Alright, if you would, turn to the book of Hosea, chapter 6. Tonight we're going to try to go through chapters 6 and 7. They're both fairly short. We're in our study on the minor prophets. Again, we're going through the minor prophets chronologically. We've been through the book of Joel and Jonah and Amos. Now we're in Hosea. Micah will be next if you want to read ahead. But so far what we've been seeing I think this will be the trend all the way through. All these men, these prophets, were prophets to the northern kingdom of Israel. Not to the nation as a whole, not to Judah, but to Israel. And again, if you remember the back story The Northern Kingdom split off from the Southern Kingdom. The Ten of the Tribes, which are today referred to as the Ten Lost Tribes. I don't know who decided that they were lost, but that's what they're called. They were in the Northern Kingdom and He had the other two tribes of the 12 that were left in Judah. And the Northern Kingdom, we talked about this last time, and we'll see more about the name Ephraim tonight. The name Ephraim just really kind of sort of applies to the Northern Kingdom as a whole, but at the same time, Ephraim was the name of one of the tribes, the larger of the 10 tribes. The tribe of Ephraim was also the one where their kings came from. They were the ones who the capital city was in their part of the country. And then last time also he mentioned a little bit about Judah. We'll see a little bit more mention about Judah tonight. It's the same thing in the southern kingdom. It's called Judah. That was the official name of the kingdom. But also know that of the two tribes that were there, Judah was the larger of the two. And the capital city of Jerusalem was in their part of the country. The kings came from there. So just a little history on where we've been and where we're going. We see more tonight of how God's gonna send the Assyrians to overthrow the Northern Kingdom. They don't make it as far as the Southern Kingdom. They almost do, but then later after they've conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel and taken captives there back to Assyria, Then you see Babylon rise up and overthrow Assyria and become the new world power at that time in that part of the world. And of course we know from studying the Old Testament and other places in Isaiah and Jeremiah that God used the army of Nebuchadnezzar to overthrow Jerusalem finally. We will see a little bit mentioned about some of that tonight. So let's start with chapter 6 and verse 1. Hosea chapter 6 verse 1. Come and let us return unto the Lord, for He hath torn, and He will heal us. He hath smitten, and He will bind us. That's kind of odd, isn't it? This is Israel speaking, the northern kingdom of course. Hosea telling here that the Lord is going to... He's saying, come and let us return unto the Lord. They need to repent. He's torn them. In other words, He's given them a good whooping. That's what He's done. It's just He will heal us. He's also, not only is he going to be the one who chastises, but he's also going to be the one who heals them. He's the only one who can. Nobody else can. He has smitten, and he will bind us up. He will bind us up. He's knocked them down and stomped on them and all that. And they have suffered or will suffer a lot before it's over. Remember, they will go into captivity. They don't get to come back to the land anytime soon. Speaking of the 10 tribes, they are scattered after this. After two days, he will revive us. In the third day, he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Now, there are a few different ideas out there, beliefs out there on this two and three days. One is that, and I can't remember the guy's name, one of the old writers that John Gill quotes, believes that, and Gill doesn't believe this himself of course, or he didn't anyway, but he mentions that this guy believed that The two days here was referring to the two temples. And the third day would be that third temple that the Jews look for. And even, I noticed when I was looking at Gil's writing on this, even he admits that that third temple is in vain. And we said, what do you mean? Well, I think we covered this a few months ago when we talked about the red heifers that was being talked about earlier this year. There's no need for a third temple. The Jews keep saying that they're going to build a third temple in Jerusalem. And according to their timeline that they throw out there, it would have to be after the tribulation starts, before it would be built. But remember, there's no need for a temple anymore, is there? Christ has already come. He's fulfilled that part of the law. The religious ceremonies that were observed in the temple, all the sacrifices and all that, are no more needed by God's people. It would only be in vain for someone to build that. And if that's what happens, that's what it will be. Remember, the Antichrist is going to come and sit on the throne. and proclaim himself to be God. So it appears as though there will be some kind of temple or something there in Jerusalem during that time. Now, where he gets that out of this verse, I don't know. But another thought on it was, is it talking about their times of captivity, one being Egypt, second being Babylon, and the third one being now, what they're going through now. I don't know, to be honest. It doesn't give us enough information there to say either what is exactly talking about here. And maybe if I was better educated in to things of Israel in Hebrew maybe I can tell you more about it, but I just don't know. Verse 3, Then shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord. His going forth is prepared as the morning, and He shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and the former rain unto the earth. And we hear talk about this latter rain and the former rain. The former rain being what comes at the beginning of the growing season when you plant your crop. If you plant it at the right time of the year, you should get a rain at the beginning of the crop. At the beginning, right after you've planted. And then the way things, the way the Lord has things, our seasons planned out for us, we should get what's called a ladder rain. Just before the harvest, you should get another boost of water, of rain, to make the plants grow even faster and produce as much as possible right towards the end. That's what this refers to. It's an agricultural term. And so he's He's using it as an analogy for Israel, how they were blessed and the Lord caused them to grow in the beginning when He first planted them. And then when He comes back for the harvest, there's going to be another rain and He's going to bless them again. When will that be? Well, I believe it's in the Tribulation. It's when He's going to save a nation in a day. There's going to be 144,000 at least that are going to be saved. I've never understood... I know the Pentecostal types like to talk about the latter rain in the form of rain. That never applies to the Church. They say that it does. Not in the right church anyway, but it has nothing to do with the New Testament church. It's got to do with Israel. Now verse 4, he talks about during the rest of the chapter, and actually through chapter 7, Israel's unfaithfulness to God. We see the reason for God's chastisement. He says, O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? For your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away. They're not much, are they? The dew's not much, is it? It helps, of course, with the crop sometimes. It gives a little bit of moisture in the mornings, but it's not enough. If all you got was dew every morning, it would not be enough to sustain your crop. You need that former rain and that latter rain. And he mentions Israel here and Judah both. Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets. I have slain them by the words of my mouth, and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth. The judgment is started. For I desired mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. But they, like men, have transgressed the covenant, and there have they dealt treacherously against Me." God's own people. They broke His covenant. Remember, He made a covenant with them. He wrote it. He told them how they were to abide by it. And yet they broke it. And it wasn't a hard covenant to keep. All they had to do was follow Him. Just like the covenant we have today with God. The New Covenant. It's not hard. Just follow His commandments is what He says. Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity and is polluted with blood. Gilead was in the Northern Kingdom and it was a very wicked place in their day. A lot of blood sacrifices were offered there. And we don't hear much about it. But yes, they were sacrificing children. There's evidence of that. There's archaeological evidence of that. The false god of Molech, I believe he was of the Philistines, if I remember right, And some of the others had some similar god as him. They would get the statue burning hot and then throw a live child in it. And just cook them alive. And that was a sacrifice to their god. And Israel, the people of Israel, began to take on these things. And as troops of robbers wait for a man So the company of priests murder in the way by consent, for they commit lewdness. Even the priests were involved. Well, think about it. You got a place of worship. Of course, I'm not sure what they had in the Northern Kingdom. They didn't have the temple, of course, that they had in Jerusalem. But whatever place they had there to worship, the priests were in charge of that place, were they not? So they are the ones who allowed the people to come and worship false gods there. Matter of fact, if you go back to places in Isaiah and in Jeremiah, where they're talking about the southern kingdom, and it sounds like it was the same way or worse in the northern kingdom, the priest encouraged it. They began to encourage. Why? they were getting money out of it. It was for filthy lucre. Much like today when you have people in the Lord's churches. The pastor and the elders of the church are the ones who are to protect the church from false doctrine and from straying and following after false gods. And yet, many times, it's those very men that bring in the false doctrine. I have seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel. There is the whoredom of Ephraim. Israel is defiled. Israel is no more the wife dressed in white that God had married. She has been defiled. She has committed adultery against Him. Also Judah, and not just Israel, Judah's done the same thing. Also Judah, he hath set a harvest for thee, when I returned, the captivity of my people. Judah's gonna be treated similarly. Now chapter seven, when I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered. In other words, God was willing He showed mercy on Israel for a time. For a long time. And he was willing to accept their repentance. But they never repented. Then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered in the wickedness of Samaria. For they committed falsehood. And the thief cometh in, and the troop of robbers spoileth without. Who are these thieves and these robbers. I believe they were the nations around them who came in and introduced them to these false gods. It's these, remember their sons and daughters had married into the families of their enemies. And when they did, they came home and they brought their false gods with them. And they consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness. Now their own doings have beset them about. They are before my face." And we see that today. People who act wickedly. We'll talk about church people here. He's talking about God's people here. Let's talk about God's people today. In particular, in the churches. When you see wickedness, when you see false doctrine, when you see sin in the church, He says, and they consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness. What's he talking about? The people, they don't even care that God knows. God knows everything that's going on with us. It doesn't matter what you try to hide. He knows. And there are people who think they're getting away with it. There are people And it's not just members, it's pastors who bring in false doctrine into a church. And they know it's false. They allow it. They allow it to come in. And don't stop it. They invite a man to come and preach for them. And he'll preach false doctrine and they won't stand up Call him down for it. Then the people begin to fall for it. They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies. The king and his family, they're happy. That's all that matters, right? Even when it's wickedness and lies. They don't care. As long as they're getting a cut of the profit, right? They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker, who ceases from raising after he hath kneaded the bread, until it be leavened. He's talking about making a loaf of bread, a leavened bread, or a bread with yeast in it. There's a time when you need it and you have to let it rise before you put it in the oven. And even after you put it in the oven, it's going to rise even more. And that's how false doctrine does. You let a little bit in and it begins to grow. And it gets hot. When it gets hot, it grows even faster. In the day of our king, the princes have made him sick with bottles of wine. He stretched out his hand with scorners. The king's become a drunkard. He's not a man of God like he should be. For they have made ready their heart like an oven, Lie in wait, their bakers sleepeth all the night. In the morning it burneth as a flaming fire. They are all hot as an oven, and have devoured their judges. All their kings are fallen. There is none among them that calleth unto me." All the good people are gone, is what he's saying. All the people who would call upon the Lord are not there anymore. this fire that burns within them, this fire of false doctrines, fire of false gods, of worshipping false gods. And we think we're immune to it, but we have to be careful, because we can be the same way, maybe differently, but the same way. Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people. Ephraim is a cake not turned. He's only done on one side. We don't normally flip a cake over, do we? But he may not be talking about the same kind of cake we're thinking about either. In their day, it may be more like a pancake, a flat cake. That's what I would imagine it is. And in the type of ovens that they used, you would have to flip it over to get it done on both sides. But Ephraim, he says, is a cake not turned. He's not been cooked on the other side. Strangers have devoured his strength. Who are these strangers? It's the enemies of Israel. The other nations around them. People who are not Israel are always referred to as strangers in the Old Testament. Have devoured his strength and he knoweth it not. And again, he's using leaven here. Leaven bread is an example here. As you're reading through this, you really don't think much about it. Pay attention to the leaven part and you remember what Paul wrote about a little leaven, leaveneth the whole lot. What's happened in Israel in Hosea's day? A little leaven has leavened the whole lot. It has come in, and if you ever, my wife has been making bread recently. It's something that doesn't happen quickly. You know, you're not going to prepare it and five minutes later it's ready to go in the oven. Sometimes it's all night. So you better not have an appetite for bread when they first start because it ain't going to happen. It takes a while. you have to have some patience. But here, same thing here, he says, strangers have devoured his strength and he knoweth it not. How did he not know it? Because it took a long time. These strangers had patience and they crept in and gradually, little by little, the lovin' began to grow. And before the king knew it, it had taken over the kingdom. The pride of Israel, yea, great hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not. He's gotten old and doesn't realize it. And the pride of Israel testifieth to his face, and they do not return to the Lord their God, nor seek Him for all this. Even through all their troubles, the northern kingdom never returns to the Lord their God. At least not in that time. They will one day. Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart. You ever seen doves when they just flutter around like they're crazy? They call to Egypt. They go to Assyria. Now from what I remember about this situation was they, at one time they sought the help of Egypt because next to the Assyrians and eventually the Babylonians, Egypt was the next largest superpower in their part of the world. And they sought Egypt for help. Why would you, if you've spent all them years in captivity in Egypt, Why would you call for all in for help? That makes no sense, does it? But Israel and Judah both. If you remember our studies in Jeremiah, when Nebuchadnezzar came in, he was in the middle of besieging Jerusalem, and Egypt tried to sneak in around behind him at the request of the king of Judah. And here, Ephraim does the same thing. He tries to call in Egypt to help out. And instead, what happens? Well, in Nebuchadnezzar's case, Egypt, there was a battle fought. Egypt lost. Not a lot, but they eventually gave up and went back home. Here, in the Northern Kingdom, Egypt just goes away or doesn't come at all. And he says, they go to Assyria. Who goes to Assyria? Ephraim. Why? They're captured. They were taken into captivity. When they shall go, I will spread my net upon them. I will break them down as the fowls of the heaven. I will chastise them as their congregation hath heard. So this congregation of people, this nation, has already heard from God. He's had all these prophets, remember? All the minor prophets preaching to them what God was going to do to them if they didn't repent. They had no excuse. Woe unto them, for they have fled from Me. Destruction unto them, because they have transgressed against Me. Though I have redeemed them, yet They have spoken lies against Me. Even though they're saved. He's redeemed them, remember? Even though they're His people, they've still spoken lies against Him. How is that? Well, for one, they've followed false gods. They're celebrating. What are they doing? They're celebrating the holy days of those false gods. What do we see today? We just finished one so-called holy day. People won't admit it, but that's what they've turned it into, the end of October. And then you've got another one coming up next month, which is the high holy day of the so-called Christian world. And both are full of lies. All it takes is a little bit of study. It doesn't take a whole lot. You can go to the Scripture, the story of the birth of our Savior. You can go to the Scripture and clearly see. It's clearly taught in Matthew and in Luke both. And a little bit in Isaiah. And the vast majority of what is taught today is nothing but lies. And people say, oh, it's okay. It's the meaning of it. No. It's leaven. And they have not cried unto me with their heart. When they hailed upon their beds, they assembled themselves for corn and wine, and they rebelled against me. With everything they do, they're rebelling against God. When they're laying in their beds asleep, or when they howl upon their beds, when the enemy comes and they're trying to hide. He says they assemble themselves for corn and wine when they come to eat together. They're rebelling against God. Though I have found, or though I have bound and strengthened their arms, yet do they imagine mischief against me." Remember, God had prospered the Northern Kingdom. We've talked about that a lot in this whole study, in all the books that we've been in. God prospered the Northern Kingdom. They were a very wealthy kingdom at one time. They had an army that was at least strong enough to defend themselves. It doesn't appear that they tried to go out and conquer anybody, but they did fend off their enemies for a time anyway. God blessed them with that. Yet, even though He blessed them with all that, they still, as He says here, imagined mischief against Me. They still sought False gods. They return, but not to the Most High. They are like a deceitful bow. Their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue. This shall be their derision in the land of Egypt. They're going to fall at the hands of the Assyrians. They're scattered. The ten tribes are scattered. A lot of them He mentions Egypt here. A lot of them would go to Egypt eventually. They would go to other places. They were all over, scattered all over the known world at that time. And as time went on, they were scattered even more as the rest of the world was populated. What happened to, and I know we're talking about the northern kingdoms tonight, but it applies to both, northern and southern kingdoms both. But the things that we see, and we're seeing a lot of what we saw in our study in Jeremiah a few years ago, is very similar to what we see today with the Lord's people today. And not just with His people, but even with His churches. There's false doctrine being taught. There's lies being told about the very words of God. People will take the Word of God and even where it's very clear on what He's trying to teach there, will flat out lie about it. Just to fit their narrative. Just so that they can get their point across the things, their beliefs. They can care less about what God's truth is. We'll pick up with Chapter 8 next time. So that's all we've got for tonight.