Title: GOD IS LIKE…WHAT?—A LION, A MOTH, LIKE ROT?

Focus: Hear and ponder God’s prophetic Word and act upon it.

Function: To encourage the people to take God’s Word as their spiritual diet that nurtures their soul and shapes them as God’s people to follow Christ in this world.

Text: Hosea 5:1-15

Those words startled me: “I am like a moth to Ephraim, like rot to the people of Judah.” References to God such as “shepherd,” “sovereign King,” “the Almighty,” and “Lord,” slide into my heart like honey slides down our throat. But when God revealed himself in the text as a “great lion” ready “to tear his people to pieces,” I got spooked for a moment. Is not God a Spirit? Isn’t he love? Then what must we think of such terms as “lion, moth, and rot”?

The more I thought about God’s prophetic Word spoken through Hosea to the people of Israel and Judah, the more I realized how unfamiliar I am with some of these prophetic books in the Bible. I’ve been a pastor, preacher and teacher for almost 28 years, but I had never immersed myself in Hosea’s prophecies or preached a series of messages on the book of Hosea. Why not? I asked myself.

The answer dawned on me quickly: the material seems so obscure, the language so poetic, and the context so unfamiliar, so much so that it is very tempting to skip the O.T. prophets and view them as relics of history. You have to work very hard to get the meaning of the text, and to translate that meaning into today’s situations. And thus it is tempting to go to other parts in the Bible that are easier to understand or comprehend.

The negative result, however, is that we become unfamiliar with God’s prophetic Word. We loose sight of an angle of God that is telling, and rattling, and oh so necessary for us to see today. It’s like never seeing and exploring the dark side of the moon. Since we don’t see the backside of the moon, we don’t pay attention to it. We may think that we know the moon, but really our knowledge is incomplete.

We may think that we truly know God as we contemplate and welcome his love, and sovereignty, and mercy found in Jesus Christ, for example. But our ignorance of God’s Word as spoken through the prophets keeps us from knowing and worshiping God aright. That’s why I want say tonight: Hear and ponder God’s prophetic Word and act upon it!

As we encounter God’s Word in Hosea 5 and let it sink deep into our hearts and minds, I trust that God’s Spirit will form us as God’s people. In fact, I want to encourage us all to take God’s Word as our spiritual diet that nurtures our soul and shapes us as God’s people to follow Christ today.

_____________________

As we explore Hosea 5, I want to pay considerable attention to God’s figures of speech in the text. If God’s Word matters, then surely we must also pay attention to the language that God uses to communicate. Hosea 5 is loaded with metaphors or figures of speech.

For example, listen to the following lines: Addressing the religious and political leaders in Israel and Judah, as well as the Israelites in general, God says:

(vs.1b) “You have been a snare at Mizpah, a net spread out on Tabor.” Now a snare and a net are devices that trap wildlife. They are devices that capture critters, and usually those captured animals end up dead—on the dinner plate of the captors.

Mizpah and Tabor are references to high places. There the pagans bring their sacrifices to the Baals. So when God uses these figures of speech—a net, a snare—God is saying to his people that they are engaged in enslaving not only themselves but also their offspring. Dead in sins themselves, the Israelites are leading their children into idolatry—and thus into spiritual death and ruin.

Thus we read in vs. 7. “They are unfaithful to the Lord; they give birth to illegitimate children.” That is, children who do not know the Lord and who are destined to die due to their lack of knowledge of the Lord. This is why we do well to hear and ponder God’s prophetic Word and pay attention to God’s specific metaphors or figures of speech.

Here are a few more striking word pictures that communicates God’s intentions, thoughts, and heart’s desires: (Vs. 10) “Judah’s leaders are like those who move boundary stones. I will pour out my wrath on them like a flood of water.” Ponder these metaphors. Let them sink into your heart. Here are some more figures of speech: (vs. 12-13) “I am like a moth to Ephraim, like rot to the people of Judah. (A moth does its work of destruction slowly; and mildew or rot likewise brings deterioration and ruin very slowly; sometimes God’s judgement is rapid: like a flood of water; sometimes gradual: like a moth eating away at fabric, or rot crumbling wet wood)

When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his sores, then Ephraim turned to Assyria and sent to the great king for help. But he is unable to cure you, not able to heal your sores. (Sores and sickness are references to the political turmoil and deteriorating economy of Israel and Judah. The country is “sick”—and says the Lord—the king of Assyria won’t be able to cure your sickness. Why not? you ask). Well, listen to the next figure of speech:

For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, like a great lion to Judah. I will tear them to pieces and go away; I will carry them off, with no one to rescue them.” (Like a lion jumping its prey, so God would act in final judgment by sending the Assyrian army to conquer the Promised Land and to exile the people of God into foreign countries). Hear and ponder God’s prophetic Word and word choices; let them sink into your soul, and then act upon that Word of God accordingly.

Perhaps you wonder why God uses figures of speech, poetry, and apocalyptic language—language that reveals, and at the same time, obscures direct meaning? The answer is at least two-fold: (1). God wants to reach the core of our being; he wants to drive home his Word. That’s why he will use terms that prick our conscience; word pictures that stir up our imagination, and expressions that make our jaw drop: I am like a moth, like rot to you. God does not use foul or inappropriate language. But he will use harsh, jarring, luring, startling, or penetrating language to get our attention and to stir us to appropriate action. Hear and ponder, therefore, God’s prophetic Word.

(2) God’s words are vessels that carry and impart spiritual life and vitality to anyone who listens and ponders and takes to heart God’s Word. The writer of Hebrews captures that thought when he writes (Hebrews 4:12): “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

So then, God’s Word and his choice of words must sink into our hearts. Let these words be the spiritual diet that nurtures our souls and shapes us as followers of Christ in this world. Act upon God’s words accordingly.

____________________________

There are three things that stand out in Hosea 5. Three things to take to heart:

1) God knows us. Listen: (Vs.3) “I know all about Ephraim; Israel is not hidden from me.” This is very basic to any child of God: that God knows us and that he knows everything. As a little child we learned that God is “omniscient,” that is, he is all-knowing. There is nothing hidden from God. I know that truth so well up here in my mind.

Yet, why is it that there are still moments I act as if I can get away with something that I know is wrong? Why do I find myself, at times, justifying questionable conduct or speech as if God is not my judge, as if God is hidden and does not know my motives and intentions in my heart. God knows us. Live authentically with that knowledge and act upon it accordingly.

2) God judges us. Hosea 5:8-15 is all about the coming of God’s judgment. Sometimes, God judges his people swiftly; other times very slowly. But never does God let his people get away with their sins. God holds us accountable for our sins, whether our sins are private, public, national, or international; whether they are weighty or light in the eyes of people, it does not matter. God judges us. He does so, because he is holy and just. He does so, because God is true to his character and Word.

Political turmoil, droughts, floods, and invading armies—all these so-called “natural” and man-made calamities have woven into them the invisible power of God, who is able to use these destructive forces to discipline, punish, and yes, to save his people in the end. When we talk about political turmoil in America, or natural disasters in Haiti and Chile or anywhere else in the world, it is not for me to “blame” God or to say that God is “punishing” these countries or people affected by those disasters. I cannot say such things, nor has God given me such knowledge.

But on the basis of God’s Word, I do see a mysterious connection between what happens around us, among us and to us, and God’s providential hand. I see that connection with the eyes of faith, informed by the Scriptures. But in all truthfulness, we must admit: we see dimly, not clearly. I cannot say how God is involved in our afflictions and disasters, but I do know that he—somehow—is there, right in the middle of our turmoil and pain.

Sometimes, God punishes; sometimes he disciplines; always he call us back to himself in the midst of hardship and death. God did so in the days of Hosea; he did so in the days of Jesus; God still does so today. God’s judgments are all around us.

3) Worship God aright. That’s the third thing that stands out in Hosea’s prophecy. Condemning the Israelites’ Baal worship, God speaks through Hosea, saying: “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.”

Folks, we cannot find the Lord and his blessings or favor, when we worship the Baals of the world throughout the week and come to God’s house on Sunday to sing our praises to him.

Psalms and goats and bulls on the Sabbath unto the Lord do not touch the heart of God. What God looks for is a people today that come to him through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, resting in Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the cross, trusting and living out of the Spirit and Word of God, and yielding themselves wholeheartedly to the Lord.

Hear and ponder God’s prophetic Word and act upon it accordingly. Make God’s Word your spiritual diet. Let it—in all its fullness, riches and colorful, evocative language—nurture your soul and shape your life as a follower of the Lord Jesus Chris today.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.