An All-Seeing God
2/12/26 Bible Thought (Hosea 7)
Main Idea: The God of heaven is inescapable.
A Look at the Text:
In yesterday’s text, we saw Hosea’s call to return (Hos. 6:1). Now, in today’s text, we see the people’s refusal (Hos. 7:10).
It was an altogether common reality in Israel for the cries of the prophets to fall on deaf ears. They would plead with the people concerning their sins. They would beg of them to return to Yahweh and put away their foreign gods. Yet, again and again, God’s wayward people remained hellbent in their pursuit of sin and therefore personal destruction.
The scary thing about this is that God saw it all. Liars who dealt falsely, thieves who broke in to steal, or bandits who would take things outside—God saw them all (Hos. 7:1c).
These are all secretive things. Those who lie frequently get away with it in the eyes of man, but not in the eyes of God. Thieves and bandits can run off with the possessions of others without anyone knowing who the culprit was—but God knows it all.
As the Lord spoke through His prophet:
But they do not consider that I remember all their evil. Now their deeds surround them; they are before my face (Hos. 7:2).
The true and living God is inescapable. No one can hide themselves so that He does not see their sin (see Jer. 23:23-24).
Yet at the same time, there is the assurance that God would have been there to help, had they cried out to Him.
They refused to return to the Lord and seek Him, but they would seek the help of Egypt or Assyria (Hos. 7:11). They might return somewhere, but not upward to the Most High (Hos. 7:16).
Bringing it Home:
God is an ever-present help in the time of trouble, but it is a humbling thing to go to Him when we know we’ve transgressed His ways.
Let us always take heart, though, that the same God who is always watching isn’t just watching to see our sin but to be our help. God desired for His people to return to Him at the heart level, which they refused (Hos. 7:14). Yet, if they had done so, He was there, willing and able to meet them in their place of need.
They needn’t run to Egypt—Yahweh had already proven His supremacy over Egypt and all her gods centuries before. They needn’t go to Assyria; the living God would later prove His supremacy over them as well.
They had a God in whom they could take refuge. A God who was an ever-present help in their times of trouble. They merely had to first return to Him.
Let us then return to Him with the heart. Then, we will find in Him a God who is not only watching when we sin, but watching and eager to help the helpless who lean on Him (see 1 Chr. 16:9).
Challenge:
How often do I consider that God is always with me and always watching? This same God sees both my sin and my need.
He is ready to extend both mercy and help—but we must first turn to Him with our whole hearts.