RELATING TO GOD
Hosea 8: 1-14; 11: 1-11; 14: 4-7

           It could be argued that our identity, who we are and how we are known, is based in large part upon the relationships we have with others. Think about all the different relationships we might have that we could use as identifiers for ourselves. We could identify ourselves by our spouse, by children, by our parents, by our friends, by where we work/did work, by where we got to church, and the list goes on and on. At the same time, we have just as many ways to affirm those relationships we have. For example, a marriage relationship is affirmed through a wedding ceremony (or at least going to the courthouse and filing the required paperwork). An employer/employee relationship is affirmed through work and compensation for it. A relationship to a church is affirmed through the membership vows we take or through the work we do in and through the church. The list can go on and on with the ways in which we affirm our relationships to others.

           Relationships are not just human to human though. In fact, relationships are not even human establishments. We read in the first chapter of Genesis that the first relationship was between God and the created human, and that relationship was in a perfect state. A few chapters later, though, we also read of the severing of that perfect relationship. In spite of that severing, though, God still yearns for a relationship with human beings—the pinnacle of God’s creative work. The entirety of Scripture testifies to God’s desire for a relationship with us. The truth is, human beings will always have some sort of relationship with God, because God is our Creator. It may not always be a good or pleasant relationship; God lets us determine what kind of relationship it will be. Throughout his writing, Hosea offers two illustrations for the God/human relationship. In the early part of the book, the illustration most used is a marriage relationship. In the later part of the book, the relationship is characterized as a parent/child relationship. It is through the lens of these relationships that God speaks God’s message to Israel through Hosea.

           Just as there are ways in which human-human relationships are affirmed, there is also a way in which a God-human relationship is affirmed. This affirmation is done through the making of a covenant. In the biblical context and language, covenant was a fancy word for contract. A covenant was intended to be a permanently binding (breaking a covenant was punishable by death) agreement between two parties, namely humans and God. There were times, though, when a covenant was established between humans. A covenant was ratified with great fanfare was a cause for great celebration. In the OT, we read of a number of covenants God made with human beings in general and specifically with Israel. The most important covenant was the covenant God made with Abraham. The parameters of this covenant were fairly straightforward—Abraham and his descendants would worship only the Living God and obey God’s commandments only, and, in return, God would protect, bless, and multiply Israel as God’s chosen people. Along the way, though, the sacredness and specialness of this covenant wore off, and Israel broke the covenant.

           I promised last week that I would spend a few minutes each week exploring the context of each prophet—fleshing out what was going on in Israel that would cause God to speak as God does through the prophets. As we explored the context of Amos last week, we gave ourselves a pretty good grasp of Hosea’s context; Hosea prophesied only a few decades after Amos. It was a time of great prosperity, but also materialism and selfishness in Israel. God had finally seen enough and spoke through Hosea of all the ways in Israel had abandoned their covenant with God.

           Reading through Hosea’s writing, we find in our passage from chapter 8 God, through Hosea, spelling out three different ways in which Israel had neglected the covenant. It was these for three violations that, at least in Hosea’s writing, God was going to punish Israel.

           Israel’s most severe transgression against the covenant was their falling away to worship other Gods. If you remember from youth Sunday School, the very first commandment God gave to Moses on Mt. Sinai for Israel was this, “you shall worship the LORD your God and serve only him” (Exodus 20). It was not uncommon for nations/people groups in the ancient world to have numerous gods; a god of the sun, of the rain, of the planting, of the harvest, of fertility, etc. These “gods” were nothing more than human creations given divine attributes. In asking Israel to worship only god, the One, true God, God was inviting Israel to be radically different from their neighbors. They were being invited to place their trust and worship in only god, god that could not be seen and whose only name was I AM. Countless times, Israel felt jealous of their neighbors. They found it constraining to worship only one god. This is not to say they didn’t worship God, they just worshipped God in conjunction with the Baals (other gods) of their neighbors. In essence, God was not allowed to be their only God; just one of their many gods.

           The second violation of the covenant of which Hosea speaks is Israel’s practice of establishing treaties with their neighbors. In today’s world, we tend to think of a treaty as some sort of trade pact or agreement that is mutually beneficial for all parties involved. Not so in the ancient world. In that world, a treaty would often be pursued by a smaller, weaker nation with a larger, stronger nation. In other words, a treaty was a way of appeasing the neighborhood bully, to ensure that your nation would not be annihilated when the bully got the itch to go to war. Logic might conclude that this was actually a pretty prudent thing to do; get some sort of assurance that you won’t be overrun. In the passage, God accuses Israel of running to Assyria to make a treaty; Assyria was the dominant empire of that time. Again, it could be thought of as prudent, but remember one of the stipulations of the covenant--God would protect Israel. In establishing a treaty with another nation, Israel shows a complete lack of trust and confidence in God’s ability or desire to act on Israel’s behalf. Rather than trust God, they sought human assurances of safety and protection. In addition to not trusting in God, Israel’s treaties also forced them to again violate the first commandment. Treaty establishment often involved swearing allegiance to or at least acknowledging the power of another god. Israel again forsakes their covenant with God.

           Finally, God indicts Israel for covenant disloyalty through Israel’s establishment of their monarchy. In the early days of Israel, there was no human ruler. Moses, Aaron and their successors served as the spiritual leaders of Israel, but there was no human ruler—God was making the rules and calling the shots! After being in the Promised Land for a little while, though, Israel thought they were missing out by not having a king. They believe their identity was tied more closely to who their king was than who their God was. We read, then, in 1st Samuel 8 how the people came to Samuel demanding a king, so they could “be like the other nations”. In response, God commanded Samuel to “give them what they wish”, with the warning that their kings would be their downfall. Israel just wasn’t satisfied being different! They wanted so much to “fit in” that they were willing to forsake God and take their chances on becoming a political player in their world. Just as God warned, though, the monarchy led to Israel’s downfall. With but a few exceptions, we are told that the kings of Israel often did what was evil in God’s sight.

           As a result of these covenant violations, with some help from kings who were less than reverent to God, Israel was going to be punished. Assyria would overrun Israel and Israel would return to exile, like their ancestors in Egypt. In breaking their covenant with God, they had sealed their own fate.

           It would be a grim story if that is where it stopped. If the story ended there, so many things about God could be called into question. But the story doesn’t stop there! Even though Israel’s unfaithfulness to the covenant gave God permission to neglect God’s part of the covenant, God declares that God will remain faithful the covenant! God declares that even though Israel needed to be punished, like a wayward child, God could not bear to see God’s chosen people completely destroyed. God could not stay angry with Israel forever. God’s love toward Israel was too great! Because of this great love, God would have compassion upon God’s children and would restore them to their place as God’s chosen people.

           The message is the same for us as it was for Israel. Through Jesus, God has grafted us, and all people, into the covenant with Israel. Through Jesus, God has declared blessing and protection and promise to all people, in return for our worship and obedience. If we think about ourselves, though, have we always been faithful to those conditions? Have we been completely obedient to each commandment? Have we allowed other things to become “gods” for us and rule our time, our energies, etc. If we are being honest, I’m guessing that we all say that, at some point, we have not been completely faithful to the covenant. In spite of that, though, God has been, is, and will be, relentlessly faithful to God’s part of the covenant! Even though we haven’t always held up our end of the bargain, thus releasing God from covenant accountability, God has always upheld God’s promises. Even when we turn our backs on what God would desire from us, even when God needs to punish us to get our attention, God is always, ALWAYS, faithful to us and does not leave us. Why? Because we hold value to God and because God cannot bear to see God’s children destroyed and God cannot stay angry forever. This promise and assurance of God’s faithfulness is not an excuse for us to do whatever we want, though. Rather, it is the assurance that our God is always going to be faithful to us, even when we may not be the most faithful to God! So may it be! AMEN.



           || Home || Welcome || Pictures || Sermons || Maps || Special Sprouts || Opportunity || Missions || Newsletter in pdf || VBS || Women of Promise || Easter || Links ||