The Recipe to Ruin a Nation (Part 2)
Text: Hosea 7:8-10 Date: 8-2-26
God is holy, and inherent in that is the fact that He is a God of separation. Because of this, God designed His people to remain separated from other Gentile nations. Israel was called as a unique nation.
“God called Israel to be a distinct people, separated from the nations in character, devoted to Him in covenant, and reflective of His glory before the world” (https://chatgpt.com/g/g-p-6912811790b48191a3e3bcf992053c0d/c/6a0b9ca8-4640-83e8-aede-27067f9996e9).
Explanation/v. 8: Hosea uses several illustrations to describe Ephraim (Israel). First, a baking example: to demonstrate that as a land they had mixed itself among the nations, Israel is described like a flat cake that had not been turned over, and no doubt burned on one side. Here we see a picture of a half-baked and burned pancake indicative of either being burned by idols and not done toward God or a picture of hypocrisy. Outwardly, they looked well done, but on the inside the nation was cold towards God.
Application: Israel believed that these friendships would make them stronger politically and economically. Instead, it brought even more spiritual weakness. We may think: becoming friends with the world will make us stronger and wiser. But that is a great mistake, for that will slowly siphon our spiritual strength and wisdom, and we will become foolish lovers of our flesh.
“Sin makes us senseless” (Feinberg 39).
4. The deceptive ingredient of willful blindness (Hosea 7:10)
Israel had rejected God’s covenant, and that became self-incriminating. They knew they were proud, but they chose to ignore it. How do we know? Because another devastating announcement is given: the nation failed to return to the Lord.
Conclusion – Recipe to Ruin a Nation
1) Deception attempts to hide sin from God.
2) Deception comes in and causes sin to be accepted from the leadership on down.
3) Deception looks to make friends with other worldly people.
4) Deception blinds through pride, which in the end refuses to repent.
The great deception is thinking we are okay on the outside, all the while we are sinking on the inside.