The Elevation of Pride
Text: Hosea 5:1-7 Date: 5-31-26
Where the priests and the kings should have led the people to righteousness, they instead enticed the people and led them to worship in high places and engage in idolatrous behavior. Instead of being protectors and spiritual leaders, the priests and kings were the instigators who led the people to their areas of deception. If there ever was a definition of pride, we find it in this corrupt leadership who chose gods over God, idols over the I AM, lovers over the Lord.
Application: Leaders must lead, and God’s design is for them to impart their knowledge of God to their followers in order to lead them into a right relationship and worship of Almighty God. When a leader is lifted up with pride and seeks his or her own satisfaction and pleasure instead of seeking to please and bring glory to God, it results in corruption, lying, murder, adultery, and apostasy. Pride likes sinning in secret. Pride leads to stubbornness and rebellion. Ultimately, we are deceiving ourselves. It doesn’t take much time for pride to destroy leaders and their ministries. Pride damages God’s reputation and gives the world reason to mock followers of the Lord. Pride deceives the leaders. Pride deceives the followers. Pride deceives the outsiders who watch us as leaders. Pride destroys lives.
2. Devaluing of human life – elevating oneself above others (Hosea 5:2)
The picture is that the leaders were knee-deep into these killings, for they could not stop or help themselves. Their rebellious attitude was borne out through depraved actions and done in great excess.
Application: The taking of human life stands among the most appalling acts of pride. Every human being is made in God’s image; therefore, God has placed a specific incalculable value on life. When man takes away another’s life, he or she is acting in the place of God. Murder isn’t just devaluing human life; it is arrogantly destroying that life.
3. Defiling through idolatry – elevating oneself above God (Hosea 5:3-5)
** Pride deceives us into thinking that we can both get away with our sin and that God won’t see us.
Perhaps the people didn’t think God would catch them in their evil. But God specifically tells them that He both knows and sees what they are doing against Him for He is not blind to either the good or the evil (Prov. 15:3).
The first aspect of false worship is living in spiritual adultery with that which God hates. They had acted unfaithfully towards God in living as prostitutes through their worship of Baal.
How can you and I properly and reverently worship God if we are in bed with demons? Demons are behind idols.
Idolatry always takes one's heart away from God. While an idol is in one sense a nothing for it is a non-being and non-existent in and of itself; idolatry is false worship that is demonic and darkness. We cannot hide from sin. The Bible says in Heb. 4:13 (ESV): “And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”
**Pride will prevent us from returning to the Lord.
Israel’s deeds and behavior demonstrated a jaded worship that took them on a path away from God. As long as Israel worshipped false gods, they could not truly repent. The pride of idolatry is always self-centered worship.
**Pride exalts our personal knowledge above God, His authority, and the truth.
When idols replace God, a person’s worship lacks knowledge of God. A lack of knowledge of God will always result in a failure to follow God.
**Pride witnesses against us and leads us to destruction.
False worship is ultimately pride lifted up against God. Israel’s wealth, arrogance, false power, idolatry, and self-made accomplishments testified against them. They believed they were self-reliant, and thus they saw no need for God.
What would this pride do to them? The nation’s pride would cause them to think they were invincible against their enemies. In their pride they would refuse to confess their heinous sins. Their pride would cause them to think of themselves more highly than they should. Their pride would lead them to believe that their worship was fine all the while God thought it was sickening. False worship is always a betrayal of worship towards God. That is why it is called whoredom in Hosea. False worship is worthless and vanity (Isa. 1:13-15). God hates false worship (Amos 5:21-23).
4. Defrauding of true worship – God departs from His people (Hosea 5:6-7)
The people still want a piece of God. That’s pride. So they still bring their animals to worship God, and they even say they are seeking the Lord. False worship will get you no closer to God, but neither will hypocritical worship. Pride directs worship to God, yet leaves Him out of that worship. God hates hypocritical worship. Imagine coming to God with animal sacrifices but hearts that are tainted with inward infatuation of idols and hands with blood on them. Imagine worshipping Jehovah as deceitful leaders, devaluing human life through murder, defilement through idol worship, and then bringing animal sacrifices to God to somehow appease Him.
Where is God? Nowhere to be found, for He has left them.
God is never satisfied with duplicity in worship as mankind brings outward sacrifices and rituals. God desires mercy and not sacrifice and a knowledge of Him instead of burnt offerings (I Sam. 15:22).
What the people did was commit treason against the Lord. They bore illegitimate children, which refers to children who were born who knew not God or His laws.