Thoughts on Hosea 7-8

Today’s reading: Hosea 7-8; Titus 3

We’ve talked about this a lot as we’ve been reading through the Old Testament, but it’s worth the reminder; when God declares His judgement against Israel, it’s not because they failed to keep the law in exacting detail, forgot to include fine flour with one of their offerings, or did a little too much work on a Sabbath day, but is because they consistently and continuously abandoned God to run after other gods.

There is a popular view today that God, in the Old Testament, was just looking to judge, vigilantly watching for the slightest misstep so that He could rain punishment down on barely deserving people. Often this is contrasted with God being all about grace and mercy in the New Testament. We've already seen, time and time again, just how false this dichotomy is, but I want to keep calling it out because this wrong view can be incredibly damaging to even a Christian's relationship with God.

For many Christians I have talked to that hold this perspective, they recognize the big difference as being Jesus. They don't necessarily see it as God being different between the Old and New Testaments, but they recognize that the mercy of God in the New Testament comes through Jesus. But what that means is they are still relating to a God that is exacting, cruel, and looking to judge. Sure, they might be dodging His wrath through Jesus, but how could He actually like them or be pleased with them when the slightest mistake would otherwise bring punishment?

But what is the issue that God brings up through Hosea? Is it that the people made a small mistake? Did they fall into sin one too many times? Is it that they neglected to celebrate one of the festivals? No, it is that they built false gods for themselves and have abandoned God for those other gods. More than that, He did not judge them for starting to worship other gods, but for persisting in that worship. Before moving against His people in a significant way, He sent prophet after prophet after prophet to call them back to Himself specifically so they would not have to be liable to His judgement.

How different is that picture of God? Far from being quick to judge, He withholds His judgement for generations, patiently trying the entire time to bring His people back to Himself. We serve a God who so desires to bless that, rather than judging, He fought for years so that He wouldn't have to, only for His people to run further and further into rebellion. At the end of the day, God's judgement against the Northern Kingdom was their own choice to rebel against Him and their own refusal to listen to the God who had established them as a people and a nation in the first place.

The more rightly we recognize the character of God, the more we will be able to experience and enjoy our own relationship with Him through Christ.