Hosea 4:1-6:3, Do You Know God?

Hosea’s Covenant Lawsuit Against Israel

Hosea chapter 4 starting in verse 1 hear the word of the Lord. Hear the word of the Lord. Oh children of Israel for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or steadfast love and no knowledge of God in the land.

There is swearing lying murder stealing and committing adultery. They break all bounds and bloodshed follows bloodshed therefore the land mourns and all who dwell in it languish and Also the beast of the field and the birds of the heavens and even the fish of the sea are taken away yet, let no one contend and Let none accuse for with you is my contention.

Oh priest. You shall stumble by day the Prophet also shall stumble with you by night and I will destroy your mother. My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge because you have rejected knowledge.

I reject you from being a priest to me and since you have forgotten the law of your God I also will forget your children. The more they increased the more they sinned against me. I will change their glory into shame.

They feed on the sin of my people. They are greedy for their iniquity and it shall be like people like priests. I will punish them for their ways and repay them for their deeds. They shall eat but not be satisfied.

They shall play the whore but not multiply because they have forsaken the Lord to cherish whoredom wine and new wine. Which take away the understanding. My people inquire of a piece of wood and their walking staff gives them oracles.

For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray and they have left their God to play the whore. They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains and burn offerings on the hills under oak poplar and terebinth.

Because their shade is good. Therefore your daughters play the whore and your brides commit adultery. 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. Though you play the whore. Oh Israel let now Judah become guilty enter not into Gilgal or go up to Beth Avan and Swear not as the Lord lives like a stubborn heifer.

Israel is stubborn. Can the Lord now feed them like a lamb in a broad pasture. Ephraim is joined to idols. Let him alone when their drink is gone. They give themselves to whore egg their rulers dearly love shame.

A wind has wrapped them in his wings and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices. Hear this. Oh priest pay attention. Oh house of Israel give ear. Oh house of the king for the judgment is for you.

For you have been a snare at Mizpah and Annette spread Upon Tabor and the revolters have gone deep into slaughter, but I will discipline all of them. I know Ephraim and Israel is not hidden from me for now.

Oh Ephraim You have played the whore. Israel is defiled. Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God. For the spirit of whoredom is within them and they know not the Lord. The pride of Israel Testifies to his face.

Israel and Ephraim shall stumble in his guilt. Judah Also shall stumble with them with their flocks and herds. They shall go to seek the Lord, but they will not find him. He has withdrawn from them. They have dealt faithlessly with the Lord for they have born alien children.

Now the new moon shall devour them with their fields blow the horn and give you up. The trumpet in Rama sound the alarm in Beth Avan. We follow you Oh Benjamin. Ephraim shall become a desolation in the day of punishment among the tribes of Israel.

I make known what is sure the princes of Judah have become like those who moved the landmark upon them. I will pour out my wrath like water. Ephraim is oppressed crushed in judgment because he was determined to go after filth.

But I am like a moth to Ephraim and like dry rot to the house of Judah. When Ephraim saw his wickedness 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.

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

The Call to Return to the Lord

Come. Let us return to the Lord for he has torn us. That he may heal us. He has struck us down and he will bind us up. After two days, he will revive us on the third day. He will raise us up that we may live before him.

Let us know let us press on to know the Lord his going out is sure as the dawn. He will come to us as the showers as the spring rains that water the earth. May the Lord at his blessings to the reading of his Holy Word.

What do you know? I? Think everybody likes to feel that they're an expert on something. Whatever it is some some slice of life that they know a lot about. Maybe how to run a Chinese restaurant Joyce. Maybe how to teach adult prison inmates has been how to program computers or how to edit an article or deliver mail or be a receptionist or counsel needy people or be a nurse or a doctor or paint a building or Clean the gym Micah or cook or maybe even maybe it's just even how to manage this particular House, you know where the pipes and the circuits do strange things.

Or how to get along in this particular family, you know. What to say or what not to say to that particular uncle or aunt we all like to think that there's something in life That we're knowledgeable about so.

Knowing God Is Better Than Religious Expertise

What do you know? Do you know God? Now Christians seem to put a big emphasis on knowledge other religions don't emphasize knowing as much. Buddhists don't usually have classes and lessons and sermons.

Oh, you sure you you can take classes at some Buddhist temples. But that's not what mostly they're about. I don't know if I don't even know for sure Chinese traditional religion. For you know, the mix of Taoism and Buddhism is and Confucianism and ancestor worship.

Is there ever any formal instruction? Maybe in some Confucian school somewhere, but not that I if Mary doesn't know about it. I certainly don't for Muslims. I read just this week that they they begun to have weekly sermons in most mosque.

But that's a modern development and probably in response to Christians. In other words, they they Muslim has kind of started emulating us. It's Christians who have emphasized the sermon and teaching. The word now for many religions, it's okay may not be ideal.

But it's it's okay to kind of just go through the motions you to do the ritual offer the sacrifice. Burn the jawstick. Repeat the prayers if you don't really understand why and what you're doing. Well, that's no big deal.

For Christians, it's different. You're supposed to understand you're supposed to to agree to believe to pray to sing to take the Lord's Supper get baptized live differently because You understand what you're doing and you want to do it.

Queen Elizabeth the first Said that people only need one sermon a year. That should be enough. She thought most Christians particularly reformed Christians Disagreed with that he knew better than that.

It's him. They thought it's important to learn the Bible and some theology so that through that You'd come to know God. But some reformed people I think got a caught away in Abstract philosophical debates about things they really don't have much to do with the word must do about God for that matter like Speculating on what was the the order of decrees in the mind of God in eternity past?

Prior to the you know creation of the universe such debates had little to do despite what they might say With really knowing God and we're probably mostly about Trying to impress other people with sophisticated sounding philosophical arguments.

The fact is you can know a lot of facts About the Bible about church history about Hebrew and Greek theology you can know a lot of facts and Still not know God. This is the challenge whether this is the problem that we have how do we how do we know God?

How do we come to know God? You know, I can develop a course of study That if you follow it I can guarantee you I can promise you That at the end of that course of study, you will know a lot about the Bible assuming you you pass.

You go along. You'll know a lot about the Bible. You'll know a lot about the lives of great men and women of God in the past. You'll know how to think theologically accurately about Doctrines. I can drill you in detailed theology and so that you can have it down pat.

So that you can be thoroughly reformed in your understanding and yet still at the end of all that I Can't guarantee That you'll know God. Do you know God? Well here in Hosea, we see people who call themselves God's people they would all Probably almost certainly claim to know something about God.

But they don't really know him. We see here those people put on trial and we see that trial in in four parts. First there's the charges then there's the accused. Then there's the case against them. And finally there's the verdict.

Faithfulness, Steadfast Love, and the Knowledge of God

First the charges in chapter 4 verses 1 to 3 here the Word of the Lord Jose here's like a look like a bailiff in a courtroom. Hear ye hear ye. This court is now in session the honorable Yahweh presiding.

He has the controversy. The Lord has a controversy with the people of Israel his charges. These three charges in particular in verse 1 that they're named For us and then he elaborates on those three charges in the rest of the chapter first charge.

There's no faithfulness. And the word here translated faithfulness, which faithfulness is probably the best one word. Translation into English that word means firmness truth reliability stability. Integrity.

Your word is your bond. In other words you who you you are who you say you are you keep your commitments. For the opposite of the hypocrite. We said it a couple of months ago the the empty talker who says one thing and then does another just about appearances.

It's the dependability of a of a consistent person a person who keeps his or her Responsibilities. A Christian professor at Eastern University Told how he had an uncle who got married to the love of his life as a young man but within a couple of years of the wedding his wife became just violently insane and He had to institutionalize her.

He would visit her frequently. He tried on several occasions to bring her out, you know so that she could live at home with him. But it would never work out she just became unmanageable and he stayed married to her for over 50 years like that.

Till death did them part. The the professor his nephew once asked his uncle Didn't you ever consider? divorce. You know so you go marry someone else and have a real wife at home. He said no I Committed in sickness and in health for better for worse.

That's Faithfulness, I Think probably the most tragically discouraging letter I've ever received as a pastor's when someone wrote to me that after some time of hearing me Preach on here and there occasionally is that comes up in Scripture on faithfulness integrity keeping your covenant your vows like in Psalm 15.

You keep your your vow your commitment even when it hurts that he said he said it wrote it. He finally dawned at him. What I was saying like it was a strange concept and he found it weird. He's repugnant to be asked to be faithful.

Rather than just a consumer. Says words because it sounds good to say them and then goes on to something else when I tell that story I just told of a marriage. You know that the man committed to his wife no matter what through sickness or health people like that.

That's how you sell faithfulness at least at this culture because it sounds sounds romantic it's like serving Eros remember from last week and so they like. That idea of faithfulness leads to that relationship to that to the erotic relationship.

But but otherwise in this culture. You find the idea kind of bizarre faithfulness, they'll say Sure, what we'll keep our wedding vows. Well. But other commitments We can walk away from if we feel like it.

And of course what often really happens is That they'll find an excuse to abandon their marriage covenant to if they feel like it our divorce rates are what they are. Because the little bit of the little bit of lip service we still give to faithfulness to that to marriage Is really just shallow.

Just like Israel 2 ,700 years ago. There's no faithfulness in this land either. Second charge. There's no steadfast love. Here again, is that one of the most important words in the entire Bible and Hebrews put out?

It's Chesed probably best translated like here steadfast love. It's a little cumbersome, but it's it's the best term I think we could have it in in English. It's loyalty. It's a covenant love. It's not simply a sentimental emotion of being of having pity on someone it's a commitment to do well for them motivate motivated by a Feeling of love for them.

It's portrayed for us in the book of Ruth your name. It goes to Naomi who's from Israel and Israelite goes to Moab right this pagan Country nearby Israel where her sons there in Moab her sons got married one of them to a Moabite woman named Ruth.

But then her her husband and her sons die and she's a foreigner she's an Israelite widow There in Moab and she decides to go back home to Israel and her daughter-in-law Ruth Who's from Moab? She's a foreigner, you know raises a pagan.

She goes with her with her mother-in-law Naomi saying Naomi tries to tell her go back home. Go back home to your father and marry someone else and she says no where you go. I will go where you lodge.

I will lodge. Your people shall be my people and your God my God that's Steadfast love. That's it then Boaz shows steadfast love to Ruth by taking care of Ruth because he's the kinsman Redeemer and The Lord shows steadfast love to them all by giving them through all that steadfast love.

They're showing to each other The line of David and now God himself shows all his people steadfast love through that Line to the King who comes from the line of David and our culture is telling that the that commitment by Ruth to Naomi.

Where you go, I will go is now often used by Christians in Weddings, but of course not committing yourself to to go with your mother-in-law wherever she goes. But of course to the only relationship in our culture that we think the only relationship that really matters again Eros like here in Israel so today.

There's no more of that Steadfast love there's backstabbing. There's self-seeking. There's what have you done for me? Recently attitude there's using people for what they can do for me and then throwing them away when they're inconvenient.

Sure, he helped me a while back when I needed it, but now he can't help me again. So who cares? He's in a nursing home and can't do anything for me anymore. So why should I visit? That's what we think that's the attitude.

When there's no steadfast love. That's why we dare not Forget, mr. Perry or the Lord will have a controversy with us. The third final charge. There's no knowledge of God. That is that the people don't know God.

How do we know that the people don't know God? I mean besides that he tells us here that they don't know God, but did they do they fail a theology test? Did they show that they weren't able to properly articulate the doctrine of the Trinity with the technical Latin terms, you know.

Three hypostasis and one Osea got to get that right. No, we know that there is no knowledge of God in the people because there's no there's no faithfulness. There's no steadfast love that that proves.

There's no knowledge of God first. John chapter 4 verse 8 says anyone who does not love Does not know God. Because God is love. Lack of love and faithfulness is is love. You know love is described for us love bears all things believes all things hopes all things and doors all things love never ends.

That's that's not all a different way of describing faithfulness. Lack of love proves lack of knowledge of God. So if there's no faithfulness, then there's no steadfast love then there is no knowledge of God and without that knowledge.

We just we become like the people around us. We we conform to our environment to the world around us become just as selfish. This is uncaring more interested in our political agenda our party getting its way.

So that those other people don't take what I have and all that stuff I earned I got to keep. It's all about me and my stuff. Just us. Not just us. No matter how absorbed we are in the hymns how much of Caleb we listen to.

The Christian ease we can speak that the trivia that we've acquired about Bible facts still. We don't know God and so are just like The world. God has a controversy with that. He has a charge. Against us there was all of these charges in verse 2 is.

The list of things first swearing that is they're making oaths. Swearing vows covenants in God's name, but not keeping them. There's lying. Which is just rampant now in our culture. Just changing the meaning of words to suit your agenda.

There's murder that would include abortion. They're stealing like in looting. There's committing adultery. They break all bounds in verse 2. None of the restraints that should hold people back. From doing whatever selfish thing they want to do.

The covenant they made to walk together in Christian love with the church family doesn't hold the back from Walking away to be entertained elsewhere. The bonds of gratitude don't hold them to other people because they're too Narcissistic to allow the generosity of other people to knit them together.

The expectation that you know. When you say something you're it's there's a bond there that your expectation that you're telling the truth. That doesn't stop them from lying. The commitment to protect and serve as a police officer.

Didn't hold at least one of them back from strangling a man to death by kneeling on his neck. The maternal instinct doesn't hold some back from killing their children in the womb. The glass window doesn't hold back a looter from taking what he wants.

The wedding vows don't hold them back from a sexual indulgence with someone they are not married to. So Bloodshed follows bloodshed and because of that in verse 3 the land itself nature groaning under his bondage to decay its captivity to a fallen human nature that that this kills and kills because it's so Selfish it totally thinks about what I want right now so that nature itself is ravaged all around us.

The Corruption of Priests and Prophets

Well, those are the charges. Next from chapter 4 verses 4 to 6 are the accused. Now sure. He's already stated in verse 1 that this controversy these charges are with the inhabitants of the land that the Israelites that is all The people but now he narrows the charges to one specific group.

In fact, he says don't contend don't charge everyone in verse 4 because with you Is my contingent priest. The spiritual leaders today in our culture. We would say the pastors the preachers. We don't have priests understand we don't have priests today because priests stand between.

Between us people and God they offer sacrifices. For the people to God and for us now Christ has accomplished that he offered the final sacrifice once and for all so we don't Need priests anymore, but the but the priest in Israel were also supposed to be Pastors to instruct the people to shepherd them in the right way and in that they were failing miserably here.

The Lord is particularly charging them. You shall stumble by day. Even when you should be able to see. You're you're so blinded you you fall over the the Prophet Also shall stumble with you by night. That is it's like the blind leading the blind the priest and the prophets.

They're just Stumbling over everything even the professional prophets the preachers were leaving people in the dark. They were not giving them the knowledge of God. They weren't challenging their unfaithfulness their lack of steadfast love fact.

They were probably they were enabling it. They were making excuses for it. They were part of the culture too and so told people that their faithlessness their detached self-seeking individualism. This is normal.

It's powerful. The course God doesn't care. God doesn't expect you to keep your word to fulfill your commitments to stay married to an insane wife. You have to put it in asylum or in you being knit together in love with members of the body.

You know all he's really interested in. They implied is you Giving me your tithe that's That very conveniently in their point of view God was only interested in them getting paid. So God says at the end of verse 5 I will destroy your mother Israel the nation also exemplified earlier in Hosea with Gomer Hosea's unfaithful wife whom he redeemed.

Why are they destroyed? God says I will destroy You your nation? Why are they destroyed? Because they lack knowledge in verse 6. My people are destroyed for a lack of Knowledge not knowledge about sacrifices or religion but knowledge of God.

They don't know God and because you and he's talking here to the priests the leaders the spiritual leaders of the preachers the pastors. Because you have rejected knowledge you've rejected knowing God because it seemed it seemed too hard to be faithful or to tell other people to be faithful to be a person of integrity to have steadfast love to have Mercy that commits yourself to people.

Oh if they were reformed sure. They would love to learn about super lapsarianism or forensic justification if they were prosperity gospel believers, man. You could get them to listen for hours and hours on end to teaching series after teaching series about seed faith Offerings and how to unleash the power of their positive confession.

They'll learn I'll get it don't gain a lot of knowledge about that kind of stuff or if they're a typical American evangelical. They'd learn all kinds of things about the principles of maintaining their romantic relationship or about focusing on the family but learning to be a person of integrity a Person who loves the body that Christ died for rather than just a consumer of religion.

No, that's too hard. Plus they're probably not even interested in it. So while some of them might know doctrine And others know about all their rituals hardly any of them Knew God. Do you know God? The accused is mainly here the spiritual leaders of the pastors because they rejected knowledge.

Because they wouldn't tell people to be faithful. They wouldn't tell them to be people of integrity to be covenant keepers to be friends to care about each other. But instead they told them Your unfaithfulness is fine.

Yeah, go ahead divorce. Okay. She got a little crazy. Yeah, I understand that. The moral problem is those other people that's the moral problem. It's not you. You don't keep your commitments. You don't keep your word and you don't really care about anyone else.

The problem isn't you. You know, it's those writers just those other people. They're the problem. Though they're breaking all the bounds of the law not us, of course. We just break bonds when it's legal when we won't get arrested for it as If there is no God.

Who doesn't see when we break our bonds? They don't know there's a God they don't know there's a real God a God who's different than their cultural religion. That's just conformed to their culture. They don't know that there's a covenant-keeping God because they have no knowledge of God.

The preachers don't tell them about the true God. They rejected the true God for respectable religion that gets along fine with unfaithfulness and lack of love. Once of my boys baseball game a brokenhearted lady came up to me Telling me how her husband had left her had left her and to go live with another woman and and They the husband and the new living girlfriend are happily going to another church.

With no flack no problem from that church. I guess she was telling me because maybe I have a repeat we have a reputation that we would we would Object to such problems. Well, she told me which church that was that the husband and the girlfriend and go to.

It's actually probably one of the better Churches in the county and ask her which church she went to and she told me and I thought to myself. Your church wouldn't do any better. I Knew her church had run off a previous pastor who had tried to be biblical as far as he understood it and that they before.

That I knew they had a comedian as a pastor who entertained them instead of trying to deal with their problems now sure. Man, like that comes in here. We're gonna deal with a situation like that, but look around.

That's one of the run of the reasons we are the size that we are in this in this culture a Lot of people out there don't want their sins dealt with. They want it enabled. They want the living girlfriend.

You're coming to church with Ignored treated like that's that's fine. That's normal the ministry you want to blame the pastors. Okay, the ministry has rejected knowledge of God. Because the people want them to.

So God says he rejects them. They've forgotten the law the Word of God. So God will forget their children the followers of their religion maybe. He'll let their literal children grow up to be unbelievers and leave that church.

That wouldn't address their problems. How many people did maybe around here? You don't know so much. But there's a lot of people out there I think. They're part of churches, which won't practice Church discipline which wouldn't deal with a problem like that.

It won't follow God's Word and the reason almost invariably the reason they'll give is if we do that. You know, we confront that man with a living girlfriend. He's abandoned his wife if we do that. People won't like it.

The man will leave their whole reasoning. Is that that man with his living girlfriend? He leaves we can't minister to him anymore. So we'll carefully avoid the sin. So he'll keep coming back. Hopefully maybe one day years later.

He'll finally repent maybe. At least in the meantime, he still gives us money. That's that's the rationale people won't like it and they'll leave. But what happens in reality. The children. Often in this culture the children of the very people in those very churches that Reasoned like that.

Let's compromise. So they won't go away their own children grow up to leave the church. They forgot God's Word. So God forgot their children. Well, they're the accused now the case against them is stated.

The Judgment on Israel’s Leaders

It's kind of already been partly stated but at beginning chapter 4 verse 7 very briefly. That this case they increased in the people increased in number and they increased in sin. They're supposed to be honored to do the priest the pastors.

They're supposed to be honored. God will see that they are humiliated that no one takes them seriously anymore. It's just empty words. So who cares what he says is everyone knows it's not not backed up by anything.

That is common to accuse them of anything in verse 8 they feed on the sin of my people these priests these pastors. He preachers they feed they get their sustenance off the people's sin now here. It's literal I mean when people in that culture that time they made a sin offering to pay for their sin.

I'm where they committed a sin and then they want to get forgiven by God. They take an offering to the temple somebody like a cow or something. The priest Got to eat most of that animal. Now think about what practically that means from the priest point of view that meant practically the more the people send the more meat the priest got so.

The result is here. They are greedy for their iniquity. They wanted the people to sin more after all more sin. Means more food means more steaks means better barbecues. Today the more sin the preacher overlooks.

Excuses enables the more people like him the larger the attendance you confront their sin. They go away. So he gets a raise more sin the more money. Now sure particularly in this culture here in the south.

There's a little trick you want to play. Because you don't want to look like you're compromising with sin you want to look like you're the tough guy that's denouncing it. But what you do you be careful you denounce other people's sin people out there.

The sin of the it's the sin of those people in San Francisco. Aha. That's the problem. Not the sin in front of us, you know deal with that sin and so in verse 9 it will be like people. Like priest that is instead of the ministry.

Changing the people the people change the ministry, right? We have a saying father's day remember the plague like father like son here. It's like people. Creating the ministry like priest. So the ministry the pastors aren't really just representing the values of the people.

They get teachers to scratch their itching ears people who will ignore the racism who preach to churches for decades in areas like here where racism and segregation and before that slavery reigned for a century and Somehow I mean you're in this environment where there was segregation for a full Century and all the racism underlying it and somehow you never manage to mention it.

How do you how do you do that? Because if you do of course you do mention you confront it. You'll lose your meal ticket. You'll lose your job. So there will be preachers who will think it's normal. That a deacon from a church stood in the doorway until the black visitor to go elsewhere that happened not far from here.

Who will accept unfaithfulness? Who accept lack of commitment enable it by you know. Dropping these old practices of church membership were developed back when Christians did know about faithfulness instead fast.

Love when there was at least some knowledge of God. If they keep the people happy by enabling their sin. They continue getting paid. He works like that. So there's an incentive for them people like me.

To not rock the boat. Keep the comfortable comfortable. Keep people happy in their sin, you know to not. Adjust the guy sitting in the front row with his living girlfriend that he just got after abandoning his wife.

Leave that alone because the guy's given money. That way they're their checks preachers checks people like me checks keep rolling in right you see how it works. But God says in verse 9 he will Repay them.

They're getting paid for promoting sin. God says he will repay Them. They'll eat from the food that they earned by their compromise. But they'll never be full. It will never satisfy them. They'll be immoral.

But infertile other words that their life will be futile. Because they live for their belly. The people forsake the Lord by their idolatry bowing down to pieces of wood. Committing spiritual adultery at the end of the chapter in verse 17.

They are they're joined to idols that They're like they're married to them like some Christian people today are committed to to mammon or their belly or their individualism or their Politics. You can't separate them from their politics.

The result in verse 13 is that their women commit literal adultery like Gomer but God's not he says here oddly enough. God's not going to punish the women in verse 14 because they're not following because they're only following.

I should say they're following the lead of the men. The warning then for Judah in the south is. Don't follow Israel's that northern kingdoms don't follow their bad example. Don't go to its shrines its its little temples.

Stay away from its religion. Gilgal and Beth Avan mentioned in verse 15 or whether where the shrines in Israel were those were the religious centers. He's saying don't darken their doors. Don't go to their churches because they're a bad influence.

You know, your society is totally corrupt. When even the religion is spiritually toxic and. The case is summed up in the last three verses of chapter 4. They are tied to idols. To living for something other than the Lord.

They the accused are especially the leaders the spiritual leaders. The men who rejected knowledge about God faithfulness steadfast love the true God. Because their God is their belly they live for what they can eat.

They compromise maybe sexually. Maybe just spiritually. They're proud of their religion now proud of its sacrifices its rituals its tradition. But one day God will make them ashamed of it as everyone will know.

It's a sham. Well, that's the case against them now in chapter 5. The verdict hear this again. Hosea the bailiff here ye here ye a priest the ministry that has now Been changed by the people instead of changing the people pay attention.

Israel give ear political leaders you Kings you governors you presidents. You've been a trap for the people instead of helping the people instead of showing them the light. Challenging their unfaithfulness their lack of steadfast love their self-serving consumer religion that does it doesn't know anything about the true God.

Instead of that you've caught them and trapped them and you're just milking them for whatever you can get out of them. You brought people to slaughter. So the Lord says in verse 2 I will Discipline all of them.

I know Ephraim. That's Israel in verse 3. God says I know You they lack knowledge of God. But God doesn't lack knowledge of them. He sees their love for other things love of money or materialism that they try to hide in their hearts.

Under all their religion, even if they keep the rules even if they pay the right tithes and attend the right services. God can see their heart that spirit of what calls here hoard of a spiritual adultery in in them in verse 4 that Spirit that love of other things instead of the Lord holds them captive so that they can't repent.

He says they cannot they lack the ability. They're trapped. They can't repent of that sin in turn to God. Their pride testifies against them in verse 5. So they they stumble into a fatal accident. Oh sure.

For now, they're taking their flocks to sacrifice to the Lord. They're leading them to the shrines. They're offering their sacrifices, but they will never find him because at the end of verse 6 he has withdrawn from them.

You won't find him in their religion in verse 7. There's the old charge again. They've been unfaithful. So warn everyone. God says blow the horn of alarm set off the alarm. Up against these people to avoid these people they will be emptied.

The day of punishment is coming. They become cheats and frauds in verse 10 upon them. I will pour out my wrath. Like water, they'll be oppressed. They'll be crushed in judgment. God is like him. He says he like a moth to them or like dry rot something that is slowly eating away at your your fine clothes.

And invert in verse 12 then in verse 14, he's like a lion Tearing them up carrying them off and going away. They went looking for help from the world in Assyria in verse 13 instead of looking to the Lord.

So the Lord will go away from them to his own place in verse 15 until they acknowledge until they plead guilty and Seek his face until they're in such distress. That they will earnestly seek God. Distress leads to recognizing our sin.