We will be in the book of Hosea, the 13th chapter, continuing our series. The first verse, when Ephraim spoke, there was trembling. He was exalted in Israel, but he incurred guilt through Baal and died. You may be seated. Perhaps we've overused the well-worn quote from the Chronicles of Narnia. But it fits our context so well. You know the story when Susan considers meeting Aslan the lion with her knees knocking. Susan asks, is he quite safe? And Mr. Beaver answers, of course he isn't safe, but he is good. And the point being that God is both good and severe. He is kind, but he's also relentless in his judgments. He is both just and merciful. Jesus is the lamb, but he's also the lion. And the kindness and severity of God has been the overarching theme in the book of Hosea. He's been warning Israel that God's kindness has been spurned, and now he's coming to them with severity. He used an object lesson of Hosea and Gomer to show that in their rebellion, like Gomer, the prostitute's wife, he would turn to them in love if they would only repent. But heeding the prophet's warning is nowhere in their sight. Spiritual declension, political chaos, cultural decay caused Hosea to heat up the rhetoric. And he's using penetrating urgency. And Paul in Romans 11 issued a serious warning to the Gentiles, provoking them to fear God in light of Israel being cast off. In that context, he said, note then the kindness and severity of God. And that phrase has become the title of my sermon this morning, the kindness and severity of God. And we'll deal with that this week and again next week. And the theme or the big idea under that umbrella is God is good, but he's not always safe. And in our outline in the back of your bulletin, we'll look at three ways that this passage helps us to see this truth. Hosea's prosecution, Israel's punishment, and God's promise. And much of what we've heard from Hosea chapter, from chapter four until the present point, is in the form of a covenant lawsuit. And so he continues. As we notice, first of all, Hosea's prosecution, verses one and two. In courtroom fashion, Hosea continues to bring charges He's been doing that all along, but he first reminds them of God's past kindness. In verse 1, as we read, when Ephraim spoke, there was trembling. He was exalted in Israel. Due to God's kindness, Israel was influential in many points of its history. It was the largest tribe, it was the tribe of Josa, the tribe of Joshua who led the people to the promised land that tumbled the walls and the people trembled. It was the tribe of Jeroboam who seceded from the southern tribes and God promised to bless him on condition of his obedience. However, notice, but he, Ephraim, incurred guilt through Baal and died. Jeroboam, fearing that the people would begin traveling to Jerusalem to go back to the temple and then in that journey there and being in Jerusalem might also renew their allegiance to wicked Rehoboam, he set up centers of worship for Yahweh, one in Dan and one in Bethel. And things quickly degenerated as his motives seemed pure, They drifted into idolatry, leading the prophet Ahijah to say to Jeroboam, you have done evil above all who were before you. And so over the next hundred years or so, bowel worship was the norm. And like the fall of Adam in paradise, Ephraim died, not physically, but spiritually. You notice verse two, and now they sin more and more. Hosea has addressed their sins of false worship and ignorance and pride and hypocrisy and worldliness and political corruption and all around backsliding, and he now summarizes their sins or their apostasy in five areas. And I want you to listen to see if you find yourself in any one or more of these sins. The big one, of course, is idolatry, verse two, and they make them for themselves metal images, idols skillfully made of their silver, all of them the work of a craftsman. They're combining their false worship with the worship of Yahweh. And even more heinous, if you notice the text, it says of them, those who offer human sacrifice kiss calves. They did not entirely reject the worship to God, but instead they incorporated pagan practices into their worship. This is syncretism, it's pluralism. And they're literally kissing these calves as an act of devotion, affection, and admiration. A human being created in the image of God worshiping a representation of a false God as though it was the true God. And this is the pattern of apostasy. Sin begins like a seed, but then it progresses more and more. It becomes a habit, a practice, a pattern. And you, like Ephraim, sin more and more. And before you know it, you're in its clutches, and it doesn't want to let you go. Years ago, I very innocently planted a little sprig of mint under a faucet. And after a few years, it spread like a Jumanji vine. It's everywhere, its roots are deep, it has rhizomes. You can't get rid of the stuff, it has overtaken that flower bed. You might think, I don't kiss golden calves. Well, think about it. The human heart, says Calvin, is a perpetual heart idol factory. It's a perpetual idol factory. Deep within the heart, another says, idolatry is worshiping or being more devoted to anything other than God. It is also worshiping something other than God as if the thing were God. Now evangelicals tend to think that this sin does not apply to them, but many kiss calves in different ways. They idolize their job, their family, movie stars, music, celebrities, house, car, sports teams, their players, hobbies, video games, going to the gym, food becomes a god, a particular diet, you name it. And what shall we say of those bowing at the altars of pornography and drunkenness? And a host of other things that become the calves we kiss with such heartfelt affection that only God deserves. Idols that suck the life of Christ from the heart and the soul of professing saints. But from idolatry, next, Hosea charges them with ingratitude, in verse four. But I am the Lord your God from the land of Egypt. You know no God but me, and besides me, there is no savior. The Lord, Yahweh, their covenant God, and covenant echoes are coming forth from Mount Sinai in the introduction to the Ten Commandments. God, in his kindness, delivers them from Egypt. And all the false gods of Egypt were judged in the plagues, and those gods could never deliver them. And now, with unthankful hearts, they have turned to Baal, whose name means owner or lord, as if he could possibly save them. Hosea continues in verse 5. It was I who knew you in the wilderness in the land of drought. Knew is a word of intimacy often used for the intimate relationship of a husband and wife, and how fitting was the living object lesson of Hosea married to Gomer, the epitome of one who has rejected love and provision and intimacy from her husband, and instead she chose to prostitute herself with strangers. And here he reminds them that God cared for them through the wilderness, manna from heaven, water from the rock, and so much more. And they sinned against goodness. And to sin against goodness or the kindness and the mercy of God is like spitting in the face of one who has rescued you from a burning car or a raging river. It's like a dog that bites the hand of a loving owner that feeds him day after day after day. And notice how blatantly ingratitude rejects God's kindness in verse 6. But when they had grazed, they became full, they were filled, and their heart was lifted up. In other words, lifted up with pride. Therefore, they forgot me. They became full and self-satisfied, and their heart became puffed up with pride, and pride is the flip side of ingratitude, and soon the God who provided for them was forgotten. Notice the contrast in verse 5, I who knew you, and verse 6, they forgot me. Moses had warned them that when they got into the land and were well-established with houses and livestock and silver and gold, and when they were well-fed, he said, beware, lest you say in your heart, my power, my power and the might of my hand has gotten me all this wealth. But to no avail, their ingratitude and forgetfulness of God's kindness had become a habit. Verse 8, and she did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil, who lavished on her silver and gold. And what did they do with it? Which they used for Baal. Chapter 2, verse 8 of Hosea reminds us. And again, chapter 11, verse 3, yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk. I took them up by their arms, but they did not know that I healed them. Do you see the seriousness of this charge? It's a heinous thing to sin against the kindness of God, and pride is the root of an unthankful heart. And a proud heart soon leads to forgetting the kindness of God, especially in times of prosperity. Things are finally going your way and you begin to think that you've done such great things with your hand and your talent. And soon the memory fades of the goodness and the kindness and the mercies of God. How often do you count your blessings and name them one by one? Count your blessings and see what God has done. But their idolatry and ingratitude were merely signs of their independence. They declared their independence by distancing themselves from the one who had held out his hand of kindness time and time again. Verse 9, he destroys you, O Israel, for you are against me, against your helper. They rejected the helper that had been so good to them in the past, like independent fools. They had reached out to Egypt and Assyria for help. They relied on their own kings to save them. And now he asked them in verses 10 and 11, where now is your king to save you in all your cities? Where are all your rulers, those of whom you said, give me a king and princes? I gave you a king in my anger, and I took him away in my wrath. They demanded a king, and he gave them Saul, who failed them. But he's likely also including the 20 kings of the northern kingdom. Several of them murdered their own predecessors. Every one of them was bad. All failed. All did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. And Hosea is saying, you depended on others, but the only one who is your true helper, you rejected. And then down in verse 12. Hosea 10, 13, he says to Samaria the capital, I'm sorry, verse 13. Samaria, you have trusted in your own way and in the multitude of your warriors. Declaring independence reminds us of the famous lyrics of an old song, I did it my way. And it's the human tendency even of believers to reach out to every tangible earthly helper before we rely on God. And independence is just another form of pride. Have you forgotten to give God the glory for your gifts, your talents, your abilities, your accomplishments? Or have you made a declaration of independence? Remember Nebuchadnezzar. Remember Herod. These were their sins. But the independent spirit is nothing less than ignorance. And we've already seen this in chapter 2, verse 8, how often Hosea charged them with, and she did not know that it was I who gave her the grain. Again, in Hosea 11, verse 3, I, who taught Ephraim to walk, took them up by their arms, but they did not know that I healed them. The problem was that they were not stupid but verse 6 of chapter 4 says, My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge because you have rejected knowledge. This is willful ignorance. And let us think about how often we have sinned against the truth we know so well. Ignorance in this sense is knowing but not doing. As James is exhorting us, be doers of the word, not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. And so, idolatry and gratitude, independence and self-will self-willed ignorance, all sins that are noted by rebellion against the Lord. It's the autonomous man. God will not share his glory with another, so the final charge of Hosea here in this prosecution is insubordination. Verse 9, for you are against me, against your helper. Verse 16, Samaria shall bear her guilt because she has rebelled against her God. Rebelling against the kindness of God is a heinous sin against God. And every time you resist authorities, disobey your parents, sneer at the decisions of those in authority over you, you demonstrate this insubordinate spirit against God. And you might ask, well, what does this kind of behavior deserve? Well, Hosea is reminding us that God is good, but he's not always safe. And so you notice our second point, Israel's punishment. Notice the chilling therefore in verse three. Therefore they shall be like the morning mist, or like the dew that goes early away, like the chaff that swirls from the threshing floor, or like smoke from a window. Four metaphors all signaling a sudden disappearance. Morning mist, here one moment and gone the next. Dew soon evaporates in the morning sun, gone. The chaff from the winnowing floor is thrown in the air and in the wind it blows away as we read in Psalm 1. Smoke makes an appearance and poof, it vanishes, never to be seen again. And then in verse 7, he continues his pronouncement of the judgment that is about to befall them. He reminds them and all of us that God is good, but he's not always safe. Hear the language in verse 7. So I am to them like a lion, like a leopard. I will lurk beside the way. I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs. I would tear open their breast, and there I will devour them like a lion, as a wild beast would rip them open. He destroys you, O Israel, for you are against me, against your helper. The leopard stalks its prey in the dark of night, sometimes with stealth, setting up an ambush and pounces on its victim, tearing its flesh. Getting between a bear robbed of its cubs is no force to contend with. It almost happened to me one time, and had I ignorantly gotten between them, I would not, no doubt, be standing here today. And what shall we say about the lion, the king of the jungle, and its ferocious power to destroy its prey? There's no better symbol to illustrate the judgment and wrath as a bear robbed of her cubs and as a roaring, ravenous lion or a leopard waiting to pounce on its prey. And Ephraim's prolonged patterns of sin are bound up like a powder keg, waiting to explode with judgment. His sins are stored up. Unconfessed sin is like a time bomb waiting to go off. Verse 12, the iniquity of Ephraim is bound up. His sin is kept in store. But Hosea is not finished. He further describes him in a word picture that speaks a thousand words. Verse 13, The pangs of childbirth come for him, but he is an unwise son, for at the right time he does not present himself at the opening of the womb. It's a difficult verse, but it seems to be saying the child crowns and is ready to be born, but it's a breached child. It's stuck. It's unwilling to go in or go back, and it implies death to both the child and the mother. And so Israel's doom is sure, and all the imagery is summed up by the destroyer that would strike the ultimate blow. In verse 15, though he may flourish among his brothers, the east wind of the Lord shall come, rising from the wilderness, and his fountain shall dry up, his spring shall be parched, it shall strip his treasury of every precious thing. The east winds came from the hot desert and blew with such force that it would scorch everything in its path. In times past, the east winds have been used to demonstrate the kindness of God to Israel. It was an east wind that brought the hordes of locusts when they were in Egypt and destroyed all the vegetation in its path. And this was preparation for Israel's deliverance. But it was the east wind that God used to part the Red Sea, and in His kindness, God allowed Israel a cross on dry land, and the Egyptians were drowned in the sea. We see the goodness and kindness there, both demonstrated by an east wind. Now it's not kindness. The east wind, directed by the hand of the Lord in the form of an Assyrian invasion, will devour and destroy. And the northern tribes will basically disappear from any form of prominence from the day they ever existed till God's hand falls through these Assyrians. They sought the Assyrians for a peace treaty, but now that same east wind will be the means of their destruction, and all her prosperity is about to come to an end, and these unleashed winds will be more devastating than the tornadic winds of Nebraska or the hurricane winds that recently devastated areas of Georgia and North Carolina and Florida, leaving devastation and destruction in their wake. We just a few weeks ago traveled through some of those areas of the country. We just saw the tip of the iceberg. But you've seen the pictures of the destruction and the devastation of winds, the forces of God's hand through wind. But notice it's an east wind. It's the wind of the Lord. It's the sovereign hand of the God who will direct an Assyrian invasion that will devour and destroy, and the northern tribes will basically disappear from any form of prominence from that day until now. Notice, Ephraim feeds on the wind and pursues the east wind all day long, Hosea 12.1, and now the east wind will be the means of her destruction. They were well-equipped. What we've heard in this graphic language, and there's even more to come, I hate to tell you, the Assyrians were known for their evil, wicked, torturous ways. They were a well-equipped army, military arms. They were a well-disciplined military force. The Assyrians were known for their extreme cruelty. Their art depicts their brutality and they terrorize the surrounding nations by advertising their cruel methods of conquest. They had skilled archers and battering rams and horses and chariots. They would skin some of their victims alive. One source says they would cut out the tongues and eyes of captives and stack dismembered corpses at the gates of the conquered cities. Israel had trusted these Assyrians and their military armaments for protection. They paid tribute to both Egypt and this dreaded enemy to be their helper. And now, because of their sins, God is going to use the east wind, the Assyrian armies, to bring her down. Do you see the kindness and severity of God have two sides to his will? God is good. He's kind. But he's not always safe. And the chapter ends in a somber and grisly note. In Hosea's final words, he turns to the destruction of Samaria, the capital city of the north. The symbol of Ephraim's greatness will be the final nail in their coffin. It is the severity of God in the most graphic terms. If you notice again, verse 16, Samaria shall bear her guilt. Because she has rebelled against her God, they shall fall by the sword. Their little ones shall be dashed in pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open. The enemies would not only plunder their earthly goods and treasures, but also wipe out the prospects of any future generations of enemies. So they killed the children, and they killed the pregnant mothers. Hosea's used frightening imagery like this before. It's PG-13, and by some standards for violence, it's rated R. There's a part of us that recoil and hesitate to even read what God has said would come upon this rebellious people. Do you have a category for the severity of God? If this were not the inspired, wholly written word of God, I would hesitate to read such graphic imagery. This is not the language that appeals to the common man, woman, boy, or girl's ears. They're about to meet the most savage nation in the region. From graphic, literal, and chilling terms to metaphorical language of breech babies, all signaling that judgment is coming. And there's no way to soften the intensity of God's wrath in these passages. And this is the God of the Bible, and he has not changed. He's kind, but he's also severe. He's always good, but sometimes he's not safe. To unbelievers, this passage is no joke. It is no rhetorical game. The east wind of the Lord falls upon all unrepentant sinners. Ephraim's death signifies the death of mankind fallen in Adam. The only path to restoration is repentance. Perhaps you've turned your back on God. You're avoiding looking up and facing the inevitable and the prophets and the preachers and the word of God and friends and relatives and neighbors have been warning you to look up, look up, look up. There's danger ahead. Oh, it's worse than getting between mama bear and her cubs. It's worse than a leopard ready to pounce. It's worse than a roaring lion coming your way. It's even worse than the east wind of the Assyrians. It's a looming judgment from the living God who is a consuming fire. And Jesus himself said, do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. One pastor titled this sermon, and repeated the phrase several times, take sin seriously, take sin seriously, take sin seriously. If you're not wrapped up in His covenant love through Jesus Christ, He is your greatest enemy. And so we ask, is there any hope in all of this? It's pretty heavy. You've noticed I haven't dealt with verse 14. And so we look from Hosea's prosecution and Israel's punishment to God's promise. Verse 14, I shall ransom them from the power of Sheol. I shall redeem them from death. If you notice the footnote of your ESV Bible, if that's what you have, or an NASB, Some of the translations make these questions. Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from death? And the implied answer is, no, I will not. And they say that Hosea is merely continuing his pronouncements of judgment. However, he appears to follow with two positive questions. Oh, death, where are your plagues? Oh, Sheol, where is your sting? And Paul picks up on these phrases as the basis for our gospel hope and proof of victory over death and a final bodily resurrection. In 1 Corinthians 15, he says, death is swallowed up in victory and then with a taunt against death, he says, oh death, where is your victory? Oh death, where is your sting? Now the Hebrew does not necessarily require questions, but statements of fact. I shall ransom, I shall ransom. Ransom is a purchase price. And to redeem, I'm sorry, I shall ransom, I shall redeem. Redeem is an act to set someone free. These are terms of deliverance. In other words, there is, if interpreted this way, still a future hope, not only for the remnant from the northern tribes, but for every new covenant believer who puts their trust in Jesus. This is good news. Now, two objections are raised. One is, why would Hosea randomly stick a positive statement of hope in the middle of such scathing pronouncements of judgment? The Puritan Jeremiah Burroughs put it this way, it is usual with the prophets to mingle comforts with their threatenings to keep God's people from despair. Did you feel the despair in the first section of the sermon? We need hope. And it shouldn't be a surprise because Hosea, who repeatedly makes these sudden shifts from threats of judgment to redemption and hope, in chapter 11, verses seven and eight, though they call out to the Most High, he shall not raise them up at all. Then abruptly in verse eight, how can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? My heart recoils within me. My compassion grows warm and tender. God is not schizophrenic. When Hosea's wife bore a son and named him Lo-Ami, in chapter 1 we read, for you are not my people and I am not your God. And the very next verse says, Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea. And in the place where it was said to them, You are not my people, it shall be said to them, Children of the living God. And that we saw points to the promise of the new covenant when Jew and Gentile would be combined in one church. Similarly, we read in Hosea 6 verses 1 and 2, And if you remember, we learned that Paul and other New Testament writers had Hosea in mind when they referred to Christ being raised from the dead on the third day. And this is Paul's foundational argument for the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15. The first Adam brought death upon the world and the second Adam destroyed death for his people. And if Christ has been raised and there is a triumphant note, Paul says the last enemy to be destroyed is death. And we heartily amen Paul when he shouts, thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. And so Jose has done this before, several times in his book. But you may have another objection. You might ask, how does verse 14 square with this view? Compassion is hidden from my eyes. Well, I'll give you a couple of ways it's possible. Some connect it with verse 15, where Hosea goes back to finish his oracle of condemnation. It would read like this, compassion is hidden from my eyes, though he may flourish among his brothers, the east wind, the wind of the Lord shall come. The NIV takes it that way. Also the word compassion can be translated repentance. And the KJV picks it up this way. Oh, death, I will be thy plagues. Oh, grave, I will be thy destruction. Repentance shall be hid from my eyes. In other words, I'll not turn back from what I have promised. And in some sense, even our translation of the word compassion can mean I will not change my mind over death and the grave having power to stop my plans to ransom and redeem my people from their sins. And this is the whole storyline of Hosea. This supports our theme that God may not always be safe, but he is good. He is kind. He does not forget his promise. But let us never forget the defeat of death and the grave came by way of the severity of God. Think about the cross for a moment. The east wind came from the hand of the Lord and judgment upon his son. There would have been no resurrection of Jesus and a final resurrection of believers without the horrible death of Jesus. As one has said, the death sentence that fell on Ephraim and would rightly fall also on us has been taken from us to the cross of Jesus Christ. But his act of kindness toward us came with the utmost severity. In the act of propitiation, as we learned in Sunday school this morning, that appeasement or satisfaction of God's wrath on our behalf, the east wind, it blew upon the sun. The hour of dereliction and forsakenness, and when he cried, I thirst, he was feeling the east wind of the judgment of God. It was not the desert winds of the east. It was not the hordes of vicious Assyrians. It was not a mama bear, a leopard, or a roaring lion. It was the judgment of the Almighty Father, bringing the pangs of hell upon him as he died, giving his precious blood for the church. And this promise of the hope of God's kindness We'll come and further display next week in chapter 14. This is just a tiny taste. Ransom, redemption and victory over death, and the grave points to Jesus and the new covenant. He offers himself to sinners. Oh, I would say if you're outside of Christ this morning, don't kiss the calves. Don't give your affection and your devotion and your love and your time and your wealth and your money and all that you are to that which is nothing and will be ultimately destroyed. And you along with it. Don't kiss the calves, the idols of this world. But as the psalmist says, kiss the son. Kiss the son lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. And to our brothers and sisters here in Christ, I would say this text exhorts us to cast off our idolatry and our ingratitude, our independence, our ignorance, our insubordination, in whatever form those things take, and embrace the Son, your covenant Redeemer, who paid the ransom of precious blood on your behalf. As the hymn writer says, behold the man upon a cross, my sin upon his shoulders, Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice call out among the scoffers. It was my sin that held him there until it was accomplished. His dying breath has brought me life. I know that it is finished. God is good, but he's not always safe. But as the Apostle Paul exclaimed, thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. And we all say amen. Amen. What a wonderful transition to the Lord's table. Judgment came upon Jesus so we could be ransomed, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. And we have found our safety in the lion from the tribe of Judah. We've found him to be kind toward every repentant sinner. And this table here before us is set for believers, those who have trusted in this risen Christ that Paul referred to in 1 Corinthians 15. And all through the scriptures, we have this hope of a Christ who was crucified. died, was buried, and rose again, and ascends on high, and intercedes for us on our behalf. And he reminds us of all of that right here in this supper. It's for believers. It's something that unbelievers should wonder at and inquire about, but never participate in the eating and drinking of it. It is this supper that is given to us who know the Lord. We'd love to have a conversation with anyone who is outside of Christ this morning. We're very willing to do that. We would ask you to observe as God's people enter in that upon faith, by faith, With faith the gift of faith we come to enter into communion with our lord and with one another And so if you would please take notice of the instructions on the screen and ushers if you would come