Using Hosea 6, we looked at how to study your Bible with God, and I provided an inside look of how I work through Scripture. Of course, there are many different ways to study God's Word, and you need to develop a well-balanced approach with God.
This week, I'll introduce more specifics around a tool I use to study (I mentioned it last week, but didn't go into a ton of detail). It's Blue Letter Bible (BLB), and I've provided a link directly to Hosea 7 for you. BLB has an app, and you can also access it from your desktop.
Here's what Hosea 7 looks like when you use Blue Letter Bible. Click on "Tools" and then "Commentaries" for a list of audio/video and text commentaries. A few personal favorites of mine: David Guzik, Jon Courson, Damian Kyle, Chuck Smith, and Dr. J. Vernon McGee. Today, I'll reference David Guzik during the study so you can get a feel for how a commentary works (other tools are available, too).
Bible commentaries are typically written by well-known and popular theologians, and aid in the study of Scripture by providing explanation and interpretation of Biblical text. Commentaries offer greater understanding with background information on authorship, history, setting, and theme of the Gospel. You can find commentaries online (like on Blue Letter Bible), or also buy them on Amazon. My favorite hard copy commentary is Warren Wiersbe, and as I was looking it up to link to in this study, I noticed it was on sale right now! It's a great one for a full look at the Old and New Testament. You need to be careful of which commentators you use; they do not all provide a Scriptural perspective of God's Word (wolves in sheep's clothing). I wouldn't count on YouTube "recommendations," either. You can email me at tiffany@divinelyinterrupted.com if you would like my thoughts.
Thank you, Father, for your inerrant Word that speaks life to me each time I fix my gaze upon You. Open my heart and clear my mind so I may experience Your absolute best and glorify You. Amen.
Verse 11 from Hosea 6:11 [since 7:1 is a continuation of 6:11]
11 For you also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed.
When I restore the fortunes of my people,
Hosea 7
whenever I would heal Israel,
the sins of Ephraim are exposed
and the crimes of Samaria revealed.
They practice deceit,
thieves break into houses,
bandits rob in the streets;
2 but they do not realize
that I remember all their evil deeds.
Their sins engulf them;
they are always before me.
3 "They delight the king with their wickedness,
the princes with their lies.
"They do not consider in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness: The problem among the people and leaders of Israel was they forgot - willfully - that the LORD saw and remembered their sin. We often deliberately forget that the LORD sees and remembers when we sin. It may be secret before men, but not before God - He says, "they are before My face." [Guzik]
For God to forget our sins, we must accept the application of Jesus' blood (through faith in Him). Jeremiah 31:34 promises us this about God's "forgetfulness:"
"No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the Lord. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."
4 They are all adulterers,
burning like an oven
whose fire the baker need not stir
from the kneading of the dough till it rises.
5 On the day of the festival of our king
the princes become inflamed with wine,
and he joins hands with the mockers.
6 Their hearts are like an oven;
they approach him with intrigue.
Their passion smolders all night;
in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
7 All of them are hot as an oven;
they devour their rulers.
All their kings fall,
and none of them calls on me.
As the Lord speaks to His people, He talks about how they have inflamed hearts for their idols. God desires our hearts to burn for Him. In Luke 24, Jesus (post-resurrection) appeared on the road to Emmaus. He then took communion with others, and their eyes were open that He was the risen Savior. Luke 24:31-32 reads, "Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?" I pray for our hearts to burn within us when we hear God's Word—like a flaming fire and as hot as an oven.
8 "Ephraim mixes with the nations;
Ephraim is a flat loaf not turned over.
9 Foreigners sap his strength,
but he does not realize it.
His hair is sprinkled with gray,
but he does not notice.
10 Israel's arrogance testifies against him,
but despite all this
he does not return to the Lord his God
or search for him.
Through God's inspiration, Hosea paints a vivid analogy [I relate well with this passage because I'm notorious for burning one side of the pancake and undercooking the other]. That's what the reference is when it says, "Ephraim is a flat loaf not turned over." He's saying they are half-baked (bread was flat, like a pancake, back then), trying to serve both God and their idols.
Liam eating his “Star Wars base” pancake. I mean, he thinks it looks awesome…never mind it looks like a (fully cooked) blob to me. 🤷♀️
11 "Ephraim is like a dove,
easily deceived and senseless—
now calling to Egypt,
now turning to Assyria.
12 When they go, I will throw my net over them;
I will pull them down like the birds in the sky.
When I hear them flocking together,
I will catch them.
Hosea refers to God's people as doves--silly and senseless ones. While they think they will escape God by running to other nations, He is going to throw HIs net over them (Guzik). I'm thankful He is loving enough to "re-catch" us when we wander.
13 Woe to them,
because they have strayed from me!
Destruction to them,
because they have rebelled against me!
I long to redeem them
but they speak about me falsely.
14 They do not cry out to me from their hearts
but wail on their beds.
They slash themselves, appealing to their gods
for grain and new wine,
but they turn away from me.
15 I trained them and strengthened their arms,
but they plot evil against me.
16 They do not turn to the Most High;
they are like a faulty bow.
Their leaders will fall by the sword
because of their insolent words.
For this they will be ridiculed
in the land of Egypt.
"I love to redeem them..." Remember that the book of Hosea is an action sermon of covenantal relationship, warning, and redeeming love. This book is for the unfaithful, the wayward, and the hurting. It is a poem for me. It is a sacred writing for you. And, we're going to name our sin and then look into the face of Jesus. Together.
From David Guzik: "They return, but not the Most High: Israel saw their problem, but not their sin. When God's hand is against man, he easily sees he has a problem but often does not see it as sin against the LORD. So when Israel had problems, they wailed upon their beds, but not to the LORD. They sought remedies, but not from the Most High. [This was convicting to me! How many times have I seen my problems/anxieties/situations and cried about it, but not to God? I sought peace and comfort from the pain, but not from the God of all comforts.]
From David Guzik: They are like a treacherous bow: Hosea adds another image, of a faulty bow that won't shoot an arrow straight. Everything that comes from Israel misses the mark, because they are like a treacherous bow. They are like a useless and dangerous weapon."
I hope you learned a bit more this week about studying your Bible with God and gaining some insight on a new tool you can use to help you. Remember, studying God's Word and going to church can be more like going to the gym v. going to the movies. It takes work. One of my favorite Old Testament stories is from 2 Kings 3:16-19 when the Israelites faced the Moabites in what seemed like an impossible battle:
And he said, Thus saith the Lord, Make this valley full of ditches. For thus saith the Lord, Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, that ye may drink, both ye, and your cattle, and your beasts. And this is but a light thing in the sight of the Lord: he will deliver the Moabites also into your hand. And ye shall smite every fenced city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all wells of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.
Friends, hear this: every day, we must dig the ditches. Meaning, we must dig into God's Word, and that takes self-sacrifice. But, He promises that He will fill us. He's provided an ever-present "resource" (Person) to guide us in this life: His Holy Spirit. As we talked about last week, God gave us His Spirit, and according to Isaiah 11:2, the gift of His Spirit provides us with wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, and fear (awe) of the Lord. Let's rejoice today and walk our what He's already provided. Amen and Amen.