Wednesday, April 2, 2025 ▫ Read Hosea 8
Questions
from the Scripture text: What order is given in v1a? What is the enemy doing
(v1b)? Why (v1c–d)? What will Israel cry in that day (v2)? But what has
overruled this claim (v3)? What was wrong with their civil government (v4a–b)? And
with their religion (v4c–e)? How did the Lord respond to this (v5)? Why (v6)? What
will come of their efforts (v7)? Nd what will come of them (v8)? Where had they
sought help (v9a–b)? How does v9c describe this? But what will the Lord yet do
for them (v10a–b)? After putting them through what (v10c–d)? What has Ephraim
done (v11)? Even though the Lord had provided him with what (v12)? What
procedure were they following (v13a)? But with what response from YHWH (v13b–c)?
And what action (v13d)? Why—what is the substance of what Israel has done
(v14a)? By doing what (v14b)? And what has Judah hoped in, that won’t save them
(v14c–e)?
Why didn’t Israel’s worship please God? Hosea 8 looks forward to the hearing of God’s
Word, publicly read, in the holy assembly on the coming Lord’s Day. In these fourteen
verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that it is possible
for a nation or a church that professes to know the Lord to be entirely
self-seeking in what they think is genuinely offered unto Him.
The announcement, v1–4.
The urgency of it in v1. The horn is easy to identify—it’s the call to arms to
defend against attack. And the
devastation is coming like an eagle. The
Hebrew of v1 is so short and cut off that you can almost hear the messenger
huffing and puffing out of breath, as he has caught the first glimpse of the
coming invasion. And it’s coming
fast. When the eagle begins his dive,
there’s no hope for the pray. He’s too
fast, and too strong. So it will be for
Israel: by the time they realize that the hour of discipline has come, it will
be too late, and nothing can stop it.
The surprise of it in v2 (Israel thought they were orthodox!). After all we have read in Hosea about
Israel’s heart, 8:2 may come as a real surprise—Israel thinks they are
godly. “How can this happen to me, when
I have a relationship with God?,” they ask.
This response reminds us of what Yahweh has been saying all along: that
Israel is so blind to her sin—her depending upon and being in love with
everything and everyone except Yahweh—that He is going to have to rock her
world for her to open her eyes. The
shock and surprise of Israel’s response here shows us that this is exactly the
case. When we respond like this, it may
be an indication of similar spiritual blindness.
The tragedy of it in v3 (they rejected the good—not just to do good but
to receive good). So, now they get the other option, v3. It is tempting to read v3 and think,
“See? If they had only done good instead
of evil…” but that is not the sense of the text. The text is even more tragic than that. It is saying, “Look at all the good I have
done for them, and still they have rejected Me!
They had all of these blessings handed to them, and they have rejected
the good blessings and chosen the curses instead.” We must always keep the good things that God
has done for us on our minds, so that we remember them and respond with
faithfulness to Him. Let it not be said
of us that He did so much good for us, and still we rejected Him.
They rejected the good by keeping the Lord out of their politics,
v4a. Israel’s secular life was
completely divorced from the Lord. They
did not consult Him or credit Him for any of their national or political
decisions. When we live our “secular”
lives completely independently of Him—not making decisions according to His Word,
not depending on Him for wisdom and guidance in prayer, not doing everything
for His glory, not giving Him praise and thanks when things go well—how can we
possibly expect Him to continue to bless us?
They rejected the good by keeping the Lord out of their worship,
v4b. In particular, the gratitude and
praise of their hearts went to their money.
When talking about carved idols, wood and stone are usually primary and
almost always included. The limitation
of this statement to silver and gold tells us that Yahweh is talking about
wealth. They trusted their wealth, and
thanked and praised their wealth; when, they should have been trusting,
thanking, and praising Yahweh.
The Worship Problem—the Rejected Calf, v5–7. The stupidity of manmade worship,
v6a. You can just hear the exasperation
in this human way of speaking: “I told them how to worship Me and they still
got it wrong. What am I ever going to do
with them?!” The vanity of manmade worship, v6b–7. (1) Manmade worship up as
rubble, v6b. Man-made worship cannot
last, because all earthly things eventually return to dust. This is both literal (in the case of the
calves used in worship in the northern kingdom) and metaphorical (of anything
we might add to or invent for worship). (2) Manmade worship is like blowing
wind… and receives the same response, v7a.
Worship that we invent ourselves is empty of substance; it’s silly and
stupid and pointless. The image is of a
guy out in his field, throwing fistfuls at the ground, but what is he
throwing? Air. So, he’ll get air back… in the form of
storm-wind, a tornado. Empty worship
isn’t a neutral thing; it ultimately deserves and receives the wrath of God. (3)
Manmade worship has no substance to it; it’s useless, v7b. God promises that man-made worship will have
no fruit. (4) Even if manmade worship seems
to have substance, its substance is for strangers, not for the Lord, v7c. Even any fruit that it does seem to have will
benefit only others, but not the worshippers (or, to use the metaphor, the
sowers).
The Political Problem, v8–10. The lack of the separateness of God’s people. God is holy.
His people must be holy. But
Israel has been “swallowed up” (v8a). You can’t tell the difference between them
and anyone else. How can God rightly take
special delight in them, if they are not special and different? If we are the people of a Holy God, we must
be a holy people; the difference between a believer and an unbeliever should
clear and crisp. The result is that the Lord will gather them into another
nation, where He will bring them low (v10). Their infidelity with other nations
will be a costly one. It will cost them
their nation, their pride, their power, and their glory. If His people cannot be faithful to the Lord in
liberty and dignity, He is willing to put us to shame in order to bring us to
faithfulness.
The Primary Problem—the Arithmetic of Worship, vv11-13. What they multiplied—the altar was
what was central to their worship, v11.
The form worship was the thing for Ephraim. Rather than worship being all about God and
His Word, for Ephraim it is all about the act of worship, the experience of
it. Ephraim made for himself worship
that he liked, and he multiplied it. And
this emphasis on the act and experience made his worship itself a sin.
What the Lord multiplied—the law should be central to worship, v12. The same root word is used in both verses. While
Ephraim was busy multiplying altars, the Lord was multiplying His law. The problem is that Ephraim didn’t find
dwelling upon the law of God very worshipful.
“It just doesn’t give me the same feeling,” Ephraim might have said…
“it’s strange to me—it leaves me cold.”
Worship had become an excuse for pot-luck luncheon, v13a. Why did Ephraim worship? Because of what they would get out of it for
themselves: some very nice roast mutton and barbecued ribs. They did not come to worship in order that
Yahweh might delight in it; they came in order that they might delight in
it. Truly, we ought to delight in
worship, but this is only a secondary benefit, a happy accident to the main
purpose: to give Yahweh something in which He delights.
Multiplying the wrong thing in worship was the last straw—now they will
“return to Egypt”, v13b. Sometimes, the
only way for Yahweh to get His people’s attention is to return them to the
level of misery of being unconverted.
“You want life and worship to be all about you? Fine.
Let me remind you what life is like when it’s all about you.”
The Conclusion: though the Lord’s people forget Him, still He will
“spark” their memory,
v14. Israel and Judah were all about
“their own lives”—their own pleasure and glory, earthly and temporal stuff like
palaces and city walls. When they forgot
the Lord, He decided to “spark” their memories by burning up the very things
that they were all about (v14d–e). Sometimes, the church’s religion requires
wrath. If His people are unfaithful to give the right worship, yet God will be
faithful to chasten His them for it.
What
parts of your life are in danger of being treated as “secular”? What is worship
“about” for you?
Sample prayer: Lord, forgive us for how we have forgotten You in every area
of life. Grant the ministry of Your Spirit, along with whatever else is
necessary, to bring us to repentance, we ask through Christ, AMEN!
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