WWUTT 2229 They Will Seek God and Not Find Him (Hosea 5:1-15)

Israel thought they could turn from their sin whenever they want. We can go with our sacrifices to the temple and seek God and he will forgive us. But God said it's too late. I have already withdrawn myself from them when we understand the text.

This is when we understand the text, teaching through a New Testament book on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, an Old Testament book on Thursday, and a Q &A on Friday. With our Old Testament study today, here's Pastor Gabe.

Hosea 5:1-7 — Israel’s Sin, Pride, and Failed Search for God

Thank you, Becky. In our study of the book of Hosea, I almost said the gospel of Hosea. I'm just, I'm so used to saying gospel of Mark on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. I forgot we're in our Old Testament study.

That's where we are today. It's Hosea chapter five, is the chapter we're onto now, where God is once again reminding Israel of their sin and promising judgment for them. I'll give you the outline of this particular chapter here in a moment, but let me begin by reading the first seven verses out of the Legacy Standard Bible.

Hear the word of the Lord. Hear this, O priests, give heed, O house of Israel, give ear, O house of the king, for the judgment is for you, for you have been a snare at Mizpah and a net spread out on Tabor.

And the revolters have dug deep into slaughtering, but I will chastise all of them. I know Ephraim and Israel is not hidden from me. For now, O Ephraim, you have played the harlot. Israel has defiled itself.

Their deeds will not allow them to return to their God for a spirit of harlotry is within them and they do not know Yahweh. Moreover, the pride of Israel answers against him and Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity.

Judah also has stumbled with them. They will go with their flocks and herds to seek Yahweh, but they will not find him. He has withdrawn from them. They have dealt treacherously against Yahweh, for they have born children of strangers.

Now the new moon will devour them with their portions.". So here is God reminding Israel once again of their sin and we also see here how deep and pervasive their sin is to the point that their hearts are hardened.

They cannot even see other sins that they are engaging in. Now they may come to God with their flocks as said here, so they may come for worship. They come to sacrifice, but they won't be able to find God.

It's just external religion. It is not actually genuine from their heart. God has withdrawn himself from them so that they cannot even find him when they seek him. Now what we'll have in the second half then is the promise of judgment and that the promise of judgment is not mere words.

It's not just some threat to make them change their behavior. It is something that God will actually follow through on. So we have once again a reminder of their sin in verses one through seven and then the reminder of judgment in verses eight through 15.

So this chapter being divided up into two parts. Let's come back up to the beginning of this here in chapter five, verse one, "'Hear this, O priests. Give heed, O house of Israel. Give ear, O house of the king.'".

So how do we start here? We begin by addressing the ones who should have been preaching the word of God to the people, but have not been. They are just as corrupt as the rest of the people. So we start with the ones entrusted with teaching the word of God to the people, the priests.

You're probably familiar with that verse from Peter, 1 Peter 4, 17, that judgment will begin with the house of God. And as Paul said to the Corinthians, 1 Corinthians chapter six, "'Are you not to judge those who are inside the church?

God will judge those who are outside. Purge the evil person from among you.'". So judgment begins with the household of God. And here, as God is laying Israel's guilt before them, he begins with the priests.

Those who should have been warning the people, those who would have been reminding them of God's law, the righteousness that God requires, the things that they have not been doing, the call to repentance the priests have not given.

So they are the first in this condemnation at the start of this address. Hear this, O priests, and give heed, O house of Israel. Now, Judah gets mentioned here, but once again, as we've considered in this study of Hosea, this is primarily directed at the Northern kingdom, which would be Israel and is also called Ephraim.

So Ephraim, the tribe of Ephraim is like right at the heart of Israel, right at the middle. So there will be this double address said to Ephraim and to Israel, but it's to the same kingdom. And then you have, give ear, O house of the king.

So the king likewise should be leading the people and he has not been. So you have on Israel at the front and the back end, the priests and the king. Hear this, O priests, give heed, O house of Israel.

Give ear, O house of the king. The king has not been ruling justly, but we start first of all with the priests for they have not been preaching. They have not been guiding the people according to God's word.

For the judgment is for you, it says, for you have been a snare at Mizpah and a net spread out on Tabor. Now, oftentimes whenever you see cities named, the cities will encompass an area. So the mention of Mizpah and Tabor is a mention to the West and to the East of the Jordan River being the specific boundary line that's in mind here.

So Mizpah, I'm sorry, Mizpah is on the East side, Tabor is on the West side. This is already the Northern kingdom. So it's not an address North and South, but the totality of that kingdom identified by East and West, Mizpah at Tabor.

You've been a snare at Mizpah, you've been a net spread out on Tabor. You're just a problem everywhere is what's being said here. Verse two, and the revolters have dug deep into slaughtering, but I will chastise all of them.

So there's people that you can identify as clearly being rebellious. They're the ones who are shedding blood. They are the ruthless men, but God says, I'm gonna chastise all of them because even the ruthless men go unchecked by those who are supposed to be the handlers of justice.

So in verse three, I know Ephraim and Israel is not hidden from me. This is to say, I know all of your works. I know you mind and heart. I know your intentions, your thoughts, the things that you have done.

Remember Jesus addressing the churches in Revelation chapter three, I am he who searches mind and heart and I will give to each one according to her works. So then to hear this statement from the Lord, you're not hidden from me.

For now, oh Ephraim, you have played the harlot. Israel has defiled itself. So you have Ephraim and Israel, like I said, those terms are interchangeable. They're both addressing the same thing. And this is to address them with these parallelisms.

Remember that's a common form of Hebrew poetry. So saying it twice also serves as being like a double witness. Remember that Jesus said it is by the evidence of two or three witnesses that a charge must be established.

That's in Matthew 18. And of course he's drawing from the law. So these are the witnesses that God is bringing against Israel. Ephraim has done wickedly. Israel has done wickedly. Ephraim, you've played the harlot.

You have whored yourself out with the false gods of the pagans. Israel, you have defiled yourself with once again, the false gods of the pagans and all the different practices that go along with pagan worship.

Their deeds will not allow them to return to their God for a spirit of harlotry is within them. And they do not know Yahweh. So it is the inclination of their heart to sin and they can't turn themselves back to the Lord because they love their sin too much.

Remember Jesus saying in Matthew 6 that you cannot serve two masters for you will either love the one and despise the other or you will serve the one and hate the other. And the apostle Paul saying also to the Corinthians, you cannot dine at the table of God and at the table of demons.

So here that's what Israel hopes that they can do. I can have my sin and I can also obey the Lord too. No, you can't do both. If you love your sin, you are disobeying God. You cannot have fellowship with God in that condition.

Your deeds will not allow you to return to God because you are faced in a direction that is away from God. Loving the passions of your flesh, going after your sin, you are going towards something that is going away from God.

And that call to repentance is to turn from that back to the Lord, to say, repent and believe. This is two sides of the same coin. You are turning in repentance. You are believing, facing back in the direction of Christ, listening to his word and doing as he says.

And so do not let the passions of your flesh draw you away from God because that is exactly what will happen. You love your sin. You keep going after your sin. It will not allow you to return to God. And beware, there may come a day when God will harden your heart and turn you over to a depraved mind to be consumed by your passions and ultimately destroyed because you loved your sin instead of the righteousness of God.

You do not know Yahweh. You know your sin in the sense that you are intimate with your sin, but you do not know God. You do not have friendship with the Lord. Verse five, moreover, the pride of Israel answers against him and Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity and their pride.

They continue to go after those things that they love, that are contrary to God and his righteousness. They stumble in their iniquity. And here you have this line. This is not to be thrown away here at the end of verse five.

Judah also has stumbled with them. Now, remember, Isaiah was primarily to Judah. Hosea is primarily to Israel, but Judah is no more innocent. The judgment will come first to Israel. And then later, decades later, the judgment comes upon Judah.

But Judah needs to be paying attention to this, this address that's being said to Israel because the same thing is going to come upon them if they do not repent. Verse six, they will go with their flocks and herds to seek Yahweh, but they will not find him.

He has withdrawn from them. They go to the house of worship. They take their sacrifices with them. But once they arrive there, God isn't there. Now, this could have a double meaning to it. It could be that God is hidden from them because of their sin.

He has withdrawn himself from them in that sense. This could also be prophetically pointing to the fact that God's presence, which was still with Israel in the temple, eventually he would leave the temple.

He would remove his presence from them. And the judgment that would come upon Israel would eventually also come upon Judah. That could also be the meaning that is here. But notice they come to seek Yahweh, but they will not find him.

Remember the address that we heard in Isaiah 49. Thus says Yahweh, in an acceptable time, I have answered you and in a day of salvation, I have helped you and I will guard you and give you for a covenant of the people to establish the land, to make them inherit the desolate inheritance.

Now, it was that same verse that Paul used in 2 Corinthians 6, one and two, where he says, working together with him, we also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says, and at the acceptable time, I listened to you and on the day of salvation, I helped you.

Behold, now is the acceptable time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. And so we need to heed this warning also. Today is the day for you to turn from your sin back to the Lord Christ. Don't continue in it thinking, I can change whenever I want.

I'll enjoy my time, my fun, or even my misery. And maybe you're in a sin that is just making you miserable, but there's something about that. You like it. You like being bitter. You like being angry. You love holding grudges.

Doesn't make you a better person, but there's something about that you just greatly enjoy. And so you're gonna continue to dabble in this sin, enjoy your time in that, however loose the term enjoy may be applied.

And then you think to yourself, I can always come back around anytime I want. How do you know that? How do you know God will not just turn you over to your own depravity? Sexual immorality, greed, lust, these impure desires that you have for things that are of this world, materialism, on and on it goes.

You think that you can love those things and dabble in them for a time and turn back whenever you want. How do you know God won't just turn you over to be consumed by your passions? And so it is said here, even in Hosea 5, that's exactly what God has turned Israel over to.

They stumble in their iniquity, they go with their flocks, they seek Yahweh, but they won't find him. He is withdrawn from them. Verse seven, they have dealt treacherously against Yahweh. Now, remember we read back in verse two that the revolters have dug deep into slaughtering.

There's injustice that's going on, there's violence that's going on. And yeah, they've dealt treacherously with one another, but first and foremost, they deal treacherously against God. We look around at our culture, we see it falling apart, we see violence escalating, we see hate and anger and spite, people dealing treacherously with one another, but they do so, this is the outworking of the fact that they have dealt treacherously with God.

They first and foremost rebel against God. Sin is cosmic treason. I remember that phrase often from R .C. Sproul, the way that he preached. Sin is cosmic treason against the high king of the universe and for it, we deserve death.

Every sin that we commit, though it may be against another person, is first against God. He is the first one whom we have offended. They have born children of strangers, it says in verse seven. This is talking about the, it's in reference to the offspring of Gomer, Hosea's wife, that she had with her lovers, illegitimate children that were not children of her husband.

And so it is said here, they have born children of strangers. The offspring, whether you're talking about spiritual or physical offspring that have come from these Israelites who have whored themselves with the pagans, now the new moon will devour them with their portions.

They will not reap the reward. They will instead reap judgment. And so that's what we have next in verses eight through 15, the second half of chapter five, is God's promise of judgment that he will deliver upon Israel, not just a threat, he is going to do this.

Hosea 5:8-15 — Judgment on Ephraim and Judah

Verse eight, blow the horn in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah. Make a loud shout at Beth-Avin, behind you, Benjamin. Benjamin was in the very north of Judah. So it would be almost like Benjamin is looking at Judah, look behind you, Benjamin, turn around and see the judgment that is gonna come upon Israel so that Judah and Benjamin would stand in fear.

And so then continuing on verse nine, Ephraim will become a desolation in the day of reproof. Among the tribes of Israel, I will make known what is true. The princes of Judah have become like those who move a boundary.

On them, I will pour out my wrath like water. If you'll remember, the boundary lines for the tribes of Israel were set by God. He is the one who appointed them. And it was unjust, it was disobedient for a tribe to move their boundary line, to try to take land from somebody else.

They take from someone else. And so Judah has done this. The princes of Judah have become like those who move a boundary. God has set the markers, but they've moved it so that they can have what they want.

On them, I will pour out my wrath like water. Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment because he was determined to walk after man's command. They went after man's commands instead of God's commands.

We see a lot of churches that are rebelling in that way right now, don't we? Flying their pride flags, making up their own rules, even entire sects or religions or denominations have gone astray. Roman Catholicism, they are champions at making up their own rules.

Not even following the Bible, but creating their own doctrines. Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, same thing. And then you have individual churches that love sin and depravity and want to look friendly to the world and they will adopt all the different cultural trends to try to look hipster, to draw people in, but they fear man instead of God.

They have moved the boundary. They have determined to walk after man's command. Therefore, I am like a moth to Ephraim and like rottenness to the house of Judah. Consumption, destroying what it is that they have.

Verse 12, and then the next verse. Then Ephraim saw his sickness and Judah his sore. So Ephraim went to Assyria and sent to King Jerob, but he is unable to heal you or to cure you of your sore. Instead of going to God and seeking his favor, they go after the pagan kings.

Verse 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 to pieces and go away. I will carry away and there will be none to deliver. Like a devouring lion, that is what God is going to be against Ephraim.

And like a young lion to the house of Judah, that is to say God's anger is kindled against Judah, but it isn't as fierce yet as what is coming upon Ephraim. Verse 15, I will go away and return to my place until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face.

In their affliction, they will seek me earnestly. And that is also a promise. Just like a promise that we read from Jeremiah, you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Same sort of thing being said here in Hosea 5 .15.

And when they truly seek God with all their heart, then they will find mercy and compassion. And this word just as important to Judah who is involved in the same sins as those who are in Israel that have been committing this treason and this treachery against God.

And so my friends, let it be to you also. If you are in sin and the spirit of God convicting your heart, turn from that sin back to the Lord because his judgment is real. He will bring it upon those who continue in this rebellion.

Sin is no light thing. And don't think of it as something that you have mastered if you were in the middle of it. No, if you're sinning, sin has mastered you. If you keep coming back to the same sin, you don't have control over it.

It has control over you. So if there is conviction in your heart over your sin right now, turn from it back to the Lord Christ. He who died on the cross for our sins, who rose again from the dead, who ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God.

Jesus died for sins that you love. So don't be entertained by those things for which Christ died. Turn back to the Lord, be cleansed. And in the words of Jesus, go and sin no more. Heavenly father, we thank you for what we have read.

And I pray that it would be convicting to our hearts that we would understand the guilt that we are under and then what we deserve because of our sins so that we will stand in fear and turn from that sin to Jesus and be forgiven and be saved and be set free.

It is in Jesus' name that we pray, amen.

This has been, When We Understand the Text of Pastor Gabriel Hughes. For all of our podcasts, episodes, videos, books, and more, visit our website at www .utt .com. If you'd like to submit a question to this broadcast or just send us a comment, email whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com and let your friends know about our ministry.

Join us again tomorrow as we grow together in the study of God's word, when we understand the text.