Author: missionspaul

He leads me beside quiet waters. Remember that? Sounds wonderful doesn’t it? Being led by our Good Shepherd. He looks after us. He knows what we need. He knows the paths we take. He opens the way for us. He guides us through the wilderness. At times He carries us. Above all Jesus has laid down His life for us.

But is that what we really want?

This is the problem:

“The Israelites are stubborn, like a stubborn heifer. How then can the Lord pasture them like lambs in a meadow? Ephraim is joined to idols; leave him alone! Even when their drinks are gone, they continue their prostitution; their rulers dearly love shameful ways. A whirlwind will sweep them away.” (Hosea 4 v 16-19)

You see they wanted it both ways. They wanted Him but they also would not give up their idols. The freedom of the meadow is opposite to being joined to the idols. They are missing everything they could have because of this lifestyle they have chosen. And this is not a once fallen state but this is a permanent, stubborn, decision made state that they do not intend to change.

So God says they will be left alone. They will be swept away. They will be taken into exile.

Idols will grip your life so tight that they become as much part of your life as the Good Shepherd is. If you don’t get rid then the idols will get rid of you. God’s people went into exile, into a place that they were never meant to be simply because they wanted it both ways. Exiles still exist today. So make sure He is the one who is shepherding your life.

In every walk of life to become what you want to become then you must decide first what you will stop doing. It is not about doing something new as much as not doing what you are doing now. The examples are endless: but if you are really trying to get out of debt but still carry and use your credit card and do not change your spending then you will remain in debt. If you are wanting to be healthy but are still feeding on the wrong foods then you will remain unhealthy. We have to carry around in our lives the important two words, DO NOT.

“Though you, Israel, commit adultery, do not let Judah become guilty. “Do not go to Gilgal; do not go up to Beth Aven. And do not swear, ‘As surely as the Lord lives!’ (Hosea 4 v 15)

The problem has always been that the people of God do not completely reject God but they compromise their walk with Him.

• Both Gilgal and Beth Aven (known as Bethel) had been places used by God in the past but now they are places of idol worship. It is important to simply stop going to certain places or meeting certain people.

• Before entering those places the people would declare, “As surely as the Lord lives!” or “Yawheh lives!” Then they would move right on in there to worship with idolatry. It is important to eradicate any justifications for actions that are not commissioned by God.

• God doesn’t want the southern kingdom, Judah, to go the way of the north, Israel. It is important to know the kind of person you do not want to become.

Looks the same perhaps but it can be very different when walking it out.

We go to church, worship, pay our tithes and demonstrate good works and that equals the arrangement we have that God blesses those things that have taken up residence in our hearts: our plans, goals, priorities, work, money and possessions. We need God. We need Him so that we can have these things. We call them blessings from Him. But we predetermine the list of blessings. They are our created blessings that we need Him to supply and maintain. We need Him to polish our idols.

“My people consult a wooden idol, and a diviner’s rod speaks to them. A spirit of prostitution leads them astray; they are unfaithful to their God. They sacrifice on the mountaintops and burn offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar and terebinth, where the shade is pleasant. Therefore your daughters turn to prostitution and your daughters-in-law to adultery. “I will not punish your daughters when they turn to prostitution, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery, because the men themselves consort with harlots and sacrifice with shrine prostitutes—a people without understanding will come to ruin!” (Hosea 4 v 12-14)

The people were superstitious with the use of wooden sticks thrown in the air to see how they fell is akin to the toss of a coin or checking the horoscope for guidance.

The people fell into the cultural practices of sacrifices on mountaintops to be seen and under trees for their own shade. It did not please the Lord.

The people were immoral but the men had double standards. They castigated their own women for playing the harlot at these festivals and yet they took part themselves in these sexual offences.

The people had gone astray without letting go of their belief and worship of God. But that is not enough.

God but keeping Him out of the direction of our lives.

God but being more culturally relevant than obedient to the Word.

God but satisfying ourselves with whatever the world offers.

This leads to Him being our God but we not necessarily being His people.

The pursuit of knowing God leads to many blessings. We see what they are through the announced punishment on God’s people:

“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.” (Hosea 4 v 10-11)

Knowing God means you will have enough.

Knowing God means you will be satisfied.

Knowing God means you will know what to do.

That’s something to hold on to as we pursue God today.

Don’t pursue those blessings but pursue Him who holds them.

What was Hosea seeing? In this 8^th century BC as he looked at the priests and the people of God was he seeing anything different than in 2023?!

“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. The more priests there were, the more they sinned against me; they exchanged their glorious God for something disgraceful. They feed on the sins of my people and relish their wickedness. And it will be: Like people, like priests. I will punish both of them for their ways and repay them for their deeds. (Hosea 4 v 6-9)

They saw success but it meant nothing: more priests were entering the ministry so there was a surge of religious activity, but bigger is not better if they were not knowing God more.

They gained deceptively from the people: their bad leadership led the people to sin more which led them come and offer more sacrificial offerings of which the priests were entitled to a portion. More sins, more offerings and therefore more portions!

The Scriptures became less important: how in fact they ignored the law Hosea doesn’t say, but perhaps the teaching of it became secondary, maybe they shortened their sermons to a ‘God-thought’ or maybe it was just a thought! Thoughts don’t build a future for the next generation.

These are direct warnings for the Church today.

• Charisma and crowds do not automatically mean God is pleased.
• A ‘blessed’ person does not mean God has done the blessing.
• Minimal Preaching and without boldness may be a blunt representation of the Scriptures.

I have just spent a couple of days interviewing prospective ministers which included largely questioning their doctrine. What did they believe about God and the workings of God in a variety of ways?

The most important question though for us all whether behind a pulpit or in a pew: Do you know God?

“But let no one bring a charge, let no one accuse another, for your people are like those who bring charges against a priest. 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. (Hosea 4 v 4-6)

It is hopeless. Nothing can stop the judgment that is to come.

They are so focused away from God that they are even arguing with those who teach them the Word of God, the priests. The priests are also in trouble as we will see soon but the fact remains the people did not listen to their spiritual leaders. The prophets are mentioned because they too are part of the problem. In fact the whole nation, ‘your mother’ is in trouble.

And the reason is this: they have lost touch with God.

You are created to know God.

The purpose of your life is to know God.

If you have revelation about anything the most important is to know God.

God’s people were behaving like they were not God’s people.

They were arguing over doctrine and practices that the priests were teaching.

The prophets were not delivering any messages from God.

It always is hopeless if the Church moves away from chasing after Him. His presence and knowing intimately (for that is the meaning of the word) is everything. Absolutely everything!

The story of Hosea and Gomer’s marriage set the scene for the message that now comes to God’s people. The pain of seeing Gomer not being satisfied in knowing Hosea but drifting to know other men is mirrored by the pain of God’s own heart. His people do not know Him. They believe in Him. They sing to Him. They talk to Him. There is evidence that they do know Him. However there is also evidence that they don’t.

“Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites, because the Lord has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: “There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land. There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed. Because of this the land dries up, and all who live in it waste away; the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea are swept away.” (Hosea 4 v 1-3)

God brings a charge against everyone, including in the following verses the priests and prophets. But here it is for all the people. This is an opening introduction to the detailed charges that will follow. God is bringing His case to them. They are being judged in the court of law.

No faithfulness – the people cannot be trusted, they are not true.

No love – the people are not kind to each other.

No knowledge – this is the central theme and God will keep returning to it.

As a result then community breaks down; “cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed” there seems to be no restraint only pain in the one place where God wants to dwell: within the community of believers.

With the breaking down of true community then the knock-on effect is blessing dries up. Life becomes harsher; cruelty and pain seem everywhere; the world is less enjoyable.

This message is as much for today as in Hosea’s day.

The Church:

• The inner character does not match the words.
• Unbreakable community friendships are breaking down.
• The lifestyle of the world is that of the church.
• The pain within the world is getting worse.

Why?

Like Hosea, alone in the marital home; or like the father scanning the terrain for his prodigal son; God is standing, waiting; for we have left (again!), we have gone our own way (again!) and we have lost our knowledge of God (again!)

I pause and look back on every problem I have tried to Pastor whether that be family/marriage breakdown or disunity in the church and I ask myself this question: “If the individuals concerned knew God more would that have helped to fix the problem?” The answer is definitely YES.

I pause and reflect on this one fact: of the things I will regret at the end of my life, knowing God will not be one of them. So I press on to do just that.

Every story, every prophecy and every event throughout the Old Testament pointed to the coming of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as the Messiah King.

God has spoken through Hosea and said there will come a time when His people will be without a king and they will not have a sacrificial worship life. He spoke of the exile. But then …

“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 3 v 5)

This could not be David for he had died. It was a new David and it was in the last days. It was Jesus and our worship of Him as the people of God.

We are to return to Him. The abandonment of everything that has taken us away from our relationship with Jesus. It is to change our thinking so that our thoughts are on Him.

We are to seek Him. With diligence like the shepherds on the hillside and the wise men following the star. Not for what is in His hand but for His face, To seek and we will find attitude. A lifetime of seeking Jesus wanting to know Him more as Paul says after all the revelations of Christ he says, ‘I want to know Christ’.

We are to make Him King of our lives. No. This is not the resurrected old king David. This is his descendent, the Son of David, the King of Kings. He is ruler of everything.

We are to fear Him. This is not the fear that causes us to hide but rather causes us to run towards Him. Our fear is that we do not turn away again. That we do not lose His presence again.

We are to approach His blessings. His blessings draw us. He is good. His mercy. His grace. To the undeserved.

This is a good 5 point prayer for us today.

Gomer has had many lovers but Hosea went again, he loved her again, he purchased her and brought her home.

Remember this verse? “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.” 1 Corinthians 6:19

What a wonderful story!

But we need to understand that there is a time of waiting before we move into the next season. It can never be business as usual. Hosea tells Gomer this.

“Then I told her, “You are to live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will behave the same way toward you.” For the Israelites will live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred stones, without ephod or household gods.” (Hosea 3 v 3-4)

Lessons need to be learned.

How do I become a faithful wife to a loving husband?

How do we not wander off to other idols and gods but worship only the One True God?

The circumstances of life may not change. It may be as tough as ever but We have been bought and we belong to Him.

Walk out what God has done.

There is a day between the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Many around the world use the day to fast (except the Mexicans who call it Judas Day and burn effigies of him throughout their nation!). The fast is not sombre like Lent. It is one of excitement of what is to come, but it is preparation for it.

God shows us by applying what Hosea said to Gomer to Him and His people. They will not have a king and they will not go back to the celebrations and sacrifices to their God. There will be a period of ‘many days’ where Gomer will have Hosea’s presence and Israel will have God’s presence. And that is enough.

Learn from your mistakes is one of the most important periods of our lives.

What did I learn about myself?

How could I have responded better?

What do I need to do so that it doesn’t happen again?

That’s what it means ‘to live with me’.

It seems that Gomer was being auctioned off as a slave. She had become trapped because of her sinfulness.

“So I bought her for fifteen shekelsof silver and about a homer and a halfof barley.” (Hosea 3 v 2)

The Message: “I did it. I paid good money to get her back. It cost me the price of a slave.”

Gomer had fallen into slavery. Isn’t that what prostitution is or becomes? There is no depth to how far men and women can fall. The shame and suffering knows no end. I have seen this slavery from the pain of the victim. The freedom when it comes is immense.

A quick google search of how much Hosea paid to get Gomer back amounts to 30 shekels which within Scriptures like Exodus 21:32 becomes the price of a slave.

Recorded accurately Hosea paid 15 shekels in cash and 15 shekels in bread. He didn’t have the whole 30 shekels in cash. Can you see what he did? Having counted all his cash he didn’t have enough. So he uses food to make up the difference. Can you see it? He turned out his cupboards. Hosea basically emptied himself of everything in order to purchase Gomer. Sound familiar?

Gomer was worth more to him than everything he had.

Love costs.

Hosea purchased Gomer with the amount that Judas betrayed Jesus who gave his life to purchase us.

Isn’t that simply an amazing God-connection?