Hosea 6
COMMENTARY:
: 2 After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. (2416 “revive” [chay] means life, live, renewal, to recover health, preserve, keep alive, cause to flourish or nurture.
DEVOTION: When children are given a punishment of a week without out television they think that their parents will forget and let them return to watching their favorite programs after a day or two. This sometimes is true. Some parents say something and never follow up on it and therefore never believe their parents will really act on their misbehavior. This is wrong on the part of the parents because it sets a pattern for life. They will think the same thing if after they become an adult and their boss warns them and they think the same thought they will lose their job and wondered what happened because it never happened when they were home.
Here the children of Israel are thinking that they can fake a revival and the LORD will believe that they have repented of their sin and HE will send back all the blessings.
The LORD is not easily fooled by false worship. HE wants genuinerepentance before HE will declare a revival in the nation. The chapter continues with verse four where the LORD is responding to their claim of revival.
HE states that their revival is like morning dew that disappears as soon as the sun come us. It is not really enough water to keep the crops growing. To have enough water there must be rain. Nothing is going to grow properly with fake revival or morning dew.
The LORD wants genuine revival where there is repentance of sin and a change of direction for the life of the people. HE knows the difference. The people just don’t understand it. They are foolish.
CHALLENGE: Don’t think that you can fake a repentant spirit. God always looks at our heart to see what is really happening. People might believe you but it will not bring the blessings of the LORD back into your life. Genuine repentance brings blessing!
: 4 O Ephraim, what shall I do to you? O Judah, what shall I do to you? for your goodness vanishes like the morning mist, and disappears like dew in the sunlight.
DEVOTION: There are people who like to be religious. They say the right things. They act the right way but their heart is far from the LORD.
The LORD uses the example of love. Those people who say the right things to us and sometimes act the right way toward us tell us that they love us. The LORD wants love to be genuine just like us.
The actions of those who say that they love us prove their love by them being their when we are hurting. They are there when we need help. They are there to tell us lovingly when we do wrong. They are there with resources that we could not normally afford.
Genuine love is different than mere words – it is always shown in actions. God hears the people say that they want to see the blessings of the LORD but they refuse to change their habits. They continue to practice things that displease HIM and expect HIM to send them blessings.
If we are genuine in our love for others we will change want needs to be changed in our life to help them love the LORD more. It is hard. We don’t like change and the change can’t just last for a couple of days like the change the children of Israel were trying to give the LORD. It has to last a long time.
CHALLENGE: Don’t let people you love down by only loving them over the short haul!!! They need you for a lifetime. The LORD wants a lifetime commitment too.
: 6 For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. (1847 “knowledge” [da’ath] means perception, skill, discernment, wisdom, or understanding.)
DEVOTION: There is a call to return to the LORD. The ten northern tribes were getting further away for true worship of the LORD. The LORD wanted internal worship first before external worship. HE wanted the people to have a good working relationship with him before they came to sacrifice at the Temple. They thought that if they just brought sacrifices to the LORD, HE would be happy with them. HE wanted their hearts first and foremost. HE wanted them to understand HIM more than just going through the motions. HE wanted their hearts desire to be to please HIM.
However, they were breaking HIS covenant. Their external actions showed that they didn’t love HIM. They were doing things that showed that they didn’t understand HIS heart. HE had set up cities of refuge for people to run to if they were innocent of a crime. The priest was to discern if they were innocent or guilty of murder. The innocent party was to stay in the city until the priest died and then he could return to his home. If the person was guilty, he was given over to the one who was offended for judgment.
Now they were having the guilty ones stay in the city and rob and murder for the profit of the priests. The spiritual leaders consented to their sinful behavior. The ones who were to direct them to the commandments of the LORD were telling them that their sin was OK. The LORD was not pleased with these actions. Judgment was coming unless they returned to the commandments of the LORD.
The chapter ends with a warning to the Southern Kingdom of Judah and Benjamin to not follow in their actions or they would follow in their judgment.
There is a belief hitting our churches that says that we don’t need theology or theologians because they just confuse the issue of a good relationship with the LORD. The children of Israel didn’t think they had to know much about the LORD because all they needed to know was the basics. They only had to bring their sacrifices to the temple on the Sabbath and all would be well.
Today there is a feeling that all we have to do to be good Christians is to go to church, give to church and read the Bible once in a while and then we are in a good relationship with the LORD. WRONG!!! The relationship is one that has to be worked on. If we want to have a good marriage – we have to work at it. If we want to have a good paying occupation – we have to work at it. If we want to have a good-looking house – we have to work at it. If we do the just do the basics and not work at it – they will fall apart in time.
The same is true with our relationship with the LORD. To have a good relationship with the LORD we have to study the Word of God to find out what HE expects of us. When we study the Word of God we become theologians. What is a theologian? It is someone who is involved in the “study of God.” If we are studying the Word of God we realize that God doesn’t want us to settle for the basics of the faith. HE wants us to move to advances principles in the Word of God. HE wants us to be teachers of others. The only way we can be teachers is to study. When we study we have an understanding of all the doctrines or teachings of Scripture. We should be able to teach the whole counsel of God after we have been saved for a number of years. Some people have been a Christian for twenty years with only one year of understanding twenty times. That is sad.
Our relationship with the LORD has to be internal first and then our actions will be true to HIS Word. Are our actions true to HIS Word or are we going through the external motions with no internal interest???
CHALLENGE: God wants us to be able to give an answer for our belief in HIM to others. Genuine answers only come from genuine study of the Word of God. This causes a lifestyle change in our life.
: 9 As bands of robbers lie in wait for a man, So the company of priests murder on the way by consent; Surely they commit lewdness. (2154 “lewdness” [zimmah] means wickedness, mischief, heinous crime, wicked devices, infamy, shameful behavior, or fornication and incest.)
DEVOTION: There were refuse cities for people who were accused of killing someone. If they were declared innocent the “avenger of blood” couldn’t kill them. The avenger was usually a relative of the one who was killed. The city was occupied by priests. The high priest made the final decision and the person had to stay in the city until the high priest died.
The priests in the city were declaring guilty people innocent and letting them live in the city. These guilty people would pay off the priests. They were able to get the money to pay them from criminal acts.
It was wrong but it was happening. God condemned it. The people were far from serving the LORD.
Today we find that many church leaders are condoning sin in the church. They know their people are disobeying the LORD but there is no confrontation. They want the money in the offering plates. This is wrong.
Paul had the church at Corinth confront a man who was part of their fellowship who was having improper relationships with a woman. He was confronted and repented and Paul wrote in his third letter to restore the man to fellowship in the church.
Confrontation from the LORD or others who are in tune with the LORD is good for the fellowship of the church. Sometimes confrontation is abused but that doesn’t mean that it can’t be done right with a loving attitude toward reconciliation.
CHALLENGE: The LORD wants HIS leaders to be clean and serve a clean congregation. This can only happen with confession of sin and turning toward the LORD daily.
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