Unfaithfulness Series

Verse 8 God then tells the people of Israel how they have been unfaithful to Him. The have failed to acknowledge that all things come from God and instead has given credit and worship to Baal. Israel knew that it was God who had provided all their needs in the wilderness and brought them to a land flowing with milk and honey, with all rich provisions, but in their adultery they gave their praise and thanks to their lovers. Friends how many of you give credit for all the things in your life to God? How often have you thanked God for His bountiful blessings upon your life? We are quick to apportion the blame to God when things go wrong or illness comes but rarely do we hear ‘work of God’ when blessings come.

Verses 9-13 God outlines the punishment that Israel will face for such spiritual adultery. Note in these verses how God states ‘my wine…my grain’ etc. Showing Israel that the things for which they worshipped Baal were in fact belonging to God and in His gift and not Baals. The punishment of verses 9-13 is unsparing but it is not unjust. The picture is of a bleak prospect as harvests failed and the land returned to wild. The implication is clear – if God removes His hand of blessing and provision from the land it will quickly become a desolate place. The result will be desolation for the land and decimation of the people. Israel has worshipped Baal when they should have been worshipping the true and living God (verse 11). The feasts given to cement their relationship with the living God they had turned into a time of adultery by worshipping Baal and so God will remove the opportunities for festivity by withholding the harvests. The withdrawal of all provisions would bring Israel to her senses and to the knowledge of God.

Israel had wilfully abandoned their knowledge of God’s provision in the past and sought to meet their needs in an alien faith and god. The result is physical and spiritual destitution which, thankfully, brings them back to clear-sighted knowledge of the provision of God. The Baals will be unable to help her because they are dead wood, dumb idols and false gods.

Verse 13 – you see when Gomer put on the cosmetics and jewellery of prostitution and went chasing after other lovers she had forgotten all about Hosea. It is not that she denied him she just forgot him. It is not that she didn’t know she was married and had children she just chose to forget them. Israel had done the same spiritually. She had forgotten God and the covenant and went chasing after other lovers/gods. It was the forgetting of the relationship and covenant that made it possible for Gomer to commit adultery and for Israel to commit spiritual adultery. It was not the forgetfulness of facts but of a relationship that was at the heart of all of this. And so it is in your life and my life when we go chasing after other lovers/gods and commit adultery in our lives – we forget our relationship with God at that moment. To forget God is to acknowledge that there is no longer an intimate personal relationship with God and that is at the heart of all spiritual adultery and idolatry. In warning to Israel, and us, God says in response to this He will block her paths (v8), take away his gifts (v9), expose her for all to see (v10), put a stop to the festivals (v11), ruin the crops (v12) and punish her infidelity (v13). Friends, do you see how seriously God takes spiritual adultery amongst His people. This punishment is comprehensive in its reach because spiritual adultery is comprehensive in its reach.