As I read through the last twelve books of the Old Testament I found myself stopping with each one and saying, “This is the one. This is the next book that we are going to study in morning worship.” Well, needless to say, we aren’t going to study all twelve of the Minor Prophets in depth. Eventually we will take a longer look at the prophet Amos, but before we get to Amos, I want us to take each of the eleven remaining Minor Prophets and try to hit the highpoint of each prophet’s message so that we might see what we can learn. I hope you will join me for the next eleven weeks as we study the messages of these bold men of God.

Our very first study will surely challenge some of you who have been taught that the God of the Old Testament is a “God of wrath” while the God of the New Testament is a “God of love and forgiveness.” There is no more beautiful picture of the love, compassion, and mercy of God than what we will find in this book.

Others of you who believe that God is purely logical and rational will be challenged as well. Let me give you a few examples of what I am talking about. Throughout history God has called His people to do some strange things. He called Moses through a burning bush and then later told Moses to stand at the edge of the Red Sea and hold up his staff so that the waters would part. You think that is strange? I’m just getting started. Try these on for size…

• God told Ezekiel to lay on his left side for 390 days and on his right side for 40 more days to represent the number of years Israel and Judah would be punished. (Ezekiel 4:4-7)
• God called Jeremiah to make a yoke, the kind worn by oxen as they plowed a field together, and then put it on his own neck. Jeremiah wore the yoke to illustrate to the people of God that things were going to get even worse for them because of their disobedience. (Jeremiah 27:1-2)
• In Isaiah 20, God told Isaiah to walk around naked for three years. Isaiah’s nakedness was a sign of the terrible troubles that God was going to bring on Egypt and Ethiopia, or the Cushites. It also served as a warning to King Hezekiah of what could happen to the people of Judah as well.

I don’t think it would be a stretch to say that if, when you walked into church this morning, I was strolling down the aisles naked you would think I had lost my mind. Don’t you know the people who saw Isaiah walking around in his birthday suit must have thought the same thing? I’ve heard of lots of church growth ideas through the years, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone who has tried this one. Can’t say I would recommend it either.

Well, in our study for this morning we find God giving His prophet, Hosea, some strange marching orders as well. As you begin reading Hosea you immediately run into Hosea’s predicament. Read along with me from Hosea 1:2-3.

2 When the LORD began to speak through Hosea, the LORD said to him, “Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness, because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the LORD.” 3 So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. (Hosea 1:2-3 NIV)

That’s quite an introduction isn’t it? Hosea doesn’t tell us much about himself because the focal point of the story is not so much Hosea and Gomer as it is God and His people. Before we get to that I want to give us some background as to what was going on at the time that Hosea was called by God to speak to the nation.
We can get an idea of about when Hosea’s ministry took place by reading Hosea 1:1. Read along with me.

1 The word of the LORD that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the reign of Jeroboam son of Jehoash king of Israel: (Hosea 1:1 NIV)

The United Kingdom of Israel was no more—the nation was divided in two with Israel in the north and Judah in the south. Hosea tells us that he began to prophecy when Jeroboam, the son of Jehoash, that would be Jeroboam II, was king of Israel. Jeroboam II reigned as king over Israel from 793-753 B.C. That’s 41 years (2 Kings 14:23-29). It was a long period of stability, expansion, and prosperity for the nation. Under Jeroboam II the nation expanded its borders and surrounding nations paid tribute to the powerful Israel. Prosperity came rushing in like floodwaters.

Many believe that Hosea came to be a prophet to Israel about 760 B.C.—less than ten years before Jeroboam II died. Hosea served as prophet for almost forty years, until just before the nation was destroyed by the Assyrians in 722 B.C.

When Hosea stepped onto the scene during the final decade of Jeroboam II reign, nobody paid him any attention. Happy days were being experienced by the upper crust of the Israelites. Money was plentiful, Israel had become the “big man on campus” to all of her former enemies, and arrogance and extravagance ruled the day.

There was something else going on in the nation as well. Something that God was acutely aware of, but that the people didn’t give any thought to. The people had turned away from God. It was this turning away that caused God to send His messengers to His people to urge them to turn back. Dr. Richard Strauss, in his sermon, Undying Love—The Story of Hosea and Gomer, writes,

As is often the case, with prosperity came moral and spiritual degeneration. Secularism and materialism captured the hearts of the people and sin ran rampant. The list reads like twentieth-century America: swearing, lying, killing, stealing, adultery, drunkenness, perversion, perjury, deceit, and oppression, to name but a few. But the thing that grieved the heart of God more than anything else was the sin of idolatry (Hos. 4:12, 13; 13:2). The golden calves set up by Jeroboam I about 150 years earlier had opened the floodgates to every evil expression of Canaanite idolatry, including drunkenness, religious prostitution and human sacrifice. (Richard Strauss, Undying Love—The Story of Hosea and Gomer. http://alturl.com/3hat3)

Hosea was told to take an adulterous wife as a real life example of what God’s people had done in their relationship with Him. This is made clear from our reading of Hosea 1:2-3. We read in verse 3 that after Hosea married Gomer she “conceived and bore him a child.” Gomer has two additional children, but there is no hint that these two kids were fathered by Hosea. God instructs Hosea to name the children. The first was named, “Jezreel,” which means, “scattered.” It was a clear sign of judgment for the people of God. Hosea was prophesying in the years just before the mighty, powerful nation of Judah would fall in 722 B.C. The second child, a daughter, was to be named, “Lo-Ruhamah,” which means, “not loved” or “not pitied.” When the time of judgment came God would have no pity on His people. The third child, a second son, was to be named, “Lo-Ammi,” which means, “not my people.” There is no indication that the second and third children born to Gomer were fathered by Hosea.

Things went from bad to worse for Hosea. Gomer didn’t have a change of heart after the birth of her children. She didn’t come to her senses, repent of her sin, and ask for Hosea’s forgiveness. As a matter of fact, she did just the opposite. In Hosea 2:5 we read,

5 Their mother is a shameless prostitute and became pregnant in a shameful way. She said, ‘I’ll run after other lovers and sell myself to them for food and water, for clothing of wool and linen, and for olive oil and drinks.’ (Hosea 2:5 NLT)

Can you imagine how devastating it must have been to Hosea? Sure God called him to marry an adulterous woman, but that wouldn’t have diminished the pain and agony of Hosea’s heart in the least. Just think about the difficult times that you have been through in life. God may have given you insight so that you knew that He was leading you through the storm, but did that make it enjoyable or somehow shield you from the pain of the experience? I don’t think so.

God is not giving Gomer a pass for her behavior. In Hosea 2 we read that she will be punished for what she is doing, for her adultery. God says,

13 I will punish her for all those times when she burned incense to her images of Baal, when she put on her earrings and jewels and went out to look for her lovers but forgot all about me,” says the LORD. 14 “But then I will win her back once again. I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her there. (Hosea 2:13-14 NLT)

There’s a great lesson for you and me right here if we will only have ears to hear. God is going to punish Gomer, He is going to discipline her for her ungodly behavior, but the punishment is not intended to destroy her, it is meant to draw her back into His arms.

When we come to Hosea 3 we find Gomer in a bad shape. Evidently she has in fact been sold as a slave. There were reasons in the ancient world why a person was sold as a slave. One of the reasons was because of military conquest. When the conquering army captured a city they took some of its citizens as slaves. Another reason a person became a slave was by birth. You were born into a slave family and so you became a slave as well. Thirdly, you could be sold as a slave because of debt. Well, we know that Gomer wasn’t on the auction block because of her birth or because of conquest. We don’t know exactly why Gomer was sold into slavery, but Dr. James Montgomery Boice, in his commentary on Hosea, gives us some insight into what the actual auctioning process looked like when he writes,

There is a Greek play in which a fat man is put up for sale. The bids are starting, and the men who are buying bid: ‘Ten cents!’ ‘Fifteen cents!’ ‘Twenty cents!’ They begin to joke with one another. One man says, ‘Why do you bid twenty cents for that fat slave? As soon as he gets in your house he’s going to eat up all your food.’ The man who bid twenty cents justifies his bid, saying, ‘You don’t understand. I’ve got a squeaky mill; I’m going to cut him up and use him for grease.’ At last a beautiful woman is put up for sale. Her clothes are taken off, and now the bidding is not ‘Ten cents…twenty cents.’ It is: ‘A hundred dollars…a hundred and twenty dollars!’ The men are bidding for the body of the female slave. (James Montgomery Boice, The Minor Prophets: Volume 1. Baker Books. pg. 34-35.)

The slave market was dehumanizing. The slave market was ungodly. The slave market was filled with the stench of sin. God calls Gomer’s husband to go to the slave market and buy back his unfaithful wife. In Hosea 3:1-3 we read,

1 The LORD said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.” 2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley. 3 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 live with you.” (Hosea 3:1-3 NIV)

I want you to visualize something with me just for a moment. Close your eyes and see the slave market before you. Men, women, boys, and girls on the auction block—stripped not only of their clothes, but their dignity and humanity. These are people created in the image of God and yet they are being sold as slaves. Some, like Gomer, have made some really bad decisions that have led them to the auction block. Others simply because of their birth find themselves being sold like a bushel of wheat or barley. Those who are doing the buying make snide remarks, sexually explicit remarks, and there in their midst is the husband of the woman who is standing naked before the crowd. Hosea has to listen to all that is being said. Gomer is not a sex object to Hosea; she is his wife, the mother of his child, and the hammer that has broken his heart. God said, “Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods…” Hosea begins to bid and he won’t stop until he wins her back no matter how much it costs him. Finally the auctioneer cries out, “Sold! Fifteen pieces of silver and a bushel and a half of barley.” Hosea goes to Gomer, helps her get dressed, and walks with her through the crowd as they make their way home.

I have to tell you something. Hosea was the first book that I read while I was on my sabbatical. I’d read it before, but as I read it again I really read it. I stopped. I saw Hosea in the marketplace watching his bride stripped naked before they led her out before the ungodly men who whistled, “oohed and ahhed,” and make comments as she was brought out onto the auction block. I thought about my own wedding day and the hopes and dreams I had for Connie and me as we exchanged our vows. Doesn’t every groom have those same hopes and dreams for himself and his bride? Surely Hosea wanted the same things even though it wouldn’t be possible. God had told him to marry an adulterous woman, but I don’t think Hosea had any idea of the heartache that would follow.

Broken, humiliated, shattered, and spurned Hosea went to the marketplace and he redeemed his bride. Is that the way God loves? You better believe it is! We have each and every one of us turned away from the Father and sold ourselves to another. For some of us we are like Gomer. We’ve sought to fill our emptiness with the love of another only to find out that we’ve been used and not loved. Others have tried to find fulfillment in the marketplace by acquiring power and prominence and prestige. Making a name for ourselves isn’t the same as finding fulfillment in life. Others have tried to form alliances with powerful people around them instead of aligning themselves with the Father’s will and trusting in His plan. I could go on and on with scenarios, but the end result is always the same.

I need to tell you that you may have abandoned God, but He has not abandoned you. He has searched you out. He has made His way to the marketplace, to the place where you’ve been stripped naked in more ways than one, and He has come to take you home, to buy you back, to redeem you my friend.

Once we get past Hosea 3 we don’t hear any more about Gomer and Hosea. The attention turns to God and His “wife,” Israel. It is a sordid tale. The nation was thriving militarily and economically, but it was rotting from the inside out because of its dismissal of God and its “adultery” with idolatry. There is a very telling verse in Hosea 4:6. The NIV, NAS, and most other translations say, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…” This really doesn’t tell the whole story because the truth is that the nation is teetering on the verge of collapse because of a lack of a specific kind of knowledge. That is why I like the New Living Translation of this verse so much. It says,

6 My people are being destroyed because they don’t know me. (Hosea 4:6 NLT)

Oh, how they have forgotten! Oh, how we so easily forget. Who was it that had blessed Israel? Who was it that had “purchased” a group of slaves from the Egyptians and set them up in a land all their own? Who was it that had provided for them at every turn? That was back then. Back before prosperity had captured the minds and turned the hearts, back before Israel was a military power, back when they knew they were weak and poor, and if God didn’t provide in every respect they would be doomed.

When Hosea stepped on to the scene things had changed. The people no longer saw themselves as weak, they certainly weren’t poor, and they were occupied with their extravagance and indulgent lifestyles. They had forgotten God.

In Hosea 11, we have one of the most beautiful and heart-wrenching chapters in the whole Bible. Listen to the Lord describe His relationship with His people.

1 “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. 2 But the more I called Israel, the further they went from me. They sacrificed to the Baals and they burned incense to images. 3 It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms; but they did not realize it was I who healed them. 4 I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love; I lifted the yoke from their neck and bent down to feed them. 5 “Will they not return to Egypt and will not Assyria rule over them because they refuse to repent? 6 Swords will flash in their cities, will destroy the bars of their gates and put an end to their plans. 7 My people are determined to turn from me. Even if they call to the Most High, he will by no means exalt them. 8 “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 Zeboiim? My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused. 9 I will not carry out my fierce anger, nor will I turn and devastate Ephraim. For I am God, and not man– the Holy One among you. I will not come in wrath. 10 They will follow the LORD; he will roar like a lion. When he roars, his children will come trembling from the west. 11 They will come trembling like birds from Egypt, like doves from Assyria. I will settle them in their homes,” declares the LORD. 12 Ephraim has surrounded me with lies, the house of Israel with deceit. And Judah is unruly against God, even against the faithful Holy One. (Hosea 11:1-12 NIV)

I wish we had time to let each of us take our Bibles and reread that chapter and then meditate on the mercy, provision, grace, and love of God for His people. I wish we had time to contemplate our own waywardness. I can say without hesitation that God has provided for you and me with equal measure to His provision for the Israelites.

God has provided for you and me throughout our lives. Before we were ever even aware of His existence—He was there. He has been leading you and me throughout our life with cords of kindness, with ties of love. What has been our response? Well, I don’t think it is any different than the response of the Israelites. In verse 7, God said, “My people are determined to turn from me.”

If you and I were simply presented with the facts of Hosea and Gomer’s marital mess, who of us would counsel Hosea to hang in there? Who would tell Hosea to stay the course and keep loving her? I’m certain that most of us, if not the vast majority of us, would tell Hosea to cut his losses and move on down the road. Hosea didn’t turn away; he didn’t unleash his fury on his wayward wife because he was to love her like God loves His people. Read with me once again from Hosea 11:9-10.

9 No, I will not unleash my fierce anger. I will not completely destroy Israel, for I am God and not a mere mortal. I am the Holy One living among you, and I will not come to destroy. 10 For someday the people will follow me. I, the LORD, will roar like a lion. And when I roar, my people will return trembling from the west. (Hosea 11:9-10 NLT)

If you do not learn but one lesson this morning let this be it: God is not like you and me. He has demonstrated His love for us time and time again, most clearly through the life, death, and glorious resurrection of His Son Jesus. Though we may be bent on turning away, His desire is to turn us back into His arms of mercy and grace. He will use any means necessary, just like He did in the lives of His people before us, to turn us away from that which will destroy us. His discipline is not to destroy, but to save.

There are so many things being said about God today in our country, but let me say something about us—we are being destroyed because we do not know the Lord. I want to urge you today to make your highest aim in life to know Him. The first step in knowing God is to surrender our lives to His Son. Nothing can happen in your life until that happens. Like Hosea of long ago who redeemed, bought back his wayward wife, Jesus came to redeem you and me, to buy us out of slavery and set us free to serve Him all the days of our lives. Won’t you invite Him into your heart this morning?

Mike Hays
Britton Christian Church
922 NW 91st
OKC, OK. 73114
August 15, 2010

One can’t help notice the silence of atheists these days. Suddenly ”God” is everywhere, as ubiquitous as American flags, spreading — as Dan Rather said in a spasm of simile-rapture to describe rumors following the Sept. 11 attacks — ”like mildew in a damp basement.” War has that effect. There are no atheists in foxholes, we’ve always known. There were none in the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, we can guess. And now there are none anywhere to be found. America today is about God and country, but then it always has been. We just lost track. We lost track when we evicted God from our public institutions and when we stopped honoring our nation with the songs and rituals that defined American childhood until a few decades ago. We of a certain age remember beginning each school day by pledging allegiance to the flag, singing My Country ‘Tis of Thee and, finally, reciting The Lord’s Prayer…Since terrorists brought down the twin towers and part of the Pentagon, we’ve repeatedly witnessed America’s leaders praying, singing, pledging and asking the nation’s citizens to join them. (Kathleen Parker is a syndicated columnist for Tribune Media Services and a member of USA TODAY’s board of contributors.)

Ms. Parker is remembering something that she had forgotten. Something that far too many of us have forgotten as we, as Americans, have indulged ourselves in the sweet morsels of material prosperity, relaxed in the lap of luxury, and drank deeply from the well of wealth. It is the tragedy of September 11th that has jarred us from our coma of comfort and caused us to remember the things we learned as children. How we use to begin each day with prayer and an expression of gratitude for this land that God has shed His grace upon. Ms. Parker goes on in her column to point out that the foundation that we who are older were given, not only by our parents, but reinforced in our schools each morning, has never been a part of the lives of our kids. They do not recite the Lord’s Prayer each morning, they don’t “Pledge Allegiance” to the flag, and therefore they are having a hard time understanding what we are doing at the present time. Listen to her words as she continues her column by saying,

Since terrorists brought down the twin towers and part of the Pentagon, we’ve repeatedly witnessed America’s leaders praying, singing, pledging and asking the nation’s citizens to join them. Which is to say, our children must be awfully confused. Reared and educated in godless institutions that also scarcely acknowledge the importance of patriotism — watching adults sing songs they’ve never learned — they must wonder ”wassup.” It’s as though America’s adults belong to a secret society to which their children have never been exposed. We’ve been so overzealously protective of newcomers to and renegades from our traditional heritage — and fearful of offending anyone hungry for attention — that we’ve failed to pass on the very values that made us who and what we are. Faith in God and devotion to country are values, however, that do not evolve from nothing. Both require nourishment and a continuity of commitment passed from one generation to the next. Our parents, most of whom had tasted war and paid the dues of freedom, gave us these values to which we now so readily return. We have a duty to do the same for our own children. (Kathleen Parker is a syndicated columnist for Tribune Media Services and a member of USA TODAY’s board of contributors)

I believe Ms. Parker is right in saying that our kids must be awfully confused at this time. With so much talk about God, folks gathering to pray, and Bible’s being dusted off as they are pulled out of closets to be read at the dinner table and before bedtime – the kids must be wondering what has happened to their country?

Just a few weeks ago I taught a lesson to the men in Promise Keepers from Judges 2 about how we are seeing the Scriptures relived before our very eyes. Let me read to you the Scripture I shared with the men and see if you can see any parallel with God’s Word and the words of Kathleen Parker from USA Today.

8 Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of a hundred and ten. 9 And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. 10 After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel. 11 Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the Baals. 12 They forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They provoked the LORD to anger 13 because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. (Judges 2:8-13 NIV)

After Joshua and his generation went to their graves, the Bible tells us, “another generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel. 11 Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the Baals.” What we can gather from this verse is that Joshua and his generation took the knowledge of God with them to the grave. There was a famine in the land of the Word of God, of knowledge of the Lord’s mighty power, and of reverence for their Holy and Righteous God. Just this past week, Chuck Colson wrote about the famine in our own land in his Breakpoint commentary. Mr. Colson writes,

June 1940: Hitler’s armies are poised to destroy the cornered British Army, stranded on the beaches at Dunkirk. As the British people anxiously await word of their fate, a three-word message is transmitted from the besieged army: “And if not . . .” The British public instantly recognizes the message: It’s a reference to the biblical story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego standing before King Nebuchadnezzer’s fiery furnace. “Our God is able to save us . . . and if not, we will remain faithful to him anyway.” The message galvanized the British people, and thousands crossed the English Channel in small boats to rescue their army. Fast forward sixty-one years to January 22, 2001: President Bush delivers his Inaugural Address. Afterward, Dick Meyer of CBS News confesses “there were a few phrases in the speech I just didn’t get. One was, ‘When we see that wounded traveler on the road to Jericho, we will not pass to the other side.’” “I hope there’s not a quiz,” Meyer concludes. What a difference a generation makes. For centuries, biblical references were the common coinage of Western speech. As Dunkirk demonstrates, people were so steeped in the Scriptures they immediately recognized a cryptic biblical allusion. But today that memory has been erased. This kind of spiritual illiteracy represents a sobering predicament for the Church: How do we evangelize neighbors who no longer recognize, let alone think, in Christian terms? (Chuck Colson, Breakpoint Commentary, October 8, 2001 Vol. 158 No. 16)

This past week at Promise Keepers I shared Kathleen Parker’s column with the men who had beaten the sun out of bed on Tuesday morning. I told the men, “The reason our kids are confused about our sudden faith and patriotism is because we have taken the Bible out of their lives. References to the Bible are no longer present with them in their schools or in their homes.”

At the same time that our kids are confused there is another group of people who are terribly confused as well. The Body of Christ is weary from wrestling with what to make of these events. If you will listen to Christian radio, read preacher’s sermons, and listen to the musings of those who are trying to offer the right “Thus saith the Lord…” for the situation then you will quickly come to the conclusion that Body of Christ is sounding more like Sybil, the multi personality prophet, than reflecting the heart of God, who is the same “yesterday, today, and forever.”

Some mouthpieces in clerical collars are saying that God had nothing to do with the events of September 11th. One preacher this past week said, “God was shocked to find 6,000 bodies present with Him in Heaven on the morning of September 11th.” Another religious leader that I introduced to you last week, Bishop John Shelby Spong, says that the God of the Heavens, who is both all-powerful and all loving, has died. Another preacher says that the events of September 11th were caused by certain groups of sinners in our land. What is it? Make up your mind! Is God really in a state of shock by what has happened? Have we finally found out that God is limited in His power or evil in His intent? If you think that preachers are confused then you ought to listen to the people on the streets as they try and make sense of what has taken place.

Why is the Body of Christ so fragmented at a time like this? Why is the mouthpiece of God, the Body of Christ, so muffled with such mixed messages during such desperate times when all of the land is looking to us? Those are great questions! I do have an answer for you. Just as our children are confused because we have taken the Bible out of their schools, so the Body of Christ is confused because we have taken the Bible out of the Church. We have substituted nonessentials for what is foundational for our gatherings on Sunday mornings and throughout the week – the study of God’s Word.

We have become infatuated with trying to appeal to the world and we have forgotten about pleasing God. We have become obsessed with sound systems and lighting and forgotten about sacrifice and love. We have taken classes in showmanship, but we can’t even spell sanctification. We have broken our necks to become pleasing to everyone and in doing so we have become antagonistic towards our God. We have erected glorious, glamorous cathedrals, but in the midst of our construction we have lost the Cross. We have designed our programs to attract the prominent, well heeled, and big shots of our communities, but we have left the poor, the weak, and the broken out in the cold. We have exchanged the teachings of God’s Word for lessons in financial success, marital bliss, and maximizing relationships, but we have left the one relationship that escapes us in our sanctuaries of success and self-righteousness. We have forgotten God, but He has not forgotten us.

For us to understand the events that are unfolding before our very eyes we don’t need to listen to Dan Rather, Peter Jennings, or the White House – we must listen to God as He speaks to us through His Word. We don’t need to tune in to CNN, the Fox News Network, ABC, NBC, or CBS – we need to tune in to God as He speaks to us from His Word. We don’t need to read Newsweek, Time, or The Daily Oklahoman – we need to read God’s Word.

There is so much confusion in our land today, regarding God’s role in this tragedy, because the Body of Christ has long neglected the Word of God. We have taught those in our society how to be successful, but we have not taught them about the Savior. We have taught them how to be happy, but we have not taught them how to be holy. We have taught them that God is a giant Santa Claus, but we have not taught them that He is the Sovereign of the Universe.

This past summer the Sunday school class I teach studied the Minor Prophets for three months. We took a look at Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Zephaniah, and others that most of those who attend church on Sunday could never name, much less have ever read. In our study God was preparing us for what was about to happen. In our studies we learned that God is consistent. In each of the Minor Prophets we saw how His people turned their back on Him, how God disciplined them to try and get their attention – not to destroy them, but to bring them back to Himself. I want to share from one of the prophets this morning to see if you can connect the events of Hosea’s day with our day. Read along with me in Hosea 4,

1 Hear the word of the LORD, you children of Israel, for the LORD brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land: “There is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land. 2 By swearing and lying, killing and stealing and committing adultery, they break all restraint, with bloodshed upon bloodshed. 3 Therefore the land will mourn; and everyone who dwells there will waste away with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; even the fish of the sea will be taken away. 4 “Now let no man contend, or rebuke another; for your people are like those who contend with the priest. 5 Therefore you shall stumble in the day; The prophet also shall stumble with you in the night; and I will destroy your mother. 6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. 7 “The more they increased, The more they sinned against Me; I will change their glory into shame. 8 They eat up the sin of My people; They set their heart on their iniquity. 9 And it shall be: like people, like priest. So I will punish them for their ways, and reward them for their deeds. 10 For they shall eat, but not have enough; they shall commit harlotry, but not increase; because they have ceased obeying the LORD. 11 “Harlotry, wine, and new wine enslave the heart.” 12 My people ask counsel from their wooden idols, and their staff informs them. For the spirit of harlotry has caused them to stray, and they have played the harlot against their God. (Hosea 4:1-12 NIV)

Hosea is the first of the Minor Prophets, but his message rings out with a clarity and consistency that is found in each of the Minor Prophets. Hosea was given a message by God to deliver to the nation of Israel, the northern kingdom. He prophesied at the same time as Isaiah and Amos. The people were living large and enjoying their days when God sent messengers to visit them with the message, “Return to Me.” Ray Steadman says in his sermon, The Prophet and the Prostitute,

People were “living it up,” as we might say, and didn’t have much time for God. They wouldn’t have said that, of course; nobody ever says that when it is true. Instead they may have said something like we do — that it was just a case of not having quite enough time to meet the demands that God made upon them; they were so busy with so many other important things. The spirit was willing but the flesh was ready for the weekend.

Like those of us who have been enjoying the peace and comfort of our own lethargy of luxury, the Israelites were enjoying their good times as well. They had forgotten who had blessed them with peace. They had forgotten who had put three square meals on their table each day. They had forgotten who had provided them with the clothes they wore on their back. They were giving lip service to God with their mouths, but their hearts were far from Him. God speaks to them in their comfort, arrogance, and self-serving attitudes and says,

4 “But I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt. You shall acknowledge no God but me, no Savior except me. 5 I cared for you in the desert, in the land of burning heat. 6 When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me. (Hosea 13:4-6 NIV)

The people were prospering and they had important things to do like attend business meetings, enjoy their weekends, get their kids to piano practice and ball practice, and socialize with their friends – going to prayer meetings, worship services, and caring for the poor, widows, and orphans was just not possible. They just couldn’t squeeze it in. They thought about being “still” in the presence of the Lord, but it seemed like they always had somewhere to go or something that had to get done. They thought about reading their Bible, but it seemed like there was always a good program on television or another book that they needed to finish first. They would make an occasional trip to the house of worship to do their “duties,” but they had to hurry because there were others things to do.

As time rocked along the message of God, His Word and His will, became more and more of a distant memory to them until finally God raised up a prophet in their midst who said,

1 Hear the word of the LORD, you children of Israel, for the LORD brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land: “There is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land.” (Hosea 4:1 NIV)

The absence of truth, mercy, and the knowledge of God brought the presence of the Lord’s charges against His people. The prophet wasn’t finished speaking yet. He says,

6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. (Hosea 4:6 NIV)

God says that His people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. He wasn’t referring to a substandard school system or a lack of knowledge about business affairs, foreign affairs, or current affairs. God’s people weren’t being decimated, devastated, and destroyed because they didn’t know about interpersonal relationships, conflict management, engineering, the stock market, or nuclear physics. They were being destroyed because of their lack of knowledge about God.

The people were committing what Hosea calls, “harlotry.” By harlotry he means that they were giving themselves to others rather than giving themselves wholly to God. They were worshipping whatever made them happy, whatever promised them the moon, but could never deliver. Hosea says,

10 For they shall eat, but not have enough; they shall commit harlotry, but not increase; because they have ceased obeying the LORD. (Hosea 4:10 NIV)

Because they lacked knowledge about God they would get and grab and gather, but they would never have enough – they would never be filled. Because they had ceased obeying the Lord they would never be satisfied, never content. Does that not sound like our day?

12 My people ask counsel from their wooden idols, and their staff informs them. For the spirit of harlotry has caused them to stray, and they have played the harlot against their God. (Hosea 4:12 NIV)

“Can you help me?” they cried out to anyone or anything that could offer them any logical answers. The called their psychologist, psychiatrist, doctor, Miss Cleo, anyone who could help them. They sought prosperity from anyone who could show them a better way, a quicker fix, and a more cost effective solution. The spirit of harlotry led them away from God and it has led this nation away as well.

I have been hearing so much talk about how innocent we are during the past few weeks, but my friend you need to know the truth – we are not innocent – we are guilty as charged. We have strayed as a nation. We have forsaken God as we have sought prosperity, luxury, and comfort of life. We have raced at breakneck speed to make life better for ourselves with no regard for what God is saying to us, what He is asking of us – How He is calling us to live our lives.

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

As we leave Hosea 4 and turn to the next chapter, God calls everyone to attention, but notice who He calls first. “Hear this, you priests!” The priests were the spiritual leaders of the nation and if Israel was ever going to return to God then she should be led by her leaders. Today, in America, we are being confronted with the call of God to return home. To repent of our waywardness, return to our God in humility and sorrow for our waywardness, and to resolve within our hearts that we will serve the Lord with every moment He gives us. What will we do? Will we humble ourselves before the Lord and acknowledge that we don’t know all of the “whys” of what has happened, but that we hear God’s voice amidst the chaos and clamor calling us home? Will we raise our heads in pride and say that “our” God would never visit us in this way? Will we go back to work in rebuilding our buildings, businesses, 401(K) accounts, and life as we knew it before the buildings of power and prosperity fell? I would caution you to consider Hosea once more before you make your decision. In Hosea 5:4-5 we read,

4 “Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God. A spirit of prostitution is in their heart; they do not acknowledge the LORD. 5 Israel’s arrogance testifies against them; the Israelites, even Ephraim, stumble in their sin; Judah also stumbles with them. (Hosea 5:4-5 NIV)

I pray that we will not be like Israel and stumble in our pride. I pray that in humility of our hearts we will bow before God’s throne, admit our ignorance, confess our dependence, and cling to the One who calls us home. Back into His arms, back into His grace that is able to keep us seeking Him not for what He can do for us in our hour of calamity, but simply for who He is as Lord and King of all creation. Won’t you come home this morning? Won’t you remember the One you have forgotten and come home into the arms of the Savior who is waiting?