Friday Faithfuls Two: Hosea

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

So we'll just pretend that today is yesterday and this is actually a Friday post, lol.  Still catching up after the travels...

In the spirit of transparency, I have to confess that the verse that first jumped out to me from the book of Hosea is not the verse I am posting today.  I wrangled with it a bit and decided that I could not just put it up without a lot of background researching; otherwise, it would just sound like I am putting forth an agenda.  So I have filed that away and will likely do a whole study on that concept later, so I have a 'whole Bible' perspective and not a 'weekly verse' perspective.

So.  Back to the beginning and taking a second look, here's the verse that struck me  next:

For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings. Hos. 6:6 NIV84

Hosea was prophesying to the divided kingdom prior to and through the defeat and exile of the northern kingdom; warning them of the consequences of their continued idolatry.  But, see, the folks weren't really serving the idols INSTEAD of serving God, they were trying to serve the idols AND God.

Covering their bets, in a way.  Which pretty much means that they considered the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to be the rough equivalent of Baal, Ashtoreth, and Molech.  They were keeping up the appearances of following the sacrifices and such the Law required but...it was not out of understanding who God was and what he required of them.  It was out of duty; believing that if they just did the religious stuff God was obligated to take care of them.  Like, if they brought the sacrifices HE required,  they would be free to go do whatever else they felt would be beneficial to them.

It is no wonder that God compared their actions to that of an unfaithful spouse.  That's the main theme of Hosea.

The religious activities were useless without a true acknowledgment of the One they were honoring.

That's worth repeating.

Religious activities (whatever they might be) are useless without a true acknowledgment of the One those activities are meant to honor.

And a true acknowledgment means...honoring him in the rest of one's life, aside from the purely religious activities.  Because if God is not honored on a regular basis in how we make decisions, spend money,  treat others, etc., then the formality of religion is not really worth much.