God's Pleasures are Better than Sin's

Hosea chapter 7 is perhaps the toughest assessment against Israel thus far. God is thoroughly distressed over their rebellion, sin, lies, and wickedness.

Hosea 7:1–2 (ESV) when I would heal Israel, the iniquity of Ephraim is revealed, and the evil deeds of Samaria, for they deal falsely; the thief breaks in, and the bandits raid outside. 2 But they do not consider that I remember all their evil. Now their deeds surround them; they are before my face.

The first verse seems to suggest that God would heal Israel, but their sins are overwhelming them. In the NLT, it reads:

Hosea 7:1–2 (NLT) “I want to heal Israel, but its sins are too great. Samaria is filled with liars. Thieves are on the inside and bandits on the outside! 2 Its people don’t realize that I am watching them. Their sinful deeds are all around them, and I see them all.

Sin was everywhere, surrounding them, dominating their whole nation. God's healing does not arrive on their terms (Hosea 6:1-3) but on the Lord's, and this nation wanted nothing to do with Him. 

Hosea 7:3–4 (ESV) By their evil they make the king glad, and the princes by their treachery. 4 They are all adulterers; they are like a heated oven whose baker ceases to stir the fire, from the kneading of the dough until it is leavened.

Hosea declares that the evil of the nation actually entertains the king. He wants them to do more. Then Hosea describes them like a heated oven that hasn't even needed stoking; their own lusts burn within them and make their desire for evil unquenchable. 

Their lust for sin is so enflamed that it has cost them kings and blinded them to the help that could be theirs from the Lord. 

Hosea 7:6–7 (ESV) For with hearts like an oven they approach their intrigue; all night their anger smolders; in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire. 7 All of them are hot as an oven, and they devour their rulers. All their kings have fallen, and none of them calls upon me.

Then a series of metaphors appear, which represent a cake left alone and unattended by the baker as a picture of Israel's spiritual mold. 

Hosea 7:8–9 (ESV) Ephraim mixes himself with the peoples; Ephraim is a cake not turned. 9 Strangers devour his strength, and he knows it not; gray hairs are sprinkled upon him, and he knows it not.

The nation was so preoccupied with the idolatry of the nations around them that they forsook the prosperity that could have been theirs from the Lord. Consequently, moldy hair appeared on "their cake", and they didn't even realize what they missed. 

The chapter outlines something true about sin. Sin blinds us to the pleasures that God wants to provide us. We can get so caught in the false idols of the age, believing them to be the true treasure, we actually miss the fact that God's treasure, which lasts, would be so much more!

This is the reason every Christian wants to war against sin in their life! It robs you, and it rots what God would give you. 

God says this is just foolish:

Hosea 7:11–12 (ESV) Ephraim is like a dove, silly and without sense, calling to Egypt, going to Assyria. 12 As they go, I will spread over them my net; I will bring them down like birds of the heavens; I will discipline them according to the report made to their congregation.

Hosea 7:15 (ESV) Although I trained and strengthened their arms, yet they devise evil against me.

There is only loss in the longing for the things of this world for the Christian. We are called to experience the endless pleasures God gives, without regret or disaster. Turn to Him, receive strength in the fight against your own flesh and let God clothe you in the blessing of His faithful love.