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The eighth chapter of Hosea begins with the words "set the trumpet to thy mouth" and the entire chapter is blast after blast foretelling of God's judgment upon the backslidden nation of Israel. The imagery of the first verse sets the tone for the rest of the chapter. In Old Testament times, a trumpet was sounded in a city when there was imminent danger approaching. And so God is commanding the prophet Hosea to "sound the alarm" and warn the people about the judgment and to "lift your voice" and proclaim with trumpet-like clarity His charges against this evil nation.

The first verse of this chapter sounds very abrupt and to the point in the Hebrew. A literal translation would be: "The trumpet to thy mouth" and "as an eagle against the house of the Lord." The words "set" and "He shall come" have been added by the translators to help make it a little more readable and more grammatically correct in English, but the original has an urgency to it that is lost in the translation. It is almost like God is saying "you must warn them Hosea, and your warning must be as clear and as strong as a blast from a trumpet because like an eagle swoops down upon it's prey, so is my judgment going to come upon them unless they change their ways. It's an arresting opening to a chapter full of gloom and doom and of the coming wrath of the Lord.

When you see other people's troubles and mistakes, you should always take a moment and learn from them as you do not have time to make all of the mistakes and learn the hard way from them yourself in this life! So, let's take a moment and see exactly what it is that God says here was the issues in Israel which were bringing such swift and powerful judgment. Throughout the chapter, there are six charges against Israel that are stated as if they were five intense blasts of the trumpet. In order, they are:

1. They have not obeyed God's Word. Verse 1 says that they have transgressed the covenant and trespassed against the law of the Lord.

2. They have placed ungodly rulers in place. They placed political and spiritual leaders over themselves that were not godly and did not make decisions according to the Word of God. Verse 4 says: "They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and I knew it not:."

3. Idolatry. They worshipped other things besides God and allowed other things to have more priority than their worship for God. Specifically, they formed images out of precious metals. Verse 4 continues on to say: "of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off."

4. They neglected the house of God because of inconvenience. Verse 5 mentions the "calf of Samaria" which referred to the place of worship that had been set up in that city to "replace" the temple at Jerusalem and be a "more convenient" and closer place to worship in place of going to God's house.

5. They trusted their alliances with ungodly nations and people to protect them. Verse 9 mentions that they were trusting in their "peace pacts" and agreements with the idolatrous nation of Assyria which was the very nation that God had sent to destroy them!

6. They built themselves false altars. They had changed the altar -- which was to a place of getting things right with God -- into a place where they received license to sin. They lived by the motto, that "I can do what I want and just get forgiveness later." In the Apostle Paul's lingo, they turned grace into a "license to sin." Verse 11 is the verse in Hosea that begins God's thoughts on their false altars.

Let me give a disclaimer to what I am about to say. God has ordained me to be a pastor and a preacher in the United States of America, therefore my primary burden is for this country and it's inhabitants. I support missionaries whose primary calling deals with the foreign lands, but just as they are called to do a mighty work in distant lands and other provinces, so am I called of God to preach to the people of this great nation. And I'm thankful for that. There is no nation quite like America in the world. God has blessed her and allowed her to be a chosen nation to show forth the blessings of God to this world. We have not replaced Israel in the plan of God and yet because of America's granting the liberty to worship as an individual chooses, God has blessed her. I'm thankful to live in America and to preach here and to raise my family here and I support her and wouldn't have it any other way.

But it does alarm me when I recognize that the very issues that caused Israel to fall out of the graces of God and into His judgment are the very symptoms of modern America today. Now it does no good to vent and rave about generalities of any specific country unless you realize that a country's identity is the sum of the individual's choices who live within that country. In other words, when God said "Israel has done this" what He meant was that the individuals, the people of Israel, had done these things. What needed to happen was that the individuals needed to correct their actions and then it would be said that "God spared the country." You can rant and rave all you want about politics and cartels and businesses but God will judge this country by the actions of the masses of individuals that make it up. Ultimately each of us is personally responsible for the fate of this country. And we can't change others and a nation's political climate until we are changed ourselves. So I am not preaching against the nation today but preaching to individuals that make that nation up.

And yet, in America today, the vast majority of people are guilty of these same six things outlined by Hosea against Israel. They have not obeyed God's Word and many argue even if God's Word is valid. Many live their entire lives -- in a nation that is supposed to be Christian -- and yet never make an honest effort to understand God's Word or to apply it to their lives. I'll say this for the doubters and then I'll move on: when a nation that was founded upon trusting God even entertains the thought of such things as "homosexual marriage" it is clear proof that the Word of God is being neglected in the majority of people's lives. In God's Word there is no such thing as a "homosexual marriage" and never will be, no matter what a society decrees.

And yet it's an issue that we face because we are also guilty of the second: we have placed ungodly rulers and men in place that do not consult a relationship with God for their political decisions. Politics are not an issue in this church and I don't care whether you vote Democratic, Republican, Libertarian or for Mickey Mouse. I think that you need to try to vote for men who fear God and that you need to prayerfully consider your vote. Unfortunately, there is no one party that personifies godliness. But in our effort to not offend non Christians, we have managed to take God out of our political system and prayer out of our schools and basically God out of the workplace. As a result the crime rate and murder rates and divorce rates of America are higher than they have ever been before. It's almost like God said "you want me out of it, so I'll stay out of it!" It's reached a place in our country where men and women can commit adultery and no one blinks an eye. For some reason it doesn't bother us if the moral fiber of our leaders is eroded. We are guilty of Hosea's second point.

We are also an idolatrous nation. Faithfully every weekend people bow and worship their idols. For some that means a statue in a cathedral. For others, it means an athlete on a playing field. For some it means the latest, faddish singer or group or an actor or actress with the morals of a goat. For others it means the Dow Jones stock report. For some it's the lake or a golf course or hunting lease. Whatever it is, America has many idols that are things that they give more time and effort and more of their heart, soul, and sweat to than the things of the one, true God which our money says that we trust. Hosea said that Israel had made idols out of their silver and gold and money is also the number one God in America. We are so blessed and yet jobs and making a little extra cash to have more money and more toys is priority in our life. "I've got to work" is the standard reply of why people don't frequent the house of God and the concept of a day of rest a week for worship has largely been forgotten in America. Money is god to America. It's on our money, but maybe the green bill on which it is written is the God that they trust.

And as a result America does neglect the house of God. They do so in alarming numbers. To go to church is inconvenient. It's too troublesome. They can turn on their television and get a service at home without having to worry about responding to the Spirit or actually participating and yet feel as if they did their religious duty. Sunday has become a day of sleeping in and recovering from the hangover or party of Friday and Saturday night to many Americans. For some it's become a day of football or Nascar or golf or whatever sport of their choice. And there have been ministers that have responded by offering a substitute for real worship. There are plenty of golden calves of Samaria available. There are plenty of cut and dried religions where the Spirit has been removed to make the service shorter and predictable and where all responsibility on the audience to respond to God's Spirit is frowned upon. You can go to your 45 minute service, pay your respects and then go home to do your thing. "Preacher, you're being a little crazy." No, I'm just asking you "what does God think when someone complains about a sermon or service that went 45 minutes and then goes home and plops in front of the tube for two or three consecutive football games that are 3-4 hours long apiece!?" There's nothing wrong with football or the sport itself, but when anything invokes more passion and more response and more time and more effect on us than the Word of God and His precious Spirit moving in a church service, it has become an idol to us and a "god of convenience!"

And Americans have faith in our countries alliances with other superpowers and other countries to keep us secure. We trust that our superpower and political standing in the world will keep our country safe. All the while we remove God out of our political system and government. And many of the religious Americans -- even people filled with the Holy Ghost -- are guilty of the last trumpet blast of Hosea 8 as well. We have also created false altars. From a preacher leading people in a sinner's prayer which has absolutely NO scriptural foundation and therefore no saving power, to the it's "easier to get forgiveness than permission" mentality of some Christians, no group of religious people have turned grace into a license to sin more than present day Christianity in America. To hear a sermon on sin or that really has substance in most churches today is an extreme rarity, because most Americans want a church where they are comfortable and yet don't make any changes. Yes, in general, the masses of America have committed the same trespasses that Israel did in Hosea's time and -- I would even say -- done so more passionately and avidly! But let me remind you that Christianity without a cross is not Christianity at all!

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So now we come to verse 14 which is the last verse and the key verse in this chapter and the focus of our message tonight. In it, there is a seventh blast proclaimed and yet, it really is not just an addition to this list, but is actually a summary and root cause of these previous six things. In other words, these six charges that God has made are very serious but are really just symptoms of the real problem with Israel. And the real issue that is at the core of the matter is this:

That's the cause of all the other. Israel has forgotten God. It's the real issue at work here and the real reason why judgment is coming. All of these other six charges are just the results of their forgetting God, and if that was fixed, then these other things would disappear. Let's not spend time dealing with the symptoms, God said, but let's get down to the core issue here.

"Israel has forgotten His maker." They had forgotten God. Everyone knows what it means to forget, but what exactly is Hosea saying here? Does this mean that, in the usual sense of the word, Israel had forgotten God? Does it mean that they have reached a place where they are no longer cognizant that He exists? Not hardly. People may deny God but they do not forget Him, for by professing their very denial, they are remembering that He exists in one form or another. In their very atheistic statements, they are reminding themselves that the concept of God -- in some way -- exists and so it cannot be said that they have forgotten. So in what sense did Hosea mean that they had forgotten God?

I don't normally engage in drawn out word studies in the Hebrew language, but in this case I made an exception. The word in the Hebrew here for "forgotten" is "shakach" and is pronounced "shaw-kakh'." It has a very definite meaning and a very simple meaning. It means "to mislay." All of us know what it is to mislay something; some of you do it regularly with your keys. You haven't forgotten it, in fact it's on your mind, but you have mislaid it. It's out of it's proper place. And because of it's being out of sight, then in time it's easy to become out of mind. About seven years ago, I purchased a good music book of Christmas songs. It had just about every song that I would ever have to play with the correct words and the correct chords and for a piano player, turned out to be a book well worth the money. When we moved to Castroville, I lost it. Actually, I had it with me to my office, but then I mislaid it. For weeks I searched for that book, but finally I gave up because I couldn't find it. Eventually I forgot about it. I ceased to think about it. The first Christmas I remembered it a few times when I wanted a song and needed it, but the past two Christmases it didn't even come to mind. It was mislaid and so in that sense, I had forgotten it. This past week, in cleaning out my office for the first time since we have been here, I found that book. I had forgotten it and discovered it! It was quite a momentous occasion, even though you didn't notice!

Hosea said that God was "mislaid" by Israel and so this was the root problem that resulted in the other six detriments in the nation. It's interesting to note that there are two books of the Old Testament that this word is used extensively and the first is the prophet that was prophesying in the south at the same time as Hosea, Isaiah, who used the word eleven times. The other book, in which the word is used the most (fourteen times), is the book of Deuteronomy: Moses' farewell speech to the people of Israel before he died and they crossed over into the Promised Land. Over and over again throughout his speech, Moses warns the people of God to not "shakach" or mislay God and thus forget Him. In our text, we read on such instance which serves as a fair representation of the others. In it, Moses warned the children of Israel about the spiritual dangers that would come living in a land of plenty and said:

The word in verse 11 and verse 14 for "forget" is "shakach" which means "to mislay." Moses is saying "when you live in land where you have plenty to eat and plenty of land to go around and plenty of livestock and material blessings and homes to dwell in and your material wealth is increased above other nations, then there is a great danger to mislay God. To lose God in all of the stuff and mislay Him and in doing so eventually forget about Him is the major issue that you must guard against living in a blessed country and nation!

Whoever said that the Old Testament wasn't relevant for today never read and understood Hosea chapter eight and Deuteronomy chapter eight! It's the same with us today! It's no wonder that America exhibits the same symptoms found in the six trumpet blasts of Hosea because the root issue, the real issue with most Americans today, is that we have mislaid God. Because of our wealth, and our houses and the material blessings and having plenty of food available -- indeed the poorest person in America is far richer than the majority of the world -- these blessings of God have caused us to be susceptible to the same trap that Moses warned Israel about and in Hosea's day that they fell into. America has mislaid God in that they have misplaced Him. They haven't allowed Him to dwell in the center of their lives because they really don't feel like they need Him everyday. They can support themselves and provide for their family through their own power, and so they have misplaced Him and in doing so have mislaid Him and many have progressed to the fact that they forget about Him for days on end. We live among a nation that has mislaid God and has placed Him in a corner, that is to function as a 911 call in extreme cases, but until then He is just the One on the outside of their everyday life. He is mislaid and so we see these six symptoms of Hosea's time prevalent in our own lives and country today!

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How does one forget God? They first mislay Him. And how does one mislay God? It's a fair question and let's look at how you mislay God in your life.

The first step of mislaying God is to give intellectual assent to God's existence without feeling that their conduct needs to respond to that assent. In simple terms, to believe in God and yet not do anything about it or feel your need to change because of Him. That's mislaying God and placing Him out of His proper face and putting Him aside where He is easily forgotten. How many people in America today would tell you "I'm a Christian, I believe in Jesus Christ and that He died for me" and yet they do not change their life to match what Jesus commanded in His Word. They believe in God in principle but are not willing to act on that belief. Those who do such are not truly Christians because the word literally means "Christ like" not "one who mentally believes in Christ." You are only a true Christian when you actively change your behavior and conduct because of your belief. Remember John chapter 8 and the words of Jesus Himself:

To follow Jesus takes more than just mental belief, but a willingness to "continue in His Word!" To mentally acknowledge Jesus as King, but refuse to allow Him to be Lord in your life, is to mislay Him!

The second way men mislay God in their lives is to forget that everything in scripture and the kingdom of heaven is about an everyday, personal relationship with Him. To many, God is something to think about on Sunday. To them, serving God is giving Him time when it's convenient for them. It's something that you do one day out of the week, and then forget about until the next service or Bible study. They never put it together Jesus did not die for men to have a once a week communion with Him, but that He could be with them always!

Do we believe that? That He will never leave us nor forsake us? That He is as close as the mention of His name? I do! We serve a God who was tempted as we were but without sin, and so now we can come boldly before His throne of Grace! We serve an accessible God! We can commune with Him anytime that we need. But if that is true, then why is it possible that some choose to go days without really giving Him any quality time!? What kind of relationship is that? Or how is it possible for a person to act one way on Sunday and have completely different actions away from the church at work or around friends? God does not dwell in this physical building but instead dwells in the temple of your body. So what has changed? Why do some people have different lifestyles on Sunday than on Monday? Because on Monday they have mislaid God. They have stopped letting Him be the center of their world and their reason for living. They have placed Him to the side and their flesh is in control again.

And in doing so, people forget that it's not about a denomination or religious duty or a creed or tradition, but it's about a relationship with God. The entire Bible, the entire story line of the human race. Our history is really HIS-STORY. It's about a God who loved us enough to put a plan of redemption in place so that you and I could have a personal relationship with Him! Such close communion and fellowship with is readily available! And yet many consistently mislay God on Monday morning through Saturday evening. God is not on the throne of their life for that time, He has been mislaid! The pleasures and sinful fun that is available to us because of the blessed country that we live in is king for the six days and as a result people grow accustomed to living their life without even considering God's will or Word for it. Because He has been mislaid, He becomes forgotten.

Think of God as a person, because He is. But think about it in terms of humanity alone. I have a close relationship with my wife. And there are times that I go play golf, or read, or whatever where she is not with me or does not have my undivided attention, and that's normal and acceptable to her. But everyday, she expects me to give her some of my time because I'm supposed to be in love with her. She expects for me to communicate with her everyday. If I went a couple of days without her seeing me or not hearing from me or me ignoring her, I wouldn't have much of a relationship and eventually wouldn't have a wife. Likewise if I laid our marriage vows aside for just one day a week and did whatever I wanted to as if I didn't have a wife, then I wouldn't be married long either. It's the same way with God! He died so that He could have a relationship with mankind and yet most people consistently mislay Him. They go days without talking to Him or reading His Word to them. They'll ignore Him for a time and even pretend like His Spirit isn't there while they do what they want to during the week. God has been mislaid and so eventually He will be forgotten.

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The last verse of Hosea ends with these words:

The result of Israel forgetting or mislaying God was that they "buildeth temples" and "multiplied fenced cities." The word for "temple" in the original Hebrew carries the main idea of "spaciousness." Some translators put "temples" and other put "palaces." It can mean both as long as they are large. The main idea behind the meaning of the word is "bigger," and "more," and "greater." The result of mislaying God was to give in to a passion to make other things bigger. Oh, how so true that the scriptures are! Israel was building bigger things in hopes of restoring and filling the void left by their lack of intimate relationship with God.

When the center of your life is not a close relationship with God; when the focal point of your life is not growing closer to Him and spending time with Him, it leaves a massive, "God-sized" hole in your life. And so you must magnify other things to fill that emptiness. People will magnify the importance of money to try to fill that hole. They will magnify the importance of a new car or home or such. They will magnify the importance of sports. They will magnify a singer or celebrity into an icon. They will magnify -- dare I say it? -- promiscuous sexual relations into this great huge fulfillment. What are they doing? They are trying to fill that void left by misplacing God out of the center of their life. And let me say that all of those things make a poor substitute for God! Take the three things that America magnifies and worships: money, sex, and entertainment and all three leave you empty and unfulfilled and a wreck spiritually and longing for something else. In their proper environment and in their proper place none of the three are bad, but they all make a poor substitute for a misplaced God! If God is not the center of your life, then He is misplaced and has left a big hole!

The other side effect of God mislaid was that Judah "multiplied fenced cities." What were fenced cities used for? They were a defense to provide security. When God is mislaid, not only do people begin to magnify other things to fill the void, but they also begin to trust in other things for their security. They'll trust in money or themselves or the nation or the armed forces or our political power. Because without God in your life, there is no security. If God so chooses, He could fight against every army of the world at once and defeat them and indeed He will do so in the battle in prophecy known as Armageddon. Hosea told Israel that God would "send a fire" on these things. In other words, the bad thing about trusting in other things for your security and happiness is that God will make sure that it is always destroyed. He does so not out of meanness or unkindness or wrath, but because those things cannot save you for eternity and so to trust in them is to cause your own eternal demise. Some trust in money or job security or a relationship or a possession or power or whatever for their security and happiness, but only God will provide happiness and security that will last! The Psalmist wrote:

To mislay God is to put a huge hole in your defense, your security, and your happiness and nothing else will ever rightfully fulfill that hole! The cure, the psalmist said is to "remember the name of the Lord our God." Remembering Him is the cure for mislaying Him! Let Him come and fill the void in your life. Let Him become everything to you! Let His Spirit renew in you a clean heart. Let the King of Kings become the Lord of Lords in your life. You may have mislaid Him, but He has not forgotten you. The prophet Isaiah said in the south at the same time Hosea was thundering in the north:

You can probably guess which Hebrew word is in the original for the "forgets" in these verses! It is "shakach." God is saying that He will never mislay you. He will never cast you aside. He will never place in a situation wrongly. To Him, you are His priority. You and I are the objects of His love. We believe that God is greater than everybody including us. And we also know that God commands us to make Him first and to put Him on top and at the center and forefront of our lives. If that is true, then God will go one step greater, and He will make you the focus of His love and mercy and goodness and kindness and blessings. But not if you have mislaid Him. Somebody needs to put God back in the center of your life!