Hosea

The Consequence of Compromise | Sunday, June 16, 2024

June 16, 2024 · Pastor Miles DeBenedictis

In this teaching

Drawing on Hosea 4, Pastor Miles examines how Israel's spiritual collapse in the 8th century BC—marked by lost truth, mercy, and knowledge of God—flowed largely from failed religious leadership, and warns that a culture's destruction follows when God's messengers deliver the wrong message and people imitate ungodly patterns. He calls for faithful leaders, watchful believers, and especially godly fathers who walk in rightness before God.

Sometimes God's messengers deliver a message His people would rather not receive, as Hosea did when he charged Israel with having no truth, mercy, or knowledge of God.
God's message is consistent from Genesis to Revelation: sin brings separation, death, and destruction as the natural outcome of rejecting our Creator's commands.
Israel's sinful separation was largely the fault of bad religious leaders who failed to teach the people truth.
The message is often more caught than taught; attitudes and actions—especially of fathers—shape children more than spoken words.
God's response to persistent rebellion can be to step back and let a people have what they want ("Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone").
We need leaders who proclaim God's word without compromise and believers who refuse to be carried by the tides of culture.

Readable is a lightly edited reading copy; Verbatim stays close to the spoken words. The audio and video are the record of what was said.

Hear the word of the LORD, you children of Israel, for the LORD brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land: There is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land. By swearing and lying, killing and stealing and committing adultery, they break all restraint, with bloodshed upon bloodshed... ()

When a nation loses truth, mercy, and the knowledge of God, the consequences of compromise come due—and the blame often begins with those called to lead.

A Divided Time, Then and Now

I tried hard this week to put together a light and encouraging Father's Day message, but we're in the book of Hosea—so I had to scrap that. As I considered this text and looked at the culture around us, you don't have to look hard to see that there is a significant amount of division in our country.

The first presidential election I voted in was in 2000, and over the last 24 years our campaigns have become an increasingly constant mudslinging contest pitting right against left, red against blue. Congress is perpetually divided, and the established media on both sides often amplify the separation in caustic and toxic ways. Every cycle we are told this is the most important election of our lifetime, that our republic is in danger of collapse.

People have asked me over the years, "Do you think we are on the verge of a civil war?" Every time, I think, I surely hope not. But we should be concerned, and especially as Christians we should be stirred to pray when we see what is happening throughout Western culture—populist risings on the right and the left that, if you look at history, don't tend to go in good directions.

The World of Hosea

In the 8th century BC, conflict was exactly what was happening among the children of Israel. The nation had already been divided by civil war about 200 years earlier, in the 10th century BC. When Solomon—the great wise king who wrote the Proverbs and is known for Ecclesiastes—died, his son Rehoboam took over with a low approval rating. The greater part of the nation went with the northern kingdom, called Israel, under their king Jeroboam, and the nation remained divided.

Hosea lived 200 years later, and conflict was stirring again, largely because of outside influences. Hosea lived in the second half of the 8th century, as did Isaiah, Amos, Micah, and Jonah. The biggest movement of that era was among the Assyrians. Almost everything we know of secular history from that time comes from the Assyrians, who kept great records found in the ruins of Nineveh in modern-day Mosul, Iraq.

The Assyrians were on the move under one of their first great kings, Tiglath-Pileser III—so good a name they used it three times. He doubled the size of Assyria's holdings, led south to take Babylon, and continued along the Fertile Crescent, the habitable lands wrapping from the Tigris and Euphrates around the Arabian desert into Syria, Lebanon, and toward Israel and Egypt.

Ahaz and the Confederacy

Seeing this bulldozer coming, the king of Syria knew he needed an alliance, so he joined with the king of Israel, the northern tribes, to fend off Assyria. They realized they needed more land and more men, so they decided to go down and overtake Judah. You can read this in , , and Isaiah 7:

It came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to make war against it. ()

Ahaz had less power, fewer people, and less wealth than his cousins to the north. says that when it was told to the house of David that Syria had deployed in Ephraim, the heart of Ahaz and his people "was moved like the trees of the woods are moved with the wind." Many cities of Judah fell to the northern tribes and Syria.

So what did Ahaz do? Instead of listening to Isaiah, who came and said, in effect, "You have not been a good king or a good man—repent and trust in the Lord, and God will protect you," Ahaz sent a message to Tiglath-Pileser asking for help against Syria and Israel. He became a tributary, paying the Assyrian king to save him. It was a bad idea—Tiglath-Pileser was already coming that direction, and Judah was the next stop—but Ahaz figured if he paid, they'd be friends. The Assyrian was glad to take the money for something he intended to do anyway.

A Prophet in the Middle of It

Where was Hosea in all of this? Right in the middle, living in Samaria, the capital of the northern tribes, watching the geopolitical chaos. Wouldn't you like advance knowledge of what's coming next in a time like that? Enter Hosea.

How did Hosea get his message? He didn't have a red phone to God's office. Most likely he had the Torah—especially Deuteronomy—and eyes to see what was happening among his own people. He saw the similarities between what God said would happen if Israel was unfaithful and what was unfolding, and the Holy Spirit gave him inspiration to declare it.

Picture a courtroom. Israel sits at the defendant's table, and Hosea is the prosecuting attorney on behalf of God. The charge: there is no truth, no mercy, and no knowledge of God in the land. The evidence: swearing, lying, killing, stealing, and committing adultery, bloodshed upon bloodshed. The verdict: the land will mourn and everyone in it will waste away.

Can you see why the prophets were not always well liked? The people wanted to hear, "Don't worry, God's got your back, you'll weather this." Instead Hosea said, "This is happening because of your sin, and you will be laid waste." Point one: sometimes God's messengers deliver a message His people would rather not receive.

No Truth, No Mercy, No Knowledge

The message was simple. First, the people had departed from truth—there was no true faithfulness to God. Israel had divided affections, living with an adulterous heart. That same concept appears in the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus says whoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery in his heart. Israel lusted after the false gods around them—Baal, Asherah, Molech—and the immoral practices tied to them: debauchery, drunkenness, and sexual immorality.

Second, the people had departed from mercy. The Hebrew word chesed speaks of loyalty, loving kindness, goodness, graciousness, and favor shown to others. Hosea says they were no longer kind or good to one another—a breakdown of civility. Sound familiar?

Third, they had lost the knowledge of God, which is hard to imagine because these were the people of God. They were meant to be His priests to the nations—going to God on behalf of the people and to the people on behalf of God. But they had abandoned that role for centuries. The evidence of all this was unrestrained lying, killing, stealing, and adultery, an amplifying compounding of sin.

As a result, destruction and mourning are expected—not necessarily because God comes in to bring them, but because these are the natural outcomes of disregarding God's command. and —"Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people"—make this clear. Our Maker has given us the manual; use the tool outside its prescribed usage and you void the warranty and break the product. Point two: God's message is consistent, Genesis to Revelation—sin brings separation, death, and destruction.

Who Is to Blame

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. ()

When we are challenged or called out, our inclination is to cast blame elsewhere. Adam said, "It was the woman You gave me." So who is to blame for Israel's sinful adultery? Though the language is difficult, other translations make it clear. The Christian Standard Bible renders , "Let no one dispute; let no one argue, for My case is against you priests." The New Living Translation: "Don't point the finger at someone else and try to pass the blame! My complaint, you priests, is with you."

God's appraisal was that Israel's sinful separation was caused by bad priestly leadership. The people were unfaithful because the priests never led them to faithfulness. They lacked loving kindness because the priests never taught them. They had a deficient knowledge of God because they received no instruction in wisdom from the priests. As a religious leader, that is a heavy word—and I see the connection to our time.

Point three: sometimes those who are supposed to be God's messengers deliver the wrong message, or no message at all, and the people suffer destruction. I saw this in living color this past week. I watched an individual given the title "pastor" deliver a message to 150 or 200 people that was outright shallow, absurdly unbiblical, and wrong. I won't name names. And I thought: is it not possible that our nation is in the state it's in, at least in part, because those ordained as God's ministers have failed to rightly divide the word of truth? I think the answer is yes—just as it was 2,800 years ago.

The More the Priests Increased

The more they increased, the more they sinned against Me; I will change their glory into shame... They eat up the sin of My people; they set their heart on their iniquity. ()

This seems strange—wouldn't more priests mean less sin? Here's what happened. When the nation split, Jeroboam king of Israel had a problem. God had commanded that the people worship at one place, the temple in Jerusalem—the capital of Judah. Jeroboam feared that if his people went to Jerusalem to worship, their hearts would turn back to the house of David and they would kill him.

Jeroboam said in his heart, "Now the kingdom may return to the house of David: If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem... they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah." ()

Imagine leaders in Sacramento noticing everyone drives to Las Vegas to gamble and taking all that tax revenue—so they change the law to keep it here. That's the move. First Kings 12:31 says Jeroboam "made shrines on the high places, and made priests from every class of people, who were not of the sons of Levi." He built many temples and ordained anyone who looked the part. The more the priests multiplied, the more the people's sin multiplied as they worshiped idols under them.

And the priests ate it up—literally. They lived off the offerings, and people brought offerings when they sinned. So sin meant more meat on the priest's table, more money in his pocket. God's verdict: "Like people, like priests; I will punish them for their ways and reward them for their deeds." One of the most sobering verses I encountered as a 19-year-old beginning to teach was : "Let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment." You don't get a pass because you're a priest.

A People in Bondage

Harlotry, wine, and new wine enslave the heart. My people ask counsel from their wooden idols... For the spirit of harlotry has caused them to stray, and they have played the harlot against their God. ()

Unlike Judah, which seemed to try to hide its sin, Israel paraded it. They lived large and wanted everyone to see, completely given to sexual immorality and drunkenness, not realizing the bondage it brought. "Harlotry, wine, and new wine enslave the heart" is almost an ancient idiom for addiction—being in bondage to lustful arousal, alcohol, or sex, unable to escape. There was no chastity, no purity, no value on virginity any longer. Sound familiar? The temples to Baal and Asherah were the OnlyFans and PornHub of that ancient world.

Strikingly, in verse 14 God shows compassion on the women led or pushed into this:

I will not punish your daughters when they commit harlotry, nor your brides when they commit adultery; for the men themselves go apart with harlots... Therefore people who do not understand will be trampled. ()

There would be no PornHub or OnlyFans without men seeking these things, and no temple prostitution 2,800 years ago without a market for it. It is disgusting when you see a four- or five-year-old girl scantily clad and twerking on social media—that comes from a culture that has no problem with such things and amplifies them. That was the culture of Israel, and God holds the men specifically responsible. Point four: sometimes the message is more caught than taught, and it sets people on the path to disaster. "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge."

More Caught Than Taught

Many people today are on a path that leads to ultimate disaster, individually and as a culture, because they have followed the way of the culture and know no different. What message are our lives sending? It's less about what we say and more about how we live. Our attitudes and actions transmit to others; they will follow our patterns far more than our words.

This is so important for dads. If you have a half-hearted commitment to honesty and integrity, to God and His church and kingdom, don't be surprised if your kids and grandkids mirror you with even less. If you speak with disrespect and unkindness to your spouse, don't be surprised when your children do the same. Your pattern of life speaks louder than your words. And if you spend the bulk of your time with people and in places that dishonor God, you will fall into that pattern too. You've heard, "You become the average of the five people you spend the most time with." That's an old idea—Paul said it in 1 Corinthians: "Evil company corrupts good morals," and "a little leaven leavens the whole lump."

Let Him Alone

Though you, Israel, play the harlot, let not Judah offend... Do not swear an oath, saying, "As the LORD lives"—for Israel is stubborn like a stubborn calf. ()

God says, in effect: you do this openly and parade it, but don't drag Judah down with you, and don't pretend to follow Me while you bow to Baal and Asherah. Don't be a hypocrite. If you're stubborn and stiff-necked and want to go this way, I'll let you. Then comes one of the most sobering verses in all of Scripture:

Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone. ()

They departed from God and joined themselves to idols, and God says, "That's what you want—I'll let you have it." It's as if He steps back: My presence, My protection, My blessing will be noticeably absent. Why such a drastic resolution? "Their drink is rebellion, they commit harlotry continually; her rulers dearly love dishonor" (4:18). The wind—the strong wind of Assyria—has wrapped her in its wings, and they will be banished and exiled from the land.

A Call to Faithfulness

If only they had listened to their messengers. If only they had messengers who spoke the word of truth, and had received prophets like Hosea, repented, and returned to the Lord—without a doubt God would have received them again.

Seeing this sobering picture, we need Christian leaders who will speak the truth faithfully, proclaiming the word of God without compromise even when it is difficult and unpopular. So pray for us. Paul asked the Ephesians, "Pray for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains" (). Pray that the ministers in our community would speak the truth boldly.

But we, the people of God, must also be on guard—as Israel was not—that we not be carried away by the currents, tides, and trends of our culture toward things that conflict with God's nature and will. We must humbly acknowledge that we are prone to wander. The flesh lusts against the Spirit. Yet "God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive" (), and saved us unto good works ().

God calls us to walk in those good works and enables us to do so by His Spirit, by His word, and by the body of Christ, where He stirs us up to love and good deeds. Our culture more than anything needs to see a people set apart unto God, walking in rightness before this world. And on this Father's Day, may it please God to start with the dads—American culture in 2024 needs godly fathers, noticeably absent for several generations. We need God to work in us.

Closing Prayer

Father God, I pray that You would help us. Would You work in us by Your grace, by Your Spirit, by Your word, and by the encouragement and exhortation of brothers and sisters within the body of Christ, that we would press on to lay hold of that for which You have laid hold of us. Pour out Your Spirit upon Your church and enable us supernaturally to fulfill the responsibility You've given us—as Your children, as members of Your body, as men and women of God—to walk in ways that honor and glorify You, knowing we will give an account for how we use the life, gifts, abilities, resources, and time You have given. Help us to lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us, and to run with endurance the race set before us, looking unto You, forgetting what is behind and pressing forward. Enable Your church, we pray, in Jesus' name. And all those who agreed said, Amen.

Amen. Good morning! Thank you, Anthony and the worship team. Good morning, Cross Connection Church. You can all be seated. It's so good to see you guys this morning.

I have crossed a major Father's Day threshold that I thought I would never cross. I officially have Hawaiian shirts now. I swore I never would, but I guess I could not keep myself from the pull in that direction. Now, I don't know; I'm in that place. So, it is Father's Day! Happy Father's Day! In fact, would all the dads please stand? Happy Father's Day to you! Praise the Lord, dads!

I reached out for your help. I reached out to ChatGPT, the AI, this morning for some new dad jokes for you all. So here we go. Why did the math book look so sad? Because it had too many problems.

Alright, alright. What do you call cheese that isn't yours? Nacho cheese! You guys know that one.

Alright, alright. How do you organize a space party? You planet!

Alright, alright, here we go. One more, one more. Did you hear about the restaurant on the moon? It's got great food but no atmosphere.

So those are the ones you kind of go, "Yeah, it's terrible." Dads, we are super grateful for you this morning, and we want to pray for all the dads. Happy Father's Day to you!

Would you guys pray with me this morning? Father God, we thank you that, first, you are our Father in Heaven. You are a perfect, loving, holy, good Father. Lord, I pray for these dads here that, by the working of your Word and your Spirit, you would continue to transform us so that we would be like you as dads to our kids and our grandkids.

I am absolutely certain that our culture needs to see dads who are like you, our Heavenly Father. So would you do that work? I know you have in so many ways, and these men exemplify so many good things. But would you grow in us the fruit of the Spirit? Would you grow in us integrity and honor? Lord, would you grow in us honesty so that we would be those who could say, like Paul said, "Imitate me as I imitate Christ"?

So I pray for these dads.

You pour out blessings upon them and use them. Our culture definitely needs this, and we thank You for these. In Jesus' name, amen.

Amen. You guys can be seated. We do have a gift for you. If you have a peanut allergy, this is not for you. Payday today! If you can't have that one, we got 100 Grand for you, so make sure you grab one of those, dads, as you go.

Of course, I really tried very hard this week to put together a light and encouraging Father's Day message, but we're in the book of Hosea, so totally scrap that. Would you take out your Bibles this morning? If you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand, and one of our ushers will bring you one. We are in the book of Hosea in the Old Testament. Open to about the middle of your Bible, keep turning to the right, and you will find the prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and then Hosea. is where we find ourselves this morning.

As I was considering this text this morning and looking at the culture around us, I don't think that you have to really look hard or pay all that much attention to realize that there is a significant amount of division in our country at this point in time. It is very clear. The first presidential election that I voted in was in 2000, and if you look at the last 24 years of history since then, presidential campaigns in our country have become increasingly heated. It’s like this constant mudslinging contest, pitting the right against the left and red against blue.

During much of that same period, we have seen that our Congress is truly divided. Not only are they divided, but the media entities, the established media in our culture—whether it's on the right or the left—many times seem to amplify the separation and division of our culture in caustic and toxic ways. Every election cycle, we are told more and more by those on either side that this is the most important election of our lifetime. We are told that our Republic is in danger of collapse and that our democracy is on the verge of total destruction.

I don't know about you, but many times over the last several years, I've had people ask me the question, "Do you think that we are on the verge of a civil war?" Every time I hear that, I think to myself...

Surely, I hope not. I hope that is not the case. I will say, however, that we should be concerned, and especially as Christians, we should be stirred to pray when we see the things that are happening, not just in our country but throughout Western culture. If you look at Western Europe and North America, including Canada, we should be concerned by many of the things that are identified as populist risings. Whether it's on the right or the left, these movements, if you look at history, do not tend to go in good directions. I do pray that we do not find ourselves in a situation where there is actual conflict and fighting.

Now, in the 8th century BC, that is exactly what was going on among the people of Israel, the children of Israel during that time. Israel had already been divided by a civil war about 200 years before this, in the 10th century BC, when Solomon, the great wise King who wrote the Proverbs and is known for the Book of Ecclesiastes, died. His son Rehoboam took over, and popular opinion was not with him. The Pew Forum and Gallup polls were not in his favor at that time; he had a low approval rating. As a result, the nation was divided by a civil war. There was conflict, and a greater part of the nation went with the northern kingdom, the northern tribes called Israel, and their king, Jeroboam.

Rehoboam did not have the same power as Jeroboam, and the nation remained divided throughout the rest of their history until coming back to the land after the time of the Babylonians. Hosea now lives about 200 years after that, and conflict is stirring again. The reason that conflict is stirring at this point in time has a lot to do with some outside influences in the 8th century, especially the second half of the 8th century BC, which is the time that Hosea lived. A number of other prophets also lived during this time, including Isaiah, Amos, Micah, and Jonah. If you've been around the Old Testament for a while, you know these names; they all lived during that period.

There was a lot going on in the world at that time, and the biggest movement in the 8th century BC was among the Assyrians. In fact, pretty much everything we know about secular history outside of the Bible from that time comes from the Assyrians. They kept great records, which is why we are able to know when various things happened and how they fit into the broader historical context.

With the timeline, we can pinpoint specific days, times, dates, and years because of the Assyrians and the records they kept, found in the ruins of Nineveh in modern-day Mosul, Iraq. We know what was going on during that period of time. The Assyrians were on the move, and the events we come to that correspond with Hosea chapters 4 through 6 occur right in the midst of a significant uprising led by one of the great kings of the Assyrian Empire. The first great king of the Assyrian Empire, who doubled the size of Assyria's land holdings during his reign, was a man named Tiglath-Pileser III. Great name! I mean, it was so good they used it three times.

Tiglath-Pileser was on an expansionist warpath during this period. It was at this time that he led a great revival and reformation of the military and political powers in Assyria. He directed the Assyrian army south from modern-day Mosul, Iraq, which was Nineveh at the time, down to modern-day Baghdad, Babylon. After taking control of Babylon, he continued along what we call the Fertile Crescent. Maybe you've heard that before. If you look at a map, it shows the geography of that area and all the fertile regions. The Fertile Crescent extends from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, wrapping around the desert lands of Arabia, coming south into the west, into modern-day Syria and Lebanon, and then down into Israel towards Egypt.

Tiglath-Pileser was continuing to traverse all the lands where it was habitable. He could not go through the deserts, as you need water for that. During this period, the king of Syria observed what was happening. He saw Tiglath-Pileser's armies moving in that direction and realized he was right in front of a bulldozer. He knew he needed to gear up, get ready, and build an alliance. So, he joined forces with the king of Israel, the northern ten tribes, and they formed a confederacy. They formed an alliance to try to fend off the Assyrians who were coming their way. However, they realized they needed more land and more people. So, they came up with the idea that they should go down to Judah. The king of Syria suggested to the king of Israel that maybe they should overtake Judah to bolster their army with a whole bunch more people.

More land to hold led to the Confederacy of Syria's King and Israel's King deciding to go down and fight against Judah's King to take Judah. The King of Judah at that time was a man named Ahaz. You can read about all of this in , , and , because this happens when Isaiah was a prophet as well.

In , it came to pass in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, King of Judah, that Rezin, King of Syria, and Pekah, the son of Remaliah, King of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to make war against it. This is what was happening: the Assyrians were coming, and the Syrians and the people of Israel said they needed to gather as many people as possible to fight against the Assyrians. They decided to go down to Judah, kill Ahaz, take the land, and increase their army.

Ahaz was in Judah, facing a concerning situation. They had less power, fewer people, and less wealth than their neighbors to the north. states that it was told to the House of David, the royal house that Ahaz was from, that Syria's forces had deployed in Ephraim, which refers to Israel, the northern ten tribes. As a result, Ahaz's heart and the heart of his people were moved like the trees are moved when the wind blows through. They were shaken by this news, realizing they were indeed in trouble.

During this period, many of the cities of Judah fell to the northern ten tribes and the Syrians. So, what do you do if you're King Ahaz in Judah, facing a situation where the northern tribes are more populated, more powerful, and have more resources, allied with the Syrians? What did Ahaz do? It is very clear when you study the scriptures. Instead of listening to the prophet Isaiah, who came to him in and said, "Ahaz, listen, you have not been a good king. You have not been a good man. You have not been following the Lord," Isaiah's word to King Ahaz was to repent and trust in the Lord, and God would protect him.

However, if you are essentially a pagan and you can hear the train coming down the bend, what do you do?

Towards you, it's going to devastate you. This guy comes to you and says, "If you just trust the Lord, you'll be okay." What are you going to do? Well, Ahaz didn't listen to Isaiah. Instead, he took out his iPhone, got on X, and DMed Tiglath-Pileser. He sent a direct message to Tiglath-Pileser and said, "Yo, Tiggy." I think that's what he said. He said, "No cap." If you're Gen Z, that's what he would have said: "No cap, you've been busting, no need to flex. I saw what you did in Babylon. You took on some new boot digs; you got some things going on. You are the slay king, the GOAT—greatest of all time." This is the Gen Z version of the Bible.

He said, "Tiggy, you got major Riz, right? I need your help because Syria and Israel have gone salty, and they need to get owned. You game?" Tiglath-Pileser just clapped back with one word: "Bet." He was like, "I'm in." What's all that mean? Ask a 14-year-old; they'll tell you exactly what that means. He basically said to him, "Listen, Tiglath-Pileser, I'm going to pay you to save me."

So now he becomes a tributary; he pays tribute to Tiglath-Pileser, the king of Assyria. The king of Judah does this, and it's a bad idea. You can kind of already sense it because Tiglath-Pileser is already moving in that direction. Eventually, he's going to kill the Assyrians and the people of Israel, and you're the next stop. But Ahaz figured, "Well, if I pay him money, we become friends. You know, we're good; we're besties."

So he gives money to Tiglath-Pileser, the king of Assyria, to protect him against the Syrians and the people of Israel. Tiglath-Pileser has no problem with that. "I'm already going to do this anyway, and you're going to pay me to do this. This is great." And that's exactly what happened.

Where was Hosea in all of this? He was right in the middle of it. He lived in the capital city of Israel, the northern ten tribes in Samaria. He was there, watching all of this happen, ministering when Pekah, king of Israel, and the king of Syria joined forces to stand against the Assyrians.

Against Judah, it was a chaotic and divided time. If you lived in a time like that, wouldn't you maybe like to have some advanced knowledge of what's coming down the pipe? It would be really good to know what's going to happen. You're in Israel, and you see these things happening: geopolitical chaos, the Assyrians are coming, and there's war in the South. It's like, man, I would love to know what's going to happen next.

Enter Hosea. In , look at this verse: "Hear the word of the Lord, you children of Israel." He is a prophet of God, speaking a message to the people from God. Now, where did he get this message? Did he have a red phone in his office, like, "boop boop boop," picking it up and saying, "Hey, Hosea, this is coming from God's office"? No, he didn't have a red phone. What did he have? Most likely, he had the Torah, the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, especially Deuteronomy. He also had eyes to see what was happening in the world around him, in his own nation, among his own people. He sees all these things and notices some similarities to what God said would happen if the people were unfaithful. He is putting two and two together.

I also think you can add to this that the Holy Spirit is giving him inspiration and directing him to say these things. He says to the people, "Hey, this is God's word to you, the children of Israel." The Lord brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land. Imagine, if you will, a courtroom scene: Israel, the northern ten tribes, are seated at the defendant's table, and Hosea is like the prosecuting attorney on behalf of God. He comes and says, "The Lord brings a charge against the inhabitants of Israel."

Why? Because there is no truth, no mercy, and no knowledge of God in the land. How do we know? By swearing, lying, killing, stealing, and committing adultery. They break all restraint; they cast off restraint. Nothing is keeping them from doing the wickedness that is in their hearts, with bloodshed upon bloodshed. Therefore, because of all this, the Lord will mourn, or the land will mourn, and everyone who dwells in it will waste away, along with the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea. They all will be taken away.

Hosea's message is a tough message, as was often the case with the prophets. Can you see why the prophets were sometimes not very well liked? They come in, and the people are like, "Please..."

Tell us something good. Please tell us that everything is going to be okay. You know, God’s got your back; it’s all good. Everything is going to be fine. You’re going to weather this difficulty. That’s what they wanted to hear, but that’s not what they heard.

Hosea comes in and says, “This is happening to you because of your sin. You’re going to be laid waste and destroyed, and the land is going to mourn.” It’s a heavy message.

Point number one, if you’re taking notes: sometimes God’s messengers deliver a message that His people would rather not receive. This was not the message they wanted. The message is simple and clear. First, here’s the problem: the people of Israel have departed from truth. When you dig down into the word, where it says there is no truth, no mercy, and no knowledge of God in the land, it means that there was no true faithfulness to God among His people. Israel had departed from wholehearted obedience, faith, and trust in God. They had divided affections to the point that they were living with an adulterous heart.

The concept of an adulterous heart is not just something we find in this passage in ; we also find it in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus says, “You have heard that it has been said of old time, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ but I say to you, whoever looks upon a woman to lust after her has committed adultery in his heart.” So, Jesus speaks about this same concept. Here, Hosea is saying, “You guys have an adulterous heart towards God.” They lusted after the false gods of the people around them, and not only the false gods but also the immoral practices associated with those false gods.

It wasn’t just the worship of these gods called Baal, Asherah, and Molech. It’s not just that they liked to go to these places and give sacrifices; it’s that they engaged in the immoral practices of these places, which involved total debauchery, drunkenness, and sexual immorality. They were pulled in the direction of these immoral practices, and Hosea says this is God’s charge against you: there is no truth, and there’s no true faithfulness among you.

Secondly, he says the people have departed from mercy. There is no mercy. The word mercy there is the Hebrew word "chesed," and it speaks of loyalty and lovingkindness. It speaks of goodness and graciousness.

Hosea speaks of the favor shown towards other people. He says that in the nation of Israel, they are no longer kind to one another. They no longer show favor or graciousness to people. There was a breakdown in society among the children of Israel; they had left civility. No longer were they kind to one another. Sound familiar?

Thirdly, he says the people lost the knowledge of God in the land, which is hard to imagine because these were the people of God. The scripture says, "I will be your God, and you will be my people." Not only were they the people of God, but they were also supposed to represent God to the people. They were called the priests of God to the nations.

What is a priest? A priest is someone who goes to God on behalf of the people and goes to the people on behalf of God. Israel, as an entire nation, was supposed to be the priests of God to the people of the world. They would go to God on behalf of the nations and go to the nations on behalf of God. However, they had not done that for hundreds of years. They had strayed from being faithful to God and were no longer walking as His people.

What is the evidence that there was no truth, no mercy, and no knowledge of God in the land? The evidence was unrestrained lying, killing, stealing, and adultery—a compounding of sin. We read in the verse, "Bloodshed upon bloodshed." It’s as if there is an amplifying of sin; things are getting worse and worse in the culture. Sound familiar?

As a result, God proclaims to the people that destruction and mourning are expected. When we read that destruction and mourning are expected, it’s not necessarily that God is going to come in and bring destruction and mourning to the people. Rather, these are the natural outcomes of disregarding God's call and command. If you turn away from God, this is what will happen. That’s what says.

If you follow in the ways of God, who is our Maker and Creator, He has given us His rules, laws, and principles to live by. This is similar to the maker or creator of anything you might buy, who provides a manual for the proper usage of the tool or item. If you use it in the wrong way, outside of the prescribed guidelines, you will face consequences.

Usage then voids the warranty and breaks the product. God says, "Listen, I have called you, I have created you, and I have given you the manual. If you live according to these principles and these rules, then the outcome is going to be blessing and success, and things are going to go well. But if you don't, then you're going to break the equipment." He says destruction is coming. Righteousness, as stated in , exalts a nation, but sin, which is the rejection of God's principles and law, brings shame to any people.

Point number two this morning is that God's message is consistent from Genesis to Revelation. God's message is that sin brings separation, death, and destruction. Hosea continues in verse four, "Now let no man contend or rebuke another, for your people are like those who contend with the priest. Therefore, you shall stumble in the day; the prophet also shall stumble with you in the night, and I will destroy your mother."

"My people are destroyed," says the Lord through Hosea, "for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you from being priest for me. Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children."

It is the temptation that anytime someone brings a challenge to us, anytime someone calls us out, our inclination is to cast blame somewhere else. We see this in Genesis when God comes to Adam after Adam and Eve have sinned. He says to Adam, "Did I not tell you not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?" Adam responds, "It was the woman you gave me." That is exactly our inclination—to cast blame.

So we come to a passage like this where God is saying, "Hey, here's the problem. Who's to blame?" In this situation of the sinful adultery of the children of Israel, God's case in verses 4-6 is very clear. Even though the language can be difficult, causing Bible teachers and commentators to wrestle with it, it becomes clear in some other translations of the Bible. Basically, God says the party to blame in this situation is the religious leaders of the people of Israel. The Christian Standard Bible renders like this:

This let no one dispute. God says you have sinned, and He says don't try to dispute this. Let no one argue, for My case is against the priests. The people should not say, "Oh wait, God, why are you blaming us?" No, no, no, no, no. My issue is not with you; my issue is with the priests, your religious leaders. The New Living Translation puts it like this: don't point the finger at someone else and try to pass the blame. Ouch! Gosh, we do that.

My complaint, you priests, is with you. Israel had no truth, no mercy, and no knowledge of God in the land. Therefore, it was evidenced in their lives by their adultery, their debauchery, and their drunkenness. All these different things they were doing went back to the fact that they had no truth, no mercy, and no knowledge of God in the land. And why did they have no knowledge of God in the land? God says it is because of the priests.

God's appraisal of the situation was that Israel's sinful separation was because of their bad priestly leadership. The religious leaders were to blame. As a religious leader, that's a heavy one. The people were unfaithful because they had not been led by the priests to understand what it would be to be faithful. The people lacked loving kindness; they lacked graciousness and goodness. They had no civility because the religious leaders had not taught them rightly.

The people had a deficient knowledge of God because they had received no instruction about wisdom and knowledge from the priests. As a result of the religious leaders' failure, the people were going to suffer, stumble, and be destroyed. Do you see any connection to our time? Without a doubt.

Verse six in this section is the key verse: "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." Because they have rejected knowledge, I also, God says, will reject them from being priests for Me. Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. The priests were to blame—the religious leaders of the nation of Israel.

Point number three: sometimes those supposed to be God's messengers deliver the wrong message or no message at all, and the people suffer destruction. I hate to say it.

It feels sad for me today to say it, but I saw this live and in living color last week. I watched an individual who has been given the title of Pastor deliver a message to a gathered group of people. The message was outright shallow, absurdly unbiblical, and wrong. I was there; I watched this message with probably 150 to 200 people gathered. This individual, who has the title of Pastor, is part of a church in our area. I won't say names or give names of churches, but I witnessed this with my own eyes. The message was unbiblical, absurdly wrong, and shallow in so many different ways.

I thought to myself, is it not possible that our nation is in the state it is in, at least in part, because those who are ordained as God's ministers and messengers have utterly failed in their calling to rightly divide the word of truth and speak the truth with clarity and boldness? I think the unequivocal answer is yes. This is exactly as it was 2,800 years ago during the time of Hosea. Speaking of the priests, he says in verse 7, "The more they, the priests, increased, the more they sinned against me."

You might think that seems weird. If you have a lot of priests among the people, wouldn't it seem like the people would be less inclined to sin? But he says, "The more the priests increased, the more the people sinned against me. I will change their glory into shame. They eat up the sin of my people; it's like they rejoice in the sin of my people. The priests set their heart on their iniquity, and it shall be like people, like priests. So I will punish them, the priests, for their ways and reward them for their deeds. For they shall eat and not have enough; they shall commit harlotry and not increase because they have ceased obeying the Lord."

This is a strange thing. The more the priests increased, the more the people sinned. What does this mean? I think it means this: about 200 years before Hosea, when the nation split under Rehoboam, King Solomon's son, the nation divided into the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom. There was Rehoboam, king of Judah, and there was Jeroboam, king of Israel in the north. Jeroboam had a problem. All of the people of Israel were told by God through Moses that they had to go to worship God in one place, at the temple, and that one place was at the temple.

Jeroboam was in Jerusalem, which was the capital of Judah. He had a problem: if my people, who have left Rehoboam with me, go and worship God in Jerusalem, they might be inclined to return to God and to Rehoboam. I am going to lose my people, my power, and my position. I have to fix this problem.

We read about it in First Kings, chapter 12. It says that Jeroboam said in his heart, "Now the kingdom may return to the house of David. They might go back to Rehoboam. If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn back to the Lord and to Rehoboam, king of Judah, and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam."

He had a clear problem. It would be kind of like this: imagine the leaders in Sacramento looking at the situation and realizing that every single weekend, all of their people get on I-15 and drive out to Nevada to go to Las Vegas for gaming because they don't have gaming there. They are losing tax revenue, and they might think, "We should change the law so we can have gaming here." No one would ever do such a thing, but that's what's happening here. Jeroboam thought, "I have a problem."

So, what does Jeroboam do? First Kings, chapter 12, verse 31 tells us that Jeroboam made shrines and high places and appointed priests from every class of people who were not the sons of Levi. Jeroboam had a bright idea: he didn't want his people going down to Jerusalem because they might go back to Rehoboam. But all the priests and the temple were down there.

He thought, "I'll just make lots of temples up here and appoint a whole bunch of people as priests. In fact, anyone who looks the part and has a nice set of clothes can be a priest." So, he built many high places for people to worship in his land. The more the priests increased, the more the sin of the people increased as they departed from the Lord and began to worship idols under these priests.

Here's the crazy thing: it says that the priests ate it up; they consumed the sin of the people. What does that mean? Well, the priests started to...

When do the children of Israel come to me, the priest, to offer an offering? I live off the offerings they bring me. Offerings come when they sin, so it's actually a good thing if they sin. If they sin, they bring me more offerings. Sin equals more meat for my table and more money in my pocket. The more they increased, the more sin increased among the people.

God says, "Well, priests, listen. If the people are going to be destroyed, then you're going to be destroyed as well. It shall be like people, like priests. So I will punish the priests in their ways and reward them for their deeds."

I'll tell you, one of the most sobering verses for me, which I just talked about with my wife and my oldest son a few days ago, is found in . It says, "Let not many of you become teachers, because you will receive a stricter judgment." I read that, and there was a weight on my heart and mind. You have a greater accountability and a stricter judgment. You don't get a pass because you're a priest. They sure thought they did, but God says, "No, you're going to be judged. The priests will not escape the judgment."

Hosea, in verse 11, shifts from the priests to the people. Look at verse 11 of : "Harlotry, wine, and new wine enslave the heart." What is that? Sexual immorality and drunkenness bring bondage. I think you probably recognize that; some of you know that from your past. Harlotry, wine, and new wine bring bondage; they enslave the heart.

My people ask counsel from their wooden idols; their staff informs them. For the spirit of harlotry has caused them to stray, and they have played the harlot against God. They offer sacrifices on the mountaintops; they burn incense on the hills, under oaks and poplars, because their shade is good. Therefore, your daughters commit harlotry, and your brides commit adultery.

Now, unlike the people in the South, the people of Judah, who the prophets seem to inform us about, the people of Judah seem to try and hide their sin. There seems to be a recognition among the people in Jerusalem and Judah that this is bad, and we should try to keep this quiet. But the people in the North...

Israel, it's almost as if they had this whole month dedicated to Pride, where they wanted their sin to be paraded. They actually thought it was a good thing, so they did it out in the open. They lived large and wanted everybody to see it; they were not trying to hide their sin at all. They were completely given to sexual immorality and drunkenness, and they did not realize the bondage that it brought.

When we read that harlotry, wine, and new wine enslaved the heart, in a sense, that's almost like an ancient idiom for addiction. What does it mean to be in bondage or enslaved to sexual immorality or drunkenness? Well, that's what addiction is. When you're in bondage to it, you can't escape it; you are enslaved by your lustful arousal, satisfaction from alcohol, sex, or some other trapping. Israel was addicted to their deviant behaviors, drunkenness, and sexual immorality. They strayed from God into this immoral idolatry, so much so that it is said they gave their daughters and even their wives to it.

Now, there is discussion about what this might mean. Does it mean that they actually conscripted their daughters and their wives into temple prostitution and harlotry? We don't know for sure, but at the very least, fornication and adultery were the norm among the children of Israel in the eighth century BC. There was no chastity, no purity; there did not seem to be a value on virginity any longer. Sound familiar? What were the temples to Baal and Asherah in ancient times? They were like OnlyFans and PornHub; that's what it was, and they were completely given to this.

Now, the amazing thing is that in verse 14, which is striking, God seems to have compassion and mercy on these women who had been effectively led to or even pushed into this practice. Look at verse 14; this is amazing. God says, "I will not punish your daughters when they commit harlotry, nor your brides when they commit adultery, for the men themselves go apart to harlots and offer sacrifices with ritual harlots. Therefore, people who do not understand will be trampled." What is going on here? There would not be a PornHub or an OnlyFans if there...

There were not men seeking these things, and there would not be these temples and these prostitutes 2,800 years ago if there had not been a market for them. In a sense, it is as if God says, "I'm going to be merciful to these women because they have no other choice." It is, quite frankly, disgusting when you see images on social media of a four or five-year-old little girl in scantily clad clothing twerking. Where does that come from? It comes from a culture that has no problem with these things and amplifies them. That was the culture they lived in 2,800 years ago, and God holds the men of Israel specifically responsible for their sin and their readiness to seek this promiscuity. The cultic practices of the prostitutes created the cultural conditions in which this wickedness thrived.

This reminds us of a very heavy reality. Point number four: sometimes the message is more caught than taught, and it sets people on a path to disaster. "My people," God said, "are destroyed for lack of knowledge." In our day, many people are on a path that will lead to ultimate disaster and destruction for them individually and for our culture as a whole. Many people are on this path because they have followed the way of the culture, and they know no different. This is all they know.

I know I told you I was going to try to bring a really happy and easy message for Father's Day, but this is the important message. What message are our lives sending? Often, it's more caught than taught. It's less about what we say and more about how we live. Our attitudes and actions translate and transmit to others. They will see how we live and follow our patterns far more than the words we speak.

This is an important message for dads. There are a number of you here this morning, and it is crucial for us to grasp this. If you have a half-hearted commitment to honesty and integrity, if you have a half-hearted...

Commitment to God, His church, and His kingdom is crucial. Don't be surprised if your kids and grandkids mirror you and exhibit a half-hearted commitment. They will follow your attitudes and actions.

To parents as a whole, listen: if you speak with disrespect and unkindness to your spouse, don't be surprised if your kids emulate that behavior and speak with disrespect and unkindness to their spouse and to other adults. It should not surprise you if that is what you are mirroring to them. Your attitude, your actions, and your pattern of life speak more than your words.

If you spend the bulk of your time with people and in places that dishonor God, you will begin to fall into that pattern as well. There is a saying that has become more common in our culture today: you become the average of the five people you spend the most time with. This is actually a very old concept. Paul talked about it in the book of First Corinthians when he said, "Evil company corrupts good morals; a little bit of leaven leavens the whole lump."

In , it says, "Though you, Israel, play the harlot, you are involved in all this wickedness, debauchery, drunkenness, and sexual immorality. Let not Judah offend; don't lead the people in the south in this direction as well." You do it openly; you parade it around. Please don't lead Judah in this direction.

Don't come up to Gilgal, which was in Judah, nor to Beth Aven, which is also in Judah, nor swear an oath saying, "As the Lord lives." Don't pretend to be a follower of God while you are bowing down to Baal and Asherah. Don't be duplicitous; don't be a hypocrite.

For Israel is stubborn, like a stubborn calf. Now the Lord will let them forage like a lamb in the open country. God says, "Listen, if that's the direction you want to go, you're stubborn, hard-hearted, and stiff-necked. I'm going to let you do it."

Then, one of the most sobering verses in all of Hosea, and indeed one of the most sobering verses in the whole Bible, states: "Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone." They had departed from God and joined themselves to idols, and God says, "That's what you want."

I want to let you have it, and it's as if God just steps back and says, "You're on your own. My presence, my protection, my blessing will be noticeably absent." If that's what you want, I'll let you go with it. Why such a drastic resolution from God?

In verse 18, it states, "Their drink is rebellion; they commit harlotry continually. Her rulers dearly love dishonor." They have been given to drunkenness and sexual immorality. Therefore, the wind has wrapped her up in its wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices. They are going to be blown away by the strong wind of the Assyrians, banished and exiled from the land.

If only they had listened to their messengers! If only they had messengers who actually spoke the word of truth to them! If only they had willingly received the word of the prophets, like Hosea, and had repented and returned to the Lord. Without a doubt, God would have received them to Himself again.

Seeing what we observe here among the children of Israel 2,800 years ago, this sobering picture from is something we need to take note of. We need Christian leaders who will speak the truth, faithfully proclaiming the word of God without compromise, even when it's difficult and unpopular.

On that end, I would say pray for us. Paul, to the church at Ephesus, said, "Pray for me." In , he wrote, "Pray for me that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains, that in it I may speak boldly as I ought to speak."

I would ask you to pray for me and for the other ministers in our community, that we would speak boldly the truth. But we, as the people of God, also need to be on guard, as Israel unfortunately had not been. We must not be carried away by the currents, the tides, and the trends of our culture towards things that are in conflict with God's nature and His will—those things that are displeasing to Him.

We need to humbly acknowledge that we are prone to wander. We can easily be drawn in the direction of things that are immoral and against God's desire and will. The flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these two are contrary to one another.

Do not do the things that we will, but God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses and sins, saved us by His grace. He has saved us unto good works. , says so. God calls us to walk in those good works, and He enables us to walk in His good works by the working of His Spirit, the enabling power of His Spirit, by the working of His Word in our lives, and by the working of God's body, the church.

It is in the context of being in fellowship with the body of Christ that God stirs us up to love and good deeds. He exhorts and challenges us to walk in things that are right before God. By God's enabling power, by His Spirit, and by His Word, and through the body of Christ, may God enable us to do that. I guarantee you, more than anything, our culture needs to see a people who are the people of God, who are set apart unto God, walking in righteousness before this world. God, help us to do that.

On this Father's Day, may it please God, by His grace, to start first with the dads. American culture in 2024 needs godly fathers; they have been noticeably absent for several generations. We need God to work in us. Amen.

Would you stand with me as we close in prayer? Father God, I do pray that You would help us. Would You work in us by Your grace, by Your Spirit, and by Your Word, and by the encouragement and exhortation of brothers and sisters within the body of Christ? Lord, that we would press on, that we might lay hold of that for which You have laid hold of us.

God, I pray that You would pour out Your Spirit upon Your church, that You would enable us supernaturally to fulfill the responsibility that You have given to us. This responsibility is as a child of God, as a member of Your body, as a man or a woman of God—a responsibility to walk in ways that honor, please, and glorify You, knowing that we will give an account for how we have used the life, the gifts, the abilities, the talents, the resources, and the time that You have given to us.

God, do a work. Help us to lay aside every weight and sin that so easily ensnares us, and run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto You, pressing on to lay hold of what You have set before us, forgetting those things that are behind and pressing forward. God, enable Your church, we pray.

We ask this today in Jesus' name, and all those that agreed said amen. Let's sing to the Lord.