The Ways of the LORD Are Right!
Hosea 14
Introduction: Deuteronomy 29:10-13, 22-29; Psalm 81
- Repent, Return, be Restored (Hosea 14:1-3)
Matthew 3:2; 4:17
- The Lord Alone is Healer (Hosea 14:4-7)
Exodus 15:26;
Psalms 103:3; 147:3;
Isaiah 30:26;
1 Peter 2:21-25
- Choose the One True God! (Hosea 14:8-9)
Jeremiah 10:10;
John 17:3;
1 Thessalonians 1:9;
1 John 5:20
Only if and when we return to the LORD, repenting of sin and believing in Jesus Christ, will we find forgiveness and life!
The Autopsy of Israel
Hosea 13
Purpose: Without repentance, spiritual death leads to eternal death.
- Israel died because of their wickedness (Hosea 13:1-3)
Psalm 1
- Israel died because of their pride (Hosea 13:4-8)
Deuteronomy 8:11-14
- Israel died because of their treason (Hosea 13:9-11)
1 Samuel 8:4-8
- Israel died because of their foolishness (Hosea 13:12-14)
Psalm 14:1-3
- Israel is destroyed because of God’s judgment (Hosea 13:15-16)
Jeremiah 14:10-12
Sins of the Fathers, Sins of the Sons
Hosea 11:12-12:14
Purpose: God’s people are called to be faithful and not repeat the sins of their fathers.
- A Collective Charge (11:12-12:2)
- The Example of Jacob (12:3-5)
- God’s People Like Young Jacob (12:7-11)
- God’s Deliverance Available But Rejected (12:12-14)
- Return to the Lord (12:6)
A Father’s Love for the Son
Hosea 11:1-11
Purpose: To return to the Lord, as a child clings to his father
- God Speaks to the Deaf Ones (Hosea 11:2)
The role of the prophets in the history of the nation (Hos 6:5; 9:8; 12:10, 13).
- God’s Grace Toward False Sons (Hosea 11:3-4)
- Wrong Turn! (Hosea 11:5-7)
- Where Holiness and Love Meet (Hosea 11:8-11)
- The True Son (Hosea 11:1)
Jesus is the True Israel (Matthew 2:15)
Jesus Longs for His People (Matthew 23:37-38; Luke 13:34-35)
Christians, adopted sons in Christ (Romans 8:12-17; Ephesians 1:3-8)
God longs for His people, like a father for a wayward son.
Only in Jesus Christ can we be adopted into the family.
Paradise Regained?
Hosea 10
Purpose: Having lost everything, how can we regain what is worth infinitely more?
- The Way Things Are
Deuteronomy 8:11-13
Judges 21:25
Jeremiah 17:9
- The Way Things Will Be
Genesis 3:18
Judges 20:27-37
- The Way Things Were Meant to Be
Matthew 13:18-23
Hebrews 6:7-8
John 15:1-8
To lay down our empty short-term sinful pursuits and break up the fallow ground of idolatry, is to trade the fruit of wickedness that can never satisfy, for the fruit of righteousness that will never disappoint.
Paradise Lost!
Hosea 9
Purpose: Calling us to faithfully follow God at all costs, lest we lose everything.
- The Backdrop (Deuteronomy 11)
Blessings and Curses Promised (esp. vv. 13-17 & 26-28)
- The Betrayal (Hosea 9:1-9)
- The Consequences (Hosea 9:10-17)
There is no wisdom in short-term gain for long-term loss!
Rather, we must sacrifice fruitless and empty short-term idolatrous and sinful pursuits, for long-term Christian eternal gain (Hebrews 12:1-2)
John Piper, “Sin is the suicidal abandonment of joy.”
The Harvest of Self-Reliance
Hosea 8
Purpose: When we, the church corporately, rely on ourselves, we foolishly set ourselves, our desires, and our wisdom up as competition for the jealous, Sovereign God of the universe.
- Their False Reliance on God (Hosea 8:1-3)
- Their Self-Reliance for Security (Hosea 8:4a, 8-10)
- Their Self-reliance in Worship (Hosea 8:4b, 11-13)
- Their Destruction by Self-Reliance (Hosea 8:7, 14)
Turned Away!
Hosea 7
Purpose: Which way are you facing in your relationship with God?
- God Exposes Hidden Sin (Hosea 7:1)
See Jeremiah 23:24
See Luke 18:9-14
- God Perceives the Self-Deceived (Hosea 7:2-7)
They do not consider… that God remembers! (v. 2)
None of them calls on the LORD (v. 7)
- God Invites the Turned Away (Hosea 7:8-16)
Syncretism (vv. 8-9)
Which way do they turn? (vv. 10, 13, 14, 16)
God Invites them back! (v. 13)
Turn Back to God!
2 Corinthians 5:17-21
Ezekiel 33:11
False Repentance As Continued Idolatry
Hosea 6
Purpose: The call to return to the LORD is given lip service by a people of false
and fleeting loyalty.
- The Restoration of the Truly Repentant (Hosea 6:1-3)
- The Ruse of False Repentance (Hosea 4:4-6)
- The Reality of Ultimate Rebellion (Hosea 6:7-11a)
God knows our hearts and will not be fooled by false repentance.
For the truly repentant, there is the promise in Christ of restoration and resurrection.
Pictures Of – and Punishments For – Idolatry
Hosea 5
- The Pervasive Problem of Idolatry
King Saul’s Unacceptable and False Worship (1 Samuel 15, esp. vv. 22-23)
The LORD God does not accept worship that is:
Worshipping things other than God/false fods (Ex 20:1-6; Romans 1)
Worshipping the true God the wrong way (Golden Calf – Ex 32, esp. v. 4)
Worshipping the true God in a self-styled manner (Nadab & Abihu Lev 10)
Worshipping the true God in a wrong attitude or syncretism (Amos 5:21-27)
Supplanting and Subverting God’s way with man’s way (Matt 15:7-9; Is 29:13)
- The Permeating Problem of Idolatry: Private and Public (Hosea 5:1-7)
Though they had religious zeal, it was unacceptable to YHWH
- The LORD’s Punishment for Israel’s Idolatrous Propensity (Hosea 5:8-15)
Follow how the LORD describes Himself here (Hosea 5:10, 12, 14)
What should their response be to the LORD’s judgment? (Hosea 5:15)
Conclusion: You’ve Been Warned! Return to God While You Can!
The Old Testament New Testament Connection:
Learn from the unfaithful ones before you, “Do not be idolaters”
(1 Cor 10:1-12, esp. 7)
A true Christian is dead to idolatry, your life is hidden with Christ in God (Col 3:1-7)
Crucified with Christ, live by faith in the Son of God (Gal 2:20)
KNOW the Lord! (Hos 4:1, 6, 10-12; 5:4, 15; John 17:3; 1 John 5:20)