Daily Devotions
Hosea
"They have dealt treacherously with the LORD"
Text: Hosea 5:7
PAINFUL TREACHERY
Treachery is frowned on by everyone. Israel seemed to be ignorant of the treachery it committed against the Lord!
“They have dealt treacherously with the LORD,
For they have begotten pagan children.
Now a New Moon shall devour them and their heritage.”
Hosea 5:7
1. “They have dealt treacherously with the LORD”
a) In order to understand the problem of “treachery” we need to understand the Covenant God gave to Israel.
i) This was a Covenant that was given to Israel in the days of Moses.
ii) This Covenant was recorded in Exodus 24.
iii) The Terms of the Covenant were recorded in Exodus 20-23.
b) Highlights of the Covenant established at Mount Sinai include the following:
i) The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20; Deuteronomy 5).
ii) Worship of idols expressly forbidden, on pain of death (Exodus 22:20; 23:32-33).
iii) The Sabbath was to be kept by Israel (Exodus 23).
iv) Three Annual Feasts (Exodus 23:14-19).
Israel broke all the laws of God. It pursued the worship of idols aggressively. Israel was adjudged guilty of dealing treacherously with the Lord.
2. “They have begotten pagan children”
a) This was expressly forbidden (Deuteronomy 7:3-5).
b) Marriage to people who reject God would result in the turning away from faith in the Lord.
c) Israel ignored these clear commandments.
d) The pagan children Israel had begotten had turned their backs on the Lord.
3. New Moon worship
a) God made provision for the celebration of new months (Numbers 28:11-15).
b) The worship of the Lord each time a new month began was a good and acceptable activity.
4. “Now a New Moon shall devour them and their heritage”
a) There were people who did not merely celebrate the beginning of a new month but worshiped the Moon deity.
b) This corrupted the worship that God had planned for Israel.
The practice of false and corrupted worship would devour the nation. Their pure heritage would be destroyed!