Lesson #09

HOSEA 8
Lesson #09
GOD’S TORNADO

• Memory Verse: Hos 8:12

• Hosea’s messages to the Northern Kingdom of Israel continue to warn the nation of destruction ahead.
• As we have already seen in the prophecies of Hosea, and in all Bible prophecy, prophecies have a double fulfillment.
• =1= A fulfillment that would take place near the days when the prophecy was first given. This is called the first fulfillment that was to verify that the prophet truly came from God and that God keeps his Word.
• =2= A fulfillment that would take place much later in time, usually in the “last days”, which is around the time of the second coming of Christ.
• In spite of these two specific time references, these prophecies in the book of Hosea have a message for us today. The days of destruction that came upon Israel in 722 BC have long passed, and the days of destruction that are yet to come upon Israel near the second coming of Christ are at least seven years in the future.
• The question is, what can we learn from these prophecies that relate to us today?
• They are prophetic warnings to a nation that trampled the grace of God under foot. When we see our own nation repeat Israel’s same mistakes, we know we must prepare for the same consequences that Israel suffered.

• Read Hos 8:1-14
• The warning:

• “Set the trumpet to thy mouth…”

(1)

• God told Hosea to play a trumpet. The Israelites were used to the sound of a trumpet as a sound of warning concerning an enemy about to attack. Therefore the sound of the trumpet would get their attention.
• “…He shall come as an eagle against the house of the Lord…”

(1)

• The pronoun “He” in this verse refers to Assyria that attacked the Northern Kingdom and Babylon that attacked the Southern Kingdom.
• Like the eagle that flies high to see his prey so as to attack swiftly and suddenly, the enemy of Israel would attack swiftly and suddenly.
• The prophecy about a nation coming upon Israel like an attacking eagle was not new.
• Read Deu 28:49
• Notice that in Hosea’s prophecy, the eagle comes against the “house of the Lord”.
• Usually the phrase, “house of the Lord” refers to the Jewish temple located in the southern Kingdom of Judah that was eventually destroyed by the Babylonians.
• However, because the temple was located in the Southern Kingdom and Hosea was a prophet to the Northern Kingdom, many think the phrase “house of the Lord” refers to the people of the Northern Kingdom as a possession of God.
• ‘…because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law.”

(1)

• God tells the Israelites why He will permit the Assyrians and the Babylonians to destroy His people and the beautiful temple dedicated to God by King Solomon.
• The Israelites broke the conditional covenant that God made with Moses. This covenant was called the Law.
• Israel’s response to the day of destruction:

• “Israel shall cry unto me, My God we know thee.”

(2)

• From time to time, Israel claimed to be God’s people and that they claimed to know God.
• Israel’s idolatry and immorality were proof that they did not know God.
• What New Testament statement by Jesus comes to mind when we read verse 2?
• Read Mat 7:22-24
• Through all of history there have been people that think they know God. However we must examine just what it means to “know God”.
• =1= Some people know that there is a God out there somewhere, but they do not know who He is, and they do not know how to be in contact with God.
• =2= Some people know about God or about Jesus Christ by what history tells us.
• =3= Some people think they know God or Jesus Christ by what some priest or teacher tells them.
• None of the above definitions of “knowing God” is sufficient. Why?
• The Israelites had the Word of God, the revelation of God, the prophets of God, and the Son of God, Jesus Christ in their midst, but Jesus said they did not know God.
• To “know God” means to have a personal relationship with God through His Son, Jesus Christ.
• That personal relationship is built on faith and obedience. When a person trusts God for his personal life, he receives Christ into his heart by faith. That personal relationship puts him into the family of God. God knows the members of His family.
• A personal family relationship with God requires communication (prayer) and a desire to be obedient to His words (through study of the Bible).
• Prideful self-righteous determination:

• “Israel hath cast off the thing that is good: the enemy shall pursue him.”

(3)

• A Spiritual Truth

: The rejection of God opens the door for Satan to bring in other spiritual deceptions.

• What are the similarities in Hosea’s day and in Jesus’ time on earth that prompted the statements, “My God, we know thee”?
• Read 2Tim 3:5
• Many people hide behind religiosity to rationalize immoral behavior. Self-righteousness pride in religion is self-deception that profits nothing.
• There was the false system of worship in Hosea’s day.
• There was the false system of worship in Jesus’ day.
• Civil rebellion:

• “They have set up kings, but not by me…”

(4)

• The Northern Kingdom committed the sin of civil rebellion when they rebelled against the two tribes of the Southern Kingdom and separated God’s people into two nations. This rebellion contained the majority of people from 10 of the tribes.
• However, there were some few people from each of the ten tribes that did not rebel with the Northern Kingdom. Instead they fled to the Southern Kingdom so that they could continue to worship God in the temple in Jerusalem. They knew that civil rebellion was not in the will of God. (2Chr 34:9)
• Rebellion against civil authority is not pleasing to God. Why?
• Read Rom 13:1-5
• Authority is established by God.
• Religious corruption:

• “Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off…”

(5)

• Samaria was the capital of the Northern Kingdom.
• The Northern Kingdom established its own religious system around the worship of the golden calf and the god Baal. (5-6) (1Kin 12:28-31)
• We first saw Israel’s relationship to the golden calf in the book of Exodus. This was the Egyptian concept of god that they brought with them out of Egypt. It was the Apis bull of Egypt that they constructed in the wilderness when Moses was in the mountains receiving the covenant of Law from God.
• “For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind…”

(7)

• Hosea again uses God’s kingdom principle of sewing and reaping. However, this illustration of a whirlwind gives us the idea that God’s judgment will come very rapidly with total destruction in the same way that a tornado destroys everything in its path.
• Notice that the reaping is compounded. This is how this principle of sewing and reaping works:
• =1= You reap exactly the type of thing that you sowed.
• If you sow good, you will reap good.
• If you sow evil, you will reap evil.
• =2= There is a delay in time between the sowing and the reaping.
• The harvest of fruit occurs in a different season from when the seed was planted. This allows the seed to grow, mature and produce.
• =3= The harvest occurs in a greater abundance than what was first planted.
• Israel planted idolatry and reaped a compounded judgment at the hand of the Assyrian army (the strangers).

• “…the strangers shall swallow it up.”

(7)

• “Israel is swallowed up: now shall they be among the Gentiles as a vessel wherein is no pleasure.”

(8)

• Assyria swallowed the Northern Kingdom in 722 BC. and made the Promised Land an Assyrian province and drained the nation of its resources through the required payment of an annual tribute.
• “For they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself…”

(9)

• This phrase refers to Israel acting like a stupid donkey or a prostitute when she sent diplomats to Assyria to buy peace by a treaty with the enemy.
• Usually a prostitute is paid money but Israel was at such a low level of power and influence that she paid Assyria for protection.
• As a punishment, God used “the king of princes” as a rod of correction. (10)
• The king of princes refers to the leader of Assyria and by prefigure, the Antichrist.
• A Spiritual Truth:
• At times God will use non-believing nations to chastise His own people. However, when God does that, that non-believing nation will eventually suffer an even greater judgment to fulfill a promise God gave Abraham in Gen 12:3.
• “…Ephraim hath made many altars to sin…”

(11)

• With every altar the Northern Kingdom constructed, she compounded her religious sin of idolatry and dug deeper her impending destruction by the hand of her Assyrian lover that she pursued through a non-aggression treaty.
• The attitude of indifference

• “I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing.”

(12)

• The law of Moses contained a multitude of details that covered every area of life. Therefore, originally the people knew what God wanted from them, but their attitude was indifference. They treated the things of God like “something strange”. They did not teach the Law to their children.
• The phrase “strange thing” in the Old Testament usually referred to pagan things that related to foreign Gods. However, the Israelites easily accepted those things that were “strange” to God, and treated the things that were supposed to be godly as “strange”. They had it all backwards!
• Because of their indifference toward God, God will be indifferent to their sacrifices that were not done in repentance and obedience. They would not receive forgiveness for their sins. (13)

• “…they shall RETURN to Egypt.”

(13)

• This phrase has several prophetic meanings all of which are legitimate interpretations backed by many other scriptures.
• =1= Literal interpretation:
• If we consider this phrase literally, then it has two literal fulfillments:
• First Fulfillment:
• The Northern Kingdom diplomatically looked for help from the Egyptian government in the form of mutual defense treaties against Assyria, and when the Southern Kingdom of Judah was conquered by Babylon, a remnant of Jews fled for protection to Egypt. (Jer 44:12)
• The Second Fulfillment:
• In the tribulation period of seven years in the future, the Antichrist will imprison the Jews once again in Egypt.
• =2= Spiritual Interpretation:
• In scripture, Egypt symbolically refers to dependence on or bondage to the world system.
• First Fulfillment:
• Instead of trusting in God for their protection, Israel trusted in the human wisdom of their evil kings.
• Second Fulfillment:
• In the tribulation period of the future, the Jews will first put their trust in the Antichrist to protect them from their enemies, when in reality the Antichrist, like the Assyrian, is the enemy. They will come to realize this too late after the Antichrist (Assyria) turns on them to kill and imprison them in Egypt.
• In this aspect, the Assyrian is a prefigure of the Antichrist described in the books of Daniel and Revelation.
• The land of forgetfulness:
• Read Deu 28:52
• Israel forgot God! (14)
• How sad that Israel forgot the God that created them, delivered them, redeemed them, saved them, loved them and extended grace and mercy to them.
• Israel became the land of forgetfulness. (Psa 88:12) This forgetfulness would also infect the Southern Kingdom of Judah.
• Many Christians forget God today. They do not know God’s Word or how to worship God. Like the Israelites, they have the form of religion but without the Spirit.
• The destruction of fortified cities. (14)
• Fortified cities indicate self-reliance and self-determination.
• The prophecy says that God would destroy the fortified cities.
• In 701 the Assyrians attacked the fortified cities of the Southern Kingdom and destroyed them all with the exception of Jerusalem.
• Summary and Application:
• The believer in Jesus Christ should remember this lesson so as not to forget what Christ has done for us.
• Discussion:

In what ways can forgetfulness of God manifest itself in the lives of Christians today?

HOMEWORK
HOSEA 9
This is a self-study. Please do not send homework answers to the teacher forcorrection.

• Application of Hos 8
• Pray for your nation that the leaders would acknowledge God and seek God’s wisdom in all decisions of national security.
• Pray for the schools that children would be taught the principles of God’s wisdom.
• Pray and thank God for what He has done in your life.
• Preparation for Hosea 9
• Read Hos 9:1-17
• What does prosperity in a nation really tell you about a people’s values?

Memory Verse: Hos 9:17