629. Hosea - Chapter 4 (#1) - My People are Destroyed for Lack of Knowledge - August 29, 2024

[00:00:06] Welcome to Wisdom Today. My name is Bill Kelley and I'll be your host. In this podcast we will be exploring the book of Proverbs.

[00:00:21] In prayer, Father God I thank you for anyone listening to this podcast today. Lord I pray that you would open everyone's ears to hear and heart to receive everything you have in store for them in this particular podcast. I ask this in Jesus name. Amen.

[00:00:39] This is Proverb 29 beginning in verse 1. He who is often rebuked and hardens his neck will suddenly be destroyed and that without remedy. When the righteous are in authority the people rejoice but when a wicked man rules the people groan. Whoever loves wisdom makes his father rejoice but a companion of harlots wastes his wealth.

[00:01:08] The king establishes the land by patience but he who receives bribes overthrows it. A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet. By transgression an evil man is snared. But the righteous sings and rejoices. The righteous considers the cause of the poor. But the wicked does not understand such knowledge.

[00:01:37] Scoffers set a利害.

[00:01:40] Scoffers set a city aflame but wise men turn away wrath. If a wise man contends with a foolish man whether the fool rages or laughs there is no peace.

[00:01:53] The bloodthirsty hate the blameless, but the upright seek his well-being.

[00:02:00] A fool vents all his feelings, but a wise man holds them back.

[00:02:06] If a ruler pays attention to lies, all his servants become wicked.

[00:02:12] The poor man and the oppressor have this in common.

[00:02:16] The Lord gives light to the eyes of both.

[00:02:20] The king who judges the poor with truth, his throne will be established forever.

[00:02:27] The rod and rebuke give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.

[00:02:35] When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increases, but the righteous will see their fall.

[00:02:44] Correct your son, and he will give you rest.

[00:02:48] Yes, he will give delight to your soul.

[00:02:52] Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint.

[00:02:57] But happy is he who keeps the law.

[00:03:01] A servant will not be corrected by mere words, for though he understands, he will not respond.

[00:03:09] Do you see a man hasty in his words?

[00:03:14] There is more hope for a fool than for him.

[00:03:18] He who pampers his servant from childhood will have him as a son in the end.

[00:03:26] An angry man stirs up strife, and a furious man abounds in transgression.

[00:03:33] A man's pride will bring him low, but the humble in spirit will retain honor.

[00:03:41] Whoever is a partner with a thief hates his own life.

[00:03:46] He swears to tell the truth, but reveals nothing.

[00:03:50] The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe.

[00:03:57] Many seek the ruler's favor, but justice for man comes from the Lord.

[00:04:05] An unjust man is an abomination to the righteous, and he who is upright in the way is an abomination

[00:04:13] to the wicked.

[00:04:16] Friends, I would like to take a closer look today at verse 1.

[00:04:21] And Proverbs 29, verse 1 says this,

[00:04:26] He who is often rebuked and hardens his neck will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.

[00:04:37] Now friends, we will take a look at that verse prior to closing today,

[00:04:42] but what I'd like to do today is to continue our study on the minor prophet Hosea.

[00:04:50] And yesterday, we went over a very brief passage of scripture, which is the third chapter,

[00:04:57] and it only has five verses.

[00:05:00] And yet, it was very simple to come up with three points.

[00:05:05] So before we go on today, I'd just like to review those three points,

[00:05:10] and kind of ponder these three points as we go into today's lesson.

[00:05:15] Love a woman who is loved by a lover.

[00:05:21] Number two, so I bought her for myself.

[00:05:27] And actually, what Hosea is doing is literally purchasing his wife back from another man.

[00:05:38] She has been unfaithful to him, and she actually left Hosea, went and began living with another man,

[00:05:46] and that man literally, basically looked at her as his property.

[00:05:52] And so in order to get his wife back, he literally paid to have her come back home.

[00:05:59] And the third one is,

[00:06:01] The children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord.

[00:06:06] So with that in mind, please filter today's lesson through the lens of those three points.

[00:06:15] This is chapter 4, beginning in verse 1.

[00:06:19] Hear the word of the Lord, you children of Israel.

[00:06:24] For the Lord brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land.

[00:06:30] There is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land.

[00:06:37] So friends, my first point in today's lesson is simply,

[00:06:42] Hear the word of the Lord.

[00:06:45] Now friends, I am reading out of the Nelson Study Bible,

[00:06:50] and I'd like to go over the commentary for verse number 1.

[00:06:55] Charge.

[00:06:56] Listen to what this commentary says.

[00:06:59] The Hebrew word refers to a formal complaint,

[00:07:05] charging Israel with breaking the covenant.

[00:07:09] And basically here, we're talking about the covenant that the country of Israel had made with God.

[00:07:18] That they promised that they would follow him and follow the commands which he gave them.

[00:07:25] The word mercy means loyalty or devotion.

[00:07:31] And in this particular verse, the word knowledge, listen to this,

[00:07:36] the word does not refer to intellectual awareness,

[00:07:40] but to recognition of God's authority as Israel's covenant Lord.

[00:07:48] And friends, that is so vitally important that you understand that last piece of commentary I just went over.

[00:07:57] Basically what is happening in this first verse is God is very upset with this country of Israel.

[00:08:08] He had made them his chosen people.

[00:08:12] These are the people that he literally selected and said,

[00:08:15] These are going to be my people,

[00:08:18] and I am going to be their God.

[00:08:21] And they basically turned away from God and instead began submitting to the God Baal.

[00:08:32] This is actually a very sad story.

[00:08:36] Let's go to verse 2.

[00:08:38] By swearing and lying, killing and stealing, and committing adultery,

[00:08:45] they break all restraint with bloodshed upon bloodshed.

[00:08:51] Now friends, listen to this key commentary for verse 2.

[00:08:57] It says,

[00:08:58] This accusation mentions five of the Ten Commandments.

[00:09:03] Swearing refers to the misuse of the Lord's name in oaths and curses.

[00:09:11] So first of all, they're using the name of the Lord in vain.

[00:09:16] Then they talk about lying, killing, stealing, and committing adultery.

[00:09:24] So God is basically accusing the Israelites of breaking five of the simple Ten Commandments that he has given them.

[00:09:35] And he is fed up with them.

[00:09:39] Let's go to verse 3.

[00:09:41] Therefore, the land will mourn, and everyone who dwells there will waste away.

[00:09:49] With the beasts of the field and the birds of the air, even the fish of the sea will be taken away.

[00:09:59] So friends, what this verse is actually telling us is God is not only going to punish the people of Israel,

[00:10:07] but he's also going to punish the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea.

[00:10:14] I want you to think about that.

[00:10:16] It just demonstrates how angry God really was.

[00:10:22] And there's a verse in the Bible that says that God is a jealous God.

[00:10:27] And I would say this is an example that God is jealous of the Israelite people worshiping Baal instead of worshiping him.

[00:10:41] He was jealous of the God Baal.

[00:10:45] Let's go to verse 4.

[00:11:08] So friends, my second point of the day is this.

[00:11:17] And friends, many people in our world today are still stumbling.

[00:11:25] They are tripping over their own feet.

[00:11:29] Many people in our world today are trying to make life exist without knowledge of God.

[00:11:41] I want you to think about that.

[00:11:43] Many people live their lives as though God doesn't even exist.

[00:11:50] He is not even a factor in their lives.

[00:11:54] And friends, if you are a solid Christian listening to this podcast, and probably most of you are,

[00:12:01] you're sitting there thinking, wow, that's being a little bit harsh.

[00:12:05] Friends, that's the world we live in today.

[00:12:07] And we have an adversary, the devil.

[00:12:10] And it tells us in 1 Peter chapter 5 that he is roaring about as basically a lion, seeking whom he may devour.

[00:12:21] He is constantly roaming around the earth trying to find somebody who will listen to his lies and ignore God.

[00:12:32] Friends, this is vitally important that you get this concept.

[00:12:37] We need to give our hearts to Jesus to receive him as our Lord and Savior.

[00:12:43] And then we need to learn about who he is.

[00:12:47] And then we need to begin to follow his commands.

[00:12:51] Let's go to verse 6.

[00:12:53] My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge because you have rejected knowledge.

[00:13:01] I also will reject you from being priest for me because you have forgotten the law of your God.

[00:13:10] I also will forget your children.

[00:13:14] Now, friends, my third and final point for today's lesson is a very famous verse of the Bible.

[00:13:23] This is probably the most famous verse in the entire book of Hosea.

[00:13:28] This is chapter 4, verse 6.

[00:13:31] And it says,

[00:13:33] My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

[00:13:38] Let's look at the commentary for verses 5 and 6.

[00:13:42] This is so powerful.

[00:13:44] The failure of Israel's religious leaders, including most of the prophets, would bring about their downfall.

[00:13:55] What does lack of knowledge mean in this particular verse?

[00:14:00] Listen to this.

[00:14:01] The priests had failed to teach God's law to the people.

[00:14:07] As a result, the priests would be the special object of God's judgment.

[00:14:14] He would terminate the priestly line.

[00:14:19] And friends, it would be very easy to overlook that.

[00:14:23] But the main reason why Israel had turned away from God was not the people themselves,

[00:14:31] but it was the religious leaders.

[00:14:34] It was the priests and the prophets who had led the people astray

[00:14:41] and, in my opinion, were responsible for turning the people to Baal worship.

[00:14:52] Let's go to verse 7.

[00:15:12] Listen to the commentary for verses 7 and 8.

[00:15:16] Great honor was attached to the priesthood.

[00:15:24] However, Israel's sinful priests would forfeit their prestige.

[00:15:31] Eat up the sin of my people.

[00:15:35] What is going on here?

[00:15:36] It says,

[00:15:37] The priests greedily accepted the meat from the people's hypocritical and empty sacrifices.

[00:15:47] And I believe they're talking about sacrifices that they literally gave to Baal in Baal worship.

[00:15:57] And, of course, Baal never ate these particular meat things because Baal was not alive.

[00:16:03] So let's go to verse 9.

[00:16:16] And friends, God is doing the same thing today.

[00:16:20] If you are following Him, you are going to be blessed.

[00:16:24] That is a promise of God.

[00:16:26] If you follow His commandments, if you do what He has asked you to do,

[00:16:31] you are going to have a blessed life.

[00:16:35] If you live this life as though God doesn't exist and try to do it on your own,

[00:16:40] you will have problems.

[00:16:42] I guarantee it.

[00:16:44] Let's go to verse 10.

[00:16:46] For they shall eat, but not have enough.

[00:16:49] They shall commit harlotry, but not increase.

[00:16:53] Because they have ceased obeying the Lord.

[00:16:58] Now, friends, before I give a bit of my commentary, I'd like to hear what this author says in this commentary.

[00:17:08] The Israelites worship Baal in order to have good crops and many children,

[00:17:15] but they still would not have enough to eat, nor would they multiply in number.

[00:17:23] Harlotry here, listen to this, refers to religious prostitution associated with Baal worship,

[00:17:34] not to immorality in general.

[00:17:36] And what that means is they were literally performing sexual acts in front of other people.

[00:17:45] As they are worshiping the god Baal, they are having this illicit sex in front of everyone.

[00:17:53] And I believe this is called an orgy.

[00:17:56] This must have absolutely incensed God.

[00:18:03] Imagine how he hated this.

[00:18:09] Friends, before we close today, I'd like to go back to our verse of the day today.

[00:18:14] And we are in Proverb 29.

[00:18:16] And I selected verse 1.

[00:18:29] Now, friends, I believe that verse 1 here, we could easily be talking about the country of Israel

[00:18:40] during the time that Hosea was the prophet to that country.

[00:18:45] Here, God is rebuking his people Israel, and he has done it often.

[00:18:53] And yet, they have continually rejected the word of the Lord and continued to worship Baal

[00:19:01] and hardens his neck.

[00:19:04] Friends, the reason why they didn't obey God was because they were a stiff-necked people

[00:19:10] and they had rejected the word of the Lord.

[00:19:13] And finally, it says, will suddenly be destroyed and that without remedy.

[00:19:21] And friends, fortunately, God is a merciful God.

[00:19:28] Eventually, God is going to show mercy on his people Israel.

[00:19:33] It's said that in chapter 3 that eventually the Israelites would eventually turn to God.

[00:19:39] They haven't done it yet.

[00:19:41] God is waiting for them to do it.

[00:19:43] But as of chapter 4, he hasn't seen that.

[00:19:48] They are still worshiping Baal.

[00:19:50] They're actually committing sexual acts in front of Baal on the altar,

[00:19:57] in front of the entire crowd.

[00:20:02] Friends, my call to action, and I'm not really sure how to say this,

[00:20:08] but what I really want you to do is just imagine this taking place.

[00:20:13] I want you to imagine what it must have been like to worship a god, Baal.

[00:20:21] I want you to just visualize just for a moment.

[00:20:25] I certainly don't want you to dwell on this,

[00:20:27] but imagine what this sexually explicit display in front of Baal must have been like.

[00:20:39] It's kind of disgusting to think about.

[00:20:41] But I really kind of want to close with that,

[00:20:44] because I really want you to get the general theme of how God must have felt.

[00:20:51] And imagine how Hosea must have felt when God said,

[00:20:56] I want you to marry a prostitute.

[00:21:00] Not only was she unfaithful to him,

[00:21:04] she ended up moving out.

[00:21:06] She actually went and began living with another man and having sex with him.

[00:21:11] He actually took her on as though she was his property,

[00:21:16] and he actually literally had to buy her back.

[00:21:19] Friends, this is serious stuff.

[00:21:23] Most of us listening to this podcast today would not have done that.

[00:21:29] But God said to do it.

[00:21:31] And that's another little thing I really want you to think about.

[00:21:35] Sometimes God may ask you to get out of your comfort zone.

[00:21:40] Would you be willing to do that if he asked you to?

[00:21:47] Friends, I will never end a podcast without giving anyone an opportunity

[00:21:52] to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

[00:21:55] If there is anyone listening today and you've never taken that step,

[00:21:59] I invite you to repeat a simple prayer after me today.

[00:22:03] Father God, thank you for sending your son Jesus to earth.

[00:22:06] Jesus, thank you that you were willing to come to earth

[00:22:10] and die on a cross for everyone listening to this podcast today.

[00:22:16] I believe that you are the son of God.

[00:22:19] I believe you came to earth, were willing to die on that cross,

[00:22:24] and you were buried.

[00:22:26] On the third day, you rose again as it says in Scripture.

[00:22:31] And now you sit at the right hand of God the Father.

[00:22:35] Jesus, I believe that by doing that,

[00:22:39] I have now been reconciled to God and am in good standing with him.

[00:22:45] And yet, Jesus, I still need your help.

[00:22:48] I ask that you come into my heart.

[00:22:51] I ask that you lead me and guide me from this point forward.

[00:22:55] I make you my Lord and Savior.

[00:22:59] Friends, may the Lord bless you and keep you.

[00:23:03] The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you.

[00:23:08] The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

[00:23:13] Friends, tomorrow is the last Friday of the month.

[00:23:18] So my wife, Judy, will be joining me and we'll have a joint podcast tomorrow.

[00:23:24] It's one of my favorite times of the entire month.

[00:23:27] I hope you'll enjoy us as we further explore.

[00:23:31] Winston, today.