Hosea 9:10-11:11 "The History of Israel" May 6, 2007 Just a reminder of where we have been: Chapters 1-3 are a clear introduction that set up the whole book. Hosea is called to take a wife of whoredom Gomer as a picture of how Israel is God's wife of whoredom. But chapter 3 concludes with a message of hope Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the LORD their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the LORD and to his goodness in the latter days. Hosea is perhaps the only writing prophet who was born in the northern kingdom, and yet he is crystal clear on the importance of the house of David. Israel's future depends on David. There are four parts to the central section of Hosea (4:1 - 11:11). The first part (4:1-5:7) consists of the two calls to "hear" (4:1 and 5:1) as Hosea brings the covenant lawsuit of the LORD, focusing on the theme of Israel's whoredom. The second part (5:8-7:16) opens with the call "Blow the horn in Gibeah" and focuses on the theme of "return"-- Israel will return, but into captivity and bondage, rather than to God. Part three (8:1-9:9) also begins with a trumpet. This section focuses on Israel's apostate worship, though it continues the prior themes of whoredom and return. Part four (9:10-11:11) provides a historical overview of Israel's relationship with God, still continuing the themes of the whole section, concluding with the promise that God will have mercy in the end. The conclusion of Hosea (11:12-14:9) then summarizes the argument of the book, and also concludes with a message of hope. So tonight we are looking at the history of Israel from Hosea's prophetic perspective. There is a basic chiastic structure that moves from Israel in the wilderness (9:10-14) to the rebellion of Saul at Gilgal (9:15-17) to Israel's present rebellion at Samaria and Beth-aven (Bethel) (10:1-8) then moving backwards to the rebellion of Saul's ancestors at Gibeah (10:9-15) and concluding with God calling Israel out of Egypt (11:1-7), before bringing the whole section to a close with a brief promise of mercy (11:8-12) Hosea uses a couple of agricultural images in this section. The picture of the vine or fig tree dominates from 9:10-10:8, though at the end, the vine has become "poisonous weeds" (10:4) or thorns and thistles (10:8). Hosea has frequently invoked the imagery of Genesis 1-3, with his reference to Adam and the broken covenant, as well as the exile of Israel as a parallel to Adam's exile from Eden, with the land bringing forth thorns and thistles. The second image is that of the calf in 10:5 and it takes over in verses 11-15 a reminder that you become like that which you worship! 1. Baal-Peor and the Children of Israel (9:10-14) That is the point that Hosea makes in 9:10. Like grapes in the wilderness, I found Israel. Like the first fruit on the fig tree in its first season, I saw your fathers. There was something refreshing and delightful about Israel at first! After all, Israel professed their faith in Yahweh, and promised to serve him! But they came to Baal-peor and consecrated themselves to the thing of shame, and became detestable like the thing they loved. This story is told in Numbers 25. This is the first time in Israel's history that they turned aside from Yahweh in order to worship the Baals. Even before they entered the land, they had already turned aside. And God reminds them that if you worship a shameful thing, you will become like the thing you worship. You will become detestable. And so in verses 11-14 God says that he will judge Israel's children: Ephraim's glory shall fly away like a bird no birth, no pregnancy, no conception! Even if they have children, God will bereave them. When God departs from his people, then all sorts of catastrophes will come upon them. And so Hosea asks: Give them, O LORD what will you give? Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts. At Baal-peor Israel first turned aside. Since they have continued to rebel, God will now bring judgment upon them. 2. Gilgal and the Rebellion of the Kings (9:15-17) Verses 15-17 then reflect on Gilgal. Every evil of theirs is in Gilgal; there I began to hate them. Why did God begin to hate Israel at Gilgal? What happened at Gilgal? Gilgal was the camp of Joshua but that was a good thing! Gilgal was also the place where Saul was rejected because he offered the sacrifice in place of Samuel. It was also the place where Saul refused to destroy the Amalekites. If you look at the rest of verse 15, this background is helpful: Because of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of my house. I will love them no more; all their princes are rebels. This is where Saul rebelled this is where the kingship went wrong! And so because of their rebellion, Ephraim is stricken; their root is dried up; they shall bear no fruit. Even though they give birth, I will put their beloved children to death. And once again Hosea comments at the end of God's oracle, My God will reject them because they have not listened to him; they shall be wanderers among the nations. 3. The Calf of Beth-Aven and the Judgment of Samaria (10:1-8) The first two points each began with God's speech about Israel's history and coming judgment, and concluded with Hosea's commentary. Point three is Hosea's commentary on the present: Israel is a luxuriant vine that yields its fruit. The more his fruit increased, the more altars he built; as his country improved, he improved his pillars. Their heart is false; now they must bear their guilt. The LORD will break down their altars and destroy their pillars. Israel has become corrupt, and even exile will not change them. Verse 3 of chapter 10 points out that they have rejected Yahweh as king, and so what is the point of any king? Verse 4 points out that their covenants are empty mere words lacking any power, so judgment springs up like poisonous weeds in the furrows of the field. And the calf of Beth-aven goes into exile. Beth-aven is Hosea's mocking name for Bethel. Beth-el means "house of God" Beth-aven means "house of idols" or "house of nothingness." Hosea is mocking the idolatrous worship of the golden calf. Even as its people mourn for it, "and so do its idolatrous priests" it departs into exile. And even as Israel's idol is exiled, so also shall Samaria's king perish "like a twig on the face of the waters." Samaria was the capital of Israel established by Omri, Ahab's wicked father. Jeroboam's calf and Ahab's city will both be destroyed. And even as Adam's toil would produce thorns and thistles, so also now will Israel. When you see thorns and thistles in your gardens, do you realize what they are? They are a sign of judgment. Every time those pesky weeds attack, just remember that God has sent them to remind you of the coming judgment. But do not respond the way Israel does: they shall say to the mountains, Cover us, and to the hills, Fall on us. Do not despair at the judgment of God, but repent! Revelation 6:16-17 uses this image of the wicked calling on the mountains to "fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?" God send thistles and thorns (both literal and figurative remember Paul's thorn in the flesh!), in order to remind you that "My grace is sufficient for you." Think about the thistles and weeds in your garden: will you ever triumph over them in this life? No, they keep coming back and you have to keep fighting them, otherwise they take over the garden. Even so must we deal with the thorns and thistles that seek to take root in our hearts! 4. Gibeah and the Judgment against the Calf of Ephraim (10:9-15) In verses 9-15 we are back to God speaking in the first person, but now without any commentary from Hosea. And we also go back to Israel's history, back to the days of the Judges to an episode involving Saul's hometown of Gibeah. This would seem to verify the claim that the reference to Gilgal in 9:15-17 is also about Saul. From the days of Gibeah, you have sinned, O Israel. What are the days of Gibeah? At the end of the book of Judges we hear about the sin of Gibeah, a sin very much like the sin of Sodom, (Genesis 19 and Judges 19 have lots of verbal parallels). The men of Gibeah sought to rape a man, but his host protected him, so the men instead raped and killed his concubine, who was from Bethlehem in Judah. The end result was that all Israel came against the tribe of Benjamin, and nearly the whole tribe was destroyed. So to speak of "the sin of Gibeah" is to remind Israel that they once were guilty of the sin of Sodom and to suggest that a similar punishment may be on the horizon. Israel has worshiped the golden calf at Bethel, and so now Hosea refers to Ephraim as a "trained calf." Israel has become what it worships! Ephraim was a trained calf that loved to thresh, and I spared her fair neck; but I will put Ephraim to the yoke; Judah must plow; Jacob must harrow for himself. Sow for your yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the LORD, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you. But instead, You have plowed iniquity; you have reaped injustice; you have eaten the fruit of lies. Beware, O people of God, because this is too common in the church! The weeds of our culture grow too luxuriously in the church. And the same warning that Hosea urges upon Israel should be heard today: Because you have trusted in your own way and in the multitude of your warriors, therefore the tumult of war shall arise among your people, and all your fortresses shall be destroyed, as Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle; mothers were dashed in pieces with their children. Thus it shall be done to you, O Bethel, (he finally uses it's real name!) because of your great evil. At dawn the king of Israel shall be utterly cut off. Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, was not interested in "just war theory." He wanted to subdue and pacify nations who opposed him. And so he engaged in a most effective means of eliminating the opposition, dashing pregnant mothers to pieces together with their children. Not only do you eliminate the next generation of warriors, you also eliminate the women who might otherwise live to bear more young. Hosea says that this is now going to happen to Bethel the house of God. When the house of God becomes a house of idols, when Beth-el becomes Beth-aven, then God will arise and cast down that house. And that is what our Lord Jesus said when he came to the temple, to the house of God and cast out the moneychangers. The one who cast out demons from Israel also cast out the evil spirits inhabiting and infecting the temple. And he has cast down that Beth-aven, and has established a heavenly temple, a new Jerusalem, where he is the Beth-el, the house of God that will endure forever. He is the king of Israel who endured the exile that we deserved, as he took upon himself the wrath and curse of God, utterly cut off for our sakes! 5. From Egypt to Assyria (11:1-7) When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. Our text has taken us full circle. We started at Baal-Peor after the Exodus, went to Gilgal in the days of Saul, pivoted at the Samaria and Bethel of Jeroboam and Ahab, went back to Gibeah in the days of the Judges, and now we are back to Egypt. But of course, that is what the whole book of Hosea has been saying. The story of Israel is one giant chiasm going back to Egypt: The more they were called, the more they went away; they kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning offerings to idols. All of God's patience seems for naught. Verses 3-4 have a forlorn, tender quality, Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk; I took them up by their arms, but they did not know that I healed them. But verses 5-7 come back with a vengeance: They shall not return to the land of Egypt, but Assyria shall be their king, because they have refused to return to me. There seems to be some evidence that it originally read, "They shall surely return to the land of Egypt, and Assyria shall be their king." After all, Hosea has frequently used "Egypt" as a synonym for "exile." If you don't return to God, you will return to exile. This makes Matthew's use of Hosea 11:1 all the more interesting. Hosea is speaking of the beloved son, Israel, before his apostasy. Matthew portrays Jesus as the one who is called to succeed where Israel failed. Will Jesus be faithful where Israel was faithless? The temptations of Jesus in Matthew 4 then reveal Jesus as the one who goes 40 days into the wilderness to be tempted with the very temptations that Israel fell prey to. But Jesus overcomes the tempter, and he goes on to overthrow the powers of sin, death and the devil on the cross. The LORD concludes this section in verse 7: My people are bent on turning away from me, and though they call out to the Most High, he shall not raise them up at all. Israel is bent crooked. Only one who is straight and upright will be heard by the Father and raised up to eternal life. Conclusion: The Fate of Admah and Zeboiim Will Not Be the Fate of Israel (11:8-11) And yet God cannot utterly destroy Israel. How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? What on earth is he referring to? Admah and Zeboiim are two obscure cities that were destroyed together with two other cities that have become considerably more famous: Sodom and Gomorrah! Yes, Israel is guilty of the sin of Sodom (the sin of Gibeah). But God says that his compassion grows warm and tender. I will not execute my burning anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath. God will bring judgment against Israel, but he will not destroy Israel utterly. He will come again in mercy. They shall go after the LORD; he will roar like a lion; when he roars, his children shall come trembling from the west, they shall come trembling like birds from Egypt, and like doves from the land of Assyria, and I will return them to their homes, declares the LORD. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lion of Judah, has roared. And now his children are coming not just the biological children of Jacob, but all the children of Abraham, by faith. God has promised, and he is faithful! He has said that he will bring us home from our long exile. And he is faithful. So let us come trembling to Jesus. For though he is not a tame lion, indeed, he is a good lion! And so let us put our hope and trust in him!