#1129 Hosea 11 My Holy One

 

When Israel was a youth I loved him,

And out of Egypt I called My son.

2 The more they called them,

The more they went away from them;

They kept sacrificing to the Baals

And burning incense to idols.

3 Yet it is I who taught Ephraim to walk,

I took them in My arms;

But they did not know that I healed them.

4 I pulled them along with cords of a man, with ropes of love,

And I became to them as one who lifts the yoke from their jaws;

And I bent down and fed them.

5 They will not return to the land of Egypt;

But Assyria—he will be their king

Because they refused to return to Me.

6 And the sword will whirl against their cities,

And will destroy their oracle priests

And consume them, because of their counsels.

7 So My people are determined to turn from Me.

Though they call them to the One on high,

None at all exalts Him.

8 How can I give you up, Ephraim?

How can I surrender you, Israel?

How can I make you like Admah?

How can I treat you like Zeboiim?

My heart is turned over within Me,

All My compassions are kindled.

9 I will not carry out My fierce anger;

I will not destroy Ephraim again.

For I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst,

And I will not come in wrath.

10 They will walk after the Lord,

He will roar like a lion;

Indeed He will roar,

And His sons will come trembling from the west.

11 They will come trembling like birds from Egypt,

And like doves from the land of Assyria;

And I will settle them in their houses, declares the Lord.

12 Ephraim surrounds Me with lies

And the house of Israel with deceit;

Judah is still unruly against God,

Even against the Holy One who is faithful. Hosea 11 NASB

Hosea 11

1-4 Out of Egypt I called My Son - What beautiful words, and they come together in such fullness and understanding at the advent of Christ. It is the call of the Father through the Son wherein we are made alive by the Holy Spirit to be adopted as sons. Here, He speaks of Israel, but it is through Christ, the Old Testament is the story of redemption, the foretelling of Messiah, the history of man's fall from relationship with God, a falling away from righteousness and truth. Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but by Me." Every promise of the Old Testament was dependent upon the atoning work of Messiah, by Whose stripes we are healed, and Who without we have no righteousness, and history ends back in the garden, but even the breath of the unredeemed is purchased by Jesus, till the fullness of their wrath is come. We remember His death, but we forget, that the eternal Son of God, walked out of Egypt, the land from which Israel was set free, to walk before the Father in a way that Israel could not. His steps were holy before the Father, living the life that I was born a stranger to, in perfect harmony to the will of God, fulfilling all things.

…14So he got up, took the Child and His mother by night, and withdrew to Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called My Son.” 16When Herod saw that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was filled with rage. Sending orders, he put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, according to the time he had learned from the Magi.… Matthew 2: 14-16

16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. 17Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. 18For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.… Matthew 5: 16-18

…14But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” 15“Let it be so now,” Jesus replied. “It is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness in this way.” Then John permitted Him. 16As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water. Suddenly the heavens were opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and resting on Him.…

17And a voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!” Matthew 3: 14-17

They kept sacrificing to the Baals - Israel kept after the gods of a fallen and depraved mind, idols, paper weights. This is why a body had to be prepared for Christ, for the infinite to walk the steps that the finite, the corrupt, could not. They did not even recognize the time of their visitation, that salvation was wrapped in swaddling clothes, growing in favor in the sight of God and man. This was God adding humanity to His deity, yet they worshiped the idols of their neighbor's imaginations. 

5Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus: 6Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness.… Philippians 2: 5-7

5-7 Because they refused to return to me - When people walk into hell, when you have wanted your own way, yet God has turned you over to it, but not without warning of where it leads, yet will you cry unfair? You were told about God, but hated the very idea, looked hard for another god, an idol, your mind, "the science", but even when your models were flawed you still clung to them. Fair is a funny thing, I will not ask God for that, remember, you didn't want God, so you got fair, and it is His world, life comes from Him, yet you would try to steal from God.

…27Likewise, the men abandoned natural relations with women and burned with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips,… Romans 1: 27-29

8-11 Admah - 

Admah and Zeboiim were two cities near Sodom and Gomorrah that were also destroyed (Deuteronomy 29:23). God says, “I can’t bear to allow My people to be caught up in the destruction that will come upon all the nations, as Admah and Zeboiim were caught up on the destruction that came upon Sodom and Gomorrah.” - Enduring Word

I will settle them in their houses - This has Millennial connotations, when Israel comes to look upon Him Who they pierced, they remember and mourn for Him like an only Son. They have that new heart and renewed spirit. What forgiveness.

Even against the Holy One Who is faithful - Isaiah demonstrates the response that Israel will have for the Holy One, their Messiah, their healer. The only One Who can make things right, satisfy the law, will be held in low esteem. 

…2He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no stately form or majesty to attract us, no beauty that we should desire Him. 3He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Like one from whom men hide their faces, He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. 4Surely He took on our infirmities and carried our sorrows; yet we considered Him stricken by God, struck down and afflicted.… 

…2When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you go through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched; the flames will not set you ablaze. 3For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your place. 4Because you are precious and honored in My sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you and nations in place of your life.… Isaiah 43: 2-4

…26Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will dwell in hope, 27because You will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay. 28You have made known to me the paths of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence.’… Acts 2: 26-28