Know His Word

Hosea 14:9

(9) Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them; for the ways of the LORD are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them.

It's incredible to see just how many exhortations there are in Scripture about the value of knowing God's Word. This whole book has been about the unfaithfulness of Israel to the covenant they had with God. Chapter 14 speaks to God's amazing grace in still keeping His side of the covenant and the offer of restoration if they would repent and return to Him.

This is the last verse of the book. Life is very simple really. We just need to know what God's Word says and then obey it. Of course, that is much easier said than done. We can know what to do and fail to do it. But if we are in Christ we have a Helper in the Holy Spirit. He will help us to walk in God's ways. After all, He wrote the book.

This all presupposes a knowledge of God's Word. What are you doing to learn more about what it says?

Prepare the Field

Hosea 10:12

(12) Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.

I think it is sometimes difficult for me to really grasp all the agrarian imagery of the Bible. I grew up in a suburb and the closest I've come to farming is when I would visit my grandparents' house in SW Ohio. My dad grew up on 65 acres and they farmed the land, though that was not their sole source of income. I have some agrarian roots, if you will, but I don't have much experience with it.

What I do know is that this verse reminds me of the parable of the four soils. I have put in a couple of new lawns in my day and I have been amazed at how grass seed will grow even on the cracks in the sidewalk. It will even grow briefly on the sidewalk if there is just a tiny bit of soil there. However, it does not last.

I think of how hard my own heart is. I certainly spend regular time scattering seed in it. I read Scripture daily. I review my memorization work. I attend church. I listen to good podcasts of sermons and other Christian discussions. With all of that I feel like my life should produce a lot more fruit. I feel like there should be much less sin in it. Yet I still see a dearth of fruit and more sin than I feel like there should be.

I need to have my fallow ground broken up. This is a hard lesson for me! I've been through brokenness and I don't want to go through it again. Yet the commands of Scripture are inescapable.

Staying Pure

Hosea 7:8-10

(8) Ephraim mixes himself with the peoples; Ephraim is a cake not turned.

(9) Strangers devour his strength, and he knows it not; gray hairs are sprinkled upon him, and he knows it not.

(10) The pride of Israel testifies to his face; yet they do not return to the LORD their God, nor seek him, for all this.

I've baked a few cakes in my day and I can tell you that it is not pretty when one is half-baked. That's how Ephraim is described here. It comes from being mixed in with the other peoples. I can tell you that a cake will not come out right if you start mixing foreign things into the recipe. That's what happened to Israel.

This makes me think of our mandate to be salt and light to the culture. How far does relevance go? On one hand, we need to be able to "exegete the culture," as Haddon Robinson would say, but we also need to make sure that we don't get the culture mixed in with us lest we become like Ephraim here.

I know that personally I do better with the less I mix in from the culture. I don't miss TV or movies. Even when we go to see a movie that is OK we get bombarded with all kinds of junk in the previews. You can't watch a football game without seeing the cheerleaders. And so on.

The good news is that, fundamentally, the gospel is always relevant. Yet I know that we need to present it in a way that people can understand. I'm all for that. Let's just make sure that we do not get anything wrong in our batter.

Repent and Believe

Hosea 5:11-15

(11) Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment, because he was determined to go after filth.

(12) But I am like a moth to Ephraim, and like dry rot to the house of Judah.

(13) When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria, and sent to the great king. But he is not able to cure you or heal your wound.

(14) For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear and go away; I will carry off, and no one shall rescue.

(15) I will return again to my place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face, and in their distress earnestly seek me.

Here God is speaking to the nations of Israel and Judah. When you read "Ephraim" here you should think "Israel," or the Northern Kingdom. Clearly things are not good for either kingdom based on how God says He will act toward them.

What is the solution? They had to repent and believe. They needed to acknowledge their guilt and then earnestly seek God's face. I don't think that is just for those people at that time. It is the same thing that God calls us to. We need to repent and believe.

We are destined for God's wrath apart from the saving work of Christ. We must repent and believe if we are to be saved from the judgment that is to come. This does not mean giving mere intellectual assent to the truth of the gospel, nor does it mean just feeling badly about our sin. It means that we are to earnestly pursue God with everything we've got. He cannot just be one part of our lives. He demands it all and He deserves it all.

Where are you? Are you ready to repent and believe? Have you believed in the past but need a fresh spirit of repentance? I know that I often do. Jerry Bridges says that we are to preach the gospel to ourselves daily. It's a great reminder for me and one of the reasons why I maintain this blog. I need the reminder to zealously pursue the Lord.

The Cost of Unfaithfulness

Hosea 4:14

(14) I will not punish your daughters when they play the whore, nor your brides when they commit adultery; for the men themselves go aside with prostitutes and sacrifice with cult prostitutes, and a people without understanding shall come to ruin.

The book of Hosea is filled with this metaphor about being whores. Hosea marries a woman named Gomer who ends up being unfaithful to him and even ends up in bondservice. However, Hosea redeems her from her slavery and commits her to a life of faithfulness. This metaphor gets extended to the people in this passage.

If you are in Christ then God has done the same for you. We were playing the whore with our lives. Yet Christ redeemed us from our slavery. We are no longer slaves to sin, but to Christ. In other words, if we are in Christ then the price for unfaithfulness has already been paid.

What pains me is how often I forget this and turn back to some form of whoredom. Maybe I seek out images for my eyes that I really don't need to see. Maybe I look for satisfaction in some toy or other material thing. Maybe I think some experience is going to satisfy me. My heart is a factory for idols. My prayer is for devotion that is befitting a redeemed slave.