Title: When My Life Creeks
Contents
Title: When My Life Creeks
(January 14, 2007, Sunday worship service, Hosea continuous expository sermon, main text: Hosea 9:1-9)
Here's a common course of action parents take when their children make a mistake:
① Praise and encouragement: First, praise and encourage. Trust, love, and encouragement, even if you're wrong, will usually change your behavior (Pygmalion Effect).
② Pointing out wrongdoing: However, in some cases, there is no constant change, rather, it does not care about it, and there are cases where it becomes more and more serious. Then point out the error. When pointing out, it does not blaspheme the whole character, but specifically reminds you of what you did wrong.
③ A warning about discipline: There are children who still do not realize. Then there is a warning about corporal punishment. “Yeah, this guy, if you make the same mistake again, you can get a teen in the ass with this rod.”
④ Actual discipline: No matter how much warning you give, you can make mistakes over and over again. Then, you must do what you have been warned. This is because if you do not follow the warnings, you will never listen to your parents again. At this point, it's actually hitting.
⑤ Confirmation of love: After hitting and chasing, you need to hug and pray. Explain that the reason parents beat their children is not because they hate them, but because they love them and expect them to grow up right. Only then can the discipline be effective.
The entire structure of the book of Hosea today is going through the process of raising children as above.
① Ho1-3: Using Hosea’s family as an educational material to reveal God’s love (praise and encouragement).
② Hos 4-7: Expose Israel's sinful nature in detail (pointing out errors).
③ Hos 8-10: Prophecy of Israel’s destruction and judgment (warning against error)
④ Ho 11-13: Israel’s declaration of destruction and war (actually disciplinary action)
⑤ Ho 14: Prophecy of restoration (confirmation of love)
Today's text Hosea 9 warns against discipline. Because of Israel's iniquity, the people will be punished this and that Through these words, we can think about what kind of sign God sends when we make a mistake. These signs are also signs that tell me that I have a disease.
So, what are the signs that God sends when I am wrong, that is, when my life is creaking?
① Economic loss (Sections 2 and 6)
Agricultural harvests will decrease, and grapes, olive oil, and wine will be cut off and diminished. Verse 6 also speaks of complete economic bankruptcy. This is not the case, but I need to think deeply about whether the financial loss is a sign of God's punishment for my mistake.
② Slavery (v. 3)
Jehovah's land is a land full of freedom and abundance. However, from this land, they will be taken back to Egypt and live like a beggar in Assyria. If you are captive, bound, addicted, or obsessed with something, it may be a sign of God.
③ Loss of God’s presence (verses 4-5)
We cannot offer true worship to God. The offerings offered by the people of Israel are unclean and are not accepted by God, like “the food of the colossus.” 'The colossal' means 'a person who has been pictured', and according to the Old Testament, a dead body is unclean for religious symbols and medical reasons. Even if you pray, you cannot feel God, and you cannot meet God in the Word.
④ Distrust and resentment toward the pastor (verses 7-8)
They ridicule ‘prophets’ and ‘god-impressed ones’, accuse them of being crazy, and tell them that what they do is not good for them. They despise, ignore, and distrust their right teachings. If there is a problem in the relationship with those who testify of the Word and who have completely devoted themselves to the work of the Lord, it is most likely that there is a problem in the relationship with God. It is a sign that we are sick and that God's discipline will soon come.
It says that the sins of Israel are the same as the “age of Gibeah” (verse 9, Judges 19). Maybe my condition, our condition, is not like that, so we have to look to see if there are various signs that God's punishment will come.