Have you ever felt led to do something and couldn’t see the immediate reason why in front of your face?
This is how I feel about continuing on in Hosea. Maybe in a few years I’ll know why I feel like He won’t let me off the hook. Maybe I’ll never know.
Let’s dive in together…
“Don’t point your finger at someone else
and try to pass the blame!
My complaint, you priests,
is with you…
When the people bring their sin offerings, the priests get fed.
So the priests are glad when the people sin!” (Hosea 4:4, 8)
I don’t know any Israelite priests, but I have known many pastors. Pastors who genuinely love Jesus and desire to lead their people well. I can honestly say that knowing each of them has shed light on our Savior in a unique way and enriched my walk with Him. I am so grateful.
I have also had so many kind, beautiful-hearted women invest in me. Women who loved me when I wasn’t lovable and challenged me to keep seeking Him. Women who have cried with me and prayed with me and been honest with me when honesty was what I needed.
I say all that because I want to make sure and say I have no bitterness in my heart at any spiritual leaders that have ever been a part of my life. Not only that, but in a way that freaks me out, I have some women I get to invest in and for whom I will have to answer to God. And I would have no room to throw stones.
But I also know that if I am going to do the book of Hosea justice, I cannot ignore what God tells us in these verses, some that follow, and in chapter 5:
Leadership is serious business.
And spiritual leadership is a huge responsibility before God.
But let’s back up a smidge on the meaning of verses 4 and 8.
Leviticus 6:24-27 says:
“Then the Lord said to Moses,
‘Give Aaron and his sons the following instructions regarding the sin offering.
The animal given as an offering for sin is a most holy offering, and it must be slaughtered in the Lord’s presence at the place where the burnt offerings are slaughtered. The priest who offers the sacrifice as a sin offering must eat his portion in a sacred place within the courtyard of the Tabernacle. Anyone or anything that touches the sacrificial meat will become holy.'”
Israel’s sacrificial system had incredibly detailed instructions. It was most holy because Yahweh wanted His people to take it seriously.
So you can see why He would be upset if His priests were not treating their position with the care it deserved. The priests were the ones who ate part of the sin offering. They were getting to eat choice meat. And so they were “glad when the people sinned.”
How that must have broken His heart! Not only were His people sinning, but those who were the mediators were happy about it.
Or as a friend put it, “It is one thing to hurt my feelings…it’s another to enjoy hurting my feelings.”
And the unfortunate result:
“And what the priests do, the people also do.” (Hosea 4:9 NLT)
Leading is intimidating. Many days I want to run and hide from it.
But the beauty of spiritual leadership is we are under Him. His blood covers us. His grace cleanses shame or fear or pride or anger. He makes us new, day by day.
And, as always, most beautiful of all is that we’re not the Ultimate Leader. We point to Someone Else and get to be those broken clay pots that prove – over and over – the all-surpassing greatness will never be us.
It is Him.
Let’s keep pointing to Him.
There are two more verses I want to focus on. Verse 16 in chapter 4 and verse 15 in chapter 5.
But first let’s chat about chapter 5. It opens with this:
“Hear this, you priests.
Pay attention, you leaders of Israel.
Listen, you members of the royal family.
Judgment has been handed down against you.
For you have led the people into a snare
by worshiping the idols at Mizpah and Tabor.” (Hosea 5:1 NLT)
If chapter 4 hit the priests hard, chapter 5 includes the other leaders: the royalty and the government.
Likewise, maybe we’re not designated spiritual leaders. But we all have a realm where our effective will is done. We all have influence.
And even more, if we are Believers then we are spiritual leaders. We may not be Levitical priests, but we are a chosen people and a royal priesthood. Those around will be looking at us to see what God is like. Is He real? Present? Does He care? Change us? Make our lives worth living?
And Who is this Jesus? Most people who read the gospels are drawn to Him. He’s not what one would think God would be like if He were to walk around on planet earth with us.
He’s so much better than our expectations.
Can we show the world this, Believers? Through the power of the Spirit of the Living God within us, can we show them that the God of the Universe, in Jesus the Nazarene, is so much better than their expectations?
Okay, let’s get down to those two verses I mentioned:
“The people of Israel are as stubborn as mules. How can I feed them like lambs in a meadow?” (Hosea 4:16 GNT)
…and…
“They will seek my face; in their misery they will earnestly seek me.” (Hosea 5:15b NIV)
Can I ask you something? Have you ever had to rebuke someone? Did you enjoy it? Look forward to it?
Or did you throw up? Shake with dread but obey anyway?
Can I suggest something? I think there are a lot of verses that point to how God doesn’t enjoy rebuking His people.
Did you see why He’s calling them stubborn mules? It’s because He wants to feed them like lambs in a meadow.
And when He brings the misery of their sin upon them? So they will turn and earnestly seek His face.
He is a Good Father. His discipline is not out of meanness but His love.
It seems to me that the goal of our Just King is not destruction, but restoration.
Even Jesus, in His righteous anger, cried out:
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.” (Matthew 23:37)
God insists on His ways because He knows they are for our good.
And He really, really loves us.