All right, let's look back at Hosea, the prophecy of Hosea, in chapter 5, the last verse, and chapter 6. And the mainstay of what I want to bring to you tonight from the Word of God in the preaching of the gospel is in that last verse of chapter 5, verse 15, and the first three verses of chapter 6. And the title of the message is Revival and Resurrection in Christ. Revival and Resurrection in Christ. Now what you have here in these verses, chapter five, verse 15, through chapter six, verse three, is a promise from God of a future revival, a revival of his word. Most of the time when the scripture speaks of revival, that's what it's speaking about. A revival of the word of God in the land. The preaching of the gospel. And also a future promise of the resurrection of his people. And what we're going to look at tonight is this. What is the nature of this promise? How is this promise fulfilled? And when was it fulfilled? Well, I believe it was fulfilled when Christ, our Lord, came to this earth and finished his great work. In fact, what you have there in these verses is a prophecy of the abolishment of the Old Covenant. The finishing of the Old Covenant, the abolishment of the Old Covenant by way of fulfillment, that time of reformation that Hebrews chapter 9 speaks of. When the Old Covenant, that which was old vanished away and that which was new, is new, was brought in by the coming of Christ. And that's stated here when God says, I will go and return to my place. That's the Lord speaking through the prophet Hosea. Now that may sound like strange language because God is omnipresent. What do you mean God's going and returning to his place? God is, you know, you can't contain God. The Lord told the people you can't build temples and houses that will contain God. You can't contain God. He's everywhere. He's spirit. He's omnipresent. So what does it mean when it says he will go from here and go here and return here? Well, he's talking about his glory. He's talking about the presence of his glory. You know, the scripture says that his glory dwelt in the tabernacle above the mercy seat, the Shekinah glory of God for a while. And that was a manifestation of the glory of God that he gave to the nation Israel for about 1,500 years. That was the time of the old covenant. It lasted about 1,500 years. And his presence It doesn't mean that he wasn't everywhere. It doesn't mean that he stopped being omnipresent because he didn't. But his glory, the glory of God revealed in salvation, in redemption by Christ which settled above the mercy seat where the high priest would go in one time a year with the blood. And that all pictured and typified Christ and salvation. It typified and pictured the glory of God revealed in the face of Jesus Christ. And that's what he's talking about here, that he's going to take that away from the nation. That's going to be finished. That's going to be abolished. And he's going to return to his place, his glory in heaven. And that's all going to take place when the Lord Jesus Christ would come to this earth and finish his great work and the fruit of the work of Christ would be the revival and the resurrection of his people. Now that's what the prophecy is about. But let's look back at this. First of all, I want to direct your attention back to verse 11 of chapter 5. I want you to first consider God's rejection of the nation Israel. Israel as a nation now when we say Israel's a nation what we're talking about is the leaders and the majority of the people we're not talking about every individual Israelite Hosea was an Israelite, but he was a sinner saved by the grace of God looking forward to the promise of the coming of the Messiah and There was others there. There was a remnant. We're going to see that you know God always has a remnant and he never left himself without a witness but as a nation under that covenant according to the terms of that covenant a God rejected the nation Israel look at verse 11 Ephraim remember Ephraim was the largest tribe in the northern kingdom and sometimes the The tribe Ephraim was indicative of the whole nation. So this is really referring to the whole nation Israel Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment God oppressed them and broke them with judgment because he willingly walked after the commandment, literally the commandments of men. As I told you last time, this is almost the literal language here would be like Ephraim followed the teachings of a drunk man. A man who's drunk on his pride. A man who's drunk on his self-righteousness. That's what it's talking about. They had followed leaders, the kings and the priests and the false prophets, who had taught them not in the ways of the Lord, but in the ways of men. It's like Christ told the Pharisees, you do err teaching for the commandments of God, the commandments of men. And so Ephraim is oppressed because he refused to listen to God. The nation refused to hear the Word of God. They didn't listen, they didn't heed, and they didn't love God's Word. It reminds me of what the Apostle Paul said in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 when he's talking about the great apostasy. That great falling away that will take place just prior to the second coming of Christ. And you know what he's talking about there. He's talking about religion that comes in the name of Christ, but denies the truth of Christ, denies the doctrine of Christ, denies the word of God. And he said that they would perish because they receive not the love of the truth, the love of the word of God. You see, the word of God, listen, to reject the word of God is to reject God himself. Never, never fool yourself on that. You reject his word, you reject him. You reject his son. Christ, you know, we've talked about this, how Christ himself is the living word of God. John chapter one. And here we have the living word through the prophet as preached in the prophet Hosea. We have the priest word. We have the written word, the word of God. He's the incarnate word of God. You reject the word, you reject him. And to reject the word of God is to reject the only way of salvation. Look at verse 13 of chapter five. It says, when Ephraim saw his sickness and Judas saw his wound. Now, you know, It's awful to be sick and not know it. You know, sometimes, you know, we think about that with an issue like heart disease or cancer. You know, somebody can be walking, you've all heard of people who walking down the street and they drop dead of a heart attack and they never knew that they had heart disease before that time. Or somebody has cancer. You could have a cancer cell growing in you right now and not know. It's awful to be sick and not know it. But what happens when you know it? Well, you seek a cure. You go to the doctor. You find out, well, doc, I've got this pain. Now what do I do? Is there a cure? Give me an x-ray or an MRI or something. But here it says Ephraim saw his sickness. Israel realized, and then Judah. Now this is the southern kingdom of Judah. Judah saw his wound. He knew he was bleeding. And it says here that they saw their sickness and they saw the wound, but what did they do? They realized the trouble they were in. But what did they do? Did they seek help from the Lord? Did they seek help from the great physician, the only one who can heal this kind of sickness, sin sickness? The other one who can heal this kind of wound, the wound of sin, the guilt and the defilement of sin that demands death and condemnation? No, listen to what they did. It says, when Ephraim saw his sickness and Judah saw his wound, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian. The Assyrian army and the Assyrian empire at that time was the most powerful army and empire in the world. And that was who was threatening the nation Israel and the nation Judah. So what did they do? Instead of looking to the Lord and depending upon the Lord and trusting in the Lord according to the covenant that God made with them at Sinai and even before then with Abraham, what did they do? They went to the Assyrian. They went to the arm of the flesh. They put their trust in kings. They put their trust in horses, in chariots, in weapons, in earthly means, and not in the Lord. And it says here, and sent to King Jerob, that was the king of, his name wasn't actually Jerob, but that means king warrior, king combat, one writer says, yet could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound? My friend, never, never seek help. and salvation from sin from anyone but the Savior of sinners. His name shall be called Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins. And he's able because his name is Emmanuel being interpreted God with us. He's the only Savior of sinners. So here's what we have here. We have a conviction of sin here. But now listen to me. Conviction of sin can come from a lot of different places. You can be, listen, conviction of sin can come from natural conscience. Bible says that God gives every man a conscience in Romans chapter two, whereby he accuses and excuses one another, even himself. So he can come from natural conscience. Conviction of sin can come from just a surface view of the law, the law of God. Conviction of sin can come from exposure, getting caught and facing punishment. Conviction of sin can come from fear of that punishment. Conviction of sin can come from disapproval of society, of family, friends. Conviction of sin can come even from traumatic experiences. You get into a car wreck or something like that and you survive it or a plane crash, it can come from that. But let me tell you something, the only godly conviction of sin that comes from God by the Holy Spirit is that conviction of sin that leads a sinner to seek and find help and relief and salvation and healing only in the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified and risen again. You seek help anywhere else, seek relief, satisfaction, peace, whatever. Anywhere else, it's not Holy Spirit conviction. And that's why it's said here that Ephraim rejected God's word. They wouldn't listen to God. What does God say about this issue of sin? How sinners are saved. Look to Christ. Look to him alone. Look to his blood. Confess your sins and he's faithful and just to forgive us of all our sins. Based on what? The blood of Christ. the satisfaction that he made. So to reject the word of God is to ensure self-destruction. You go to places and people that cannot help you. Now look at verse 12. He says in verse 12 of chapter five, therefore will I be unto Ephraim as a moth and to the house of Judah as rottenness. Now that speaks of a slow decaying process. And you think about that, you know, that's what religion is. False religion. False religion that doesn't point a sinner to Christ for salvation, for righteousness, for life, for healing. It's a slow decay. You don't even know what's happening, see? But over a period of time, they get sealed in that false religion of pride and self-righteousness and freewillism and works. And it eats at their conscience. It eats at their soul. And it ultimately destroys them. So there's the utter destruction of anyone who doesn't listen to the word of God and run to Christ. And look at verse 14. He says, for I will be unto Ephraim as a lion. That's Christ of judgment there. He said, as a young lion to the house of Judah. I even I will tear and go away. I will take away and none shall rescue him. That describes a very violent and public destruction. That's coming. That's coming when everything, when the Lord comes again and all things are brought to the light. And he gathers his people unto himself and publicly, before the whole universe, destroys all his enemies. That's what it's talking about. So there's no help anywhere else. So listen to me now. This conviction of sin must drive us to the only way of salvation. And that's the blood and righteousness of Christ. And the only way we're going to know that is to hear and listen to God's word. That's what faith is all about. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Everything else is decay. Everything else is destruction when it comes to salvation. That's why Peter told the Lord when he said, will you go away also? He said, to whom shall we go? You have the words of life. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. And in that gospel is revealed Christ and him crucified and the righteousness that he established by his obedience unto death. So think about that. Now, consider next God's faithfulness to bring his people to repentance. Now he says in verse 15, look at this, he says, I will go and return to my place, talking about his glory now, his glory, his presence of glory, and he says, till they acknowledge their offense, their guilt, that's what that is. In other words, until they admit their guilt. Now that's a conviction of sin. That's what it is to take sides with God against ourselves. To say unto God by inspiration and by the power of the Holy Spirit, God, if you would mark iniquity, I wouldn't stand. I'm guilty. I deserve nothing but condemnation. I deserve nothing but death. I'm a sinner. And he says, I'm going to go away and return to my place till they acknowledge their sin and their guilt and seek my face. His face is his glory. That's what it is. It's his presence. It's his favor. That's what his face is. 2 Corinthians 4 and verse 6 speaks of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. That's what it's talking about. His comforting, saving presence. That's His face. That's what identifies Him. When you see His face in this way, by the power of the Holy Spirit, as He's revealed and identified and distinguished in the Word of God, in the Gospel, that's when He's identified. That's when His glory shines forth. And we see that in the Lord Jesus Christ. So God removes Himself from Ephraim, and eventually He does it from Judah. But he knows his purpose to restore his people to himself. He said, I will go away and I'll return to my place. God removing his covenant, that temporal old covenant, that favor with that nation as set forth in the old covenant. But he speaks of the place of his glory among his chosen people. Now who's he talking about here? He's talking about spiritual Israel. He's talking about what Jeremiah prophesied of in Jeremiah 31. That he said in those days he will make a covenant with Judah and with Israel. Not like the covenant that he made with their fathers when he took them out of Egypt and established them on Sinai. But it's a covenant grace, a covenant of eternal salvation. It's a covenant that'll reach to the heart and to the mind and to the affections and to the will. It's a covenant that will bring his people to himself. It was fulfilled in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ and that was testified of plainly and openly at his crucifixion when he cried it's finished and when he gave up the ghost when he said father into thy hands I commend my spirit and he gave up the ghost and the veil in the temple was rent torn into from top to bottom opening the way into the very holiest of all what is that way it's not the way of an earthly priesthood It's not the way of the Levitical priesthood. It's not the way of a blood from an animal. It's the way of the blood of the Lamb of God. That's what Hebrews chapter 10 teaches us. And any sinner, Jew or Gentile, who comes to God confessing their guilt, like that old publican, God, be merciful to me, the sinner, be propitious. That's what that literally means. I need a satisfaction. I need mercy with justice. And he says, be merciful to me, the sinner, any sinner, Jew or Gentile, who comes to God pleading the merits of the blood and righteousness of Christ. has free access into the holiest of all by that blood. And that's what he's talking about here. This till they acknowledge their offense and their guilt and seek my face. He said in their affliction, look at it again, verse 15. In their affliction, they will seek me early. You know what that means, and I'll show you in just a moment a little bit more about this. But God is not going to afflict his people only to leave them in that affliction. You know, I've heard people say, well, you know, God may leave them there for a year or two years. I don't believe that. I don't believe that's scriptural. That sounds good in a Puritan book or something, but it's not scriptural. God doesn't afflict His people. To leave them is what Bunyan called the slew of despond. He afflicts them to heal them. And he's the great healer. And he said, they'll seek me early. In other words, when you realize what you are and what I am and what we are as far as the law of God, what we deserve, when we finally, when God the Holy Spirit brings us to a realization of our depravity and our wretchedness and our sin, you know what you're going to do and you're going to do it early. You're going to seek his face. You're gonna seek his relief. You're not gonna wallow in that mud. You're not gonna wallow in that dirt for a year or two, you know, just to prove to some Puritan that you really convicted. I'll tell you how you can prove to anybody you're really convicted. I have no hope of salvation, of righteousness, of life, but Christ, period. And that's it. That's it. Don't let some preacher beat you down and keep you down just so you can prove to him that you're a trophy on his wall. That's not what this is all about. God delights to show mercy. And that right early. And they'll seek my face early, he says. Think about it. God knows his people. And he brings them to a saving knowledge of Christ. Now, I want you to think about something here. He says he'll go and return to his place till they acknowledge their guilt and seek his face. And in their affliction, they will seek me early. They will seek the Lord. Now, we know that sinners by nature will not seek the Lord. None of us. If we sought the Lord and found Him, we don't have anything to boast in in ourselves, do we? Because we know that God sought us first. He's the great shepherd. He gave his life for his sheep and he comes and he gets his sheep. And he picked us all up off of Dung Heap Drive, as Brother Tim says, and brought us into the banquet hall of his grace, just like Mephibosheth. He came and he fetched us, didn't he? That's what God does to his people. He doesn't send them an invitation and say, now you walk down the aisle. No, no. He comes and he gets us. He fetches us. We're lost sheep in the wilderness. And the good shepherd comes out and he comes out and he picks us up and he brings us into the fold, brings us home and he keeps us there and feeds us in the green pastures. Isn't that what he does? So when we talk about seeking the Lord, we're talking about the sovereign Grace and power and mercy of God you read Romans chapter 3 sometime Study that it says there. There's none righteous. There's none good. There's none that seeketh after God No, not one so if you sought the Lord you don't have anything to brag about Don't use don't use that as a pedestal upon which you can boast of what you've done or what you thought you did Listen, it's God's mercy that any of us seek the Lord. But He does tell us and command us to seek Him. And He does promise any sinner who seeks the Lord will what? Find Him. Whosoever. You know that verse that's repeated quite often in the New Testament. But I think about Romans chapter 3. specifically, Romans chapter 10 specifically, it says, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. You know that's true. Listen, that's a great, awesome, comforting promise from God, isn't it? Whosoever shall call upon him. There's nobody who's gonna call upon him that he won't save. I believe that, but what is it to call upon him? Well, if you go back to the Old Testament and look at it, you know, the first example, we know, well, for example, Abel called upon the name of the Lord, but the first time that that language is used, he called upon the Lord, was with Abraham. And you know, the first thing Abraham did before he called, before it was said he called upon the Lord, or as he called upon the Lord, it says he built an altar and he sacrificed. Well, that's what Abel did. That language isn't used, but it's the same thing. What did Abel do to call upon the Lord? He brought the blood of sacrifice. What's that talking about? To call upon the name of the Lord is to run to Christ, to seek his mercy and grace in Christ. So he says in verse 15, they will do it. Whoever he's talking about here, they're going to seek his face early. And when they gonna do it? When they acknowledge their guilt. when they acknowledge their guilt, when they're convicted of their sin. That's what he's talking about. Now my question is this, did Ephraim as a nation, did Israel as a nation ever do that? Read the Old Testament. No, as a nation, they never did that. In fact, the northern kingdom of Israel was totally, in their whole history, their kings, their priests, it was all idolatry. It was all spiritual whoredom. It was all unbelief. Every bit, they never did. So if he's talking about the nation Israel here, then it was a failure. It was a failure. All right, did the nation Judah ever do that? Well, they did in the whole later on, but it didn't last because it wasn't long till they descended into idolatry. So you can't say the nation Judah did. Well, what's the problem? Well, look at chapter six. Now, go to verse four. Let me just read these last verses to you. Now, here's the state of Israel and Judah. It's not a description of people who are seeking the Lord here. He says in verse four, he says, O Ephraim, or Israel, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? For your goodness, now you notice in your concordance it might have your mercy or your kindness, means your loving kindness. Your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew, it goeth away. What's he using the analogy of a morning cloud there for? Because it's all form and no substance. And it's temporary. Just like the dew. Doesn't last. In other words, you really don't have any goodness. Because if it's goodness, it's of God and it lasts. It's eternal. We don't really have any goodness of our own. So he says, it's all clouds. Morning like a morning cloud, it doesn't last. Look at verse five. He says, therefore have I hewed them by the prophets. Now if you want to put that in our modern day country lingo, that would be like this. I've skinned them alive by the prophets. These prophets didn't come crying, peace, peace, where there was no peace. The prophets of God didn't come saying, well, now we don't want to offend anybody. No, he said, I skinned you alive. I brought you a message of judgment against sin. God must punish sin. He told them what they needed to hear, not what they wanted to hear. Told them the truth. So I've skinned you alive by the prophets. They've sinned against, he said, I've slain them by the words of my mouth. In other words, the sword of the Lord. That's what he's talking about. The sword of the word of God. He said, I've slain them by the words of my mouth. In other words, if you believe the word of God, you'd be like Paul. Look over at Romans 7, 9. Hold your finger there at Hosea and look at Romans 7 when he says, I slain them by the words of my mouth. And he says, and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth, the light that exposes the evil deeds, even of their best efforts of their religion. Paul said in verse 9 of Romans 7, Here's what it is to be slain by the Spirit. Now listen to me now. To be slain by the Spirit is not to have some preacher come and knock you on the forehead and knock you down. That's not being slain by the Spirit, that's just being hit by a guy. And they ought to get up and hit him back. Well, they oughtn't do that. Turn the other cheek is what we're supposed to do. But that's not being slain by the spirit. Here's what being slain by the spirit is. Paul said in verse nine, for I was alive without the law once. What he's saying there is I thought I was saved when I didn't understand and know the reality of the law, because I thought I was saved by my law keeping. And so he says, but when the commandment came, That's when God the Holy Spirit showed me the reality of the law, the spirituality of the law, and how far that law reached even to my heart and my thoughts and my motives. He says, sin revived. That sin that I thought was dead and taken care of, it revived. There's a revival. And he said, and I died. When I really understood, somebody says, well, I'm just trying to keep the law and God'll save me. My friend, you don't know what the, do you not hear the law? That's what Paul told the Galatians. Do you not hear the law? What that law says? That the man who lives by the law shall do the law. Cursed is everyone that continues not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. Oh, my soul. A person who's seeking salvation, or any part of it, or to be made righteous by their law keeping, they don't know the law. They don't know the law. But if the Holy Spirit ever convicts us of sin and shows us the reality of what we are according to the law, sin will revive. It will well up in our hearts and our minds and we'll die. We'll say, we deserve death. I'm slain by the law. And that's when Paul, you know what he's talking about there, is when he was convicted on the road to Damascus. When God, our Savior, put him in the dust where he belonged. Go back to Hosea 6. And he said in verse 5 there, he says, and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth. The light that not only reveals the glory of God in Christ, but exposes our sin, and our guilt, and our depravity. Look at verse 6. He says, for I desired mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. Our Lord quoted this twice in the book of Matthew. Matthew 9.13 and Matthew 12.7. He told the Pharisees, have you not learned the reality of what it takes to please God? He says, I desired mercy and not sacrifice. Knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. That's the knowledge of the God of grace. That's mercy that comes from God to us in Christ. And my friend, without understanding and knowing the reality of God's mercy, and the knowledge of God that comes through Christ and him crucified and risen again, all the religion and all the ceremony and all the religious activity in the world put together cannot save you or me. That's what he's saying. David realized that when he was convicted of the sin that he committed with Bathsheba and against Uriah and against the Lord. He said, against thee and thee only have I sinned. and committed this evil in thy sight. He said, sacrifice and burn offering I would give. But that's not what you want. He said a broken and a contrite heart. That's the sacrifices of God. That's a sinner who needs mercy. That's a sinner who seeks grace. So here we see what the problem in Hosea's day was. They were trying to cover their sin with religion. I desire mercy, God said, not sacrifice. You can sacrifice till the day is long. But without mercy, what does it mean? Without Christ, what does it all mean? Nothing. And the knowledge of God, what knowledge? That knowledge that comes to a sinner who's been slain by the law to know that his only hope of salvation is in Christ and Him crucified and risen again. You can bring all kinds of burnt offerings, won't mean a thing. Look at verse 7. He says, but they, like men, have transgressed the covenant. Now, you probably have in your concordance, instead of men, you have the name Adam, don't you? You know, actually, the original word there that's translated men is the singular word for Adam. And I believe what he's saying here is you're just acting like your daddy Adam. You're showing your oneness with Adam in the fall. Fallen, sinful humanity. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death passed upon all men for that all sin, and were born dead in trespasses and sin in Adam, in Adam all die. But they, like Adam, have transgressed the covenant. They've broken the covenant. Adam broke the covenant that God made with him. And it says here, verse 7, there they have dealt treacherously against me. They took sides with Satan. Adam took sides with Satan against God. Adam declared his independence from God. He said, God, I don't need you. I can go on my own. I don't need to go by your standard of good and evil. I can set my own standard of good and evil. They dealt treacherously against me, he says. And this is even in their religion. even in their religion. Look at verse eight. He says, Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity and is polluted with blood. Now you may have heard of the city of Gilead. What was Gilead known for? It was known for producing healing ointments and resins. It was a great city. It had a wide reputation in the nation for being a good place to go if you're seeking healing or soothing from a sickness, and that's the reputation. Jeremiah made reference to it when he grieves over the sins of Judah. Look over at Jeremiah chapter eight. And here Jeremiah, now this is much later than Hosea, and he's grieving over the sin sickness of Judah. And in Jeremiah chapter eight, look at verse 22. He says, he says, is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no healing, no ointment in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered? Why aren't they healed? Gilead, that great city that was known for those ointments and those resins and those balms of healing. But what is Gilead now? Well, just the same as it was back in Hosea's day, it's a city that works iniquity. They've turned it into a place of idolatry. It's polluted with blood, the blood of sacrifice without truth, without heart, without grace, without Christ. You know, it's interesting that Christ identifies himself in one of the most comforting ways to his people as the great physician, isn't he? He is balm in Gilead for his people. Isn't that something? He's the great physician. And he said, I came to heal the sick. I didn't come to heal the well. They don't need healing. And it's also interesting that Jeremiah When he stood up and dealt in opposition to the false prophets of his day, one of the things that he accuses them of is what he says, here's the way he puts it. He said, they have healed the daughters of my people slightly. In other words, not a real healing. It's like putting a Band-Aid on a cancer. You can cover it up, and that's what man's religion does, but there's no healing. And you know how they did it? You know what their message was? Said twice, in Jeremiah 6 and once in Jeremiah, they cried, peace, peace, when there was no peace. My friend, there's only peace in Christ. There's only healing in Christ. You know who the first one ever preached that message, peace, peace, when there was no peace? His name was Satan. When he said to Eve, thou shalt not surely die. Could you imagine going to a doctor today with a terminal illness and that doctor looking at you and saying, you're okay, you won't die. What would you call that doctor? You'd call him a quack. And you'd never go back, wouldn't you? Well, that's what's going on here. That's what's happening here. this look at verse 9 he says and as the troops of robbers wait for a man so the company of priests murder in the way by consent for they commit lewdness now this is kind of a difficult verse to to interpret but actually that word for the way in the way is is the name of the city of Shechem that was a city of refuge you remember the cities of refuge is in the book of Numbers Shechem was one of the cities of refuges And there's a couple ways you can look at this, these troops of robbers. Just like a troop of robbers, the company of priests, the religious leaders now, the ones who are supposed to be the spiritual leaders, who are supposed to comfort the people of God, they're waiting for them like a troop of robbers wait for a man to kill that man and to rob that man. What's he talking about? Well, the priest, in refusing to give the people The Word of God, the truth, the water and the bread of life. What were they doing? They were actually murdering the people. Just like the Pharisees in their days, when Christ said, you're of your father the devil and the lust of your father you'll do. He was a murderer from the beginning, he abode not in the truth. He only spoke what comes natural. Some translations kind of indicate that what he might be talking about is these priests refused to let anyone in that nation who wanted to go to Shechem, which was a city of refuge, to worship, or who wanted to travel to Jerusalem to worship. In other words, it would be referring to a small remnant of true believers in that nation, but the priest, the false priest, went after them. And that's possible. You know, Isaiah spoke of a small remnant in his day. He said in Isaiah chapter 1 and verse 9, he said, except the Lord of Sabaoth, Lord of hosts, had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom and Gomorrah. We should have been like unto Gomorrah. And so he says in verse 10, I've seen an horrible thing in the house of Israel. There is the whoredom of Ephraim, spiritual whoredom. Israel is defiled, unclean. Also Judah, oh Judah, verse 11, he hath said in harvest for thee, now this is a harvest of judgment for Judah also, but he says when I return the captivity of my people. There is a return of Judah. Now that takes place after the Babylonian captivity when they return under Nehemiah and Zerubbabel and Ezra and rebuild the city and rebuild the temple. And that was a return. So he's not going to utterly forsake Judah at this time as he did Israel. And Judah was always going to last until the Messiah came. Remember, the scepter shall not depart from Judah until Shiloh comes. But there would be a day of reckoning. Now, that's the issue. And that's the reality. Now, when did all this take place? Look back at verse 1. He speaks of a revival. He speaks of a resurrection. He speaks of repentance. Verse one, come and let us return to the Lord. There's a return to the Lord. For he hath torn, the Lord hath torn, and he will heal us. He doesn't tear to leave the wound open and gaping. He tears to heal. That's conviction of sin to drive a sinner to Christ, the great physician. It says he hath smitten. And He will bind us up. I think about Christ when He read from Isaiah chapter 61, I believe it was, in His hometown synagogue and it said, He will bind up the brokenhearted. He's not going to smite us in order just to leave us wretched. He's going to bind us up with grace, with the comforts of His love and His mercy in Christ. He says, he says here in verse two, look at this. He says, and after two days will he revive us and in the third day he will raise us up and we shall live in his sight. Now what do you suppose that's talking about? That's talking about the death and the burial and the resurrection of our Savior. That's a prophecy. That's exactly what that is. That's exactly what it is. This is revival. and a resurrection of the truth of God and the salvation that he's provided for his people. Christ, the representative and substitute of his people, when he died, we died. When he was buried, we were buried. When he arose again, we arose again. And we shall live in his sight. You know what that means literally? It means we have a life that God can take pleasure in because Christ is our life. and we live in him and by him. We have a righteousness that God can take pleasure in because Christ is our righteousness. The sin problem is taken care of by the death of the Son of God incarnate. The blood of the Lamb washes us clean. Isaiah said it in his day. Come, let us reason together. Though your sins be as scarlet, they'll be as woe. Though they be red like crimson, they'll be white as snow. God took care of that problem on the cross of Calvary. And then as a result, now there's the ground of the salvation of spiritual Israel. Every believing, every convicted sinner, every healed sinner, every saved sinner, who in their affliction seeks the Lord, and that right early, comes to Him. And then here's the result in verse three, then shall we know, now that word if is in italics, you notice that? It really should be because we follow on to know the Lord. This is not gonna be done in a vacuum. It's not gonna be done in ignorance. It's not gonna be religious zeal without knowledge. It's a knowledge the Lord teaches and it says, here's what he says, his going forth is prepared as the morning. What's that talking about? It's talking about Christ. His breaking forth on the scene of human history is like the sun breaking forth in the east in the morning. You can't get away from it. You can't miss it. It's there. When he says, when we follow on to know the Lord, you remember what he said back in chapter four and verse six? He said, my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. That's not gonna take place here. They'll all know me, he said, from the least of them to the greatest. They're gonna know Christ. Oh, there's a lot we don't know now, don't get me wrong. And what we do know, we see through a glass darkly, but we know him. We know his grace, don't we? We know our sin. Listen, we don't even see the depths of our depression, but we know, we know that if God were to judge us based upon our best works, we'd be lost forever, damned forever. But we know Christ. We know Christ. And we follow on, he says here. He says, we follow on to know the Lord. We, like Paul in Philippians chapter three, we press on toward the mark of the high calling of Christ Jesus because he keeps us. He who began that great work in us will finish it to the end. We follow on looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. We grow in grace and knowledge from faith to faith, from grace to grace. We follow on by the power of God, not on our own power, And it says, when it says His going forth is prepared as the morning, that means it's ordained. That preparation there is the ordination of God from the foundation of the world. This was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. And the light of Christ breaks upon us like the morning sun of a new day because it's been ordained from the very beginning. And not only has it been, His coming been ordained from the very beginning, but our knowing Him has been ordained from the very beginning. And listen to what he says here, it says, he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain upon the earth. What he's saying here is this is not only a matter of light, like the morning sun, it's not only a matter of knowledge, but it's also a matter of growth. It's also a matter of the heart. We grow in grace and knowledge, we bring forth fruit unto God, the life of Christ. And His grace resides within us. And God gives the rain and the increase. It's all of grace. Israel, in their planting cycles, their cycle was a little different than ours. In Israel, they planted the grain in autumn. And then the former rains came while the planting, right after the planting. And then heavy rains and then a little sprinkle. But in harvest time, the latter rains came. and brought with it all the harvest." So what's he talking about? The former rain, that's the planting. The latter rain, that's the harvest, you see. He's going to plant his people and he's going to harvest them. He's going to come. Now did Israel, Ephraim, Judah, did they ever experience that only in one way? And Romans chapter 11 tells us, and I'm gonna go there next time, but it's talking about a remnant according to the election of grace. And we'll see that.