Call to Return to Covenant Faithfulness
- Mar 14
- 10 min read
Updated: Mar 16
Date: 15 March 2026, 9.30 am
Speaker: Eld Elgin Chan Sermon Text: Hosea 5:8 – 7:16
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TRANSCRIPT
Background of Hosea’s ministry: Refer to Slide
Timeline of Hosea & Israel: Refer to Slide
Key Theme:
God exposes the covenant unfaithfulness of His people, not to destroy them, but to heal, restore, and draw them back to Himself.
Hosea shows us the heart of God—a God who is holy enough to confront sin, yet loving enough to go after His wayward & unfaithful people: it showcases God’s covenant love & faithfulness for His wayward people.
Introduction:
Book of Hosea reveals one of the clearest pictures of God’s covenant love in Scripture.
Israel as a nation has drifted far from God: hearts divided; worship mixed with idolatry & worship of pagan gods; allegiance to God is shallow and undercut by ungodly political alliances with pagan nations (Egypt & Assyria).
In Hosea 5:8–7:16, God speaks through the prophet to expose the nation’s spiritual sickness and call them back to repentance.
This passage shows:
God’s grief at His people’s unfaithfulness
God’s discipline when they refuse to return to Him.
God’s desire to heal, revive, and restore them
God’s grief, discipline & desire: all rolled into one to reveal the holy tension within God’s heart towards His wayward people; much like some parents who experience the same emotional tension when their grown-up children insist on going their own ways and living their own sinful lifestyle.
Spiritual Mirror: Hosea’s message is likened to a spiritual mirror reflecting the woeful spiritual state, not only of ancient Israel but that of every believer and the Church at large.
Preamble to Sermon: God’s Charge vs Israel (Hosea 4:1,2)
“Charge” (NIVUK): Controversy (ESV; NKJV); Dispute, Indictment, Lawsuit (other Bible versions)
Courtroom setting: Hosea wants his audience to imagine themselves in a courtroom setting, where God is the chief Protagonist or leading Character leading the charge against unfaithful Israel.
Hosea tells us that at the conclusion of God’s charge against His unfaithful people, the divine evidence is overwhelming and the verdict by the heavenly court of justice: Israel is guilty of breaking her covenant relationship with God.
Hosea goes further to tell us that this is no longer just about Gomer's unfaithfulness. From Chapter 4 onwards, Hosea’s prophetic message is about an entire nation that has sold herself to spiritual adultery, who turns away from worshipping the true God of Israel to worshipping pagan gods and who neglects moral and social justice.
1Hear the Word of the Lord, you Israelites, because the Lord has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: “There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land. 2There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed (Hosea 4:1,2 NIVUK)
Sermon Outline:
Focus: God’s Charge vs Israel’s Unfaithfulness (Hosea 4:1,2)
A) Israel’s Spiritual Sickness Exposed (Hosea 5:8–15)
B) Israel’s Hollowness Exposed (Hosea 6:1–6)
C) Israel’s Corruption Exposed (6:7–7:7)
D) Israel’s Compromise Exposed (7:8–16)
E) Closing Challenge
A) Israel’s Spiritual Sickness Exposed (Hosea 5:8-15)
1. The Trumpet of Warning (5:8)
Here, we see God begins the charge against Israel with His trumpet of warning in Chpt 5:8. Verse 8 is the key to unlocking the pattern of Israel’s unfaithfulness as God’s chosen but wayward people, so I shall elaborate a bit more on the significance of verse 8.
“Blow the horn in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah. Sound the alarm at Beth-aven; we follow you, O Benjamin!” (v8).
Trumpet & Ram’s horn (shofar): a trumpet made from a ram’s horn is called ‘shofar’ in Jewish; later versions of trumpets were made from silver or bronze. Trumpets were deeply embedded in spiritual & cultural practices of Israel; used as effective means to rally people to God or to battles.
Purpose: call to worship; to convene urgent assemblies; to signal impending threat & call for immediate action; to enthrone incoming kings; to precede army in battles (role of trumpets in the fall of ancient city of Jericho under Joshua’s leadership).
Sounding of trumpet in one key city was alarming enough. But when God called for the sounding of trumpets in 3 key cities, it truly underscores the widespread nature of the impending threats facing Israel as a nation and the call for immediate attention and action.
Beth-aven: “house of wickedness” - infamous name for Bethel or “house of God” named by Jacob after he met God in a vision (Gen 28:10-22). Sadly, from a place of godly worship during Jacob’s lifetime, it has turned into a centre of pagan worship during Hosea’s time: sign of spiritual adultery by unfaithful Israel.
“we follow you O Benjamin!” (v8b):
Why the mention of Benjamin?
Smallest of 12 Tribes, but was best known for her fighting skills & military capability dating back to the days of the Judges.
Local Context: Tribe of Benjamin is called “Chilli-Padi Tribe”: small but spicy (similar to Singapore as a little red dot which punches above her weight in international arena).
Benjamin’s contribution: Saul, first king of Israel was a Benjamite. After Saul's death, Benjamin was instrumental in uniting with southern tribe of Judah to establish the unified kingdom under king David (2 Sam 2)), with Jerusalem as its capital, a city of immense political & religious significance to both Israel and Judah.
Biblical Significance of Places Mentioned
Gibeah: city of king Saul (1 Sam 10:26)
Ramah: burial place of Rachel (Jer 31:15) & ancestral home and residence of prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 15:34,35)
Beth-aven: from “house of God” to “house of wickedness” sign of spiritual adultery by unfaithful Israel.
Gibeah, Ramah, Bethel: former strongholds of theocratic worship under godly forefathers (Jacob, Joshua, Samuel) but degenerated into strongholds of pagan worship under ungodly kings after the death of Solomon and the break-up of the unified kingdom: alarming sign of spiritual apostasy.
2. Israel’s Sin of Syncretism (5:10–14)
“When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria, and sent to the great king. But he is not able to cure you or heal your wound” (v13)
Ephraim (Israel): has committed the sin of Syncretism (amalgamation of different religions, cultures, or schools of thought). They have shown misplaced trust:
In political alliances (with Assyria, a rising superpower)
In idols (worship of pagan gods)
In their own strength & wisdom
Theocracy (system of govt where God is their Ruler & King) was diluted and mixed with pagan worship and practices, whereby the God of Israel is just one of many pagan gods at their call and disposal.
3. God withdraws to awaken His people (5:14,15)
Next, we see God’s contention against His unfaithful people by withdrawing His presence & protection after punishing Israel for her sins of backsliding. This divine punishment refers to the coming invasion and destruction of Israel by the Assyrian army in 722 BC.
“For I will be like a lion to Ephraim…I, even I, will tear and go away…I will return again to My place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face, and in their distress earnestly seek me.” (vv14,15).
Here, we see God stepping back as a powerful lion after punishing Israel, that they may awake after being disciplined and seek Him for restoration. This clearly reveals the holiness and mercy of God, as sums up by a Bible Commentary:
“Judgment & Mercy are two sides of God’s unwavering commitment to restore a wayward people to Himself”.
B) Israel’s Hollowness Exposed (Hosea 6:1–6)
Next, we see God leading the charge against Israel’s Hollowness by exposing her hollow public confession.
1. Hollow Confession Exposed (6:1–3)
The people say: “Come, let us return to the Lord; for He has torn us, that He may heal us; He has struck us down, and He will bind us up.” (v1)
Hosea tells us that God sees through their hollow and insincere words merely as outward display of their religious piety. He knows that, deep down, their hearts aren’t truly repentant. Here, we are reminded of our Lord Jesus’ caution in the Sermon of the Mount (Matthews 5:37) to let our “Yes” be “Yes!” and our “No” be “No!”, for anything more than this comes from the evil one. In other words, “Say what you mean and mean what you say.”
2. Hollow Love Exposed (6:4)
Next, God exposes their hollow love for Him:
“What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away.” (6:4)
Hosea tells us that Israel’s hollow love for God is likened to the morning dew - beautiful at sunrise but gone by noon. That is how superficial their love is for the God of Israel who has protected them and their forefathers from their enemies and who has provided for all their material and spiritual needs.
3. Hollow Ritual Exposed (6:6)
Next, God exposes their hollow ritual before Him:
“For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings….” (v6)
God’s Desire for us:
Relationship, not Routine.
Sincerity of heart, not outward Sacrifice/Ritual.
C) Israel’s Corruption Exposed (6:7–7:7)
Next, God exposes Israel’s Corruption as Covenant-Breakers:
1. Covenant-Breakers (6:7)
“7 But like Adam they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt faithlessly with Me” (v7)
Israel’s faithlessness is intentional, not accidental. God says they are covenant-breakers, just like the first Adam at the Garden of Eden.
2. Corrupt Leaders (6:8–9)
“8 Gilead is a city of evildoers, tracked with blood” (v8)
City of Gilead: was a famous city of refuge during Joshua’s reign (Joshua 20:8) but had since become a “city of evildoers” in Hosea’s time.
3. Passion without Purity (7:4–7)
“4 They are all adulterers; they are like a heated oven…” (7:4)
Israel is compared to:
An overheated oven left unattended and burning all night, a picture of their wild and unrestrained passion and lust.
Burning with passion, not for God but for sinful pleasures.
Their hearts burn with the wrong fire (fire of ungodly passion).
Paul uses the same image of “burning lust” in 1 Corinthians 7:9: “but if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion” (sexual lust).
D) Israel’s Compromise Exposed (7:8–16)
1. Compromise with Pagan Nations (7:8)
8 Ephraim mixes himself with the peoples; Ephraim is a cake not turned” (7:8)
Israel’s identity as God’s chosen people is compromised by their ungodly alliances with Egypt and Assyria and their evil scheme of playing one superpower against the other. Hosea tells us that they are likened to a half-baked cake which cannot be eaten but has to be thrown away.
Like Israel, the spirit of compromise is also affecting churches in our 21st Century. The desire to be God’s people and the world’s people is very real and tempting. The desire to have the best of established Christianity and worldly success is the very thing that our Lord Jesus Himself warns us, “You cannot serve both God and Mammon” (Matthews 6:24).
2. Unnoticed Spiritual Decline (7:9)
“9 Gray hairs are sprinkled upon him, and he know it not” (7:9)
Hosea is painting a picture of unnoticed spiritual decline in Israel, like an old man who still thinks he is young, strong and independent. This is not to belittle the seniors in our midst who are trying to keep themselves fit and healthy. Rather, it is the picture of an arrogant old man who does not realise that age has caught up with him and his muscles and joints are no longer able to show off the muscular strength and heavy lifting as he once used to boast to others around him.
The story of Samson in the Book of Judges illustrates this sad picture of spiritual backsliding and decline when he repeatedly flirts with ungodly women that led the Holy Spirit to leave him, thus exposing him to unnecessary evils and dangers. Like Samson, the nation of Israel finds herself:
Drifting slowly, with gradual backsliding.
Not realizing how far from God they’ve gone. Here, we see God’s warning of the sin of Pride and Presumption that cause the downfall of Israel as a nation and Samson as a man of God.
3. Fake Repentance (7:14)
“They cry to Me, but not with their hearts.”
They want God’s blessing, not God Himself. They desire the gift but not the Giver.
“16 They return, but not upward; they are like a treacherous bow;” (7:16).
Like some of us, Israel, as a nation, sees their problem, but not their sin. They turn and return in every direction: from heated and polarised politics to ungodly alliances with pagan powers, and to idol worship of pagan gods, but not to the true God. They are like a treacherous or faulty bow that cannot shoot an arrow straight. Everything they do misses the mark that God desires of them: repentance, healing and restoration as God’s chosen people.
The Bible’s antidote to fake repentance is found in 2 Chronicles 7:14 “if My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” God is calling His people to come to Him with a genuine, humble and contrite heart, as psalmist David testifies: “a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”
Closing Challenge:
1. Examine your heart, not just your habits.
It’s possible to attend church and still drift spiritually. Hosea calls us to ask:
Do I truly love God?
Or am I just doing spiritual routines? Real danger of self-deception.
2. Beware of “gray hairs”: slow spiritual decline & backsliding.
People rarely fall suddenly.Spiritual Drifting & Backsliding: often is slow, subtle, unnoticed.
May you ask God humbly & sincerely to show you where you have drifted, that you may return to Him whole-heartedly. God’s promise in Jeremiah 29:13 stills hold true for all seekers: “You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.”
3. Return to God with sincerity, not with speeches.
God desires:
Honesty
Humility
A heart that truly seeks Him. May the Holy Spirit help our heart to be sensitive to God’s Word, which is the spiritual compass to point us back to God.
Reflection Questions:
Where do I see signs of slow spiritual decline in my life? Have I been seeking God Himself, or just His blessings?
Which areas of my faith may be more ritual than relationship?
What would sincere repentance look like for me today? How can I return to God with honesty, humility, and a renewed heart?
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