INDICTMENTS

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Hear this, you priests! Pay attention, you Israelites! Listen, royal house! This judgment is against you:  You have been a snare at Mizpah, a net spread out on Tabor. The rebels are knee-deep in slaughter. I will discipline all of them. I know all about Ephraim; Israel is not hidden from Me. Ephraim, you have now turned to prostitution; Israel is corrupt.”

“Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God. A spirit of prostitution is in their heart; they do not acknowledge the Lord. Israel’s arrogance testifies against them; the Israelites, even Ephraim, stumble in their sin; Judah also stumbles with them. When they go with their flocks and herds to seek the Lord, they will not find Him; He has withdrawn himself from them. They are unfaithful to the Lord; they give birth to illegitimate children. When they celebrate their New Moon feasts, He will devour their fields.”

Hosea 5:1-7

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As Hosea Chapter 4 opened, we saw where God levied a series of charges against His people. At the beginning of Chapter 5, we find much of the same as the Lord ensures He details the sins of His people that led to His judgment.

This served a two-fold purpose.

1. At the moment these words were delivered to the Israelites via the prophet, God was clearly stating why He was sending judgment on them. The punishment that would soon ensue was not coming unprovoked or unmerited as if God simply wanted to bring consequences to His people on a whim. Rather, it was coming because the people of God had sinned against Him consistently and continuously with no regard for His word or will, even after He had made multiple attempts to warn them via His appointed messengers. Their blatant disregard and respect for their Maker and Master could not and would not go unchecked, especially by a God who had made it clear how much He despised wickedness.

2. The second purpose of this meticulous mentioning of indictments that led to God’s penalty is to warn us all today of behaviors that God not only finds deplorable and shameful but more so unacceptable and forbidden. As we see the harsh price the Israelites paid, a banishment from their homeland into seventy years of oppression and exile, we are provided what God hopes is a deterrent toward repeating the mistakes of the past.

So what were the indictments found in the opening seven verses of Hosea 5?

They included:

1. Spiritual adultery.

“I know all about Ephraim; you have now turned to prostitution.”

“A spirit of prostitution is in their heart.”

“They are unfaithful to the Lord.”

2. Corruption.

“Israel is not hidden from Me; Israel is corrupt.”

3. Failure to acknowledge God.

“They do not acknowledge the Lord.”

4. Arrogance.

“Israel’s arrogance testifies against them.”

5. Unremitted sinfulness.

“The Israelites, even Ephraim, stumble in their sin; Judah also stumbles with them.”

Note where it wasn’t just a certain faction of the Israelites who were indicted here. Rather, God makes sure that all the people are called out, even the royalty of the day and the priests who were supposed to be leading and guiding God’s people spiritually. God’s judgment was coming against all of them for their iniquities. No one would go undisciplined for deeds that God says took away permission for them to come back to Him.

I would call that pushing God to the point of no return. Well, at least until the Israelites had paid the penalty God imposed because we know He did promise Him they would be restored to their land after the exile. And God, as we know, always keeps His promises.

But until that time, the Israelites would be sent away and set apart from God. They would seek Him but not find Him, no matter how hard they tried because He will have drawn Himself from them. They had chosen to abandon God in exchange for false gods and idols so God would let them experience what abandonment feels like first hand. Seventy years of captivity in a foreign land would provide them that experience.

Let’s turn to our society today and as we have observed before, I think we can all say that the indictments God produced against the Israelites could be similar indictments He could bring against our world here in the 21st century. For so many people are still practicing spiritual adultery, behaving in corrupt or arrogant ways, failing to even acknowledge that God exists, and living in unremitted sin, living without any sign of worry that there might be negative consequences for their negative actions.

What’s it going to take to get our attention today?

Is God going to have to abandon us and send severe punishment to show us that He is not going to tolerate sin, the very sin that led Him to sacrifice His Son Jesus in order to save the very people who disregard and disrespect Him?

My prayer is God does whatever it takes to reach us and bring us to His righteousness, even if it means indicting us and sending His discipline.

Amen

In Christ,

Mark
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