“Called Back to God”
Hosea 1:1
Steve Hanchett, pastor
Berry Road Baptist Church
January 7, 2001
The word of the Lord that came to Hosea the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.
After the period of the Judges, during which time the nation of Israel was going through the cycle of sin, suffering, suplication and salvation, God gave them a king to rule over the nation. The first king, Saul, became proud and his pride resulted in his failed leadership and David, the man after God’s own heart was given the throne. David was a great king and the kingdom advanced geographically, politically and spiritually under his leadership. Solomon his son began his reign with the same kind of spiritual greatness he had seen in his father. But later in his life Solomon drifted from God and the end of his life was a sad tale.
Shortly after the death of Solomon the kingdom was divided into two separate kingdoms, Israel and Judah. Jeroboam I, the first king of Israel set about to establish places of worship in Dan and Bethel. He banished all of the Levites from his territories and worked to keep his people from going to Jerusalem on the feast days. He motives were strictly political but his actions had horrible spiritual implications for the nation.
It is important to note that the Northern Kingdom of Israel had 19 kings and God’s evaluation was that they were all evil. We need to realize that sin can be enslaving for a long time. Jeroboam’s sins became so deeply ingrained in the national consciousness that the people of Israel never overcame the idolatry he started.
So by the time we arrive at Hosea’s day the nation had a long history of worshipping idols. This false worship had serious moral consequences. You can not worship idols with impunity and expect that it will not effect your moral character. You will become like what you worship. That is exactly what happened in Israel.
It is interesting to note that while Hosea was a citizen of the Northern Kingdom he mentions more kings from Judah than he does from Israel when he dates his ministry. His ministry extended over a long period of time, some estimate possibly as long as sixty years. During that time period seven kings had ruled in Israel, yet he only mentions one, Jeroboam II.
It is not likely that this was an oversight. Hosea intentionally left their names out of his writings. I believe he did so because he saw them as being illegitamate kings. He saw the wickedness and evil of the their life and rejected them as having eternal spiritual significance. He treated their reigns as if they were not worthy of mention. I sincerely believe that he obeyed the laws of the land and treated the kings with respect. But it appears that he saw them as being spiritual and moral failures in spite of what they might have accomplished politically.
Just a brief look at these kings will explain why Hosea has such a dim view of their leadership. Jereboam reigned for forty years. During his days the nation experienced a great deal of prosperity. The people were becoming wealthy and the territory was expanded so that encompassed most of what they held during Solomon’s reign. But Jeroboam never did anything to combat the spiritual and moral corruption of the nation.
He was succeded by his son, Zechariah, who was assassinated less than one year into his reign. His successor, Shallum, lasted only a month before he was assassinated. Menahem came to the throne next and reigned for ten years. But his term was marked by Assyrian domination. Pekahiah took the throne after he father, Menahem, died, but was overthrown by a military coup less than two years into his reign. Pekah reigned twenty years, but during those years the nation experienced serious continued decline, not only morally and spiritually, but now territorially. Pekah was assassinated and Hoshea reigned in his place. He was eventually taken to prison by the Assyrians when they conquered the nation in 722 BC.
What I want you to see this morning is that these political problems had a spiritual root. As we examine the preaching of Hosea we see this truth. In chapter 4:6 God says, “My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me.” They had rejected the knowledge of God.
Not only had they rejected the knowledge of God, they were committing spirutaly adultery. They were unfaithful to God. “Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone” {4:17}
They had no faith in God: When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, the Ephraim went to Assyria and sent to king Jareb; yet he cannot cure you, nor heal your wound.” {5:13}.
They were full of pride: The pride of Israel testifies to his face, but they do not return to the Lord their God, nor seek him for all of this, {7:10}.
Their was no true worship: My people are bent on backsliding from Me. Though they call to the Most High, none at all exalt Him, {11:7}.
Materialism had infected their thinking: Yet I am the Lord your God ever since the land of Egypt, and you shall know no God but Me; for there is no Savior besides Me. I knew you in the wilderness, in the land of great drought. When they had pasture they were filled. They were filled and their heart was exalted; therefore they forgot Me, {13:4-6}.
That was the situation in Israel in the days of Hosea. Into the midst of all of this corruption God sends a prophet to call the people and the nation back to God. He calls them back from the brink of judgement and destruction.
God is always sending out His word to call people back from the brink of disaster and destruction. He is always working out of a heart of love to warn people of the danger that awaits them at the end of the road they are traveling.
God sends His prophet and His word to give a warning, to offer life for death and to bring hope to the despairing heart. God is doing the same thing today. He does not take pleasure in the death of anyone. So God’s sends forth His word by His witnesses and calls people back from the brink of destruction.
I just finished reading Isaac’s Storm, a very interesting book about the hurricane that wiped out Galveston in 1900. One of the main plot lines of the book was how everyone was convinced that a hurricane could never strike Galveston, even as one approached. The author vividly describes how as the streets began to flood people went about their business as if nothing was wrong. Children played in the water, men gathered for breakfast at the local diner, and no one fled from the storm that was about to strike.
Some didn’t worry because Issac Cline, the national weather service officer in Galveston, assured them it would not be a severe storm. Other’s simply believed that Galveston was invincible. Some thought that since they had never seen a hurricane strike Galveston one never would. So for a number of reasons people assured themselves nothing bad would happen. And as a result over 6,000 people died one September day in 1900.
Today we can see storm clouds forming on the horizon. There is a moral and spiritual decline that continues to erode our national life. The warning signs are there for us to see. They beckon us to return to the Lord and seek refuge in Him. Some modern day prophets assure us there is nothing to fear, others believe this nation to be invincible, some think since they have never seen judgment it can’t happen to them. How will history look back on what we did as the storm approached?
God is calling us individually, as a church and as a nation back to Himself. Will we listen and will we respond to his call?
