King James Bible Study – [Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.]
Date: Tuesday, July 20, 2021
Chapters: Hosea 8-14
Message: God Will Not Be Mocked
Hello My Friend,
I think that it breaks every faithful, born again Christian’s heart to see how fast the entire world is destroying itself. While the world scrambles to “save the planet” with all these regulations enforced to eliminate gas, coal, and even cows, and forces a vaccine upon everyone to reduce the spread of a virus that they created, true Christians are preparing themselves for the worse yet to come, [Matthew 24:6-9,12-13 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. 9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. 12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.]
There is a reason why Jesus said that we must keep our faith in Him until our dying breath, many will turn away from their faith in Him, and we are literally seeing that like you would not believe right now. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, if He judged Israel for turning their backs on Him, He will judge every nation, and judgment does comes to the house of God first. Through Hosea, God expresses His anger toward Israel for claiming their innocence when they created their own gods, and tried to say that He is the one they worshiped.
[Hosea 8:2-5,12-14 Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee. 3 Israel hath cast off the thing that is good: the enemy shall pursue him. 4 They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off. 5 Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off; mine anger is kindled against them: how long will it be ere they attain to innocency? 12 I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing. 13 They sacrifice flesh for the sacrifices of mine offerings, and eat it; but the LORD accepteth them not; now will he remember their iniquity, and visit their sins: they shall return to Egypt. 14 For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples; and Judah hath multiplied fenced cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof.]
[how long will it be ere they attain to innocency?] God is asking them how long they think they are going to act like they are innocent. Is that not half of Christ’s Church? They allow every abomination there is known to man into the church that Christ is the head of yet act like they are innocent. God will not be mocked, He will judge His house first, [1 Peter 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?]
Ephraim was the youngest son of Joseph, before Abraham died he told Joseph that Ephraim would be a greater nation than his oldest brother, [Genesis 48]. Then over eighty years later, Joshua, would lead the children of Israel (Jacob) into Canaan, where they would become the nation of Israel. Centuries later, after the death of Solomon, another son of Ephraim would be in charge of nine of the tribes of Israel, Jeroboam, and what he did was the worse thing any leader of any nation could have done, especially one in which God Almighty appoints. Instead of leading Israel on the path of God, he had two calves of gold made, setting one in Bethel, and another in Dan, and telling Israel that these were now their gods, [I Kings 12:25-33]. God is so angry with Ephraim that He chose to drive them out of His house all together.
[Hosea 9:7-10,15 The days of visitation are come, the days of recompence are come; Israel shall know it: the prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad, for the multitude of thine iniquity, and the great hatred. 8 The watchman of Ephraim was with my God: but the prophet is a snare of a fowler in all his ways, and hatred in the house of his God. 9 They have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days of Gibeah: therefore he will remember their iniquity, he will visit their sins. 10 I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at her first time: but they went to Baalpeor, and separated themselves unto that shame; and their abominations were according as they loved. 15 All their wickedness is in Gilgal: for there I hated them: for the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine house, I will love them no more: all their princes are revolters.]
[I will drive them out of mine house,] Joseph and Joshua were God fearing men who led God’s people to great things through their faithfulness. Now, everything has been turned upside down to the point that God drives them away. God will not be mocked, He will drive out all who turn on Him, whether Jew or Gentile, [Romans 2:9-10 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; 10 But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:]
There comes a time when it cannot be said that they have no idea that what they are doing is wrong and claim they are innocent. A slew of charges were drawn up against Israel, idolatry, false gods, sacrificing their own children, and immoral living. These were not just ordinary people, these were His people, those who were supposed to be the example that the rest of the world was to follow, but their heart is divided. Yet rather destroy them, God chooses to chasten them.
[Hosea 10:2,10-13 Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty: he shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images. 10 It is in my desire that I should chastise them; and the people shall be gathered against them, when they shall bind themselves in their two furrows. 11 And Ephraim is as an heifer that is taught, and loveth to tread out the corn; but I passed over upon her fair neck: I will make Ephraim to ride; Judah shall plow, and Jacob shall break his clods. 12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you. 13 Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men.]
[for it is time to seek the LORD,] God chastens His people to reap His mercies, to break up hardness of their hearts, and to remind them that they are made righteous through His Son alone. God will not be mocked, but He is merciful, [2 Corinthians 7:10-11 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. 11 For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.]
In the midst of Israel’s troubles as a nation, they never thought of seeking help from God, they put their trust in men, and the result of that was worshiping false gods instead of the One True God, and yet, God never gives up on them. While the judgment God placed upon them stood, that did not stop Him from wanting to save them from it. As God continues to stress His anger toward all of Israel, He reminds them that He loved them as a child, and for that reason He will not destroy them.
[Hosea 11:1-3,8-10,12 When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt. 2 As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images. 3 I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms; but they knew not that I healed them. 8 How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together. 9 I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not enter into the city. 10 They shall walk after the LORD: he shall roar like a lion: when he shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the west. 12 Ephraim compasseth me about with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit: but Judah yet ruleth with God, and is faithful with the saints.]
[I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger,] The longer you walk with Christ the more you realize just how sinful you are, and how merciful and longsuffering God is. God will not be mocked, but He is slow to anger, and it only endues for a moment, [Psalms 103:8-11 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. 9 He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. 10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. 11 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.]
[he shall roar like a lion:] Everyone sins, everyone stumbles, some of us backslide, but Jesus will not let one of His completely fall away from Him if they sincerely believe in Him with all of their heart. That is what God’s grace is for, when we stumble, when we backslide, He will be there for us. Those who truly know their Maker will hear the Lion of Judah roar, and will receive Him as their Saviour. The problem is not that these people are blind to that fact that what they are doing is sin, it is that they were never saved to begin with, then when affliction came they ran from Him. God is not only angry at these false religions, He is also angry at the Church in fact, He has a controversy with them. Why? They allowed the sin to creep in His Church.
[Hosea 12:1-6,13-14 Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind: he daily increaseth lies and desolation; and they do make a covenant with the Assyrians, and oil is carried into Egypt. 2 The LORD hath also a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his doings will he recompense him. 3 He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he had power with God: 4 Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto him: he found him in Bethel, and there he spake with us; 5 Even the LORD God of hosts; the LORD is his memorial. 6 Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God continually. 13 And by a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved. 14 Ephraim provoked him to anger most bitterly: therefore shall he leave his blood upon him, and his reproach shall his Lord return unto him.]
[and by a prophet was he preserved.] Although Christ is much more than a mere prophet, He is the one who preserves His people with His very own blood that he shed for us. This is why He does not forsake us every time we mess up, through our faith in Him our souls are preserved. When our flesh gives out and our soul rises up to the heavens, we will remain there until Christ returns. God will not be mocked, but He will never leave nor forsake one soul who sincerely receives Him as their Saviour, [John 10:28-29 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.]
[he had power over the angel,] God recalls the time in which He met up with Jacob, wrestled with him, and blessed him in Bethel, where one of these false gods were now standing. Our greatest reason to remember our faith in Christ, and stay faithful to Him is the fact that He is full of mercy and judgment upon those who wait on Him all the way until the end. I think that the one thing that angers God most is not the ones who reject Him, it is the ones who know Him, and lead double lives. They worship Him yet the world’s gods also, and for that reason He allows them to literally destroy themselves, which is what He was doing with Ephraim.
[Hosea 13:1-2,4,9,14 When Ephraim spake trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended in Baal, he died. 2 And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, and idols according to their own understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves. 4 Yet I am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for there is no saviour beside me. 9 O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help. 14 I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.]
[thou hast destroyed thyself;] No one can blame God or even Satan for the wars and chaos among themselves. Of course, Satan is basking in all this as he watches so many of those turn away from their faith in Christ, and fall into the abyss of sin. God will not be mocked, those who are unrepentant about sin will die in their sin, [James 1:13-15 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.]
How amazing is it that we who are saved by the blood of Christ can stand before God and not be condemned for every sin that we committed? Jesus saves our souls when we receive Him as our Saviour, praise God! However, salvation does not mean that we can live in open or secret sin and not face the consequences for our actions. God encourages Israel to return to Him and He will heal them from the repercussions of their backsliding.
[Hosea 14:1-4,7-9 O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. 2 Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips. 3 Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy. 4 I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him. 7 They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon. 8 Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found. 9 Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.]
[but the transgressors shall fall therein.] True believers of Christ may get caught up in sin and dangle off the cliff or a while, but their faith in Christ will pull them back up. Those who are not true believers will fall all together, often becoming worse than they were before they knew the power of Christ. God will not be mocked, whatever people reap they will sow, [Galatians 6:7-10 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. 10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.]
Jesus Christ Magnified: [Hosea 11:9 I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not enter into the city. Hosea 12:9 And I that am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles, as in the days of the solemn feast. Hosea 13:4 Yet I am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for there is no saviour beside me.]
Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for loving me and not giving up on me, and for the day Your message of the Gospel pricked in my heart so much that I knew Your Son was the only one who could save me. Lord, There is no better feeling than accomplishing something great for You, and the thing that is great to You is merely living a Godly life with You leading us. While we strive to be the best we can be, let us not forget that our best only comes as we yield to You. Open our hearts, help us understand, and grow us into faithful Christians living under Your grace. Give us compassion on the lost, help us learn how to talk to them, and show them that You have not only pricked their heart, but opened it to Christ as well. Let everything we do bring glory to You and reveal Your Son. I ask these things is Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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