The church is a “woman with a past.”  You know the type.  For all our social “progress,” our world still frowns on sexual promiscuity.  And this is precisely what the church has become.   Sure, we’d like to live under an assumed innocence, but the concept of sin simply won’t let us escape the gravity of knowing that we are all have “a past.”  In his book Reagan’s America, Gary Willis writes:

“We are hostages to each other in a deadly interrelatedness.  There is no ‘clean slate’ of nature unscribbled on by all one’s forebears….At one time a woman of unsavory enough experience was delicately but cruelly referred to as ‘having a past.’  The doctrine of original sin states that humankind, in exactly that sense, ‘has a past.’”  (Gary Willis, Reagan’s America: Innocents at Home, p. 384)

In Hosea 12, Israel’s past comes back to haunt her.  Like Gomer, Israel was a “woman with a past.”  And now, we’ll see how God deals with this.

LESSONS FROM HISTORY

The passage opens by looking at the history of Jacob:

Ephraim feeds on the wind and pursues the east wind all day long; they multiply falsehood and violence; they make a covenant with Assyria, and oil is carried to Egypt.  ² The LORD has an indictment against Judah and will punish Jacob according to his ways; he will repay him according to his deeds.  ³ In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his manhood he strove with God.  ⁴ He strove with the angel and prevailed; he wept and sought his favor. He met God at Bethel, and there God spoke with us–  ⁵ the LORD, the God of hosts, the LORD is his memorial name:  ⁶ “So you, by the help of your God, return, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God.”  (Hosea 12:1-6)

If you have a background in church, you probably remember the story of Israel.  God had first made a promise to Abraham—that his many descendants would possess God’s promised land.   Abraham became the father of Isaac, and Isaac had two twin sons: Jacob and Esau.  Esau was technically the firstborn, but Jacob came out clutching his brother by the heel.  Even the name “Jacob” means “heel-grabber,” what became a self-fulfilling prophecy as Jacob grew to become a shrewd manipulator and con artist.  He scammed his family out of his brother’s share of the inheritance, and took off.  Later, worried that Esau would exact revenge, he tried to buy him off by sending cattle and livestock ahead of him.  Then, when the sun had set and he was all alone, he was hurled to the ground by a powerful force (Genesis 32).  Though he’d lived a life of conning his family and manipulating his way into success, he could not best his opponent, and his hip was torn out of joint.  Only when he admitted his name was Jacob did the mysterious opponent let go.  We’re left to believe that this man wrestled with God himself.  Jacob would never be the same.  His encounter with God would leave him with a permanent limp—but also a new name.  Do you remember what name he was given?   Israel.  It was a name that literally meant “God fights.”   Returning to a place called “Bethel,” Jacob/Israel made good on a former vow of obedience.

So Israel was a nation that had emerged from a checkered past.  We all do.  Forget even your family for a moment—though I’m sure you’d find plenty of “nuts in your family tree” (to borrow Randy Buchman’s phrase).  Think about your own past.  Any secrets?  Any regrets?  Any skeletons in your closet?  Chances are there are things in your life that you’d rather not be there.  And this is why you need the gospel.

MISPLACED PRIDE

The irony is that Israel wasn’t remorseful over her past.  In fact, she’d seemed to have forgotten all about it.  Instead, their response was one of misplaced pride:

⁷ A merchant, in whose hands are false balances, he loves to oppress.  ⁸ Ephraim has said, “Ah, but I am rich; I have found wealth for myself; in all my labors they cannot find in me iniquity or sin.”  ⁹ I am the LORD your God from the land of Egypt; I will again make you dwell in tents, as in the days of the appointed feast.  ¹⁰ I spoke to the prophets; it was I who multiplied visions, and through the prophets gave parables.  ¹¹ If there is iniquity in Gilead, they shall surely come to nothing: in Gilgal they sacrifice bulls; their altars also are like stone heaps on the furrows of the field.  (Hosea 12:7-11)

No one likes to feel guilty.  In today’s world, the message is consistently one of “What have you done for me lately?”  You’re only as good (or bad) as your last performance.  I may have sin in my life, but as long as I’m maintaining a good public image, I’m fine.  That’s what Israel was doing.  Sure, Israel was oppressing surrounding nations, but she looked so good doing it.

THE UNLOVED BRIDE

Jacob would later serve as a shepherd—probably one of a larger staff—in order to marry Rachel:

¹² Jacob fled to the land of Aram; there Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he guarded sheep.  ¹³ By a prophet the LORD brought Israel up from Egypt, and by a prophet he was guarded.  ¹⁴ Ephraim has given bitter provocation; so his Lord will leave his bloodguilt on him and will repay him for his disgraceful deeds.  (Hosea 12:12-14)

You remember this story, right?  Not exactly Hallmark channel material.  Jacob served for seven years for Rachel, but the night after their wedding, he awoke to discover that it wasn’t Rachel, but her older sister Leah.  He was forced to work another seven years to marry Rachel, a woman he loved because he found her more beautiful.  So now Israel had two wives.  One was beautiful and loved—yet infertile.  The other was unloved—yet fertile.  God would continue the line of Israel through Jacob’s unloved bride.

And so the rest of Israel’s history was marked by God’s faithfulness in the midst of man’s failings.  And that’s the real nature of the gospel.  Like Leah, we are not loved because we are beautiful.  But in the gospel, we become beautiful because we are loved.  God is in the business of reversing our histories in order to provide for our futures.

Paul writes:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,  ⁴ even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. (Ephesians 1:3-4)

When were we chosen?  Before the foundation of the world.  Before time itself even began.  What’s in your past?  Failure?  Sin?  Regret?  The gospel tells us that because of God’s love, we can look at our past and see the word chosen.  And for what purpose?  To be “holy and blameless before him.”  For some of us, this means that like Jacob, we walk with a limp.  But it also means that like Jacob, we receive a new name and a new promise of life.

This is why the whole book of Hosea concludes with a call for the nation to repent—to change their attitude and to once again experience the life that God provides:

Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.  ² Take with you words and return to the LORD; say to him, “Take away all iniquity; accept what is good, and we will pay with bulls the vows of our lips.  ³ Assyria shall not save us; we will not ride on horses; and we will say no more, ‘Our God,’ to the work of our hands. In you the orphan finds mercy.”  ⁴ I will heal their apostasy; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them.  ⁵ I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall blossom like the lily; he shall take root like the trees of Lebanon;  ⁶ his shoots shall spread out; his beauty shall be like the olive, and his fragrance like Lebanon. (Hosea 14:1-6)

The same experience can be yours as well.   Are you ashamed of your past?  Do you long for a better future?  Perhaps today is the day for you to believe the gospel—to tell God that your life is damaged but that you trust in the work that Christ has done for you.  Consider contacting one of our pastors today; we’d love to hear from you.

Spouses aren’t the only ones who can file for divorce.  In extreme cases, children can legally divorce their parents.  It’s known as being an “emancipated minor,” an escape hatch for those living in cases of extreme duress.  Writing for the New York Times, Dr. Richard Friedman writes:

“Granted, no parent is perfect. And whining about parental failure, real or not, is practically an American pastime that keeps the therapeutic community dutifully employed….

Of course, we cannot undo history with therapy. But we can help mend brains and minds by removing or reducing stress.

Sometimes, as drastic as it sounds, that means letting go of a toxic parent.” (Richard A. Friedman, “When Parents are too Toxic to Tolerate.”  The New York Times, October 19, 2009)

Surely there’s value to this.  It’s hard to imagine what it must be like to grow up with a “toxic parent.”  The safety and wellbeing of a child should never be threatened or compromised.  But who decides when a parent is truly “toxic?”  Could this lead to the same kind of “divorce culture” that dominates the landscape of marriage?  In traditional cultures, the value of the family was so prized that society made divorce very difficult.  But in today’s culture, the value of the individual is so prized, that society makes divorce very easy.  I don’t know what implications—if any—this has for children and their parents, but when a culture places the needs of individuals over the needs of others its often a slippery slope toward ruin.

EMANCIPATED MINORS

The same thing happened between God and Israel.  Notice that the word picture switches.  God’s relationship to Israel is no longer husband and wife but Father and son:

When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.  ² The more they were called, the more they went away; they kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning offerings to idols.  ³ Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk; I took them up by their arms, but they did not know that I healed them.  ⁴ I led them with cords of kindness, with the bands of love, and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them.  (Hosea 11:1-4)

Ephraim, you may recall, was the largest tribe in Israel’s Northern Kingdom.  God had dealt kindly and justly with His people—His “son,” as He calls them.  Yet they became the emancipated minor, looking for help and security elsewhere.

HAVE IT YOUR WAY

God’s response to this was to allow His people to have it their way.  They would remain in exile—apart from God’s promises—because they were reaping exactly what they’d sown.  The rival nation of Assyria would govern them:

⁵ They shall not return to the land of Egypt, but Assyria shall be their king, because they have refused to return to me.  ⁶ The sword shall rage against their cities, consume the bars of their gates, and devour them because of their own counsels.  ⁷ My people are bent on turning away from me, and though they call out to the Most High, he shall not raise them up at all.  (Hosea 11:5-7)

This is where it gets deeply, painfully personal.  How many times do you or I insist on doing life our own way?  In today’s world, I am sovereign.  My smart phone can do more for me than God can—at least that’s the way it seems.  My weather app can inform my travel plans way more readily than prayerfully seeking God’s will.  My Facebook app can offer me connectivity way more immediately than God’s community.  My Google app offers me information (and advice) way more accessibly than the pages of Scripture.  And my Netflix app offers me an escape from a world that God naggingly insists I journey through.

In other words, I am addicted to self-sufficiency.  I have exchanged the lasting joy of God’s kingdom for a fake empire that offers me everything yet promises me nothing.  And generally speaking, I can coast through life enjoying what this other kingdom offers.  It’s only when things start to rattle apart, when I stand on the smouldering ruins of my own self-sufficiency, that I realize that I need help.  I need a light to penetrate this kingdom of shadows, and save me from myself.

LOVE WINS

God’s anger is nothing without His love, just as His love is nothing without His anger.  He is angry because His people have rejected His goodness for a lie, but in His love He will not grant them the full measure of judgment that they deserve:

⁸ How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender.  ⁹ I will not execute my burning anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath.  ¹⁰ They shall go after the LORD; he will roar like a lion; when he roars, his children shall come trembling from the west;  ¹¹ they shall come trembling like birds from Egypt, and like doves from the land of Assyria, and I will return them to their homes, declares the LORD.  ¹² Ephraim has surrounded me with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit, but Judah still walks with God and is faithful to the Holy One. (Hosea 11:8-12)

The gloriously good news of the gospel is that though we deserve God’s anger, He grants us His love.  In our rebellion we became the emancipated minor.  In God’s love we became “adopted as sons” (Galatians 4:5).

Do you understand the full meaning of this word picture?  If God is merely a judge, you may be thankful He pardoned your crimes.  But a pardon alone is not enough to provoke your love.  A judge can pronounce your innocence, but he can never tell you what to do with your guilt.  That’s why “adoption” is so powerful.  If God is my Father, than I receive not just His forgiveness, but also the inheritance of His kingdom (Romans 8:17).  Not everyone has a good picture of a “father”—that’s actually why we enact laws to emancipate minors to begin with.  But God is a perfect Father—a Father unlike any of His earthly shadows, and unlike our wildest dreams.

It truly is “His kindness that leads to repentance” (Romans 2:4).  So to be adopted as God’s son is to sever my allegiance with the kingdoms of this world.  And to be adopted as His son means that I can have the confidence that my sins have been forgiven, and that I can receive the promise of lasting joy.

Have you ever heard the expression, “you can’t get there from here?”  Sometimes you get so lost you have to move backwards before you can start moving forwards.  I can remember a time when I was driving cross-country, and missed an exit.  The trouble was, I hadn’t really noticed.  And while I was squinting at my “Mapquest” directions—oh, the days before smart-phones—I also missed the speed limit sign.  So it wasn’t until I was pulled over by an Arkansas cop that I realized that I was over 100 miles off-course, and it would take another two hours just to retrace my steps.  Sometimes, you can’t get there from here.

And that’s what’s going on with Israel.  In Hosea 1-3, God reveals His plan for dealing with an adulterous people.  But starting in chapter 4, God outlines just how bad the situation is.  The whole system is broken.  It won’t be an easy fix.  The only way forward is for the entire nation to retrace their steps, to find their way back to God again.

BREACH OF COVENANT

God uses this opportunity to make His charge against Israel all the more specific:

Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel, for the LORD has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land;  ² there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.  ³ Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it languish, and also the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens, and even the fish of the sea are taken away.  (Hosea 4:1-3)

The nation was guilty of a breach of covenant.  What’s a covenant?  A covenant was a promise made between two parties.  In this case, God had made the nation a promise of blessing and fellowship.  These promises date all the way back to Abraham (Genesis 12-15), but became more focused, more defined through men like Moses and David.  God’s promises were unconditional—a sheer act of grace—but the only way to flourish within God’s promises was to live life God’s way.  That’s what the Law was about.  To borrow an illustration from a pastor named Tim Keller, the law was like the owner’s manual for your car.  Nothing in it was arbitrary.  If you want your car to work the way it was supposed to, you follow what is written in the owner’s manual.  In the same way, the Law shows us how to live.  Deviating from this Law deprives us of all life in God’s promises has to offer.

The problem is that Israel had tossed their owner’s manual long ago.  Do you notice in verse 2 that at least half of the “ten commandments” are listed?  The nation was in clear violation of their relationship with God.

EVEN RELIGION IS BROKEN

You’d think this would be an easy fix.  If the problem was that the nation was immoral, than surely a strong dose of morality would fix that right up.  But even if that was true—which it’s not—the religious system was so damaged that it was of no help at all.

⁴ Yet let no one contend, and let none accuse, for with you is my contention, O priest.  ⁵ You shall stumble by day; the prophet also shall stumble with you by night; and I will destroy your mother.  ⁶ My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.  ⁷ The more they increased, the more they sinned against me; I will change their glory into shame.  ⁸ They feed on the sin of my people; they are greedy for their iniquity.  ⁹ And it shall be like people, like priest; I will punish them for their ways and repay them for their deeds.  ¹⁰ They shall eat, but not be satisfied; they shall play the whore, but not multiply, because they have forsaken the LORD to cherish  ¹¹ whoredom, wine, and new wine, which take away the understanding.   (Hosea 4:4-11)

Apparently the priests were guilty of pursuing religion for their own ends.  It’s hard to say what this meant exactly, but the language of “increase” (v. 7) seems to suggest that somehow they were using the ministry for profit.

WHAT YOU WORSHIP YOU BECOME

Meanwhile, the people pursued their own religious ends.  Verses 12-14 describe the nature of the nation’s spiritual adultery.

¹² My people inquire of a piece of wood, and their walking staff gives them oracles. For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray, and they have left their God to play the whore.  ¹³ They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains and burn offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is good. Therefore your daughters play the whore, and your brides commit adultery.  ¹⁴ I will not punish your daughters when they play the whore, nor your brides when they commit adultery; for the men themselves go aside with prostitutes and sacrifice with cult prostitutes, and a people without understanding shall come to ruin.  (Hosea 4:12-14)

One of my own professors summarizes the cultural background this way:

“These rituals involved drinking intoxicating wine, consulting pagan gods through divination, and offering sacrifices.  The Israelites encouraged their daughters to visit the shrines, hoping that their participation in ritual sex with the priests of [other gods] would encourage these gods to give them numerous children.” (Robert Chisholm, Handbook on the Prophets, p. 350)

The problem could not simply be reduced to a lack of morals.  It ran much deeper than that.  The problem was a heart that was inclined away from God and toward self, a heart that sought a solution anywhere it could be found.  The problem is that the further the nation went from God, the deeper their need became.

GOD’S JUDGMENT

God’s judgment can be finally seen in the last verses:

¹⁵ Though you play the whore, O Israel, let not Judah become guilty. Enter not into Gilgal, nor go up to Beth-aven, and swear not, “As the LORD lives.”  ¹⁶ Like a stubborn heifer, Israel is stubborn; can the LORD now feed them like a lamb in a broad pasture?  ¹⁷ Ephraim is joined to idols; leave him alone.  ¹⁸ When their drink is gone, they give themselves to whoring; their rulers dearly love shame.  ¹⁹ A wind has wrapped them in its wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices. (Hosea 4:15-19)

The people “shall be ashamed,” He says.  Sometimes idolatry is its own consequence.  We alternately treat God’s world like a treasure chest or an ashtray—forgetting that it was never about us to begin with.

What lesson is here for us?  It is simple.  We can’t possibly live our lives the way we want, and simply add in a few religious sentiments here and there.  There is no substitute for a lifetime of faithfulness.  That’s what God wants from us.  And the gospel says that this is what God provides.  To the church in Rome, Paul writes:

“³ For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”  ⁴ Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due.  ⁵ And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness…” (Romans 4:3-5)

What does it mean to have our faith “counted as righteousness?”  It means that even though we have no righteous deeds of our own, God treats us as though we do.  It means that when He looks at our record, He sees not our violations, but a record of perfect obedience.  How is this possible?  Because on the cross, Christ exchanged our reputation for His.  On the cross Jesus received the judgment that we deserve, so that we might receive the acceptance that we don’t deserve.

Therefore a lifestyle of radical holiness is not a requirement of the gospel—but it is the sweet fruit of it.  As we live and grow in Christ, so will our character be drawn away from the idols of our world, and closer to the character of Christ.

If we want that life, then the bad news is that we “can’t get there from here.”  We can’t achieve Christ’s character from where we’re at.  Hosea shows us that in shocking, painful clarity.  But the gospels says that Christ did the hard work for us, and the rest is joyful, faithful obedience.

Few things are as damaging as success.   Too often we struggle for just another rung on that ladder—only to later realize it’s been propped against the wrong wall.

The year was roughly 800 B.C.  Israel had experienced an unprecedented level of material and military success (you can actually read about this in 2 Kings 14:25-28; 2 Chron. 26:2, 6-15).  Unfortunately, it was a level of success that had eroded the nation’s trust in God.  As a result, the people of Israel turned from worshipping God to trusting in the various material idols of the day.

It may be unusual to think about such things on the day after Super Bowl Sunday.  Don’t misunderstand me; there’s absolutely nothing wrong with enjoying the game or spending some time with family and friends.  But surely you’d agree that there is always some measure of the event that reflects America’s sense of excess.  Two writers call the event

“a national day of gluttony for Americans to unabashedly embrace the joys of advertising, consumerism and greasy foods… Football taps into our most violent, survival instincts. It repeatedly draws a line in the dirt and dares opponents to cross it. While it offers rules of engagement, often the meanest and nastiest prevail.…Football reminds us of who we are and how we got here, what battles had to be fought, what bodies had to be sacrificed to forge a nation.” (Craig Detweiler, Barry Taylor, A Matrix of Meanings)

Again, we don’t need to condemn televised sports in order to recognize that for millions of Americans, this event reflects and shapes what we worship.  The Super Bowl—and the commercials that rival the importance of the game itself—reveals what our culture holds as ultimately valuable.  It is a religion, pure and simple, one built on consumerism and sexuality.

GOD’S MESSENGER

Like most of the prophets, we don’t know much about Hosea.

“The word of the LORD that came to Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.” (Hosea 1:1)

His name meant “He has saved,” meaning that God has saved His people.  He was probably active sometime between 760-715 B.C.

GOD’S MESSAGE

God has a very unusual plan for Hosea.  Through Hosea, God’s message would be more than merely words, but also a very specific action.

² When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the LORD.”  ³ So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.  (Hosea 1:2-3)

What you worship, you become.  Israel had been betrothed to God like a bride, but in their unfaithfulness they became a whore.  Few stories are more shocking than the story of Hosea and Gomer.  We know little about Gomer, other than she carried the kind of reputation that Israel would have easily known about.  Hosea’s marriage served to underscore God’s message: when you worship other things, you become a lesser thing.  God’s relationship to His people was as stable as Hosea’s relationship to a prostitute.

GOD’S JUDGMENT

God’s judgment of His people would then be seen through the children of Hosea and Gomer.  Each of their three kids revealed a little more about God’s character and fierce holiness.

• Jezreel

⁴ And the LORD said to him, “Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.  ⁵ And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.” 

This may be confusing.  Jezreel was the name of Hosea’s first son, but it was also the name of an Israelite town.  In the previous century, the area had been the site of a radical slaughter by King Jehu (2 Kings 9:27-28; 10:12-31).  Because the king had overstepped his bounds, the people would be punished.

• Lo-Ruhamah (“No Love/Mercy”)

⁶ She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the LORD said to him, “Call her name No Mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all.  ⁷ But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the LORD their God. I will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.” 

Hosea’s second child—a daughter—would be named Lo-Ruhamah, which literally means “No Love” or “No Mercy.”  Out of a deep commitment to Holiness, God would not show mercy to Israel in response to her sins.

• Lo-Ammi (“Not My People”)

⁸ When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son.  ⁹ And the LORD said, “Call his name Not My People, for you are not my people, and I am not your God.” 

Hosea’s third child (second son) was named “Lo-Ammi” meaning “Not My People.”  God would distance Himself from His chosen people.  That was the magnitude of the separation that had taken place.

GOD’S MERCY

The only thing more staggering than the magnitude of God’s anger is the magnitude of God’s incredible grace.  When we worship lesser gods, we endure suffering.  We cannot claim to be walking in step with God’s character.  But even in the midst of this passage, we find a promise given to us from God:

¹⁰ Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “Children of the living God.”  ¹¹ And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head. And they shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

Jesus is the true and better Hosea.  He united Himself with a wayward people so that “he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” (Ephesians 5:27)

As we journey through Hosea, we learn more and more what it means to worship God and not the idols of the present world.