Hosea 7:1

If you have your Bibles, turn to Hosea chapter 7. I want to teach you from that chapter today, where God declares Israel guilty of fraud. The whole book of Hosea is about how Israel has strayed from God, and now He is dealing with it.

In the last chapter, chapter 6, as Pastor Pat spoke last week, God gave them a chance to repent and to get right with Him, but they rejected it. Now, in chapter 7, which is a continuation of chapter 6, God declares them guilty of fraud. He gave them a chance to repent; He wants to heal them. However, as He pulled back the surface, He saw the fraud, the iniquity, the sin, and the wickedness. Thus, He declared them guilty of fraud.

This morning, I want to show you four very clear signs of fraud that will help us not only in our own lives but also help us discern where we see fraud in other areas. I hope that this message is both convictional and conformational as you hear these words. The fact is that people will try to pull the wool over our eyes; they will try to make it seem like everything is fine while they are caught up in their fraud. But God sees it. Oftentimes, when we get a chance to be taught by Scripture, it helps us to discern even better.

It’s a wonderful message, not only of conviction but also of how God wants to deal with His people. So, if you will do me a favor, please stand with me as we read the first four verses of Hosea chapter 7. I will be reading from the New King James Version but will bounce back and forth between that and the ESV.

It says, "When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was uncovered and the wickedness of Samaria; for they had committed fraud. A thief comes in; a band of robbers takes spoil outside. They do not consider in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness. Now their own deeds have surrounded them."

Before my face, they make a king glad with their wickedness and princes with their lies. They are all adulterers, like an oven overheated by a baker. He ceases stirring the fire after kneading the dough.

Father Lord, I just pray that You speak to us through Your Word. Teach us; Your Word is such a powerful way this morning. I pray that Your Holy Spirit will reveal fresh and new insights, but at the same time, work in our hearts in the areas that we are dealing with. So, Father Lord, we just give this time to You. We ask this in Your name. Amen. You may be seated.

We see in verse one that God wanted to heal Israel of their idolatry. However, when He pulled back the surface and scratched below, He revealed the wickedness not only of Judah but of Samaria as well. Samaria serves as a symbol of both the split country and the division between Judah and Israel. He is pointing out both of these aspects.

What He is saying is that when there could be committed fraud, Israel was putting up the front that everything was okay and that they were doing the right things. But underneath the surface, they were corrupt and guilty of fraud. We are going to see four metaphors this morning that Israel cannot miss. God often spoke in parables; He would use metaphors to help us understand principles.

He is going to give us these four metaphors: an overheated oven, a half-burnt, half-baked cake, a silly dove, and a bow that couldn't shoot straight. Through all of these four, we will see different ways that fraud is perpetuated, and I hope that it ministers to you.

The thing I want you to understand is that in all of these instances of fraud, Israel had it within themselves. God had given them everything necessary and even trained them to do the right thing, but they fell short. They fell short because their heart was not with God; it was after other things. Sadly, God had given them an opportunity.

Opportunity to get right was presented, but they refused it because they did not take it. God judges them guilty of fraud. He would have helped them, but they refused to give up their sin.

Let me explain fraud real quickly, because I think it's important to have a base definition. Fraud, especially from the Hebrew perspective, is willful deception with the intent of personal gain. There are two parts here. First of all, it's willful deception. Deception is simply this: having a partial truth with a big lie. It seems right, but something is off. Israel was willfully deceiving people. God wasn't deceived; He sees everything. However, they were willfully deceiving people for their own personal gain. That's exactly what fraud is. People try to seem like they are right, but what they are doing is wrong. They still want to gain everything they desire, and that was the case with Israel. They were putting on a front like they wanted to get right with God, but their real intentions were made known by God.

This is important. I remember teaching this book several years ago to our church. At that time, we had a lot of retirees who had grown children going through issues like addictions. They were having to deal with their adult children. Hosea has a great book on how to deal with those people who are going through such struggles, trying to perpetuate fraud not only in their lives but in their families' lives, while still getting away with the things they want to do. That's what is great about the book of Hosea, because it shows how God deals with people who are doing that.

This book illustrates that when people walk away from God, they have multiple opportunities to get right. They may make a sincere effort every once in a while, but unless there is sincere repentance, there won't be any change.

This morning, I want you to look at this passage in three ways. First of all, I want you to look at it convictionally. Oftentimes, when I pray or when people preach a message, I hear comments like, "This message would be great for so-and-so," or "This person needs to hear this," or "This is what this person is doing."

There is nothing wrong with that, but we need to internalize it first. I want you to look inward and ask yourself, "Am I guilty of any areas of deception or fraud in my heart?" I want you to approach this convictionally, but also discernedly. There are many people who are being gaslighted in their lives. Gaslighting is when you know something is wrong, but people try to make you feel like you're crazy, insisting that what is right is not.

I hope that as you hear this message, the light will go on for you, and you will recognize that these people are fraudulent. I hope you can grow in your discernment from this message. For those of you who are fighting the battle and standing for truth, I hope you take this confirmationally. As you hear the word, you might think, "Ah, yes, this makes sense," and you will walk out of here encouraged because you have taken a stand against fraud, even if you have faced persecution for it.

Let's dive in and look at this. I want to show you the first instance of fraud that God points out. I want to take you to verse 4, where it says, "These are all adulterers; they are like a heated oven whose baker ceases to stir the fire from the kneading of the dough until it is leavened." God refers to them as overheated ovens, which is a metaphor for passion or sin that is out of control. Think about a fire that is out of control.

He refers to them as overheated ovens because Israel couldn't come to true repentance; they were burning with passion—passion for their idolatry and passion for their sin. The term "adultery" here does not just mean sexual sin. God uses it to indicate that people were forsaking Him. We see this imagery in the book of Hosea, where God likens Israel to a prostitute sitting by the side of the road, waiting for someone. Israel wanted the acceptance of Egypt and Assyria. It wasn't just about sexual sins; it was also about idolatry. They sought the approval of these larger nations, and so God accuses them of being adulterers as they chase after these false idols.

After their idols, their hearts are aflame, burning with passion for these idols. While they were giving people lip service, saying, "Yes, God is good," and "Yes, I need to get my life right," the reality underneath the surface is that their hearts were burning with passion for the wrong things. God is a jealous God, and He will not stand for competition for His affection for too long before He starts to deal with it in our lives.

Now, what's great about this analogy is that the baker is baking bread. If you think of it like a pizza oven, he would have a fire going to make it hot enough. Then, he would go off and need his dough, waiting for it to rise. The picture we get here is that this baker has been waiting for the dough to rise, but in the process, he has fallen asleep. When he wakes up in the morning, the oven is on fire.

This situation is likened to the baker doing his job. He started the fire, made his dough, and waited for it to rise. However, falling asleep isn't just a technical term; it literally means he has allowed himself to fall asleep spiritually, in his relationship with God. He has committed himself to other passions and, in the process, forsaken everything else. Now, his life is out of control, and he is no longer able to bake the bread.

In Hosea, we find an interesting reason why this fire is out of control. If we look at verse 6, it says, "All night their anger smolders, and in the morning it blazes." This gives us a picture of unfulfilled lust that consumes a person until it is out of control. That anger comes from not being satisfied; it arises from wanting something and not getting enough of it.

This brings up a great point to understand, especially when dealing with people who are caught up in addictions. When you try to intervene in their lives, when you try to help them or tell them, "Hey," it can be challenging.

You're on the wrong path. They will often respond to you in anger and accuse you of being unloving, even though you've approached them with as much love as you possibly could. You bend over backwards to try to help them, yet they react in anger, leaving you caught off guard, wondering what the heck is going on here.

What's really happening is that they are angry—not at you, but at themselves. You're just the lightning rod they are taking it out on. They are angry because they've been caught in their sin and didn't get away with it, and now their life is a mess. When we come into contact with those people wanting to help them, we often receive all of that rage.

It's interesting to note that the phrase "burns like a flaming fire" is the same terminology that Paul used in 1 Corinthians 7:9. This verse states, "But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion." The phrase "burn with passion" right there is the same phrase we see in Hosea. It suggests that men should marry if their sexual desire is out of control.

We get this picture of a fire that is burning out of control. The first way we detect fraud is to see if that person is consumed with their lust, passion, or addiction. This can fall across many different areas; it's not just about addiction to drugs and alcohol. It could involve the pursuit of some kind of idol, something that is ungodly, even if it may seem right.

We have to ensure that we haven't removed God from the pedestal He is supposed to be on and replaced Him with something else. When we devote most of our time, money, and resources to that idol, it becomes idolatry. Oftentimes, these people will make a token effort to look like they are getting better.

Right to appease people, but inside their heart is burning and filled with anger. The first sign of fraud is that they are a fire; they're an oven that's out of control, burning out of control.

The second thing that we see, which is closely associated with it, is that they are burnt but half-baked. Look at verse 8 here: "Ephraim mixes himself with the people; Ephraim is a cake not turned. Strangers devour his strength, and he knows it not. Gray hairs are sprinkled upon him, and he knows it not." The pride of Israel testifies to his faith, yet they do not return to the Lord their God, nor do they seek Him for all of this.

The second metaphor we see is a half-burnt cake. The cakes that we make nowadays, you know, you get your Betty Crocker mix, right? You come home, you add the water, the oil, the eggs, all the kind of stuff, you mix it up in a pan, and you stick it in the oven. You never have to do anything to it, and it comes out well if you're gifted. But back then, the cakes they were referring to were more like what we know as pancakes. You would cook it on one side, and then you have to flip it.

Well, the fire is so out of control that the baker can't keep the cake on there long enough before one side gets burned and the other side is uncooked. This is a great metaphor because it had to be turned so it could cook all the way through. Israel was burnt on one side and uncooked on the other; they were not cooked all the way through.

What this shows us is a metaphor of someone who's trying to serve two different masters: their passion, their idolatry, or the one true God. The side that is burnt is the side of their idolatry; they are getting burnt by it and they don't even know it. Yet the other side is not even cooked. What God is showing us through this is that they are burnt and undercooked, and they don't even know it.

I mentioned that I pastor a church in Lompoc, but I live in a city.

I called Santa Maria my wife was born and raised there. She still has tons of family there. It's about 30 minutes away from the church that I pastor. The reason we moved there is because our kids go to school in Santa Maria.

Santa Maria is known for one thing: its tri-tip. If you don't eat tri-tip the Santa Maria style way, you're not really eating tri-tip. At least that's what we in Santa Maria believe because we invented it. We figured out the cut of meat and how to cook it.

When you're cooking Santa Maria style tri-tip, you get a barbecue pit, which is usually a metal pit. Oftentimes, what they originally did was take oil cans, cut them in half, and put a metal grate over the top of it, with a handle that could go up and down. They would put red oak wood in there because red oak is the best oak; it burns the hottest and the cleanest, giving you a great fire. It takes about an hour and a half to cook tri-tip, and you put garlic salt and pepper on it.

You never put barbecue sauce on tri-tip. That's just an abomination. You also don't cook it in a Traeger because that's just lazy. You cook it for 45 minutes on one side, then flip it over and cook it for another 45 minutes. However, you have to manage the fire. It took me years to figure out how to manage the fire. I was not a Boy Scout, and I would try to get these fires going, but they either wouldn't start or would burn out too quickly.

You can ask my wife; she'll be here for the third service. She'll tell you all the follies I've had with fire. I figured out the cure: a little diesel, a little gasoline, and a match, and pretty soon that fire lights real quick. You have to keep it hot to the point where you can't put your hand over that fire for more than two seconds. That's how you know it's hot, and that perfectly cooks the meat.

If the fire is too low, you're going to undercook it. If it's too hot, you're going to burn it, but it won't be cooked on the inside. You have to manage that fire; otherwise, it doesn't cook well. The thing is, Israel was a fire that was out of control. They were trying to accomplish their things in life, but they were half-burnt, half-baked bread because they were trying to have both.

Their idols and God at the same time. If you've ever come across people like that, that's exactly what goes on. What's worse here is that Israel was ravaged by sin, and they didn't realize it.

Look at verse 9 right here in Hosea. It says, "Strangers devour his strength, and he knows it not; gray hairs are sprinkled upon him, and he knows it not." The saying is that this is all going on, and they're completely clueless. It wouldn't be a good message, especially with two enduring word guys here, if I didn't quote David Guzik. Here's what David Guzik says: "Man has the amazing ability to deceive himself when he's in sin." He goes on to reference Jeremiah 17:9, which says, "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick; who can understand it?"

Considering how easily we deceive ourselves and how our sin can be apparent to everyone else but us, Israel's condition is unusual. The second thing that we see, an area we need to be certain of, is trying to have both God and our idols at the same time. An addict will tell their loved ones they can handle it and that they just have to tie up some loose ends. But Israel was losing their strength; they were losing their power. They were on a quick path to death, and everybody realized it except them.

A little side note here, especially for Christians: if we see fellow Christians heading off on a path that we know leads to destruction, it's our job to stand in front of them. It's our job to speak to them and to go to them in love. There's no guarantee of their response, but in our love, we need to chase after them because they may not see what we can see.

Now let's get to the third metaphor: operating without sense. Ephraim is like a dove, silly and without sense. This is verse 11, calling to Egypt and going to Assyria. As they go, I will spread my net over them.

Bring them down like birds of the heaven. I will discipline them according to the report made by their congregation. Woe to them, for they have strayed from Me! Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against Me! I would redeem them, but they speak lies against Me.

The third sign of fraud is that they operate without sense. We see this metaphor of a silly dove. Doves are not silly birds; they are signs of peace, control, and the Holy Spirit. I hope most Calvary chapels have a dove displayed, representing that presence. To see a silly dove that is confused and not knowing what is going on is a stark contrast to the rest of the doves. God likens them to a bird fluttering about, confused and without direction.

How often have we seen people perpetuating fraud? People who are lying to themselves first, lying to others, and who are literally confused and without direction. The sad thing is that the reason they are confused and without direction is that they are operating outside of what they have been taught. They are running to Egypt and Assyria for help, thinking they can escape God by seeking assistance from other nations. But the Lord says, "I will spread My net upon them."

Look at verse 12: "As they go, I will spread over them My net. I will bring them down like birds of the heaven. I will discipline them according to the report made to their congregation." That last phrase, "I will discipline them according to the report," highlights the fact that they know the right thing to do. They have been taught, trained, and reminded over and over. The reason they appear silly and confused, without direction, is that they are going in direct opposition to what they have been taught.

Isn't that often true of Christians? When they get off the path, they know the Word of God; they have been taught the Word of God. Yet, they are purposely rebelling. It is out of character for them. Israel's guilt is increased because of what they know. Greater knowledge means greater responsibility.

Accountability is essential, and we must listen when someone is operating foolishly. We have to stop making excuses for them. If they can't finish a sentence, they should not be President of the United States. We have a great fraud being perpetuated upon us, and it's literally falling apart right before our eyes.

My question is, in our own lives, are we directionless and confused? We know we should be following God, but we have been consumed by something else. We need to ensure that we are aligned with the Almighty God.

Now, let's finish up with the fourth sign of fraud. The fourth sign is that they are missing the mark. They do not cry to me from the heart; instead, they wail upon their beds for the grain and wine. They gash themselves and rebel against me. Although I trained and strengthened their arms, they devise evil against me. They return, but not upward. They are like a treacherous bow. Their princes shall fall by the sword because of the insolence of their tongue, and this shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.

The final sign of fraud we see is that Israel is missing the mark. The fourth metaphor we have is that of the treacherous bow. A treacherous bow is dangerous for two reasons. First, it is not true, so it doesn't matter what you aim at; you are not going to hit it. Interestingly, the Hebrew word for sin literally means "missing the mark." It refers to an archer shooting a bow and arrow at a target and missing it, falling short of the target. That is what the Hebrew word for sin signifies. The bow is treacherous because it cannot hit the target, but it is also...

Treacherous because it was a danger to the person who was shooting it, there was a risk that the bow would blow up on them; it was literally going to fall apart and injure them. God uses this last metaphor to say that the people of Israel not only had faulty weapons and faulty methods, but they were also missing the mark. They were falling short of the standard that God had set for them.

Now, it was a lot stricter back then in the Old Testament; the grace wasn't as apparent. However, we will see later on that God's grace was there.

In verse 14, I want to show you an interesting insight. It says that they did not cry out to Him while they wailed on their beds. First of all, this shows us that God is always ready to hear our prayers, no matter what state we're in. God says, "I saw them there wailing on their beds, but they did not cry out to Me." This also reveals the secret anguish people go through with their sin.

I have people come to me all the time, usually those with a high sense of justice. They ask why certain people are not being punished for what they are doing wrong. They believe that the leadership should be dealing with them. I always have to remind them that God is sovereign, and that rarely allays their concerns. I tell them that God is in control, and even though they don't see something happening, God is taking care of it.

The reason I point out verse 14 is that they were wailing in their beds. What were they wailing about? It wasn't because they were missing out on fulfilling their lusts. They were wailing in their beds because they were dealing with the demons and the consequences of their actions.

Here’s a great comfort: if fraud is being perpetuated in your life, in some way, shape, or form—let's not even think nationally, but rather on a much lower level, maybe in your family, your job, or your neighborhood—if you see somebody getting away with something they are not supposed to be getting away with, the first thing we know is that God sees it. God sees them.

When they lay their head on the bed at night, God is dealing with them. I honestly believe that the wrath of God often starts internally before it happens externally. That's why we see them wailing on their bed.

I want to show you something else here. Right now, in our church, we're going through Colossians. Last week, I taught Colossians 3:5-12, but here's an interesting verse I want to share with you. In Colossians 3:6, it says, "Because of these things, the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience." In verses 5 and 6, it talks about sexual immorality, lust, and greed. Paul says that because of these things, the wrath of God is coming.

I believe that oftentimes, the wrath of God starts internally. God begins dealing with these people, and they have a hard time living with themselves. They may glorify their sin and act like their lives are great on the outside, but it's a great deception. When they get alone, they have to deal with all those demons.

The sad thing is that God did everything to help Israel. In verse 15, He says, "Although I trained and strengthened their arms, yet they devise evil against me." With some people, you can bend over backwards to help them, and they will still choose to do evil. Oftentimes, they'll make you the bad guy.

What I want you to understand here is that Israel was perpetuating this fraud, thinking they were getting away with it. But God is saying, "Not only do I see it, but I'm going to start dealing with it. I'm going to start taking care of it."

I just want to encourage you. If it's happening in your life, trust God with those issues. Take it to God in those situations. My wife, up until this year, was a high school and junior high English teacher at a Christian school. She does a phenomenal job; she's a great teacher. The students absolutely love her, the parents adore her, but the administration hated her at a Christian school.

She hated her because she lived and walked in liberty, and she spoke the truth. When things needed to be questioned, she questioned them. People in this very conforming, manipulative, guilt-ridden culture did not like that, so they didn't offer her a contract back. All year, we had to deal with this perpetuating fraud of them trying to put on the appearance of being godly while doing such sinful and ungodly things. The only thing that got us through that was the fact that we put our trust in the Lord. Did it leave a mark? Yeah, it left a mark. It was hard; it was hard on my wife and on our family. We trusted God.

I want to show you one last thing this morning. If you have your Bibles open, look back up to verse 1. I want to share with you one phrase and leave you with this encouragement: when I would have healed Israel, in the midst of all of this fraud and the perpetuating sin, God's heart was still to heal Israel.

Here’s another encouragement I want you to leave with this morning: when God sees people perpetuating fraud, He starts working internally in their hearts so that He can bring about healing. Then He'll work through other people and through situations. His goal is not conviction or judgment; His goal is repentance, restoration, and healing. When He looks at people in their sinful natures, He has such a love for them that He wants them to be healed.

I just want to challenge you this morning. The fact is, oftentimes when fraud is being perpetuated against us, it’s so hard to be loving and gracious. That was the one thing I loved about my wife; she dealt graciously with the people. She didn’t retaliate. My wife is quick-witted; I’m like Rain Man compared to her. She has ten arguments ready while I’m still dealing with number two. She could easily have done it, but she bit her lips so much and continued to love the people. At the end of the school year, she literally had...

Compassion is essential, but God wants to bring healing into people's lives. Can we commit to allowing God to bring that healing and not get in the way? We should also commit to being agents of healing, allowing God to use us to facilitate that healing. It may be through an act of love or an act of confrontation; whatever God chooses to use us for, the motivation should always be love.

I was on social media recently, and I came across a before-and-after picture of an 18-year-old girl who started doing drugs at 14. The first picture showed her at 18, and after years of drug use, she looked like a 50-year-old woman who had lived on the streets her whole life. It was astonishing to see the effects of just four years of drugs.

However, at 18, someone reached out to her, and she stopped using drugs. She entered treatment and became part of a great church. Four years later, at 22, they showed another picture of her. She was a completely different person—a beautiful young woman with very few effects from the drugs that had ravaged her body just four years before.

This transformation illustrates that God can provide not only spiritual and emotional healing but also physical healing. However, it required this girl to leave her old lifestyle and commit to a new one for the change to happen. We cannot be guilty of wanting healing without being willing to change.

We must be ready to go through repentance. Repentance is not just asking for forgiveness; it involves changing our hearts and minds and turning in the opposite direction from where we were going before. Israel refused to repent, and as a result, God declared them guilty of fraud. Yet, His heart was still to heal them. God can heal you and the situations in your life.

Your life can experience miraculous healings if we commit to allow God to use us in those situations.

Let's pray. Father Lord, we come before You this morning and thank You for Your Word. We thank You for these wonderful people, Lord, who made the commitment to be here. I pray, Father Lord, that the truth of this Word will go with them, that they will meditate on it as they go about the rest of their day. I ask that when they encounter difficult situations in the future, they will rely on Your Word and use the confirmation of Your Word to know the right thing to do.

I also pray for those people this morning who are struggling. They may be struggling with an addiction, with lust, or with a passion that has consumed them, and they don't know how to be set free. They may feel too embarrassed or ashamed to take action.

So, Father Lord, this morning I ask by the power of Your name that You will do a work in their hearts. I pray that they will turn to You and away from the things that are destroying their lives. Lord, may they find healing, restoration, and renewal in You this morning.

Jesus, we ask this in Your name. Amen.