The Testimony of the LORD

 The Testimony of God

 Book of Micah Chapters 1 and 2

 

The name Micah is a shortened form of Micaiah, which means "who is like Jehovah"?

 What is a testimony?

 A testimony is a statement made for the purpose of establishing or proving some fact.

 A testimony is the declaration of a witness. How my life has changed since the Lord Jesus Christ came into my heart and stayed.

 Thus, the whole Bible is a testimony of JEHOVAH’S sovereign will, and the Gospel is a special testimony of the riches of His grace in Christ Jesus to the church and people.

 If we are not willing to testify of the truth of our Savior, then we do not have much of a testimony.

 Psa 19:7  The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. 

 1Jn 5:11  And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 

1Jn 5:12  He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. 

 Micah begins his ministry by warning of the coming judgment of God when true justice will finally, conclusively, and completely be executed.

 All the wicked and the unjust in this world will have to give an account for their behavior.

 A day is coming when everyone will face the "judgment" of God.

 *****Mic 1:1  The word of the LORD that came to Micah the Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

 This prophecy will be against the Northern Tribes.

 Micah presents Yahweh as the righteous Judge and the faithful Shepherd of Israel.

 His message is that God hates sin, lawlessness, idolatry, and religious formality.

 Religious formality refers to the strict adherence to outward rituals, rules, or procedures in religious practice, often at the expense of genuine spiritual engagement and heartfelt devotion.

 What does God say? 2Ti_3:5  Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: “from such turn away”.

 How are we to worship God? Jhn_4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

 Any other worship is in vain! Mat 15:9  But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. 

 Micah was from a small town about twenty-five miles southwest of Jerusalem called Moresheth.

 We should understand that in the coming judgment, God is not going to send an angel or anyone else; He is coming Himself!

 *****Mic 1:2  Hear, all ye people; hearken, O earth, and all that therein is: and let the Lord GOD be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple. 

Mic 1:3  For, behold, the LORD cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth. 

 Micah prophesied for the most part to the Northern Tribes, but immediately the Holy Spirit says, "Hear all ye people, O earth and all that is therein".

 There is no part of the Bible that we should leave out of our studies!

 All his life, Micah stayed true to the Word of God.

 Micah not only preached the "judgment" of God, but he also preached the "Love" of God.

 Judgment is certain for those who rebel against God, and just as certain is God's love for those who keep a personal relationship with Him.

 We should also understand that there is no one we can compare to the Holy Trinity!

God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Not three gods but the three persons of the Triune God.

 Isa 46:8  Remember this, and shew yourselves men: bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors. 

Isa 46:9  Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, 

Isa 46:10  Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: 

 Samaria and Jerusalem would both face the harsh condemnation of God.

 These were the capitals that represented the two kingdoms and everyone in them.

 We should know that the fate of nations depends upon the people of that nation.

That national leader might not do right according to the Word of God, but we do not have to follow them. They will be judged harshly for how they had led their nation.

 In fact, the fate of nations depends entirely on the fate of God's people.

 The Bible testifies to the judgment that will take place if we transgress the covenants God has made with His people.

 The destruction of the Northern and Southern tribes of Israel is a testimony to the nations of this world of how God hates sin.

 God is the Eyewitness to these truths!

 God does not need anyone to tell Him how evil the world has become!

 We all should take notice that if God is that severe with His own people, who should be the Light of the world, how can they think that God has too much love to punish this world?

The punishment of the Jews did not begin to end until May 14, 1948, and God has not begun judgment on the Church as of yet, except to say it is ongoing, and then after this He will judge this world.

 1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? 

1Pe 4:18  And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? 

 Verse three tells us that the "Day of the Lord" has come and the LORD has appeared.

Those high places are everywhere where false worship takes place.

 Up until this time, the Lord was out of view because just His glory would cause this world to burn and people to perish.

 How can anyone think that God will not save His people, those who worship Him in Spirit and Truth, from His wrath?

 The liberal church must have the same Bible I have, though many of them have removed much of the truth of God from it.

 Rom 11:33  O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! 

Rom 11:34  For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? 

 It is the glory of God that will set this world on fire!

 *****Mic 1:4  And the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep place. 

 When the Lord Jesus steps onto this earth, the consequences become immediately noticeable. When He touches the mountains, they become like wax before the fire. His majesty is a consuming fire.

 The valleys collect that waxy mire, and in the end the world becomes almost level except for Jerusalem. 

 Heb_12:29  For our God is a consuming fire.

 Psa 68:1  Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him. 

Psa 68:2  As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God. 

Psa 68:3  But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: yea, let them exceedingly rejoice. 

 Now we know that this does not happen till the end times and has not yet taken place.

 The destruction that Micah is referring to is the imminent destruction of the Northern Ten Tribes by the Assyrian Empire led by Shamaneser, and then the invasion of the Southern Empire by the Babylonians led by Nebuchadnezzar about 125 years later.

 The final fulfillment of all these things will take place when the Lord Jesus returns to claim this world as His own.

 Psa 96:13  Before the LORD: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth. 

 Some of these things can be applied to us here today.

 Those mountains of difficulties we face as Christians can melt like wax so that we can pass over them.

As Christians, we will spend our days on top of the mountain or down in the valleys; we will very seldom be completely settled, especially during these end times.

 Isa 49:11  And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted.

 *****Mic 1:5  For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? is it not Samaria? and what are the high places of Judah? are they not Jerusalem? 

Mic 1:6  Therefore I will make Samaria as an heap of the field, and as plantings of a vineyard: and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will discover the foundations thereof. 

Mic 1:7  And all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, and all the hires thereof shall be burned with the fire, and all the idols thereof will I lay desolate: for she gathered it of the hire of an harlot, and they shall return to the hire of an harlot. 

 What will the Lord Jesus destroy when He comes again to this earth?

 1) He will destroy all the places that wicked men and women considered to be safe.

 Rev_6:16  And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:

 2) He will destroy all (ALL) the militaries upon this earth that go against Israel.

 Rev 14:20  And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs. 

 3) God will destroy all places of false worship.

 No nation will be safe from the wrath of God.

Rev 16:19  And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. 

 Why will God destroy this world we live in today? It's very simple.

 The reason for God's actions is because of the transgression and the sins of His creation.

 All those who have rejected the Lord Jesus Christ will be destroyed along with them because they are not God's people but are the children of Satan.

 Joh 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. 

 Mat_7:23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

 What about Israel? The seat of corruption lies in the capitals of these separated nations.

 Governments have the power to remove evil wickedness from their nations, but in most nations, corruption begins with the government.

 There is no doubt that Satan is in control of most nations’ capitals, if not all of them.

 What are the facts? The Assyrians left only a heap when they destroyed Samaria.

 The foundations of corruption were laid bare.

  The only good side was the fact that the land could now be plowed to produce needed crops, which the world will need after Jesus Christ defeats this world of sin.

 For the sinner, God will sometimes have to break down the walls that we have built ourselves just so He can reach the heart.

 These things are mostly very painful. That Heavenly Hickory will become a Rod of Destruction.

 God does not mind smashing idols to pieces, but the gifts and the treasuries of those places of worship will be plundered.

 The Assyrians plundered the places of false worship and took the gold and silver and other valuables, and used them to make more of their own false gods.

This world just loves its many gods!

 Spiritual harlotry is taking the things that belong to God and giving them to a false god.

 These are the things of the heart: worship, praise, and faithfulness.

 Idolatry is everything that takes our eye away from the Lord Jesus Christ as the center of our lives.

 1Jn 5:19  And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. 

1Jn 5:20  And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. 

1Jn 5:21  Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

 Micah mourns because this punishment extends to Judah also.

 “Stripped and naked” describes the condition of the people that the King of Assyria took back to Nineveh with him.

 Micah would do the same in Judah to show the people what the destruction of the people looked like.

 Listen to Isaiah: Isa 20:2  At the same time spake the LORD by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot. 

Isa 20:3  And the LORD said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia; 

Isa 20:4  So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. 

 The Hebrew word “tannin” is used where we get our English word dragons, but it can mean other animals or beasts.

 The Hebrew word"tannin". It typically translates to "sea monster" or "dragon" and is associated with formidable creatures in biblical texts.

 The term can often symbolize power and chaos, often representing evil or national oppression.

 In some contexts, it is also linked to the concept of a leviathan, embodying death and disorder.

 The “wailing like the dragons” is a metaphor for profound, animal-like grief — a cry so raw and desperate that it echoes the howls of wild beasts.

 It emphasizes the severity of the coming judgment, Micah's own personal anguish, and the desolate state of the nation of Israel, the Northern Tribes.

 It’s not just a description of sound; it’s a call to recognize the seriousness of sin and the weight of God’s wrath.

 God said the wound of Israel, the Northern Tribes, was incurable because it had now passed to Judah.

 We see that sin is contagious!

 God set aside His "grace" from Israel, and only His wrath was left.

 God would destroy the Northern Tribes using the hands of the Assyrians.

 The same sins of the Northern Tribes led to the same sins of the Southern Tribes and would lead to the same fate.

 We know that God used the hands of Babylon on the Southern Tribes.

 God would not have put these things in the Bible if not for our own learning.

 The citizens of the world are just as guilty today of idolatry, if not more so.

 Our idols may not be the same, though some are, but to worship anything but the Living God and True God is still a shameful sin.

 We cannot give ourselves to the false gods of this world and still call ourselves Christians or the children of God. We are called Christians because we are trying to be like Jesus Christ.

 Idolatry in any form of false worship will doom us to Hell!

 *****Mic 2:1  Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand. 

 What does God mean here? They were not led to idolatry by others; it was the leaders who conceived these evil things in their own hearts.

Those who are lost spend a lot of time planning some sin and planning to sin.

 All idols are just figments of people's imaginations!

 The heart conceives this wickedness, and with their hands they make themselves a god, so their hands become their gods.

 They no longer lifted their hands to God; they lifted their hands to themselves.

 As my Pastor says, their hands were no longer Holy.

 Today we would say, "Look what I can do".

 Today, this woe is for all those in power, the people with money and influence, who are only interested in self-enrichment, stop at nothing to practise the evil they conceive when they are at rest, and the next day they start doing it.

 We should understand that there is only one cause for the "judgment" of God, and it is sin!

 Judgment is coming!

Judgment is inevitable!

Judgment is inescapable!

 Why? Listen to what God says. Rom 3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 

 This does not mean just a few, “but all”, every living soul that has ever put their foot down upon this earth and those yet to be born.

 This world is full of people who hate for other people to have what they do not have.

This is the beginning of what is called socialism.

 *****Mic 2:2  And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.

 Just turn on the news, and you will see open violence and fraud that have been planned and put in place.

 Isa 5:8  Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth! 

 We hear all the time about how generous the richest men are to charities, when the charities they donate to are immoral and sinful.

 We do not hear how they buy up every piece of land in our nation until they own millions of acres, and we should ask ourselves why.

 God knows why and pronounces this woe on them.

 Covetousness is the sin of the world. Just look at the war in the Middle East that is taking place now.

 Iran is planning, plotting, and telling the world that they own a body of water just because it touches their nation. If they get away with it, then every nation that joins the seas will try to do the same thing.

 They keep this nonsense going on while in the background they are plotting for the destruction of all people they hate, making more war machines, and are determined to have a nuclear bomb.

 There are a lot of things going on in this world, some of them good, not many, but covetousness, robbery, and oppression are the greatest crimes and are never brought to justice.

 When the laws of God are violated, the rights of one's neighbors are violated.

 Rom 7:7  What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. 

 When sin occupies our hearts, then sin will come from our hands.

 Whatever our area of weakness, God warns us against thinking evil thoughts and planning or plotting evil.

 Mat 15:18  But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. 

Mat 15:19  For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: 

 Those guilty of this will one day face the wrath of God.

 *****Mic 2:3  Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, against this family do I devise an evil, from which ye shall not remove your necks; neither shall ye go haughtily: for this time is evil.

 God says we will reap what we sow.

Some people cannot get a good night's sleep because doing evil is always on their minds.

Those mentioned in verse one, those who devise iniquity and work evil upon their beds and then do that evil, have a special judgment coming from the Lord.

As they devise some new evil, God will devise a new penalty.

Who is this family that God is so against? It is Israel.

Amo 3:1  Hear this word that the LORD hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying, 

Amo 3:2  You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.

When God mentions their necks, He is referring to a yoke put on the necks of animals that plow.

Hos 10:11  And Ephraim is as an heifer that is taught, and loveth to tread out the corn; but I passed over upon her fair neck: I will make Ephraim to ride; Judah shall plow, and Jacob shall break his clods. 

Hos 10:12  Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you. 

This yoke is their conquest and their exile at the hands of foreign powers.

Jer 27:12  I spake also to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live.

God says it is this judgment that will remove the sinful pride from Israel, and it will be an evil time, full of calamity.

This yoke will be so heavy it will be a burden that will crush them.

Deu 32:35  To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste. 

Deu 32:36  For the LORD shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left. 

Deu 32:37  And he shall say, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted, 

And the Lord continues:

*****Mic 2:6  Prophesy ye not, say they to them that prophesy: they shall not prophesy to them, that they shall not take shame. 

Mic 2:7  O thou that art named the house of Jacob, is the spirit of the LORD straitened? are these his doings? do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly? 

Mic 2:8  Even of late my people is risen up as an enemy: ye pull off the robe with the garment from them that pass by securely as men averse from war. 

Here is another place in the Bible that is being repeated in this day and time.

The people persecuted God's true prophets and placed their trust in the false prophets of the world.

What is happening? Another church closes its doors every week because people do not want to hear the truth.

The mega churches are still growing because these worldly prophets preach only half-truths and have messages that assure the people of security and prosperity, which God made no such promises here on earth.

The average church just wants to hear pleasant things, but I hate to inform them that, as loving as the Lord Jesus is, He is bringing a calamity when He returns, and it will not be pleasant.

Church is not about having fun; it is for preparing for the return of Jesus Christ! This is the job of the Church.

Isa 30:10  Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: 

Isa 30:11  Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us. 

2Ti 4:3  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 

2Ti 4:4  And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

What does God say to do if we hear such preaching?

Mic 2:10  Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction. 

A truth that we can understand is that all those who preach a deceiving gospel will be right beside the Devil in the hottest part of Hell, and they will have no remedy.

*****Mic 2:12  I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold: they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men. 

What God is saying about the judgment of Israel will hold to be true, but we must never think that God will allow the annihilation of all the people of Israel.

God will remove sin and corruption from this world, and those who do such things had better be aware of this and be warned.

God still has a plan of salvation and restoration that will survive and be put in place in the end.

Those who want to see a true miracle need to be aware that this whole earth will one day be like the Garden of Eden was in the first week of creation.

Praise the Lord, punishment is not the last Word from God!

Jer 31:10  Hear the word of the LORD, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock. 

Jer 31:11  For the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he. 

Jer 31:12  Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all. 

This is much greater than what has been happening since May 14, 1948.

Rom 11:25  For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. 

Rom 11:26  And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: 

Rom 11:27  For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

*****Mic 2:13  The breaker is come up before them: they have broken up, and have passed through the gate, and are gone out by it: and their king shall pass before them, and the LORD on the head of them. 

We know that there is a lot of preaching about the Antichrist and the end times, but we must keep one thing in mind.

It is the Lord Jesus Christ, the only One who can break us out of Satan's prison.

He is the Breaker!

The Lord Jesus will one day soon burst upon the scene of this world to first destroy sin and corruption and then remake this world.

The pains of bondage will be destroyed because He is also the Good Shepherd who will lead His own sheep out and bring them into freedom and care for them for eternity.

The Lord Jesus has already destroyed the bondage of sin and condemnation by dying in our place.

The Lord Jesus has already destroyed the prison of death and the grave at the cross.

The Lord Jesus has already made us acceptable to our Heavenly Father if we trust and follow Him in His ways.

The Lord will return to "deliver" us to His Father as His wife, the Bride of Christ.

It is called Redeemed!

Do we have the same faith as Job? 

Job 19:25  For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: 

Job 19:26  And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: 

Job 19:27  Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me. 

These things are not very far from being completed with the Church and then Israel.

Rom 8:1  There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 

Rom 8:2  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

The Lord Jesus Christ will be our Breaker, our King, and our Lord.

Amen

Refusing to Walk with the Lord

 King Ahaz Walked Not After the Lord

 2 Chronicles 28;  2 Kings 16

 

 King Ahaz was the twelfth King of Judah and the son and successor of Jotham, king of Judah, who came to the throne about 734 B.C.

 The only notable event of his reign, so far as we know, was the invasion made by his northern neighbors, Pekah of Israel and Rezin of Damascus.

 Isa 7:1  And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it.

 These two kings had made an alliance against the Assyrians and were trying to compel Ahaz to join the coalition.

 When King Ahaz refused, they decided to war with Judah and defeat King Ahaz and then put a new king on the throne of Judah who would bring Judah's armies to battle with them against the Assyrians.

 God was not about to allow this to take place.

 Ahaz did not venture to take the field but shut himself up in Jerusalem and strengthened its fortifications.

 It was perhaps at this time of need that he sacrificed his son as a burnt offering to false gods.

 2Ki 16:2  Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD his God, like David his father. 

2Ki 16:3  But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel. 

 We should clearly understand that God deals harshly with all those who sacrifice their children.

What did God teach them? Lev 20:2  Again, thou shalt say to the children of Israel, Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that giveth any of his seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones. 

Lev 20:3  And I will set my face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people; because he hath given of his seed unto Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name.

 God will never approve of abortion!

God will never approve of the destruction of babies or small children.

 It was at this time of his accession that Rezin, king of Damascus, and Pekah, king of Israel, had recently formed a league against Judah, and they proceeded to lay siege to Jerusalem, intending to place on the throne Ben-Tabeal, who was not a prince of the royal family of Judah, but probably a Syrian noble.

 *****2Ch 28:1  Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: but he did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD, like David his father: 

2Ch 28:2  For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for Baalim. 

 The reign of King Ahaz was disgraceful and full of devastating evil.

 King Ahaz set loose a stream of wickedness that rushed Judah into total destruction under the hand of God's judgment.

 Those who choose to pursue the wrath of God do not know what they are seeking.

 To look at King Ahaz, you would think that he ruled Israel rather than Judah.

 King Ahaz did not have a righteous bone in his body.

 King Ahaz led Judah to worship Baal rather than Jehovah, the true God.

 Nothing good is written about King Ahaz.

 He does what is evil in the sight of the LORD, Yahweh, Jehovah.

 How wicked was King Ahaz?

 *****2Ch 28:3  Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel. 

2Ch 28:4  He sacrificed also and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree. 

 We should remember that the nation of Israel was to drive out or destroy the nations that occupied the Promised Land because those nations did the things that King Ahaz was doing.

 His idolatry is so general that he makes any place he considers suitable for it a place where he can sacrifice to the idols.

 King Jotham was far from perfect, but it was his godless son who revolted against God.

 Every child has their own responsibility in the choices he makes, and the parents of that child should not be held responsible unless they contributed to those choices that child makes.

 We know that God punishes everyone for their own sins.

 Deu 24:16  The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin. 

 As parents, we do have the responsibility to raise our children in a godly manner.

 Pro_22:6  Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

 What did God think of these things?

 Jer 7:30  For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the LORD: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to pollute it. 

Jer 7:31  And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart. 

Jer 7:32  Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter: for they shall bury in Tophet, till there be no place. 

Jer 7:33  And the carcases of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall fray them away.

 What do we know of the human heart?

 Mar 7:20  And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. 

Mar 7:21  For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 

Mar 7:22  Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: 

Mar 7:23  All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

Jer_17:9  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

 Tit 1:15  Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. 

Tit 1:16  They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate. 

 There is only one way to change what is in our hearts: a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

 Heb 9:14  How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 

 1Jn 1:7  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 

 King Ahaz could stop anywhere and worship his gods who traveled with him.

 What did God do? God did exactly what He said He would do!

 *****2Ch 28:5  Wherefore the LORD his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria; and they smote him, and carried away a great multitude of them captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter. 

2Ch 28:6  For Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah an hundred and twenty thousand in one day, which were all valiant men; because they had forsaken the LORD God of their fathers. 

 Syria and Israel had formed an alliance and then attacked the Southern Kingdom of Judah.

 This is known as the Syro-Ephraimite War.

 These are the things that happen when you face the judgment of God.

 We can say that the God of the Bible was not the God of Ahaz, but we should understand that God will never give up His rights to His land.

The world needs to understand this! God loves Jerusalem!

 Why does God judge His people, Israel? Amo 3:1  Hear this word that the LORD hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying, 

Amo 3:2  You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. 

 God disciplined King Ahaz by giving him into the power of the King of Syria and the King of the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

 A large group of prisoners is taken by the King of Syria and the King of Ephraim, and the Northern Tribes slaughter even more of them.

 King Ahaz wanted to be like the kings of the Northern Tribes, and he got a first-hand view of who they were.

 They were the enemies of God's people!

 When we connect ourselves to wicked people, we will experience wickedness, and wickedness is ugly and can be very brutal!

 King Pekah and the Northern Tribes were even more wicked than King Ahaz, but the Lord dwells in Jerusalem, so Judah has the greatest responsibility to remain with the Lord.

 When things get out of hand, God will step in.

 *****2Ch 28:8  And the children of Israel carried away captive of their brethren two hundred thousand, women, sons, and daughters, and took also away much spoil from them, and brought the spoil to Samaria. 

2Ch 28:9  But a prophet of the LORD was there, whose name was Oded: and he went out before the host that came to Samaria, and said unto them, Behold, because the LORD God of your fathers was wroth with Judah, he hath delivered them into your hand, and ye have slain them in a rage that reacheth up unto heaven.

2Ch 28:10  And now ye purpose to keep under the children of Judah and Jerusalem for bondmen and bondwomen unto you: but are there not with you, even with you, sins against the LORD your God? 

2Ch 28:11  Now hear me therefore, and deliver the captives again, which ye have taken captive of your brethren: for the fierce wrath of the LORD is upon you. 

 We see that God will punish even those whom He calls His children if they forsake Him.

 God will use severe methods if this is what it takes to get us back in line.

 God used King Pekah of the Northern Tribes to inflict severe punishment on Judah, but Pekah went a little too far when he attempted to make his own brothers, Judah, his slaves.

 We do not know much about this Oded, but we know that he stood bravely before King Pekah and his victorious army and issued a strong warning to them.

 1) King Pekah of Israel was guilty of brutality; he was excessive in his cruelty.

 They did not get the victory over Judah because of their military power.

They did not get the victory over Judah because they were better people; in fact, they were worse than Judah.

They did not get the victory over Judah because they were more favored by God.

They did not get the victory over Judah because they were more righteous, and the people of Judah were more wicked.

 They got the victory over Judah because the LORD was executing justice upon Judah.

 They had slaughtered the army of Judah in a rage that reached into Heaven, and God was not pleased.

 They had shown no mercy! If not for God’s mercy, we would all be headed for Hell!

 2) They were attempting to enslave these men and women, a serious violation of God's commandments.

 Lev 25:39  And if thy brother that dwelleth by thee be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee; thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bondservant: 

Lev 25:40  But as an hired servant, and as a sojourner, he shall be with thee, and shall serve thee unto the year of jubile: 

Lev 25:41  And then shall he depart from thee, both he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he return. 

Lev 25:42  For they are my servants, which I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: they shall not be sold as bondmen. 

Lev 25:43  Thou shalt not rule over him with rigour; but shalt fear thy God.

 This was a call for King Pekah and his army to repent or face serious judgment themselves.

 3) The Judean slaves must be freed immediately, for God was about to turn His wrath loose on the Northern Kingdom, and only if they released these people of Judah would He show mercy.

 We should understand that our merciful, loving God, who is full of compassion, does not play when His wrath is being exposed to reality.

 God means what He says, and God says what He means!

 It was time for some of the men of Ephraim to come to their senses.

 2Ch 28:12  Then certain of the heads of the children of Ephraim, Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, and Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood up against them that came from the war, 

2Ch 28:13  And said unto them, Ye shall not bring in the captives hither: for whereas we have offended against the LORD already, ye intend to add more to our sins and to our trespass: for our trespass is great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel. 

 We could say that even though there were wicked kings of Judah, only King Ahaz was as wicked as the Kings of the Northern Tribes.

 King Pekah and his army relented, and these two hundred thousand would be slaves were released, and the plunder that was taken from Jerusalem was released.

 These princes of Israel made sure that these captives were fed and clothed and then provided for those who were injured.

 They made arrangements for their transportation as far as Jericho and provided a military escort to keep them safe.

 It is not part of our lesson, but this is one of the times that the Edomites invaded Jerusalem while they were in a weakened state, and another reason the Edomites do not exist today.

 The Philistines also took advantage of the weakness of Judah and took over a large part of Judah.

 2Ch 28:19  For the LORD brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel; for he made Judah naked, and transgressed sore against the LORD.

 It was at this time that King Ahaz sent to the kings of Assyria to come help him, and one of the kings did come, but not to help.

 *****2Ch 28:20  And Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria came unto him, and distressed him, but strengthened him not. 

2Ch 28:21  For Ahaz took away a portion out of the house of the LORD, and out of the house of the king, and of the princes, and gave it unto the king of Assyria: but he helped him not. 

 The nation of Judah was in shambles, and the army had been diminished; Judah was helpless to defend itself.

 The nation of Judah was under constant attack from neighboring countries.

 Judah was suffering because of King Ahaz, but we do not read of King Ahaz ever repenting.

 God had humbled Judah because of their sin.

 Just because Judah's King was so wicked, it did not mean the people had to be like him, but many were.

 We must never think that God does not have a remnant of true believers because He always does.

 It is never easy for God's true people!

 This Assyrian king had no intention of helping King Ahaz, but just like the others, he took the time to get a part of the riches of Judah.

 This king attacked Syria and conquered them, but he did not do this to help Judah.

 King Ahaz was forced to pay the King of Assyria a large amount of riches, and it appears that it bankrupted Judah, and Ahaz had to rob the House of God and demand large sums from the princes of Judah.

 Judah was a conquered nation militarily and economically, and all these things were brought upon Judah because King Ahaz wanted to be like the Kings of Ephraim.

 No human savior would be able to help King Ahaz; he needed the God that he had rejected.

 There is no savior other than the LORD!

 King Ahaz had rejected the lessons of history and sought salvation in mortal men when only the Eternal Supernatural God could provide him any help.

 Sounds like another nation that has been in the news so much since April.

 *****2Ch 28:22  And in the time of his distress did he trespass yet more against the LORD: this is that king Ahaz. 

2Ch 28:23  For he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which smote him: and he said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, therefore will I sacrifice to them, that they may help me. But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel.

2Ch 28:24  And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God, and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and shut up the doors of the house of the LORD, and he made him altars in every corner of Jerusalem. 

 When the false gods of the Edomites did not help him, Ahaz turned to the false gods of Syria.

 False gods cannot help anyone. King Ahaz was at the mercy and the power of the Devil.

 Psa 115:2  Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God? 

Psa 115:3  But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. 

Psa 115:4  Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. 

Psa 115:5  They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: 

Psa 115:6  They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: 

Psa 115:7  They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat. 

Psa 115:8  They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them. 

Psa 115:9  O Israel, trust thou in the LORD: he is their help and their shield. 

 King Ahaz was not alone; this is a picture of all people, especially so-called religious people who do not allow themselves to be corrected in any way by the Living God.

 They run on the road to destruction just because they reject the only true God and refuse to believe anything He says in His book called the Bible.

 Everything that reminds this world of the Living God and our Creator is removed from their lives and their surroundings, and they continue to seek alternative ways of believing.

 Everything is good to them, as long as it is not from the God of the Bible.

Sounds just like the USA today.

Sounds just like the evolutionists.

Sounds just like the atheists.

Ahaz was such a person! Ahaz was finished with God, but God was not finished with him!

The God of the Bible is the Lord Jesus Christ!

The world thinks it is finished with Jesus, but it is not!

The world will soon meet Him as King Jesus!

The only good that came out of King Ahaz was King Hezekiah, his son.

King Ahaz lived in the way of the world we have today.

No one wants to hear what God has to say, and King Jesus will soon show up to put this world out of its misery.

Amen  

Jonah Becomes Committed

 Jonah The Committed Prophet

 Book of Jonah Chapters 3-4

 

 Jonah the Rebellious prophet became Jonah the committed prophet, but Jonah still had a lot of hatred in him.

 Jonah gets a second chance to go where God wanted him to go and do what God wanted him to do.

 We may think it strange, but Jonah did not want to preach to the Ninevites because Jonah knew and understood the grace and mercy of the Lord, and he knew that many of them would probably be saved.

 Jonah did not want any of them to get saved because Jonah hated the Ninevites, because they were such a cruel and wicked people, and had become a thorn in the flesh of Israel.

 Jonah was a typical Jew who felt that the Jews were better than all other peoples.

 The important word we should understand in this Book of Jonah is the word "repentance".

 Jonah had to repent of his own sin to understand the meaning of repentance, to preach a message of repentance to the people of Nineveh.

 God often gives us a second chance and to some even a third chance or more, but we should also understand that He does not always do this because He can see into our heart.

 Sometimes disobedience is of such a character that God cannot go on with such a servant.

 1Ki 13:21  And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the LORD, and hast not kept the commandment which the LORD thy God commanded thee, 

1Ki 13:22  But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the LORD did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers. 

1Ki 13:23  And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back. 

1Ki 13:24  And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase. 

1Ki 13:25  And, behold, men passed by, and saw the carcase cast in the way, and the lion standing by the carcase: and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt. 

1Ki 13:26  And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto the word of the LORD: therefore the LORD hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake unto him. 

 It is always better to be obedient to the Word of God.

 *****Jon 3:1  And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying, 

Jon 3:2  Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. 

Jon 3:3  So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey. 

 Jonah gets the same command for the second time, and this time Jonah does not flee; he goes to Nineveh and preaches the sermon God told him to preach.

Every preacher is given a message he is to preach to those who gather with him!

Those who are not given a message from the Holy Spirit are not God-called, or they could have unrepentant sin in their lives.

 God had accepted Jonah's repentance and restored his ministry.

 A great city would be a fortified city, and probably was a walled city, and probably had experienced war. 

Most anything else would be a town, and that city in that area would be like a mother to those towns.

 Nineveh was the capital of Assyria, which had begun to emerge as a regional power.

 It was probably a saying that Jonah that he had been spat out of a fish's mouth because he had rebelled against God.

 We should understand that the Philistines worshipped a god named Dagon, and Dagon was known as the fish god. Half man and half fish.

 The Ninevites would have also considered Dagon as a god.

 To the Jews, Nineveh was the land of Nimrod.

Nineveh was up to 700 miles from Joppa, so it would take a while for Jonah to get there, much more than three days.

 When Jonah entered the city, he began preaching the message God had given him.

 Nineveh was such a great city that it would take three days to walk around the walls of that city, if you could walk 20 miles a day.

Certainly, Jonah could not walk and preach at that pace, so this statement is tied to that phrase "such a great city" to tell us just how large the city of Nineveh was.

 *****Jon 3:4  And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. 

Jon 3:5  So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. 

Jon 3:6  For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 

 Jonah had become a sign to the Ninevites: Luk 11:29  And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet. 

Luk 11:30  For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation. 

 The Ninevites had heard about this man Jonah, how he spent three days and three nights in the belly of a fish.

 Now we do not know if the false god Dagon influenced these Ninevites or not, but we do know that the Ninevites believed that only a true God could have saved any man from such a catastrophe.

The sign to the Church is that God can bring new life to those who are judged dead in sin.

 This king and these people believed in the story of Jonah, and we have no right to not consider it to be true today.

If God said Jonah was swallowed by a fish that He had prepared to swallow Jonah, then it has to be true!

 The effect of Jonah's preaching was spontaneous, and the people put on sackcloth and proclaimed a fast.

 From the poor to the rich, they believed in the message of Jonah, which reached into the king's palace, and this king caused a fast to be proclaimed in all of Nineveh.

 Jon 3:7  And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: 

Jon 3:8  But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. 

 The whole city believed the God of the Jews could have the power to destroy them if He chose to do so, and we know He had that power; He is all-powerful.

This city believed this because they believed the story of Jonah being swallowed by a large fish.

 Notice how God sends a warning with a chance to repent before He would bring judgment.

We are to pass this warning to those we witness to today.

 *****Jon 3:9  Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? 

 All those people who sacrificed to idols and false gods had heard about the goodness of the God of the Jews, and they understood the message of Jonah and realized they had only one option to avoid perishing.

 Notice they demanded no forgiveness.

They did not ask for mercy.

In their confession, there was no sacrifice.

They offered no promise to appease God.

 Just as we know today, their fast and humility came by faith in the truth of God.

 Our salvation is based on faith in the work that Jesus Christ has done for our salvation, and it is in this faith that God will receive us into His family and not by these other things.

 Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 

Eph 2:9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.

 This is the work that God has required!

 This is the reason Jonah did not want to preach this message, because Jonah understood the grace and mercy of God.

 *****Jon 3:10  And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not. 

 God had seen the wickedness of Nineveh, and now God saw their repentance.

 God heard them call out to Him.

God saw the change in them, their repentance.

 What had they done? They had produced fruit worthy of repentance.

 Mat 3:8  Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: 

Mat 3:9  And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise children unto Abraham. 

 That fruit was that they had turned from their wicked ways.

 They did not need to sacrifice some animal, for that would have been little proof.

 They sacrificed a broken spirit and a contrite heart.

 Psa 51:14  Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. 

Psa 51:15  O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise. 

Psa 51:16  For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. 

Psa 51:17  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. 

 Not only had Jonah preached the message God gave him, but Jonah had learned a lesson he would take back to the Jews and to the Northern Tribes.

 God does not need an animal sacrifice to forgive sin.

 These Ninevites were not confused about Dagon because they had now met Yahweh, Jehovah, our Lord Jesus Christ.

 This is what Jonah knew would happen, and Jonah did not want any of the Ninevites to come to know the true God of Creation.

Jonah had some understanding of the power of the Holy Spirit, and Jonah did not want it to happen.

 *****Jon 4:1  But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. 

Jon 4:2  And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil. 

The Jews, they felt that the God of the Jews was just that. The God of the Jews and not God to any other people.

There are Christians today who feel that some people are just too wicked for God to save them.

There may be, but only God can know these things!

We are never to be hesitant to reach out to others, and if the Holy Spirit encourages us to reach out to certain individuals and we refuse, then we will be held accountable for the blood of that person if they never accept the truth of the Gospel.

God desires to have mercy upon every individual!

The Lord Jesus Christ paid the sin debt for every individual.

It is not up to us to judge if any person can accept the truth of God; this is God's business, and God is in the saving business.

To be more like Jesus Christ, we must also be in the saving business!

God's mercy can reach the lowest of the lowest, the highest of the highest, and all those in between.

God can save anybody, anytime, in any place!

Jonah understood this, but Jonah was not pleased with it.

Jonah understood God's goodness and was not pleased with it.

Jonah explained to God that this was why he fled to keep this from happening, and he knew this was a great sin, and Jonah said to Jehovah, "Just take my life from me".

Jonah discussed his anger with the Lord.

*****Jon 4:3  Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live. 

Even while he was angry at God, this is proof that Jonah did not water down the truth of God, but preached the truth straight from the Word of God.

Jonah did not keep his anger stored up in his heart, and this is a great example for all of us.

We will never understand everything that God does!

We will never understand the death of a child or why so many die in some catastrophe.

We may never understand why God did not answer our prayer or answer it in a way that we did not want Him to answer it.

Jonah knew God was gracious and merciful.

Jonah knew God was slow to anger and abounding in love.

Jonah knew God was willing to turn away from executing His judgment if His conditions were met.

It is very important that we all understand the character of God, and it is our goal to be more like Him.

What Jonah went through during this time in his life is a great lesson for us all.

Anytime we get to see how God does things is a place we can learn from Him!

It is very possible that Jonah became an enemy to his own people after leading these Ninevites to the Lord.

All the Jews hated the Ninevites.

Jonah may not have been able to witness to the Jews anymore.

Life did not make sense to Jonah any longer.

And God said to Jonah: Jon 4:4  Then said the LORD, Doest thou well to be angry?

What do we know about anger? Anger is very ugly if it is allowed to simmer in our heart for a long period of time.

Jonah traveled a short distance from Nineveh and made himself a booth to sit under while he was trying to get over his anger.

God does not speak a word of reproach to Jonah, but God will teach Jonah a great lesson.

*****Jon 4:6  And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd. 

When we are talking to God, it is always best just to stop what we are doing and sit down with Him.

If the Almighty God wants to discuss what has just happened and He takes the time to sit down with one of His children, then it is a great honor to hear what He has to say.

God does want us to understand the things we do not understand, but we must understand that it is because of the great love that He does most things.

Remember how God had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah; now God has prepared a plant, a gourd, to come up and shade Jonah and allow Jonah some relief from the blistering sun.

Jonah was really happy with the shade this plant provided for him, but this relief would not last very long.

*****Jon 4:7  But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered.

If you fool with plants, then you know we can go to bed with our plants looking beautiful and wake up and find that insects during the night have tried to destroy our beautiful plants.

The same God who prepared the gourd to shade Jonah also prepared the worm that destroyed that gourd overnight.

Then God prepared a vehement east wind, and it caused Jonah to be in misery.

That word vehement means a very hot east wind, a scorching, burning wind.

Jonah fainted from the heat, and he again wished for God to take his life.

All Jonah could think about was that gourd that had provided him with some relief the previous day.

Jonah became angry that the gourd had withered and died so soon.

Again, God told Jonah that it did him well to be angry at the gourd.

Then God said: "Here is the lesson for you to learn, Jonah".

*****Jon 4:10  Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: 

Jon 4:11  And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle? 

Here it becomes clear why God has created such a fast-growing plant. 

If it had been a slow-growing plant, Jonah should have cared for it and watered it, but Jonah did not have to make any effort for the growth of the plant. 

Jonah had no personal relationship with it.

We should understand that God is our Creator, and He has that special love for all His created beings, and this includes such cruel and wicked people as the Ninevites were at this time of Jonah.

God made the sun to rise over Nineveh as well as provide rain.

Mat 5:43  Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 

Mat 5:44  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 

Mat 5:45  That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. 

Mat 5:46  For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? 

Mat 5:47  And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? 

God told Jonah that more than one hundred twenty thousand people were living in Nineveh that could not discern their right hand from their left hand; should He not offer them a chance to be saved from Hell?

This is a trait of God's character that we cannot overlook: Mat 9:36  But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. 

Mat 9:37  Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; 

Mat 9:38  Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest. 

Should God not heal them? Mat 14:14  And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick. 

Even the disciples did not understand these things.

Would Jonah understand God's feelings for Jerusalem? Do we? 

Luk 19:41  And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, 

Luk 19:42  Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.

Even the animals were dear to God that were in Nineveh, so we must never think that God does not love His creation.

We do not get to read Jonah's response, and the Book of Jonah comes to an abrupt end, so we know for sure that God always has the last words, and we need to grow in Christ to better understand the ways of God!

Amen

The Prophet Jonah

 Jonah The Rebellious Prophet

 Book of Jonah Chapters 1 and 2

 One thing we should be very clear about in this Book of Jonah is that it was written as actual history and not some allegory, or fiction, or parable, and refers to real people in real places.

 Ancient tradition in Israel considered Jonah and the Book of Jonah as historical facts, and we should too.

 A lot is written about Jonah by Josephus and other church fathers, and they all accepted the Book of Jonah as a historical fact.

 It would be best for us to accept the Book of Jonah along with the sixty-five other books of the Bible as the truth of God.

 If God said Jonah was swallowed by a fish to be delivered to Nineveh, then I accept it as fact.

 It does not actually say that this great fish delivered Jonah to Nineveh, and Assyria had no shore and no seaport.

 Jonah was probably put to shore at Joppa, the place from which he had set out.

 God wanted His message of "judgment" preached in Nineveh, and He chose Jonah to deliver that message.

 God does not just choose people He knows might not like the ministry He chose them for.

 God chooses His children who He knows can get the job done if their faith remains strong.

 1) We have a duty to bear witness to the true Lord of all people, Jesus Christ.

2) God wanted Israel to know that God loved all people.

3) Jonah was to be a picture of repentance from disobedience of a true man of God, written to all God's people.

 Another thing to consider that is not mentioned is the fact that it would be the Assyrian Empire that God would use in His "judgment" of the Northern Tribes named Israel, and the capital of the Assyrian Empire was the city of Nineveh.

 The Assyrians were known as some of the cruelest people in the ancient world.

 The children of Israel could be just as callous and hardhearted.

 Even though most of the Ninevites returned to pagan worship later, God always, always has a remnant that stays with Him forever.

 I believe that when Israel was taken to Nineveh, not everyone would be their enemy.

 God has a purpose and a use for everyone upon the face of this earth.

God will use everyone who turns to Him, but God will also use the wicked to further His plan of "redemption" while not causing their wickedness.

 The truth of God is that He desires mercy more than judgment, and every person who lives will get an opportunity to meet the God of the Bible.

 God's patience with our sin and wickedness, our false worship and rejection of Him as the only Living God and True God, is hard to understand, but it is real!

 2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

2Pe 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

 We must understand that God's "judgment" will be real when the Lord Jesus returns in glory.

 There is nowhere to run to escape the "Judgment of God"!

 *****Jon 1:1 Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,

Jon 1:2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.

 The Book of Jonah, the fifth book in the row of the twelve minor prophets, is a unique book.

 It is another place where we are to learn about the ways of God.

 Jonah, the prophet of God, tried to put his own importance above the importance of God's message.

 We must learn that if we belong to God, we cannot run away from the purpose He has for us without feeling His chastisement.

 Jonah knew the power and the truth of God!

 When the truth of God is preached to any people, some will believe and be saved.

 Jonah hated the Ninevites, for they were cruel, war-mongering people, and Jonah did not want to see any of them turn to Jehovah for salvation.

 Just like God always does, He will take something that started badly and turn it into good results.

 Jonah was running away from his home and his country to avoid doing what God wanted him to do.

 Jonah would suffer unimaginable things, but in the end, he would be glad to do what God wanted him to do.

 Jonah was already a prophet of God in Judah and was obedient to the Word of God.

 Amos and Hosea were also serving the Lord during the time of Jonah.

 They were to warn Israel and Judah of the coming judgment unless they would repent of their evil ways.

 God's new commission to Jonah was clear and unmistakable.

 Jonah was to go to the city of Nineveh to warn a pagan people of the coming judgment of God.

 We will learn a lot about Jonah, but we must pay attention to the actions of our God and Jonah's God, Jehovah.

 Of course, we know Him as Jesus.

 Nineveh was one of the great cities of ancient civilization.

 For the Lord Jesus to mention Jonah, we know that these things are true.

 It just makes sense for us to accept all the Word of God as the truth.

 To the Jews, the Book of Jonah is important, and they read this great truth of God during the Day of Atonement.

 To critics, it is just a fairytale, but we live by faith in the whole Word of God.

 If the Lord Jesus said these things are true, then we should not question them.

 Mat 12:40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Mat 12:41 The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.

 Mat 16:4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.

 What do we recognize as the sign of Jonah?

 The sign of Jonah refers to the three days that Jonah spent in the belly of a great fish, which symbolizes Jesus' death and resurrection after three days.

 This truth is mentioned in the Gospels, where Jesus uses Jonah's experience as a type of His own future crucifixion, burial, and resurrection.

 The miraculous survival of Jonah serves as a powerful reminder of God's mercy and God's call to repentance.

 It is God who is in control of all the parts of nature He created. God loves all people.

 And for those who think God just has His eyes on His own people, all the other people of this earth should know that God has His eyes upon all His creation and all people of every nation.

 What did Jonah do? He tried to flee from God.

 God knows what each of us are doing at any given time.

 *****Jon 1:3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.

 It is believed that Tarshish was a city of the Phoenicians in southern Spain.

 This ship would have been an ocean-going ship and not a small fishing boat.

 The Phoenicians were the dominant sea power at that time, and their ships traveled the world.

 We should understand that we may not always like what God wants us to do.

 We know He will never go against His own Word, so anything God asks us to do will be the right thing to do!

 The people of Nineveh were evil and malicious, but as God had promised, the entire world must be warned of the coming judgment.

 Nah 3:1 Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not;

Nah 3:2 The noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the pransing horses, and of the jumping chariots.

Nah 3:3 The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering spear: and there is a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcases; and there is none end of their corpses; they stumble upon their corpses:

Nah 3:4 Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the wellfavoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts.

 All sin is an abomination to the Lord, but God will sometimes point out a specific group of people who have become so wicked that He will issue a special call of judgment.

 Archaeology has confirmed what God is teaching us in this Book of Jonah.

 The Assyrians were wicked people!

 In their judgment of people, lips were torn off, hands were cut off, people were flayed like you would a fish while they were alive, and there were great mounds of skulls everywhere.

 Jonah made a tragic decision to deliberately disobey the Lord and run away.

 We must clearly understand that God can save anybody, anywhere, at any time, and it is not up to us to decide who God will save or who God will reject.

 Rom_14:13 Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way.

 The Lord Jesus said: Mat_7:1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.

 The Lord God Jehovah could not allow His prophet to get away with these things, which means He understood the feelings of Jonah, but Jonah was not God, and Jonah could not select who God would save or not save.

 God's message is to all people!

 Jonah was in open rebellion against the Lord and wanted to get as far away from Nineveh as he possibly could.

 God loved the Ninevites, despite their wickedness, and wanted them to hear that there was hope for them if they would only repent of all that wickedness.

 We can also see that when we disobey God, we can endanger others.

 God did not want His prophet to destroy his ministry or his life.

 God caused a great wind, so great that this mighty ship could be destroyed.

 The mariners of the ship all called out to their false gods, and we know there was no help there.

 Jonah was asleep below deck, and the captain told him to cry out to his God, who is Jehovah, the God of the Hebrew people.

 The Lord God of the Bible is the only hope we have in this world!

 *****Jon 1:7 And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So, they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.

 Jonah may have thought for a while that he had successfully avoided going east to Ninevah by going west to Spain, but God was not through with Jonah.

 Jonah knew why the ship was in such distress.

 We should understand that God chastises those He loves, and sometimes a lot of chastisement is needed to bring us back to the right path.

 While God was dealing with Jonah, He also took the time to demonstrate His power over the elements of this world.

 This was the time of the year when the Mediterranean Sea would have been the calmest, and the crew, being polytheists, could only blame their distress on some false god.

 They believed more in their false gods than many people believe in the true God, to our shame.

 Ask a Muslim who believes in false gods or ask a Hindu about their faith.

 God wants us to warn all people everywhere of His coming judgment, whether they believe it or not.

 Jonah finally told them his God was the LORD, the God of Heaven, and that he was running away from Him.

 It was obvious to the ship that it was Jonah’s fault that had caused this terrible storm.

 They asked Jonah how they could save themselves from this storm, and Jonah told them to throw him overboard.

 They did not want to do this at first but later decided that there was no other option and tossed Jonah out of the ship.

 *****Jon 1:15 So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging.

 These professional sailors got introduced to the God who is our Creator.

 They asked that God not hold them accountable since it was because of Jonah that the storm was so powerful.

 They were now afraid for their own lives and had admiration for the God of the Hebrew people, and they offered some sacrifice when they could have just said thank you and praised Him.

 A vow would mean that these sailors made some kind of promise to God.

 Only Jonah knew what happened next and lived to talk about it, and the Holy Spirit caused it to be written in the Bible we have today.

 *****Jon 1:17 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

 No one can outthink God! He knew exactly what was going to happen to Jonah, and He prepared a great fish to be ready to save Jonah from drowning.

 If God can keep life in the womb before the birth of a child, why would He not be able to keep Jonah alive in the belly of a fish?

 This great fish swallowed Jonah to protect him, and as my preacher says, Jonah became the first ever submariner.

 Some say under these conditions, there was no way that Jonah could have known how many days he was inside this fish, but the Holy Spirit knows all things.

 2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

2Ti 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

 There was but one thing Jonah could do.

 *****Jon 2:1 Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly,

Jon 2:2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.

 This story of Jonah should confirm the fact that we can pray to God from anywhere but the grave, though we know that everyone in Hell is now a believer in the true God.

 Wherever we find ourselves, we are never too far from God for Him to hear us.

 Jonah had caused himself to be put into this precarious situation.

 Jonah was in this situation because he had willfully disobeyed God, but God was still ready to hear from Jonah.

 Had Jonah not prayed, he would have been lunch for this fish!

 We must know that in our time of need, we should go to God, for He is always listening for our prayers.

 Psa 120:1 In my distress I cried unto the LORD, and he heard me.

 We are never truly in a desperate situation when we know we can pray to the God of all power, even when we are in disobedience to the Word of God, if we are willing to repent.

 It would take a miracle for Jonah to survive and complete the work that God had given him to do.

 The Lord used this huge fish to keep Jonah alive while He also gave Jonah a sense of being in Hell.

 1) Jonah was in pitch-black darkness, along with the unbearable smell of rotting fish, seaweed, and whatever else a fish would eat.

2) The Lord used this fish to give Jonah a sense of what Hell would be like for those who never heard God's message of salvation.

3) God used this fish to deliver Jonah from death to demonstrate His great love and mercy. God will do almost anything to get His message to those who have never heard it.

4) The Lord used this great fish to swallow and then expel Jonah as a type of Jesus Christ's death and resurrection, as Jesus said Himself.

 Luk 11:29 And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet.

Luk 11:30 For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation.

 We should remember the Lord in everything we do, and He should never be the last thing that we remember in a time of need.

 *****Jon 2:7 When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.

 Though Jonah was still inside this great fish, his heart began to change in his despair.

 Jonah realized that the Lord had kept him alive inside this fish to give him time to repent.

 Jonah could breathe while inside this animal, which causes many to believe this great fish was a whale, but we actually do not know for sure.

 Jonah speaks with faith that the Lord could still save him if He chose to do so, and He did.

 God intends that through situations such as the one Jonah was in, to show us His great mercy.

 2Co 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

2Co 4:8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;

2Co 4:9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;

2Co 4:10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

 Jonah did not know if he would truly be saved from his dilemma, but he did know that his relationship with his Heavenly Father had been mended.

 Inside this fish, Jonah knew he could still reach into the throne room of God.

 Jonah was not afraid to die!

 *****Jon 2:10 And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

 We do not know where Jonah was put out on dry land.

 We do know that God has control of all His creation, and this fish was obedient to God.

 We can ignore all those who suggest the first part of the Book of Jonah is allegorical.

 Those are just people who have no respect for the Word of God nor the power of our Supernatural God.

 God had humbled His servant, and His servant was now ready to serve Him.

 Jonah revived his ministry from this beach where he was deposited.

 He would now obey God and go to Nineveh to proclaim the Word of God to a doomed people.

 This is the same job we have today!

 It was Jonah's three-day experience when he was given a new life and a new beginning.

 So, it is with every believer!

 Through the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, we too can receive a new life, a new beginning, a brand-new start, a second chance, and spend an eternity with the One who loves us the most.

 Eph 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;

Eph 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

Eph 2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

Eph 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

Eph 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

Eph 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

Eph 2:7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. By Grace Through Faith.

 We must never think that God is not working in this world to bring to full glory His plan of salvation, through the Lord Jesus Christ.

 Amen

The Reward for Repentance

 Forgiveness Is the Reward for Repentance

 Book of Hosea, Chapters 10 through 14

 

We see the word repentance throughout the Bible, but most people do not understand what this word means.

 In Christianity, true repentance begins with the consciousness of our sin.

 The evidence of repentance is faith, humility, prayer, and obedience.

 Repentance is a gift of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 Act 5:31  Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.

Just as with any other gift, we must reach for it to receive it.

 How do we accomplish repentance?

 Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 

Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

 First, we acknowledge the lives of those who are living by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

We realize that those who are no longer with us encouraged us to live in faith of the Lord Jesus and the life they lived is also an encouragement.

We must accept the salvation that is provided by the Lord Jesus Christ.

We must lay aside every burden from this world because they have no importance in Heaven.

We must walk away from the sin in our lives that has now been forgiven.

We must plant our feet into the plan of God for our lives.

Unless we get busy serving the Lord, we have not truly repented. This is the race that comes with being reconciled to God.

 Isa 45:22  Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. 

 Act 17:30  And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

 It is the goodness of God that will lead us to look to Him for repentance.

 Rom 2:4  Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? 

 Pro 28:13  He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.

 We can see that forgiveness is truly the reward for repentance, but we also see that repentance is necessary for forgiveness.

 God’s forgiveness here is clearly linked to a true return to God to find with Him compassion instead of judgment.

 We must understand that the Lord Jesus Christ has already paid for all the sins that have taken place in this world by anybody.

 1Jn_2:2  And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

 Our job is to tell others this truth and show them the goodness of God so they can believe and be reconciled to God.

 2Co_5:18  And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

2Co_5:19  To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

 This is our race to enter or be left out of God's blessings

 *****Hos 10:12  Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you. 

 As long as we are alive, we can make a new start with God; once this flesh dies, our opportunity to do so vanishes.

 Once more, God calls for Israel to repent and escape the judgment of God.

 The horrendous sin that happened at Gibeah almost brought to an end one of the tribes of Israel, which was Benjamin.

 The city of Gibeah had become a place like Sodom, and the tribe of Benjamin had allowed it to take place and would fight anyone who tried to change them.

 What used to take place in the heathen Sodom now takes place in Israel, among the people of God, by people who bear God’s Name, and it is allowed.

 What did God say of His people?

 Jer 23:14  I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah. 

 We know that this Levite went to his own home, cut this woman up into pieces, and sent them to all the tribes of Israel. Israel decided to take vengeance on Benjamin, and all but six hundred men were slaughtered.

 Of Israel and Benjamin, sixty-five thousand men died in three battles because of sin.

 The people of Israel eventually brought four hundred virgins to those six hundred men, and this sin disappeared from the tribe of Benjamin. It grew rapidly, but sin remained, and the people continued to fall into the trap of false worship and idolatry, but the sin of sodomy disappeared

 Their hearts remained hardened against the truth of God.

 God likes to use farming principles to get His point across because most of these people were farmers.

 On a new piece of land, to grow crops, the land must be cultivated. They had to break up the fallow ground, or we would say till the soil.

 For a hardened heart to be usable, that heart needs to be plowed with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the truth of the Word of God, to cleanse that heart of sin.

 1) To sow righteousness and reap God's love, they had to turn toward God and away from their wicked ways.

 2) They had to begin a new life guided by God's Holy Word.

 3) They had to turn away from the world and look to God, and they would stand justified before God.

 Gal 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 

Gal 5:23  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 

Gal 5:24  And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

 I do not know how many times the Scriptures tell us to avoid an immoral lifestyle, and it is rejected by much of the Church today.

 We know God does not change, so how can the Church be so foolish?

 God also warns us against wickedness, perversion, and degenerate acts.

 In no uncertain terms, God condemns all acts of homosexuality just as He does fornication.

 He also condemns rape, abuse, assault, murder, and all depravity.

 Mar 7:20  And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. 

Mar 7:21  For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 

Mar 7:22  Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: 

Mar 7:23  All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

 Another farming principle that we need to keep up with is located in Gal 6:7  Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 

 *****Hos 10:13  Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men.

 Instead of sowing righteousness the people had sown wickedness.

 When you sow wickedness, you will reap evil and eat the fruit of deception.

 In the end times, the Lord Jesus says we must watch out for deception.

 Luk_21:8  And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.

 Our land today is full of hatred. Hatred brings injustice, which relies on wickedness instead of love, which brings justice.

 Anytime we go our own way instead of God's way, which is righteousness, doing things right according to the Word of God, we will fail as people, and we will fail as a nation.

 All the time, we hear that the USA is not in the Bible, but the people of God are in the Bible, and it takes people to make a nation.

 If we want to be around in the end times, then we must be the people of God and not so full of wickedness as we are today.

 We must break the cycle we are in today: Isa 53:6  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 

 We cannot rely on ourselves to get us there.

We cannot rely on our government to get us there.

We cannot rely on our military to get us there.

We can only rely on the Lord Jesus Christ to get us there.

 *****Hos 11:1  When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt. 

 We immediately see that it is because of God's love that He delivers His people.

 Joh 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 

Joh 3:17  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

 It is the call of God that enables us to be saved.

 We could say this is the unconditional election of God in which He acts.

 God chose to call us while we were yet sinners and had no value to Him.

 God calls us because He has a purpose for us.

 In compassionate terms, the LORD speaks about Israel.

 He speaks about how He loved the people as a child and son, liberated them, taught them to walk, cherished them in His arms, cared for them, nurtured them, and raised them.

 When we say no to God, we are saying no not only to His purpose for us, but we are saying no to His great love for us.

 1Jn_2:5  But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.

 When God says nothing can separate us from His love, He truly means it!

 Rom_8:39  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 It was God's love that delivered Israel from the bondage of Egypt.

 God's love will always deliver His people!

 Throughout the Old Testament, we see that the LORD's relationship with Israel was like that of a father and son, and this has not changed.

 This is the way our LORD thinks of all His children, especially the Church today.

 God has not abandoned Israel because we know that His great love He has remains.

 What did God say to Pharaoh? Exo 4:22  And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn: 

Exo 4:23  And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn. 

 When God first called Abraham, God promised to establish a very special relationship with his descendants.

 The one thing they needed to do was obey.

 All true believers, we are the adopted sons and daughters of God.

 Now, we should not leave this verse until we see that it also relates to Jesus Christ.

 Mat 2:13  And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. 

Mat 2:14  When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: 

Mat 2:15  And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.

 We should understand that we should remain where the Lord has placed us until He gives us the command to leave.

 We should only act when God says to act.

 When the Lord Jesus was just a few days old, He had to flee, and the angels who announced His birth did not form an escort around Him.

 One thing is very clear: the Lord Jesus started His history on earth where the people of Israel started theirs.

 Jesus Christ was a Jew, and He would look like a Jew of that day.

 Where Israel failed God, the Lord Jesus Christ would succeed!

 Though Israel is still failing in its calling, Jesus Christ is perfect in His calling.

 The Lord Jesus is the firstborn of the Church.

The Lord Jesus is the true Israel.

The Lord Jesus is the true Adam.

 1Co 15:45  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. 

1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. 

1Co 15:47  The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. 

 Where we puny humans fail, the Lord Jesus Christ always succeeds!

 *****Hos 11:2  As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images. 

Hos 11:3  I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms; but they knew not that I healed them. 

Hos 11:4  I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them.

 Once Israel was freed from Egypt and started their journey to the Promised Land, they forgot about God's love.

 The whole world, including the Atheists, sacrifice to Baalim. Baalim represents all false gods and the imaginations of their minds.

Israel, as God's son, has been delivered more times than we can count, and God is going to deliver them again, and this time they will serve Him.

 In many places in the Bible, during the divided kingdom, Ephraim can mean Israel.

 Israel is just like the world today, which refuses to repent.

 We know that in the not-too-distant future, Israel will repent, but the world will remain stubborn and refuse to repent.

 We live in a self-righteous world that still listens to the serpent of the Book of Genesis.

 Gen 3:4  And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 

Gen 3:5  For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 

 The world still believes in the theory of evolution, and the ultimate fulfillment of evolution is that humans will one day evolve into gods.

 What a joke. Evolution is the biggest lie told to the world, and the world clings to it like it is gold, just because the alternative would be that they would have to acknowledge a Supernatural God.

 When Israel was a young nation, the LORD took her people by the arm and helped them along the way step by step.

 Substitute America for Israel, and the same thing could be said. God has helped the USA along the way, step by step.

 When Israel stumbled, they were not abandoned; the LORD was there to lift them. He has not changed!

 The key to the Bible and God's promises is to walk faithfully throughout our lives.

 We should never ignore the LORD's love and care for us.

 God has given us His love letter to us, the Bible, just for this purpose.

 Rom 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 

Rom 6:5  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 

Rom 6:6  Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

 The “cords of a man” represent God’s loving, personal influence, not forceful control.

 God promises to guide us.

God promises to care for us by providing our needs.

God promises never to lead us into temptation.

God promises us eternal life in the most wonderful place that has ever been conceived.

 God asks us to have faith in His promises.

 Psa 73:24  Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.

 1Pe 5:7  Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. 

 *****Hos 13:4  Yet I am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for there is no saviour beside me. 

 What is the truth of all man-made idols? Hos 13:2  And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, and idols according to their own understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves. 

Hos 13:3  Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the early dew that passeth away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney. 

 There is nothing that is carved by human hands, nothing made of the most valuable things on earth, nothing that is a figment of man's imagination, that could have led Israel out of Egypt.

 There is nothing in this world that can save us or redeem us but God, who is the LORD!

 He has a connection with us because He is also our Creator!

 Isa 45:20  Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save. 

Isa 45:21  Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. 

Isa 45:22  Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. 

 God loves us!

 If we are faithful and about to do something that will harm us, God will correct us.

 Why do we expect that correction not to have pain?

 God will do what He can to make sure we live and experience the fullness of this life if we are faithful to Him.

 God is not afraid to use His Heavenly hickory, as any good father would, to get us back on the right road of reconciliation if we veer to the left or to the right.

 If those few stripes could not get us back on track, then God will use a harsher method.

 *****Hos 13:7  Therefore I will be unto them as a lion: as a leopard by the way will I observe them: 

Hos 13:8  I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them.

 God will move from being the Good Shepherd to being like a wild animal.

 The lion, the bear, the lioness, and the wild beast may not abide in Israel today, but they did in the days of the prophets.

 These animals are known for the horrible way they kill their prey.

 Heb 12:5  And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 

 That word "scourge" can mean severe bodily punishment.

 Scourging, in most cases, was just the lead-in to capital punishment.

 Will God take your life to keep you out of Hell? He could for those who are His children!

 *****Hos 13:9  O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help.

 After we become one of God's children, the first thing we learn is that we need His help.

 If we know we need His help and then reject Him, it will lead to our destruction!

 The only hope and help for a sinful people is the "GRACE" of God.

 Without God's "grace," we would certainly perish in that place called Hell, which is a real place, and Heaven is also a real place.

 God will never reject or destroy His people forever because He cannot void the promises He has already made.

 God is Holy, completely set apart from all other things, perfectly righteous and pure in all things, including His Word.

 God will never change from what He says He will do!

 God is love; God can never be other than love.

God is Holy; He can never be other than Holy.

God is perfect; He can never be other than perfect.

God is faithful; He can never be other than faithful.

 1Co 1:9  God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. 

 *****Hos 14:1  O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.

 We know that Israel has been in that place of judgment since the time of the Assyrians.

 The Assyrian, Sargon the Tartan, the commander-in-chief of the Assyrian Army, laid siege to Samaria and put an end to the Kingdom of Israel.

 2Ki 17:5  Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years. 

 2Ki 17:6  In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

 Why did God allow this to happen?

 2Ki 17:7  For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods, 

2Ki 17:8  And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made. 

2Ki 17:9  And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the LORD their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city. 

2Ki 17:10  And they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree: 

2Ki 17:11  And there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the heathen whom the LORD carried away before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the LORD to anger: 

2Ki 17:12  For they served idols, whereof the LORD had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing.

 This is what the judgment of God looks like.

 *****Hos 14:2  Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips. 

Hos 14:3  Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy. 

Hos 14:4  I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.

 Up until the siege of the King of Assyria, all Israel had to do was repent and turn back to Jehovah God, yet they would not.

 What is it going to take for God's people to return to God and follow the Word He has given to us?

 Repentance is the first step!

 Next comes confession with words that must come from the heart.

 Rom_10:9  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

 Rom_4:16  Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,

 These things must be done in faith.

 Remember, Abraham had faith that if he killed Isaac, God would raise him from that death, and the plan of God would succeed.

 Gen 12:1  Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 

Gen 12:2  And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 

Gen 12:3  And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. 

 The plan of God will certainly succeed!

 The truth is that if we confess in faith, faith in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, God will accept our confession as a sacrifice with the respect that goes along with it, if it comes from the heart.

 The truth is that the utterances of our lips, consisting of prayers and praise, or both, are to take the place of animal sacrifices.

 Animal sacrifices would only be good for one year.

 Only the sacrifice of the lord Jesus Christ is great enough to be able to forgive all sins, up to the greatest sin.

 Heb 13:15  By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. 

Heb 13:16  But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. 

 Mic 6:7  Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 

Mic 6:8  He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? 

 After we confess our sin and are forgiven there must be a radical break with the past.

 We must do away with our former life!

 We must understand that God will not forgive sins if we intend to continue with them!

 Pro 28:13  He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. 

 The modern church has forgotten this.

 The Catholic church has forgotten this.

 All those churches that allowed the laws of the world to overcome the Law of God have forgotten this.

 We cannot just conceal our sin; we must forsake all our sin to be reconciled to God.

 There is very little time to get these things behind us, or the rapture of the Church will not be such a great event for those who are just playing church or those who believe the preacher but do not believe the Word of God.

 The Word of God is the only map that will lead us to Heaven!

 Who are the wise ones?

 *****Hos 14:9  Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein. 

 That word "prudent" means discernment, understanding, consideration, and being prudent.

 These are things that the Northern Kingdom lacked while it practiced pagan worship.

 The prophet Hosea was calling out to anyone who had not given in to those things.

Who are the wisest upon this earth? Those who showed wisdom in understanding that the ways of the Lord are the path that we should walk.

God promised that Israel would return to that land.

On May 14, 1948, Israel became a nation again, in one day, and they returned to the land that they had been carried away from.

God promised that they would prosper, and they have and will prosper even more during the Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ.

It is during the Tribulation years that they will, for the first time, be totally sold out to Jehovah, the LORD God of Israel.

Israel's judgment was just as God had said on that day.

Why would we think that God will be any different from the Church that has left the pathway built by the Lord Jesus Christ?

Why can we not accept that all the Word of God is the truth?

Amen