Project 119: Hosea 8
| Project 119
“Reaping the Whirlwind”
God has structured creation so that every cause has its effect and every action its consequences. We never pay that truth much attention until we find ourselves on the receiving end of challenges and difficulties, which inevitably cause us to look hard at ourselves to see if by chance we have brought any of the tribulations upon us.
Hosea’s prophecy raised that reality for the people. His sounding the alarm (Hosea 8:1) was for the purpose of letting the nation know that it was too late for her to call upon God for deliverance. God had given ample time and opportunity for His people to do so, but they had squandered each chance so that divine judgment was inevitable.
The people’s rebellion was systemic sin. Jeroboam I’s golden calf (1 Kings 12:25-33), which he erected as a way of preventing his subjects from offering sacrifice at the Jerusalem temple, set the nation up for continual sin. Instead of worshiping the living God, they had violated the second commandment (Exodus 20:4) by bowing down and paying homage to a work of human creation (Hosea 8:5). Israel’s efforts at securing their own future through political alliances with Assyria, the dominant world power of the time, would backfire, leaving the people dependent upon sources of support that would not come through. In Hosea’s words, “they have planted the wind and will harvest the whirlwind” (Hosea 8:7, NLT). In other words, in seeking self-preservation apart from God, the people had brought about their own destruction.
Of course, by all appearances Israel’s worship life was intact. Sacrifices were being offered regularly. However, the fact that these sacrifices were not accompanied by heart change made them “meaningless” in God’s sight (Hosea 8:11). Instead of turning to God, the nation turned to Assyria, which would only lead to a second slavery, such as the one the nation had known in Egypt.
How often do we call on God to help us in our distress without opening our hearts to Him for the transformations only He can bring about? How often do we try to address our challenges in our own power instead of inviting God to do what only God can do? What we must understand is that there are consequences to such neglect, consequences we would always do well to avoid by turning to God in fullness of heart before the time to turn is no more.
Hosea 8 (ESV):
Israel Will Reap the Whirlwind
1 Set the trumpet to your lips!
One like a vulture is over the house of the LORD,
because they have transgressed my covenant
and rebelled against my law.
2 To me they cry,
“My God, we—Israel—know you.”
3 Israel has spurned the good;
the enemy shall pursue him.
4 They made kings, but not through me.
They set up princes, but I knew it not.
With their silver and gold they made idols
for their own destruction.
5 I have spurned your calf, O Samaria.
My anger burns against them.
How long will they be incapable of innocence?
6 For it is from Israel;
a craftsman made it;
it is not God.
The calf of Samaria
shall be broken to pieces.
7 For they sow the wind,
and they shall reap the whirlwind.
The standing grain has no heads;
it shall yield no flour;
if it were to yield,
strangers would devour it.
8 Israel is swallowed up;
already they are among the nations
as a useless vessel.
9 For they have gone up to Assyria,
a wild donkey wandering alone;
Ephraim has hired lovers.
10 Though they hire allies among the nations,
I will soon gather them up.
And the king and princes shall soon writhe
because of the tribute.
11 Because Ephraim has multiplied altars for sinning,
they have become to him altars for sinning.
12 Were I to write for him my laws by the ten thousands,
they would be regarded as a strange thing.
13 As for my sacrificial offerings,
they sacrifice meat and eat it,
but the LORD does not accept them.
Now he will remember their iniquity
and punish their sins;
they shall return to Egypt.
14 For Israel has forgotten his Maker
and built palaces,
and Judah has multiplied fortified cities;
so I will send a fire upon his cities,
and it shall devour her strongholds.