Sunday School Lesson on Repentance

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Sunday School Lesson on Repentance

Introduction

A. Order in the Court

Have you ever noticed how many courtroomdramas are on TV? From Perry Mason in the1950s and 1960s to today's Law & Order, this isan enduring staple of secular entertainment. Anentertainment-oriented culture even looks uponsuch shows as Court 7'V as a source of reality-based amusement.

Hosea wasn't a scriptwriter for a courtroomdrama. His book wasn't designed to be entertain-ing. Hosea wasn't a lawyer, but he could have

been. Much of his teaching is like an indictmentthat would be presented in court. It is a bill ofparticulars confronting Israel for sin.

Hosea's focus in both the positive and negativesections of his book is on the relationship be-tween God and His people. The prophet Amostalked about God, Israel, and the surrounding na-tions, but Hosea largely focused on the theme ofGod and Israel. In this context, Israel refers tothe northern kingdom of God's divided people asdistinct from the southern kingdom of Judah.)

B. Lesson Background

To put Hosea's words in context, it will behelpful to understand what the people of Israelhad done to their religion. In some cases theyhad rejected God and their traditions outright. Inother cases they had merged the religion of theone true God with a regional religion that wor-shiped a god named Baal (Hosea 2:8). Thisgreatly disturbed Hosea and the other prophets.Hosea probably began his prophetic ministryjust as Amos's ministry (last •eek's lesson) wasdrawing to a close. Hosea thus prophesied be-tween about 760 BC and the fall of the northernkingdom in 722 BC.

This period of time seemed like a golden ageto the people living in it (compare Isaiah 2:7:3:16). Yet Hosea saw it, as did Amos and Isaiah,as anything but a golden age. Yes, there wasprosperity, but the rich took advantage of thepoor. Yes, there were religious observances, butthey were corrupted by paganism and sensuality.Hosea's name means "salvation," and he cer-tainly preached that the people were in need ofthat! Yet the people did not see themselves asvulnerable—"Salvation from what?" they proba-bly asked themselves. The relatively stable reignsof Uzziah in the south and Jeroboam II in thenorth bred complacency.

But the prophets of God were not fooled. Justas Amos had seen the truth, so did Hosea. As apatriotic dweller of the north, he warned the peo-ple of the problem. And his warning would laterprove to be valid.

In some ways Hosea is the most intriguingprophet in the Old Testament. Hosea's tumul-tuous family life, as noted in Hosea 1:2-11; 3:1-3,became almost a metaphor of what was happen-ing between God and His people. God had com-manded Hosea to marry a woman who wouldprove to be unfaithful. This was so that Hosea'sfamily could be an example of God's willingnessto love and take back His faithless people. ThusHosea's own family became a kind of object lessonof human faithlessness and God's forgiveness.

The book of Hosea itself can be studied inthree divisions. The first division, chapters 1-3,describes the personal information about Hoseaand his family life.

The second division is chapters 4-13; thiscontains the oracles, or sermons, of Hosea. Thesemessages are very tough condemnations of whatwas going on in Israel. The lesson for today istaken primarily from this section.

The final section is chapter 14. It deserves itsown designation because, while it also containssermonic material from Hosea, a bit of hope is in-troduced. Even so, no more than 10 percent ofthe book of Hosea deals with God's blessings.The book is overwhelmingly a message of con-demnation and punishment

Serious Charges(Hosea 4:1-4)

A. Absence of Goodness (v. 1)

1. Hear the word of the LORD, ye children ofIsrael: for the Loin, hath a controversy with theinhabitants of the land, because there is notruth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in theland.

The opening phrase hear the word of the Lordbegins the indictment. What follows is a bill ofparticulars about things the people are lacking.We may call these sins of omission.

First, the Lord says there is no truth. The wordused for truth carries the idea of faithfulness, fi-delity, honesty, or reliability (compare Genesis24:49; 47:29; Exodus 18:21; Joshua 2:12, 14).Neither is there any mercy in the land. Mercyis one of the most beautiful and interestingwords in the Old Testament. It is sometimestranslated love, loving-kindness, goodness, etc.(examples: Psalm 36:7; Jeremiah 9:24). The He-brew words translated truth and mercy in this pP.ssage occur together (translated in variousways) in dozens of other Old Testament pas-sages. One interesting example is Exodus 34:6:"The Lord, the Lord God . . . abundant in good-ness and truth." What the Lord himself aboundsin is precisely what His people disdain!

Third, Hosea says there is no knowledge ofGod. This does not mean that there is no knowl-edge that God exists. Rather, the word knowledgeis used to describe an intimate mindfulness ofGod and His requirements under the covenant.In place of this knowledge, the people have sub-stituted meaningless ritual. "For I desired mercy,and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of Godmore than burnt offerings" (Hosea 6:6).

Do we see any of these omissions in our ownage? Truth is certainly under attack. IS. ques-tion A I. page 3581 There is too little mercy.While there are few genuine atheists in theworld, there is still a dearth of the knowledge ofGod. God has made knowledge of himself avail-able, but many suppress it (Romans 1:18-23).

B. Presence of Wickedness (v. 2)

2. By swearing, and lying, and killing, andstealing, and committing adultery, they breakout, and blood toucheth blood.

Here Hosea describes the presence of serioussins. We would call these sins of commission. Hedescribes a decay that is illustrated by the peo-ple's ignoring basic morality and decency, suchas what is prescribed in the Ten Commandments(Exodus 20:1-17; Deuteronomy 5:6-21).

At least four of those commandments are men-tioned here by use of the words lying, and killing,and stealing, and committing adultery. The wordswearing probably does not refer to using ob-scenities but to pronouncing a curse on some-one. Break out is the idea of violating boundaries(compare 1 Samuel 25:10). The expression bloodtoucheth blood probably means that one murderquickly follows another.

This corrupt society can trace its problems to asingle cause: the rejection of God. The kinds ofqualities that are missing (v. 1) are foundationalto a healthy society. The serious sins that arepresent inevitably serve to weaken a society.Since Hosea is a resident of the land, this mustfill him with both anger and sorrow.

ROGUE'S HARBOR

Peter Cartwright (1785-1872) spent severaldecades as a frontier Methodist circuit-ridingpreacher, first in Kentucky and then in Illinois. In1856 he wrote his autobiography, which has be-come a classic on the history of frontier religion.

Cartwright was still a child when his parentsmoved from Virginia to Kentucky, much ofwhich was untamed wilderness at the time.Logan County, where his parents settled, wasknown as Rogue's Harbor. It was the home ofmany individuals who came to escape justice orpunishment. Law could not be enforced. Murder-ers, horse thieves, highway robbers, and counter-feiters formed a majority of the population.Honest citizens tried to prosecute them, but theoutlaws just provided alibis for each other andalways escaped justice.

Finally the law-abiding citizens formed agroup known as the Regulators to establish theirown code of bylaws. One day the two groups metin town and a battle ensued, fought with knives,pistols, and clubs. Many were wounded, somewere killed. The rogues were victorious anddrove the Regulators out of town.

Sound like a nice place to live and raise yourfamily? It is similar to the situation Hosea de-scribed: a community of killing, lying, adultery,and murder after murder. That is the result of acommunity that does not know God. When thereis no knowledge of God, morals and social stabil-ity disappear just as quickly as the outward for-malities of religion. This may lead you to reflecton how much knowledge of God remains in yourcity. —J. B. N.

C. Presence of Mourning (v. 3)

3. Therefore shall the land mourn, and everyone that dwelleth therein shall languish, withthe beasts of the field, and with the fowls ofheaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall betaken away.

Visual for Lesson 2. Use this visual as a discus-sion starter by asking, "What do tree rings and thedating of the prophets have in common?"

The faithlessness of God's people is to be pun-ished by a drought—that is a secondary meaningof the word mourn in this context. This sante He-brew verb is used in Jeremiah 4:28; 12:4; Joel1:10; and Amos 1:2. Hosea's description is of anenvironment in the process of ruination. Allcreatures that live in the land will waste away or,literally, wither. Even the fishes of the sea arethreatened.

Isn't it interesting that God associates judgmentfor sin as being the occasion for general declineeven in the realm of nature? Paul speaks of cre-ation groaning as a result of sin (Romans 8:20-24

D. Absence of Integrity (v. 4)

4. Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another:for thy people are as they that strive with thepriest.

The first line of this verse is difficult to inter-pret. At first glance you would think that God isforbidding the readers to reprove one anotherwith regard to the moral decay—which is ex-actly what we need to do! The idea, rather, isthat finger-pointing and blaming others will notsolve the problems. Great revivals begin notwhen we put the spotlight of the sins of othersbut when we dare to indict ourselves.

The last line is also difficult to interpret. IsHosea condemning his readers for being the kindof people who would dare to bring charges evenagainst a priest?

Considering how angry Hosea is toward thepriests, that is not likely (Hosea 4:6-9; 5:1; 6:9;10:5). Many commentators say the verse shouldbe seen as an encouragement to confront thepriests. Under this theory, it might be read as,"Your people should be as they who bringcharges against a priest." A different theory isthat this is another reference to finger-pointing,as in, "Any problems are the fault of the priest-hood, not me!"

II. Spurned Offer (Hosea 7:1, 2)

A. Healing Was Rejected (v. 1)

1. When I would have healed Israel, then theiniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and thewickedness of Samaria: for they commit false-hood; and the thief cometh in, and the troop ofrobbers spoileth without.

The name Ephraim is another way to refer tothe northern kingdom of Israel. Ephraim is aprominent tribe in the northern kingdom.Adding the word Samaria to the mix serves toemphasize the entirety of the 10 tribes that are situated north of Judah. God is saying to themthat He is willing to heal all Israel. But as Godmakes this attempt, the sins of the people be-come even more apparent.

The primary way God attempts to heal Israel isby sending them prophets. Rather than causingthe people to repent, the work of the prophetsjust reveals more and more sin and guilt. Theprophets are persecuted (Amos 7:10-13), not wel-comed (compare Acts 7:52). (See question #2.page 3501

The last line speaks of being robbed insideone's own house (the thief cometh in) as well aswhile out on the city streets (the troop of robbersspoileth without). While committing falsehoodmay be a sneaky, somewhat hidden crime, otherkinds of banditry are all too clear. There is no so-cial justice anywhere.

B. Repentance Was Rejected (v. 2)

2. And they consider not in their hearts that Iremember all their wickedness: now their owndoings have beset them about; they are beforemy face.

The people of Israel erroneously assume thatGod does not know or care about the evil theyare doing. How often human beings have de-ceived themselves into thinking they can hidetheir sins from God! Yet God does not sufferfrom Attention Deficit Disorder. Nor does Hehave a faulty memory (Leviticus 26:42; Psalm105:8). ISee question #3. page 3581

III. Stern Command(Hosea 12:6-9; 14:1)A. Turn for a Blessing (v. 6)

6. Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercyand judgment, and wait on thy God continually.This verse follows a discussion of Jacob's en-counter with God at Bethel (Hosea 12:2-4; com-pare Genesis 28:10-22; 35:1-15). Hosea is highlycritical of what has been going on at Bethel. SeeHosea 10:5, which refers to Beth-oven, a sarcasticname for Bethel. While Bethel means "house ofGod," Beth-oven means "house of wickedness."In Hosea 12:4, the prophet reminds his audi-ence that Bethel was once a holy place. The peo-ple need to return to the kind of religion firstcelebrated there.

Turning thou to thy God involves repentance.(See question #.l, page :150.)The people are alsoto wait on God. Why the delay? They need forGod to bless them again. They need the blessingthat God once gave to Jacob.

AXELS OR U-TURNS?

Normally the word turn brings to mind a change in direction. But not all turns are alike.In figure skating there is a maneuver known asan axel, named after Norwegian figure skaterAnd Paulsen (1856-1938). The axel features ajump with a turn in the air that results in theskater still going in the same direction uponlanding. It is just for show. Though the axeltakes a good deal of skill, it does not result in achange of direction.

Curves on an interstate highway sometimes donot take any effort on the part of the driver. Theroad may be banked sufficiently for the car tochange direction almost by itself. The turn isdone by the road conditions, not by the driver.Then there is a U-turn. This is a 180-degreechange of direction. It occurs only when thedriver takes a very deliberate action. There isnothing happenstance or accidental about it. It isa conscious effort by the driver to follow a newcome.

When Hosea urged the people to turn to God,he was not talking about a showy axel that wouldimpress others. Nor was he talking about a situa-tion where the people were turned merely byforce of external circumstances, without any con-scious effort on their part. Hosea confronts hisaudience (and us) with the need to make a deliberate change of direction or a U-turn.

B. Turn for Perspective (vv. 7, 8)

7.He is a merchant, the balances of deceit arein his hand: he loveth to oppress.

The Hebrew word translated merchant is liter-ally Canaanite. Canaanites are known as shrewdtraders, thus the translation merchant capturesthe sense very well. Canaanites inhabited thepromised land before the Israelites arrived (Exo-dus 3:8).

Greedy merchants are known for their dishon-est balance scales (balances of deceit). This isvery offensive to God (Deuteronomy 25:13-16;Proverbs 11:1; 20:23). The children of Israelthink they are quite superior to the previous in-habitants of the area, but the message is thatthey have become the same as them. They loveto oppress.

8.And Ephraim said, Yet I am become rich, Ihave found me out substance: in all my laborsthey shall find none iniquity in me that were sin.

In a state of arrogant pride, Ephraim believesitself to be rich and righteous. The people are in-deed rich in a material way in the manner of un-just merchants. Not only do they see themselvesas rich, they do not see that they had committed any sin. "What harm did we do in accumulatingthese riches?" the Israelites ask themselves.They have so manipulated the laws that theycan maintain that technically they are not guilty(compare Mark 7:9-13). 77tey shall find none iniq-uity in tee is an arrogant, self-righteous confi-dence. Yet God knows better (Amos 6:1-7).Several decades after Hosea writes, the messageto Jerusalem to the south will be about the same(Zephaniah 1:11-13).

C. Turn or Face Judgment (v. 9; 14:1)

9.And I that am the LORD thy God from theland of Egypt will yet make thee to dwell intabernacles, as in the days of the solemn feast.The word tabernacles refers to the tents thatthe Israelites lived in while in the wildernesswanderings after they had left the land of Egypt.Thus the Lord promises a severe reduction in Is-rael's standard of living: they will give up theircozy houses for tents.

The solemn feast here probably refers to theFeast of Tabernacles. During this festival, peopleset up booths or tents as a reminder of wilder-ness wanderings (Leviticus 23:33-44). How sad:the Israelites will return to tents not as a memor-ial but as a punishment.

14:1. 0 Israel, return unto the LORD thy God;for thou halt fallen by thine iniquity.

We should be glad that the book of Hosea hasa fourteenth chapter! It is in this chapter thathope is restored. That hope is more evident inthe verses that follow (not in today's text). Thereare only seven "blessings sections" in Hosea, andthis is one of them.

It is the sin of the people that causes them tostumble. If they return to God, He can lift them

up .d help them walk in the right paths. This isa note of hope in an otherwise very dark book.Yet it is not the only note of hope. Rememberthat in Hosea's own experience he bestows for-giving love to an errant wife (Hosea 3). ThusHosea uses his own life as an example that Godalso can forgive the people who have been un-faithful to Him.

Conclusion

A. Holy God, Sinful People

Hosea taught that evil can become pervasive.Evil affects the fabric of society. We see in HoseaGod's sense of hurt, betrayal, and disappoint-ment. God suffers when His people sin. Hoseaalso discovered and taught that God is both holyand merciful. God thundered against sin, but Hecould be warm and forgiving to the repentantsinner.

Here is where we need to remind ourselves ofHosea's marital situation. Hosea sought out hiswife, bought her out of prostitution, and took herback into his household (Hosea 3). Hosea couldnot understand how Israel could to callouslychoose not to love the God who had loved themso much.

Combining his own personal insight and hurtswith God's revelation, Hosea realized the depthof the meaning of unfaithfulness. Unfaithfulnesstoward another human and toward God can beforgiven, but it takes sincere repentance and pro-found love. Hosea's love for his wife was a pic-ture of God's love for His people.

No Christian looking at this can fail to see thatJesus did something similar for us. He paid aprice to bring us back home. He did this eventhough we did not deserve it. "While we were yetsinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

This is why some people say that Hosea be-gins to put into our minds what will come intosharper focus in the New Testament: the doc-trine of grace. "For the law was given by Moses,but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ" (John1:17).

B. Prayer

Forgive me, O God, for breaking Your heart.That fact would be overwhelming to me if not forthe message of Your grace. Even in Your angerthere is love, and even in the midst of pain Youcan pardon. In the name of Jesus, who embodiedthis truth, amen.

C. Thought to Remember

Repentance required

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