Old Testament - Hosea 4-6 - November 8, 2022

 

11/8/2022 – Hosea 4-6

 Chapter 4 begins with the saddest news: “Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel: for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. By Swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out [ie break all bounds]….Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.” 

 The Lord continues in v 6: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee…” In our difficult times, we need to turn to the Lord, and turn to His scriptures. We need to seek knowledge, wisdom, and understanding—for these can all be found within His scriptures, and these things will re-open our hearts and our minds and our actions.

When people take themselves away from the Lord’s chosen paths, and choose to do those things the Lord has told us not to do, that is when things fall apart for us. That is what the Lord describes in v 10: “for they shall eat, and not have enough…” Staying close to the Lord, and following His commandments will always bring comfort to our souls…even when making our way through difficult times.

 This is what Henry B Eyring felt as he taught a seminary class about the book of Hosea: “I had a new feeling about what it means to make a covenant with the Lord. All my life I had heard explanations of covenants as being like a contract, an agreement where one person agrees to do something and the other agrees to do something else in return. “For more reasons than I can explain, during those days teaching Hosea, I felt something new, something more powerful. This was not a story about a business deal between partners. . . . This was a love story. This was a story of a marriage covenant bound by love, by steadfast love. What I felt then, and it has increased over the years, was that the Lord, with whom I am blessed to have made covenants, loves me, and you . . . with a steadfastness about which I continually marvel and which I want with all my heart to emulate”

In Chapter 5 the Lord explains that the people of Judah and of Israel WILL fall, but that fall will come about because of the iniquities they refused to take out of their lives. V’s 4-5: “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. 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.”

In v 15, the Lord explains what they have in front of them, and will need to happen if they want to return to His comfort and His love: “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.”

In Chapter 6 we see Hosea’s efforts to help Israel begin to return to the Lord. He acknowledges that the Lord “hath torn” them but if they turn to Him, He will “heal us”; He “hath smitten” them to get their attention, but if they turn to Him, He will “bind us up”.

The Lord desires, not just rituals alone, but also our good actions, our good thoughts, and our good feelings. V 6 explains what the Israelites needed to desire—that is mercy and charity…and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. Those same desires, mercy, charity, and knowledge of God, will certainly help us, too!



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