SIN EXPOSED

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In Christ, Mark

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

“As at Adam, they have broken the covenant; they were unfaithful to Me there. Gilead is a city of evildoers, stained with footprints of blood. As marauders lie in ambush for a victim, so do bands of priests; they murder on the road to Shechem, carrying out their wicked schemes. I have seen a horrible thing in Israel: There Ephraim is given to prostitution, Israel is defiled.”

“Also for you, Judah, a harvest is appointed.”

“Whenever I would restore the fortunes of My people, whenever I would heal Israel, the sins of Ephraim are exposed and the crimes of Samaria revealed. They practice deceit, thieves break into houses, bandits rob in the streets; but they do not realize that I remember all their evil deeds. Their sins engulf them; they are always before me.”

“They delight the king with their wickedness, the princes with their lies. They are all adulterers, burning like an oven whose fire the baker need not stir from the kneading of the dough till it rises. On the day of the festival of our king, the princes become inflamed with wine, and he joins hands with the mockers. Their hearts are like an oven; they approach him with intrigue. Their passion smolders all night; in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire. All of them are hot as an oven; they devour their rulers. All their kings fall, and none of them calls on Me.”

“Ephraim mixes with the nations; Ephraim is a flat loaf not turned over. Foreigners sap his strength, but he does not realize it. His hair is sprinkled with gray, but he does not notice. Israel’s arrogance testifies against him, but despite all this, he does not return to the Lord his God or search for him.”

“Ephraim is like a dove, easily deceived and senseless—now calling to Egypt, now turning to Assyria.”

Hosea 6:7-11, 7:1-11

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

No sin ever goes undetected by God. It’s a truth that has existed for the ages, ever since iniquity first entered the world during the great fall in Eden’s garden. Indeed, God sees it all and thus can readily access a list of transgressions we may have committed on demand.

In other words, God easily exposes sin.

We find this fact playing out in the closing verses of Hosea, Chapter 6, and the opening verses of Chapter 7 as God addresses His people in regard to their indiscretions:

“As at Adam, they have broken the covenant; they were unfaithful to Me there. Gilead is a city of evildoers, stained with footprints of blood. As marauders lie in ambush for a victim, so do bands of priests; they murder on the road to Shechem, carrying out their wicked schemes. I have seen a horrible thing in Israel: There Ephraim is given to prostitution, Israel is defiled.”

“Also for you, Judah, a harvest is appointed.”

“Whenever I would restore the fortunes of My people, whenever I would heal Israel, the sins of Ephraim are exposed and the crimes of Samaria revealed. They practice deceit, thieves break into houses, bandits rob in the streets; but they do not realize that I remember all their evil deeds. Their sins engulf them; they are always before me.”

“They delight the king with their wickedness, the princes with their lies. They are all adulterers, burning like an oven whose fire the baker need not stir from the kneading of the dough till it rises. On the day of the festival of our king, the princes become inflamed with wine, and he joins hands with the mockers. Their hearts are like an oven; they approach him with intrigue. Their passion smolders all night; in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire. All of them are hot as an oven; they devour their rulers. All their kings fall, and none of them calls on Me.”

“Ephraim mixes with the nations; Ephraim is a flat loaf not turned over. Foreigners sap his strength, but he does not realize it. His hair is sprinkled with gray, but he does not notice. Israel’s arrogance testifies against him, but despite all this, he does not return to the Lord his God or search for him.”

“Ephraim is like a dove, easily deceived and senseless—now calling to Egypt, now turning to Assyria.”  Hosea 6:7-11, 7:1-11

Note here that the Israelites are compared to the first man, Adam, the one who they all were related to in more ways than one. Yes, since Adam was the first man and he would be in the family tree of every man and woman after he was created but it wasn’t this that God was likening His people to. Rather, it was the sin of Adam, the breaking of the covenant God had made with him and Eve when the command was given to not eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 2:16-17), a command we know they subsequently broke. The people of God in Hosea’s time were considered to be just as unfaithful in God’s eyes.

So what commands did the Israelites break?

As He exposes their sins, God gives us a lengthy list which includes:

1. Committing evil.

“Gilead is a city of evildoers, stained with footprints of blood.”

In the Book of Zechariah, we find these words regarding God’s warnings against evil, warnings spoken by His prophets:

“Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the earlier prophets proclaimed: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Turn from your evil ways and your evil practices.’” Zechariah 1:4

As we can see in the verse from Hosea, the Israelites were still choosing to commit evil with the entire city of Gilead mentioned specifically for their wickedness.

2. Murdering.

“As marauders lie in ambush for a victim, so do bands of priests; they murder on the road to Shechem, carrying out their wicked schemes.”

In one of the most fundamental of all directives given to the Israelites, God simply told them this:

 “You shall not murder.” Exodus 20:13

God expected human life to be treasured and respected. In His view, no one was to willfully take another’s life but as we see, the Israelites in Hosea’s time did not share that view. Even the priests, those appointed to lead the Israelites spiritually, were in on the act, called out for murdering others “on the road to Shechem.”

3. Committing spiritual adultery.

“I have seen a horrible thing in Israel: There Ephraim is given to prostitution, Israel is defiled.”

“They are all adulterers, burning like an oven whose fire the baker need not stir from the kneading of the dough till it rises.”

Perhaps the sin that brought on God’s ire more than any other was the worshiping of false gods and idols, something He specifically addressed in the commandments give to His people:

“You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them.” Exodus 20:3-4a

God had ordered His people to worship Him and Him alone but we know they ignored that order and chased after their own desires when it came to who they gave their devotion to. God called their actions a “horrible thing” as His people defiled the nation He expected to be holy.

4. Stealing.

“Thieves break into houses, bandits rob in the streets.”

Go back to what we know of as “The Ten Commandments” and you will find this:

“You shall not steal.” Exodus 20:15

And yet, God had observed the Israelites engaging in thievery and robbery in His sight. It must have been enough to make Him think, “What part of ‘You shall not steal’ did you not understand?”

5. Deceit and lying.

“They practice deceit.”

Add dishonesty to the laundry list of things that the Israelites were guilty of, again in direct violation of this specific guidance given by God:

“Do not lie.” Leviticus 19:11

The people of God knew they weren’t to commit the sins that God was exposing in these verses. It was common knowledge what was and wasn’t acceptable when it came to the life He expected. And yet, the Israelites disobeyed God’s commands anyways, allowing their sins to engulf them while acting as if they didn’t realize that God remembers all their evil deeds, that He would hold them accountable for every wrong.

Through this message today, we find God systematically and surgically exposing the sins of His people who delighted in their wickedness and refused to return to Him or even seek Him. The Israelites had written God out of their lives and herein was the root cause of their failing and falling. For anytime anyone chooses to disregard God then they can expect that Satan will burst on the scene to replace Him in their hearts and minds, leading them to acts that will always be contrary to God’s ways and His righteousness.

And this is what I feel God wants us to take away from the scriptures today, that we should uncompromisingly commit ourselves completely to His word, will, and way in absolute obedience so the life we live will always be holy and pleasing in His sight. It will be that way because we will immerse ourselves in His righteousness.

To do otherwise will put us squarely in the shoes of the Old Testament Israelites of Hosea’s time, and posture us where we can fully expect God to expose our sins.

Amen

In Christ,

Mark
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