The Disipline of Love
INTRODUCTION:
God loved the children of Israel so much that He no longer could allow them to treat Him with such unholy, self-righteous, adulterous behavior. God desired His wayward children to return to Him. When they would not listen to the words of His heart, He spoke with actions of national crisis. Even then they chose to turn away from their loving, heartbroken Heavenly Father.
* Do you remember a time of disciplining a child and he or she did not understand that you did it out of love and for their protection? How did that make you feel?
Well, God’s heart breaks when we disobey and sometimes He chooses to discipline us out of love to keep us from harming others or ourselves. Sometimes our own actions of disobedience lead to harm.
The love God has for Israel does not preclude the need for punishment if she is to be truly redeemed.This punishment will be seen in the form of the Assyrian invasion, as foretold in the section now before us
I. SUMMARY OF GOD’S PUNISHMENT FOR ISRAEL (8:1-10:15)
First we will summarize chapters 8-10, then look at some key verses
A. WARNING OF APPROACHING JUDGMENT (8:1-14)
1. Judgment is coming because they transgressed the covenant - Hos 8:1-6
2. They have sown the wind, through their alliances with Assyria, and shall reap the whirlwind- Hos 8:7-10
3. The altars of their religion has made them sin, their punishment will be a "return to Egypt" (Egypt as a symbol of captivity) - Hos 8:11-13
4. Israel has forgotten his Maker, and even Judah places more trust in fortified cities; but judgment will come upon them both - Hos 8:14
B. ASSYRIAN CAPTIVITY FORETOLD (9:1-17)
1. Because Israel has played the harlot - Hos 9:1-2
2. Ephraim (Israel) shall "return to Egypt"- Hos 9:3-9
a. Egypt used as a type for captivity, but then Assyria is mentioned by name
b. They will be unable to celebrate the feasts
c. They will be punished for their sins
3. The fleeting glory of Israel - Hos 9:10-17
a. Though considered the firstfruits, they soon gave themselves over to idolatry
b. Thus their glory will fly away, and they will be like one childless
c. For their wickedness, God will cast them away
C. ISRAEL’S SIN AND CAPTIVITY REITERATED (10:1-15)
1. Her guilt and coming captivity - Hos 10:1-8
2. Her sin and coming punishment - Hos 10:9-15 [With such ample warnings through prophets like Hosea, God let Israel know what was to befall her. Yet the prophet’s message did not end there. A message of hope concerning restoration was also proclaimed, which we will shall consider in our next lesson.
II. NOW LETS LOOK AT SOME KEY PASSAGES IN THIS SECTION
A. "I HAVE WRITTEN FOR HIM THE GREAT THINGS OF MY LAW, BUT THEY WERE CONSIDERED A STRANGE THING" Hosea 8:12
1. This is a sad commentary on the condition of Israel
a. God had done a wondrous thing by giving them His Word - cf. Ps 19:7-11
b. Yet they had become so perverted that God’s word seemed strange to them!
2. Is this not true today as well?
a. We have been richly blessed with the full revelation of God’s will through His Son Jesus Christ
b. Yet many people (even some in the church) are so unaware of what the Bible says are so caught up in the thinking of the world ...that the principles and truths of God’s word are "considered a strange thing"! -- Is God’s word considered a strange thing to you?
B. "SOW TO YOURSELVES IN RIGHTEOUSNESS,REAP IN MERCY; BREAK UP YOUR FALLOW GROUND: FOR IT IS TIME TO SEEK THE LORD, TILL HE COME AND RAIN RIGHTEOUSNESS UPON YOU". Hosea 10:12
BREAK UP YOUR FALLOW GROUND: FOR IT IS TIME TO SEEK THE LORD The Jews were accustomed to allow their fields to lie fallow every seventh year. Fallow ground means hard soil, unbroken by the plow. Fallow ground means soil growing up in thorns, briars and weeds. Fallow ground means, saddest of all, fruitless ground.
1) THINGS GOD BROKE UP IN ORDER TO BLESS MEN
a. We are told three times concerning the five loaves and two fishes, when Jesus fed the five thousand, that Jesus "blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitudes." Blessed and brake! Blessing means breaking. God never smiles on a
field as when it is plowed deep. God never rains righteousness upon a life in fullness until it is broken up, broken deep Break up your fallow ground!
b. The pitchers that Gideon used to free Israel from the Midianites were all broken. Whole pitchers would not let the light shine that was inside. If God wants the pitchers of our lives to be broken, then let’s offer them freely, to be broken and be blessed and bring forth fruit.
c. The lambs that were sacrificed had to die before they could fulfill their destiny as pictures of the coming Lamb of God whose blood should take away the sins of the world.
d. God had to break Moses, the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, learned in all the knowledge of the Egy’ptians and high at court. Moses’ whole life was broken up. His wealth was gone, his honor was gone, his pride was gone, his friends were gone, his ambition was laid in the dust. Moses was broken before God used him.
e. What a successful farmer Elisha, the son of Shaphat was, plowing his
plantation with twelve yoke of oxen before him! But it was all broken up when God called him to be a prophet. He killed oxen for sacrifices and burned the plow and yoke for fuel and left all, his past life broken and gone, simply that he might pour water on the hands of the prophet Elijah and some day be used of God!
f. Jesus broke up the fishing business when He called Peter, and John
and Andrew to preach. It was good-by to nets and profit, good-by to father and ship if one were to follow Jesus and become a fisher of men.
g. And Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom, was a rich publican, making money hand over fist, doubtless, when Jesus came by and said, "Follow me." Jesus broke up his income, broke Matthew away his friends and occupation.
2) BREAK UP YOUR HEARTS:
a. To break up our fallow ground means to break up your heart!
b. Strange as it may seem, one can break his own heart.
James 4:9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
c. You can be burdened, can be penitent, can mourn over your sins if you will, but it is not enough: You must seek the Lord.
3) "FOR IT IS TIME TO SEEK THE LORD"
a. Use Daniel as an example: As he considered the desolation of
Jerusalem, Daniel was led to have a broken heart and seek God.
Dan 9:3 And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:
Dan 9:5 We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments:
b. David knew how to seek God:
Psa 51:9-13 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
c. During the Spain Crusade, a member of our team, a Lady from Argentina was weeping on park bench after we had been ignored by the local people. Afterwards our team talked about our lack of this kind of prayer and concern. Then we all prayed. The next few days were filled with people accepting Jesus as their savior. This experience taught me the value of broken-ness and seeking the Lord.
4) PRIDE, SELF-WILL, SELF-CENTERED PLANS MUST BE BROKEN
Many lives are set in a routine that leaves God little control. There
was no room for Jesus in the Inn in Bethlehem; just so, many are so self controlled, so absorbed in our own plans and ways that we do not have time nor heart for the will of God to be done. The one thing they
stress during crusades is "BE FLEXIBLE". In order to be used of God you must be a servant, one who is flexible.
C. "YOU HAVE PLOWED WICKEDNESS, YOU HAVE REAPED INIQUITY"
1. Hosea 10:13 Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men.
2. Iniquity or injustice, is the natural consequence of wickedness.
a. When people turn their ears away from hearing the Word of God, they will be wicked
b. And the consequence is great injustice and lawlessness -- Sadly, I believe we can see why our society is reaping so much injustice and lawlessness today (because of the wickedness that is sown)
c. If we plow in wickedness, and plant the fruit of lies, the result will be iniquity.
3. In Jer 4:3 the prophet says:
Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.
d. Often my wife will call me out in the yard and say "If we don’t pull up these weeds, they will crowd out the grass."
e. You see it is almost impossible to sow among thorns or plant grass among weeds.
f. So is it almost impossible to sow the word among a people with hearts unbroken, hearts preoccupied with the thorns of worldliness and sin.
g. That is where prayer comes in. Before we arrive on a crusade, the church we are to go to, has been taking part in operation Andrew for two months.
h. They are hopefully making a list of people whose hearts may be broken and praying for them and those of us who are coming to try to lead them to Christ.
i. Likewise those of us who are going to the mission field need to have God pull the thorns out of our own lives so we can be fruitful. So please pray for those who go, and those we will witness to.
CONCLUSION
1. The messages of Hosea, though first spoken to a people of an earlier time, speak to us also...
a. History tends to repeat itself; we need to learn from the mistakes of others
b. The people of God are not immune from apostasy, wickedness and rebellion
2. As Paul wrote to the church of Corinth, after reviewing parts of Israel’s history... "Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted." (1 Co 10:6)
3. God’s "intent" in preserving the Old Testament was that we might benefit from Israel’s mistakes
a. The works of prophets like Hosea can certainly help
b. Will his words be well known to us, or will they too be "considered a strange thing"?
When God shows us that we have sinned we should admit to that sin and be willing to accept His loving discipline. God does not come to us and tell us how He will discipline us, but we can trust that whatever and whenever His discipline will always be for our best because we know that He loves us.
