The Book of Hosea
The Book of Hosea
By Richard St.James
Bible 1611.Com / Old Paths Baptist Mission © 2023
Hosea, chapter seven:
Verse one:
“When I would have healed Israel,
then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the
wickedness of Samaria: for they commit falsehood;
and the thief cometh in, and the troop of
robbers spoileth without.”
They
could have been healed. But they
were not healed. Why, because God saw
what was below the veneer.
Many times, something is
not as what it appears. What
seemingly appears in the first glimpse may
not reveal the true thing. Man is
very good at hiding what is truly in his heart.
However, a true heart
will cry out this:
“Search me, O God, and
know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:”
[Psalm 139:23]
The word of God
even takes this thing a step further in this
matter of the heart. Go to
now the book of Jeremiah, the prophet, to
chapter seventeen, verse nine, and see this
eye-opener:
“The heart is
deceitful above all things, and desperately
wicked: who can know it?” [Jeremiah
17:9]
Who can know it?
Well, God does. God
even knows the intentions of your heart.
That is how powerful and all-knowing
God is!
Not only does God know
what is in a man’s heart but HE remembers all of
what was in a man’s heart.
Verse two:
“And they consider not in their
hearts that I remember all their wickedness:
now their own doings have beset them about; they are
before my face.”
Paying the Piper
Israel must now face
the consequences of their wickedness.
They are now caught in the trap of their
own making.
Now, sin
against God sets you up for the big pay
day that is coming:
“For the wages of sin
is death” [Romans 6:23a].
Well,
we all will pay the piper unless
someone in our behalf [THE MEDIATOR]
steps into the fray. THE MEDIATOR
is none other but Jesus Christ: “but
the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus
Christ our Lord.” [Romans 6:23b]
Verse three:
“They make the king glad with their
wickedness, and the princes with their lies.”
The king and the
princes with all the people are in
agreement against God.
When birds of a
feather flock together they party it up!
Watch out:
“Be not deceived: evil
communications corrupt good manners.”
[1 Corinthians 15:33]
Observation: They all
get along so well that they take their other
fellows down to HELL with them.
Now, fasten on
to this TRUTH:
Galatians 5:9: “A
little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.”
Verse four:
“They are all adulterers, as
an oven heated by the baker, who ceaseth from
raising after he hath kneaded the dough, until it be
leavened.”
The ultimate treachery
is adultery.
There is illustrated
for us living today in the 21st century
in God’s Holy Bible a heinous adulterous
act before our very eyes of faith.
The scene of the crime is
located for us in a perfect BOOK given by the
inspiration of God through the prophet Jeremiah.
We will now turn to the scene of the crime in
Jeremiah chapter thirty-six, and witness this
treacherous desertion, and thus, the
divorce from God performed by the princes
and the king of Judah.
A spiritual adultery
unfolded or revealed.
Go down through the
chapter and we will focus first on verse
fourteen:
Verse fourteen:
“Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi the son of
Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi,
unto Baruch, saying, Take in thine hand the roll
wherein thou hast read in the ears of the people,
and come. So Baruch the son of Neriah took the roll
in his hand, and came unto them.”
We see the princes
with the words of God in hand. Next, we
will read verse twenty-one:
Verse twenty-one: “So
the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll: and he took
it out of Elishama the scribe's chamber. And Jehudi
read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of
all the princes which stood beside the king.”
Now, we see the Jehudi
reading to the king from in the BOOK of the
covenant [which BOOK reveals the marriage]
of God to Israel.
Now for verse
twenty-three:
Verse twenty-three:
“And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had
read three or four leaves, he cut it with the
penknife, and cast it into the fire that
was on the hearth, until all the roll was
consumed in the fire that was on the hearth.”
They cut the pages up
and threw the word of God into the fire.
The ultimate treachery is adultery.
The king and princes
affected the divorce of God from Judah.
Here in the book of Hosea we see it is Israel who
has divorced themselves from the LORD.
Pause here for a moment.
Consider this basic truth from the book of
beginnings. God created a man.
See this
in the first book of Moses called Genesis, chapter
two, verse twenty-four. Here is the first
mention of the word “wife”:
“Therefore shall a man
leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave
unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”
Note the words: “a
man.” In this verse God establishes a
BASIC TRUTH.
A “man” needs a “wife.”
Any sane person can see here that the two
are become one. But we have lost our
ability to reason. We have lost our
common sense, because we have divorced God
from us. It is because WE as a nation have
DIVORCED the GOD of the BIBLE. For several
generations we have been reaping for what we have
sowed.
God intended for
Israel as HIS wife to be faithful to HIM.
Verse five:
“In the day of our king the princes
have made him sick with bottles of wine; he
stretched out his hand with scorners.”
The pervasive
forces of debauchery, seduction, and
enticement act to corrupt a king
and to take him away from righteousness.
These forces are the wrong friends
being allowed in his inner circle.
Solution:
“Take away the wicked
from before the king, and his throne shall be
established in righteousness.”
[Proverbs 25:5]
The best safeguard is
principle, the love and purity of holiness,
the fear of God and a reverence for His
commandments.
Verse six: “For they have made ready their heart like an oven, whiles they lie in wait: their baker sleepeth all the night; in the morning it burneth as a flaming fire.”
Verse seven:
“They are all hot as an oven, and
have devoured their judges; all their kings are
fallen: there is none among them that calleth
unto me.”
Hearts as an adamant
stone
The answer to all
of man’s problems is right before our faces.
We will not have it!
The LORD God [by the
prophet Zechariah] attested to their
[Israel’s] condition with these words:
Zechariah 7:12: “Yea,
they made their hearts as an adamant stone,
lest they should hear the law, and the words which
the LORD of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the
former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from
the LORD of hosts.”
The Oven
Wrath
is what they have seen for nearly two thousand
years! But there is more wrath to come.
The Son of God prophesied of the wrath upon
this people in the Gospel according to Luke, chapter
twenty-one, twenty-three and four:
Verse twenty-three and
twenty-four: “But woe unto them that are with
child, and to them that give suck, in those days!
for there shall be great distress in the land, and
wrath upon this people.
And they shall fall by
the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive
into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden
down of the Gentiles, until the times of the
Gentiles be fulfilled.” [Luke
21-23-24]
Verse eight:
“Ephraim, he hath mixed himself
among the people; Ephraim is a cake not turned.”
Israel was to be
separated from all the other nations of the
earth. We see into the LORD God’s mind
concerning this in the First book of Kings, chapter
eight, verse fifty-three:
“For thou didst
separate them from among all the people of the
earth, to be thine inheritance, as thou
spakest by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou
broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord GOD.”
[1 Kings 8:53]
Mixing
Mixing,
or the fitting in, with the other
nations of the earth was to prove to be their [that
is, Israel’s] undoing, as it is also, for us
[the Christians] today, to mix in with the
world. It always brings apostasy!
Mixing into the world
is loving the world. We are
commanded to love not the world!
For the BOOK says it this way in the First Epistle
of John:
1 John 2:15-17:
“Love not the world,
neither the things that are in the world. If
any man love the world, the love of the Father is
not in him.
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.
And the world passeth
away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the
will of God abideth for ever.”
Lastly,
we ought not be conformed to this world:
Romans 12:2: “And be
not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed
by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what
is that good, and acceptable, and perfect,
will of God.”
To repeat: There are
these three things that we can conclude from
God’s word:
·
Israel as a nation was not
to mix in with the other nations.
·
The believer in Jesus
Christ in the body of Christ, which is the
church, is to not love this world.
·
The believer in Jesus
Christ in the body of Christ, which is the
church, is to not to be conformed to
this world.
Let it sink in:
- Not to
mix in with this world!
- Not to
love this world.
- Not to
be conformed to this world.
“Peculiar” Proof Text:
·
Israel-Exodus
19:5: “Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice
indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a
peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all
the earth is mine:”
·
Israel-Deuteronomy
14:2: “For thou art an holy people unto
the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to
be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the
nations that are upon the earth.”
·
Israel-Deuteronomy
26:18: “And the LORD hath avouched thee this day
to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee,
and that thou shouldest keep all his
commandments;”
·
Israel -
Psalm 135:4: “For the LORD hath chosen Jacob unto
himself, and Israel for his peculiar
treasure.”
·
The Christian -
Titus 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.”
·
The Christian -
1 Peter 2:9: “But ye are a
chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy
nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth
the praises of him who hath called you out of
darkness into his marvellous light:”
Review: God intends
for the nation of Israel, and for the body of
Christ, the church, to be peculiar [not
mixed in, or conformed to this world].
Verse nine:
“Strangers have devoured his
strength, and he knoweth it not: yea, gray
hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth
not.”
He wist not
the LORD was departed.
This ought to
remind us of what happened to Samson in the
book of the Judges, chapter sixteen:
“And she said, The
Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he
awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as
at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist
not that the LORD was departed from him.”
[Judges 16:20]
Samson’s strength was
gone and he did not even know it.
The whole thing just snuck up on him.
Sad!
Harlotry
devours your strength without you ever even
knowing that it happened until it is too late.
Verse ten:
“And the pride of Israel testifieth
to his face: and they do not return to the LORD
their God, nor seek him for all this.”
We have already
extensively commented on the problem of pride
in this commentary [in chapter two, verse nine, in
chapter four, verse seven, and in chapter five,
verses four and five].
Pride
keeps a person [or in the matter of Israel] from
returning to God, or even coming to God.
I will repeat here again
what I have said earlier: “When we sin, and sin,
and sin, and in our pride, think we can presume to
come back to where we were, we will find instead,
ourselves stuck in place, and in subjection to
nothing but abject spiritual darkness.”
Verse eleven:
“Ephraim also is like a silly dove
without heart: they call to Egypt, they go to
Assyria.”
Somebody that is
without heart is somebody with a hardened
heart. Somebody without heart is said to
be heartless. Hardening your heart is
primarily a process, which occurs over time.
People without heart is becoming the norm
in the 21st century world over.
Listen, my friend, this
is what you need to do:
“While it is said, To
day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your
heart, as in the provocation.”
[Hebrews 3:15]
Warning:
This all harkens back to the day of temptation
which occurred in the wilderness. [For
this sad narrative see the Fourth Book of Moses,
called Numbers, in chapter fourteen.]
Verse twelve:
“When they shall go, I will spread
my net upon them; I will bring them down as the
fowls of the heaven; I will chastise them, as their
congregation hath heard.”
Earlier in Hosea [in
chapter five, verse five] we saw in the book of
Leviticus [in chapter twenty-six] what God
promised to do to them as a nation if they
deserted HIM. HE would rain down
upon their heads a myriad of judgments
for their mischiefs:
It is this way: “His
mischief shall return upon his own head, and his
violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate.”
[Psalm 7:16]
Psalm 66:11: “Thou
broughtest us into the net; thou laidst affliction
upon our loins.”
The blessings God has
for us are so close to us. If
only we would return to God. And if
not, then it is judgment.
What will we have?
Remember, what
happened to Israel is for our admonition:
Please refer to the First
Epistle to the Corinthians, chapter ten, in verse
eleven:
“Now all these things
happened unto them for ensamples: and they are
written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of
the world are come.” [1 Corinthians
10:11]
Verse thirteen:
“Woe unto them! for they have fled
from me: destruction unto them! because they have
transgressed against me: though I have redeemed
them, yet they have spoken lies against me.”
We deserve to get our
just deserts!
We receive that which we deserve, judgments!
Israel would have no
ease, no rest, and no peace.
She would live the next two thousand years with a
trembling in the heart, with the failing of
the eyes and with a sorrow of the mind.
We learn in history
that men never learn from history.
Verse fourteen:
“And they have not cried unto me
with their heart, when they howled upon their beds:
they assemble themselves for corn and wine, and
they rebel against me.”
I hear people all the
time in the midst of their trouble crying out:
Give me anything to relieve me, except not God!
I do not want God.
I do not want the Son of God-Jesus Christ.
They cry but they cry
not to God.
So, they were without
heart. So, they had hard-hearts!
So, they were heartless. So, onward,
they go down the road as rebels to their
destruction.
People without heart
are the people who are past feeling.
Let me expand on this.
People are past feeling for God, and
are also, past feeling for one another.
Enter the androids!
Let me bring it closer
to home. We, who are alive in
the 21st century, are also, past
feeling. We have become cold-hearted
androids!
Listen: An android
has no feelings for anyone, not even for
themselves.
This all points to a
super android who will shortly appear on this
earth [during the Great Tribulation]. This
android will be an image, given life
by the power of the Devil. This future
scene can be seen in the book of the Revelation of
Jesus Christ, in chapter thirteen, verse fifteen.
Are you ready for this?
“And he had power to
give life unto the image of the beast, that the
image of the beast should both speak, and cause that
as many as would not worship the image of the beast
should be killed.” [Revelation
13:15]
They, who are
androids, are “past feeling.” You
might say that they have become numb to all
around them. They have no feelings for
others.
How did we get here?
We got here because we
rebelled from God as Israel did.
Verse fifteen:
“Though I have bound and
strengthened their arms, yet do they imagine
mischief against me.”
There is an old idiom
out there that says: “Don’t bite the hand that
feeds you.”
This is what the LORD is
saying to Israel: I heal you up from all
your cuts and bruises. I help you to
stand back up after you have been knocked down.
I strengthen you. I am so good to you.
So why do you return evil to me, for all my
goodness toward you?
Are we not prone to this
very same malady? Our evil
imaginations come from the sin within us!
The condemnation:
“As it is written,
There is none righteous, no, not one:
There is none that
understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
They are all gone out
of the way, they are together become unprofitable;
there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Their throat is
an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used
deceit; the poison of asps is under their
lips:
Whose mouth is
full of cursing and bitterness:
Their feet are
swift to shed blood:
Destruction and misery
are in their ways:
And the way of peace
have they not known:
There is no fear of
God before their eyes.” [Romans
3:10-18]
Verse sixteen:
“They return, but not to the
most High: they are like a deceitful bow: their
princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of
their tongue: this shall be their derision in
the land of Egypt.”
In a manner,
they return, but not to God.
Man wants to return in his own way by his own
rules. That is the big problem.
They comprised a stubborn and a rebellious
generation [Israel]:
Psalm 78:7-8: “That
they might set their hope in God, and not forget the
works of God, but keep his commandments:
And might not be as
their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation;
a generation that set not their heart aright,
and whose spirit was not stedfast with God.”
They needed to return
to God in the manner as is prescribed by
Spirit of God in Psalm fifty-one:
“Have
mercy upon me, O God, according to thy
lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy
tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
Wash me throughly from
mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
For I acknowledge my
transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
Against thee, thee
only, have I sinned, and done this evil in
thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou
speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
Behold, I was shapen
in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Behold, thou desirest
truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part
thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
Purge me with hyssop,
and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter
than snow.
Make me to hear joy
and gladness; that the bones which
thou hast broken may rejoice.
Hide thy face from my
sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
Create in me a clean
heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from
thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
Restore unto me the
joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy
free spirit.
Then
will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners
shall be converted unto thee.
Deliver me from
bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation:
and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy
righteousness.
O Lord, open thou my
lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
For thou desirest not
sacrifice; else would I give it: thou
delightest not in burnt offering.
The sacrifices of God
are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite
heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
Do good in thy good
pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of
Jerusalem.
Then shalt thou be
pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with
burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall
they offer bullocks upon thine altar.”
Next, chapter eight of
Hosea, the prophet of God.
Friend
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know the Bible Is True,
And you
never received
Jesus
Christ as your personal Lord and Savior...
And you
want to come to Him for Salvation now ... Then:
1. Admit
... To God that you are a Sinner...
Deserving Hell Fire...
2. Believe ... that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God...
Who died on the Cross for
You! ...
3. Repent! ... Ask
Him to Forgive You of Your Sin...
4. Receive Him... By
Asking Him to come into Your Heart...
And You
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Born of God! You
Are in The Narrow Way ... To HEAVEN!