Hosea 7 A PASSION FOR SIN When evil becomes so common that there is no restraint, there is really no way to deal with it and the consequences that follow. Israel never considered that the Lord knew about everything they were doing and kept track of it all. He probes Israel's wounds in various ways to see if any of their words of repentance was real, but alas, it was like the morning dew, like bread dough that does not rise, like a bud on a tree that does not become fruit. Israel was like a bird flitting about with no purpose. They made altars, but they were altars to sin. Like a donkey with no master to guide it, Israel was sniffing here and there among other nations looking for some guidance. The Lord said they were like a vine without fruit, a heifer without a calf doing the work of an ox, and like a field where noting grows. All they had to feed on was wind. What a sad description of a people that was once a vital and powerful force for good!
Leadership has both its responsibility and its influence. The leaders of Israel were corrupt in their licentious way of living and they found pleasure in watching the sins of those whom they were leading. The descriptions of court scenes is of drunk people vomiting and sick because of drinking so much. They even fall down murdered but do not return to the Lord. Murder becomes a way to the throne and to silence all opposition. Nine of the kings of Israel died violently, four assassinated in a period of seven months. Only eight of Israel's kings died from natural causes. Harshness and ungodly leadership leads to chaos, disruption and discontent among people.
Spiritual and physical adultery was rampant like a hot oven as the people became like the heathen nations around them. They had become totally out of touch with the Lord in their lust for power. We must never forget that God knows everything, and even though temptation is there to test us and get us to sin, our God is watching what we do and knows why we do it. The lust for power can become as hot as an oven, but like in the case of Israel, will fail when we ignore God and His word.
Israel had intermarried with idolatrous foreigners and had become like them in attitudes and actions. Unbelievers have a strong influence on believers when believers associate with them in their pleasures, pastimes, even in business - and particularly in religious activities. We need to influence others to be like us rather than allow them to influence us to be like them. Arrogance and pride keep people from returning to God when we do not think we need His help or the help of His people. We cannot deal with sin until we deal with our pride.
The people of Israel had become so totally out of touch with God that they we like "a cake not turned." They were like a baker who had gone to sleep and let the cake burn on one side and still be doughy on the other side. They were going gray and didn't know their age was showing and premature death was fast approaching. Carelessness spoils us and repentance does not remove the actions of the past. We cannot go back and do over the wrong we have done, but true repentance can restore us to fellowship with God. The bakery description should call us to stop and consider what the Lord wants from us, not what we want.
There is also another description of those people of God who go from one ungodly alliance to another just like Israel went from one nation to another looking for some stability and safety. They were like a "silly dove." Like a pigeon in a barnyard going from one dung-heap to another to find satisfaction. The calls of one bird to another is only noise when there no controlling force. That is also what it is like to be totally out of with God. They fly away from where they should be and go to where destruction is bound to come. The Lord has His own way of capturing them like with a net and bringing them down. The warning is clear. A day will come when all of willful sinning will have to be faced and chastisement will be applied. It is so sad to think that people will even speak lies about God to others when their anxiety at all that happens to them keeps them awake at night. The world is not becoming a better place. Challenges to young people to "change the world" are silly because the changes being made are more reprehensible than ever. Only a return to the Lord will bring the changes that are needed to bring peace.
Israel is also described as a faulty bow that cannot be relied on to send an arrow to the right place. On a battlefield this would be disastrous. A "deceitful bow" is only fit to be destroyed. The negative effect will not only be felt by the archer but also by those he is supposed to support by his actions. People will die because of deceit when it is spoken as the "truth." It is sad but true, that many people will be lost because they listen to that which is false rather than find out if a message is true. Many people will listen to those who profess to be preaching the truth, and will agree with them, instead of seeking the truth from the word of God and making sure that they listen to is scripturally sound. The metaphors in this chapter let us see how far people can go from the mind and will of God and still have the pretense of being the people of God.