We have been talking about how the book of Hosea being the story of God using Hosea’s life as an illustration for His relationship with His people. Hosea is instructed to marry a prostitute. He does and she leaves him.

The story resonates with us because we are able to identify with the hurt Hosea must feel. We see the parallel between Gomer’s unfaithfulness and our unfaithfulness to God.

In verse 4 we read that Israel’s actions are the kind of actions that do not result in repentance.

Remember, in chapter four we talked about repentance being the way an imperfect man can be counted faithful. When we fail we have two options:
1) We can hide the failure and pretend as if everything is fine.
2) We can acknowledge the failure, admit we are broken, and ask God for the strength to overcome our sin.

I think it is tempting - especially in an environment where people are free to admit their failures - to stay there. To get the failure off your chest. To just talk about it. Then feel better about yourself since you aren't hiding it anymore.

When we have secret sin - a lot of the mental torture stems from the fact that we are isolated. We may feel guilty for what we are doing, but everything in life is worse when we face it alone.

So we create an environment that you are able to speak about your failures without judgment. The temptation can be to get the weight off your chest by admitting your failures - but when you see people will accept you in spite of your failures - to remain in the bondage of your failures.

This reveals in us what we are reading in Hosea 5. The admission is not driven by our hearts yearning for God. We are more tortured by our solitude than by our sin.

Our desire should be to honor God. We should be looking for more than acceptance from the people around us. We should desire a pure heart. We should desire to honor God in our thoughts and in our actions. So - even though you will be accepted and genuinely loved at Kerygma - no matter how big you fail - you should still be pursuing God’s heart.
Find accountability from those who love you and don't allow their acceptance of you to minimize the failure.

So we were talking about the two options we have when we fail. We said you can either:
1) Hide the failure and pretend as if everything is fine.
2) Acknowledge the failure, admit we are broken, and ask God for the strength to overcome our sin.


We are all tempted to keep our sins and failures private. It is human nature. Even in an environment where we try to keep it safe for people to admit they've failed - people don't want to admit it.

There are a number of reasons for why people don’t want to admit their failures, but the root of all them is pride. We don’t want to admit we are weak. We are embarrassed. We think people will think less of us.
Whatever the reason, pride is at the root of it.

Verse 6 says that God opposes the proud. Why?
We find the answer in the rest of the text. Prideful people don’t submit to God (v7). Prideful people will not draw near to God (v8).

Surrendering to God requires the realization that on our own we tend to make a mess out of our lives. Humility allow us to confess our sins because - even if people don’t accept us after our admission - our desire is to be faithful to God.

The text says if we confess our sins there is forgiveness and there is healing, but when we fail to confess our sins we will not prosper or obtain mercy.

Ultimately, when we hide our failures, we are closing our hearts to God. We are shutting the doors of our hearts so that others will not be able to walk with us.

The thought that we can close ourselves off to God - and to the support others could offer - and be ok is arrogant.

But what if we choose to acknowledge our failure? We read that the scripture says there is healing and forgiveness when we choose this option.

The man or woman who is willing to put their reputation and the acceptance of their friends on the line by confessing their failures, shows they are most committed to honoring God.

This is what God was looking for out of Israel in verse 4.

[4] Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God. For the spirit of whoredom is within them, and they know not the LORD.

Israel was unable to repent. They could not turn from their rebellion because the text says their whoredom was within them. Their hearts were not after God. They didn’t desire to honor God. They were wanting to live as their own gods. Chasing what felt good to them and living by their own rules.

In this text we get the imagery of God returning home and waiting. Notice, He never said there is no hope. He never implied that He was done with Israel. Even in all of their sin and rebellion, God is waiting for them to seek Him.

One thing that gets lost in the generic definition of the gospel as “good news” is that the Gospel is for you. The gospel needs to have personal implications for those who read it and hear it. The death of Christ was for you. His death was meant to atone for your sins.