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

Rebellion Against God Has Consequences

 Chastisement Because of Rebellion

 Book of Hosea Chapters 4 through 9

 Chastisement is correction, punishment, or pain inflicted for punishment and correction.

 The truth is that God will only chastise those He loves.

God is much more about correction than He is about punishment!

 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. 

Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 

Heb 12:8  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

 If we are full of sin and have not been chastened for it, then we had better ensure our salvation.

 Chastisement is not judgment! The Lord Jesus Christ took our judgment on the cross, and when we are saved, we have been justified and will not see judgment.

 Job 34:5  For Job hath said, I am righteous: and God hath taken away my judgment.

 Chastening is to teach us obedience to the Word of God.

 Job 34:31  Surely it is meet to be said unto God, I have borne chastisement, I will not offend any more: 

Job 34:32  That which I see not teach thou me: if I have done iniquity, I will do no more.

 We have seen that God chastised Israel and Judah for rebellion, but it is still chastisement, not judgment, because He still loves them, even if it seems very harsh.

 We know that Hosea had firsthand experience with the hurt that is caused by unfaithfulness.

 *****Hos 4:1  Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. 

 This is God speaking by the Holy Spirit to make sure that Israel understands the sins they have committed against God.

 No matter our sin or who else may be involved in our sin, that sin is against our Holy God.

 If the Lord Himself is delivering these charges, then we know they are true.

 Israel is charged with a lack of truth, a lack of mercy, and a lack of knowledge of God.

 What is the truth?

 1) Truth and Love cannot be separated. When you love someone, you tell them the truth.

2) Truth cannot be sustained without "mercy," and mercy without “truth” will make us negligent. Truth and mercy must be mingled together.

3) When there is no knowledge of God, people will be willfully ignorant of how to treat others and will therefore attempt to dominate them.

 We live in this world today. A world without natural affection.

 Rom_1:31  Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:

 2Ti_3:3  Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,

 It is in our politics, and it is in our everyday life. We have chosen hatred to rule our lives.

 We must keep hatred out of the Church!

 What were the specific charges against the Northern Kingdom?

 *****Hos 4:2  By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.

 When faithfulness, kindness, and the knowledge of God are lacking it creates room for all kinds of sin.

 When there is no bond with God there will be no commitment to relationships with others.

 One of the greatest examples is Adam and Eve.

 Eve blamed the serpent, but Adam blamed God, who gave Eve to him as a helpmate.

 Then their children did not see God clearly, and Cain killed Abel.

 The Northern Tribes of Israel had trampled the Word of God under their feet, and they violated the Laws of God.

 1) Swearing to confirm a lie is a violation of the third commandment.

 Deu 5:11  Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

 We must be very careful that we do not misuse God's name.

 2) Lying is a violation of the ninth commandment.

 Deu 5:20  Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour. 

 They deceived, twisted the truth, exaggerated the facts, and misled others to build themselves up. 

Sounds just like Washington, DC today. In fact, these things are happening in most nations' capitals, especially those that seem to be the most powerful nations.

 3) Murder is a violation of the Sixth Commandment.

 Deu 5:17  Thou shalt not kill. 

 These people filled the land with murder. Again, sounds just like America and many other nations.

 Someone is being murdered every day. 

It is said that the government of Iran has murdered over 42,000 people who are suffering from a terrible government. 

People are not really safe anywhere these days. Ride by shootings, schools, gatherings of people, none are truly safe.

 4) Stealing is a violation of the eighth commandment.

 Deu 5:19  Neither shalt thou steal. 

 Selfishness and covetousness cause people to take what they want from anybody they want to. They cheated wherever they could get away with it. Businesses overcharged customers, overpriced products, and used cheaper materials to make so-called quality products.

 5) Adultery is a violation of the seventh commandment.

 Deu 5:18  Neither shalt thou commit adultery.

 Sexual immorality had swept over the land. Few were faithful to their spouses. Even among priests.

 They committed adultery in their marriages, but worse than that, they committed adultery against God, their Creator and Savior.

 6) These people had broken all Godly restraints:

 Neither the Word of God, nor the people's consciences, nor any sort of reasoning remained with these wicked people.

 1Ti 4:1  Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;

 7) They had allowed violence to run wild.

 People in every walk of society were willing to do anything to fulfill their lust and their pride.

 1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

 You cannot make these things up because these same things are happening in our own nation today, along with many other sins against God.

 There is only one answer to our problems.

 1Co 6:9  Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 

1Co 6:10  Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 

1Co 6:11  And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

 What did God say about all these, and God never changes?

 *****Hos 4:6  My people are destroyed, for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. 

Hos 4:7  As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame.

 The Church needs to wake up, and the false church needs to wake up. We know God does not ever change, and this passage is clear language of who God holds to blame.

 God does not have to destroy this world; our world is so full of sin and foolishness that it will destroy itself if God does not stop it.

 The people were guilty of polluting the land that God had given to them to live on.

 Isa 24:3  The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word. 

Isa 24:4  The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish. 

Isa 24:5  The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. 

Isa 24:6  Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.

 King Jeroboam's first action was to corrupt the law of God from the very beginning. 

What Jeroboam started was a religion that mixed a little of the truth of God with the false religion of the world.

 Again, the same thing is happening today in the Church.

 He found his own priests from people who were disqualified to be priests by the Word of God, non-Levites.

 Jeroboam had set up a state religion, but the Word of God was not taught, and the people had allowed it to happen because most of them knew the truth of God.

 We already know that Hosea was the only prophet who resided in the Northern Kingdom through whom God spoke.

 The other true prophets who prophesied in the Northern Kingdom resided in the Southern Kingdom.

 This tells us there were no other men in the Northern Kingdom whom God trusted to give them the truth.

Most all the Levites had escaped to Judah.

 These people still had no excuse because they knew the truth of God.

 They did not wander astray because they did not know the way of God, but because they had no desire to go God's ways, and the religion of Jeroboam gave them an excuse.

 Job 21:14  Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways. 

Job 21:15  What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him? 

 Today, most people do not want to hear what God has to say because it will bring them under conviction.

 The truth is that not knowing God and His Word will not save them from the judgment of God because they are already judged.

 Joh 12:48  He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. 

 The priests chosen by Jeroboam were leading the people further away from God and not closer to Him.

 This is the same problem of false preachers today. They lead the people further away from God and not closer to Him.

 The result is that the people of God will lack the true knowledge of God, and it is showing up in the modern Church today.

 We can know all the facts of the Bible, but we still must have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, and He must be Lord of our lives.

 God cannot break any promises He has made; "judgment" had to come to the Northern Tribes of Israel.

 Rom 6:23  For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 Eze 18:20  The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. 

 What we find is that if we look at the history of mankind, it appears time and time again that acquired greatness has been abused by mankind to self-exaltation, while God is forgotten.

 Judgment would begin as God would no longer provide their needs.

 *****Hos 4:10  For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase: because they have left off to take heed to the LORD. 

Hos 4:11  Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart. 

 Why do some people believe that sin brings benefits?

 Oh, they may win a small amount from the lottery, but that big pot is just an enticement to most people.

 I do not know of many people out in the world who are satisfied, especially as they approach their elder years. I know I wasn’t.

 Most of them are so greedy that they will never be satisfied, and the rest know they are missing out on something, but they do not know what it is.

 Their insatiable thirst for sin will remain with them because the Devil will not let them go and may even cause them an early death.

 What do we know about the heart? Pro 4:23  Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. 

 These priests had lost their understanding of the Word of God.

 When every action we take is to benefit ourselves, we are living in harlotry.

 When we do not think about worshiping the Lord, we are living in harlotry.

 When we quit praying, we are living in harlotry.

 We have lost our understanding of the Word of God.

 Wine! I do not believe that the Lord Jesus authorized the use of alcoholic wine.

 Pro 23:20  Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:

 Pro 23:29  Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? 

Pro 23:30  They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. 

Pro 23:31  Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. 

Pro 23:32  At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.

God will never contradict Himself! 

The word "wine" is used many times in the Word of God.

 The most common Hebrew word is "yayen". Yayen could be fermented wine, but it could also mean to tread out, which is grape juice.

 Another Hebrew word used is “Ashishah”, and it is not wine but basically means raisins.

 Another Hebrew word used is "Asis" which is grape juice no older than one year.

 Another Hebrew word used is "Hometz" which is vinegar.

 Another word used is "Hemer" and it means the blood of the grape and or grape juice just beginning the process of fermentation.

 Another word used is "enabh" which is cakes of raisins.

 Another word used is "Mesekh," which is mixed with yayen, water, and spices. Mixed wine.

 Another word used is "Tirosh" which is wine that is intoxicating and is said to take possession of the brain.

 There is still "Sobhe" which means drunkard.

 "Shekar" which is intoxication liquor.

 "Yekebh" which fresh pressed juice.

 "Shemarim" which is old juice.

 "Mesek" mixed juice and spice, but not diluted with water, boiled down to a syrup.

 The wine the Lord Jesus made is described as "oinos". Fresh-squeezed juice mixed with water.

 This same Greek word is used to describe the wrath of God.

 Rev 14:8  And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. Rev 14:8  And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. 

 All other grape juices were mixed with water.

 Our Lord miraculously supplied wine at the marriage feast in Cana of Galilee (Jhn_2:1-11). 

The Rechabites were forbidden the use of wine (Jer. 35). 

Nazarites also were to abstain from its use during the period of their vow (Num_6:1-4); and those who were dedicated as Nazarites from their birth were perpetually to abstain from it (Jdg_13:4, Jdg_13:5; Luk_1:15; Luk_7:33). 

The priests, too, were forbidden the use of wine and strong drink when engaged in their sacred functions (Lev_10:1, Lev_10:9-11). 

“Wine is little used now in the East, from the fact that Mohammedans are not allowed to taste it, and very few of other creeds touch it. 

When it is drunk, water is generally mixed with it, and this was the custom in the days of Christ also. 

The people indeed are everywhere very sober in hot climates; a drunken person, in fact, is never seen”.

 We should be very careful to look closely at the word “wine” used in English-speaking Bibles.

The Lord Jesus Christ did not drink alcoholic wine and it should not be used in the Church.

Some people are told to drink a little wine for medical purposes when grape juice will do the same thing that the wine will do in medicine.

 *****Hos 4:12  My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God.

 Even though these are the people of the Northern Kingdom the LORD still required the people themselves to be accountable for their own sins.

 We can be sure that there will be a great accounting to God by those who were the leaders of God's people it still does not diminish the fact that these people will endure God's chastisement for their sins.

 We know that God does not change, so this should be a great lesson for the Church today.

 The Church cannot allow what God calls abominations to continue in the Church!

 The people of the Northern Kingdom ceased seeking the only One who could give them proper counsel, Jehovah.

 *****Hos 4:16  For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer: now the LORD will feed them as a lamb in a large place. 

 An acceptance of physical and spiritual adultery had gripped that society.

 The priests and the people played the harlot, enticing people away from God.

 These people began to worship sex as well as idols and false gods. This is what fertility worship leads to!

 I have already said it, but I will say it again: we see these same things here in the USA and throughout the world, and people wonder why our world is so messed up.

 They had rejected the covenants that bound them to a Holy God!

 Jer 3:3  Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and thou hadst a whore's forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed. 

 What was happening in Israel was affecting what was happening in Judah.

 Jer 3:9  And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks. 

Jer 3:10  And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD. 

 Isa 1:21  How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers. 

 We have to wonder sometimes why our Heavenly Father even puts up with any of us as long as He has.

 *****Hos 8:5  Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off; mine anger is kindled against them: how long will it be ere they attain to innocency? 

Hos 8:6  For from Israel was it also: the workman made it; therefore it is not God: but the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces.

Hos 8:7  For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.

What does God think of the idols we worship? They will be broken in pieces.

What did God say about choosing our leaders or presidents? We are to choose them according to whether they are following the Word of God.

We are to choose those who remain close to Israel.

We are to choose them if they are into truth and not lies.

We are to choose those who are close to God in their lives.

We are to choose only after we have spent some time in prayer.

We are never to choose them for political reasons.

We are never to choose those who deny Jesus Christ or the Bible.

God was going to allow the Assyrian army to judge Israel.

What country or what nation is God going to allow to judge our nation? He could still do this.

God hates idol worship!

We are to be a righteous nation and not the Great Satan.

God has a desire for us to return to being a godly nation.

The only thing saving our nation today is the patience of God.

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.

We had better get our hearts right with God very soon!

The Northern Tribes, called Israel, had:

1) They had broken their covenant with God and rebelled against the Word of God.

2) The people had made a false confession. They pretended to still be God's people.

3) The people rejected what was good. Truly seeking and believing in the Lord. Doing deeds of righteousness in the spirit of justice, mercy, and humility.

4) They had chosen corrupt leaders without consulting God's guidance or His consent. They had chosen according to charisma and political reasons. They had chosen with their dreams of having greater power and wealth.

5) They used their own imagination to create idols for themselves and provided silver and gold to build false worship centers.

We see these same things today in our own nation and most every other nation, including Israel.

No idol can do what our powerful God can do!

No idol can cleanse you of your sin.

No idol can bleed and die for you.

The reference to Samaria has no connection to the places where those two calf idols were located; it was just the capital city used by the Northern Tribes.

A handmade god is not a god nor can it ever be. It is foolish, and full of nonsense, but also a terrible sin.

Listen how Isaiah describes such things: Isa 44:13  The carpenter stretcheth out his rule; he marketh it out with a line; he fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compass, and maketh it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house. 

Isa 44:14  He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest: he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it. 

Isa 44:15  Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto. 

Isa 44:16  He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast, and is satisfied: yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire: 

Isa 44:17  And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god. 

Everything we do has consequences. Good deeds have good consequences; bad deeds have bad consequences.

Even nature proves this to be true.

When Israel sowed wind, which is  “nothingness," they reaped the "whirlwind," which is God's judgment!

Gal 6:7  Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 

Gal 6:8  For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 

Israel was supposed to be the nation that blessed all the other nations, but they had failed miserably, and they became a vessel that the Gentile nations had no pleasure in and still are today.

*****Hos 9:17  My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto him: and they shall be wanderers among the nations. 

What happened to the Northern Tribes of Israel?

This same thing was happening in Judah!

Hos 8:14  For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples; and Judah hath multiplied fenced cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof. 

The bitter harvest was coming to the nation of Israel, and no matter what those who are lost think, the Lord God was justified in this severe judgment!

He had called for repentance many times, but His calls were ignored.

Israel had been warned. Deu 6:12  Then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

The prophets of God were ignored or silenced.

Today, the Church is traveling the same road as Israel traveled, and Christians have forgotten who made them and saved them from the consequences of sin.

Much of the Word of God has been rewritten and left out God's judgment and God's laws.

Why would the Church think that God will respond any differently today when He says He never changes?

Mal 3:6  For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. 

Jas 1:16  Do not err, my beloved brethren. 

Jas 1:17  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. 

We are to meditate on the Word of God and this is a good place to start!

Amen