7:3 - Hosea is telling them that the whole land is corrupt from top to bottom. As the people continue to sink deeper and deeper into the mire of idolatry and sinfulness...where are their leaders? Where are the kings and princes that the people so desparately longed for (So they could be "like everybody else!")? Are they calling the people to change? Are they leading by example? Are they creating accountability? No. They actually rejoice at the sinfulness of the people...they cheer as the people reject God...they are the antheisis of godly leadership. In the areas of your life where you are a leader - does you leadership reflect godliness or human selfishness?
7:14 - The people are distraught and lost...they feel empty and unsatisfied...they cry out for help, but they do not really seek God. They try to fill the emptiness within them...they try to fill it with food...they try to dull their minds with alcohol...they try to cut themselves, so they can feel something...anything...but it all leaves them empty, because they are not truly seeking God.
7:16 - They say they want to come back...they say they want things to return to the way they were, when times were good, but they refuse to look up. They refuse to look to God for help and strength. They will not humble themselves before God, so they will continue to be trapped in the emptiness of their corrupt lives.
8:2 and 3 - They claim to know God, but they do not. Their true feelings are demonstrated by their actions and their words. They defy God at every turn...they revel in their sinfulness...they are not believers. How about us? The truth of our faith is lived out every day. Are we driven to holiness by the blood of Jesus Christ, or does wickedness pour out of our faithlessness? It doesn't really work any other way...you don't get to claim to follow Jesus and then refuse to follow him.
8:8 - Israel has been so twisted and influenced by the pagan world around it, that they have become utterly useless to the kingdom of God. God called them to be His priest nation...to stand out as a light to the world...to draw people towards the holiness of God. But they allowed themselves to become just like everyone else. This same thing happens today. How many of us have become useless vessels for the kingdom of God, because when non-Christians look at our lives they see nothing different about them? That cannot be the case!
9:10 - They offered themselves us to false gods, idols, temptation and sin...and they became as vile as the objects that they worshipped. We take on the twisted, sick characteristics of the sins we partake in. Let's not pile guilt and perversion on our heads by getting caught up in things that run contrary to the way of Jesus.
3 comments:
Unrelated to the text, but your notes on 8:8 begged a question. Whats the difference between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven and the new Heaven/Earth?
Hey Matty - good to see you on here again! I was using the Kingdom of God as general term to describe the will of God being lived out in the lives of His people. When people who are supposed to be a part of God's priesthood of all believers - live faithless lives, they become useless vessels for the "kingdom." With reference to the "kingdom of heaven" and the "kingdom of God" used in the NT specifically...many believe that they are almost interchangeable terms and that "the kingdom of heaven" may have been used so as not to offend Jewish God-fearers. I believe that the whole concept of the "kingdom of God" is a process that was ushered in by Jesus. He brought the kingdom of heaven "crashing to earth" to quote Rob Bell and now we are in the process of expanding said kingdom, which will one day in the future be fully realized when God brings the new heaven and new earth to bear. Hope that makes some sense...ask more questions if it doesn't.
Cool, Thanks Brandon!
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