Missions Paul

This chapter reads negatively in one way because God’s people were just not walking with Him. They were mixing their faith of Him with their practice of idolatry.

However, what God says to them gives us the keys to see the restoring hand of God which is available to us all. And how we need that restoration work!

“I trained them and strengthened their arms, but they plot evil against me. They do not turn to the Most High; they are like a faulty bow. Their leaders will fall by the sword because of their insolent words. For this they will be ridiculed in the land of Egypt.”

Hosea 7:15-16  

A Pastor told me recently how for the first time in 10 years they were holding a baptismal service; another told me they had seen over 70 decisions for Christ in their week of evangelism; another that their church had broken the 50 Sunday attendance mark which they had been praying for such a long time; the stories continue and I see the restoring hand of God. Restoration is happening. 

Look at the verses again and turn them upside down and you will see the heart of God and what could have been for these people.

• God is empowering His people and they are an army trained for the battle of winning the lost.
• God is nearing His people as they call upon Him for help.
• God is giving His people success and making sure their efforts are accurate and hit the mark.
• God is protecting His people so that even though it may look like they will fall they don’t.
• God will not allow His people to suffer shame. 

May Restoration continue!

Within the judgment prophecies of Hosea are clear lessons and pathways to show that whatever is broken, even if it is us, there is hope, anyone can be restored.

In God’s appointed time there will be restoration. Those who are His are never forgotten.

But what is the process for that restoration? What are the signs that God is working towards this season of restoration?

1. It is to uncover the sin. God brought to the surface their wicked treatment of one another, 7 v 1-2)
2. He breaks up the party, calling His people out from the world, to be different, 7v3.
3. He exposes ambitious and competitive fire for what it is, v4-7.
4. He brings self-awareness, v8-10.
5. He becomes the sole Person we call out to, v 11-15
6. We begin to understand His heart, v13.

“I long to redeem them …” (Hosea 7 v 13)

Posted on a lamp post was a lost dog sign. There was a big cash reward for whoever found the lost dog, and a description of the dog. It said: “He’s only got three legs, he’s blind in the left eye, he’s missing a right ear, his tail has been broken off, he was neutered accidentally by a fence, he’s almost deaf, and he answers by the name ‘Lucky.'”

That dog isn’t lucky, he’s a walking disaster dog, one thing after another, bumps and scrapes, accidents and attacks. The dog isn’t lucky but it is loved for there is an owner who wants him back.

You’ve been through some scrapes, battered, bruised, messed up a bit. You are a product of your past. Sinner and sinned against. But Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so!

He wants you back. He loves you and He loves to redeem.

There is no one too lost. There is no sin too wrong. There is no position too far away. Wherever a person finds themselves they can return home. Redemption awaits. Forgiveness is there. Healing is there. Amazing grace is there.

When you truly understand this then you are on the pathway to His restoration.

Within the judgment prophecies of Hosea are clear lessons and pathways to show that whatever is broken, even if it is us, there is hope, anyone can be restored.

In God’s appointed time there will be restoration. Those who are His are never forgotten.

But what is the process for that restoration? What are the signs that God is working towards this season of restoration?

1. It is to uncover the sin. God brought to the surface their wicked treatment of one another, 7 v 1-2)
2. He breaks up the party, calling His people out from the world, to be different, 7v3.
3. He exposes ambitious and competitive fire for what it is, v4-7.
4. He brings self-awareness, v8-10.
5. He becomes the sole Person we call out to, v 11-15

“Ephraim is like a dove, easily deceived and senseless—now calling to Egypt, now turning to Assyria. When they go, I will throw my net over them; I will pull them down like the birds in the sky. When I hear them flocking together, I will catch them. Woe to them, because they have strayed from me! Destruction to them, because they have rebelled against me! I long to redeem them but they speak about me falsely. They do not cry out to me from their hearts but wail on their beds. They slash themselves appealing to their gods for grain and new wine, but they turn away from me. I trained them and strengthened their arms, but they plot evil against me.” (Hosea 7 v 11-15)

God’s people are portrayed as a silly dove flying from one nation to the other nation seeking help.

When all along they knew that they had the God of the whole Universe they could turn to.

So what will happen is one of those nations, Assyria, will be used to catch them and bring them into exile and servitude.

Who or what you trust eventually becomes your lord.

Who is that?

Who is your Assyria and your Egypt?

Reject them and put your trust in God who is your provider, empowerment and protector.

If you are crying on your ‘beds’ don’t just wail, turn to God. Do what the Psalmist encourages: “… when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent. Offer the sacrifices of the righteous and trust in the Lord.” (4:4-5)

Acknowledge the reality of your heart.

Pray.

Trust.

This is the pathway to restoration.

In God’s appointed time there will be restoration. Those who are His are never forgotten.

But what is the process for that restoration? What are the signs that God is working towards this season of restoration?

1. It is to uncover the sin. God brought to the surface their wicked treatment of one another, 7 v 1-2)
2. He breaks up the party, calling His people out from the world, to be different, 7v3.
3. He exposes ambitious and competitive fire for what it is, v4-7.
4. He brings self-awareness, v8-10.

If you have little knowledge of how you are perceived then there is little to have to control. If you cannot see the blind spots that others see so clearly then there is nothing to rein in, nothing to try to master and bring discipline into your own life. Ignorance isn’t bliss it often leads to unrestraint.

 “Ephraim mixes with the nations; Ephraim is a flat loaf not turned over. Foreigners sap his strength, but he does not realise it. His hair is sprinkled with grey, 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 7 v 8-10)

A flat loaf not turned over is a loaf that is cooked only on one side and because it is not turned over becomes overcooked. Appetising?

God’s people always believed in Him but they turned to other nations for help. Their kings made alliances with Assyria and Egypt to strengthen their cause and bring security to their nation. Where was God? He was on the uncooked side of life.  As a result this loaf was useless. The big problem was ‘he does not realise it’ and ‘he does not notice’. God was waking them up to their zero self-awareness.

A Pastor recently said to me, ‘Thank you, I have begun to change how I do things and I have put new practices into my life that were not there before.’ He thanked me because I simply opened with a sentence, ‘Are you aware of how people experience you?’

Hardened, weakened and not fit for purpose – but they do not realise it.

Aging and arrogant – but they do not notice.

I see Churches being restored because they wake up to the obvious that they had taken their attention off for years. For example, they have all grown old together and they haven’t invested in the youth and children. So they begin a Children’s holiday club or a Youth Alpha etc and self-awareness causes them to be on the path of restoration.

When we begin to solve problems that we just haven’t seen then we know we are on the road to restoration. This is the work of God.

In God’s appointed time there will be restoration. Those who are His are never forgotten.

But what is the process for that restoration? What are the signs that God is working towards this season of restoration?

1. It is to uncover the sin. God brought to the surface their wicked treatment of one another, 7 v 1-2)
2. He breaks up the party, calling His people out from the world, to be different, 7v3.
3. He exposes ambitious and competitive fire for what it is, v4-7.

“They are all adulterers, burning like an oven whose fire the baker need not stir from the kneading of the dough till it rises. On the day of the festival of our king the princes become inflamed with wine, and he joins hands with the mockers. Their hearts are like an oven; they approach him with intrigue. Their passion smoulders all night; in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire. All of them are hot as an oven; they devour their rulers. All their kings fall, and none of them calls on me.” (Hosea 7 v 3-7)

Hosea uses 4 images to help us understand what was happening and what God was drawing attention to. When this is acknowledged then you know you are on the path to restoration.

God’s people were like an overheated oven.

A little research shows us that a) In the early morning the fire was lit underneath the oven; b) When the walls were hot the fire was removed; c) the bread was placed in the oven.

The image is that of an oven so hot that the baker fails to do any of his duties.

That was the people.

They had become so consumed with their passions that they were not being who they had been called to be.

It is seen in the short-lived reigns of the kings after Jeroboam II had died. Each were assassinated by the other:

Zechariah reigned for 6 months; Shallum for 1 month; Manahem for 8 years; Pekahiah for 2 years and Hoshea for 9 years (all in 2 Kings 15).

Hosea tells a story though we do not know who it applies to regarding what appears to be an all-night orgy of some sort. But the picture is clear and we see it around us today. We see it as much in the Church as in the world.

Assassinating other leaders in order to stand on their shoulders to get their title; fiery exchanges of anger in meetings; burning desires for something that looks godly but isn’t.

Within the Church we preach about fire and we want people to be ‘fired up’. We want them to have a passion from within. For the gospel, for calling on God, for their discipleship and for mission. The pathway of restoration is one where God exposes ambitious and competitive fire for what it is, And the result is the opposite of v7 “none of them calls on me”.

In God’s appointed time there will be restoration. Those who are His are never forgotten.

But what is the process for that restoration?

Firstly it is to uncover the sin. God brought to the surface their wicked treatment of one another, 7 v 1-2)
Secondly, He breaks up the party!

“They delight the king with their wickedness, the princes with their lies.” (Hosea 7 v 3)
God’s people and priests were acting no differently to those of the state, of King Jeroboam II.
God’s people are to be a distinguished people. They are to be separated, different, for that is what holiness is. But there was no difference. What you saw in the ‘Church’ you saw in the highest levels of the ‘government’ of the land. I use those terms because it could be 2023. The sexual predatory, the Gaslighting, the idolatry, jealousy, rivalries and divisions, the list can continue. There seems to be little differentiation, little distinguishing between God’s priests and people and the leaders and people of the world. We are watching an evil circus, an entertainment that is filled with acrobatic lies (from the Message version of this verse).
No one appreciates this kind of message. Especially when you are enjoying yourself. No one wants the plug to be pulled, the lights to be turned off and the music to stop. No one wants to be dragged out of a party. But God is calling time. There is a season of restoration coming for those who hear this call. The Spirit of God is calling out, ‘Stop! Enough of this entertainment! The party is over! My people do not belong here!’
Does this resonate with you?

The reason why this book of Hosea is so important for us is that it demonstrates God’s judgment but also His compassion. It reveals what He does with His own judgment. He doesn’t withdraw it. Look what did happen to the northern kingdom, Ephraim/Israel: “In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria.” (2 Kings 17:9) That did happen. They went into exile and never came back. But God does not let His judgment have the last word. He always chooses a remnant, a shoot or branch, hope rises.

“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 realise that I remember all their evil deeds.
Their sins engulf them; they are always before me.” (Hosea 6:11-7:2)

In God’s appointed time there will be restoration. Those who are His are never forgotten.

But what is the process for that restoration?

Firstly it is to uncover the sin. God will ‘expose’ the crimes.

God’s people were simply religious but not relational people of God. They had knowledge but no intimacy. They had lost His presence. In its place came politics and pain, corruption and darkness. Whether or not God calls out robbery as taking place definitely or whether it was imagery of what was being stolen from people’s lives. They were not caring for one another. What was being done in hiding, God saw it all.

Painful that it might be but there are times when it seems like a whole community shakes, when no one knows what is really happening, but God does, for He is bringing to the surface what lies underneath. Everything is laid bare. I have seen it many times. It is not nice to walk through but you do so trusting in God who knows all things. It is part of the restoration though it doesn’t feel like it at the time.

The uncovering needs to happen.

The opening of the wound before the healing for restoration comes after the exposing.

From an early child I got to know my mum had eyes in the back of her head. Amazingly she saw everything. I’m thinking of that this morning as I read these next few verses:-

“As at Adam,they have broken the covenant; they were unfaithful to me there. Gilead is a city of evildoers, stained with footprints of blood. As marauders lie in ambush for a victim, so do bands of priests; they murder on the road to Shechem, carrying out their wicked schemes. I have seen a horrible thing in Israel: There Ephraim is given to prostitution, Israel is defiled.” (Hosea 6 v 7-10)

Adam was a place mentioned in Joshua 3 v 16 where the Jordan River was held back and the Joshua generation crossed over.

Something happened during Hosea’s generation that was similar to when some priests broke the covenant of God at Adam in Joshua’s generation, but we don’t have any information on this, there’s nothing in the Bible about it.

Gilead (known as Ramoth in Gilead) was one of the cities of refuge (Joshua 20) where people who had accidentally killed could find safety.

Shechem was also a city of refuge but had a historical claim to the fact it was here that Abram had built an altar of worship to the Lord (Genesis 12).

Something was happening in Hosea’s generation which was the opposite of what these cities were known for, but we don’t have any information on this, there’s nothing more in the Bible except God calls it ‘murder’.

There’s lots of things we don’t know. But God sees it all. The Bible history sits within the history of God.

He knows what no one else knows.

He says “I have seen a horrible thing …” He points his finger at the north and the southern kingdom of Israel. There isn’t anything that He doesn’t see. But what do we think the horrible thing is?

1. Even in places of the miraculous (Adam) there can be hidden sins that God calls covenant-breakers.
2. Even in places of refuge (Gilead and Shechem) the next generations can turn them into harmful places to be.
3. The Church can have hidden sins and be places of harm. That’s the horrible thing.

In an interview with a long-time friend, U2’s Bono, responded to the sometimes-stained reputation of the church throughout history:

 “Religion can be the enemy of God. It’s often what happens when God, like Elvis, has left the building. A list of instructions where there was once conviction; dogma where once people just did it; a congregation led by a man where once they were led by the Holy Spirit. Discipline replacing discipleship”.  (Michka Assayas, Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas)

 “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6 v 6)

Performance will never lead to true discipleship.

The church has rules. Christians have rules. Things we have learnt over the years that if we do them prove we are good and acceptable to God.

We step into performance the moment we behave as if Christianity brings man to God.

Even that sentence may cause some of us to have to read it again as it appears correct!

But central to Christianity is the truth that it is the story of God coming to man, every other religion has it the other way round. Sadly the church sometimes follows suit. For we all like a good performance.

We cannot get our own way with God by performance.

He is looking for ‘mercy’ – ‘hesed’ – it is a faithful and loyal love, Hosea’s heart’s desire for Gomer, not her repentance and words of commitment but persistent love.

He is looking not for head knowledge of Him but an intimacy that is all consuming where we are all in for Him.

Performance cannot compare with these. There will always be something missing.

The call to return to the Lord has been given but it didn’t last.

I knew a man who would knock on my door or phone me every 3 months for confession over the same sin. It went on for 10 years until the sin like a cancer consumed him and took him into exile.

“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. Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets, I killed you with the words of my mouth—then my judgments go forth like the sun.” (Hosea 6 v 4-5)

Like the man I knew, Hosea’s generation walked with God only for a while, it did not last.

Loyalty to God was fleeting, like a morning mist that disappears when the sun comes on it.

They were superficial with no substance to their worship of God.

Pastors tell me that since the pandemic their Church has changed. People are not attending as regularly as they used to. It is not the shift-work that is causing them the problem but lifestyle choice. They may attend alternate weeks and the other time they are pursuing leisure moments.

If Church attendance is down is their prayer life up? Are they spending more time on their faces before God? If so, then there is perhaps not a problem. I suspect that not only is their attendance down but their prayer life also.

• Superficiality limits the possible opportunities with God – what can I do with you?
• Superficiality talks more and makes decisions less, it is all promise and declaration – the mist.
• Superficiality is always boasting (on social media), their words become more important than the prophetic words – I cut you in pieces with my prophets.
• Superficiality breeds entitlement, they deserve some idolatry, they have earned this, but they will be judged – ‘like the sun’ the light on their darkness.