Open your Bibles this morning to the book of Hosea, chapter 5. The Bible tells us to study, to show ourselves approved unto God, workmen that need not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. So we come to this opportunity to study the word of God together, to love the Lord with our minds, to think his thoughts after him, to seek to understand all of his word from Genesis to Revelation. So this wonderful and challenging book of Hosea brings us to another section, and I'd like to entitle this message, Oh, to Know the Lord. Oh, to know the Lord, not just to know about him, but to know him. And let me ask you today, as I ask myself, do you know the Lord? Not do you know about Him, but do you know Him? Is He your Savior? Is He your Lord? Have you trusted Jesus to forgive your sins and give you eternal life? The Lord makes it very clear that He knows all about Israel. But his knowing about them is for judgment because they do not know him. They rejected him. They pushed him out of their lives, had no more room for him. Let's pray. Father, I pray that you will open our hearts and minds to your word. I pray that when we leave today that we will know you better. Lord, if there's anyone that does not know you, We pray that they will come to the cross and believe on the Lord Jesus and be saved. I pray that you will teach us this part of your word today and apply it to our hearts according to our need. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. I would like to read the first seven verses of Hosea chapter 5. Hear this, O priests, take heed, O house of Israel. Give ear, O house of the king, for yours is the judgment. Because you've been a snare to Mizpah and Anet spread on Tabor. The revolters, the rebels, are deeply involved in slaughter, though I rebuke them all. I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from me. For now, O Ephraim, you commit harlotry. Israel is defiled. They do not direct their deeds toward turning to their God, for the spirit of harlotry is in their midst, and they do not know the Lord. The pride of Israel testifies to his face. Therefore, Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity. Judah also stumbles with them. With their flocks and herds they go to seek the Lord, but they will not find him. He has withdrawn himself from them. They have dealt treacherously with the Lord, for they have begotten pagan children. Now a new moon shall devour them and their heritage. Just notice a few details here before we begin to walk through the text. The last part of verse two says, though I rebuke them all. And verse three, I know Ephraim. But look at the last part of verse four. They do not know the Lord. The last part of verse six, he has withdrawn himself from them. So what a fascinating passage this is and what a sad and tragic passage in many ways as Hosea reaches out to his people, the people of Israel, to draw them back to the Lord in the light of coming judgment. He seeks to draw them back and to show them the everlasting love that Jehovah God has for them. So our plan here is to walk our way through the passage line by line. and then to make application of it to our lives today. So the big picture of the whole chapter is this, the Lord warns priests. people and king in Israel and in Judah. And you'll note that we heard Israel, Israel, Israel, we heard Ephraim, Ephraim, Ephraim, probably talking about the same group, the 10 tribes to the north, of which Ephraim was the best known tribe. Ephraim, one of Joseph's sons, a special son. Ephraim and Manasseh, they had large tracts of land as their inheritance. And sometimes Ephraim stands for all the 10 tribes to the north who had all departed from the Lord. So you'll see, I think interchangeably, Ephraim and Israel used there. But notice as the Lord warns the priests, the people, and king, first of all, the leaders are addressed. Now I like this little picture here. And if you'll just study it just for a minute, you see a car on a slippery slope going downhill ready to careen over the edge and crash on the rocks. You see that? That's exactly what's happening here in the book of Hosea. The leaders are addressed. Notice this threefold address. Chapter 5, verse 1. Hear this, O priests, Take heed, O house of Israel, the people of Israel. Give ear, O house of the king. So we have the priest, we have the people, and we have the king. And notice these three words or phrases and how they build on one another. Hear, priest. Take heed, people. Give ear, house of the king. So he's getting our attention. Hear, give heed, give ear. He is appealing to these leaders to listen to what God has to say. And I'm very intrigued that the first category are the religious leaders, the priests. I tell you, things would be different right today in our land if all the pulpits across the land preached the Word of God. It starts in the house of God. Judgment begins here. If you want to know how to pray for this pastor pray that he would be faithful to the Word of God Pray that he'll walk with God that he'll pray that he'll study the word Pray you don't do the work of an evangelist and witness to people pray that for yourself But you can pray that for me because we're just flesh and blood and we need God's help Sadly, in Hosea's day, the religious people were leading the way against God and away from God. And how sad it is today in our land when people stand in pulpits and deny the scripture and say, well, Jonah is not really the tale of a whale. It's a whale of a tale, as I think Norm Geisler put it. I had a friend years ago who grew up in the home of a religious man, a pastor in a particular denomination, and he said, that's what we were told, that Jonah wasn't really, it didn't really happen, it wasn't historical, it was some kind of story to present a faith lesson or something. No, that really happened because we believe the Bible and we believe Jesus. How sad when people stand in pulpits and give people doubt and don't lead them to the truth of the Word of God or confuse it or say, you know, this is 2023, we need to adjust things. And they look around, what's going on in our culture? Oh, that's what's going on? Okay, we need to adjust the scripture to fit that. Completely backwards. No, we go here and then we present God's truth and it gives freedom. You shall know the truth. The truth shall set you free. Take heed, O house of Israel. The people need to pay attention because they have followed the religious and political leaders into apostasy away from the Lord. And then the political governmental leader, the king, Give ear, pay attention, you and the government, listen to what God has to say. Oh, what a prayer request for our very day. Go to the book of Jeremiah chapter two and notice how Jeremiah delineates same groups of people. Jeremiah chapter two and verse 26. Scripture comments on scripture, it's the best commentary scripture is another scripture Jeremiah chapter 2 verse 26 as the thief is ashamed when he has found out isn't that interesting so is the house of Israel ashamed they and their kings and their princes and their priests and their prophets saying to a tree You are my father, and to a stone you gave birth to me. He's talking about idolatry. Telling a tree, you're my father, a stone who gave birth to me. For they have turned their back to me and not their face. Isn't that a picture? They turned their back to me and not their face. But in the time of their trouble, they will say, arise and save us. Then they'll pray. Verse 28, but where are your gods that you've made for yourselves? Let them arise if they can save you in the time of your trouble. For according to the number of your cities are your gods, O Judah. Jeremiah was after Hosea, and he was warning the southern kingdom to turn to God. Because they didn't learn from their big sister to the north, the northern kingdom, from Israel and Ephraim, that was carried away into captivity. And now Jeremiah is warning the southern kingdom, same dynamics, same things going on there. The prophets, the priests, the kings, the people, they're all turning to idolatry, turning away from God. And yet when trouble comes, what do they do? Then they want to turn their face to God before they turn their back to Him. So all of these groups of people delineated here, but starts in Hosea with the spiritual leaders. The leaders are addressed. And so we need to pray today for our leaders in the church. We need to pray for religious leaders. We need to pray for political leaders, that they would turn to God, that they would humble themselves before the Lord. You know, we have a fascinating prayer request on our prayer bulletin. It's in the back. And it says this, a category, our nation, government, and city. First one is for Christians to be revived. Second one is for evangelism, church planting to prosper. And then a couple requests down for a revival of biblical morality. And how about this one? For America to remain a friend to Israel. Another prayer request. You say, wasn't that a given? No, it's not. There are all kinds of forces against becoming and remaining a friend to Israel. You heard the news yesterday, I'm sure. Israel is under attack. Prime Minister Netanyahu declared war. Hamas terrorists launched thousands of rockets. The death count in Israel was up to 300 yesterday. I don't know what it is today. People taken hostage, 600. How sad. And it's very sad, too, that many Palestinians are killed as well. Hamas, a terrorist group, they want to destroy Israel. But you know what's even sadder? Where do they get their funding? From Iran. And we recently, in the United States, gave $6 billion to Iran. You said, does this make sense? So we hear that we stand with Israel, but I think, do we? Why do we give their enemies money? And that's not all. There's another terrorist group, Hezbollah, in the north, also sponsored by Iran. Iran is the world's largest sponsor of terrorism and we've given them money. You say, where are we as a nation? What a prayer request that we remain a friend of Israel and truly support them. And so this sets off a lot of thinking because follow this connection. The Bible prophesies in the book of Ezekiel about an attack on Israel from the king of the north. Some think that this king could come from the east and come to the north and down upon Israel. So guess what is to the northeast of Israel? Iran. But guess who the buddies of Iran are? Russia and China. And if you get a globe, And you look at the longitude, the meridian on Jerusalem and go straight up with it. And you know what you'll see right on that longitude or very close to it? Moscow, straight north. Fascinating. And so Bible students think that this war with the King of the North and Israel will come either right before or right after the rapture. Now, I'm not saying that what happened yesterday is this. I'm saying, though, it helps us to see how things could all come together. And so you have these world powers, China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, coming together on Israel. Our redemption draws near. I have often wondered why it doesn't seem like the United States, this great world power, is mentioned in biblical prophecy. I like to be optimistic and think, well, maybe it's because we're so a friend of Israel that we don't need to be mentioned because we're in alignment with them. But there's another possibility, that we're a non-entity because we've turned against Israel, or something has happened to us to take us away from our world prominence. I don't want to scare us. But I do want to wake us up. I want to wake us up. Jesus is coming. He's got it all under control. He's got a plan here. And we need to be zealous. And so much the more, working together, serving together, as the book of Hebrews says, as we see the day approaching, the day of Jesus' return. It's a time to fire up and be revived. It's not a time to be discouraged, not a time to quit. And so spiritual leaders need to stand up and we need to pray and we need to actively ask God to give people who will truly support Israel, that we will not be on the enemy side of those because we will not be blessed when we do that. Well, let's go on. Notice here, judgment is assigned. The last part of verse one, Here, take heed, give ear, O House of the King, for yours is the judgment. To you belongs the judgment. because you've been a snare to Mizpah and a net spread on Tabor. Do you see in the middle of verse one, yours is the judgment, to you is the judgment. Judgment is assigned to you. It's coming to you Israel and to you leaders of Israel, judgment is coming to you. So wake up, here is a clear declaration of judgment and there are reasons given for this. It says you've been a snare to Mizpah. Well, what's a snare? Well, it's related to the next part, a net spread on Tabor. So we have two devices that were used in hunting, and we have two geographical locations. And apparently at Mizpah and Tabor, there was this idolatrous worship going on that Hosea is speaking against. And these apparently were two centers of this where this was happening. And the priests and the people and the king were all contributing to this. They were participating in it. And he said, you've been a snare. So a snare is used to hunt a bird. a net also to catch a bird. So he's using this picture of a snare and a net that would be used to capture an animal, a bird, to say, that's what you leaders, that's what you priests, that's what you people have done. You've been a snare to these places. Now just think with me for a minute about this snare to Mizpah. Turn back to 1 Samuel 7, and let's find out a little bit about Mizpah. Bible geography is fascinating, and this was an actual location in Bible times, and we may not be so familiar with it until we place a well-known figure with it, and then it comes to life. 1 Samuel chapter 7, and notice verse 5. And Samuel said, gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you. Samuel was a godly priest. Praise the Lord for his example here. Let's back up just a little bit to verse 3. Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, If you return to the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and the asterisks from among you. Asterisks, the Canaanite goddesses, these images, put them away. This was centuries before Hosea. and Samuel says turn to the Lord put away these foreign gods and look at this prepare your hearts for the Lord and serve him only and he will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines so Samuel gathered the people at Mizpah and said I'm going to pray for you that's what a godly spiritual leader should do. I'm going to pray to the Lord for you. Verse 6, So they gathered together at Mizpah, drew water, and poured it out before the Lord. And they fasted that day and said there, We have sinned against the Lord. And Samuel judged the children of Israel at Mizpah. Centuries later, idolatry was taking place at Mizpah, and Hosea says to the spiritual leaders, they weren't praying for the people, they were making a snare for them, leading them into idolatry. Go down a little further. Verse 11, 1 Samuel 7, 11. And the men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and drove them back as far as below Bethkar. Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shin and called its name Ebenezer, saying, thus far the Lord has what? Helped us. Last week, I think it was, we sang this song, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. And one verse says, Here I raise my Ebenezer. This is where it comes from, right here. Ebenezer is Hebrew for stone of help. It was a monument, a memorial now, because the Lord had helped them. They had turned to the Lord. They had said what Hosea wished his people would say. We've sinned. We've done the wrong thing. We've gone the wrong direction. Now notice verse 15, and Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. He went from year to year on a circuit to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, and judged Israel in all those places. But he always returned to Ramah, for his home was there. There he judged Israel, and there he built an altar to the Lord. So here's this godly man, Samuel, who had answered, here I am, Lord. Here I am. And now he's serving. He's been faithful to the Lord. He prays for the people. They turn from their idolatry. They confess their sin. And God gives them a victory. And they raise up Ebenezer, stone of help. Well, decades, centuries go by, and now Mizpah is a center of idolatry. How tragic here in Hosea. Now, what about Tabor? Back to Hosea chapter 5. It said, you've been a snare to Mizpah and a net spread on Tabor. You are trying to catch people by your idolatry, you king and people and priests. A net spread on Tabor. Well, what is Tabor? Mount Tabor. It was a mountain of a famous victory. Look at the book of Judges chapter 4. Judges chapter 4 and verse 14. And here is this woman that God used in a powerful way, Deborah and Barak. Look at Judges 4.14. Deborah said to Barak, up for this is the day in which the Lord has delivered Sisera into your hand. Has not the Lord gone out before you? So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him and the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army with the edge of the sword before Barak. God gave a great victory there against the enemies of the people at Mount Tabor, but now these places have been snared and trapped by the idolatry of the leaders, the king and the people. A place that had a testimony of victory was now a place of disgrace. How sad is that? A testimony of victory, now a place of disgrace. led the people into idolatry, trapping Israel. And these places of triumph have become places of idolatry and entrapment. You've snared them, you've entrapped them. You know, there's a principle I think that's very important about snares and traps. Sometimes Christians wonder about questionable activities. that they should do or not do. And here's a question to ask yourself whenever you're thinking about any of those. Will it ensnare you? Will it trap you? And our world is saying, don't worry about any of those traps, any of those snares. You name it. Oh, it's OK to have sex before marriage. Everybody's doing that. That's just the way it is today. Wait a minute. What does God say? He says, no, save that till after marriage. It's a trap. OK. Alcohol's just fine. Just find your limit. Can anybody explain to me how you do that? Find your limit. Oh, they're little drugs, you know, a little weed, a little crack, a little something. That's OK. Will it entrap you? Oh, I just want to I just want to peek at this peep show. I just want to peek at this pornography. Will it entrap you? These are good questions. Will it entrap me? What I do? I'm okay. I can handle it. I got this. And you will regret saying that because you'll find out you don't have this. that you've been entrapped and ensnared. May God help us. May God give us wisdom and discernment, every single one of us, because every day there are snares that are placed before us, traps that are placed in our way. People that should have known better had entrapped the people of God. Now, there's one other thing here on this judgment they were involved in. It's the first part of verse 2. Fascinating line here. The revolters are deeply involved in slaughter. What is this talking about? It was so interesting to me to see that Bible commentaries, teachers, scholars that believe that this slaughter has to do with the child sacrifice that went on in the pagan worship, in the idolatrous worship. You say, well, is that in the Bible? Yes, it is. Just look at this one reference, Psalm 106, in verse 36 through 39. Psalm 106, verse 36. They served their idols, which became a snare to them. They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons, and shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood. Thus they were defiled by their own works and played the harlot by their own deeds. You say, are we reading Hosea? We're reading the Psalms. Well, we're reading the Psalms there, but they're referring to Israel's history and what they had done. They defiled, they shed innocent blood, they sacrificed their sons, their daughters to demons. So Hosea comes forth with judgment from God and he says, the revolters are deeply involved in slaughter. These are people that had been experiencing amazing miracles from the God of creation. And now at this point, they're sacrificing even their children. You know where a culture is going by how it treats children, especially babies. What kind of society would do this? One that's just like America. Since 1973, 60 million babies have been slaughtered on the altar of convenience, and probably more than that, and the altar of pleasure. What does this say to God who made us in his image? Don't be deceived. by cunning media outlets and politicians who change the language and control the narrative by saying things like this. A woman has a right to choose. Do you notice there's never an object? They don't tell you what. To choose her shoes? Her hair color? What? Let's finish it. To terminate the life of her pre-born baby. And we would say, no, she does not have that right. She does not have the right to terminate that life made in the image of God. Well, obviously, I'm not politically correct. And obviously, I can't be if I'm serious about the word of God. And here we see the revolters deeply involved in slaughter. And I tell you, it can be glamorized in our day. and glorified by people with power and money and influence. But God says, no, it's not right to sacrifice the next generation on the altar of convenience. Revolters are deep into slaughter. It was happening then. It's happening now. So look at how these things go together. In the 60s, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled against prayer in the public schools. In the 70s, we have abortion. Right away, ACT scores start going down in America. Do you know that we're like 57th in education worldwide? How sad is that? Well, wait a minute. Are there consequences when you deny that the Lord is the creator of heaven and earth? And then we're aghast when a 15-year-old goes into his school and starts shooting people. Oh, what happened? Well, wait a second. For decades, we've been telling him that human life is meaningless. You can kill his baby sister before she gets the chance to have the first human ride, and that is a breath. And you can kill his grandmother if she gets too old or infirm. with euthanasia. So we've taught him that human life is not important, and we've taught him that you're a god, that you're the end of everything. So he says, OK, I'm going to act that out. And we've taught him that you evolved from an ape, OK? So he goes and he kills people, ape-like. What happened? Let's go back and see what happened. This is what happened. There are consequences. And notice how the text says here, Though I rebuke them all. Hosea 5 and verse 2. Now follow these texts with me. Isaiah 26 16. God's discipline is a sure thing. It's a powerful thing. And Hosea was speaking of it. God had told him that. look at Isaiah 26 and verse 16 Lord in trouble they have visited you they poured out a prayer when you're chastening was upon them when you're chasing was upon them Jeremiah chapter 2 and verse 30, another text about discipline. And God says here, in vain I have chastened your children. They received no correction. Your sword has devoured your prophets like a destroying lion. Chapter 5 of Jeremiah and verse 3, oh Lord, are not your eyes on the truth? You have stricken them, but they have not grieved. You have consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than rock. They have refused to return." You tried to correct them. They rejected it. They made their faces hard. They refused to return, to repent. And what a statement, O Lord, are not your eyes on the truth? Jeremiah 7 verse 28, one more. You see the prophets bringing up this point of God's chastisement and God's truth, and yet the hardness, the rebelliousness of people. Let's look at verse 26. Jeremiah 7 verse 26. Yet they did not obey me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers. Therefore, you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not obey you. You shall also call to them, but they will not answer you. So you shall say to them, this is a nation that does not obey the voice of the Lord their God, nor receive correction. Truth has perished and has been cut off from their mouth. I don't need to remind us, but I will. Truth is perished in America. When we talk about your truth, my truth, or she has her truth, he has his truth. No, truth is absolute. You're a biological male. No, you're a girl. You're a girl. Of course you're a girl. Truth is perished in the land. And we're expected to believe this, to follow this? Truth is perished and has been cut off. And so, the church of Jesus Christ needs to stand strong, stand united on the truth of the word of God and to speak it forth in love and compassion and tenderness. Go back to Hosea chapter 5 and notice verse 3. On one hand, you would think this would be very comforting. I know Ephraim, but in the context It's more about judgment. God knows intimately Ephraim and Israel, knows all about them. And Israel is not hidden from me. No matter if you're one or a hundred or anything in between, I guess that would be all of us. Understand this, we cannot hide from God. God knows all about us. That is a great comfort when we're seeking the Lord. It's a great conviction when we're rebelling against the Lord. And when God says to Adam in the Garden of Eden, after he has sinned and Eve has sinned, where are you? It's not because he didn't know. He knows everything. He was calling him to account. You go in and you see a two-year-old playing over at the stove, and you're fearful that they're going to burn themselves. And you say, what are you doing? It's not because you don't know. It's because, honey, stop. You're not to play with that. It could burn you. It could hurt you. So God knows Ephraim intimately, and he knows them, though they deserve his judgment. And he says, Israel's not hidden from me. David discovered this. He had sinned. He covered it all up. He did a masterful job getting rid of the evidence, killing the husband of the wife that he had violated. He did a masterful job at all of that. And then he said, nowhere that I can go is you're not there. Search me, oh God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts and see if there's any wicked way in me. God knows all about us. What had Ephraim done? Verse 3, see? For now, now, Ephraim, you commit harlotry. He's talking about spiritual harlotry. So the Israelites would go to these idol centers, these worship places in the groves of the trees, and they would bow to false idols. And God says that's spiritual adultery. But along with those pagan ceremonies, there was all kinds of illicit activity. Ephraim commits harlotry, that's their problem. And what's the result of that? Israel is defiled. Israel is defiled. So it's very popular today to call good evil and evil good. And the result is defilement. Oh, what a challenge and how we need to pray for our children, our youth, our young adults, for moral purity, to prepare and keep themselves until marriage, and that they would pursue Christ with all their hearts and minds. But we need to pray this for all of us, of whatever age, that we would be pure, that we would not be defiled, that we would be clean, that we would come out and be separate from the world system and have our minds devoted to Christ. It might be trite, but it's a funny little true story. I may have shared it once before, but years ago I had a wonderful job with this family, the Swanson family. And Pop Swanson had been a very successful businessman, a delicatessen and grocery he had. One day a salesman came in, told him a dirty joke. And he said, your mind reminds me of a racehorse. And what do you mean? He said, it runs best in a dirt track. And the guy was offended and left. And some days later, he came back and said, you know what? I want to thank you. I'm a deacon at such and such church. And God used that to really convict me. And praise the Lord. We need to be pure. Our minds should not be like a racehorse. And when the devil comes and wants to pull us into the dirt track, we resist it. by the word of God and load onto the hard drive of our hearts the word of God. All right, look at Hosea 5 verses 4 and 5. They do not direct their deeds toward turning to their God. They do not direct their deeds toward turning to their God. Ephraim and Israel do not know God. They're not turning their actions to God. There's another way that this can be translated. You may have it in the margin of your Bible, and it's like this. Their deeds will not allow them to turn to God. And I came on to a comment in a study Bible that I thought was so profound, so succinct, so brief, so profound, and it's this. Persistent sin can make repentance impossible. Wow. They do not direct their deeds toward turning to their God or their deeds will not allow them to turn to God. They're so overcome with their sin that they have no desire whatsoever to repent, to turn back to the Lord. And sin, indeed, entraps people. Take it from Jesus' words here, John chapter 8. John chapter 8 and verse 34. Jesus answered them, most assuredly I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever, but praise God for this. Therefore, if the son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. My friend, we live and walk and work among people all around who are slaves to sin. And we have the answer, Jesus. The Son. You can be free. You can be forgiven and set free from that bondage and the guilt can be removed and you can be on your way to heaven. What a positive, wonderful message. So Ephraim and Israel, they do not turn their actions to God. And this is why, verse 4, for the spirit of harlotry is in their midst. We mentioned this before, spirit, the Hebrew word ruach. In verse 19 of chapter 4, it says, the wind has wrapped her up in its wings. Perhaps Hosea wisely choosing spirit and wind here to show judgment, chapter 4, verse 19. But look at chapter four, verse 12. My people ask counsel from their wooden idols, and their staff informs them, for the spirit of harlotry has caused them to stray, and they've played the harlot against their God. I came onto something that really made me think. And this writer spoke of the spirit of harlotry, and he added this word, demonic spirit. demonic spirit of harlotry. And I believe this is true, that where there's idolatry, demonism is involved. You shall have no other God before me. And so Satan has many gods that he would exalt against the God of the Bible. So his activity and his demons are involved in that. And so here with the people of Israel, this spirit, this disposition, and perhaps even demonic spirit that led them to this idolatrous worship. He said it's going on in their midst. It's so strong. It pulls so strong. And it pulls against the Lord. And then notice this, and they do not know the Lord. The spirit of idolatry, the spirit away from the truth of God, is at work today. And we cannot have it both ways. We wonder if, as Christians, if we see, I don't have any appetite for the Bible. You know, I really don't have a hunger to read the Bible. Then we need to ask ourselves, do I have some idols? Am I being pulled away by something in the world that has consumed me, has taken over me? And I need to repent of that. In our culture we see it. We're consumed with the gods of hedonism, pleasure, materialism, things. And there's less desire for God. So what do we pray? What do we pray for this neighborhood all around us? It's not that we don't have enough people around. pray that God would put in their heart a spirit of repentance to turn from idols, to turn from other gods and to seek the Lord while he may be found. And look what follows in verse five. So there's the spirit, this demonic spirit of harlotry. They don't know the Lord and the pride of Israel testifies to his face. Pride. Arrogance. They're proud of all this. And it testifies against them. It stands up and speaks against them their pride. Look at chapter 7 of Hosea, verse 10. And the pride of Israel testifies to his face. But they do not return to the Lord their God, nor seek him for all this. Wow. God hates pride. If I were making a list of sins, I don't know that I would put pride at the top of the list. But in Proverbs chapter 6, God spells it out. These six things the Lord hates, seven are an abomination to him. And number one, a proud look. Lucifer said, I will exalt myself. I will be like the most high. Pride, pride, pride. And we see people shaking their fist in the face of God. I believe this whole LGBTQ transgender movement is about, and it's called by them, pride. This is not a good thing, pride. It's saying to God, no, you didn't make male and female. No, we're going to have it our way because we're God. That's what it's saying. It's proud and it's arrogant in the face of God, and it will meet either repentance or judgment. Ephraim and Israel, they do not know God. Their pride speaks against the Lord. Notice the next part of verse 5. Therefore, Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity. Judah also stumbles with them. Little sister to the south, she didn't catch on. Ephraim and Israel, they're stumbling. This means stumbling to fall. It means suffer the consequences of their actions. It's a serious thing to stumble. It's a bad thing to take a fall. How many people have been seriously hurt by stumbling? maybe even meet their death by a serious fall that they strike their head. Well, here he says, they're going to stumble. The pride of Israel, but they're going to fall. They're going to come down. And this writer who suggested the idea of the demonic activity with the spirit of harlotry, he was saying that Ephraim was a special tribe, sort of the upper class. He says this, since they, the upper classes, were sure of their power and their right to rule, the political, social, and religious leaders of Israel felt no need to be constrained by the limits of orthodoxy and morality. And as surely as pride goes before a fall, so the institutions of Israel and Judah would collapse. Well, notice they don't cease to be religious. Verse 6, Ephraim and Israel will attempt to worship in vain. At first when I read this, I thought, what is this about the flocks and herds? with their flocks and herds, they shall go to seek the Lord." They're bringing their sacrificial animals to go back and have worship as they were used to having. They'll bring their sacrificial flocks to seek the Lord, but he won't be found. It's hypocritical. It's not genuine. It's just religious activity. But they will not find him. And these very sad words, he has withdrawn himself from them. Romans chapter 1 talks about this, God withdrawing himself. One study Bible, the MacArthur study Bible, had a phrase that I thought was so intriguing, I didn't forget it. He called it the wrath of abandonment. The wrath of abandonment. It's like in chapter 4, where it says this, verse 17, Ephraim is joined to idols. Let him alone. You may have had this experience before when kids were small or when they were older. But let me just go when they're small. It's a little more innocent then. And they insist on doing something their way. And so you want them to learn, and you just step back, and you say, go ahead. And what do they do? They mess up. They stumble. They fall. And then they're contrite, and they're willing then to listen. That can be a good technique, I suppose, of training But here, when it's God saying it to people, I'm withdrawing, you can go on and do what you want to do and suffer the consequences. I used to think that the wrath of God meant like a lightning bolt, an earthquake, an explosion, something dramatic coming. It could be that. It has been that at times. But sometimes I think it's this. Go ahead. Do it your way. The withdrawing of the presence of God, how very sad. Ephraim and Israel will attempt to worship, but it's in vain. Verse seven, they have dealt treacherously with the Lord, for they have begotten pagan children. Now a new moon shall devour them and their heritage. They act treacherously against the Lord. They've broken faith with him. engaged in idolatry. And I would take it that these children have also been trained in idolatry. The example they saw from the priests and the people and the king and from their parents. So the children are as strange children. But I also think it's probably children who were born from those illicit relationships when they were worshiping those false gods and engaging in actual harlotry. And so what happens? The last part of verse 7, now a new moon shall devour them and their heritage. What is the new moon? I didn't realize this. I didn't know this, but I learned that a new moon is when you can't see it. It's invisible. What a thought. Darkness will come and devour them. It's a line about judgment. And whether it's that or whether it's a time frame that when the new moon comes, they're going to face consequences. And God knows when that new moon of judgment would be. Whatever it is, it's not good. It speaks of God's judgment. Now, this all spells out the bad news. But let me go again to the good news. Fast forward to verse 15. I will return again to my place till they acknowledge their offense, then they will seek my face. In their affliction, they will earnestly seek me. Hosea also says, I will heal their backsliding. So there's mercy, there's grace, there's hope. So let's all draw it down to this in these applications. We've walked through the text. What difference does this make to us in 2023? First of all, if anyone here or hearing this, you don't know the Lord in genuine salvation. He knows all about you. Don't try to hide anything from Him. Don't try to change anything. Just come to Him now while you can. Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. And return to the Lord and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. You see your need? Yes, I've sinned against God. But I believe that Jesus died, was buried, and rose again. Call on the name of the Lord and be saved. If we do not know the Lord in genuine salvation in time, we can be sure that He knows all about us and will hold us accountable unto judgment in eternity. Another thought and application, when the knowledge of God is rejected, something will take its place and unthinkable evils will become acceptable. Let's not be proud and stubborn against the Lord. Let's repent of sin and turn to the Lord. If you haven't believed the gospel, believe it. Trust in Christ and be saved. And believers, let's look up. Our redemption draws near, but let's not be found asleep when Jesus comes back. Our Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for the parts that are So sweet, like honey. Thank you, Lord, for the parts that are hard and are like a hammer, a pounding. Lord, thank you for all of it. Thank you for the milk. Thank you for the meat. Thank you that the word is a hammer and it's a sword. We need all of it, Lord. And we pray that Your spirit will apply your word to our hearts and lives. We pray, Lord, for the traps that are often set all around us. Teach us, Lord, to avoid them. May we be strong in the Lord and the power of his might and have on the whole armor of God. But if there's anyone who's not yet believed in Jesus for salvation, show them their need. They would run to him, believe, and be saved. And just this question, with our heads bowed and our eyes closed, is there anyone who would say, I see my need of Jesus. I want to be saved. I'm willing to turn from my sin and trust in Christ to save me. Pray for me. Would you just put your hand up so I could see it? We thank you, Father, for the grace of God. And we pray, Lord, for your mercy on Israel or they turn from you back in Hosea's day and even today Many are not turning to you. We pray you would wake them up, that they would come to Christ as the Messiah and not have further judgment. We pray, Father, for our beloved country of America. Oh, God, we pray for revival, to turn back to you. We pray, Lord, for pulpits in the land that are more focused on entertainment and making everybody feel good than about teaching your word. Lord, I pray for revival in the land, that hearts would be turned to you. And we pray for our government, Lord, that they would turn to you. We pray, Lord, that we would remain a friend to Israel. In Jesus' wonderful, powerful name we pray, amen.