find the call to the Israelites. They were to know the Lord, and to walk in His ways as a people. You will recall that last time we were in Hosea, we saw how the people had been charged with forsaking God. Thus God now calls their attention.
And finally, we have the royal house addressed. They too must listen! This refers to the leadership in terms of the king on the throne. The leadership of Israel is here also being charged.
And so we have the people themselves, the priests in terms of the spiritual leadership, and the royal line, in terms of their leadership over the people, all being called by God to take heed to the words that He has to say.
He goes on to say, "This judgment is against you...” and then he brings the charges against them.
Three different charges are brought here. It is likely that each of the three relates to the three groups of people that are addressed.
Firstly, we read “you have been a snare at Mizpah. Mizpah here probably refers to the Mizpah that was a small town of Benjamin, some 10km to the North of Jerusalem. It is was an important center for the Jews, and there are a number of events that take are recorded as having taken place there.
The fact is that the priests had caused a snare to the people in this place. It is likely that this had become a place of worship, but to false gods.
The people themselves are charged of being “a net spread out on Tabor.” Tabor was a mountain peak just to the North of the Jezreel valley. Given that Israel has just been accused of worshiping the gods on every high place, this is evidently what is in mind here. They are entrapped, caught in a net of sin as they worship these false gods.
And then Hosea says “the rebels are deep in slaughter.” The royal house, the leaders of Israel, are guilty of the leading of many people astray. Hosea will come back in more detail to outline the sins of the leaders, the royal household of Israel, but for now, God’s charge against them as that their actions are resulting in slaughter.
Based on these charges, the warning is sounded! “I will discipline...”
The judge who presides - that is God Himself - will bring the discipline upon the people of Israel. All of them alike will be disciplined as a result of their sin.
Notice secondly, with me...
2. Apostasy (v.3)
2. Apostasy (v.3)
God says to them…
3 I know all about Ephraim;
Israel is not hidden from me.
Ephraim, you have now turned to prostitution;
Israel is corrupt.
Firstly, we must understand that Israel and Ephraim refer to the same people here - that is the 10 northern tribes of Israel.
God says that he knows about what they are doing. “I know all about Ephraim; Irsael is not hidden from me...”
There is nothing that escapes the knowledge of God. There is nothing that Israel had done that had gone unnoticed by Him.
How often don't people think that they can get away with their deeds, because they're hidden... no one will see.
Even as Christians, we may be tempted to ignore the fact that God sees our deeds as His people. Whenever we engage in willful sin, this is what we’re doing.
Job said these words...
13 “There are those who rebel against the light,
who do not know its ways
or stay in its paths.
14 When daylight is gone, the murderer rises up
and kills the poor and needy;
in the night he steals forth like a thief.
15 The eye of the adulterer watches for dusk;
he thinks, ‘No eye will see me,’
and he keeps his face concealed.
16 In the dark, men break into houses,
but by day they shut themselves in;
they want nothing to do with the light.
17 For all of them, deep darkness is their morning;
they make friends with the terrors of darkness.
It is a sad place to be in when a person delights so much in their deeds of darkness, that they wait for the night hours so that no one will see.
15 Woe to those who go to great depths
to hide their plans from the Lord,
who do their work in darkness and think,
“Who sees us? Who will know?”
But friends, we must remember that God sees. God sees all the deeds that we do, that all the world does, and not only this, but He takes note.
Every eventuality, every activity, every thought, every intention of the heart, is laid bare before God. Let us not be deceived, God knows! Let us rather walk as children of light, obeying the Lord at all times, even when there is no one around us to observe us. God sees.
As Hosea goes on, we see that Ephraim and Israel have engaged in prostitution; they are corrupt.
We have seen much of this already, I won’t delve too much further into it. But the fact that they had become corrupt was plain to God, and it was a sad sight in God’s eyes.
Notice further that God says that they are...
3. Beyond Repentance (v.4)
3. Beyond Repentance (v.4)
4 “Their deeds do not permit them
to return to their God.
A spirit of prostitution is in their heart;
they do not acknowledge the Lord.
As a nation, they have been engaging in deeds (continually so) that caused them to be separated from the Almighty. Because they continue in these deeds, and delight in these deeds, they will not be able to return to God.
Pause for a moment, and consider how far down the road of apostasy these Israelites must have been to be turning away from God to this extent. Remember also that Israel had lived in this way despite the fact that they were the chosen people of God.
We must ask ourselves and consider, how can it be that a people becomes so lost... so far from God...
Let me say that this does not happen in a step. It does not happen suddenly. Rather, it is a long, slow drift away from God, and failing to take corrective actions, or the necessary actions, while there is still time and hope to do so.
Israel had drifted to such an extent, that the entire motivation of their lives was corrupt.
Hosea goes on to say that “…a spirit of prostitution is in their heart...”
At the very core of their beings, they were defiled. Their hearts had become fixed on other gods. Their hearts had be deceived into longing for and desiring those things which were apart from God, instead of longing for and delighting in the Lord alone.
23 Above all else, guard your heart,
for it is the wellspring of life.
Notice also that Hosea writes that “…they do not acknowledge the Lord...”
They failed to know the Lord. We considered this term in our last study. In essence, they did not have a knowledge of God. they failed to know the God who had redeemed them.
As a result, they were entirely caught up in their own lusts of the flesh.
This leads us to consider...
4. Stumbling (v.5)
4. Stumbling (v.5)
This is the central point of this passage...
5 Israel’s arrogance testifies against them;
the Israelites, even Ephraim, stumble in their sin;
Judah also stumbles with them.
God says to them through Hosea that their arrogance testifies against them. They are arrogant because despite knowing God's law, they have chosen to forsake Him.
Indeed, to know the law of God and the ways of God, and then to choose to walk in disobedience, is to defy the Almighty Creator, and thus to walk in arrogance.
Not only this, but they have failed to place their trust and their reliance in the Almighty God, and instead have trusted in worthless idols. Instead of knowing God, and placing their trust in the God revealed to them, they placed their trust instead in idols of their own making and fascination.
As Israel has walked in total disobedience, without paying heed to the Lord and His ways as revealed through the law and the writings, they were now being convicted of their arrogant ways, and that sin was now brought against them in this courtroom.
But notice the consequences of this sinful conduct - they stumble!!
“The Israelites, even Ephraim, stumble in their sin.”
This is what is happening with Israel. They are stumbling. This means that they have lost their balance, and they can no longer stand. They are about to fall and to come to ruin.
They have lost sight of God, and they have fallen into moral decay, and thus they will incur the just wrath of God upon them.
But notice that Judah is not far off. At the end of verse 5, Hosea writes, “Judah also stumbles with them.”
You will recall from our previous study in Hosea, in Hosea 4:15, that Hosea had said “though you commit adultery, O Israel, let not Judah become guilty.”
But sadly, this has not been the case. Judah has followed also in the ways of perversion and waywardness of Israel. Judah has also been led astray into the ways of Israel.
This truth preempts the words spoken by the prophet Ezekiel...
31 You have gone the way of your sister; so I will put her cup into your hand.
32 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“You will drink your sister’s cup,
a cup large and deep;
it will bring scorn and derision,
for it holds so much.
33 You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow,
the cup of ruin and desolation,
the cup of your sister Samaria.
34 You will drink it and drain it dry;
you will dash it to pieces
and tear your breasts.
I have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord.
35 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Since you have forgotten me and thrust me behind your back, you must bear the consequences of your lewdness and prostitution.”
A nation, once so powerful because of their trust in God Almighty, is about to be brought into captivity because of her own arrogance.
How we must learn these lessons as the people of God, so that we would maintain a steadfast trust in our God, not wavering to the right or to the left, but being fully devoted to Him.
As we move on in our passage, we see this reiteration of that which has been said...
5. Beyond Repentance (v.6)
5. Beyond Repentance (v.6)
6 When they go with their flocks and herds
to seek the Lord,
they will not find him;
he has withdrawn himself from them.
In these words, Hosea anticipates a time where the Israelites will out of desperation come to a place where they will seek the Lord. They will realise, when they are taken into the barren wilderness of God’s discipline, that they need God.
The will take their flocks and herds in order to offer up sacrifices and seek the face of God. But at that time, they will not find Him.
Why? Because he will have withdrawn himself from them.
There comes a point where God will no longer entertain the waywardness of a people. He will leave them to their own devices, and give them over to the stubbornness of their ways.
28 “Then they will call to me but I will not answer;
they will look for me but will not find me.
15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even if you offer many prayers,
I will not listen.
Your hands are full of blood;
Can there be a more frightening situation than that God hides Himself from a people?
In this situation, the Israelites would no longer enjoy the favour and the delight of being under the protective and loving, compassionate care of the Almighty God
They would find that His hand of compassion would be withdrawn from their lives, because they refused to listen.
We must remember that a life without God, a life apart from God, is a life lived in utter darkness and without understanding. We cannot make sense of life apart from Him!
How foolish it is to ignore God, and to live life in a way that does not acknowledge the true and living God.
How sad it is to see so many churches forsaking the Word of God, forgetting those truths contained in the Scriptures, not proclaming the truths concerning God, and so often following after the sinful desires of their hearts, all the while claiming that God is pleased with them.
We must pray that the church would stay true to the Scriptures and have a profound impact on the world.
6. Apostasy (v.7a)
6. Apostasy (v.7a)
The apostasy of Israel that was mentioned in verse 3 is reiterated here in verse 7...
“They are unfaithful to the LORD; they give birth to illegitimate children.” (Ho 5:7).
Their apostasy is shown in their unfaithfulness towards God. They are unfaithful to the Lord.
Through Isaiah, the Lord said of Israel...
8 You have neither heard nor understood;
from of old your ear has not been open.
Well do I know how treacherous you are;
you were called a rebel from birth.
And through Jeremiah, God said...
20 But like a woman unfaithful to her husband,
so you have been unfaithful to me, O house of Israel,”
declares the Lord.
Not only this, but they have given birth to illegitimate children.
One commentator writes:
Hosea, Amos 5:5–7 Grounds Found for Leniency? None!
The nation has reached the point of desperation. Children have been born to them from their prostitution and adultery. They are gifts from God, but the people attribute them to Baal. So they are called illegitimate, strange, or foreign because they are the offspring of idolatry and the fertility cult. They do not belong to God’s family. They are the product of treachery and covenant breaking
All of this leads us to consider our final point...
7. Punishments (v.7b)
7. Punishments (v.7b)
“Now their New Moon festivals will devour them and their fields.” (Hosea 5:7, NIV84)
This point stands within the structure connected to verses 1 and 2, where God gave his warnings.
Their punishments would come, even though they participated in festivals to God.
Through Isaiah, God said to Israel...
13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings!
Your incense is detestable to me.
New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—
I cannot bear your evil assemblies.
14 Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts
my soul hates.
They have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them.
This ties in with the theme of God withdrawing himself from Israel as a result of her idolatrous practices.
One cannot come to the place of worship of God, and all the while be forsaking Him for idols. And so God’s punishment would come…
They, along with their fields, their crops, would be devoured. They were ripe for judgment!
We will consider this in more detail next time.
As we close...
Application and Conclusion
Application and Conclusion
We must, as the church, take heed to the warnings that are left to us in the Scriptures. We must hear from our God, and we must live in a manner such that we are devoted to Him and to serving Him, and to pleasing Him.
This is our calling!
Let us not drift away. Let us not forget the word of God, and the ways that are pleasing to our God.
Let us clothe ourselves in the Lord Jesus Christ. His grace has been shown in abundance to us. His mercies are great towards us. Because of this, and because of His Spirit that dwells within us, we may continue to pursue a life lived faithfully before our God.
Let us be a people that delights in studying the Scriptures, growing in holiness and righteousness.
Let us be a people fighting the battles against sin and unbelief - not only unbelief in thought, but unbelief that is demonstrated through our actions. Don’t fight your battles alone! We as Christians need one another to help and support each other in our spiritual battles.
I close with the words of the writer to the Hebrews...
4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, 6 if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.
7 Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. 8 But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.
9 Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case—things that accompany salvation. 10 God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. 11 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. 12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
Be encouraged, dear brothers and sisters. God is faithful. Only let us press on in our faith, and continue with a deep trust in Christ.