Jesus pointed out the fallacy of trying to serve two masters.
“No one can serve two masters, for a slave will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth” (Matthew 6.24).
Jesus came 700 years after Hosea’s ministry, but Hosea understood the concept Jesus taught. It is quite clear in the first commandment that humans can only have but one God.
The first of the Ten Commandments states: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20.2-3).
Hosea told his audience that a divided loyalty to God is not true loyalty at all. Unless God is our only God, we have no salvation, since there is no Savior apart from Him.
Yet I have been the Lord your God
ever since the land of Egypt;
you know no God but me,
and besides me there is no savior. (Hosea 13.4)
I heard a preacher say, back in the day when people still used checkbooks, that if you show me someone’s checkbook, I can tell you about their spiritual life.
What he’s getting at is: is God our God, or is money our God? We show it by what happens to the money we make.
John Calvin illustrates a similar point when he says, “While most people seek happiness, few seek it in God.” If we’re looking for happiness outside of God, we are trying to blend our worship of God with our ideal of happiness.
Both of these illustrations suggest to us that we do well to evaluate whether God our God or whether are we attempting to serve two masters.
Not Satisfied
Reading the prophets is of great value to us as they insightfully analyze the human condition. For example, in God’s interactions with Israel, we see His loving care in meeting needs.
However, despite God’s care, we often respond with pride and neglect our relationship with Him.
It was I who fed you in the wilderness,
in the land of drought.
When I fed them, they were satisfied;
they were satisfied, and their heart was proud;
therefore they forgot me. (Hosea 13.5-6)
These verses depict God as a loving father, providing for His children. Yet, the response He often receives is one of pride and neglect.
C.S. Lewis was right when he said, “Prosperity knits a man to the world. He feels that he is ‘finding his place in it,’ while it is finding its place in him.”
Once again, Jesus and the Ten Commandments establish a standard for us: God must be paramount. We should have only one master, and He is our Savior, the Lord Himself.
Payday Someday
The famous Baptist preacher R.G. Lee delivered a sermon titled “Payday Someday,” which was fitting for Hosea’s audience. They believed they could overcome challenges and sustain their prosperity.
However, Hosea’s message was unequivocal: their day of reckoning was inevitable.
Ephraim’s iniquity is bound up;
his sin is kept in store.
The pangs of childbirth come for him,
but he is an unwise son,
for at the proper time he does not present himself
at the mouth of the womb.
Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol?
Shall I redeem them from Death?
O Death, where are your plagues?
O Sheol, where is your destruction?
Compassion is hidden from my eyes. (Hosea 13.12-14)
Israel’s iniquity and lack of wisdom affect them like a child who cannot be born. The nation may be full of potential, but it is unrealized because they lack the wisdom and the faithfulness to God to follow through with His plans for their lives.
Hosea concludes this passage with a note of judgment. Interestingly, when Paul uses the same phrase, it becomes a message of hope, thanks to God’s grace.
When this perishable body puts on imperishability and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled:
“Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15.54-57).
In response to reading Hosea and the great news of the New Testament, I have two reactions:
First, I want to express gratitude to God for His grace and worship Him, the One who loves me and sacrificed Himself for me.
Second, I choose to not to take His grace for granted.
YouTube Video
Rudy Ross and I discuss this passage on YouTube today. It is on the Bob Spradling channel.
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