Apply Within

Bob Davis: There is no church function that ever takes place of studying God's word. Too many people don't want the Bible taught at church more and more all the time. They're trying to find churches where they don't have to hear or be convicted at all. We have people tell us they don't like the studies, but they come to the church functions because there's food and things. Just keep in mind for yourself, there is no church function that takes place of the study of God's word.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Apply Within, a verse-by-verse study of the word of God with Pastor Bob Davis of North Country Chapel. We invite you to join with us as we, by the power of God's Holy Spirit, apply His word within our own hearts as we study it line upon line, precept upon precept, verse by verse through the Bible. As our study of the Book of Hosea continues in Chapter 6, God asks Israel to repent and turn back to Him so He can bless them. Here is Pastor Bob.

Bob Davis: Verse 11 says, "Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment because he willingly walked after the commandment." Ephraim just did what everybody around was doing. Oppressed and broken in judgment because he willingly walked after the commandment. He willingly. This is something that they chose to do. Why? Because everybody around them was doing it.

I think that that's one of the ways humans are built. It's something that is natural in you and I. We want to be an individual, but we don't want to stand out. So, we stick our hair straight up in the air so that we won't stand out. At first you don't serve the false god, you just start dressing like the people that do. Once we start looking like them and we fit in with them and we're around with them, if we're not careful we start acting like them and talking like them. That's what Ephraim did. That's what the Northern Kingdom did. That's how they got themselves in trouble. It wasn't just here and here, it began to permeate the entire nation. It started on the East Coast and it went to the West Coast, and it'll get to Idaho, give it time.

So he says in verse 12, because everybody was following the crowd, willingly going after it. He says in verse 12, "Therefore, or because of that, will I be unto Ephraim as a moth and to the house of Judah as rottenness." There it is. Very clearly, he has told us how it's going to work. You and I know moths. What do moths do? They get into your closet and they eat your clothes, don't they? Not up here, it's too cold. In other places where moths could survive, they get into your closet and they can wreck some really expensive clothing. You get some wool and they'll go right through that. How quickly? You get a moth in your closet, you'll have a hole overnight. What did God just tell them? I'm going to be to you like a moth. Your destruction will come overnight, that quickly.

Now, rottenness on the other hand, if you'd like to just go out and take a look at some of the barns that are around Idaho or Northeastern Washington. You see the barns and they're cool. There was one over toward St. Mary's that finally fell, but for years it was leaning and people were taking bets when is that thing going to actually collapse because the wood is slowly rotting year after year, season after season. Finally, the wood is like paper and collapses. That's exactly what God just said about Judah.

When Ephraim saw his sickness and Judah saw his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria or to the Assyrian and sent to King Jareb. Yet he could not heal you nor cure you of your wound. Ephraim, when they saw that they were in trouble, the Northern Kingdom, when they saw that they were in trouble, what did they do? Instead of the Lord and repenting and crying out to God, they went to the Assyrian king and said, "Our enemy, we're afraid Babylon or Egypt, we're afraid that we're going to be overcome by our enemies. We want to sign a truce, a pact with you. Make us a deal, make us a bargain." And the king goes, "Sure, love to. We won't bother you, you don't bother us." They signed a peace agreement. What happened? That king turned on them almost immediately. He lied. God says, "Instead of coming to me, you went to your enemies for help." It destroyed them.

I'm going to tell you, Christian, instead of me going to God for help, maybe I go to other people, maybe I go to other places. Maybe you start thinking about money, maybe money will solve. Instead of crying out to God, humbling ourselves and crying out to God, we go to sometimes the enemy for help. What's it going to get me? Trouble, big trouble. I'll be very sorry if I turn from God and seek help from anywhere else.

Verse 14 says, "For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion and 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. I will go and return to my place till they acknowledge their offense and seek my face. In their affliction, they will seek me early." He says, "I'm going to be like a lion to Israel." How does a lion attack? If you've watched any of the National Geographic films, how does a lion do it? They just come up real slow to their prey and hold it down and think about what they're doing. Have you ever seen a lion do that? No. What do they do? They pounce on it, they rip it up, they make sure it's dead, and then they eat, they rip it apart right there. Everybody just joins in. God says that's how it's going to be to Israel. It's going to happen fast and they're going to be ripped apart, they're going to be destroyed.

But how about a young lion? You watch those films and the mama lion, she's tough and she's hunting, and then you've got these two little goofballs. There's usually two of them. It's like a Walt Disney thing and they're these- they don't walk well, they try to fight each other and they fall over. That's a young lion. What does a young lion toward Judah mean? Takes some time to grow up. Going to give you some time, Judah. The lion to Israel, you'll be jumped on and ripped apart, but a young lion to Judah. You've got some time. That young lion looks clumsy, a little goofy, time to grow. You've got some time to repent.

Till they acknowledge their offense. There needs to be a humility in our hearts and a repentance. And they seek my face. We read in the scriptures, call on the Lord while He may be found. Seek my face. In their affliction, they will seek me early. All you've got to do is rip them to shreds. All you've got to do is allow the judgment to come. God says they'll call, cry out for mercy, turn back to the living God, fall down, humble themselves and cry out, "Help, help me, Lord, for I am in trouble," because there's no way they're going to come out of this without Him.

In verse 1 of chapter 6, "Come and let us return to the Lord for He hath torn and He will heal us, He hath smitten and He will bind us up." Notice how good God is. That's- there's going to come a time when the nation of Israel is going to say that. Won't happen before they're destroyed over here, but there will come a time when the people of God will actually cry out and they're going to say that. They're going to say, "Come, let us return to the Lord." They still are not saying that, but they will. I think if things get hot enough here, even America would cry out, fall down and say, "Let's return to the Lord." What's that old saying, your arms are too short to box with God? I think that's what we're trying to do. There will come a time when the nation of Israel will speak these words.

Verse 2, "After two days will He revive us, in the third day He will raise us up and we shall live in His sight." What this is referring to, not to be confused with what some teachers teach. I've heard it taught that a day is a thousand years and so after two thousand years from the time Hosea spoke this, Israel would be brought back into the land and they will be filled with peace. It didn't happen. That's not two days being two thousand years. I think what you're talking about is simply this. When God begins to move, it's going to happen that quickly. It'll be- just seem like a couple of days when it's all completed. Of course, I think when you see here that He'll raise them up on the third day, we think about Jesus who was raised up on the third day as well, but it's probably referring to a short period of time once God begins.

Once those dominoes begin to fall, they fall rapidly when we see that study. Verse 3 says, "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." So the Lord, of course, being full of grace, being full of mercy. They say we should follow on to know Him. That's what they will say. We should follow on to know the Lord. I think we as Christians should follow on to know the Lord. You'll come to a part in the New Testament where the Apostle Paul will say, "I know whom I have believed." Not what, but who. Follow on to know the Lord. It's a relationship, a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Of course, what he talked about here to us was the former rains and the latter rains. The Lord will be like that. God will come to us like the rain that falls on the earth. Former rains would be the late rains of the season in Israel. They talk about September, October where they get the heavy rains. And then the latter rains would be the early spring rains which of course come before they do some of their harvesting. They work it a little different over there.

The verse simply says, "Then we shall know if we follow on to know the Lord. His going forth is prepared as the morning. He shall come to us as the rain, as the latter and the former rain to the earth." Guaranteed, God's coming. They know it, they'll say it then. Remember, this is then they'll say it. Verse 4 says to us, "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."

Isn't that frustrating when you had to chase him down and straighten him out and then as soon as he got out of your reach, he was doing it again and you're thinking, "I'm going to get you." God says, "What am I going to do with you? You're frustrating me, you're hurting me." This is making God angry. They rejected His kindness, His mercy. They walked away from it, not interested in it. All His blessings were to take care of them and to bring them closer to Him and they rejected those. Their love and their trust and their loyalty, He says, evaporated like the morning dew does. When I came in here today, it was fresh. I had long sleeves on. Driving down the road here, these are big open fields and the clouds were on the ground. You just see white solid all across the ground. Of course, in forty-five minutes they were gone. Wasn't quite fog, but it was just like clouds laying on the ground all across these wide open fields. Pretty. Didn't last very long, not even an hour and they were gone. Jesus said that's what their love is like, that's what their commitment is like, that's what their trust is like, that's what their loyalty is like. It's like the fog. Warms up a little, it's gone. The dew on the ground, warms up a little, it's gone. How's your loyalty? How's your trust? How's your love? We all need to ask that question. Is it like the dew? There one minute and gone the next, is it gone that quickly? God says that's what it was like for the people that He called His own.

Therefore, verse 5, "Have I hewed them by the prophets." That means I've cut them up or chopped them down by the prophets. That's what hewed means, you hew down a tree. "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." God's words of judgment were spoken by the prophets. I know that you know that, you've read them.

It brought troubles to them, even death. Take a look at Elijah. Elijah spoke and fire came out of the sky and consumed a captain and fifty people. And then another captain and another fifty. So one hundred people, well, one hundred and two, they were gone. Crispy critters, they were just gone by the spoken word of the prophet. God has said that. Jesus said that to the Pharisees and the Sadducees. I sent you prophets and I sent you those who were wise and they were in rages and they came at you. Nothing could mar your mood, nothing changed your attitude. And then He said you're blind fools.

Notice everyone, it brought troubles to them, even death when the prophets spoke. That tells me something. There was no lack of information. Does that make sense? There was no lack of information. The prophets were speaking out clearly. The nation heard what they needed to hear. I'm telling you, the same thing is true in Israel today just as in our nation. There is no lack of information in the nation of Israel. They can get on the internet, they can look up any Christian site, they can see what the gospel is. They've got all sorts of things going on to where anyone who wants to find the truth can get it and it won't cost them hardly a cent. Matter of fact, most of it's free.

Same with the United States of America. There is no lack of information. You can find good Christian radio really in every area in the United States of America. You can even find good Christian television programming throughout this nation. Not a lot, but there is. There was no lack of information. The people knew what God was saying and they knew what God had commanded them to do, they just didn't want to do it. Did you hear that? There was no lack of information. They knew what God was saying, they knew what God wanted them to do. He even said, "I'll help you do it," but they refused. And so judgment is inevitable.

Verse 6 says, "I desired mercy and not sacrifice." You hear that? You hear the heart of God? "I desired mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings." The people were still doing their religious duty. They were still worshipping what they thought was God. They would still bring the lambs on the Passover celebration. On the Sabbath, they would still bring their tithes or whatever in certain circumstances. The people were still doing their religious thing.

God's just said so. I desired mercy, not sacrifice. You don't need to bring all those animals. I would love it if you just had a heart for me instead. They're going through their religious motions, their religious duty. The knowledge of God is much more important. He says I prefer that than burnt offerings. They would bring their sacrifices because they were supposed to. There was no heart in any of that. It was ritual. You heard God say, you bring all the animals you want, I won't accept them. You won't even find me there. I think that's going on today around Israel and when they celebrate some of their quote "they have to do the Sabbath," they have to- when they're doing these celebrations, it's a religious ritual with no heart to it.

Now you bring it across the oceans to the United States of America and the churches. There are many, many big churches, there are churches all across this land and people are doing their religious thing. They're doing what they're supposed to. Some tithe because they're supposed to. They just- they're kind to one another because they're supposed to. There's no heart to it. God doesn't appreciate that and it makes Him angry, it upsets Him and you can see that kind of thing. Religion leads to trouble. It's all religious, it's all ritual.

Verse 7 says, "But they like men have transgressed the covenant, there have they dealt treacherously against me. Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity and is polluted with blood." They've broken our agreement, God says. There was a covenant. You go take a look at it, take a look at the law, the Mosaic Covenant. Take a look at the covenant. It's between God and those people. You do these, I'll be your God, you'll be my people. You break them, you don't obey, I won't be your God, you won't be my people. Remember the covenant? Well, they broke the covenant. God says they've dealt treacherously with me. It makes Him upset. Gilead is one bad place, by the way, he said. That's a bad place filled with blood. They work iniquity in that city. It's filled with sin. Many of the super wicked were there. Gilead had the reputation. Of course, you'll read later on is there no balm in Gilead? The answer is yes, there is, there's even some healing that could be there.

For some reason, misery loves company and so I see that. I see that in our nation. Certain cities have reputations and you know that they do. We don't have to name the city for you. If we say Sin City, many of you know what city that would be. And we could go on and on, cities carry reputations. Gilead had the reputation even with God. Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity and is polluted with blood. It's filled with murderers, it's filled with ugliness, it's filled with violence, it's in trouble.

"And as troops of robbers wait for a man, so the company of priests murder in the way by consent for they commit lewdness." In other words, the priests were refusing to give out God's word. They were refusing and they were really promoting lewdness and ugliness is what he's saying. "As troops of robbers, the company of priests murder in the way by consent." How did the priests murder people? Do you think they really grabbed them and choked them and broke their arms? No. You know how they murdered them? They refused to tell them what God said. That's how they were murdering the people. My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge, we've read that already in this book. Lack of knowledge of what? The alphabet? Lack of knowledge of quantum physics? Lack of knowledge of science? No, lack of knowledge of God and His word. And the priests are literally murdering them how? By not feeding them God's word. That's what he's saying. That's murdering the people. You are not giving them the word.

What's the last thing people want? The word. Because when I read my Bible, it steps on my toes, how about yours? When I read my Bible I go, "There's another thing." You don't do that? You don't read your Bible and go, "He can't mean that." And you start going looking at the original Greek going, "Can't say that, He couldn't mean that because I'd have to do- oh, He can't mean that." People don't want to hear it. It offends them. Alcoholism is a sin. People don't want to hear that. Living together unmarried is a sin. People don't want to hear that. God's word's clear on all these issues. Now I'm starting to hear people say, "Well, He doesn't quite mean that about this, here's what He meant." No, it's very clear. That's what the word of God says and people don't want to hear it. So they find places where they don't hear it. But you see any man or any woman who stands behind a pulpit or sits in the seat of spiritual leadership teaching and does not give out the word of God is killing people. And according to scripture, will be judged accordingly. Remember, weren't we told in the New Testament don't many of you try to be teachers because they will receive a greater condemnation? Why? Because when you teach, there's something God wants you to teach, and that's His word.