When Governments Walk In The Ways Of The World

Ahaz: Walking In The Ways Of The World

2 Chronicles 28


We have spent a lot of time on the Northern Tribes of the divided Israel lately but the Southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin also had their problems. King Ahaz of Judah was the most wicked King of Judah!

During the time of King Ahaz, God used the prophets Isaiah, Hosea, and Micah, among others to carry His message so we can be sure King Ahaz knew the warnings of God.

King Ahaz made friends with many of his enemies which brought great injury to his kingdom and even his own humiliation.

Over and over again we have seen as a nation, we must be very careful who we call our friends!

We have only one true friend and that is Israel.

Ahaz begin his rule at the age of 20 but he was dead by the time he reached 36 years old.

He is remembered for bringing even more evil and idolatry into his own nation of Judah.

The greatest thing Ahaz produced was his son Hezekiah!

We can say that King Ahaz walked in the ways of the world!

King Ahaz walked in the ways of the Kings of the Northern Tribes even sacrificing his own in the arms of the fire god Molech. The priests of these false religions were called Chemarim.

Zep 1:4  I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, and the name of the Chemarims with the priests;
Zep 1:5  And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship and that swear by the LORD, and that swear by Malcham;
Zep 1:6  And them that are turned back from the LORD; and those that have not sought the LORD, nor enquired for him.

If we had a theme for King Ahaz it could be summed up in one Scripture:

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

In my opinion the same could be said for our own president!

Let's begin:

*****2Ch 28:1  Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: but he did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD, like David his father:
2Ch 28:2  For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for Baalim.

The biggest misconception about the human race is the thought that all people are good but occasionally do bad things when the truth is, we are all bad and occasionally do good things.

People just do no like to think we all have a depraved heart but the truth is the truth, whether we believe it or not!

Jer 17:9  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

And the truth of every human being is that we are all sinners!

Rom 3:10  As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

We all come short of God's glory.

Rom 3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

King Ahaz was an utterly wicked and totally depraved human being who also was a king with power to do his own will, or so he thought!

When Ahaz became King of Judah, Judah had reached it's peak in prosperity and was the envy of many nations.

Sounds like the America from a few years back.

But in the 16 years of King Ahaz Judah came to ruins, he bankrupted the economy, he decimated the military, and he brought terrible suffering to the citizens of that nation.

King Ahaz turned loose a stream of wickedness that rushed to do terrible damage to God's people by bringing on Judgment by the hand of God!

*****2Ch 28:3  Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.
2Ch 28:4  He sacrificed also and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.

Judah was the last theocratic society left at that time because Ahaz ruled with absolute authority totally ignoring the Word of God.

He promoted and led his nation into the worship of false gods.
He also committed the abominable sin of human sacrifice, even with his own son.

Over 1 million babies were aborted in America last year and this is non other than human sacrifice to a wicked behavior and our own tax dollars are used.

Jer 32:35  And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.

Every Democrat in office just this year voted to allow abortion even up to the 9nth month, just before those precious babies are to be born. This to is an abomination to the Lord! This is an abomination to the human race!

King Ahaz followed after the religious practices of the Canaanites which God had already commanded Israel to exterminate for these very same reasons.

Today we live in a nation that is trying it's best to totally kick God out of existence and in so doing, wickedness is abounding unhindered.

People either deny the existence of God or they just refuse to accept the Lord Jesus Christ while claiming to know God.

Either way they are lost!

The greatest sin of all is the sin of unbelief!

Joh 16:7  Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
Joh 16:8  And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
Joh 16:9  Of sin, because they believe not on me;

To reject the Lord Jesus Christ is to worship some false god!

The Living True God is God the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ whose Spirit is the God who will reprove this world of the sin of unbelief!

What is the truth of Father God?

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.
Joh 3:18  He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

King Ahaz was a depraved man with a depraved heart and a heart such as this can only be cleansed by the "Blood of Jesus"!

1Pe 1:18  Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
1Pe 1:19  But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

1Pe 3:18  For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

Though the world deceive you this is the truth of the Scriptures!

To ignore these things will bring the "Judgment of God"!

*****2Ch 28:5  Wherefore the LORD his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria; and they smote him, and carried away a great multitude of them captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter.
2Ch 28:6  For Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah an hundred and twenty thousand in one day, which were all valiant men; because they had forsaken the LORD God of their fathers.

When God's "Judgment" comes He uses things in His created world.

When God's "Wrath" finally comes He will uses all the means He chooses!

Judgment and Wrath are not the same!

When we see the word "wherefore", God is saying that the previous Scriptures list the reasons for His actions.

Wherefore because of what Ahaz had done in verses 1-4 now God allowed His "Judgment" to take place.

We here in America better get use to seeing that word "Wherefore".

We already stated that the military of Judah was the envy of many other nations but it did not matter how strong they were, God delivered them into the hand of the King of Syria.

We can see that the Northern Tribes had also formed an alliance with Syria and took advantage of that at this time.

History calls this the Syro-Ephramite War.

The army of the King of Syria defeated the army of Judah and carried a great multitude of captives back to Damascus Syria.

But the King of Israel took advantage of the situation and caused a great slaughter of the people of Judah.

These things are the beginning of the great prophesies of Isaiah Chapter 7.

The slaughter of 120,000 people of Judah in one day was a terrible thing to take place!

When God removes His hedge of protection from a people terrible things can happen!

The Scripture is specific "because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers"!

This slaughter also included many heads of the government.

*****2Ch 28:7  And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, slew Maaseiah the king's son, and Azrikam the governor of the house, and Elkanah that was next to the king.

Maaseiah would have been the next King of Judah, but that now fell to Hezekiah.

Azrikam was the palace manager, and manage the affairs of the King.

Elkanah was second in command, or we would say today the "Vice-President".

We can see that King Pekah of Israel was also a ruthless leader who had already seized the throne of Israel and would liked to have ruled Judah also as he tried to restore power to Israel.

Then he did something foolish.

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

King Pekah's army ransacked the cities of Judea and took over 200,000 women and children back to Samaria as
exiles and stole as much of the wealth of Judea as they could carry.

BUT, This thing was seen in Heaven.

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

Notice God always has someone in the right place at the right time and God's prophets stood up to Kings, Generals, or anyone else without any fear.

There are no great things mentioned of the Prophet Oded except in this Scripture.

The one great lesson we can learn is that "one person with God on their side" can stop a mighty army and a foolish national leader!

Oded made this army aware that they were only victorious because the Lord had allowed this army a great victory but this army had gone much to far and had made God angry!

1) They had used excessive force.
2) They had shown brutality and cruelty.
3) They had slaughtered the army of Judah in a rage.

They had shown no mercy and God is a God of "mercy". Remember "all vengeance belongs to the Lord"!

This should be a warning to every military unit and especially to ISIS and ALL TERRORIST organizations.

God will not allow His people to become slaves to anyone other than He and God does not make slaves, God makes families!

Lev 25:46  And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever: "but over your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with rigour".

God never forgets what He has written down. We must always know to whom God is speaking to and keep God's Word in the context it was written!

It was time for the government of Israel to make a choice!

*****2Ch 28:10  And now ye purpose to keep under the children of Judah and Jerusalem for bondmen and bondwomen unto you: but are there not with you, even with you, sins against the LORD your God?
2Ch 28:11  Now hear me therefore, and deliver the captives again, which ye have taken captive of your brethren: for the fierce wrath of the LORD is upon you.

The leaders of Israel must return the people of Judah to their land or face the wrath of God. God's wrath rested on the next decision they made and God was ready to strike them down at that very moment if they failed to show mercy.

In order to know the compassion of the Lord, we must show compassion to all others!

In order to know the mercy of the Lord we must show mercy to all others.

In order to be forgiven by the Lord we must be willing to forgive all others.

We can see that God never misses an opportunity to teach us more about His ways!

This military had to decide if they served the government or if they served themselves.

*****2Ch 28:12  Then certain of the heads of the children of Ephraim, Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, and Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood up against them that came from the war,
2Ch 28:13  And said unto them, Ye shall not bring in the captives hither: for whereas we have offended against the LORD already, ye intend to add more to our sins and to our trespass: for our trespass is great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel.
2Ch 28:14  So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the congregation.
2Ch 28:15  And the men which were expressed by name rose up, and took the captives, and with the spoil clothed all that were naked among them, and arrayed them, and shod them, and gave them to eat and to drink, and anointed them, and carried all the feeble of them upon asses, and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, to their brethren: then they returned to Samaria.

King Ahaz was full of wickedness and human depravity and he had completely turned away from the Lord and led the nation of Judah into false worship and the abomination of human sacrifice especially of babes and small children.

This should be a warning to all who do such things!

We see what is going on in America by our own government.

We see what is going on in America with all the rioting and rebellion because of our government.

We see the ruthlessness of terrorism world wide because governments allow this to happen.

We see the compromising church into false and abominable worship influenced by the government.

We read what God does in all these situations, why would we not expect the "Judgment" of God to come at any time?

Jesus spoke these words by the Holy Spirit to the Apostle John.

Rev 21:8  But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

Jesus spoke these words by the Holy Spirit to Luke

Luk 17:24  For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day.
Luk 17:25  But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.
Luk 17:26  And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
Luk 17:27  They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
Luk 17:28  Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
Luk 17:29  But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
Luk 17:30  Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

The truth is, there is no one on this earth that lives in isolation which means we all have some influence on others!

When we reject the Lord and compromise on the Word of God, or participate in false worship, we become a stumbling block to our friends, our neighbors and especially our families!

When we give our stamp of approval for anything that goes against the Word of God, we are misleading others to the truth of God!

We should clearly understand, if God loved this world enough to send His only begotten Son to save this world, then God loves this world too much to allow the suffering of His people to go on very much longer.

2Pe 3:9  The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
2Pe 3:10  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

As we will see when a nation plunders and destroys, it opens the door for the ruthlessness of society to do as they please!

*****2Ch 28:16  At that time did king Ahaz send unto the kings of Assyria to help him.
2Ch 28:17  For again the Edomites had come and smitten Judah, and carried away captives.
2Ch 28:18  The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the low country, and of the south of Judah, and had taken Bethshemesh, and Ajalon, and Gederoth, and Shocho with the villages thereof, and Timnah with the villages thereof, Gimzo also and the villages thereof: and they dwelt there.
2Ch 28:19  For the LORD brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel; for he made Judah naked, and transgressed sore against the LORD.

King Ahaz was too foolish to repent and turn to the Lord and he was also foolish enough to turn to another enemy for help.

While a nation who once had a military that was the envy of other nation and been decimated and sat defenseless, those old life time enemies took advantage of that situation!

The Edomites, the descendants of Esau still carried that bitter hatred.

The Philistines who had always been aggressive toward Israel took advantage of Judah at this time.

All these things had taken place because of King Ahaz but he still refused to repent!

Even the Assyrians showed their true colors.

*****2Ch 28:20  And Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria came unto him, and distressed him, but strengthened him not.
2Ch 28:21  For Ahaz took away a portion out of the house of the LORD, and out of the house of the king, and of the princes, and gave it unto the king of Assyria: but he helped him not.

As we have seen in other lessons, money simply cannot by your way out of all your troubles!

Especially when that money robs the House of God!

Time after time our own government threatens to take or hinder the money given to the House of God, they should also learn yet another lesson from the Word of God!

King Ahaz was wicked enough, but the people of Judah had followed after him in wickedness.

This another thing we see in America today!

Assyria did actually attack Syria and conquered them but never helped Judah at all.

In other words King Ahaz had financed the Assyrian King enough that he had become the dominate power in the region. The Syrian threat may have been removed but all King Ahaz had accomplished, was to bankrupt his own nation.

King Ahaz had inherited a strong and wealthy nation and  he had brought his own nation to it's knees and sat very vulnerable to the world of evilness.

King Ahaz had looked for a Savior other than the Lord, even though the Lord had delivered his nation since they had escaped from the bondage of Egypt.

The lessons of the history of Israel were ignored!

Today our own leaders are looking for a Savior other than the Lord, (in fact Allah), and they have forgotten the history of America and in fact are trying to erase the history of America.

We should not expect God to offer a different result than what He has proven He has done in the past!

On a personal level, if we seek salvation from any source other than the Lord, that salvation will never be found.

It is only the Lord Jesus Christ who has the power to deliver us from the wickedness of sin!

It is only the Lord Jesus Christ who has the power to carry us to victory in this life and on into the eternal life of Heaven!

2Ti 4:18  And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

2Pe 2:9  The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:
2Pe 2:10  But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, self willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.

The truth is King Ahaz just became more wicked even after all these things.

*****2Ch 28:22  And in the time of his distress did he trespass yet more against the LORD: this is that king Ahaz.
2Ch 28:23  For he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which smote him: and he said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, therefore will I sacrifice to them, that they may help me. But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel.

The truth is, when we have not learned from the chastisement of God, then God does not make it easier, God just makes it harder.

Chastisement either brings to our knees or just makes us mad at God for not allowing us to enjoy our sin and sin can only bring pleasure for a season, or a short time!

We will return to those old false gods searching for relief or we will make our own selves a god and continue to think we know better than God.

This, in "typology", this attitude of King Ahaz, will be the attitude of all those who have rejected God after the "Rapture" of the Church and we are beginning to see that now in the attitude of the world, where good is called evil, and evil is called good.

Isa 5:18  Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope:
Isa 5:19  That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it!
Isa 5:20  Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Isa 5:21  Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!
Isa 5:22  Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink:
Isa 5:23  Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!
Isa 5:24  Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

Remember Isaiah also prophesied in the time of Ahaz.

It even seems that King Ahaz, even more tried to destroy his own nation because he was mad at God.

This is the attitude of Satan himself!

The gods of Syria had defeated him so he prayed even harder to the gods of Syria to see if he could change things, which is impossible because they had no power to begin with.

King Ahaz sunk as low as a ruler can go!

*****2Ch 28:24  And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God, and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and shut up the doors of the house of the LORD, and he made him altars in every corner of Jerusalem.
2Ch 28:25  And in every several city of Judah he made high places to burn incense unto other gods, and provoked to anger the LORD God of his fathers.

The guilt of King Ahaz drove him to madness.

King Ahaz mutilated the artistry of the vessels in God's house and destroyed them.

He took away the brazen lavers. The Brazen Lavers are considered a "type" of Christ. The water in those lavers are in "typology" the Word of God.

The first step for consecrating the Temple Priests was to wash them with the water of the brazen laver.

Eph 5:26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
Eph 5:27  That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

Joh 3:5  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

He altered the great laver King Solomon had made by taking down the brazen sea from the oxen on which it stood and set it upon a pavement of stones.

Here is what King Solomon had constructed:

1Ki 7:23  And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other: it was round all about, and his height was five cubits: and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about.
1Ki 7:24  And under the brim of it round about there were knops compassing it, ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about: the knops were cast in two rows, when it was cast.
1Ki 7:25  It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east: and the sea was set above upon them, and all their hinder parts were inward.

Here is what King Ahaz did to it:

2Ki 16:17  And king Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases, and removed the laver from off them; and took down the sea from off the brasen oxen that were under it, and put it upon a pavement of stones.
2Ki 16:18  And the covert for the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king's entry without, turned he from the house of the LORD for the king of Assyria.

And King Ahaz did everything that he could to provoke the anger of the Lord and it cost him his life!

*****2Ch 28:26  Now the rest of his acts and of all his ways, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.
2Ch 28:27  And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, even in Jerusalem: but they brought him not into the sepulchres of the kings of Israel: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.

All these things of King Ahaz were written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and at the young age of 36, God had ended his life.

There were very few rulers at that time who had lived lives as wicked and who had brought so much destruction to their own nation as had King Ahaz.

But today we cannot say that as we have seen many who have brought great destruction to their own nations and who had also rejected the Living God.

King Ahaz was buried in Jerusalem but he was not buried in the sepulchres of the Kings which began with King David.

King Ahaz forsook the Lord and fell in the depths of unbelief but we see an entire world heading in that same direction today!

We have seen as this results in a tragic life.

A life without God is a life of misery and it is usually a short one.

King Ahaz not only rejected the Lord but he caused all worship to cease in the Temple for all others who would want to worship the Lord.

King Ahaz again is a "type" of the people and the governments of the end times and we are beginning to see these things take place and we have for awhile.

2Ti 4:3  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
2Ti 4:4  And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

We all know that King Hezekiah was a great King of Judah but not many of us realize the state of Judah was in when a young Hezekiah became King of Judah.

Questions?

Let's Pray!

Jonah The Prophet, Part 2

Jonah, The Obedient Preacher

Book of Jonah Chapter 3; 4


Last week we saw Jonah as he disobeyed God and tried to run away and hide. Jonah found that was impossible to do!

We already know that Jonah preached to the Northern Tribes of Israel just as Hosea and he preached at the same time frame as Hosea.

You have to admit that if Jonah had been a missionary supported by this church and we heard of his running away from God, the first thing we would do is drop his support.

God looks into the heart and God had a purpose for Jonah that only he could fulfill. God is the God of the second chance.

Most all of us have made mistakes that we wish we had never made and would love an opportunity to redeem ourselves.

If we have rebelled against God's call, God does not just let it go at that.

God is a rewarder of all those that obey Him and God simply wants to reward us for things that we should just do out of our love for Him.

I do not believe that there is a true preacher or missionary alive that would not want to have the opportunity that God had called Jonah to do.

God, by example, gave Jonah a fresh start on his mission and his job was to offer an entire city a fresh start in life.

God is not only the God of the "second chance", God is the God of a "new beginning" the God of "new life"!

After being humbled by the mighty hand of God, Jonah repented. God accepted Jonah's repentance and restored His prophet and again commissioned him to go to the great city of Nineveh.

*****Jon 3:1  And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying,
Jon 3:2  Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.

God has a standing statement for every human being.

Rom 3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

It is obvious by that word "all" that this does not leave anyone out, no matter their nationality. "Race" is an invention of the evolutionists, and does not exist in the Word of God.

God says that there is only one ending for the result of sin.

Rom 6:23  For the wages of sin is death;

This is not the physical death we all will suffer but death by the fact we will be eternally separated from God!

There is only one means of escape. It's called repentance!

Jonah had been commissioned to "cry" or "to preach" against Nineveh but notice now the Lord says to preach to Nineveh. We can be sure God had already sent the Holy Ghost ahead of Jonah and they were ready even before Jonah got there.

Jonah always only had one commission and that was to preach the Word of God. Jonah had never been called on to express his opinion of that work.

It is impossible for us to understand the ways of God, so we should just do as God inspires us to do and God will never lead us to go against His own words. If it is not against the Word of God then it cannot be wrong if we have rightly interpreted what God is saying.

What's wrong with the modern day church?

The pulpits have begun to give us their opinions or their personal thoughts and have forgotten that it is only the "Gospel" that can save!

Mar 1:15  And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

The Apostle Paul clearly understood what God was saying and he is a good example of what preaching is all about.

Act 20:24  But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

To preach is to deliver the message of God with the authority of God, because the example for that is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself!

Mat 7:28  And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:
Mat 7:29  For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

And God said to Jonah: arise and go preach my message.

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

Nineveh was 550 miles from Jerusalem and a city of great importance to the ancient world of that day.

Nineveh would soon become the capitol city of the Assyrian Empire, who God would use to show His wrath to the Northern Tribes of Israel.

Nineveh was so large it would take 3 days to travel around the city limits.

Nineveh was also the same city that Nimrod had established.

Gen 10:9  He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.
Gen 10:10  And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
Gen 10:11  Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah,
Gen 10:12  And Resen between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city.

The truth is God loved the Ninevites as much as He loves anyone else and He still does but we are all called to repent and believe the "Gospel" of the Lord Jesus Christ.

God had given Noah 120 years to preach His message of wrath, but Jonah told the Ninevites that "Judgment" would come to them in 40 days if they did not repent of their evil ways.

*****Jon 3:4  And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
Jon 3:5  So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.

Jonah entered the city of Nineveh but notice, he did not first go freshen himself up but he immediately began to preach the message God had given to him.

Jonah did not spend anytime gazing on this great city, he went straight to the work of God.

What we see is that by the ending of day one, the entire city was ready to repent.

Jonah had no need to go any further!

Jonah preached as he walked for his message was not as long message but it was the truth.

Jonah preached that at the end of 40 days Nineveh would be over thrown!

What is the truth of God's Prophets?

Deu 18:22  When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.

What is the truth of God's message?

Jer 18:7  At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;
Jer 18:8  If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.
Jer 18:9  And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;
Jer 18:10  If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.

We already know that God never changes.

God can bring America to her knees without affecting the rest of the world, if He so chooses!

We should also notice that Jonah preached a complete message.

Many times preachers preach Hell, hot and heavy, but they stop there and do not preach how to miss out on Hell.

Every sinner in their heart know they are sinners, the thing they do not know is how to avoid the wages of sin and an eternity in Hell.

Many other preachers today preach the love of God and leave out the preaching of the wrath of God.

God told Jonah you just give them my message, not yours and not what you interpret my words to mean!

There is a certain amount of "fear" that should be a part of our "faith"!

Psa 2:11  Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
Psa 2:12  Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

The problem in most pulpits today is that they either "add to" or "take from" God's message.

We must all remember, we are simply to be messengers of the Word of God!

The simple study of God's Word is still, (who, what, when, where, and how).

Who is God speaking to.
What is His message.
When did the things take place, including future.
Where did or where will these things happen.
And "How" will God go about doing what He says and how do these things apply to us today.

Remember God teaches by example!

If we keep the Word of God in the context of it's written message and just accept that what God says is true without questioning His Words, we can begin to be a messenger of God!

These Ninevites responded by the droves.

God was not making an idle threat, He would have certainly destroyed this city in 40 days had they not repented of their evil ways but God knew it all along.

Deep in the heart of Jonah, he also knew this thing and that's why he rebelled against God.

These fierce pagan people became very humble at the message of God.

We see that whole neighborhoods and communities began to fast and put on sackcloth, a sign of repentance.

**We see first they believed, this is faith.

**Next we see they repented, these are the two necessary things to bring salvation.

What did Jesus say?

Mar 1:15  And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
This is the same message we should have today!

AND, This great event even reached into the government.

*****Jon 3:6  For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
Jon 3:7  And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:
Jon 3:8  But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.
Jon 3:9  Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?

Here we see a government that identified with it's people. This is a rare thing today!

1) The government demanded that everyone was to fast.
2) The government demanded that every creature to wear sackcloth (all the earth is subject to God)
3) The government demanded that all the citizens were to call on God and repent.

This government was trying to do everything it could to turn back the judgment of God!

This would be a wise thing for our own government to do instead of kicking God out of America!

The truth is, if you believe the Lord and repent of your sins, you are then saved and welcomed into the family of God!

To be converted means:

1) A life of sin will now be a life of righteousness.
2) A carnal nature becomes a spiritual nature.
3) A mind once conformed to this world becomes a mind transformed by the power of God.
4) A soul that was condemned to eternal death to a life of eternal perfection and glory.

It's called being "Born Again".

Joh 3:3  Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

And the Almighty but Merciful God of all "Grace" was satisfied and the people would have piece with God!

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

We should remember it is impossible to deceive God, so this was a true repentance!

This was because they had "faith" that God would do exactly as He said He would do, and God would have because God cannot and will not lie.

There was a deadline of 40 days so these people had decided in just a few days, there was no benefit to waiting to the last minute, in fact that would have shown a lack of repentance and to delay meant destruction.

This is why God will not give us an exact day or hour in which He will return.

We must remember God offers a choice and God will honor our choices right or wrong, but we must understand to choose to go against the will of God is to bring death and destruction to yourself.

There was only one sad person that day and it was Jonah!

*****Jon 4:1  But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.
Jon 4:2  And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.

There are some people in our world that are so wicked that we simply do not want to have anything to do with them.

It would be very hard to witness to some gay people or some abortionist, or some rapist, or some murderer.

To Jonah, the Assyrians were the most wicked people upon this earth and he did not want them to be saved.

The truth is, the Lord will shower blessings of "Mercy" upon everyone who will repent and call upon His name!

Jonah had been showered with God's "Mercy" time after time but his heart was hard toward the Ninevites.

Jonah had difficulty in believing that God would save everybody no matter what they had done.

Jonah became very angry and upset with God.

Jonah took the time in His prayer to tell God exactly why he was angry and this is something we all should do.

We have a tendency sometimes to question the "Mercy" of God on certain people as Jonah did this day.

To Jonah, after he had preached the terrible "Judgment" of God, he felt God had simply let them off the hook.

The truth is God can only be God!

God has to obey His own Word or He would be a liar and no one could trust Him.

Mic 7:18  Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.
Mic 7:19  He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

Jonah was so angry that he ask God just to take his life, he wanted to quit on God.

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

Jonah knew that if he went back to Jerusalem saying that Nineveh had been saved because of his preaching, he would not be looked upon very well by his brethren.

Most all Jews wanted Nineveh destroyed!

This is the same way we feel about ISIS and the terrorists today, we want them destroyed!

It is likely that the Jews would never have accepted Jonah as a prophet of God ever again, so Jonah felt he just as well die.

But God's purpose for Jonah was not complete at this time.

God responded to Jonah in tenderness.

*****Jon 4:4  Then said the LORD, Doest thou well to be angry?

God was saying to Jonah, "is your anger a reasonable outcome or is it pointless"

God did not ask Jonah any other question because Jonah needed to meditate on his anger.

Jonah was not angry at the wickedness of Nineveh, Jonah was angry at their repentance!

God warns us that we must not allow anger to become embedded in our hearts.

Anger that remains a long period of time can take us over and consume all our thoughts and even our lives!

Anger will smolder and then erupt in a fit of rage and hostility many times

Eph 4:26  Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
Eph 4:27  Neither give place to the devil.

*****Jon 4:5  So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city.
Jon 4:6  And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd.
Jon 4:7  But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered.

The truth is even a prophet of God still needs instruction.

Jonah sought a place where he could be alone and out of sight of everyone.

Jonah wanted to be a spectator to the destruction of Nineveh but he did not want to be seen by them.

Jonah found a place on the east side of the city where he could still observe the happenings of the city because he wanted to be sure that the repentance of that city was real.

Jonah still wanted to witness the destruction of Nineveh but all he saw was a city humbling themselves and
repenting to the Lord.

We know that a booth is just a shelter made from branches of trees and those leaves quickly withered in the hot sun and God prepared a gourd to cover the head of Jonah to keep him cool and Jonah was exceedingly glad for the gourd.

God providing this plant was a direct act of compassion.

But the next morning God prepared a worm to cause the gourd to whither and again Jonah was in the sun.

God sent an east wind and Jonah was over whelmed by the heat until he fainted.

Again God spoke to Jonah.

*****Jon 4:8  And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.
Jon 4:9  And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.
Jon 4:10  Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night:
Jon 4:11  And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?

People wonder if God does actually use nature to teach us valuable lessons. We can be sure He does!

The temperatures can easily reach 120 degrees Fahrenheit in that area and Jonah succumbed to the heat.

God immediately reached down from Heaven and again saved Jonah.

God said to Jonah "was it right to be angry with the gourd that had left him in misery"? Jonah said yes.

So God knew Jonah was ready to learn a new lesson.

1) Jonah had a great concern for his own health while he intended to watch the destruction of many thousands of people.

Today we see a society that says they have a great concern for our children while they oversee the destruction of the unborn children up to and including that one that is at 9 months.

If Jonah had such great pity for that plant that he had not even planted nor cultivated but had only lived a short time and was really valueless, How much more would the Lord have pity on the many thousands of Nineveh.

And how much more will God have pity on the unborn and the elderly who are being push aside and forgotten.

Our God never changes!

What had God said to Abraham?

Gen 18:23  And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
Gen 18:24  Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?

After the preaching of Jonah there were many righteous people in Nineveh!

What is always the truth of God?

Nah 1:2  God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies.

God simply will not show His wrath as long as there are righteous people in these places!

The truth is many guilty cities and even nations have been spared because they contained some of God's people.

This is the very reason the wrath of God cannot come until after the "Rapture" of the Church.

This is the only time that there will be not one righteous person on this earth!

The Apostle Paul wrote these words about the Lord Jesus Christ:

1Co 2:8  Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

The same goes for the Church! If this world encouraged Christianity rather than trying to stop it, this world would never see the wrath of God!

2) When Jonah thought more of his own comforts than for the spiritual welfare of 600,000 people who were lost then he was not acting like a true man of God.

Our Lord will show His compassion to all people!

Lam 3:21  This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.
Lam 3:22  It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
Lam 3:23  They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

And compare:

Psa 145:8  The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.
Psa 145:9  The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.

Psa 145:15  The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season.
Psa 145:16  Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.

Jesus said: 

Mat 18:33  Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?

3) Then God asked Jonah, Since the Lord is the Creator of all life, why should He not show concern for all His creations.

Col 1:16  For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Col 1:17  And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

To be honest how could we serve a God that was not like our God?

Every soul is a jewel from the treasure chest of Heaven and God wants them all back!

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 are fools not to answer the call of God!

We are all made from the same lump of clay!

Gen 2:7  And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Rom 9:19  Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
Rom 9:20  Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
Rom 9:21  Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
Rom 9:22  What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
Rom 9:23  And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,
Rom 9:24  Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?

The Book of Jonah ends with this Scripture but we know that Jonah went on being a prophet of God.

The Book of Jonah shows us how not to behave in the service of the Lord!

It is a fact that there are no unimportant people in the eyes of God!

There are no sinners who have sinned so greatly that God will reject them if they repent!

As Christians we should never rebel against God!

We are never to disobey God!

We should never argue with God!

We should never question God's judgment!

We are only called to witness to the lost and we must remember all vengeance belongs to the Lord!

We should never quit on God, for God will simply put us a shelf and get someone else to do what we refuse to do!

We may not know much out about Jonah, but we can sure that while he was hot and miserable, he was awakened to the truth of God and it changed his life forever.

Sometimes we expect to much from God's prophets but after all they were all just ordinary men just as we are and they made mistakes just as we do!

We should never under estimate the "Mercy Of God"!

And we should never under estimate the "Love of God"!

After all God sent His own Son to pay the sin debt for the entire population from the days of Adam to a day that has not yet come!

Questions?

Let's Pray!

Jonah The Prophet Part 1

Jonah; The Disobedient Prophet

Book of Jonah 1-2


When it comes to the true prophets of God there are some things we must always remember:

1) The words that they wrote came from the mouth of the Supreme God and should be treated as the Word of the Lord!

2) Their words are absolute, imperative and final and preempt all other laws!

3) They were commissioned by the Lord and their words are to be associated with their Commissioner!

We will read of a time in the life of God's prophet Jonah, that he totally disagreed with God and we can be sure God told Jonah to include this in his writings.

I am sure that Jonah would have rather left some of these words out!

It would have been easy for God to just put good things in the Scriptures but they would not have seemed real.
God just teaches us the truths and gives us a view from both sides or I should say all sides.

The first lesson we will learn from the Book of Jonah is that you cannot run away from God.

King David put is this way:

Psa 139:7  Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
Psa 139:8  If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
Psa 139:9  If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
Psa 139:10  Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
Psa 139:11  If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.
Psa 139:12  Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

Book of Jonah Chapter 1 verse 1

*****Jon 1:1  Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
Jon 1:2  Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.

If you have ever tried to run away from anything you can understand Jonah.

Records show that at least a million people, mostly young juveniles, successfully run away from home every year. Most of these runaways end in devastation for themselves and their families.

Jonah was a runaway prophet!

Jonah was called of God to preach to the Northern Tribes of Israel just as Hosea and some others. He also had preached to Judah the wonderful Word of God.

Jonah felt that to preach the Word of God to the Ninevites was God asking to much. These were the enemies of Israel.

What is the truth of God?

Isa 55:8  For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
Isa 55:9  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

We all pretty much understand the plan of God but what we cannot understand is how God will go about completing His plan.

God says, it is not for us to understand, it is only that we have "Faith" and trust Him to do what is right.

Israel felt that God was the God of Israel but that He did not care for any other nation.

We already know that God sent His Son to save the entire world.

One day while Jonah was resting God gave Jonah a new commission.

We already know the God spoke to His prophets in dreams and visions and Jonah clearly understood what God had called him to do.

Even today God calls us to activities that we may really want to do.

The truth is, it is our duty to be obedient to God in everything He ask.

The physical side of us is just a tool for God's use.

The most important part of serving the Lord is our willingness to do so!

When we are not willing to serve the Lord we will then become a tool in the service of others!

Nineveh was a great city not only because it was heavily populated but Nineveh was the capitol city of the great Assyrian Empire.

The city of Nineveh was probably 60 miles in circumference, more like New York rather than Jerusalem.

The Assyrian Empire was second only to the Empire of King Solomon in riches and royalty in it's day.

Nineveh was established by Nimrod and the probable home of the Tower of Babel.

We know that the Assyrian Empire later fell to the Medes in the time of Daniel and later to the Babylonians.

But before these things could happen God was going to allow the Assyrians to destroy the Northern Tribes of Israel and scatter the remnant throughout that empire.

God's plan for Jonah was to preach the salvation of the Lord so they would not be so harsh on the people of Israel.

God spoke through His prophets in that day but today God speaks directly to each individual!

Heaven is open to every people. There is only one race in the eyes of God. God sees "souls" and not the color of the skin!

Nineveh was a Gentile City and much hated by most Jews for this reason.

Jonah was assigned to go to Nineveh to warn them of the "Judgment" of God if they did not turn from their wicked ways.

In the days of Jonah the Assyrians were a dominant economic power but also a dominant military power and they were known to be a cruel, violent and wicked people.

**They were one of the most cruel people to have ever lived on this earth.

Nah 3:1  Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not;
Nah 3:2  The noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the pransing horses, and of the jumping chariots.
Nah 3:3  The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering spear: and there is a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcases; and there is none end of their corpses; they stumble upon their corpses:
Nah 3:4  Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the wellfavoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts.

History, and archeology has proven all these things to be true!

In reality this commission given to Jonah is much like the "Great Commission" given to us by the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jonah was one lone Jew sent into a city of over 600,000 cruel and evil people.

Until Jonah, no Jewish prophet had ever been given such a task.

Amos and Hosea also were prophets of that day but only Jonah was chosen for this particular task.

As believers our soul duty is to share the "Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ"!

Mat 24:14  And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

But Jonah rebelled against God.

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

Jonah made a tragic decision, he rejected God's commission.

The truth is, it is impossible to go to Tarshish if God sends you to Nineveh!

Jonah left his home.

Jonah left his nation.

Jonah fled from the Lord.

But those were God's winds. (The winds would not push that ship through the water)

That ship was sailing on God's Seas. (The Seas would not bear him!)

Those whales new better than to reject God's calling. (The natural world is directly under God's command)

Luk 8:24  And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm.
Luk 8:25  And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him.
Luk 8:26  And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is over against Galilee.

When we are disobedient to God it will always affect others.

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

Now we are never to take part in a lottery but when all lawful means have been seen as worthless then we may have to seek other means.

Sort of like drawing straws or pulling a name out of a hat.

Even these things must be done in a Holy fashion and accompanied with prayer, and great reverence.

We must never treat such a thing as idolatry and we must never apply the Word of God to this action.

If we honor God as the moderator of such a thing, then we must respect the answer we obtain.

Jonah was in open rebellion against the Lord.

Jonah had made a deliberate decision to travel to Tarshish, which was probably to Spain as we know it today.

At that time this was as far away as any ship would sail and Jonah fled to Joppa a seaport to find his ship.

We will notice that any time we are disobedient to the Lord, we can endanger other people.

God also loved the Ninevites as much as Jonah and God would not allow Jonah to destroy his ministry and his life showing His great love for him also.

This ship had no longer left port until God brought a strong storm that endangered the ship.

Jonah became so seasick he went to the bottom of the ship to lie down.

Jonah found himself very weak and completely helpless!

The captain of the ship went to Jonah knowing he was a prophet of God and rebuked Jonah for not praying for the safety of the ship and all who were aboard.

What do we know about prayer?

Psa 66:18  If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:

Jonah was intended to be a prophet of salvation but instead he had become the minister of doom!

Jonah's disobedience had destroyed his testimony.

The men of this ship worshipped the many pagan gods of the seas and they had come to the conclusion that the God of Jonah was showing His wrath.

We should remember as long as God is chastising us, He is trying to get us to change our ways. No child of God will ever see His wrath but chastisement can still be painful and it is still possible God will just take us on home rather than ruin His testimony or His message.

Jonah said it was certainly His God, Jehovah, who was the Creator of all things, including the wind and the storm that was causing the terror of that day.

These men were terrified to hear of such a God as Jonah worshiped but their question was why would anyone do such a thing as try to run away from such a God.

We should all ask ourselves this same question!

Why would anyone reject such a God as we have?

The only answer they had was that Jonah must be sacrificed so that they could live.

Jonah accepted that it was only fair that he would die for what he had done because not only would these sailors perish but all the Ninevites would also perish.

Certainly God would require his death!

These men tried their best to save Jonah's life but no one can fight against God and win!

But God will take any situation and make some good come from it!

Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

God always knows what men will do!

*****Jon 1:15  So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging.
Jon 1:16  Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows.

First God had to show these sailors that He was the true God as Jonah had said and He calmed the Seas.

We can just imagine how they felt when Jonah hit the waters the Seas became instantly calm.

God had shown His mercy and His grace to these men and it was time for them to make a choice and they made a sacrifice to the Lord and made (vows) not to worship any other god, only the God of the Jews.

God presents opportunities, it is up to us to recognize the work of the Lord and then choose the right way and repent just as these sailors had done.

Mat 7:24  Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
Mat 7:25  And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
Mat 7:26  And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
Mat 7:27  And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
Mat 7:28  And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:
Mat 7:29  For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

We are fools when we witness such things as these sailors did and not realize that only God could have done such a thing!

Christ Jesus showed this same power to the apostles.

Mar 4:36  And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships.
Mar 4:37  And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.
Mar 4:38  And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?
Mar 4:39  And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
Mar 4:40  And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?
Mar 4:41  And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?

Most all of us in our lifetime have had a near death experience, whether it be a serious accident, a serious illness, a disease that could end in death, or maybe in combat, or a robbery, or an assault.

Over time we have realized that our only hope is in the Lord!

God usually will do one of only three things.

1) He will save us from that danger.
2) He will go with us through that danger and then deliver us.
3) He will carry us above that danger and take us on home to live eternally with Him in Heaven.

God had a special plan for Jonah!

It was God's intent to cause Jonah to repent and do as he had been sent to do.

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

What we see about God is that He always uses things that are part of His creation and not some out of this world object in His disciplinary actions.

God had used His control over nature to teach those sailors.

Now God uses a great fish to swallow up Jonah.

This was not some random fish that just happen to be swimming by but an especially prepared fish!

This not the only time that God prepared a fish for His own use.

Mat 17:27  Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.

Preparing a fish was a miracle in itself but the greatest miracle was that Jonah survived to write all these things down for us to study!

Now we should be clear, it is impossible for God to lie.
It is impossible that God can contradict Himself.
It is impossible for God not to stay consistent with His message.

As Jesus said, these are the signs of Jonah.

Mat 12:39  But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:
Mat 12:40  For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Mat 12:41  The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.

Mat 16:2  He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red.
Mat 16:3  And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?
Mat 16:4  A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.

And Jonah finally realized the one thing he had not done which was the most important thing of all!

*****Jon 2:1  Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly,
Jon 2:2  And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.

Have you ever heard the phrase, "you can pray anywhere" then it must be true. Jonah prayed from the belly of this "Great fish".

This story is not a parable but the actual truth of the Scriptures. All we need do is believe and we can accept why God would do such a thing.

Jonah had no doubt that he was facing death!

It may be physically impossible for anyone to live inside the belly of a whale for three days but there is nothing to hard for God!

Mar 10:27  And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.

There are many who disagree about the truth of Jonah but the simple truth is, those that believe the Bible is the infallible Word of God have no problem believing the Book of Jonah!

To not believe in the Book of Jonah is to not believe in miracles!

The miracles that God does are all outside the possibilities of this natural world.

We worship a Supernatural God!

Why would God do such a thing?

1) The first thing is obvious. Jonah needed to be saved from drowning but he also needed to feel the irony of being in Hell. Jonah had condemned all the people of Nineveh to Hell. God wanted to show Jonah a taste of Hell without sending Him there. Jonah was indeed a child of God who could never really be sent to Hell because of God's promise.

Jonah had been seasick on the ship, we can only imagine how he was now.

Jonah describes his journey in the darkness of the whales belly:

Jon 2:5  The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.
Jon 2:6  I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God.

2) After a taste of Hell, the same Hell he had condemned the Ninevites to, God showed Jonah a taste of "Grace".

Jonah got to see a true picture of God's love.

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.

Jonah would also be this picture of God's love to the Ninevites.

3) The Lord used a "great fish". Jesus said it was a "whale", which in reality was a type of the death of Jesus Christ's death and resurrection.

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

There was also a fourth reason.

4) The Ninevites worshiped a false god they had named Dagon.

Dagon was the fish-god, Dagon had the body of a fish with the head and the hands of a man.

There was also a female version of this false god and this is where the Mermaid gets her start in folklore.

Jonah continued to pray.

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

Jonah realized that God was listening to his prayer.

When we are in dire circumstances we may shut out hope but that is when "Faith" will take over.

When we realize that the Temple actually was a "type" of Christ, we can realize the only hope we have in this world is in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Tit 2:11  For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12  Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
Tit 2:13  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
Tit 2:14  Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

Looking for the Lord with a constant expectation and with joy is the only answer to lusts of this world.

Jonah began to realize that his "faith" was based on his hope for righteousness which comes to those who have been filled with the Holy Spirit.

Jonah realized the hope that is laid up for us in Heaven comes from the Word of truth from the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jonah realized that we are saved by our hope, but that hope is not in the things of this world, for how can we place our hope in things that we can see and not God who we cannot see but know that He exists!

As Jonah looked toward Heaven in believing and faithful prayer, he realized his prayer had been heard and God was going to answer him but in his own time which in this case was 3 days and 3 nights.

Every thing God does is for some one to get an opportunity to hear the "Gospel" and all we need do is to obey His calling.

What is the truth of Jonah and to each one that serves the Lord?

Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Jonah then became the first submariner.

*****Jon 2:8  They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.
Jon 2:9  But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.
Jon 2:10  And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

The truth is the Lord will always hear us and help us when we face critical situations!

We must first repent of our sins and then call upon His name to be acceptable to Him!

The Lord will accept no one who lives in sin!

2Ch 7:14  If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

The Lord gave Jonah a new life, a new beginning and a second chance.

It was the Lord who had led this whale to save Jonah and it was the Lord who led this whale to spew Jonah out as close to Nineveh as it could.

Jonah had been humbled and he would go to Nineveh and preach as God had called him to do.

Many lessons can be learned but we must remember that Jonah's 3 days and 3 nights in the belly of this whale points to the "death', the "burial", and the "resurrection" of the Lord Jesus Christ.

There are no Scriptures in the Bible that are not important!

This is another proof of our own resurrection!

Tit 3:3  For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.
Tit 3:4  But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
Tit 3:5  Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
Tit 3:6  Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
Tit 3:7  That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Another lesson we must learn is that we can save ourselves a whole lot of trouble just by saying yes to the Lord and not trying to run away from His calling!

Questions?

Let's Pray!

Forgiveness

Forgiveness

Book of Hosea Chapters 10-14


Forgiveness is the removal of guilt and in God's eyes it is to be the same as a pardon.

Jesus Christ fulfilled the Law, so God removes the condemnation of the law from the sinner.

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

God removes the guilt of sin and the sinners liability to eternal wrath.

In other words by God's act of "Grace" I am forever freed from the guilt and also the penalty of my sins.

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

We sometimes forget these things and get caught back up in the ways of the world and this breaks the heart of God but He still will not abandon us.

Isa 55:8  For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
Isa 55:9  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

God is much more faithful to His Word than we are!

1Co 1:8  Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1Co 1:9  God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

It is our duty to be faithful to the Lord who paid our sin debt with His own blood!

It is also our duty to be just as forgiving to all others as the Lord is to us!

How can we ignore such a wonderful gift as the "Love of God"?

Amen.

Let's begin in Chapter 10 at verse 9

*****Hos 10:9  O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah: there they stood: the battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake them.
Hos 10:10  It is in my desire that I should chastise them; and the people shall be gathered against them, when they shall bind themselves in their two furrows.
Hos 10:11  And Ephraim is as an heifer that is taught, and loveth to tread out the corn; but I passed over upon her fair neck: I will make Ephraim to ride; Judah shall plow, and Jacob shall break his clods.
Hos 10:12  Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.

We should be very clear about the gross sin of Israel at this time.

When we studied the Book of Judges we should remember the story of the Levite and the concubine that almost caused the elimination of the tribe of Benjamin and only 600 survived.

It had been Gibeah where the people had defied God and had been over taken by immorality, sexual perversion, including homosexuality and they had had there own LBGT movement, along with rape, assault, abuse, and murder and they had also refused to repent. (Judges 19:1-20:48)

God had judged Gibeah severely and He promised the same judgment would come to Samaria and the Northern Tribes.

Israel was plowing a furrow just like Gibeah had plowed and it would lead them to the same results.

A destruction that would leave only a small remnant alive!

Again we need to relate these things to what is happening in America today and not listen to those that say that the Christian way is racist or bigotry. We are still to love the sinner but hate the sin and in that we do fail the most.

If we think about it a heifer that treaded out the corn got to eat all she wanted by the law of God just by walking in a circle.

This then is a sign of laziness. It may have been easier to go along with the ways of the world but they were still bound in the captivity to sin.

These are the chains we must break free from to be made free!

Again we see that today it may be easier to compromise on the Word of God and live in today's world but we will still be trapped in our own sin.

Where as, those animals that plowed the fields only got to eat at certain times of the day and labored much harder pulling the plows.

It may be harder to live in righteousness by the Word of God, but we will certainly live in freedom from the wrath of God!

Joh 8:31  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, "If ye continue in my word", THEN are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, "and the truth shall make you free".

Joh 8:36  If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

The Word of God is full of instances of "what you sow, you will also reap".

God says these things are real simple. Righteousness is simply doing things right and to do things right is to follow the ways of the Word of God.

So if we act righteously we will reap the rewards of righteousness, not of debt, but of "Grace".

Pro 11:18  The wicked worketh a deceitful work: but to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward.

We will reap the rewards of God's divine "Mercy" which we will again sow to others and we can see that this cycle should continue all our days!

God has an endless supply of "Mercy"!

Luk 6:38  Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.

Remember there is no victory to those who are not in the battle.

There is no medal for those who are not in the race.

There can be no harvest without working in the field!

So "break up your fallow ground"!

Remove the ways of this world from your life and be tenderized and renewed by the Blood of Jesus!

What was that "fallow ground"?

*****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.

By the Laws of Moses, these Israelites were to let the ground lie "fallow" and unplowed every seventh year.

Exo 23:11  But the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy oliveyard.

These people were not only content to live in sin but they worked hard at promoting sin to all, like it had some benefit that sin just does not have.

We see this today as sin is promoted by our own government and much of the so-called church.

Sin is like a fertilized weed that grows among the people of this world and God will give all these up to reap the rewards of their sin which we already know is death.

There is only one bounty that can come from sin and that is more sin!

These people had reaped "iniquity".

In other words, small sin had grown up to be major sin!

It is a fact that the fruit of sin will make it's promises but in the end will only bring disappointment that leads only to destruction.

Immorality is a trap that will never release you!

When we trust in our own ways it will only lead to failure.

Pro 14:12  There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

Not only this but they had trusted in their military to defend their evil ways.

Sounds a whole lot like the America we live in today.

What was God's answer?

God said their hearts were as hard ground that was over run with weeds and thorns and that heart was that fallow ground that needed to be broken up so the good seed of the truth of God could be sown.

It was time to seek the Lord, this was their final warning.

It's time for America to break up It's fallow ground!

It's time for America to seek the Lord instead of the ways of this world!

God warns us all against immoral behavior, against wickedness, against perversion, and against degenerate acts.

In no uncertain terms, God condemns such sins as homosexuality, rape, abuse, assault, murder and governments that allow and even promote these things.

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.

The more we plant wickedness as a nation and as a people, the more we will become even more wicked.

This is the truth of reaping and sowing and it never changes!

You cannot get good water from a bad well.

So how would Israel suffer and we should pay close attention to what God says.

*****Hos 10:14  Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people, and all thy fortresses shall be spoiled, as Shalman spoiled Betharbel in the day of battle: the mother was dashed in pieces upon her children.
Hos 10:15  So shall Bethel do unto you because of your great wickedness: in a morning shall the king of Israel utterly be cut off.

Webster describes a tumult as commotion, disturbance, or agitation of a multitude. Usually accompanied with great noise, uproar, and confusion of voices.

Anyone who says this is not going on in America today, lives in cave by themselves.

These things happened in Israel of that day and they are happening in America today for the exact same reasons.

God just never changes like many keep saying that He does!

No matter how good our police force is, or our military, the enemy keeps slipping in to cause death and destruction and terrorism is still spreading around this world no matter what lies our own government keeps repeating.

No one is seriously trying to stop the spread of Islamic Terrorism or Governmental Terrorism, they are both essentially the same just one is more deceitful.

The Israel of that day was invaded and totally destroyed because all the fortresses of that nation crumbled before the Assyrians.

We may not know who this Shalman is, the Bible does not say, but remember there was a King Shalmaneser also of the Assyrians.

No matter what we know, it is a fact that the land of the Assyrians is now the land occupied by the Muslim.

The truth is that any nation or any people who place their hope in their own works, their own wealth, or their own power, is doomed for failure.

We must trust God above all else in this world!

The true resources of the human race is really very limited and there is not one human who can solve man's biggest problems.

Selfishness and corruptness only breed more selfishness and more corruptness!

It is far better to trust in the Lord to meet our needs!

There are many in our world that say we must compromise on the Word of God and accept the things of this world of today because we have a God of Love but the truth is we simply do not really understand the love of God!

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

Besides our prayer of faith, "Love" is the greatest force on this earth in fact throughout God's creation. God made us because of His great love!

Love is far more powerful than wealth and power and if we take a stand on "love", the "love of God" we can change the direction of our own nation that is bent on wealth and power.

Love brings commitment and allegiance and then is shown in tenderness, compassion and forgiveness!

God gives us an example of His great love for Israel in these Scriptures.

We should know that God has a great love for the entire human race, the proof of that can be read in one verse.

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.

And God gives us His reason.

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 obvious that God loves Israel like a son.

At this time, God dealt with nations more than the individual. Today God deals with the individual more that He does nations but He still deals with both.

We see the paternal love of Israel as it was just born as a nation when God brought them out of the slavery of Egypt. One family had entered Egypt and a baby nation had departed Egypt.

America became a baby nation on July 4, 1776.

At this time the majority of Americans worshiped the One True God, The Christ.

As a son, God began to provide for America by ending the bondage to England.

So, God adopted Israel that day and called him a son!

As a son, God began to provide for Israel, first by ending that slavery.

At this time the majority of Israelites were true in the worship of the One True God, Jehovah.

So there certainly are many parallels in our histories!

The biggest thing we see is Fatherhood of God, it cannot be missed. (Our Father who art in Heaven)

The key to life lies in our Father's hand, not in anything we think we have!

We also see that God's love for us is to be our pattern for our love for others!

In fact we can look upon all these things as a "type of Christ".

God’s love to Christ, as a child, manifested to us by His calling Him from Egypt. In the fulness of time the beloved of the Father became flesh, and dwelt among us. But no sooner did He appear than His life was threatened. The child was borne for safety into Egypt. In due time Christ was called out of Egypt, brought again to the Holy Land, there to exercise His ministry and perform the will of God.

The truth is, God has shown His love for us all in these things while we are still a great distance from Heaven.

We who are redeemed by the "blood of the Lamb" are loved with the same love with which God loved His only begotten Son!

All humans are a highly favored people in the eyes of God!

BUT, the truth is as we can readily see today, most all humans are a highly ungrateful people!

What the world does not want to hear and the thing that makes this world so mad is that, God will righteously punish those that reject their Creator!

Righteously meaning it will be the right thing for God to do!

Israel is our example of all these things and we must learn from Israel's mistakes.

What had God told Moses?

“And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is My son, even My first-born; and I say unto thee, Let My son go, that he may serve Me.”

Moses on that day was a "type" of Christ.

One day Jesus will return and He will look straight into the face of Satan and He will say, "thus sayeth the Lord God, Our Father in Heaven, let my people go that they may serve Me".

Most of these people did not even realize it was God who healed them!

This also, is still the same today!

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

God sent His prophets the first one Moses, to call Israel into worship and into the service of God but they turned a deaf ear and then turned their backs on God.

They turned to Baalim, which is the plural of Baal. Baal was the name of the many false gods of the enemies of Israel and still is.

Allah is the Baal of the modern Muslim and there are too many to mention who reject Christ Jesus the Messiah, the One True God, the Triunity of God.

The truth of God is that He longs to rescue us all from all the sin of this world.

He does this by either delivering us from those trials or He will give us the strength to walk away ourselves!

When we learn about the Lord, we find that God is teaching us more and more about the truth of His great love for us.

1Co 10:13  There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

This is the truth of our loving God and it only gets better!

2Ti 4:18  And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

God continues to show us His goodness but He has not yet shown us His best!

1Co 2:9  But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
1Co 2:10  But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

God is all the time teaching us, if we will just pay attention!

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

There are truly many methods of teaching but God uses His great love to teach us.

When we walk by the Lord, then the Lord walks with us, even taking a hold of our hand!

With the Word of God, we can certainly learn how to walk in this life.

There is no other life, except a life of misery "without God"!

When we fail to follow God's lead we will stumble and fall but if we look up and reach for the Lord, He will lift us up and heal us and our spirit.

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.

We should clearly understand that God will use every believer to fulfill a purpose but God will also use unbelievers to get His will done in this world.

Isa 45:5  I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
Isa 45:6  That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.

We have an election coming up soon and our job is to vote by the Word of God but it is God who will decide who wins the election.

God will see if we are serious about a change and if we are not serious then God will give us what we deserve!

To this day Israel has not learned that it is God who has healed them and placed them back into the Promised Land. (Makes no sense at all but what the Scriptures say)

2Co 3:13  And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:
2Co 3:14  But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.
2Co 3:15  But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.
2Co 3:16  Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.

BUT, God has never abandoned Israel throughout all these years.

*****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.

One of the greatest promises we have as Christians is that God will never forsake us!

Heb 13:5  Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

With this, God also promises to provide all our needs especially those needs we have in pursuit of the will of God!

Psa 23:1  The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

And this is not only our physical needs but also our spiritual needs!

Php 4:19  But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

These things God promises all the days of our lives until He takes us home.

Psa 23:6  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Joh 14:2  In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
Joh 14:3  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
Joh 14:4  And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.

Israel does not yet realize all these things but they will before the end, for God will open their blinded eyes.

*****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.

When we look at the history of Israel from the Scriptures we see a picture of God's "grace" and God's "faithfulness".

But when we look at these same Scriptures as a "type" of Christ, then we see a picture of Christ watching over His "redeemed" as they travel in this world after salvation and leading them from the (Egypt of sin) to (Canaan, redemption and glory)

But there is one more "type" we should observe, we should be able to see the teaching of God the Holy Spirit who will lead us by His regenerating power to the throne room of God.

The Old Testament is so valuable to teach us these things that Jesus will reveal in the New Testament.

The Holy Trinity is involved in our lives the very moment we realize our Savior and take action to know Him!

There is no Savior beside our God!

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.

The truth is we doom ourselves both spiritually and physically when we turn away from the Lord!

God offers many things but His free gift is "eternal life"!

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

Those that reject this truth may be working but in truth they are themselves to death, in reality!

When we reject the Living God for handmade objects, or figures of some animal, or a figment of our own imagination, we are dooming ourselves to a Hell that was created for Satan and his angels.

Mat 25:41  Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

The total and honest truth is that most people love their sins to much to acknowledge the Lord.

To acknowledge the Lord means they would have to acknowledge that He has some commandments that need to be followed!

Remember an idol or a false god, is anything that we make more important than the True and Living God!

Rev 21:7  He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
Rev 21:8  But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

We have become a nation of pride and self-sufficiency and have forgotten that there is a God, so as God is kicked out of America, He gives us these words.

Rom 1:28  And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
Rom 1:29  Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
Rom 1:30  Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
Rom 1:31  Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
Rom 1:32  Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

Anyone who disagrees with these words are just blind or they are part of this problem, the Word of God is always true!

The absolute truth is "Judgment" is coming!

Israel found that out over and over again as they spent some time having no nation at all and God made some promises to Israel He has not made to any other nation!

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

God knows and understands His people when no one else will even take notice of them!

You can know of God but you cannot know God on a personal level until you accept the Word of God as fact and not fiction!

The truth is that the leaders of Israel had proven to be weak and ineffective. God had allowed them to rule but God removed them do to the evil that they were and that they had done.

The only dynasty that has remained in all of Israel is the dynasty of David with Jesus Christ fulfilling that dynasty because He can never die!

Even to this day Israel continues to rebel against the Lord.

They have refused to repent and return to the Lord and they are still our example.

The truth is "Judgment" is certain!

God said He would be unto Israel as a leopard.

Leopards lurk in thickets ready to pounce on their victims!

And as a Lion, He would lie in wait for them to pass by!

You want to see an angry bear, mess with her babies!

A momma bear is the most dangerous just after she has lost her cubs!

Pro 17:12  Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly.

God says if you will not turn our hearts to Him, then He would open the skin and rip the heart out of our chest and let the blood flow to the ground.

How does a lion devour his prey but by ripping it to shreds like a wild beast would tear them.

The coming "judgment of God" cannot be stopped!

As an individual you can make sure you are not caught up in that judgment!

On that day, everyone who "has not" accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior will face the terrifying judgment of God!

2Th 1:7  And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,
2Th 1:8  In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:

This just the truth of the Word of God and God does not ever change, and He means what He says!

Israel had only one acceptable answer just as all those who are lost today!

*****Hos 14:1  O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.

We will see that the true Israel is a "type" of the Church. God will never abandon His people!

No one who truly follows the Lord will ever be forsaken!

To be redeemed we must acknowledge that we are a fallen race!

This is an individual decision we must make about ourselves!

We are not sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners!

This, we can blame on Adam.

This is never an excuse but it is the truth!

We will all sin and the wages of sin is death, but understanding that we never have to perish because of that sin should bring us into reality.

Once anyone has heard the "Gospel" of Jesus Christ, they can no longer blame anyone but themselves if they refuse to repent. They can no longer blame our Creator for their own actions!

Each and every individual can return to the Lord but only by Jesus Christ!

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 was the final message of the Prophet Hosea to the people of Israel.

*****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.

According to this Prophet Hosea, we must come to the Lord in prayer. (take you words and turn to the Lord)

There is nothing else we can bring to the Lord but ourselves, because the Lord will furnish us with what is required. (receive us graciously)

We have a Savior and it is in Him that the "Grace" of God is made known!

The only thing we can offer to God is a sinner in need of salvation!

We must acknowledge our sin. (say unto Him take away our iniquity)

We then show our faith in the work of the Lord to do these things. (we will render the calves of our lips)

This is the praise and thanksgiving for our redemption which is a sign of "faith"!

We are acknowledging that the Lord Jesus provided the only acceptable sacrifice and we are to offer praise and thanksgiving to our Father in Heaven.

Salvation can come from only one source!

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.

There is only one means of salvation!

*****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.

We must realize that there is no earthly power that can bring salvation!

There is no foreign power strong enough to defeat the Lord!

Our own military is not strong enough to defeat the Lord!

There is no false god that holds any power over the Lord!

There is absolutely no sort of work that we can do to appease God!

We serve the only God who can just speak and things happen!

Rev 19:15  "And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations": and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

We as people must all confess that "Mercy" can only be found in the Lord!

Without the "Mercy" of God, there could be no "Grace" of God!

The most important thought of any human is to realize that they are a sinner and then in need of a Savior!

In fact before we pray to God for forgiveness we actually need to praise God for His Majesty!

Heb 11:6  But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God "must believe that he is" and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

We have more cause to praise God than we have to pray to Him!

It is sin that brings the "Judgment" of God. It is praise, faith, and repentance that halts the "Judgment" of God.

The only people who will escape the "Judgment" of God will be those who repent!

God will only offer His "Mercy" and His "Grace" if we turn away from sin and truly turn back to Him!

Where was the world in the days of Noah?

Gen 6:5  And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Gen 6:6  And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

If we but only open our eyes, we can see that these days of Noah have returned to this world we live in!

Luk 17:26  And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.

We are fools to disregard these things!

*****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.

We live in a world today that denies the "Judgment" of God.

But the Word of God says we must make a choice!

We must choose to repent and walk away from sin and walk in the ways of the Lord, or rebel and suffer the "Judgment of God".

There is no middle ground on these things!

God told Israel the exact same thing many times:

Deu 30:15  See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;
Deu 30:16  In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.

Jesus Christ has told the Church many times:

Luk 9:23  And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

Luk 14:33  So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.

In other words God does not change His ways because He simply does not have to!

(For the ways of the Lord are right)

Those that have been "Justified" throughout the Bible are those that walked in the ways of the Lord!

Rom 1:17  For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
Rom 1:18  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
Rom 1:19  Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.

There will be no one who can stand before the "Judgment Throne" of God and say, "I just did not know any better".

We know that there will be a final restoration of Israel because God promised Abraham!

At that time they will join the Church and live throughout eternity with the Lord!

Those that rebel against these things will know in the end the great love God had for them but they will also realize that God must keep His Word or He could not be God!

The truth is Hosea's marriage to Gomer was bittersweet but in the end Gomer was restored to her husband who bought her with a price.

We have seen that Jehovah's marriage to Israel has also been bittersweet.

They have stumbled in every way known to man and just before they move to the brink of extinction, they will call on the Lord and He will gloriously save them.

With broken hearts they will return to the Lord and their relationship will be instantly mended!

God will never forsake His church because He simply will not let us go!

Joh 10:27  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
Joh 10:28  And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
Joh 10:29  My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
Joh 10:30  I and my Father are one.

No one has stronger hands than my God!

Our job today is to tell all others about this great plan of God, not so much those that have already denied Him, though we should not forget these, but surely to those who have never heard of Him.

The one thing God promises to everyone is the opportunity to make that choice!

God, through Jesus Christ is the only cure this world has!

Questions?

Let's Pray!