“I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early,” Hosea 5:15.
No one can accuse the Lord of not warning his people clearly of the consequences of backsliding and heeding the errors of those who reject the truth of God.
In verse 11 of this chapter 5 of Hosea, the prophet says: “Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he willingly walked after the commandment.” The ‘commandment’ referred to here is that of which the reprobate king, Jeroboam who ruled the ten northern tribes, called the kingdom of Israel, following the division which took place after the death of Solomon, introduced. He is frequently referred to as “Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin,” 1 Kings 14:16. What a dreadful epitaph to have inscribed by the Lord upon your gravestone!
The sin that he introduced was the worship of the golden calves. The commandment Jeroboam issued is recorded in 1 Kings 12:28-30. “Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan. And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.”
He instituted that which was contrary to God’s Word and promoted a great departure from the Lord in his kingdom. That departure, that apostasy, cost Israel dearly as our text states.
I. HOW SLOW MEN ARE TO REALISE THAT TO DEPART FROM THE WORD OF GOD RESULTS IN HIS WITHDRAWING OF HIS MERCY!
Man has ever believed that he can sin and never suffer any consequences. (more…)