Deep thoughts...real ones this time

I am warning anyone who may be reading this now that this is not an entertaining post. It may not even be interesting, but is it something I need to work out, so I am writing it. I just finished a study on the book of Hosea. I was supposed to finish it last spring, but I am a little slow. Finally though, I have done it. These are my thoughts on the book and what I have learned, but I am also warning you that I am working through these thoughts and am not claiming to have my theology totally correct in this process.

If you don't know, the book of Hosea is about sin and how Israel played the harlot to her "husband" the Lord God. Hosea was even told to take a wife of harlotry and love her like God loves Israel. Although the book ends with hope-God reveals that Israel will be restored one day-there are a lot of hard lessons before this.

First thing that I have taken away from this book is the severity of sin. God hates it. It is easy to get into, but not so easy to get out of. Again and again, Israel sinned, and finally God had to let them be captured and scattered before they will one day return to Him. In looking at this sin, however, one question keeps arising for me. Is all sin equal? I know that any sin will keep you from heaven and even the tiniest sin forced Christ to die on the cross, so in that sense all sin is equal. But God did not punish Israel for what we would see as "little" sins. He patiently waited for them to turn back to Him, but they instead turned more and more to idolatry which led to sexual sins and even the killing of babies. This soberly reminds me of America as we drift further from God's standards and more into "big" sins. Romans chapter one illustrates this with a list of sexual sins and how people progress from one to another to the point that God turns them "over to the sinful desires of their hearts." In reading on, however, He lists other sins that include gossiping, arrogance, boastfulness, disobedience to parents. It also says that God's righteousness decrees that these deserve death. I think the biggest problem with sin not being equal is that is does lead very quickly to pride. I can see where some sins have different consequences (at least here on earth), but need to focus on the fact that God's holiness demands death for all sins.

The next thing that I learned from Hosea is that it is hard to get out of sin. It is easy to say that you sin and if you ask forgiveness God forgives you. While this is true, if there is no repentance involved, God does not hear you. God pleaded with Israel to return to Him and call out to Him, but when they did so falsely, He knew. Hosea 7:13-14 says "I would redeem them, but they speak lies against Me. And they do not cry to Me from their heart". In 5:6 it says "they will go...to seek the Lord, but they will not find Him: He has withdrawn from them." 5:4 says "their deeds will not allow them to return to their God...for they do not know the Lord" It really hit home that God knows my heart. I can say what I want, but God knows what I mean, probably better than me. If my heart is not right, He will not hear me. Yes salvation and repentance is an "easy" thing to do, but there is a seriousness about it that cannot be forgotten. When Nathan again and again repeats the same act of diosobedience, I finally think, are you really sorry? Why should I believe you? I know I am not anywhere close to responding like God, but the book of Hosea does indicate that God knows when we truly repent. Hosea 5:15 says "I will go away (from Israel) and return to My place until they ackowledge their guilt and seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me."

That brings me to my third thought. God does punish people for their sin. I don't know that He requires punishment here on earth for all sin; it seems like people (myself included) get away with lots of things without obvious punishment, but if God punished His beloved, why would He not punish us? Although it is not my duty to punish people (just my own children), God does say the "they sow a wind and they reap a whirlwind." It only makes sense that we receive punishment for our sins and I think we need it to truly point us back to Him. Israel was warned, but she did not listen until she was punished.

Last thought is that we have to know God. How can we know what God wants us to do or how to act if we don't have knowledge of Him. And that knowledge is obtained through spending time in His word. There are so many thinks I need to learn about Him, and as I learn, I need to change to be more like Him. God pointed out in Hosea that Israel sinned because they did not know God. It seems like in church that knowledge of Him would be a given; but would there be so much sin if we spent more time learning what God really expects of us? Do we as church members and Christians really know God?

As somber as this book is, it is important for me to know about. That is why I struggled to the end when I wanted to quit and move on to something more uplifting! If I had, however, I would have missed the ending. And the message that is scattered throughout the book. God loves us and is waiting for us to return to Him. God loved us enough to take us back after we leave Him for sin and use our bodies that belong to Him for wrong deeds. God says in chapter 14, "I will heal their apostasy, I will love them freely, for My anger has turned away from them."
You have to get through all the steps, so to speak, to get to that, but He is there all the time waiting for true repentance and a real heart for Him. The last verse of Hosea says this: "Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the Lord are right, and the righteous will walk in them, but transgressors will stumble in them."

Oh Lord, help me to be wise and walk in your ways. When I stumble, let me truly turn back to you and you will be there for me. Praise Your marvelous name.