Hosea 5:6 NASB
They will go with their flocks and herds
To seek the Lord, but they will not find Him;
He has withdrawn from them.
Is that possible that someone seeks the Lord and cannot find Him?
Is it possible that a prodigal son or daughter who returns to the Father will not receive an answer?
Has not the Lord Himself said:
Luke 11:9 NASB
So I say to you,
ask, and it will be given to you;
seek, and you will find;
knock, and it will be opened to you.
But here it is said: they will seek Him, but will not find it.
Why not?
Well, because they search the wrong way.
Fruitless sacrifices.
They come with sheep and cattle.
To buy off their sin in this way.
To please the Lord in this way.
They, as it were, want to try, to bribe Him.
But then, respectfully, He is not at home.
God can not be bribed.
When you go to Him with a broken heart and a defeated spirit, you will always get an answer.
He who comes to Him in this way, He will not cast out.
We can well imagine that Judah, which has so far been left untouched, agrees with this preaching of Hosea. “Those sinners, they don’t deserve any better!” they may have thought.
But in this chapter they are also involved in the judgment.
The fall of God’s people is total, and so is the punishment.
But there is no one to repent.
They faithfully come to the temple with their sacrifices, but the Lord does not like it. He is disgusted by their actions. He is primarily concerned with their hearts.
There is also a lot of sacrifice among us.
Sometimes it seems that people want to outdo each other in this.
You can also sometimes see this phenomenon in the churches.
And in the church magazine you can sometimes read: ‘A congregation that lives gives!
I hope that Church members don’t think that the reverse of this statement is also true.
Revelation 3:1 NASB
To the angel of the church in Sardis write:
He who has the seven Spirits of God
and the seven stars, says this:
‘I know your deeds,
that you have a name that you are alive,
but you are dead.
The text we read today also clearly shows that God is not corruptible.
He does not despise sacrifices of a broken spirit and defeated heart.
Psalms 51:16-17
¹⁶For You do not delight in sacrifice,
otherwise I would give it;
You are not pleased with burnt offering.
¹⁷The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
A broken and a contrite heart, O God,
You will not despise.
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