Thursday
Evening Bible Study
March 16, 2006
Introduction
Hosea had an unusual home life. God has asked him to marry a prostitute
named Gomer. He had children with Gomer. Gomer went back to work. And God asked
Hosea to get his wife back. Hosea’s life was to be a picture of God’s
relationship with His people. They were like a prostitute because they always
fell away from God and worshipped idols. When we fall away from the Lord, it’s
the same kind of pain to God that we would experience if our spouse was
unfaithful to us.
Hosea’s main ministry was to get the people ready for the coming judgment
on the northern kingdom. God was warning the people to turn back to Him or they
would eventually face the collapse of their nation followed by being taken
captive by the terribly cruel Assyrian empire.
11:12 – 12:14 God’s
Charge against Ephraim
11:12 "Ephraim has encircled Me with lies, And
the house of Israel with deceit; But Judah still walks with God, Even with the Holy One
who is faithful.
Lies and deceit are going to be a
theme of the charges brought by God against the nation.
Hosea 12
:1 "Ephraim feeds on the wind, And pursues the east wind; He daily
increases lies and desolation. Also they make a covenant with the Assyrians, And
oil is carried to Egypt.
feeds on the wind – is eating nothing but air.
east wind – probably a reference to the Assyrians.
oil is carried – while making treaties with the Assyrians, they are
still carrying on a trade relationship with Assyrian’s enemies, the Egyptians.
You can’t have it both ways. They’re trying to please everyone, but in the
end they will end up being crushed.
Lesson
Check your diet.
What are you eating? What is your diet made up of?
Illustration
Some diets are better than others … I like
this one …
Illustration
STRESS
DIET
BREAKFAST
1/2 Grapefruit
1 slice Whole Wheat Toast
8 oz. Skim Milk
LUNCH
4 oz. lean Broiled Chicken
Breast
1 cup Steamed Zucchini
1 Oreo Cookie
Herb Tea
MID-AFTERNOON SNACK
Rest of the package of
Oreo Cookies
1 quart Rocky Road Ice
Cream
1 jar Hot Fudge
DINNER
1 large Mushroom and
Pepperoni Pizza
2 loaves Garlic Bread
1 liter of Root Beer
3 Milky Ways
BED TIME
Entire Cheesecake eaten
directly from the freezer
In Jesus’ day, the Jewish leadership was all caught up in wanting people to
like them. They were more concerned about what people thought of them rather
than what God thought about them. That’s what they were feeding themselves on.
(John 12:42-43 NKJV) Nevertheless even among the rulers many
believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest
they should be put out of the synagogue; {43} for they loved the praise of men
more than the praise of God.
This made them jealous of Jesus.
(Mark 15:9-10 NKJV) But Pilate answered them,
saying, "Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?" {10}
For he knew that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy.
Jesus had the crowds following Him. They wanted crowds
following them.
Jesus rebuked these Jewish leaders:
(John 5:44 NKJV) "How can
you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that
comes from the only God?
They were “feeding” on honor from people rather than
feeding on honor from God.
As a result, they had a hard time understanding that the
Messiah was standing right in front of them. In their quest for personal significance,
they missed out on Jesus. They missed out on the biggest thing that could ever
happen to them.
Your diet can affect your eyesight. What you feed on can affect whether or not
you’ll see what God is doing, whether or not you’ll see Jesus.
:2 "The LORD also brings a charge against Judah,
And will punish Jacob according to his ways; According to his deeds He will
recompense him.
God is going to talk about the nation and it’s parallel to its father,
Jacob, also known as Israel.
:3 He took his brother by the heel in the womb, And in his strength he
struggled with God.
(Gen 25:26 NKJV) Afterward his brother came out, and his hand took
hold of Esau's heel; so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old
when she bore them.
The name “Jacob” means “heel-catcher”. It means that he was a deceiver, a
person who works at tripping other people up.
(Gen 32:24-28 NKJV) Then
Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. {25}
Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of
his hip; and the socket of Jacob's hip was out of joint as He wrestled with
him. {26} And He said, "Let Me go, for the day breaks." But he said,
"I will not let You go unless You bless me!" {27} So He said to him,
"What is your name?" He said, "Jacob." {28} And He said,
"Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have
struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed."
Jacob was a tricky, deceiving guy. Yet he was able to be changed. He was
changed when he wrestled with God.
“Israel”
means “governed by God”. Jacob went from being a tricky deceiver to being a man
governed by God.
:4 Yes, he struggled with the Angel and prevailed; He wept, and sought
favor from Him.
Hosea gives us insight into Jacob’s struggle. He wept as he asked for a
blessing.
Jacob’s wrestling wasn’t just for the sake of sport.
It seems that there was a sense of repentance in Jacob’s struggle with the
Angel (who I believe was Jesus in His pre-Bethlehem form, not an “angel” as in
a created being, but an “angel” as being a messenger of God).
He asked for a blessing because he sensed his great need.
:4 He found Him in Bethel, And
there He spoke to us;
:5 That is, the LORD God of hosts. The LORD is His memorable name.
Bethel – even though
this was one of the places where the golden calves of the northern kingdom were
worshipped, it was also the first place where Jacob had an encounter with God. It was also a place of repentance.
(Gen 28:10-22 NKJV) Now
Jacob went out from Beersheba
and went toward Haran.
{11} So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun
had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head,
and he lay down in that place to sleep. {12} Then he dreamed, and behold, a
ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the
angels of God were ascending and descending on it. {13} And behold, the LORD
stood above it and said: "I am the LORD God of Abraham your father and the
God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your
descendants. {14} "Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the
earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the
south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be
blessed. {15} "Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go,
and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have
done what I have spoken to you." {16} Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and
said, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it." {17}
And he was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other
than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!" {18} Then Jacob rose
early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up
as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. {19} And he called the name of that
place Bethel;
but the name of that city had been Luz previously. {20} Then Jacob made a vow,
saying, "If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going,
and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, {21} "so that I come back
to my father's house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God. {22} "And
this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God's house, and of all that
You give me I will surely give a tenth to You."
Do you see the word LORD (in all capital letters)? What is the reason for
using the capital letters? It’s because the Hebrew word that is translated is
actually the name of God, Yahweh. The Jews feel that God’s name is too holy for
them to speak and so when the see the letters that spell God’s name, they don’t
say the name, but they say the word “lord”. Our English translators follow this
same tradition. Instead of writing out the Hebrew name Yahweh, they use the
English word “lord”, but they put it in all capital letters so that the read
can understand that this is God’s name in the Hebrew.
Throughout the story of Jacob meeting God at Bethel,
the name Yahweh is used.
But this wasn’t the last time God would appear to Jacob at Bethel.
Later, after having returned to the land, Jacob and his family got into
trouble. His daughter Dinah was raped, and his sons went overboard in avenging
their sister by wiping out an entire city.
(Gen 35:1-4 NKJV) Then
God said to Jacob, "Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there; and
make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of
Esau your brother." {2} And Jacob said to his household and to all who
were with him, "Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify
yourselves, and change your garments. {3} "Then let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make an
altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with
me in the way which I have gone." {4} So they gave Jacob all the foreign
gods which were in their hands, and the earrings which were in their ears; and
Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree which was by Shechem.
(Gen 35:9-15 NKJV) Then
God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Padan Aram,
and blessed him. {10} And God said to him, "Your name is Jacob; your name
shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel
shall be your name." So He called his name Israel.
{11} Also God said to him: "I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a
nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come
from your body. {12} "The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to
you; and to your descendants after you I give this land." {13} Then God
went up from him in the place where He talked with him. {14} So Jacob set up a
pillar in the place where He talked with him, a pillar of stone; and he poured
a drink offering on it, and he poured oil on it. {15} And Jacob called the name
of the place where God spoke with him, Bethel.
Did you notice how the family was told to put away the “foreign gods”? The
family was in the same place that the nation was in with Hosea’s time. The
people needed to put away their foreign gods and return to the Lord.
:6 So you, by the help of your God, return; Observe mercy and justice, And
wait on your God continually.
Jacob returned to the land with the help of his God (Gen. 28:21). And even
after returning to the land, they had to get their hearts right and get rid of
their other gods.
The nation in Hosea’s day can also return, but not to the land, they need
to return to God.
:7 "A cunning Canaanite! Deceitful scales are in his hand; He loves to
oppress.
Canaanite – other translations have “merchant” here. But the Hebrew
word is “Canaanite”. The Jews entered into the land
of Canaan and ended up being like
the Canaanites. They became deceitful merchants.
Isn’t it interesting that this is how some people see Jews today?
:8 And Ephraim said, 'Surely I have become rich, I have found wealth for
myself; In all my labors They shall find in me no iniquity that is sin.'
(Hosea 12:8 ICB) The people of Israel
brag that they are rich. They think that because they are rich no one will
learn about their sins.
This reminds me of what Jesus said of the church at Laodicea:
(Rev 3:17
NKJV) "Because you say, 'I am rich,
have become wealthy, and have need of nothing'; and do not know that you
are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked;
They were trusting in the wrong thing.
:9 "But I am the LORD your God, Ever since the land
of Egypt; I will again make you
dwell in tents, As in the days of the appointed feast.
The Feast of Tabernacles (Succoth) is celebrated every year to remember how
the Israelites lived in tents while wandering in the wilderness. When the
judgment would come, the people would once more be living in tents.
:10 I have also spoken by the prophets, And have multiplied visions; I have
given symbols through the witness of the prophets."
God spoke to the people through the prophets.
:11 Though Gilead has idols; Surely they are vanity;
Though they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal, Indeed their altars shall be heaps in
the furrows of the field.
Sacrificing won’t make things better.
:12 Jacob fled to the country of Syria;
Israel served
for a spouse, And for a wife he tended sheep.
Jacob fled to Syria
when he got his brother Esau mad by stealing the blessing. He had deceived his blind
father by pretending to be Esau. Isaac ended up giving the blessing of the
firstborn to him.
Jacob served his uncle Laban for seven years to get a bride. But on his
wedding night Laban had switched brides and Jacob ended up married to Leah
instead of Rachel. So Jacob ended up serving for another seven years to marry
Rachel. He served by tending the sheep.
:13 By a prophet the LORD brought Israel
out of Egypt,
And by a prophet he was preserved.
When the people had been slaved in Egypt
for 400 years, God heard their prayers and sent Moses to deliver them.
:14 Ephraim provoked Him to anger most bitterly; Therefore his Lord will
leave the guilt of his bloodshed upon him, And return his reproach upon him.
Even though God had done all these things to bless His people, taking them
from the humble beginnings of a man working to get a wife, yet they have turned
their back on God and provoked him to anger.
Hosea 13
:1-16 Relentless Judgment on Israel
:1 When Ephraim spoke, trembling, He exalted himself in Israel;
But when he offended through Baal worship, he died.
The wages of sin is death. Sin brings separation from God.
:2 Now they sin more and more, And have made for themselves molded images,
Idols of their silver, according to their skill; All of it is the work of
craftsmen. They say of them, "Let the men who sacrifice kiss the
calves!"
literally, “the sacrificers of men kiss the calves”
(NIV) It is said of these people, “They offer human sacrifice and
kiss the calf-idols.”
:3 Therefore they shall be like the morning cloud And like the early dew
that passes away, Like chaff blown off from a threshing floor And like smoke
from a chimney.
They are going to be gone soon.
:4 "Yet I am the LORD your God Ever since the land
of Egypt, And you shall know no God
but Me; For there is no Savior besides Me.
:5 I knew you in the wilderness, In the land of great drought.
:6 When they had pasture, they were filled; They were filled and their
heart was exalted; Therefore they forgot Me.
:7 "So I will be to them like a lion; Like a leopard by the road I
will lurk;
:8 I will meet them like a bear deprived of her cubs; I will tear open
their rib cage, And there I will devour them like a lion. The wild beast shall
tear them.
God used to be Israel’s
protector, but now He would be the one hunting them down. They would not be
able to avoid God’s judgment.
:9 "O Israel,
you are destroyed, But your help is from Me.
:10 I will be your King; Where is any other, That he may save you in all
your cities? And your judges to whom you said, 'Give me a king and princes'?
:11 I gave you a king in My anger, And took him away in My wrath.
gave you a king –
Samuel was the last of the judges. The people came to Samuel to ask that he
give them a king like all the other nations.
(1 Sam 8:4-7 NKJV) Then all the elders of Israel
gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, {5} and said to him, "Look,
you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to
judge us like all the nations." {6} But the thing displeased Samuel when
they said, "Give us a king to judge us." So Samuel prayed to the
LORD. {7} And the LORD said to Samuel, "Heed the voice of the people in
all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have
rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.
God gave them a king, but it happened while God knew that they were
rejecting God in asking for a king.
took him away – the king of the northern kingdom would be taken
away.
:12 "The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; His sin is stored up.
God keeps track.
:13 The sorrows of a woman in childbirth shall come upon him. He is an
unwise son, For he should not stay long where children are born.
(Hosea 13:13 ICB) Israel
has a chance to live again, but the people are too foolish to take it. They are
like an unborn baby who won't come out of its mother's womb.
:14 "I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem
them from death. O Death, I will be your plagues! O Grave, I will be your
destruction! Pity is hidden from My eyes.
It seems that a better translation is:
(Hosea 13:14 NASB) Shall I ransom them from the power
of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from death? O Death, where are your thorns? O
Sheol, where is your sting? Compassion will be hidden from My sight.
We might think at the beginning of the verse that God is promising here to
restore them. But if it’s really a question that He’s asking, and if the verse
ends with God saying that compassion is hid from His sight, then everything
changes. The question, “O Death, where are your thorns?” is a call for death to
come and bring punishment and judgment.
Paul quotes this:
(1 Cor 15:51-57 NKJV) Behold, I tell you a mystery: We
shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed; {52} in a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the
dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. {53} For this
corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
{54} So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put
on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written:
"Death is swallowed up in victory."
Which is a quote from:
(Isa 25:8 NKJV) He will swallow up death forever, And the Lord GOD
will wipe away tears from all faces; The rebuke of His people He will take away
from all the earth; For the LORD has spoken.
{55} "O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your
victory?"
We usually read this passage at Easter time. Keep in mind that in Hosea,
these words are a calling by God for Death and Hades (hell) to bring judgment
on the people. And then Paul explains…
{56} The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.
{57} But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus
Christ.
Even though the people in Hosea’s day were facing a horrible judgment which
included death, Jesus Christ has now given us the victory. We no longer face
that judgment.
:15 Though he is fruitful among his brethren, An east wind shall come; The
wind of the LORD shall come up from the wilderness. Then his spring shall
become dry, And his fountain shall be dried up. He shall plunder the treasury
of every desirable prize.
Remember this is being spoken to “Ephraim” (one of the names of the
northern kingdom).
Ephraim – “doubly fruitful”
Ephraim may have been fruitful, but when the east wind comes (Assyria),
there will be no more fruitfulness.
Their sin has caused the fruit to be removed.
:16 Samaria is held guilty, For
she has rebelled against her God. They shall fall by the sword, Their infants
shall be dashed in pieces, And their women with child ripped open.
There would be horrible, tragic times ahead.
Hosea 14
:1-9 Israel
Restored at last
:1 O Israel,
return to the LORD your God, For you have stumbled because of your iniquity;
:2 Take words with you, And return to the LORD. Say to Him, "Take away
all iniquity; Receive us graciously, For we will offer the sacrifices of our
lips.
Repentance isn’t just about words. But it certainly contains words.
the sacrifices of our lips – saying the right thing, giving God
honor and praise.
:3 Assyria shall not save us, We will not ride on
horses, Nor will we say anymore to the work of our hands, 'You are our gods.'
For in You the fatherless finds mercy."
Some people were looking to the Assyrians to rescue them. They won’t help. In
fact, they will be bringing the judgment.
fatherless finds mercy – the weakest, most vulnerable part of
society.
:4 "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, For My
anger has turned away from him.
:5 I will be like the dew to Israel;
He shall grow like the lily, And lengthen his roots like Lebanon.
:6 His branches shall spread; His beauty shall be like an olive tree, And
his fragrance like Lebanon.
:7 Those who dwell under his shadow shall return; They shall be revived
like grain, And grow like a vine. Their scent shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
What a beautiful picture of restoration.
It doesn’t matter how far you’ve gone. It doesn’t matter how bad you’ve
been.
God can bring restoration.
:8 "Ephraim shall say, 'What have I to do anymore with idols?' I have
heard and observed him. I am like a green cypress tree; Your fruit is found in
Me."
Ephraim – “doubly fruitful”
(Ho 14:8 NLT) “O Israel, stay away from idols! I am the one who
looks after you and cares for you. I am like a tree that is always green,
giving my fruit to you all through the year.”
Without God, we produce some pretty stinky “fruit”:
(Gal 5:19-21 NLT) When you follow the desires of your sinful
nature, your lives will produce these evil results: sexual immorality, impure
thoughts, eagerness for lustful pleasure, {20} idolatry, participation in
demonic activities, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger,
selfish ambition, divisions, the feeling that everyone is wrong except those in
your own little group, {21} envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other kinds of
sin. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of
life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
When we learn to let God work in our lives, the “fruit” changes:
(Gal 5:22-23 NLT) But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he
will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, {23} gentleness, and self-control. Here there is no
conflict with the law.
:9 Who is wise? Let him understand these things. Who is prudent? Let him
know them. For the ways of the LORD are right; The righteous walk in them, But
transgressors stumble in them.
Lesson
God’s healing chastisement
Sometimes God will allow His children to go through difficult times because
they have gone astray. God is not trying to destroy His children in this, but
God is trying to get them to turn around.
I heard Jon Courson share some neat insights about this.
Jon was sharing about the Passover Lamb, and how one of the requirements of
the lamb was that it was not to have any broken bones (Ex. 12:46; John 19:36).
What’s the significance of broken bones?
(Psa 51:8 NKJV) Make me hear joy and gladness, That the bones You
have broken may rejoice.
It is not uncommon for a shepherd to have a lamb that will go astray. The
shepherd will work at trying to keep the lamb with the flock because that’s
where the lamb is safest. It’s not safe for a lamb to stray from the flock
where he can be eaten by the wolves.
But from time to time certain lambs just don’t get it. They keep going
astray. In these cases, the loving shepherd will take the little lamb an
actually break its two front legs. Then the shepherd will set the bones. And
for the next five or six weeks, while the lamb’s legs are mending, the shepherd
will carry the lamb around his shoulders. Every where the shepherd goes, the
lamb goes. It has to. When the bones that are broken mend, the shepherd puts
the lamb down. And because of the close bond that is now between the shepherd
and the lamb, the lamb stays extra close to the shepherd.
There may be times for some of us that we’ve been like that little lamb
that just wants to run away. And then something that seems like a tragedy
strikes. And we find ourselves going to church, looking for answers. And God
carries us. And we have the opportunity to learn to not only return to the
Lord, but to stay close to Him as well.
The Passover Lamb, being a picture of Jesus, was not to have any broken
bones. Why? Because He never went astray. He was sinless. He was a perfect
sacrifice for those of us who have gone astray.
The author of Hebrews writes,
(Heb 12:11
NKJV) Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful;
nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those
who have been trained by it.
We are people who sometimes have to be trained by our
broken bones. Use those times to bond with your Shepherd. Learn to stay close
to Him.