God, And Not Man

Hosea 11:1,7-9 - “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son…My people are determined to turn from me. Even though they call me God Most High, I will by no means exalt them. “How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I treat you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboyim? My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused. I will not carry out my fierce anger, nor will I devastate Ephraim again. For I am God, and not a man—the Holy One among you. I will not come against their cities.


Hosea 6:4 - “What can I do with you, Ephraim? What can I do with you, Judah? Your love is like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears.

Lamentations 3:22,32 - Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail…Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love.

Jeremiah 30:11 - I am with you and will save you,’ declares the LORD. ‘Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you but only in due measure; I will not let you go entirely unpunished.’

Malachi 3:6 - “I the LORD do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.

Numbers 23:19 - God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?

1 Samuel 15:29 - He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a human being, that he should change his mind.”

Application:

· Is my repentance superficial?
· The same God who judges also restores!!!
· Have I been unreliable? God will not be untrue to the love He has shown me!!!
· God is with me and will save me!!!
· Have I been unfaithful? Am I repentant? The Lord is faithful to His promises!!!
· God does not change!!!
· Am I constantly shifting and changing? God is not a man, thankfully!!!
· Am I one of God's elect because of His love?
· God has real emotions!!!

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Egypt And Assyria

Hosea 11:1,4-6 - “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son…I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love. To them I was like one who lifts a little child to the cheek, and I bent down to feed them. “Will they not return to Egypt and will not Assyria rule over them because they refuse to repent? A sword will flash in their cities; it will devour their false prophets and put an end to their plans.


Jeremiah 31:3 - The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.

Lamentations 2:9 - Her gates have sunk into the ground; their bars he has broken and destroyed. Her king and her princes are exiled among the nations, the law is no more, and her prophets no longer find visions from the LORD.

Application:

· Have I rejected God's love?
· Am I one of God's elect because of His love?
· Does God cause loss of protection, leadership, written revelation and direction? Is the Lord still communicating with His people?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Healed

Hosea 11:2-3 - But the more they were called, the more they went away from me. They sacrificed to the Baals and they burned incense to images. It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms; but they did not realize it was I who healed them.


Hosea 4:13

Hosea 13:1 - When Ephraim spoke, people trembled; he was exalted in Israel. But he became guilty of Baal worship and died.

Hosea 6:1 - “Come, let us return to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds.

Hosea 6:11-7:2 - “Also for you, Judah, a harvest is appointed. “Whenever I would restore the fortunes of my people, whenever I would heal Israel, the sins of Ephraim are exposed and the crimes of Samaria revealed. They practice deceit, thieves break into houses, bandits rob in the streets; but they do not realize that I remember all their evil deeds. Their sins engulf them; they are always before me.

Application:

· Have my morals eroded?
· Does my word command respect? Do I recognize what the wages of sin are?
· Do I humbly submit to the Almighty's discipline? Is my repentance shallow?
· Does the Lord's generosity weigh haeavy upon me? Have I feigned repentance?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Son

Hosea 10:13-11:1 - But you have planted wickedness, you have reaped evil, you have eaten the fruit of deception. Because you have depended on your own strength and on your many warriors, the roar of battle will rise against your people, so that all your fortresses will be devastated—as Shalman devastated Beth Arbel on the day of battle, when mothers were dashed to the ground with their children. So will it happen to you, Bethel, because your wickedness is great. When that day dawns, the king of Israel will be completely destroyed. “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.


Hosea 8:7 - “They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. The stalk has no head; it will produce no flour. Were it to yield grain, foreigners would swallow it up.

Jeremiah 2:2 - “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem: “This is what the LORD says: “‘I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the wilderness, through a land not sown.

Deuteronomy 4:37-38 - Because he loved your ancestors and chose their descendants after them, he brought you out of Egypt by his Presence and his great strength, to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you into their land to give it to you for your inheritance, as it is today.

Matthew 2:14-15 - So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

Isaiah 1:2-3 - Hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth! For the LORD has spoken: “I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its master, the donkey its owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.”

Hosea 3:1 - The LORD said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.”

Application:

· Am I living a lie? Do I live by lies?
· Do I trust flimsy alliances? Have I sowed the wind of idolatry?
· Am I one of God's elect because of His love?
· Am I loyal and faithful to the Lord? Do I love the Lord? Have I forsaken God and loved foreign gods?
· God loves me! Do I love Him?
· Has God faithfully rescued and delivered me?
· Do I show gratitude to the Lord? Have I rebelled against God?
· Have I refused to know and understand God?
· Does God love me even though I am unfaithful?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

High Places

Hosea 10:2,6-8 - Their heart is deceitful, and now they must bear their guilt. The LORD will demolish their altars and destroy their sacred stones…It will be carried to Assyria as tribute for the great king. Ephraim will be disgraced; Israel will be ashamed of its foreign alliances. Samaria’s king will be destroyed, swept away like a twig on the surface of the waters. The high places of wickedness will be destroyed—it is the sin of Israel. Thorns and thistles will grow up and cover their altars. Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!” and to the hills, “Fall on us!”


1 Kings 12:30 - And this thing became a sin; the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went as far as Dan to worship the other.

Hosea 4:13-14

Application:

· Have I foolishly abandoned religious principles for economic, relational, etc., expediency?
· Have my morals eroded?
· Do I formally call to God? Do I dishonor God by pagan worship?
· Am I unfaithful? Am I hypocritical?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Samaria

Hosea 10:5 - The people who live in Samaria fear for the calf-idol of Beth Aven. Its people will mourn over it, and so will its idolatrous priests, those who had rejoiced over its splendor, because it is taken from them into exile.


Isaiah 44:17-19 - From the rest he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships. He prays to it and says, “Save me! You are my god!” They know nothing, they understand nothing; their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, and their minds closed so they cannot understand. No one stops to think, no one has the knowledge or understanding to say, “Half of it I used for fuel; I even baked bread over its coals, I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make a detestable thing from what is left? Shall I bow down to a block of wood?”

Hosea 6:11-7:2 - “Also for you, Judah, a harvest is appointed. “Whenever I would restore the fortunes of my people, whenever I would heal Israel, the sins of Ephraim are exposed and the crimes of Samaria revealed. They practice deceit, thieves break into houses, bandits rob in the streets; but they do not realize that I remember all their evil deeds. Their sins engulf them; they are always before me.

Application:

· Do I worship the gods of the United States? (food, homes, sports, technology, etc.) Isn't that totally irrational?
· Are my eyes plastered over? Is my mind closed?
· Am I detestable?
· Does the Lord's generosity weigh heavy upon me? Do the Lord's threats weigh heavy upon me?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Oaths

Hosea 10:3-4 - Then they will say, “We have no king because we did not revere the LORD. But even if we had a king, what could he do for us?” They make many promises, take false oaths and make agreements; therefore lawsuits spring up like poisonous weeds in a plowed field.


Hosea 4:2 - There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.

Ezekiel 17:19 - “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: As surely as I live, I will repay him for despising my oath and breaking my covenant.

Amos 5:7 - There are those who turn justice into bitterness and cast righteousness to the ground.

Application:

· Where God is not acknowledged, moral uprightness disappears. Do I acknowledge God?
· Do I despise God's oaths? Do I break God's covenants? Do I despise God?
· Are my business dealings honest and fair? Am I faithful to my word? Is my conduct right toward others? Am I doing what is right in the sight of God?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Reject

Hosea 9:16-17 - Ephraim is blighted, their root is withered, they yield no fruit. Even if they bear children, I will slay their cherished offspring.” My God will reject them because they have not obeyed him; they will be wanderers among the nations.


Hosea 8:7 - “They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. The stalk has no head; it will produce no flour. Were it to yield grain, foreigners would swallow it up.

Hosea 4:5-6,10-11 - You stumble day and night, and the prophets stumble with you. So I will destroy your mother—my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. “Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children…“They will eat but not have enough; they will engage in prostitution but not flourish, because they have deserted the LORD to give themselves to prostitution; old wine and new wine take away their understanding.

Application:

· Do I trust in flimsy alliances? Have I sowed the wind of idolatry?
· Have I given myself over to things not of the Lord?
· Do I have responsibility for teaching God's law? Have I failed to teach God's Word? Am I faithfully promoting God's law?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Gibeah

Hosea 9:9 - They have sunk deep into corruption, as in the days of Gibeah. God will remember their wickedness and punish them for their sins.

Judges 19:24 - Look, here is my virgin daughter, and his concubine. I will bring them out to you now, and you can use them and do to them whatever you wish. But as for this man, don’t do such an outrageous thing.”

Hosea 4:9 - And it will be: Like people, like priests. I will punish both of them for their ways and repay them for their deeds.

Application:

· Are my unrepented sins remembered? Are the accumulated unrepented sins of generations remembered?
· Am I decadent? Am I callously selfish? Do I betray the defenseless?
· Will I be punished for my sins? Am I being punished for my sins?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Watchman

Hosea 9:8 - The prophet, along with my God, is the watchman over Ephraim, yet snares await him on all his paths, and hostility in the house of his God.


Hosea 5:1 - “Hear this, you priests! Pay attention, you Israelites! Listen, royal house! This judgment is against you: You have been a snare at Mizpah, a net spread out on Tabor.

Ezekiel 3:17 - “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me.

Application:

· Do I show hostility toward those who God sends to warn His people?
· Am I responsible for maintaining justice? Do I take advantage of the innocent?
· Does God hold me responsible for my own behavior?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Maker

Hosea 8:14 - Israel has forgotten their Maker and built palaces; Judah has fortified many towns. But I will send fire on their cities that will consume their fortresses.”


Psalm 95:6-9 - Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Today, if only you would hear his voice, “Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness, where your ancestors tested me; they tried me, though they had seen what I did.

Jeremiah 17:27 - But if you do not obey me to keep the Sabbath day holy by not carrying any load as you come through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle an unquenchable fire in the gates of Jerusalem that will consume her fortresses.’”

Application:

· Is my trust in my Maker? Is my trust in what I have accomplished?
· Has my Creator and Redeemer made me what I am? Has He made me one of His people?
· Have I been disobedient? Have God's promises to me been negated?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

God's Own People

Hosea 8:8 - Israel is swallowed up; now she is among the nations like something no one wants.


Exodus 19:5 - Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”

Amos 3:2 - “You only have I chosen of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your sins.”

Application:

· Am I chosen to be part of God's people? Have I conformed to others? Have I become worthless to God?
· Am I obedient and faithful? God is the Creator and Possessor of the earth and everything in it.
· Am I complacent about my privileged status as one of God's chosen? Do I recognize the responsibilities of being chosen?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Sow And Reap

Hosea 8:7 - “They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. The stalk has no head; it will produce no flour. Were it to yield grain, foreigners would swallow it up.


Hosea 10:12-14 - Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers his righteousness on you. But you have planted wickedness, you have reaped evil, you have eaten the fruit of deception. Because you have depended on your own strength and on your many warriors, the roar of battle will rise against your people, so that all your fortresses will be devastated—as Shalman devastated Beth Arbel on the day of battle, when mothers were dashed to the ground with their children.

Hosea 2:9 - “Therefore I will take away my grain when it ripens, and my new wine when it is ready. I will take back my wool and my linen, intended to cover her naked body.

Application:

· Do I sow the wind of idolatry? Do I trust in the wrong things?
· Do I do what is right? Am I blessed by God? Am I repentant? Am I productive and faithful? Am I loyal to Him?
· Am I living a lie? Do I live by lies?
· Am I blindly stubborn in the face of God's goodness? Do I know the source of my blessings?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Return

Hosea 7:8-10 - “Ephraim mixes with the nations; Ephraim is a flat loaf not turned over. Foreigners sap his strength, but he does not realize it. His hair is sprinkled with gray, but he does not notice. Israel’s arrogance testifies against him, but despite all this he does not return to the LORD his God or search for him.


Hosea 8:7 - “They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. The stalk has no head; it will produce no flour. Were it to yield grain, foreigners would swallow it up.

Hosea 5:4

Hosea 3:5 - Afterward the Israelites will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the LORD and to his blessings in the last days.

Hosea 5:6 - When they go with their flocks and herds to seek the LORD, they will not find him; he has withdrawn himself from them.

Application:

· Do I trust in flimsy alliances? (Idolatry?)
· Is their persistent sin in my life? Does that make repentance impossible?
· God has a glorious future in store for me.
· Do I go to the Lord in prayer? Have I turned to Him with integrity of heart?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Fire

Hosea 7:3-4,7 - “They delight the king with their wickedness, the princes with their lies. They are all adulterers, burning like an oven whose fire the baker need not stir from the kneading of the dough till it rises…All of them are hot as an oven; they devour their rulers. All their kings fall, and none of them calls on me.


Hosea 4:2 - There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.

Hosea 10:13-14 - But you have planted wickedness, you have reaped evil, you have eaten the fruit of deception. Because you have depended on your own strength and on your many warriors, the roar of battle will rise against your people, so that all your fortresses will be devastated—as Shalman devastated Beth Arbel on the day of battle, when mothers were dashed to the ground with their children.

Hosea 3:1

Hosea 4:13

Application:

· Where God is not acknowledged, moral uprightness disappears.
· Am I living a lie? Do I live by lies?
· Have I been unfaithful to God?
· Are my morals eroding?
· I fall when I do not call on the Lord.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV