Rejecting the Good
Hosea 8:1-3
"Set the trumpet to your mouth! He shall come like an eagle
against the house of the Lord, because they have transgressed My
covenant and rebelled against My law. Israel will cry to Me, 'My God, we know
You!' Israel has rejected the good; the enemy will pursue him." -Hosea 8:1-3
Hosea lived in the tragic final days of the northern kingdom of Israel, during
which six kings (following Jeroboam II) reigned within
25 years. Four of those kings were murdered by their successors while in office;
one king, Hoshea, was captured in battle. Only
one king: Menahem, was succeeded on the throne by his son. These kings floated
away "like a twig on the surface of the waters"
(Hosea 10:7). Bloodshed followed bloodshed, and threats from the Assyrian
enemies grew more and more violent.
But if the political and physical condition of the northern kingdom was in poor
condition, the spiritual condition of God's people was far worse! Hosea saw, as
the word of the Lord had declared, that Israel's basic problem was their failure
to acknowledge God.
God's relation to Israel was that of love. The intimacy of the covenant
relationship between God and Israel; illustrated in the first part of this book
by the husband-wife relationship, is later amplified by the father-child
relationship. Yet with all the love that God had displayed to His people, they
grew disloyal and wound up committing spiritual adultery.
As Hosea had said, "Israel had "rejected the good" (v.3). In this text, the
Hebrew word for "good" has reference to the influence of God in the lives of His
people. It has reference to the idea of God's will over them; the idea that God
would be directing and guiding them.
Israel had cast off this goodness because they refused to have a true knowledge
of God in their mind any more. Earlier in this
book, as Hosea was speaking concerning why it is that the people of God were
going to be destroyed, he wrote, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest
for Me; because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your
children" (Hosea 4:6).
How does Hosea's world compare to our world? Unfortunately, the people of today
continue to "cast off the good." Just like Israel, many will reject the
influence of God; they don't want to know God.
In the Roman letter, the apostle Paul often speaks about His obligation to
preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And there is a very
important reason why Paul has this obligation. It is because the Gospel of
Christ is the only power that can save anyone. It is the only way that anyone
can now come to know God – that is, through the good news of His son. The
Scriptures make it abundantly clear: there is not any way to save a man, except
by teaching him the truth. Jesus said, "You shall know the truth and the truth
shall make you free" (John 8:32). Make you free from what? If you study the
context of that passage, Jesus is saying that His truth will set you free from
serving sin. His truth provides the way to save your soul!
We hear Paul saying in Romans 1:17, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ
for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes." Paul said,
"I am not ashamed of the gospel," Why? What was the reason why he was not
ashamed of it? As he declared, because "it is God's power to save everyone who
believes it." It is the power of God to save, because, in the gospel, God's way
is made known for making men just, holy, and righteous. The intent and purpose –
the very purpose of it being revealed – is in order to produce saving faith in
the heart of the individual! In John 20:31, John said, "These things are
written, that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and
that believing, you might have life through his name."
Do people begin to sow the wind today by rejecting the knowledge of God? Do they
cast off the good by rejecting His word; what He has revealed about
Himself and Man? ABSOLUTELY! People continually reject the true knowledge of
God!
The questions you must ask yourself are: "Do I cast off the good? Am I rejecting
God's influence? Am I ashamed of the gospel of
Christ?"
If you have not obeyed His gospel, and if you are not abiding in His word, then
you have "rejected the good." You are "sowing the wind," and if you do not turn
to God in obedience to His will, you will "reap the whirlwind." (Hosea 8:7)
"Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will
also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but
he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life." -Galatians
6:7-8
By John Hagenbuch
From Expository Files 10.7; July 2003
