The 4th Sunday in Lent

SERMON - The Soldiers—Profile of Cruel Indifference

INI

Text: Hosea 5:13-6:3

“When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria and sent to King Jareb; yet he cannot cure you, nor heal you of your wound. For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear them and go away; I will take them away, and no one shall rescue. I will return again to My place till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”…. Come, and let us return to the LORD; for He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight. Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth.”

In Christ Jesus, who loves us with a deep and abiding love, dear fellow redeemed:

Why do seemingly bad things happen…earthquakes, famines, sickness, disease, war, violence, accidents, and even death? There are numerous correct answers to that question. The most obvious and all-encompassing answer for the occurrence of bad things is sin. Other answers will vary depending upon the people and the circumstances involved. For instance, the great flood of Noah’s time devastated the earth as God first created it and destroyed all human and animal land-life outside the ark. It occurred as a judgment of God upon the wickedness and rebellion of mankind. The slavery and imprisonment experienced by Joseph, on the other hand, were not the result of a judgment of God, but rather were the result of the anger, hatred, and sinful decisions of his brothers. Yet these sinful actions were used by the providential hand of God to place Joseph in Egypt so that he might save his entire family and put Israel in a position to grow into a large nation. The troubles of Job, on the one hand, were caused directly by Satan, who was simply attempting to undermine his faith, while the troubles of the younger son in the Parable of the Lost Sons were caused by his own foolish actions. Yes, there are numerous reasons why seemingly bad things happen!

There are times, however, when God permits…yes, you can even say causes bad things to happen in the lives of His children—those who believe in Him, as well as those who once believed and whom God desperately wants to believe once again. These bad things are not the result of His just and angry judgment, but rather are the attempts of His deep and loving concern for our souls. This thought is summarized in a portion of the verse quoted on the front of your bulletins today as our “Word of Truth”—WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE CHASTENS! The Old Testament prophet Hosea speaks of this truth in our text, as he explains how God intended to chasten Israel (identified as Ephraim in our text) and Judah and bring them back into a living relationship with Himself. Let us consider these Biblical Examples, after which we will make some Modern Applications!

I.

Hosea lived during the 8^th Century B.C. in the northern Kingdom of Israel, identified as Ephraim in our text. He had a deep love for his people, but remained fiercely loyal to the LORD God. His ministry was lengthy—lasting possibly forty years. He began that ministry during the time of Jeroboam II, who led Israel at a time of unprecedented wealth and material prosperity. Judah at the time also experienced a time of great prosperity. Unfortunately both nations failed to see that their blessings came from the hand of the LORD! They credited themselves and (even worse) the false gods of their neighbors. Their thoughts became self-centered and their actions were motivated by greed! Morally they became corrupt; intellectually they became worldly; socially they became violent; and spiritually, as they ignored the truths of God’s Word as proclaimed by the prophets, they became nations of idolaters.

When decline came, and it did with a vengeance, neither nation was equipped to deal properly with the situations that confronted them. Seven kings followed Jeroboam II in quick succession, each more wicked and violent than the last! Judah’s royal family was more stable—all descendants of David, but none were particularly faithful to David’s God and some of them were grossly unfaithful! Hosea observes in our text: “When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria and sent to King Jareb; yet he cannot cure you, nor heal you of your wound.” In other words, instead of recognizing God as the Source of every blessing and thanking Him for them, they simply raged at their misfortunes. Instead of turning to God with repentant hearts and trusting that He would deliver them as He had done throughout their past history, they chose to walk by sight rather than by faith and to turn to the supposed help of men—the nation of Assyria and a foreign King Jareb whose help failed!

How did God respond? Hosea declares in our text on behalf of God: “I will be like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear them and go away; I will take them away, and no one shall rescue. I will return again to My place till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.” In this situation God chose to chasten His people. To be sure in the case of some who had given themselves entirely over to wickedness that same act of chastening became a divine judgment upon their sins, but God’s intention was to lead His people back to His forgiving arms.

What form did the chastening take? It was severe! God permitted the very people in whom Israel placed their trust—the Assyrians to take their entire nation into captivity. The ten tribes of Israel were lost to history after 722 B.C. when the Assyrians besieged and destroyed their capital city of Samaria and displaced nearly the entire population to another land. The LORD would later chasten Judah too by allowing it to be taken into captivity. But in their case it was only a 70 year captivity in Babylon, after which they were graciously allowed to return. While such chastenings were indeed severe, they flowed from a loving God who desperately loved His people and desired for them a solid and blessed relationship with Himself!

Having announced the LORD God’s intentions, Hosea then pleads with his fellow Israelites: “Come, and let us return to the LORD; for He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight. Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth.” Notice that Hosea does not place himself above his fellow citizens, but rather places himself among them as a fellow sinner. He does not claim the position of moral or spiritual superiority, but rather seeks to serve as a moral and spiritual encourager attempting to convince his fellow believers and also former believers to return to their LORD.

What would give Hosea the confidence that the LORD God would forgive them and accept them back? The reason for Hosea’s confidence is because the LORD God had promised to send a Savior from sin for His people and, indeed, for all peoples. He could not and would not go back on His Word. Yes, the LORD God was just and had to punish sin, but He was also longsuffering and merciful—ready and willing to forgive and to renew. God’s greatest desire was to have His people come back and enjoy the blessings He so much wanted to bestow upon them! My dear friends—WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE CHASTENS! Let us never dismiss such Biblical examples, for they have been written for us for our learning, so that we, too, might find comfort and hope in our Savior God!

II.

But let us now consider some modern applications! As I prepared to write this sermon, I spent a good bit of time reading about the historical times in which Hosea lived. I could not but sit back and think how similar our times are when compared to those of Old Testament Israel. For the past 60 years our country has enjoyed unprecedented wealth and prosperity, but to whom has our nation as a whole given credit? Surely not to the LORD God! Oh, yes, I understand that one of the Federal District Courts earlier this week affirmed that it is not unconstitutional to include the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance, or to place the national motto "In God We Trust" on our currency, but are we living “under God” as a nation, and do we really at this point in our history as a nation put our trust “in God”? I fear not! People tend to thank themselves for any success they enjoy. Pride and arrogance are at a premium in our country! Is there anyone who would deny that our culture is predominantly self-centered and selfish at this point? Morally—have we not become decadent, choosing to ignore God’s commandments and claiming that what God calls evil is really good? Intellectually—is not our culture dominated by what our world views as politically correct, even when such views clearly contradict God’s revealed truths? Are not our streets becoming more violent, as people seek to take that for which they have not worked in order to satisfy and gratify their own desires? Religiously—is not our society becoming more pluralistic…men, women, and children worshipping a multitude of idols of their own choosing and declaring that all religions are of equal value and that ultimately all religions lead to the same place?

Sadly, by any standard of the past, we are ripe for judgment! Fortunately WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE CHASTENS! We can be and ought to be thankful for that truth! Friday morning during our Bible discussion at Men’s Breakfast, one of our participants commented on how easy it is to forget God when things are going good, but that when God permits troubles to enter our lives, we are drawn back to Him. That, in a nutshell, is the lesson to be learned from our text!

Is God chastening our country right now? Are the economic hard times we are experiencing intended by God to lead us back to an understanding that He is the Giver of every good gift? Do we have to fall into national bankruptcy before we humbly confess our sins of pride and arrogance? Does the Lion’s paw have to maul us badly, before we fall to our knees in repentance? Those questions are perhaps not so easily answered on a national level, but let us learn to recognize the chastening of the LORD in our individual lives!

Our God loves us dearly! He loves us so much that He has seen fit to redeem us with the blood of His own Son! He placed our sins—all of them—on the shoulders of Jesus Christ who carried them to Calvary’s cross and endured the punishment we deserved. My dear friends, I join Hosea in pleading with you and our fellow citizens even as Hosea pleaded with the people of his day: “Come, and let us return to the LORD; for He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight. Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth.”

I do not come to you this morning as someone morally superior, but rather as the sinner whom you have chosen to share God’s messages of love and mercy with you! Let us not ignore the chastenings of the LORD in our lives, but rather with a deep sense of humility let us seek His forgiveness, His guidance, His help, and His strength! Only then will he heal us as individuals, as families, as a congregation, and as a nation. Only then will he restore us and uplift us, so that we might experience His richest blessings now and throughout eternity! Amen.

—Pastor Paul D. Nolting
To God alone be the glory!