Hosea 8
COMMENTARY:
: 1 Set the trumpet to your mouth. HE shall come as an eagle against the house of the LORD, BECAUSE they have transgressed MY covenant, and trespassed against MY law. (1285 “covenant” [bariyth] means eat together, league, confederacy, alliance, pledge, treaty, constitution, ordinance, or alliance.)
DEVOTION: In a marriage we pledge to be faithful to each other. This pledge is supposed to last for a lifetime. We make agreements with car companies that we will make payments for a set amount of months and then we own the car. Our credit cards are agreement between some bank or company that we will make monthly payments to pay off our charges. Life is made up of some sort of statements when we tell someone else or a company that we agree to the terms of our relationship.
In this passage we find that the children of Israel were not agreeing to the terms of the relationship that the LORD made with them in the wilderness. HE stated that if they were faithful to HIM, HE would bless them. The blessings included land, crops, and peace if they obeyed HIS commands. These commands were not followed from the start of the children of Israel entering the land until the present moment in their history. They wanted the LORD to continue to be longsuffering with them and let them do what they wanted when they wanted. They expected the blessings without the work.
In an agreement both parties have to do their part. It can never be just one sided. God wanted to do HIS part but they kept sinning against HIS commandments. They were breaking the agreement that was made in the wilderness and the promise they made to Moses, Joshua and many of the prophets that they would be faithful to the LORD.
Today the LORD has made a promise or covenant with the church. It is called a NEW covenant that says basically the same thing but with belief in Jesus Christ at the center of the agreement. We are to promise to obey the commands that Jesus set for those who want to be HIS disciples. If we are obedient HE will bless us. There is promised that there will be times of suffering even with obedience but HE will never leave us alone to face these times.
We have not kept our part of the agreement by obeying HIS command regarding reaching our world for the LORD. We have been sidetracked by other issues. Salvation has to be our main message. Along with salvation is a commitment to growth in the LORD. Just saying a prayer or walking to the front in a church or other place doesn’t make a commitment or agreement. It only makes a commitment or agreement when we follow up our prayer or walk with obedience in our life.
Too many people claim Christianity without growth. At the time of judgment they might find the LORD saying to them “I never knew you.” Don’t let that happen to you.
CHALLENGE: Lead an examined life by going to the LORD regularly with all your heart and asking HIM how you are doing and wait for HIS answer. Remember HE will keep HIS promise.
: 2 Israel shall cry to me, MY God, we know you. (2199 “cry” [za ‘aq] means cry out, assemble, called, gathered together, call for help, summon, raise a battle cry, or to utter aloud a request for help with intensity.)
DEVOTION: There is a tendency in all believers who find themselves in a bad situation to call on God for help. This is the way it should be. We should be able to depend on the LORD to help us through every situation. HE promises to never leave us or forsake us. HE sees everything and can send help immediately.
There is a problem with the people crying out to the LORD in this verse. They are part of a nation that the LORD wants to bless but they are not obeying the commands of the LORD. They were not honoring the LORD in any way but they expected HIM to get them out of any jam they got themselves into. They were wrong.
God only helps believers who are repentant of their sin. This group was not repentant. They just wanted help have their problems go away. That is not how God does things.
There is a second problem. What if these people were people who didn’t really have a relationship with the LORD? They were part of the chosen people but they were disobedient. Some people believe that they are part of the chosen people because they went forward in church or something but their life never changed.
If we want help from the LORD we have to have a relationship with HIM before we pray. HE doesn’t hear the prayers of those who don’t have a working relationship with HIM until they confess their sin and change direction. Has your lifestyle changed since becoming a believer? Do people in school see a difference or are we the same? Are we living an obedient life? If your parents/boss tells you to do something or not do something what do you do? Is your reaction good? Saying NO or saying yes, but not doing it is wrong in the sight of the LORD.
CHALLENGE: Obedience to parents or employers is a sign of obedience of the LORD.
: 12 I have written to him the great things of MY law, but they were counted a strange thing. (2803 “counted” [chashab] means to weave, to respect, to hold in high regard, to assume, impute, reckon, to be deemed or reckoned to be, or to be considered.)
DEVOTION: God does HIS part by giving proper instructions to HIS people. HE covers any topic in HIS law that is important to living a proper obedient life by HIS standard. HE wrote it in the language of the Hebrew people. HE gave them a group of men to instruct all of them in how to live their life according to these standards. HE had each parent receive instructions regarding how to raise their children properly in HIS sight.
The children of Israel at that time thought that HIS laws were in a foreign language. They didn’t want to obey laws that restricted their freedom. The worship of foreign gods was better in their eyes.
So when they looked at the laws of the LORD they were blind. This happens even today in many eyes of those who claim Christ. The New Testament gives us the guidelines for our life. But when they are preached faithfully people walk out of church and forget them because obedience is foreign to many who claim Christ. There is the thought that they can pick and choose which standard they can follow.
We need to learn the standard of the LORD and obey it. Then we need to teach the next generation what we have learned. It should never be foreign to genuine believers. It will always be foreign to those who are just fans of the LORD.
CHALLENGE: Many church members are just fans and not true followers of the LORD. Don’t just be a fan or religious!!
: 14 For Israel has forgotten his Maker, and builds temples; and Judah has multiplied fenced cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof. (6213 “Maker” [‘asah] means to do, fashion, accomplish, produce, to act, or to put in order.)
DEVOTION: The LORD wants the children of Israel to sound the alarm. The enemy is at the door of their cities. They have set up calf worship. They will not destroy the golden calves. They have set up leaders that don’t honor HIM. Even with the calves they claim that they are innocent before the LORD. When they think that there is an enemy coming they hire other nations to defend them instead of turning to the LORD for help. The LORD because of their false worship does not accept them.
The LORD is the creator of the universe. HE created the world in six twenty-four hour days. HE still controls the universe. Israel and Judah had forgotten that fact. They thought that HE was powerless against them. They build fenced cities to protect them. They build false temples to worship in. They thought that HE would accept anything they wanted to do to worship HIM. They were WRONG!!! HE was going to send fire upon their cities. This fire of was going to destroy them.
HE has a plan for our lives. HE had a plan for the children of Israel. HE gave them laws to follow. HE gave them promises. They chose to worship false gods. They chose to depend on their fenced cities. They chose to call on other nations to defend them. They made wrong choices. The choices would come back to cause them problems.
Did God know they were going to make wrong choices? YES!! Was HE still in control? YES!! Was HE still working HIS plan for the children of Israel? YES!! Is HE still working HIS plan for our lives? YES!!
HE is the ONE who put the universe in order. Is it hard for HIM to put our lives in order? NO!! Should we depend on HIM? YES!! Are we depending on HIM or in our own fenced cities or our own defenses?
Only we can answer this question. We have a choice to make each day. It is a choice of either depending on HIM or depending on someone or something else. Make the right choice today.
CHALLENGE: If we genuinely believe HE is God our life will fall into place with HIS commands. Too many really don’t believe HE exists even though they are in church each Sunday. Their actions speak louder than words.
DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Israel going to cry outverse 2
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
House of the LORDverse 1
Offeringsverse 13
DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
Covenantverse 1
Lawverses 1, 12
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
LORD – Jehovah (Covenant keeping, Personal)verses 1, 13
House of the LORDverse 1
God – Elohim (Creator, Sovereign, Plural name)verses 2, 6
Anger of the LORDverse 5
Makerverse 14
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead – God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
God – Elohim (Creator, Sovereign, Plural name)verses 2, 6
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Enemyverse 3
Strangersverse 7
Gentilesverse 8
Assyriaverse 9
Nationsverse 10
Egyptverse 13
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Transgressed verse 1
Trespassedverse 1
Idolsverse 4
Calf worshipverses 5, 6
Ereverse 5
Hired loversverse 9
Altars of sinverse 11
Disobedient to Lawverse 12
False sacrificesverse 13
Iniquityverse 13
Sinsverse 13
Forgotten his Makerverse 14
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Covenantverse 1
Know the LORDverse 2
Goodverse 3
Innocenceverse 5
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Israelverses 2, 3, 6, 8, 14
Bad kingsverse 4
Samariaverses 5, 6
Ephraimverses 9, 11
Judahverse 14
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
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