Hosea 08: God Sees It All

"These boots were made for walking, and one of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you." The familiar country lyrics echo God's frustration in Hosea 8, where He confronts Israel's insincere worship with a startling message: "I see what you're doing when you act as though you love me, but really sin behind my back."

In this revealing episode of Bible Breakdown, Pastor Brandon guides us through this Old Testament "soap opera" where God positions Himself as the faithful husband who's simply had enough. The parallels to our modern faith journeys are uncomfortable yet necessary. How often do we read our Bibles, pray, and serve in church primarily to get God's attention or blessing rather than from genuine devotion? God's message through Hosea is clear and convicting – He sees our hearts, not just our religious performances.

The most challenging question emerges: Would you worship God if He never blessed you again? Would you give faithfully without receiving financial freedom in return? Would your service continue if you never witnessed His faithfulness on this side of heaven? These questions cut to the core of authentic faith. As Pastor Brandon vulnerably admits, we all sometimes approach God with mixed motives, yet the beautiful truth remains – even when we falter, God's reckless love continues to pursue us. His desire isn't for our religious performances but for genuine relationship.

Join us for this powerful exploration of Hosea 8 that will transform how you approach worship and deepen your understanding of God's unwavering love. Text RLCBIBLE to 94000 for daily podcast updates, and remember – God doesn't want a bartering system; He wants your heart.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, hello everybody .
Welcome back to the BibleBreakdown Podcast with your host
, pastor Brandon, today, hosea,chapter 8, and today's title is
God Sees it All.
God Sees it All.
This song or, excuse me, notthe song this chapter reminds me
of a couple of old countrysongs that we're going to get

(00:21):
into in just a moment, and youwere going to see how limited my
country song repertoire is, andI'd like to know down in the
comments if you can think of acountry song that would better
go with today's soap opera.
We'll get all that in just amoment, but if you want to open
up your Bibles with me to Hosea,chapter eight, while you're
doing that, make sure you takejust a moment to like, share and
subscribe to the YouTubechannel and the podcast.

(00:42):
Make sure you leave us afive-star review on the podcast
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over there and, as always, themore we dig, the more we find.
Also, because we constantlyhave new listeners.
I want to remind you about twothings that we have that,
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(01:04):
First of all, you can text theword RLCBIBLE, so RLC letters,
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(01:26):
devotionals that go along withit, because our goal is to make
it through the entire Bible andthen just continue to dig deeper
and deeper every time we read.
So make sure you check thoseout, okay.
Well, once again, if you'vebeen with us for a while, then
you know that the overall ideaof Hosea is God's reckless love,
and what we have seen here isit started off with this idea

(01:51):
where God told Hosea I want youto go and I want you to marry
this prostitute named Gomer, andI already had some people reach
out to me and just be like thisis just bizarre.
And the answer is you're right,it is bizarre and that is the
point is, god is helping us seein the most raw way possible
what it looks like with therelationship between him and his

(02:13):
people, because it's like theywent.
It's like, rather, hosea goesand gets Gomer, rescues her out
of a terrible life and all thesedifferent things, only for her
to go back to it again.
And then he goes and rescuesher all over again, and then
after that we've been seeingover the past few chapters where
God is saying this is what it'slike between me and you.

(02:36):
And God is positioning himselfa little bit like kind of the
fateful husband who's just hadenough.
And that's why we say that thisis kind of like a soap opera of
the, the fateful husband who'sjust had enough.
And that's why we say that thisis kind of like the, a soap
opera of the old testament, asthe days of our lives, uh, are
the days of our lives soap operaof the old testament, because
it's god is just saying I've hadenough.
I am this fateful husband, andthe only time you come back to

(02:59):
me is when you can't do nobetter.
And in today's chapter he'sgoing to be talking about this
idea of God seeing it all, andhe's going to talk about how you
keep coming back to me, but youdon't really mean it.
You don't really mean it at all.
And so it reminds me of thatold song.
You know, these boots were madefor walking, and one of these
days these boots are going towalk all over you and that's not

(03:22):
what God wants.
But he's saying you're playingme for a fool, and I know when
you're being sincere, I knowwhen you're not being sincere,
so quit it.
Because I see it all.
And so there's something kindof convicting about this.
And so we're going to read thistogether and I'm curious.
I want to know, in the commentsbelow, if you can think of a

(03:43):
better country song than theseboots were made for walking, to
go along with this, but also tosee the frustration, but yet the
endless, reckless love of Godin this.
So if you're ready, hosea,chapter 8, verse 1 says this
Sound the alarm.
The enemies descend like aneagle on the people of the Lord,

(04:03):
for they have broken mycovenant and revolted against my
law.
Now Israel pleads with me helpus, for you are our God, but
it's too late.
The people of Israel haverejected what is good, and now
their enemies will chase afterthem.
The people have appointed kingswithout my consent and princes

(04:24):
without my approval.
By making idols for themselvesfrom their silver and gold, they
have brought their owndestruction.
O Samaria, I have rejected thiscalf, this idol that you have
made.
My fury burns against you.
How long will you be incapableof innocence.

(04:44):
This calf you worship, o Israel, was crafted by your own hands.
It's not God.
Therefore, it must be smashedto bits.
They have planted the wind andwill harvest the whirlwind.
The stalks of grain wither andproduce nothing to eat.
And even if there is any grain,foreigners will eat it.

(05:06):
The people of Israel have beenswallowed up.
They lie among the nations likean old, discarded pot, like a
wild donkey looking for a mate.
They have gone up to Assyria.
The people of Israel have soldthemselves, sold themselves to
many lovers, but though theyhave sold themselves, israel has
built many altars to take awaysin, but these very altars

(05:38):
became places for sinning.
Even though I gave them my laws, they act as if those laws
don't apply to them.
The people love to offersacrifices to me, feasting on
the meat, but I do not acceptthese sacrifices.
I will hold my peopleaccountable for their sins and I
will punish them.

(05:59):
They will return to Egypt.
Israel has forgotten its makerand built great palaces, and
Judah has fortified its cities.
Therefore, I will send downfire on their cities and will
burn up their fortresses.
Wow, so, as you can see, god issaying I see what you're doing,

(06:22):
I see how you are acting asthough you love me, but really
you are sinning behind my back.
But I'm God, so I can tell whenyou're really turning your
heart toward me and really whenyou're just trying to get in my
good graces.
And can I tell you howconvicting that is?
It is so convicting because Iknow times in my life when I

(06:45):
have read my Bible, I haveprayed, I have given to the
church, I have served all ofthat because I was trying to get
God's attention, because Iwanted him to do something for
me All the while I wasn'tserving him with my heart.
You go ahead and polish yourhalo, but I'm going to be
truthful.
There's times when I do for Godbecause I want him to do back

(07:06):
for me, and the whole time Godis saying I see your heart and
your heart is actually what I'mafter.
So I would rather you love mewith your heart than to give me
all your stuff.
Now, to be true, god wants us toread his word and pray and talk
to him, but it's all aboutfellowship, not a bartering
system.
We don't read our Bible so thatGod will owe us.

(07:29):
We read God's word so we canencounter him, we can fellowship
with him.
We don't pray fast, give ourtithe and our offering.
We don't join in with thecommunity of faith so that God
owes us.
We do that because God loves us, and if we don't, he notices.
So here's maybe the applicationpoint for us today, and that is

(07:50):
this to take a moment and tothink about our motives.
When you worship God, are youdoing it simply because he's
good?
Would you worship Him if henever blessed you again?
Would you give faithfully ifyou never received any more type
of freedom in your finances?
Would you serve faithfully ifGod never opened your eyes to

(08:16):
see His faithfulness anymore onthis side of heaven?
Would you do that?
If not, ask yourself why Areyou serving God only because of
what he can give you, or are youserving God out of that pure
heart?
And here's the challenge.
He knows either way, and thething I love about God is, even
when we don't always serve himso faithfully, the reckless love

(08:38):
of God still searches after us.
What an amazing Savior we have.
Let's pray together right now.
God, thank you so much for today.
Thank you, god that you're withus and you're for us and always
, and God even in times when weget our motives messed up.
Your motives are not messed up.
You love us more than we canimagine.
I'm thankful for that.
Today, in Jesus' name, we prayamen and amen.

(09:01):
Well, god's word says in Hosea6, verse 6, I want you to show
love, not offer sacrifices.
I want you to know me more thanI want burnt offerings.
God's hope and plan for us isthat we'll experience his
reckless love and know him moreevery day.
I love you.
I'll see you tomorrow for Hosea, chapter 9.