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

God Will Restore His Chosen People

 Restoration

 Book of Hosea, Chapters 1 through 3

 Hosea was a prophet to the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

Hosea was the only prophet who lived in the area of the Northern Tribes whose writings were preserved by the Holy Spirit and became part of the Bible we have today.

All the other prophets who prophesied against the Northern Tribes lived in the area of the Southern Tribes.

 The Book of Amos was also of the Northern Kingdom, but Amos lived in the Southern Kingdom, along with Isaiah and Micah, who also prophesied against the Northern Kingdom.

The Book of Hosea gives us a picture of just how far God will go in trying to save His chosen people.

 Our direct knowledge of Hosea comes entirely from the book which bears his name.

 He is mentioned nowhere else in the Old Testament.

It is believed that Hosea prophesied for about 70 years.

The words of Hosea were written mostly to the Northern Tribes, but the fact remains that he was writing to all God's people, including Judah, and to us who are alive today, because this is a work of the Holy Spirit.

 The clearest lesson we can get from the Book of Hosea is that God loves His people and His greatest request is for His people to repent and return to Him.

 God told Hosea to choose Gomer as his wife with the intention of showing us what it means to be unfaithful, as both Israel and Judah were in that day.

Once Hosea married Gomer, she would become involved in the sins of infidelity and unfaithfulness.

 Israel and Judah had betrayed God and been disloyal and adulterous in their relationship with God.

 They had committed act after act of Spiritual Adultery.

 Many of God's people are doing the same today. God must be first in our lives!

 Hosea gives us a clear picture of God's demanding call to us is for us to remain faithful.

 Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 

 We sometimes forget that God requires us to be obedient to Him and the Lord Jesus is the greatest example of obedience to our Heavenly Father, but we can learn from Hosea also.

Hosea would write from the heart because he would understand how God felt about unfaithfulness because of Gomer's relationship with him.

Of course, we know that the Holy Spirit would still guide and approve what was written.

 1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. 

1Co 10:12  Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. 

 Following the Lord will require us to make some sacrifices, and we are never guaranteed a pain-free life, as many of us have already experienced.

 We must be clear as we serve the Lord: Jesus Christ is the only Savior of God's people and the only One who redeems His people from death!

 Joh 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. 

 This message is clear and unchangeable!

 We should be able to picture our Savior through the relationship of Hosea to his wife, Gomer.

 The Book of Hosea stands as one of the most straightforward and passionate declarations of God's great love for us.

 We will also see that even as great as His love is for us, there is a coming judgment on those who refuse to repent and return to Him.

Spiritual Adultery is a serious matter, and much of the Church is involved in Spiritual Adultery today and needs  to repent.

 *****Hos 1:1  The word of the LORD that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel. 

 The Book of Hosea is the first of the books that are called the Books of the Minor Prophets.

 We need to understand that the message of these books is just as important as all the other books of the Bible.

 They are minor in that they are short books as compared to the books of the other prophets, such as Isaiah, Daniel, Jeremiah, or Ezekiel.

 They would not be part of the canon of the Bible if they were not important enough for us to study God's message that they have for us.

 Remember, it is the Holy Spirit who has chosen what we need to know of the message of God.

 2Pe 1:21  For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. 

 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 are no unimportant words in the Bible, but many so-called modern versions leave out so many of them and change many others.

 The prophets Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, and Nahum prophesied in the time of the Assyrian world empire.

 The name Hosea means "savior", "deliverer".

 God wants to deliver His people from the power of sin, and this is still His will even now in the Church Age, which is soon coming to its end.

 Mat 1:21  And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. 

 The prophets of God were not very popular among the people because they would usually appear when something was not right with God's people, and many of them were murdered to keep them forever quiet, but the Holy Spirit made sure we of today get to know their message, which came straight from the lips of our Heavenly Father.

 The first thing we notice is that the LORD Himself called out to Hosea. This would be Jehovah in the Old Testament, but the Lord Jesus in the New Testament.

 We will also notice that God's people as a whole are not open to hearing the voice of God, and not much has changed today, certainly not in the time of Jesus.

 Mat 23:37  O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! 

Mat 23:38  Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. 

 People then and people of today just do not want anyone to point out their sin to them.

 To be real, everyone knows that they are sinners. People know they do not do everything righteously.

Everyone knows right from wrong except for the very young, but even they are not innocent of sin.

 Idolatry had become the national religion of the Northern tribes of Israel, and idolatry was making its way into the Southern Tribes, and idolatry has made its way into the America we love today.

 Their king, Jeroboam I, had established a new religion that he had created himself. His son Jeroboam II now ruled the Northern Tribes, and he was no different from his father.

 He did this to keep the Northern Tribes from going to the Temple on feast days to worship.

 Now, don't get me wrong, but these people knew the truth, and they should have rebelled against this false worship, but they just obeyed their new king because they hated the King of Judah. 

During the reign of King Solomon, many of the lower classes were not treated fairly.

 Some others just worshipped the false gods of the surrounding nations, but either way, they turned away from Jehovah and the truth of God.

 Rom_1:23  And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things.

 God used His Prophet Hosea to be an example of wicked Israel in a way we may not understand, but we should be able to see it clearly.

 We should understand that it is often the case that God calls a preacher or a missionary who is sent to specific places where they labor long hours, but do not see much fruit because God made a promise to all people.

 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.

 1Ti 2:4  Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 

 Mrk_13:10  And the gospel must first be published among all nations.

 God asked Hosea to do something that many of us would certainly not want to do.

 Hosea would experience a whole lot of what we call drama today in his marriage to a harlot.

 The Northern Tribes of Israel would never be at rest but would face one crisis after another.

The Northern Tribes of Israel did not have one decent king.

They all were after power and riches.

 It is getting the same in America today and in much of the world.

 When God's way of righteousness is rejected, and His Holy commandments are ignored, this world will suffer in turmoil that could have been avoided.

 *****Hos 1:2  The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD. 

 The wife of Hosea would be an adulteress, and God told Hosea to marry her and be faithful to her.

No matter what we do in this life, God is always faithful to His Word!

In reality, Hosea did not know Gomer would be an adulteress when he married her until God told him, but God did not cause Gomer to sin.

God will never lead us into temptation.

These marriages happen often, and divorce is rampant in America today, even in the Church.

People struggle with faithfulness!

 Being faithful to God, Hosea obeyed and married a woman named Gomer.

 The message God was sending to the Northern Tribes was a message of unfaithfulness.

 Hosea would completely understand unfaithfulness to God by his own marriage to Gomer.

 Hosea did not get to know Gomer through normal ways, as we would think, but Hosea purchased his wife.

 Hos 3:1  Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine. 

Hos 3:2  So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley: 

 We will understand as we go through this lesson that Gomer will be a picture of unfaithfulness representing Israel, and Hosea will be a picture of God's faithfulness and God's unlimited "Grace".

 Rom_5:20  Moreover, the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:

 For the Prophet Hosea to prophesy in the right manner, he needed to understand and feel how God feels about unfaithfulness.

Hosea would write with a greater understanding of how God feels about His spiritually adulterous children.

 Through the tragedy of his own marriage, Hosea will come to feel how unfaithfulness affects the heart of God.

 Unfaithfulness will destroy love in most people, but Jehovah God has a love that we do not really understand until we get to know Him as our Savior.

 Now, we do not really know if Gomer was immoral before her marriage to Hosea, but for her to be an example of Israel, then she would have to begin her marriage to Hosea with faithfulness, but with a faithfulness that did not last very long.

Israel began with the faithfulness of Abraham.

 Gomer's children had names given to them that had special meaning.

 It seems that the first son of Gomer would be Jezreel.

 Hos 1:4  And the LORD said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel. 

Hos 1:5  And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.

You know if God broke the bow of Israel, then He allowed them to be defeated. The bow was their greatest weapon against the enemy.

 The first daughter was named Loruhamah.

 Hos 1:6  And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And God said unto him, Call her name Loruhamah: for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away. 

Hos 1:7  But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the LORD their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen. 

 Then another son named Loammi.

 Hos 1:9  Then said God, Call his name Loammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God. 

 It appears that maybe these children may not have been fathered by Hosea because our verse says, "children of whoredoms".

 It could also mean that all of these children would follow in the ways of their mother and were fathered by Hosea, which would make more sense. 

 Hos 2:4  And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be the children of whoredoms. 

 We should not doubt that Gomer was an adulterous woman!

 Adultery is also a picture of people turning away from God and giving themselves to false gods.

When the parents do not follow the Word of God, how can the children know what God expects?

We are to be godly examples to our children and train them in the way that they should go in life, God's way.

 If we look at the people of the entire world belonging to God because He is the Creator, then we see a world that is given over to the worship of false gods today

 *****Hos 1:10  Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God. 

 We should understand that it was not just unfaithfulness in a few of these people; it was unfaithfulness, but that all the land of Israel had surrendered itself to adultery and unfaithfulness, ignoring the Word of God and the God who loved them.

 It is estimated that there are around 20 million Jews in the world today.

 Remember that Hitler slaughtered over 6 million.

 God promised His people would be very numerous, and the pure fact is that God will keep His promise to Abraham.

 Gen 22:17  That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; 

Gen 22:18  And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. 

Some say this would include the Muslim, and it could, because the seed of Israel would be from the line of Sarah, which would be Isaac and not Hagar, who is the mother of Ishmael, which includes the Muslim.

Muslims are not part of the Church unless they accept the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior, and not just as some prophet.

They want to claim to be a descendant of Abraham, but they do not want to be known as a Hebrew or a Jew.

 To be a son of the Living God is to know the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior!

 God promised there would be only one ruler, and that ruler would be the Son of David.

 On the Day of Jezreel, in all of Israel, there will be a reunion of all the tribes of Israel.

 Jer 31:31  Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 

God promised that they would be restored to the land given to Abraham. Now, this does not include the Muslims because this land was passed on to Isaac and from Isaac to Jacob, who is Israel.

 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. 

 What do we know? God has never broken a promise, and He never will!

 The Valley of Jezreel is located in the eastern extension of the plain of Esdraelon. (Jos_17:16; Jdg_6:33; Hos_1:5)

Jdg 6:33  Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east were gathered together, and went over, and pitched in the valley of Jezreel.

 This place has been called the battlefield of Palestine. It has been a chosen place for encampment for every enemy of Israel and in every battle carried on in this country.

 This is the same place of another prophecy that has not taken place as of yet.

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

This is the same place where most of the armies of the world will gather against Israel, and the Lord Jesus will slaughter them there.

 God will show us how He acts to get us back on the right path.

God will use chastisement to purify His people, but then God will love them back into the family.

In Hosea, we read that God denied His people, but through the work of Jesus Christ, God will redeem them.

They just do not realize it yet.

 *****Hos 2:6  Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.

 We know that adultery runs rampant in our societies of today.

 Many couples do not even get married because marriage requires commitment, and these unions are full of fornication. 

Look how many babies could be saved if fornication were not the lifestyle of the USA and the world.

It is the same as it was in the Book of Judges: Jdg 21:25  In those days "every man did that which was right in his own eyes".

This includes the women of today.

 Many a marriage has ended because of adultery, and this is the message God gives to Israel and that God gives to the Church.

 Even if Gomer would not stay faithful to Hosea, she should have been faithful to her children, but we find that this is not the case.

This is another case of Israel not even training its children to follow God.

 God is teaching us that if you travel the road with painful barriers on the left and the right, you can only go one way or select a path with painful injuries.

We should ask ourselves, why do so many try to break through those painful barriers, just to go against a loving God?

Those painful barriers represent the Holy Spirit trying to keep us on the right path to victory.

 People today do not even think about their health when they get on that road to sin.

 Listen to Job: Job 19:8  He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and he hath set darkness in my paths. 

 God will not put anything in our path to stop us from reaching Him, but He will put obstacles in our path to try to get us to change directions and return to Him.

The message of God is still repentance.

 *****Hos 2:7  And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now. 

Hos 2:8  For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal. 

Hos 2:9  Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax given to cover her nakedness. 

Hos 2:10  And now will I discover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of mine hand.

Israel was chasing hard after false gods, but they could not find one that could help them.

 Gomer was guilty of lust and adultery, and it was the same for Israel.

 Gomer became enslaved by her desire for sexual pleasure, unable to break free from her passion.

 This is what being enslaved to the Devil means. The Devil chains us to our sins and does not allow us to break free.

 2Ti_2:26  And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

We talk about how we should not waste the things God gives to us, but Israel would melt down gold and silver and make idols to worship.

How smart is that, by the way? That made those idols valuable to a thief who is the Devil.

It is a sad day when we forget that it is our Creator who has provided our needs all our days, and we begin to worship some false god who cannot give us anything but death.

 It is even worse when we give credit to idols for the things we have.

 When we seek the world seeking some benefit that appears to be good and supposed riches and prosperity that the world hoards for itself, instead of God, who is in control, we will find that there is no advantage to be gained in the world.

 We find that in war or in bad times, the Church is filled with prayerful people, but as soon as these things are over, those same people return to doing what they were doing before.

They should ask themselves, would God answer their prayers, and why would He? No, God will not listen to them lest they repent and return to Him.

 Job 35:12  There they cry, but none giveth answer, because of the pride of evil men. 

Job 35:13  Surely God will not hear vanity, neither will the Almighty regard it. 

 Only because God had placed obstacles in her path to keep her from finding her lovers did Gomer decide to go back to her husband, Hosea.

 This will be the path of Israel!

 When Israel is face-to-face with the results of her rebellion and sees no way out, will she ever return to the Lord?

 We should be amazed at the "GRACE" of God and His "FORGIVENESS" of our sins.

 No false god in this world can provide for our needs because they are only figments of the imagination.

 We will never gain satisfaction from false gods or from this world!

 Israel will one day realize that they were much better when they followed the LORD than when they followed the world.

This will be a while because they will be going through the Seven-Year Tribulation Period.

 When we become spiritually blind to the truth of God, we become blind to the benefits of serving Him.

 Psa_68:19  Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.

 This world and its politicians make promise after promise, and when they are elected and run again for the same office, they make the same old promises that they cannot fulfill.

Why do we tolerate such people and not vote them out?

 God keeps every promise He has ever made.

 God provided for Israel while they were in captivity, but they gave their offerings to idols of this world.

 What did Israel lose?

 They lost God's care and His provision.

They were publicly exposed and shamed before the eyes of the world.

They could not escape God's judgment.

 There is no place for the sinner to hide from God's judgment!

 God began by taking His provision away from them.

 These are the same lessons Gomer learned. Her bad reputation took her lovers away from her.

 We cannot pretend we love the LORD and then go against His Word.

 *****Hos 2:13  And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the LORD. 

 The days of Baalim were the days consecrated to Baal, and on which the worship of Jehovah was transferred to that idol.

 In the days of Ahab, Baal worship was elevated to the status of a “state religion" while service to Jehovah was set aside.

 1Ki 16:31  And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him. 

1Ki 16:32  And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. 

1Ki 16:33  And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him. 

 2Ki 11:18  And all the people of the land went into the house of Baal, and brake it down; his altars and his images brake they in pieces thoroughly, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest appointed officers over the house of the LORD. 

 The name Baalim, Baals in plural, means the various forms of Baal-idolatry or any modification of Baal-worship.

 Some say Baal is the god of the elites of society, and in many places, we find this to be true.

They worship what their riches have bought them.

 Baal is also mentioned in the Quran.

 To be clear, when you give anything that God has given to you to some idol, some Baal, you have committed a terrible sin.

 God provides our needs; they are intended for our use in life or in a ministry of the Church.

 Gomer celebrated her marriage with Hosea, but she was deceptive and insincere, a wife of whoredoms.

 She turned her love away from Hosea and gave that love to other men.

Israel and many others have turned their love away from the LORD and given that love to a god that does not exist, for they have rejected the Son of God, their one true God, the Lord Jesus Christ.

 Therefore, we meet the God of the second chance.

 *****Hos 2:14  Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her. 

Hos 2:15  And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt. 

Hos 2:16  And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali. 

Hos 2:17  For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name. 

 People say Grace is a New Testament thing, but we can see God's Grace all through the Old Testament.

 Hosea decided to renew his romance with his adulterous wife.

 He would give her assurance that their marriage was safe, speak tenderly to her, and take her to places away from the temptation of her former worldly life.

 This was a place where they could be alone and focus on each other and rekindle their original love for one another.

 God would also do this for Israel.

 Isa 65:8  Thus saith the LORD, As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not; for a blessing is in it: so will I do for my servants' sakes, that I may not destroy them all. 

Isa 65:9  And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains: and mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there. 

Isa 65:10  And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for the herds to lie down in, for my people that have sought me. 

 God says, "My servants will dwell there". This would be the land of Israel.

God says, "My chosen ones shall inherit it". This would be God's people after the Tribulation. Israel and the Church.

 The heir of Judah will be the Messiah, and that remnant will be unified with Him.

 This is the seed that grows into a great nation, and the world will be at peace.

 It is believed that the name "Ishi" should be "my husband" and no longer be referred to as Baali, which means "my lord".

 We could say that this passage is spoken by the Messiah Himself, our Lord Jesus.

 Isa 52:6  Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I. 

Isa 52:7  How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! 

 We know this is the Lord speaking because we know that after the Great Tribulation, our Lord will remake this world as it was in the Garden of Eden when He said His creation was "very good".

Gen 1:31  And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

This is the same earth that our Lord Jesus will make again, a New Earth.

 *****Hos 2:18  And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely. 

Hos 2:19  And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. 

Hos 2:20  I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD.

 All those who want to know about the animals that God created on day five and day six, they were all at peace with mankind.

Adam and Eve and all the animals ate from the grassland and the fruit trees. No animal ate another animal. No insect caused harm to another insect. No fish ate another fish. No dinosaur ate meat.

 What is the truth of God?

 All those who have committed Spiritual adultery and rejected the Lord can still have a wonderful future if they return to the Lord.

It is still called repentance today!

 No one could say these things if they did not know the future!

 God seeks a personal relationship, and He will have it with those who repent and join Him in sincerity and truth.

 There would be no divorce, only an eternal union that could never be broken.

 This relationship would be built on love and mercy, and no one has as much love and mercy as the LORD.

This relationship would be built on faithfulness, and no one is as faithful as the LORD.

This relationship would be built upon knowing and acknowledging the LORD.

 *****Hos 2:22  And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel. 

Hos 2:23  And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God. 

 Jezreel (‘whom God soweth’) is a title symbolically applied to Israel.

 Once Israel returns to the LORD, many things will happen.

 We should remember this is also the time that the Earth will be destroyed by fire.

 The LORD will restore the earth:

 1) The LORD will meet the needs of the heavens.

2) The heavens will meet the needs of the earth.

3) The earth will meet the needs of the harvest, including grains, vineyards, and olive oil.

4) This great harvest will meet the needs of Jezreel as it is applied to Israel at this time and all those who are alive during the thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ.

 *****Hos 3:4  For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: 

Hos 3:5  Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.

There should not be even one Israelite who can deny the truth of verse four.

God has a purpose for this time period.

Certainly, God has sent missionaries to Israel to tell them the truth of Jesus Christ, but in reality, God has not sent them a prophet since the time of John the Baptist and then His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

What did Jesus tell them? Mat_17:11  And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.

We know even at this time David the King had been dead and buried for many years, so God is not talking about David, and not a resurrected David.

God is speaking of the Messiah, the Son of God, the One called the Son of David.

Mat_1:1  The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

This will be the second coming of Jesus Christ.

The example given to us from the Book of Hosea should teach us about the enduring love God has for 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. 

Amen

Pride Will Bring Our Downfall

 Uzziah's Sin and Punishment

 Book of 2 Chronicles Chapter 26

 (Related Scripture 2 Kings 14:21 through 15:38 and 2 Chronicles 27 through verse 9)

 

 What is Pride? Pride is inordinate and unreasonable self-esteem, attended with insolence and rude treatment of others.

 Pride is the high opinion that a poor, little, contracted soul entertains itself.

 Pride makes itself known when we praise ourselves, adoring ourselves, attempting to appear before others in a superior light to what we are; contempt and slander of others; envy at the excellence others possess; anxiety to gain applause; distress and rage when slighted; impatience of contradiction, and opposition to God himself.

 What is the truth of God?

 Pro 29:23 A man's pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.

 Jas 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

 Most people see pride as positive and certainly not as sin.

 We do need to have strong self-esteem to be successful in this life here on earth.

 We must recognize our strengths and skills to be productive in this life.

 We should be proud of the abilities God has given us.

 This is acceptable pride. This is humble pride.

 I am proud that I accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior.

 I am embarrassed when I fail Him so often because I do not intend to.

 Pride becomes sinful when we exalt ourselves above others and think we are better than other people.

 As Christians, we may be better off than those who are lost, but we are not better than any other human being, no matter who they are.

 Our lesson today is about King Uzziah, King of the Southern Tribe of Judah.

 We know that the tribe of Benjamin also remained with Judah.

 *****2Ch 26:3 Sixteen years old was Uzziah when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Jecoliah of Jerusalem.

 After the murder of Amaziah, his son Uzziah was chosen by the people to occupy the vacant throne at the age of sixteen; and for the greater part of his reign of fifty-two years, he lived in the fear of God and showed himself a wise, active, and pious ruler.

 His father, Amaziah, had been assassinated just as his father, Joash, had been assassinated.

 We should also notice that his mother Jecoliah was a Jew, and the wife of King Amaziah.

 We will see, as we go through the Books of Kings and Chronicles, that most of the good kings of Judah had Jewish mothers who had raised them with an understanding of the Word of God.

 We did not read verse 1, but Uzziah was made king in a special way.

 Judah was in turmoil with the assassination of his father and his grandfather, so the people of Judah took a firm stand and made Uzziah king, even though he was only 16.

 2Ch 26:1 Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the room of his father Amaziah.

 We should understand that Amaziah and Joash were kings in the line of David, and any change would have affected the kingly line to Jesus.

 God uses the will of the people to make Uzziah King of Judah.

 In the Book of Kings, King Uzziah is called King Azariah, but they are the same person.

2Ki 14:21 And all the people of Judah took Azariah, which was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah.

 Uzziah ruled Judah for 52 years, but God did not give us much information about his good years; he quickly went from his good years to his bad years.

 No matter what we did in our best years, people will remember that time when we were not living right, especially if it happened in our later years.

 *****2Ch 26:4 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah did.

2Ch 26:5 And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him to prosper.

 King Uzziah followed in the footsteps of his father, King Amaziah, yet like his father, he did not stop the idol worship in the high places.

 Remember, it was his father who had regained control of the Edomites, but he had also hired a mercenary army out of Israel that a prophet of God had told him not to use, and Amaziah sent them back, and this caused problems for the king.

 He was, and he was later taken captive and held in Samaria. Uzziah was probably made a co-regent at this time. Amaziah was assassinated shortly after he returned to Judah, and his son Uzziah was crowned king.

 We do not know for sure who this Zechariah is, but he was certainly a prophet of God and the king's counselor.

 It is written that he had understanding in the visions of God, such as did Daniel.

 Dan 1:17 As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.

 Zechariah was a popular name in Judah.

Not much is known about this Zechariah, but it is obvious that God used this man as a prophet and delivered visions to him, which he relayed to King Uzziah.

We must know that our relationship with God will be based upon our obedience to His Word!

 As long as King Uzziah was doing right in the sight of God, he prospered.

 Another thing we should notice is that God will use young people in His plans if they follow in His will for them.

 Following in the first part of his father Amaziah's life was a good thing, but it seems that he also followed in the last part of his father Amaziah's life, which was a bad thing, as he turned away from the Lord.

 Zechariah had a special relationship with God, and the right teaching comes from having the right fellowship with God.

 One of the things we must learn and then teach our children is to seek God in His Word and then seek God in prayer.

 We must trust the written Word of God to be real and to be true, and this we must teach to our children.

I am a firm believer that the very first verse in the Bible is the most important verse in the Bible.

Gen 1:1  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 

We will never have the right relationship with God unless we understand that He is our Creator and the Genesis story of our creation is one hundred percent true.

 Much of the Church is turning away from different parts of the Scriptures, but we must accept all the Word of God as the truth, or we can trust none of it.

 We need God's help in this wicked and evil world.

 *****2Ch 26:7 And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians that dwelt in Gurbaal, and the Mehunims.

2Ch 26:8 And the Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah: and his name spread abroad even to the entering in of Egypt; for he strengthened himself exceedingly.

 Does anyone want to guess why Israel wins so many wars and why they lost a few?

 They win when God helps them, and they lose when God does not want them to win.

 Who is our greatest threat to safety?

 Our enemies who are closest to us!

 The Philistines shared a border with Judah, and they were a constant threat to those areas closest to that border.

 Those Arabs were probably the descendants of the Ishmaelites and also an enemy of Judah.

 Mohammed claims to be a descendant of the Ishmaelite, which would make him a descendant of Abraham. There is no way to connect his bloodline through the intermingling of the Arabic races.

 I'm so glad the Bible does not use the word race, and we are all truly born as the descendants of the same man, Adam, who was married to Eve.

 God only sees one people. The color of their skin is irrelevant! God looks into the heart!

 In typology, the greatest threat to Christianity comes from within the Church, from those whose hearts are far from the truth.

 So-called Christians who are not sincere, learn from erroneous teachings and wrong practices, but they can be found out by the truth of the Word of God.

 Why would anyone think God would give us an incomplete book or a book full of lies or misunderstanding?

Every false religion who claim Christianity uses the excuse that God has given them some special revelation, but God does not work like that.

Each one of them refuses to recognize the Lord Jesus Christ as the third part of the Holy Trinity and the God of the Bible.

Those who do not recognize the Holy Trinity, best said, the Triune God, who is One God, are not part of Christianity and not part of the Church, the Bride of Christ.

Jesus is much more than just some good man.

Jesus is much more than some prophet.

Jesus is the God of the Bible!

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

 Uzziah found success at war because God helped him.

 The Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah so he would not bother them, and Uzziah was a strong king while he was obedient to God.

 King Uzziah became so confident in his strength that it began to interfere with his relationship with God because his own pride had come between him and God.

 *****2Ch 26:16 But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the LORD his God, and went into the temple of the LORD to burn incense upon the altar of incense.

2Ch 26:17 And Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him fourscore priests of the LORD, that were valiant men:

2Ch 26:18 And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, It appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the LORD, but to the priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense: go out of the sanctuary; for thou hast trespassed; neither shall it be for thine honour from the LORD God.

 One of our biggest human mistakes is that we think we are far more important than we really are.

 We reach a point where we believe we can accomplish anything if we work hard enough, and that we do not need any help from others.

 Uzziah began to believe that he did not need God, the Word of God, His priests, nor God's prophets.

 We must understand that today the New Testament priesthood exists.

 1Pe 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

1Pe 2:10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

 In the Old Testament, it was impossible to combine both offices, for there was a priestly line, the Levites, and a kingly line, the line of David.

 There would forever be only one King-Priest, and He would be the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.

 Today, the entire church functions as a priesthood!

 In Israel, only the Levitical line had that privilege.

 As the Church Age believers, we can go into the throne room of God at any time of the day through Jesus Christ, our High Priest, who will soon be our King.

 In Israel, individual believers could only approach God through a Levitical priest; this included the King.

 Jesus Christ is our permanent High Priest and permanent King because He can never die!

 Heb 2:16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. 

Heb 2:17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.

 Heb 4:14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.

Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

 Heb 6:20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

 Our Lord Jesus is Holy, innocent, undefiled, separate from sinners, and exalted into Heaven!

 Heb 7:26 For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;

Heb 7:27 Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.

 Heb 9:11 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;

 Heb 8:1 Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;

Heb 8:2 A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.

 King Uzziah was not the right king to take over the duties of the High Priest, much less any true priest of the Levitical line.

King Uzziah was of the tribe of Judah.

 The golden altar of incense represents Jesus Christ as our Mediator!

 1Ti 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

1Ti 2:6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

 Aaron and the Brazen Altar was a type of Christ in His sacrificial role on Mount Calvary.

 This Golden Altar of Incense stood squarely in front of the Mercy Seat just outside the Holy of Holies, depicting Jesus Christ interceding at God's right hand, where He is today interceding on our behalf, on behalf of the true Church.

 Col 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

Col 2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

Col 2:10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:

 There was no way God was going to allow King Uzziah to become a part of the priesthood.

 This Golden Altar symbolizes the power of prayer, and it must be through Jesus’s name to get an answer from God the Father.

Those who refuse to claim their prayers in Jesus's name will not get their prayers answered.

 Jhn_14:13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

 This Golden Altar declares the Victim of Mount Calvary to now be Victor over Satan, over sin, and over sorrow to become King of Kings and Lord of lords.

 Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

 Again, God could not allow Uzziah or any other King of Judah to come between the High Priest and His duties.

 Azariah the High Priest went in after him and took with him eighty valiant priests of the Lord, and they withstood the king.

 King Uzziah was supposed to memorize the Word of God, so he knew he was not supposed to be where he was and certainly not to burn incense on this altar.

 This is a major sin, and God's sentence would be harsh.

When we place ourselves on equal standing with the Lord Jesus, we are committing blasphemy.

 *****2Ch 26:19 Then Uzziah was wroth, and had a censer in his hand to burn incense: and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the priests in the house of the LORD, from beside the incense altar.

 King Uzziah becomes furious at the priests who stopped him.

 He had the censer in his hand and thought he was fixing to do something beautiful because God had blessed him so much.

 He feels good about it, but it goes against the Word of God.

Christianity is not about feeling good; it is about obedience!

 His thoughts were "how could they have the audacity to stop an man who was so blessed by God".

 I believe this passage is in the Bible to teach us that we cannot twist the Word of God to make it okay to go against what God has said.

 It teaches us that we had better take the Word of God literally.

 We are to have great faith, but this faith cannot lead us to go our own way; we must go God's way.

 We must be saved by the way God has described to us, and it is by faith in the work the Lord Jesus has done for us to be saved.

 The Lord Jesus is the Door to Heaven, and we must go through Him.

 Jhn_10:2 But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

Jhn_10:7 Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.

Jhn_10:9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

 Up to this point, Uzziah had been a good king and had not committed any major sin against God, but God had to teach King Uzziah a valuable lesson.

 We have already talked about leprosy, and it was the dreaded disease in those days.

 Leprosy was a foul cutaneous disease, appearing in dry, white, thin, scurfy scabs, attended with violent itching. It sometimes covers the whole body, rarely the face.

 God allowed leprosy to be on the forehead of King Uzziah so it could be seen by everyone. He could not hide it.

 He had then become unclean, and he would no longer be allowed into the House of God.

 It was in King Uzziah's best interest for him to leave the House of God quickly.

 *****2Ch 26:20 And Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked upon him, and, behold, he was leprous in his forehead, and they thrust him out from thence; yea, himself hasted also to go out, because the LORD had smitten him.

2Ch 26:21 And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a several house, being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the LORD: and Jotham his son was over the king's house, judging the people of the land.

 When we resist the Word of God, we stand on shaky ground.

 If we go against our own High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, we may face the wrath of God.

 When it is in our mind that we are on equal ground with the Lord Jesus Christ, we are committing a terrible sin.

 When our pride tells us that we are God's greatest servant, we are walking toward the entrance of Hell, and God may never redirect our steps.

 We should be very clear: God does not need any of us!

 Luk_19:40 And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.

 It would be a sad thing to be replaced by a rock!

 King Uzziah was thrown out of the Temple, and he could never enter again because he was considered unclean.

 Lev 22:3 Say unto them, Whosoever he be of all your seed among your generations, that goeth unto the holy things, which the children of Israel hallow unto the LORD, having his uncleanness upon him, that soul shall be cut off from my presence: I am the LORD. 

 King Uzziah knew not to retaliate against the priests because he knew it was God who allowed this to happen to him.

 Uzziah was afflicted with leprosy because of his sin, and we never read where he ever repented of his sin.

 Uzziah was afflicted with leprosy until the day he died, and because of this, he had to live in isolation from the people of Israel and step aside from public ruling.

 Lev 13:46 All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be.

 He could no longer worship in the Temple and had to put his son in charge of the government.

 2Ki 15:7 So Azariah slept with his fathers; and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David: and Jotham his son reigned in his stead.

 Uzziah had been a good king up until he let pride into his life and thought he could do as he pleased and ignore the Word of God.

 Because he was a leper, he could not be buried with kings such as David and was buried in a field that was purchased to bury the bad kings of Judah.

 *****2Ch 26:22 Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, did Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, write.

2Ch 26:23 So Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the field of the burial which belonged to the kings; for they said, He is a leper: and Jotham his son reigned in his stead.

 What did the Holy Spirit allow Isaiah to write?

 Isa 6:1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.

 On the day that King Uzziah died, one of the greatest prophets of Israel, Isaiah, volunteered to serve the Lord.

 Isa 6:8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

Isa 6:9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.

Isa 6:10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.

 The Lord Jesus used many of these same words when He informed Israel that He was the fulfillment of the words of Isaiah.

 Mat 13:13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

Mat 13:14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: 

Mat 13:15 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

 Pride and self-righteousness are serious sins in the life of any person, but we must learn that these things go against the Word of God.

 We are no better than anyone else, no matter what our walk of life in this world.

 We should praise God for any skills or any talents He has chosen to give us, but He expects us to use those things in His service.

 Being attractive, or talented, or skillful are blessings from God, but we must never demean, degrade, or put down others.

 Pro 26:12 Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? there is more hope of a fool than of him.

 Oba 1:4 Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the LORD.

 The God we serve is serious about the things He has written down for us.

 Every single Word!

 Amen