Israel Was Bent On Backsliding
--
Hosea Eleven --
Hosea continued to discuss Israel's rebelliousness and their
unwillingness to repent. God had many complaints against them but His desire
was for each individual to transform their thinking and their lives. As a
nation God loved and chose Israel. He called His "Son" Israel out of Egypt. The more God blessed and called
the people the more they turned from following Him to worship idols. The
sacrificed to Baal and became involved in more and more idol worship.
God took Israel by the hand and blessed them.
However, they did not know that it was Jehovah that had so honored them. God
had put restraints upon Israel for their protection and
preservation. They threw off those restraints like oxen fighting the yoke. The
rebellion of Israel led them to captivity in Assyria. Enemy soldiers would consume the
Israelites because of their rebellion. The people were bent to backsliding. In
spite of the preaching of God's prophets they refused to return to Him.
It deeply grieved Jehovah that the
time of destruction had come for Israel. God strongly wanted to bless
this nation but they would not allow Him to do so. This section gives us a
brief look at the amazing heart of God. Even though they were very wicked He
did not want to let them go! The Lord asked four questions that reveal how hard
it was for him to give Israel over to punishment. "How
shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver
thee, Israel? how
shall I make thee as Admah? how
shall I set thee as Zeboim?" (Hosea 11:8) Admah, and Zeboim were cites that
were destroyed along with Sodom and Gomorrah. (Deuteronomy 29:23) Even though
God did destroy Israel He did so with restraint. He did not completely wipe
them out. As individuals they still had the opportunity to get right with Him.
God is not man. He is able to control His emotions.
God was about to devour Israel. They would return to Him
trembling. Israel would pay for being such a
deceitful nation. Ephraim had consistently lied and tried to deceive God. The kingdom of Judah had also been unruly in its
relationship with God. God had been faithful to Israel in spite of the fact that they
had turned to Baal and other idol gods. Now they will face the consequences of
their choices.
God loved and protected Israel -- Hosea 11:1-3: God said, "When Israel was a
child, I loved him, and I called my son out of Egypt." When Israel was a young nation it was a
matter of history that God called them out of Egypt. These words were also used a
prophetic words about Jesus. (Hosea 2:15, Matthew 2:15) God had cared for His
people when they were weak and when they became strong they forgot about Him.
God called His people through His faithful prophets. Sadly, the more He called
the more they offered incense and sacrifices to the idols like Baal.
God took Israel by the arm and taught them to
walk. Sadly, they did not profit from His efforts. They did not understand all
the benefits that they had enjoyed by the benevolent hand of God. They could
have been blessed with even more blessing if only they had accepted the mercy
of the Almighty.
Drawn with cords of love -- Hosea 11:4-6: God was kind and merciful to His people. He led them
with kindness and with love. He
"drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love." God did not lead
them with a strong rope like you would a beast. God lifted many hardships from Israel. He provided them with nourishing
food. Yet they rebelled against Him. They deserved the kind of punishment they
had experienced in Egypt because they would not return to
God. However, God will not use Egypt this again. He will allow Assyria to
invade
the land and take its people away into exile.
The
Assyrians would invade Israel. There would be wars in their
cities. Their plans for defense would all fail. The invasion of the Assyrians
was effect because God allowed it to happen as punishment for His rebellious
people.
Israel was bent to backsliding -- Hosea
11:7-9: God's
people were bent on or inclined towards backsliding. They were determined to
reject the Almighty for gods that they thought were stronger the He. Actually,
their idol gods could do nothing. The people were so interested in Baal and
other idol gods that they paid little attention to the prophets. These men were
the messengers of God. God lamented over the fact that His people had been so
unfaithful that He must now bring punishment upon them.
God's feelings were so strong for his people that He did not want to
bring complete destruction upon them as He had upon Admah
and Zeboim. These are two cities
that were destroyed along with Sodom and Gomorrah in that great destruction.
God's attitude had changed toward Israel because of their unfaithfulness
and now they would suffer punishment. Israel would not be treated as they
deserved. If that was the case they would have been destroyed.
God would chastise His people and give them an opportunity
to repent. God is Holy. He is not man nor is He like man. He would chasten His
people but He would not stay angry at them.
Israel shall tremble before
God -- Hosea 11:10-12: When the people were sufficiently chastised some of them
would return to the Lord. The sinful nation would tremble because the LORD, will roar like a lion. After the chastisement some would be humbles, brought to
repentance and would return to the Lord. The majority of the
Northern Kingdom was taken into
Assyrian captivity never to return to the home land. Some of the people were
scattered in other countries. They back to God, fluttering like birds from Egypt or like doves from Assyria. God promised that those that
were brought back would be restored to their homes. "I will place them in
their houses, saith the LORD." Isaiah wrote,
"For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land:
and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house
of Jacob." (Isaiah 14:1) This was fulfilled in the days of
Ezra and Nehemiah.
The
contrast was obvious. God had been a loyal and holy God for Israel. Israel had been a very deceitful people
to Him. They had surrounded God with their lies. The
lies and deceit refers to the false prophecies of the unfaithful teachers in
the country. At the present time
Judah was still in good standing with
Jehovah not having gone as far into idolatry
as Israel had gone. There is a reference
here to Genesis 32:24. Jacob "wrestled with the angel" and his name
was changed to Israel. Israel means "one that rules with
God." Israel had lost that glory only Judah still worshipped correctly. Only Judah deserved the name, "children
of Israel."
The wicked will face a horrible
judgment. Without Christ all mankind will be without hope. Please obey the
Gospel of Christ today! To become a Christian you must hear the gospel (Romans 10:17), believe in Jesus (John 8:24), repent of sins (Acts 17:30), confess Christ as Lord (Acts 8:37), and be baptized in order to be
saved. (1 Peter 3:21) After baptism worship and serve God according to His
truth!