Similar to what Hosea was saying in 9:10, he starts off here talking of how Israel started strong but eventually faded off. He was a luxuriant wine God did many wonders and works through. He has always been faithful to him and he started faithful to Him. The issue is that as they prospered, Israel no longer felt like it needed God. They started building more altars, ones not ordained by God, and began to strengthen their pillows.
When it says they strengthen their pillars, this is a reference to 8:14 where Judah multiplied fortified cities. 8:14 also references how Israel forgot his Maker and built palaces. So many thoughts flood my mind from this first verse.
It is important to reference two other sets verses as well that connect Hosea to today. The first is Deuteronomy 8:11-14 where Moses predicted/warned Israel that as they grew full and build good Hosea’s that they do not need to forget God. That despite their perceived earthly success, they need to remember the source of it.
Another set of verses is Proverbs 30:8-9 where the writer of Proverbs asks/prays for the removal of falsehood and lying lest he ask “who is the Lord?” when he becomes successful. We see this story in movies all the time. A person comes up from nothing, loses focus, forgets how they got there, tumbles down, and then works to build it back up. It’s a storyline taken from the Bible. Sidenote, see how the Bible influences (or can) the culture.
We also see in Romans when Paul talks about how people will worship creation and not the Creator, utterly insulting the Creator. It’s not that it always starts bad, it may have started with God’s blessing and started as something that glorified Him, but eventually it got too puffed up and forgot who the real focus is.
I think of megachurches or just large churches in general with large populations and multiple services. Not all of them are bad, but some of them we see preach and teach things so that more people will come, leading to a larger congregation, leading to more money, and then developing more fame.
Perhaps that church started off right, but somewhere along the way if we don’t keep a steadfast love and faithfulness to Him we will lose sight and think we are the ones that did it and not Him.
I think of my children. I think of David. We think that our children are ours. We think we have control over them and that we have the final say when it comes to decisions for their lives. “I brought you in this world and I can take you out.” You sure? You brought them into this world? You created the reproductive organs? You directed the uterus and umbilical cord on how to provide nutrients? You told your body what to do and when come delivery time?
I can’t imagine if women had a say in things that they would choose to be pregnant for nine months. We didn’t create anything, we control nothing.
How could God take away David? Because David is His. He allowed me to be his dad, but David was never mine. David was always His because He created David. That’s why I can have peace even through missing David on Father’s Day because I know David is now with his true Father. David was never mine. David is His.
The issue is we get caught up in what humans do that we forget that without Him we are dust and are incapable of anything. This is why people are so off thinking God did not create the universe and that we are just a result of cosmic coincidence.
Some people say we are made from different results of a collision and that what makes up the stars makes up us. Okay… maybe. What makes the stars though? Well gasses that collide and condense. Okay… where did those gasses and collisions come from? Well the Big Bang that set everything in motion. Okay… what banged? Well matter and particles that have been here. Okay… so what or who put them there? They were just there? They made themselves? Those particles and gasses have intellectual minds that decide what to create? It doesn’t make sense.
Creation cannot make itself, there has to be a creator. A pot or vessel can’t create itself, there has to be a potter. The issue is that if the pot decided it wasn’t going to serve its purpose the potter would have no use for it and then destroy it. For example, if it is made to hold water and starts leaking then its purpose is gone and the potter destroys and makes another one.
That’s what happened with Israel, they decided to stop serving its purpose because they thought they were responsible for their success. They became worthless vessels that no longer served their purpose, so God will destroy them (Hosea 8:8-10).
Verse two says that God will break down their altars (to Baal) and destroy their pillars. Well I think this begs the questions on why didn’t God do this as soon as Israel started going astray, why not destroy them immediately? Because He is a patient God, He does not want to destroy His people, He wants to love them. He wants His people, and now all people, to come to Him.
It’s the same thing right now when it comes to Jesus’ return. 2 Peter 3:8-9 explains that God is not slow to fulfill His promise, but is patient for us to turn to Him because He does not wish any of us to perish. Eventually He will come through and will bring His destruction, just as He did with Israel as prophesied in Hosea.
Verses three through six continue to explain this and then begin to say how Israel will be punished.
In verse seven it says the king of Samaria will be like a twig tossed in the ocean, a twig getting tossed and destroyed by every wave and shift in the water. The people will be utterly and completely helpless and in no control, so will be the workers of iniquity in the end.
In verse eight we see thorns borough up again (2:6, 9:6). Here it says that thorns and thistle will grow on their altars. This reminds me of the parables of the soil, how the thorns will choke out the new seed and/or plant that is planted in the soil. God is going to go directly to the workers of iniquity (as well as the ultimate one, Satan) and will choke off their evil works just as they choked out the seeds God plants in people.
In verse ten we see a profound statement, “When I please.” The pot ought not question the potter, Job was not to question God, Peter ought not to disagree with Jesus (get behind Me Satan). He will do things in HIs time and in His way because He is perfect and all knowing. We are to be faithful in the meantime while we are waiting.
This is what Hosea is saying in verse twelve, that we need to sow righteousness in order to reap steadfast love. Remember steadfast love was mentioned in 4:1 as one of the things that the children of Israel did not have for God.
In order to sow, the ground (our heart) needs to be stirred up so that His Word/water/rain can penetrate and get in. This is why learning new things about Him and becoming more like Him feels like a movement or is painful, because our hearts are being stirred and broken up so He can get into our hearts. It didn’t always have to be painful and not always is. But when we abuse the freedom to thresh and roam that’s when it hurts. That’s because now He has to place the yoke on us and put us to work to sanctify us.
Unlike Israel in this chapter, there is hope though! We don’t have to work like they did, or should I say the yoke (law, sacrifices) aren’t such a burden. Why? Matthew 11:30 says, “My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” As long as we remain in Jesus and His ways, then the burden is easier to carry each day.
But again, we see the warning in verses thirteen through fifteen of sowing on our own and relying on ourselves. On our own we will plow iniquity, reap injustices and tumult, and war will overcome us. The fortresses we built for ourselves like Judah will be destroyed.
I love how in the midst of all this bad news that in verse 12 God still puts in some hope for us. Thank goodness for all of us and many unbelievers that He is patient with us and is going to give us every opportunity to come back to Him before He punishes us.
So marriage…
Some of this was stirred up and assisted by the study notes in my Bible. In verse eleven when God puts the yoke on Ephraim, thi cross references to chapter three when Hosea restrains Gomer and tells her she will dwell with him many days. Why did this happen? Gomer is unfaithful. How does one cheat on their spouse? They lose sight of God as said in chapter ten.
A couple of days ago when reading Hosea 8 I mentioned how a marriage not centered on God is useless. This is because of the fact that it ceases to be the illustration/story He is trying to model.
Many (not all) marriages start off in the “honeymoon” stage. The problem is that this is not sustainable and is like building on sand. Eventually a strong enough storm (trial) will wipe it out. It is only the marriages centered on God, built on the rock that will last.
We must be active in sowing righteousness in order to reap steadfast love, first for God and then for each other. A couple in which both people have a true love for God will have a true love for each other.
Remember that God is love, so if your marriage is going to be full of love, it needs to be full of God. The couples that lose sight of God lose sight of the love given to them. God’s love is full of forgiveness and patience (2 Peter) and serving (those who are last will be first and Jesus washing the disciples feet).
If you find yourself pointing out faults in your spouse, condemning them instead of encouraging them, looking at yourself as more righteous than your spouse, then you have lost sight of God. Quickly return to Jesus so that the restoration and yoke for plowing is light. If you wait for something like adultery or abuse, then the yoke to recover is going to be much heavier because of your lack of trust in God.
Just as earlier I said our kids are not ours, our marriage is not ours. Our marriage is serving a purpose for His Kingdom. stay focused on Him (the foundation) and not your spouse in order to serve His purpose and experience true love, joy, and peace.
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Amen.