BOOK OF HOSEA - PART TWO

 

 

E. Hosea’s redemption of his faithless wife 3.1-5 The Lord tells Hosea to befriend a woman, an adulteress, just as the Lord loves Israel, but she/they turn to other lovers (gods). Hosea hires her for 15 shekels of silver, a homer of barley, and a lethech of barley. Then he tells her she must go for a long time without either fornicating or marrying. Hosea tells her even he will not cohabitate with her.

 

 

He uses this example to tell Israel that they will go a long time without king, officials, sacrifice, images, or a priesthood. Afterward, they will turn back and seek the Lord their God and David their King and will fear the Lord and His goodness in the later days.

 

 

In the last days the lost tribes of Israel/Ephraim/Gentiles will discover their roots and return to worshipping the Lord as he desires. Now the church is filled with paganism and mixture because they have turned away from their Hebraic roots of the faith. Judah and Ephraim will be the two sticks coming together in Ezekiel 37.11-28. This mystery has been hidden from us until this day! He who has ears to hear will hear.

2. Israel’s unfaithfulness and consequent judgment 4.1--13.16The remainder of the book consists of a collection of prophetic speeches that accuse Israel and Judah of unfaithfulness, announce the judgment that will befall them, but also foreshadow the hope of restoration and return--unity and joint heirs.

A. The guilt of the people 4.1-3 Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel; for the Lord has an indictment against the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or loyalty, and no knowledge of God in the land. Swearing, lying, and murder, and stealing and adultery break out; bloodshed follows bloodshed. Therefore the land mourns, and all who live in it languish; together with the wild animals and the birds of the air, even the fish of the sea are perishing.

God is not pleased with Israel or for that matter mankind. This sounds like our society today. Without faith in and obedience to, man cannot please God.

B. The guilt of the priests 4.4-8 The Lord tells the priests that they have caused the people to stumble. They have rejected the Torah (law, also means ‘teaching’) of God. God is rejecting the priests for their disobedience.

Even today there are so many interpretations of the word. Men turn and twist it, take it out of context, refuse to seek truth when presented with it. The preachers say, “We are not under the law!’ That is not exactly the truth. We are not under the curse of the law, but we are to follow Torah (the 10 commandments) as a righteous code of living. We cannot do whatever we please. The Lord also has instructed us what feasts to observe (Lev23), but the church refuses to observe them. The church clings to their feasts which are rooted in paganism.

C. Punishment for all 4.9-12 And it will be: Like people, like priests. I will punish both of them for their ways and repay them for their deeds. “They will eat but not have enough; they will engage in prostitution but not flourish,
because they have deserted the Lord to give themselves to prostitution; old wine and new wine take away their understanding. My people consult a wooden idol, and a diviner’s rod speaks to them. A spirit of prostitution leads them astray; they are unfaithful to their God.

The people are just as disobedient as the priests. They continue to follow after idols and reject the teaching. This is exactly what is taking place in the church today. They reject the truth of history and Hebraic roots, instead stubbornly clinging to false teaching. They do not want to change or seek the truth in the word (Luke 6.24-26). They do not realize that they are missing out on their millennial rewards. God will teach and be merciful to them in the millennium, but their tears will have to be wiped away when they realize the opportunity they have missed.

D. Immoral cult practices 4.11-19 God continues to list the sins of Israel. They offer sacrifices to idols on the mountains, stray away from God, they offer to idols in the shady groves of oaks, poplar, and elms. God gets sarcastic and says he will not punish the whoring daughters because their husbands are whoring around just as bad! It says that Ephraim is addicted to idols! Israel is a stubborn cow. (Beth-aven means ‘House of Iniquity’)

Israel is referred to as Ephraim as the first king, Jeroboam came from Ephraim and Ephraim was the heart of the Northern Kingdom’s territory. In Genesis 48 Ephraim was given a national blessing of greatness which included the future mixing with the gentiles.

The apostate church in our day often mixes in new age, Wicca, and many other pagan rituals in order to appeal to a larger group. They have become all inclusive wanting to appeal to all. God does not want this mixture. He desires we be holy as He is holy. As the apostate church goes astray, the seekers of truth are returning to Hebraic roots.

NEXT: HOSEA - PART THREE