Chastisement Because of Rebellion
Book of Hosea Chapters 4 through 9
Chastisement is correction, punishment, or pain inflicted for punishment and correction.
The truth is that God will only chastise those He loves.
God is much more about correction than He is about punishment!
Heb 12:5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
Heb 12:8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
If we are full of sin and have not been chastened for it, then we had better ensure our salvation.
Chastisement is not judgment! The Lord Jesus Christ took our judgment on the cross, and when we are saved, we have been justified and will not see judgment.
Job 34:5 For Job hath said, I am righteous: and God hath taken away my judgment.
Chastening is to teach us obedience to the Word of God.
Job 34:31 Surely it is meet to be said unto God, I have borne chastisement, I will not offend any more:
Job 34:32 That which I see not teach thou me: if I have done iniquity, I will do no more.
We have seen that God chastised Israel and Judah for rebellion, but it is still chastisement, not judgment, because He still loves them, even if it seems very harsh.
We know that Hosea had firsthand experience with the hurt that is caused by unfaithfulness.
*****Hos 4:1 Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.
This is God speaking by the Holy Spirit to make sure that Israel understands the sins they have committed against God.
No matter our sin or who else may be involved in our sin, that sin is against our Holy God.
If the Lord Himself is delivering these charges, then we know they are true.
Israel is charged with a lack of truth, a lack of mercy, and a lack of knowledge of God.
What is the truth?
1) Truth and Love cannot be separated. When you love someone, you tell them the truth.
2) Truth cannot be sustained without "mercy," and mercy without “truth” will make us negligent. Truth and mercy must be mingled together.
3) When there is no knowledge of God, people will be willfully ignorant of how to treat others and will therefore attempt to dominate them.
We live in this world today. A world without natural affection.
Rom_1:31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
2Ti_3:3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
It is in our politics, and it is in our everyday life. We have chosen hatred to rule our lives.
We must keep hatred out of the Church!
What were the specific charges against the Northern Kingdom?
*****Hos 4:2 By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.
When faithfulness, kindness, and the knowledge of God are lacking it creates room for all kinds of sin.
When there is no bond with God there will be no commitment to relationships with others.
One of the greatest examples is Adam and Eve.
Eve blamed the serpent, but Adam blamed God, who gave Eve to him as a helpmate.
Then their children did not see God clearly, and Cain killed Abel.
The Northern Tribes of Israel had trampled the Word of God under their feet, and they violated the Laws of God.
1) Swearing to confirm a lie is a violation of the third commandment.
Deu 5:11 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
We must be very careful that we do not misuse God's name.
2) Lying is a violation of the ninth commandment.
Deu 5:20 Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour.
They deceived, twisted the truth, exaggerated the facts, and misled others to build themselves up.
Sounds just like Washington, DC today. In fact, these things are happening in most nations' capitals, especially those that seem to be the most powerful nations.
3) Murder is a violation of the Sixth Commandment.
Deu 5:17 Thou shalt not kill.
These people filled the land with murder. Again, sounds just like America and many other nations.
Someone is being murdered every day.
It is said that the government of Iran has murdered over 42,000 people who are suffering from a terrible government.
People are not really safe anywhere these days. Ride by shootings, schools, gatherings of people, none are truly safe.
4) Stealing is a violation of the eighth commandment.
Deu 5:19 Neither shalt thou steal.
Selfishness and covetousness cause people to take what they want from anybody they want to. They cheated wherever they could get away with it. Businesses overcharged customers, overpriced products, and used cheaper materials to make so-called quality products.
5) Adultery is a violation of the seventh commandment.
Deu 5:18 Neither shalt thou commit adultery.
Sexual immorality had swept over the land. Few were faithful to their spouses. Even among priests.
They committed adultery in their marriages, but worse than that, they committed adultery against God, their Creator and Savior.
6) These people had broken all Godly restraints:
Neither the Word of God, nor the people's consciences, nor any sort of reasoning remained with these wicked people.
1Ti 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
7) They had allowed violence to run wild.
People in every walk of society were willing to do anything to fulfill their lust and their pride.
1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
You cannot make these things up because these same things are happening in our own nation today, along with many other sins against God.
There is only one answer to our problems.
1Co 6:9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
1Co 6:10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
1Co 6:11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
What did God say about all these, and God never changes?
*****Hos 4:6 My people are destroyed, for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
Hos 4:7 As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame.
The Church needs to wake up, and the false church needs to wake up. We know God does not ever change, and this passage is clear language of who God holds to blame.
God does not have to destroy this world; our world is so full of sin and foolishness that it will destroy itself if God does not stop it.
The people were guilty of polluting the land that God had given to them to live on.
Isa 24:3 The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word.
Isa 24:4 The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish.
Isa 24:5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.
Isa 24:6 Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.
King Jeroboam's first action was to corrupt the law of God from the very beginning.
What Jeroboam started was a religion that mixed a little of the truth of God with the false religion of the world.
Again, the same thing is happening today in the Church.
He found his own priests from people who were disqualified to be priests by the Word of God, non-Levites.
Jeroboam had set up a state religion, but the Word of God was not taught, and the people had allowed it to happen because most of them knew the truth of God.
We already know that Hosea was the only prophet who resided in the Northern Kingdom through whom God spoke.
The other true prophets who prophesied in the Northern Kingdom resided in the Southern Kingdom.
This tells us there were no other men in the Northern Kingdom whom God trusted to give them the truth.
Most all the Levites had escaped to Judah.
These people still had no excuse because they knew the truth of God.
They did not wander astray because they did not know the way of God, but because they had no desire to go God's ways, and the religion of Jeroboam gave them an excuse.
Job 21:14 Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
Job 21:15 What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?
Today, most people do not want to hear what God has to say because it will bring them under conviction.
The truth is that not knowing God and His Word will not save them from the judgment of God because they are already judged.
Joh 12:48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.
The priests chosen by Jeroboam were leading the people further away from God and not closer to Him.
This is the same problem of false preachers today. They lead the people further away from God and not closer to Him.
The result is that the people of God will lack the true knowledge of God, and it is showing up in the modern Church today.
We can know all the facts of the Bible, but we still must have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, and He must be Lord of our lives.
God cannot break any promises He has made; "judgment" had to come to the Northern Tribes of Israel.
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Eze 18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
What we find is that if we look at the history of mankind, it appears time and time again that acquired greatness has been abused by mankind to self-exaltation, while God is forgotten.
Judgment would begin as God would no longer provide their needs.
*****Hos 4:10 For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase: because they have left off to take heed to the LORD.
Hos 4:11 Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.
Why do some people believe that sin brings benefits?
Oh, they may win a small amount from the lottery, but that big pot is just an enticement to most people.
I do not know of many people out in the world who are satisfied, especially as they approach their elder years. I know I wasn’t.
Most of them are so greedy that they will never be satisfied, and the rest know they are missing out on something, but they do not know what it is.
Their insatiable thirst for sin will remain with them because the Devil will not let them go and may even cause them an early death.
What do we know about the heart? Pro 4:23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
These priests had lost their understanding of the Word of God.
When every action we take is to benefit ourselves, we are living in harlotry.
When we do not think about worshiping the Lord, we are living in harlotry.
When we quit praying, we are living in harlotry.
We have lost our understanding of the Word of God.
Wine! I do not believe that the Lord Jesus authorized the use of alcoholic wine.
Pro 23:20 Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:
Pro 23:29 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
Pro 23:30 They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
Pro 23:31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
Pro 23:32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
God will never contradict Himself!
The word "wine" is used many times in the Word of God.
The most common Hebrew word is "yayen". Yayen could be fermented wine, but it could also mean to tread out, which is grape juice.
Another Hebrew word used is “Ashishah”, and it is not wine but basically means raisins.
Another Hebrew word used is "Asis" which is grape juice no older than one year.
Another Hebrew word used is "Hometz" which is vinegar.
Another word used is "Hemer" and it means the blood of the grape and or grape juice just beginning the process of fermentation.
Another word used is "enabh" which is cakes of raisins.
Another word used is "Mesekh," which is mixed with yayen, water, and spices. Mixed wine.
Another word used is "Tirosh" which is wine that is intoxicating and is said to take possession of the brain.
There is still "Sobhe" which means drunkard.
"Shekar" which is intoxication liquor.
"Yekebh" which fresh pressed juice.
"Shemarim" which is old juice.
"Mesek" mixed juice and spice, but not diluted with water, boiled down to a syrup.
The wine the Lord Jesus made is described as "oinos". Fresh-squeezed juice mixed with water.
This same Greek word is used to describe the wrath of God.
Rev 14:8 And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. Rev 14:8 And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
All other grape juices were mixed with water.
Our Lord miraculously supplied wine at the marriage feast in Cana of Galilee (Jhn_2:1-11).
The Rechabites were forbidden the use of wine (Jer. 35).
Nazarites also were to abstain from its use during the period of their vow (Num_6:1-4); and those who were dedicated as Nazarites from their birth were perpetually to abstain from it (Jdg_13:4, Jdg_13:5; Luk_1:15; Luk_7:33).
The priests, too, were forbidden the use of wine and strong drink when engaged in their sacred functions (Lev_10:1, Lev_10:9-11).
“Wine is little used now in the East, from the fact that Mohammedans are not allowed to taste it, and very few of other creeds touch it.
When it is drunk, water is generally mixed with it, and this was the custom in the days of Christ also.
The people indeed are everywhere very sober in hot climates; a drunken person, in fact, is never seen”.
We should be very careful to look closely at the word “wine” used in English-speaking Bibles.
The Lord Jesus Christ did not drink alcoholic wine and it should not be used in the Church.
Some people are told to drink a little wine for medical purposes when grape juice will do the same thing that the wine will do in medicine.
*****Hos 4:12 My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God.
Even though these are the people of the Northern Kingdom the LORD still required the people themselves to be accountable for their own sins.
We can be sure that there will be a great accounting to God by those who were the leaders of God's people it still does not diminish the fact that these people will endure God's chastisement for their sins.
We know that God does not change, so this should be a great lesson for the Church today.
The Church cannot allow what God calls abominations to continue in the Church!
The people of the Northern Kingdom ceased seeking the only One who could give them proper counsel, Jehovah.
*****Hos 4:16 For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer: now the LORD will feed them as a lamb in a large place.
An acceptance of physical and spiritual adultery had gripped that society.
The priests and the people played the harlot, enticing people away from God.
These people began to worship sex as well as idols and false gods. This is what fertility worship leads to!
I have already said it, but I will say it again: we see these same things here in the USA and throughout the world, and people wonder why our world is so messed up.
They had rejected the covenants that bound them to a Holy God!
Jer 3:3 Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and thou hadst a whore's forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed.
What was happening in Israel was affecting what was happening in Judah.
Jer 3:9 And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.
Jer 3:10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD.
Isa 1:21 How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.
We have to wonder sometimes why our Heavenly Father even puts up with any of us as long as He has.
*****Hos 8:5 Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off; mine anger is kindled against them: how long will it be ere they attain to innocency?
Hos 8:6 For from Israel was it also: the workman made it; therefore it is not God: but the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces.
Hos 8:7 For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.
What does God think of the idols we worship? They will be broken in pieces.
What did God say about choosing our leaders or presidents? We are to choose them according to whether they are following the Word of God.
We are to choose those who remain close to Israel.
We are to choose them if they are into truth and not lies.
We are to choose those who are close to God in their lives.
We are to choose only after we have spent some time in prayer.
We are never to choose them for political reasons.
We are never to choose those who deny Jesus Christ or the Bible.
God was going to allow the Assyrian army to judge Israel.
What country or what nation is God going to allow to judge our nation? He could still do this.
God hates idol worship!
We are to be a righteous nation and not the Great Satan.
God has a desire for us to return to being a godly nation.
The only thing saving our nation today is the patience of God.
2Pe_3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
We had better get our hearts right with God very soon!
The Northern Tribes, called Israel, had:
1) They had broken their covenant with God and rebelled against the Word of God.
2) The people had made a false confession. They pretended to still be God's people.
3) The people rejected what was good. Truly seeking and believing in the Lord. Doing deeds of righteousness in the spirit of justice, mercy, and humility.
4) They had chosen corrupt leaders without consulting God's guidance or His consent. They had chosen according to charisma and political reasons. They had chosen with their dreams of having greater power and wealth.
5) They used their own imagination to create idols for themselves and provided silver and gold to build false worship centers.
We see these same things today in our own nation and most every other nation, including Israel.
No idol can do what our powerful God can do!
No idol can cleanse you of your sin.
No idol can bleed and die for you.
The reference to Samaria has no connection to the places where those two calf idols were located; it was just the capital city used by the Northern Tribes.
A handmade god is not a god nor can it ever be. It is foolish, and full of nonsense, but also a terrible sin.
Listen how Isaiah describes such things: Isa 44:13 The carpenter stretcheth out his rule; he marketh it out with a line; he fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compass, and maketh it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house.
Isa 44:14 He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest: he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it.
Isa 44:15 Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto.
Isa 44:16 He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast, and is satisfied: yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire:
Isa 44:17 And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god.
Everything we do has consequences. Good deeds have good consequences; bad deeds have bad consequences.
Even nature proves this to be true.
When Israel sowed wind, which is “nothingness," they reaped the "whirlwind," which is God's judgment!
Gal 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Gal 6:8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
Israel was supposed to be the nation that blessed all the other nations, but they had failed miserably, and they became a vessel that the Gentile nations had no pleasure in and still are today.
*****Hos 9:17 My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto him: and they shall be wanderers among the nations.
What happened to the Northern Tribes of Israel?
This same thing was happening in Judah!
Hos 8:14 For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples; and Judah hath multiplied fenced cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof.
The bitter harvest was coming to the nation of Israel, and no matter what those who are lost think, the Lord God was justified in this severe judgment!
He had called for repentance many times, but His calls were ignored.
Israel had been warned. Deu 6:12 Then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
The prophets of God were ignored or silenced.
Today, the Church is traveling the same road as Israel traveled, and Christians have forgotten who made them and saved them from the consequences of sin.
Much of the Word of God has been rewritten and left out God's judgment and God's laws.
Why would the Church think that God will respond any differently today when He says He never changes?
Mal 3:6 For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
Jas 1:16 Do not err, my beloved brethren.
Jas 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
We are to meditate on the Word of God and this is a good place to start!
Amen
