Hosea 8:1

Hosea 8:1 says, Set the trumpet to thy mouth. He shall come as an eagle against the house of the LORD, because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law.  God through Hosea was making His warning to His people very clear.  Israel was His in name only, but they had broken the covenant God had made with them.  When people who call themselves Christians add to or take anything away from salvation through Christ then God will give His warning.  If we are truly His followers and start to stray, God will sound the alarm in our hearts, and then we need to repent and return to following His will.  Verse two adds, Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee.  Even as they rebelled against His covenant, Israel would cry to God that they knew Him.  Just professing to know God without accepting Christ as Savior and Lord does not make us His. We must allow the Holy Spirit to direct our actions and give us peace and security.  Israel cried that they knew God, but their actions denied it.  Verse three continues, Israel hath cast off the thing that is good: the enemy shall pursue him.  Israel had cast of their covenant relationship with God, that thing that was good.  Anytime we look to the things of the world for strength and security instead of looking to God, we are casting off that which is good.  Verse four states, They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off. The people of Israel had set up kings without consulting God.  As followers of Christ, we need to consult God before we elect leaders.  We may not always have a very good choice, but we must ask God's direction in our choosing the person to vote for.  Israel had turned their silver and gold into idols, and though we may not actually build idols, we can start to worship our silver and gold.  We may want what is best for us financially instead of what is best for everyone, especially those who are less fortunate than we are.  Verse five adds, Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off; mine anger is kindled against them: how long will it be ere they attain to innocency?  God told them that their idols had failed them and asked them how long it would be before they returned to Him.  They could only attain innocence through the mercy and forgiveness of God.  This is still true today.  If we stray from God, we need to look to Him for forgiveness.  Verse six continues, For from Israel was it also: the workman made it; therefore it is not God: but the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces. My God, we know thee.  Idols made by hand will never be God, and ultimately will be broken into pieces.  God alone is God, and anything else we put above Him will ultimately be destroyed.

Hosea 7:8

Hosea 7:8 says, Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people; Ephraim is a cake not turned.  God here refers again to Ephraim, one of the families, or tribes, of Israel.  Though not all of the tribes are singled out, they had all turned away from acknowledging God and following His leadership.  There is another analogy to baking.  Ephraim was like a cake that had not been turned, burning on one side and still doughy on the other.  They tried to follow God at times while still chasing after false gods.  They had allowed the world to guide them as they mixed with the people of the world.  They did not set themselves apart for God.  We have a commission to go into the world, but we can never allow the sinful nature of those we witness to become more important than remaining true to God.  Verse nine adds, Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not: yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not.  I believe God was telling the people of Ephraim that the world had stolen their strength, which came from God, and they didn't even realize it.  They had gotten so far away from God and so committed to the world that they did not even realize that they had lost the source of their strength.  Today, we must always remember that as followers of Christ, God alone is the source of our strength. We need not look to the powers of the world for security, because our security rests in God alone.  Verse ten continues, And the pride of Israel testifieth to his face: and they do not return to the LORD their God, nor seek him for all this.  Israel had been pulled away from God by their own self pride.  They no longer looked to God for their strength, even as they were about to fall captive to another nation.  We must always look to God for our strength in the world today.  Verse eleven states, Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart: they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria.  We equate a dove with peace, but Ephraim was called a dove without a heart.  They may have wanted peace, but they had no heart for God where peace could be found.  Instead of staying under the protection of God, they looked to Assyria for protection.  Verse twelve adds, When they shall go, I will spread my net upon them; I will bring them down as the fowls of the heaven; I will chastise them, as their congregation hath heard.  God does not allow His people to wander away without warning.  God calls to His people with His mercy, but if they do not return, He will come to them in judgment.  As His people, when we do not follow God in our lives we should expect to be chastised.  Sin separates us from God, and when we allow sin back into our lives, looking anywhere other than to God for our safety and security, we need to have God correct, or to chastise us.  Verse thirteen continues, Woe unto them! for they have fled from me: destruction unto them! because they have transgressed against me: though I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against me.  God's people had fled from Him, and destruction awaited them.  No power in the world could save them.  God had redeemed them, but they rejected Him. I believe this warning applies to us today.  If we claim to be God's people but look anywhere else for peace and security, we are headed for woe or disappointment.  Verse fourteen says, And they have not cried unto me with their heart, when they howled upon their beds: they assemble themselves for corn and wine, and they rebel against me. We have to wonder why God's people did not call to Him for deliverance, but we today as followers of Christ can be guilty of the same thing.  We look to the world for security and do not call on God.  We need to remain committed to God no matter what the situation of the world may be. Verse fifteen adds, Though I have bound and strengthened their arms, yet do they imagine mischief against me.  God had given the people of Israel their strength as a nation, but they looked on Him without respect.  They had more faith in the power of other nations than they did in the power of God. As followers of Christ, we need to look to God alone for strength and deliverance.  Verse sixteen continues, They return, but not to the most High: they are like a deceitful bow: their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue: this shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.  When God's people began to look to other nations for deliverance, instead of looking to God, they found themselves captives once again.  We must look to God in all that we do to avoid being taken captive by sin once again.  Though if we are truly followers of Christ, we will not lose our salvation, we can certainly lose the joy and peace that it should bring if we do not always put our faith in God.  No power in this world can bring true peace and security.  That can be found in God alone.

Hosea 7:1

Hosea 7:1 says, When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the wickedness of Samaria: for they commit falsehood; and the thief cometh in, and the troop of robbers spoileth without.  God was waiting ready to restore Israel, but they chose to still live in wickedness and chase after sinful practices.  They committed a falsehood, in that they claimed to be God's people but did not follow His leadership.  Thieves and robbers were everywhere.  When we begin to take the things of God for our own purposes, then we are living a falsehood.  As God's people, we must acknowledge His will in all that we do.  Verse two adds, And they consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness: now their own doings have beset them about; they are before my face.  The people of Israel might have thought that God did not know of their iniquity, but He was reminding them that there are no sins that are a secret to God.  God said that their sins were before His face, as are ours, where they will remain until they, and we today, come to Him in true repentance and He puts them out of His sight forever.  Only God can remove the stain of sin from our lives.  Verse three continues, They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies.  The people of Israel were living to make the king and princes happy instead of living to make God happy.  When we start to live to make those in power happy instead of living to please God, we stand guilty before God.  Verse four states, They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker, who ceaseth from raising after he hath kneaded the dough, until it be leavened.  The people of God were no longer leavened with God's word, but had become flat, useless to anyone, especially God.  They needed to be leavened, made alive again, by God's word.  Verse five adds, In the day of our king the princes have made him sick with bottles of wine; he stretched out his hand with scorners.  The leaders had become sickened with wine and were reaching out to those who scorned God.  Earthly pleasure and false Gods ruled them.  Verse six continues, For they have made ready their heart like an oven, whiles they lie in wait: their baker sleepeth all the night; in the morning it burneth as a flaming fire.   Verse seven concludes, They are all hot as an oven, and have devoured their judges; all their kings are fallen: there is none among them that calleth unto me.  I believe that God was telling them that they burned with the lusts of the flesh with no one to check the flame.  The priests and kings had turned away from God, and there was no one left of God's chosen people who called out to Him.  We need to make sure that our hearts burn for following the will of God, not the lusts of the flesh, or we too are in danger of having our witnessing for God burned away.

Hosea 6:6

Hosea 6:6 says, For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.  God was not looking for empty acts of worship, but for the hearts of His people to be changed.  They were to show mercy and be in a real relationship with God.  Wearing a cross, or even carrying a Bible everywhere, means very little if we don't have mercy for all those around us.  If we want to keep God for a particular group of people or limit Him to a particular place or particular area of our lives, then we are never going to please God.  God calls us to be changed people.  We are to show God to the world, not by symbols and occasional practices, but by the way we live our lives every day.  If we have no mercy for those around us, or even for those anywhere in the world, we cannot witness for God as we should.  Verse seven adds, But they like men have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacrously against me.  God's people had transgressed the covenant they had with God.  Covenants, or contracts seem to mean very little anymore.  An example would be people who had a contract with a company for retirement benefits, but suddenly the company declares the pension fund bankrupt.  There are many more we could cite, but usually when a contract, or covenant is broken, the one with the most power breaks it.  This is never true with God.  He has all the power, but it is people who break the covenant and never God.  Verse eight continues, Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity, and is polluted with blood.  This tells us the result of God's people acting with treachery toward God.  What should have been a city of refuge was a city polluted with blood.  As followers of Christ, when people come to us seeking help, we should offer them a place of refuge, not a place of condemnation.  We can look at the news about the world today and see that there are many more places filled with blood than there are places of refuge.  This still falls under the showing of mercy and not just empty worship.  There was indeed no balm in Gilead at this time.  Verse nine states, And as troops of robbers wait for a man, so the company of priests murder in the way by consent: for they commit lewdness.  God said the priests in that day were no better than the other people.  They murdered by consent and acted with lewdness toward others.  We today as followers of Christ are a priesthood of believers, and we need to make sure that we do not endorse sinful acts or commit lewd acts toward God. When we offer empty sacrifices and worship to God, this is exactly what we are doing.  Verse ten adds, I have seen an horrible thing in the house of Israel: there is the whoredom of Ephraim, Israel is defiled. This is a sad commentary on God's people.  Since they chased after false gods, they were defiled before God.  Verse eleven continues, Also, O Judah, he hath set an harvest for thee, when I returned the captivity of my people.  God had rescued Judah from captivity, but they were also turning to false Gods and would soon fall also without God's power keeping them safe.  We today as followers of Christ have been delivered from the power of sin, and we need to make sure that we do not begin to chase after false gods.

Hosea 6:1

Hosea 6:1 says, Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.  This is a call for the return of God's people to Him so that they might be healed.  We can never be truly healed of the results of sin, which will indeed tear us down, until we return to God to be lifted up by Him.  Israel and Judah had felt secure in their place in the world without God, relying on their own abilities.  When God left them without His protection, they were defeated and torn apart as a nation.  Verse two adds, After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.  After calling for the people of Israel and Judah to return to Him, He told them that He had provided the way for them to be restored.  I believe this verse refers to the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah so long awaited by God's people.  Too often, though, when time passed without the appearance of the Messiah, the people began to look to other gods for their salvation. We today cannot be impatient with God.  Verse three continues, Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.  Hosea told the people of Israel that there was still hope.  He said they could know this hope if they followed God.  We today have that same promise.  We do not have to guess if we put our faith in Christ.  We can know that we are God's children forever. Hosea told them when they returned to God, He would restore and refresh them.  Verse four states, O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away.  This did not mean that God did not know what He should do to them but was more of a question of what they really thought He should do.  Their goodness melted away like the morning cloud and early dew, quickly passing away.  Even they should know what they deserved from God, and that was punishment for their sins.  The same is true today.  If our faith melts away at the first temptation, then we are deserving of God's punishment.  It is only through faith in Christ that we can be restored.  Verse five adds, Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth.  Hosea said God had sent His prophets to hew His people, to call them to cut out the idolatry and sinful actions.  God sent His words to them, and was like a light that went before them, if they would only listen and see.  God's word and light are still here in the world today, if we will only listen and see.

Hosea 5:6

Hosea 5:6 says, They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the LORD; but they shall not find him; he hath withdrawn himself from them.  After worshipping other gods, God's people would finally start seeking Him.  Matthew Henry points out this was most likely directed at Judah, who did still worship God, but they did not worship Him exclusively.  We never find God of our own ability, but He finds us through His mercy and grace.  Verse seven adds, They have dealt treacherously against the LORD: for they have begotten strange children: now shall a month devour them with their portions. God was telling His people that they were not dealing with Him honestly.  They were to be children of God through their faith in Him, but they were leading their children to be strangers to God.  We as followers of Christ have a responsibility to God to teach our children about Him.  They may not always listen, but that does not relieve us of the responsibility to tell them.  If we fail to do so, they may end up as the children of Israel in Hosea's day, being strangers to God.  Verse eight continues, Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah: cry aloud at Bethaven, after thee, O Benjamin.  Through two cities, one in Judah and one in Israel, God was sounding the warning to both kingdoms. It was too late to sound the trumpet in Bethaven, or Bethel, since it had already fallen, but the people could still cry a warning. The entire kingdom, divided or not, was going to fall.  If we begin to stray from God, someone needs to sound the alarm.  Israel and Judah, God's chosen people, had turned to other gods, and they fell captive to other nations.  We should never feel that we are above the same thing.  Verse nine states, Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke: among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be.  God had made known to His people what was going to happen, and there could be no doubt what would occur.  They, divided kingdom or not, were all turning to false gods, and God was removing His protective hand.  Verse ten adds, The princes of Judah were like them that remove the bound: therefore I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.  Judah was following Israel in rebelling against God, so they to were going to lose His protection.  We need to be careful that when we see a fellow Christian fall into sin that we do not start feeling superior to them.  We are all sinners saved by grace. Verse eleven continues, Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he willingly walked after the commandment.  Ephraim, one of the tribes of Israel, willing followed the commandment of the king to worship the false idols.  God pronounced the result of this idolatry.  They would be oppressed and broken.  Verse twelve says, Therefore will I be unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness.  A moth destroys silently, and rottenness destroys by infecting everything it stays in contact with.  God was not going to loudly destroy Ephraim and Judah, who were mentioned here, but was going to let them be eaten up or rotted away from their own sins.  Verse thirteen adds, When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb: yet could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound.  When God's people saw what was happening, they didn't turn to God, but to other worldly leaders.  If we find ourselves overcome due to sin we can look to God alone for restoration.  Verse fourteen continues, For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will take away, and none shall rescue him.  God's judgment would be like a lion, and no one could rescue His people until they repented and returned to Him.  We must rely on God alone to deliver us from the power and consequences of sin.  Verse fifteen concludes, I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.  God was removing His protection until His people acknowledged their sins and sought Him again.  He would stand ready to come to them again as their God.  If we allow sin into our lives, until we repent and ask God's forgiveness, we cannot enjoy all the blessings He awaits to pour out on us.

Hosea 5:1

Hosea 5:1 says, Hear ye this, O priests; and hearken, ye house of Israel; and give ye ear, O house of the king; for judgment is toward you, because ye have been a snare on Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor.  In their prosperity, Hosea was warning them that God's judgment was coming.  We may feel so secure in our own wealth that we begin to forget God and attribute our success to our own abilities, but we must never allow this attitude if we are truly followers of Christ.  Israel was warned of the coming judgment against them, because the priests and kings had become corrupt.  We today can expect no less.  We cannot be unfaithful to God and still expect Him to bless us.  If we want God to bless America again, we must start by blessing Him.  I think we have become too much like Israel was in Hosea's day, professing to be God's people while ignoring His leadership.  We, of our own merit, are no more deserving of God's blessing than people anywhere in the world.  The nation of Israel in Hosea's day had become vain.  They felt that God would be with them no matter what.  We today need to be careful that we don't become the same way.  Verse two adds, And the revolters are profound to make slaughter, though I have been a rebuker of them all.  Those who were revolting against God were profound in their beliefs, but that did not make them right.  We can be deeply convinced of our beliefs, but if they go against the word of God, they will always be wrong.  Hosea, as God's prophet, rebuked them, from priests to rulers.  We today must speak out against sin, no matter who is proclaiming it to be right.  Verse three continues, I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me: for now, O Ephraim, thou committest whoredom, and Israel is defiled. The people of Ephraim and Israel, those who had been chosen by God to represent Him, were not hiding their sin from Him.  They may have thought that God wasn't involved in the world when they felt they didn't need Him, but they were sadly mistaken.  The same holds true today.  Verse four states, They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God: for the spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them, and they have not known the LORD.  They had become arrogant in their sin.  They would not put an end to their sin and turn to God.  There was an even greater indictment in that Hosea said they had not known God.  We have to wonder how this could be true of God's chosen people, but many today who call themselves God's people refuse to acknowledge Him.  They reject the truth that salvation comes through faith in Christ alone.  Verse five adds, And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face: therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity; Judah also shall fall with them.  The people of Israel had pride in themselves, but Hosea gave them a warning that all God's people were going to fall due to their sins.  Judah may have lasted longer, but iniquity would also claim them in time as they turned away from God.