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Hosea 6 – 7 Is God Indecisive ?

Hosea 6 – 7 Is God Indecisive ?. Overview of Hosea 6 – 7 6:1-4 : The people of Israel are encouraged to go back to God, for He will nourish and bless them again (after the discipline)

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Hosea 6 – 7 Is God Indecisive ?

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  1. Hosea 6 – 7 Is God Indecisive ?

  2. Overview of Hosea 6 – 7 6:1-4 : The people of Israel are encouraged to go back to God, for He will nourish and bless them again (after the discipline) 6:5-10 : God is speaking – pronouncing judgment on Israel and Judah for their unfaithfulness and sin (no mercy on others, no acknowledgement of God, wickedness, robbery, murder, idolatry).

  3. 7:1-7 : God continues His lament of Israel – even though the Lord time and time again would heal Israel, Israel still continued sinning (deceit, theft, robbery, wickedness, lies, adultery, indulgence in wine, mocking others). 7:8-13a : The Lord points out the foolishness of Israel – it was drained and left powerless by other nations, yet its arrogance and insolence prevented it to seek the Lord in repentance. It naively sought other nations which would take advantage of it. The consequence would be destruction. They could have been saved if they had sought God for help.

  4. 7:13b-16: God longs to save them; there was a time the Lord even trained and strengthened them. But they just would not returned to the Lord, even though their needs were great. The end result would be humiliation and despair.

  5. Overview of Hosea 6 – 7 God’s justicewill eventually demand punishment and discipline for His people when they (we) sin constantly, but throughout the process, God’s lovepropels Him to seek His people (us) constantly; to warn them (us) of the consequences of sin, to remind them (us) of His love.

  6. Hosea 6:4-10 “4“What can I do with you, Ephraim? What can I do with you, Judah? Your love is like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears. 5Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets, I killed you with the words of my mouth — then my judgments go forth like the sun. 6For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.

  7. 7Like Adam, they have broken the covenant; they were unfaithful to me there. 8Gilead is a city of evildoers, stained with footprints of blood. 9As marauders lie in ambush for a victim, so do bands of priests; they murder on the road to Shechem, carrying out their wicked schemes. 10I have seen a horrible thing in Israel: There Ephraim is given to prostitution, Israel is defiled.” – Hosea 6:4-10

  8. “Who is God ?”

  9. “Who is God ?” “What is He like ?

  10. “Objectively read, the biblical god is petty, jealous, bigoted, vengeful, practices favoritism and double-standards, and is basically disappointing.” – a comment by a pastor’s non-Christian friend

  11. “Objectively read, the biblical god is petty, jealous, bigoted, vengeful, practices favoritism and double-standards, and is basically disappointing.” – a comment by a pastor’s non-Christian friend AnObjective Surface Reading

  12. “Who is God ?”

  13. “I will punish her for the days she burned incense to the Baals” (Hosea 2:13).

  14. “I will punish her for the days she burned incense to the Baals” (Hosea 2:13). “Woe to them, because they have strayed from Me ! Destruction to them, because they have rebelled against Me! (Hosea 7:13).

  15. Why did God want to punish the people of Israel ? Answer : They were not just wanting to change their religion. They wanted the license to do evil.

  16. Why did God want to punish the people of Israel ? • Answer : They were not just wanting to change their religion. They wanted the license to do evil. • The people of Israel wanted to be • Unfaithful – to commit adultery (license to have sexual relation with a person other than their spouse) – which God prohibited but the religion of Baal promoted.

  17. The people of Israel wanted to be • Unfaithful – to commit adultery (license to have sexual relation with a person other than their spouse) – which God prohibited but the religion of Baal promoted. When we cannot keep a sacred vow we have made to our spouse, what other vows can we keep in life ?

  18. The people of Israel wanted to be • Unfaithful – to commit adultery (license to have sexual relation with a person other than their spouse) – which God prohibited but the religion of Baal promoted. • Cursing, Lying, Murder and Stealing (Hosea 4:2)

  19. The people of Israel would have suffered • Unfaithful – to commit adultery (license to have sexual relation with a person other than their spouse) – which God prohibited but the religion of Baal promoted. • Cursing, Lying, Murder and Stealing (Hosea 4:2) • Massive Corruption (Hosea 5:3)

  20. The people of Israel would have suffered • Unfaithful – to commit adultery (license to have sexual relation with a person other than their spouse) – which God prohibited but the religion of Baal promoted. • Cursing, Lying, Murder and Stealing (Hosea 4:2) • Massive Corruption (Hosea 5:3) So a 7-year-old child will learn from young to abuse whatever power he has to gain what he wants.

  21. Sins poisoning the people of Israel 6:7 – Unfaithfulness 6:8 – Wickedness 6:9 – Murder 7:1 – Deceit, Theft, Robbery 7:2 – Lying 7:5 – Drunkenness 7:10 – Arrogance 7:15 – Anti-God

  22. “Objectively read, the biblical god is petty, jealous, bigoted, vengeful, practices favoritism and double-standards, and is basically disappointing.” – a comment by a pastor’s non-Christian friend

  23. Time-lapse from Sinning till Judgment Split of Israel to Northern Kingdom Israel and Southern Kingdom Judah – 931 BC Both King Jeroboam of Israel and King Rehoboam of Judah (son of King Solomon) started sinning from day 1 of their reigns. Destruction of northern kingdom Israel – 722BC Exile of Judah – 586 BC (judgment delayed because of a few good kings of Judah) The Leniency of God : took Him 209 years / 345 yearsto finally punish Israel / Judah for their sins.

  24. God should have punished Israel many times over for 2 very good reasons : 1. The Law demanded it Some of the laws from Deuteronomy 27:15-26 15“Cursed is the man who carves an image or casts an idol—a thing detestable to the LORD, the work of the craftsman’s hands—and sets it up in secret.” Then all the people shall say, “Amen!” 16 “Cursed is the man who dishonors his father or his mother.” …..

  25. God should have punished Israel many times over for 2 very good reasons : 1. The Law demanded it 19 “Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the alien, the fatherless or the widow.” 24 “Cursed is the man who kills his neighbor secretly.” 25 “Cursed is the man who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person.” 26 “Cursed is the man who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying them out.” 
            Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”

  26. God should have punished Israel many times over for 2 very good reasons : • The Law demanded it • For the Sake of Future Generations

  27. God should have punished Israel many times over for 2 very good reasons : • The Law demanded it • For the Sake of Future Generations You know, God punishing 1 generation to save future generations is similar to us punishing our children when they were young if they were really naughty so that they will not go astray in the future.

  28. God should have punished Israel many times over for 2 very good reasons : • The Law demanded it • For the Sake of Future Generations You know, God punishing 1 generation to save future generations is similar to us punishing our children when they were young if they were really naughty so that they will not go astray in the future.

  29. “We wish we have done more when he was growing up – so that he would not have chosen the wayward path.”

  30. “Who then is our God ?”

  31. “Who then is our God ?” What we believe and are convicted will determine our behavior, our pursuits/purpose in life.

  32. it is not totally wrong to say “All religions are similar”,

  33. it is not totally wrong to say “All religions are similar”, it is more accurate to say “All religions are similar in some ways”.

  34. It is more accurate to say “All religions are similar in some ways”. Most World Religions DIFFER at the Core Beliefs.

  35. We can respect them; we seek to understand each other’s differences, and still share clearly the Gospel of Jesus Christ without putting any one down, without watering down our gospel, and definitely without agreeing that our faiths are the same, our Gods are the same.

  36. Our God can be known – because He has revealed Himself to us Will we not know HIM ?

  37. God is AGAINST SIN !! • He will allow discipline and punishment to save us and our children from further destruction.

  38. God is AGAINST SIN !! • He will allow discipline and punishment to save us and our children from further destruction. when our sin reaches its full measure, God will have to allow Discipline and Punishment so as to save future generations – just like we disciplining our young children to save them from being wayward in the future.

  39. God is AGAINST SIN !! • He will allow discipline and punishment to save us and our children from further destruction. “Lo-Ruhamah” and “Lo-Ammi”

  40. 4“What can I do with you, Ephraim? What can I do with you, Judah?”

  41. 4“What can I do with you, Ephraim? What can I do with you, Judah?” So is God indecisive ?

  42. 4“What can I do with you, Ephraim? What can I do with you, Judah?” So is God indecisive ? It is showing God’s love in a powerful way.

  43. “What can I do with you, Ephraim Nathan? What can I do with you, Judah Jerome?” So is God indecisive ? It is showing God’s love in a powerful way.

  44. Time-lapse from Sinning till Judgment Split of Israel to Northern Kingdom Israel and Southern Kingdom Judah – 931 BC Both King Jeroboam of Israel and King Rehoboam of Judah (son of King Solomon) started sinning from day 1 of their reigns. Destruction of northern kingdom Israel – 722BC Exile of Judah – 586 BC (judgment delayed because of a few good kings of Judah) The Leniency of God : took Him 209 years / 345 yearsto finally punish Israel / Judah for their sins.

  45. But even then, God will give us clear warnings to stop sinning.

  46. 1st Warning : “4 Then the LORD said to Hosea, “Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel.” – Hosea 6:4 a warning of a coming judgment on the royal house of Israel.

  47. 2nd Warning : “Then the LORD said to Hosea, “Call her Lo-Ruhamah, for I will no longer show love to the house of Israel, that I should at all forgive them.” – Hosea 6:6b God’s pity for Israel had reached at last its limit.

  48. 3rd Warning : “9Then the LORD said, “Call him Lo-Ammi, for you are not my people, and I am not your God.” – Hosea 6:9 No longer My people.

  49. “23I will plant her for myself in the land; I will show my loveto the one I called ‘Not my loved one.’ 
I will say to those called ‘Not my people,’ ‘You are my people’; and they will say, ‘You are my God.’” – Hosea 2:23

  50. Who is our God ? He hates sinbecause it will destroy us and our children. He loves usthat’s why He struggles to let us suffer punishment. He will send us warnings when we sin, but if we ignore the warnings, then punishment will come when our sin reaches its limit. Yet after the punishment, after our repentance, God will show us His love and blessings once again.

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