HOSEA WAS SPEC1ALLY CALLED BY GOD TO LIVE A LIFE AND MAKE CHOICES THAT WAS THEN RELATABLE TO THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ISRAEL AND GOD.
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to Me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
7 As they were increased, so they sinned against Me: therefore will I change their glory into shame.
8 They eat up the sin of My people, and they set their heart on their iniquity.
9 And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them their doings.
10 For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase: because they have left off to take heed to the Lord.
11 Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.
God has a unilateral covenant with Israel which is still in effect although throughout the years as a nation they have not been faithful to God. This covenant is an example of the boundless love of God. This agreement is not saying that God disregards sin; no, it is a sign of God’s mercy. There is a penalty for sin and everyone including Israel must pay the penalty for our sinful choices.
The tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh represented Joseph. The message of Hosea was specifically to Ephraim as a group of tribes. This group comprised of: Asher, Naphtali, Simeon, Ephraim, Zebulun, Manasseh, Issachar, Reuben, Dan and Gad. These tribes are called the Ten Tribes, Israel or Ephraim and were extremely disobedient to God.
The Levites were the priestly tribe and unlike the other tribes which had specific location as their inheritance the Levites’ inheritance was among all tribes. This was God’s plan because it was their responsibility to keep the people focused on Jehovah. They failed in their responsibility as many of them stood in solidarity with the disobedient Israelites. When the Assyrians captured the Ten Tribes, Levites among them were also taken.
The other tribes -Benjamin, Judah and a portion of the Levites were called Judah. They were not very obedient but had behaved a little better than the others. God was displeased with them and they were oppressed by nations the most dominant were the Babylonians. When Judah fell into sin and the Babylonians captured them the Levites among them were also taken.
This message from Hosea 4:6-11 is very important, in it the Lord was addressing the wilful ignorance and rebellion of Israel. There is a difference between not knowing and being wilfully ignorant. When one is wilfully ignorant it means you are openly rebellious against God. God said through the prophet Hosea, “My people are destroyed for the lack of knowledge because they have rejected knowledge and because they have rejected knowledge, He will also reject them.”
God had told Israel that He had called them as a special people to be priest for Him and to spread His word and also to work in His vineyard. He further stated that they had rejected the knowledge of the truth so He will also reject them as workers in His vineyard. That was what He meant when He said that they would be no more priest to Him. He said so because they had not only forgotten about the simple rules and regulations that are guidelines but they had rejected His Laws. Yes, they had put aside the Laws that God had given to them and have taken upon themselves something else which is not of God. In doing so they still believe they were doing the will of God and would be allowed to enter the Kingdom of God. We learn from 1st John 3:4- Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
The Lord said, “I will also forget thy children” Why would He say that? It is the parents’ responsibility to live in righteousness according to God’s word so that they can leave a legacy of blessings for their offspring. The statement “I will also forget thy children” does not mean that God will reject the offspring of the disobedient; God is a merciful and forgiving God and would leave them in the cold.
God pointed out that the more He had blessed the Ten Tribes was the more they multiplied. The more they multiplied numerically the more they increased in materialism, in power and status and in sinning against Him. So, it is with many persons the more God opens door for them, the more ungrateful and evil-hearted they become in the presence of God.
The Lord determined that because they have increased in sin against Him, He was going to turn their glory into shame and all that He had given to them He would allow to become weapons of obstruction to them. When God blesses us, when God open doors for us, when He flies open the windows, we are to be grateful to God. The main way we show that we are grateful is by being obedient to the will of God and to live according to His precepts. However, many times when God opens doors for us, we believe we have opened our own doors and windows. We forgot where the blessings came from.
The Scriptures also tell us, they eat up the sins of My people, they set their hearts in iniquity. When persons are iniquitous they are set in committing evil and will not readily turn from their evil ways. They partake in evil as they eat food, they generate evil thoughts which flows like water. Their actions are iniquitous because they are consistent and persistent in evil and not in good.
In verse 9 God was saying that the people were like the priests there was no difference between the pulpit and the floor. The priest comes from among the people, so if the people are consistently evil you have to examine the behaviour of the leaders. At that time most were saying and doing the same evils. Being evil, they call evil good, they call unrighteousness, righteousness and they believe they were still a special holy people to God. Leaders have a great responsibility and must be consistent in applying righteous discipline. By doing this there will be saintly people among the disobedient.
There are many persons who believe that they are going to enter the Kingdom of God because of affiliation of one sort or the other, but affiliation cannot guarantee entrance into the Kingdom of God. Earthly affiliation cannot guarantee entrance into the Kingdom of God. What guarantees entrance is a solid knowledge of the word of God, abiding by the word of God, living in obedience to the will of God and being committed to God. Outside of that one cannot enter the Kingdom of God. We cannot hold the truth in unrighteousness, we cannot know and refuse from doing, we have to do that which we know to be truth.
The word of God says, “I will punish them for their ways and reward them for their doings.” They are not going to escape, said the Lord. I will punish them for their ways and reward them for their doing. Just as how God will reward you for good so He will reward you for bad. Some people on their deathbeds confess. They give a testimony, of good or evil. When they are confessing their evil deeds, kins and friends begin to seek and apply ways to stop them from bringing further disgrace upon the family.
When a child of God is going home, you want the whole world to know that you are going. You leave a wonderful testimony talking about God’s wonderful salvation plan; His glorious promises and the blessings which awaits you.
Verse ten tells us, “for they shall eat and not have enough.” Just as Israel endured famine because of their willful disobedience so will we have famines in this world. There are famines for the genuine word of God and literal food, right know. Today the people of God, the Jews are in famine because the word of God says, “blindness impart as happened to them until the time of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” (Romans 11:25)
The word of God is fulfilled upon them spiritually and physically; they went through physical famines and biblical and historical records tell us that they had to eat every kind of unnatural and unclean things. They also had to drink their urine, they went through all of that because of sin. The very people whom God had told that when they passed your faeces, they should make sure to have a paddle so that they can dig a hole to bury it because He, God, did not want to pass and see it. Leviticus 23 verses 13-14 - And thou shalt have a paddle upon thy weapon; and it shall be, when thou wilt ease thyself abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which cometh from thee:
14 For the Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy: that He see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee.
This very same people turned to eat their own faeces; that is what sin does.
The word of God says they shall come with whoredom. Whoredom here refers to spiritual whoredom and physical whoredom. They committed whoredom because they had departed from God. Today in the spiritual realm or places of worship, a lot of whoredom is taking place, because people are deviating from the word of God.
God told Hosea to tell them that they shall not increase because they do not want to hear the word of God. Contentment had filled their heart; they are self- fulfilled. This is similar to behaviours today. God said, listen to Me, I will punish you. He will punish us for the wine of falsehood which we are enjoying and the whoredoms that we engage in. Apostasy is at an all -time high at this time and it will not decrease until Jesus returns and destroy evil. this is no excuse for us to follow evil practices we must abstain from all form of evil and escape the wrath of God.
There is only one way to the Kingdom of God, and it tells us to seek and ask and when you have found that One Way we ought to walk in it. Some people may call you a fanatic, some will say you have a strange doctrine. Do not let that hinder you from doing the right. Follow the inspired word of God. The word of God tells us to walk in His way and live righteously. May God help us to do so.
Writer - A. E. Fisher
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