A Study of Hosea
The Torah (which is the actual word translated here as law) had become something alien to them. They went and worshipped the Lord in their own way, and that was sin. They offered sacrifices “to the Lord” but He is not pleased with them. They are eating meat the Lord is not pleased with. They are “eating meat sacrificed to idols.” (Which is what the disciples told the Gentile converts to refrain from doing.) As a result, He is allowing them to go back into the bondage of sin, the same sin He had saved them from.
They will not remain in the LORD’S land, but Ephraim will return to Egypt, and in Assyria they will eat unclean food. They will not pour out drink offerings of wine to the LORD, their sacrifices will not please Him. Their bread will be like mourners’ bread; all who eat of it will be defiled, for their bread will be for themselves alone; it will not enter the house of the LORD. Hosea 9:3-4
The land, although promised to them, does not belong to them. It belongs to the Lord. It is His right to choose who lives there and who doesn’t. The Israelites were removed from the land, sold back into bondage, and have become like those they were supposed to be set apart from. They have become unclean and are unable to approach the Lord or His temple.
Apostasy is described as a falling away from the true faith. The Kingdom of Israel was guilty of apostasy. They had been warned by the prophets not to continue on this path, but to return to the ways of the Lord their God. At the beginning of this study I said that this was a message also intended for those who are alive in “the last days.” Most believers will agree that we are now in “the last days.” So this message is for us. How do we know this for sure?
Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4
This is obviously referring to the Anti-Christ. We are told that something else must first occur, the great “falling away” from the faith.
So, if we are in the end times, we should be “on the look-out” for this apostasy. Are we? Or are we being told that we are on the verge of the greatest revival of all time? Could that “revival” actually be the falling away that we were warned of? The only way to know for sure is to hold that teaching up to the light of the Torah to see if there are any holes in it.
Are we sitting under teachers who tell us the Torah was “nailed to the cross?” Yeshua said that He didn’t come to abolish the Torah or the prophets. So what did He finish on the cross? It was our need for a sacrifice that would not only atone for our sins, but would even cover willful disobedience, a sin not covered under the sacrificial system. He came to fulfill the Torah; He filled it up full of meaning. He never intended to replace the Torah, only to become it. Heaven and earth will pass away before even a jot or tittle would pass away. That means the whole thing is still as valid today as when Moses taught it to us.
Are we aware of what the Law is? How can we even discuss that which we know so little about? We don’t study the scriptures; we just study other people study of the scriptures. Even the writings of the Renewed Covenant (New Testament) are nothing more then commentary on the Torah. It is the basis for which everything after it is measured. It is the actual spoken word of God as spoken to Moses. Who do you think Moses was meeting with all that time up on the mountain? Yeshua himself! How can you do away with something that is the very essence of who you are? How can you replace it?
The Torah was given to us as a guide for life. If we “observe to do according to all that is written therein, He shall make [our] way prosperous.” The Torah brings life; the very same life that the false teachers are advertising, but not giving to the people. They are denying the very thing sent to save them. “It is to your destruction, O Israel, that you are against Me, against your help.” Hosea 13:9
There are those who believe that every prophesy of the “Old Testament” has already been fulfilled. That none of what is written there matters to us in the here and now. These are wolves in sheep’s clothing, trying to keep us from the very word designed to save us. Do not listen to them. Get far away from them, or you will find yourself caught up in their judgment as well.
It is for this very reason that Hosea warns:
Who is wise? He will realize these things. Who is discerning? He will understand them. The ways of the LORD are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them. Hosea 14:9
If you are not feeling wise and are having a hard time understanding these things, we have hope. The Holy Spirit is standing by, ready to bring us into a fuller understanding of these things. All we need to do is ask Him to help us by first removing our blinders that the world has put on us. We then must ask for His protection so that we will not be deceived by all of the false teachers out there. Sometimes this requires us to stop listening to other teacher all together and just focus on the word of God… the Torah. Call it a wilderness experience, if you will.
It is not easy to follow the Lord when the whole world is following their own way. One of the hardest things to do is to admit that we were wrong. We understand that “confession is good for the soul” but do we really believe it? If we find ourselves in the same position as Israel, we need to do the same thing they needed to do.
“Take words with you and return to the LORD. Say to him: “Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips. Assyria cannot save us; we will not mount war-horses. We will never again say `Our gods’ to what our own hands have made, for in you the fatherless find compassion.” Hosea 14:2
If we will confess our sins of apostasy and make the necessary changes in our lives, we can take hold of the very same promise made to the Israelites all those years ago.
“I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them. I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily. Like a cedar of Lebanon he will send down his roots; his young shoots will grow. His splendor will be like an olive tree, his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon. Men will dwell again in his shade. He will flourish like the grain. He will blossom like a vine, and his fame will be like the wine from Lebanon. Hosea 14:4-8
We have wonderful promises made to us throughout the word of God. We deny ourselves many of the riches simply because we have to do a little bit of digging to get to them. We need to ask ourselves, and others, the difficult questions and not be satisfied with a quick answer that “doesn’t sit right.” We must balance the “knowledge of God” along with the “fear of the Lord” in order to truly obey Him. It might be easier to just believe everything your spiritual leaders tell you, but the easy path usually leads directly away from Him. It was very easy for the Israelites to go to Bethel to worship, but that was not where they were told to go. It is apparently just as easy to worship a golden calf as it is to worship a golden crucifix, but neither one brings glory to God.
What can this obscure prophet of the Israelites teach us today? He can show us exactly what we need to be “on the look-out” for in these dark days ahead. Those who are caught unaware will be caught up in the plagues to come. Again, we hear the words of Hosea echoing down through the ages:
Who is wise? He will realize these things. Who is discerning? He will understand them. The ways of the LORD are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them. Hosea 14:9