August 6, 2001

Lessons for August 19

EXPLORE THE BIBLE:
Rejection of God's love brings only hardship
___ Hosea 11:12-13:16
___By Jeane Law
___First Baptist Church, Lubbock
___On a very hot August night in Alabama 47 years ago this month, Dan and I stood before God, the pastor and family and friends and spoke the words of our marriage vows. We were all smiles and bright-eyed, looking at each other. We had no idea what the future would hold for us. We just knew we wanted to experience it together. God has been gracious and merciful to us as we have honored those vows toward each other. The journey continues to be one of joy and thanksgiving.
___The book of Hosea is all about broken vows. The children of Israel took a vow to God, to honor the covenant of partnership with him as he chose to make them his precious treasure. But sadly they failed to keep those vows.
___Hosea has continually pointed out the many ways Israel dishonored their covenant with God. This study begins to seem repetitious as we hear God, over and over, calling his people to repentance.
___Remember that Hosea prophesied over a period of 30 years, and even though we are covering his words in a few weeks, these written messages covered Israel's behavior over many years. That being said, it is obvious Israel continued to ignore God's warnings and his calls to repentance year after year.
___Before we judge too harshly, consider all the messages you have heard preached in regard to forgiving someone who has wronged you. We know Christians should not harbor unforgiving spirits, for Scripture and our pastors have often told us so. What are you thinking?
___The lesson begins with the last verse of chapter 11 stating that Ephraim (Israel) has surrounded the Lord with deceitfulness and lies. Chapter 12:1 continues: "Ephraim feeds on the wind, he pursues the east wind all day and multiplies lies and violence. He makes a treaty with Assyria and sends olive oil to Egypt" (12:1).
___King Hoshea's attempt to break his vassal treaty with Assyria by seeking support from Egypt was as futile and senseless as trying to catch the wind. Today we would say he was "wheeling and dealing," but it was an exercise in futility. He never asked God to protect them but depended on his own manuevering. How foolish!
___Chapter 12 continues with God's charge against Israel. Their merchants used dishonest scales when buying and selling to their financial advantage. The people boasted of their wealth. "I am very rich. I have become wealthy. With all my wealth they will not find in me any iniquity or sin" (v. 8). They owned the judges by paying for deceitful judgments. They were safe, so they thought. They failed to give God credit for their nation's existence. They never considered God's role in their history.
___Their idolatry had grown so pagan that they kissed the calf-idols as they worshipped--they had combined the worship of God and Baal into one religious act. They knew God had said, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." In response to this disobedience, God promised to take all their comforts away and put them back in tents in captivity and exile (12:9).
___The first three verses of chapter 13 speak of Israel's glorious past, her disobedient, sinful present and her judgment in the future--"Therefore they will be like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears, like chaff swirling from a threshing floor, like smoke escaping through a window" (v. 3). The word pictures are quite clear. The nation of Israel is going to vanish.
___God loved them so much, but they intentionally rejected his love. God said: "But I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt. You shall acknowledge no God but me, no Savior but me. I cared for you in the desert, in the land of the burning heat. When I fed them they were satisfied, when they were satisfied, they became proud, ... then they forgot me" (vv. 4-6).
___When do we most feel we need the Lord, in good times or bad times? Israel behaved the same way. Once she was satisfied, she became proud and said: "I can do this by myself. I don't need God." Her pride rejected God's love. We also reject God's love when we fail to acknowledge his loving hand in all we are and all we are able to achieve.
___Hosea gives two pictures of God in verses 4-11. One is God the Savior who brought Israel out of Egypt and cared for them in the desert, and the other is God the lion who will attack and devour them. Rejection of God the Father brings on God the Judge! Verse 12 should be a wake-up call for each of us, since it states God holds sinners accountable. We need a Savior!
___But there is hope. Sin will not have the final victory, for verse 14 gives God the victory. "I will ransom them from the power of the grave." Paul uses these words in 1 Corinthians 15:54-57 to teach the resurrection of our bodies from death. Praise God that he is in charge and has given us the gift of salvation through his son Jesus Christ! Acknowledge God's love by thanking him for the many ways he daily cares for you.

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