654. Hosea, Chapter 10 (#1) - God Brings Forth Fruit for Himself - October 3, 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] Let's open in prayer. Father God, I thank you for anyone listening to this podcast today. I pray that you give everyone ears to hear and a heart to receive everything you have in store for them today. I ask this in Jesus name. Amen.

[00:00:37] This is Proverb 3 beginning in verse 1.

[00:00:43] My son, do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commands. For length of days and long life and peace they will add to you.

[00:00:54] Let not mercy and truth forsake you. Bind them around your neck. Write them on the tablet of your heart.

[00:01:03] And so find favor and high esteem in the sight of God and man.

[00:01:09] Trust in the Lord with all your heart. And lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him. And He shall direct your paths.

[00:01:20] Do not be wise in your own eyes. Fear the Lord and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh and strength to your bones.

[00:01:30] Honor the Lord with your possessions and with the first fruits of all your increase.

[00:01:38] So your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will overflow with new wine.

[00:01:44] My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor detest His correction. For whom the Lord loves, He corrects. Just as a father, the son in whom He delights.

[00:02:00] Happy is the man who finds wisdom and the man who gains understanding. For her proceeds are better than the profits of silver and her gain than fine gold.

[00:02:12] She is more precious than rubies. And all the things you may desire cannot compare with her.

[00:02:21] Length of days is in her right hand. In her left hand, riches and honor.

[00:02:27] Her ways are ways of pleasantness. And all her paths are peace.

[00:02:33] She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her. And happy are all who retain her.

[00:02:40] The Lord, by wisdom, founded the earth. By understanding, He established the heavens.

[00:02:48] By His knowledge, the depths were broken up and clouds dropped down the dew.

[00:02:54] My son, let them not depart from your eyes. Keep sound wisdom and discretion.

[00:03:02] So they will be life to your soul and grace to your neck.

[00:03:07] Then you will walk safely in your way. And your foot will not stumble.

[00:03:12] When you lie down, you will not be afraid. Yes, when you lie down and your sleep will be sweet.

[00:03:21] Do not be afraid of sudden terror, nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes.

[00:03:28] For the Lord will be your confidence, and will keep your foot from being caught.

[00:03:35] Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do so.

[00:03:43] Do not say to your neighbor, go and come back, and tomorrow I will give it, when you have it with you.

[00:03:52] Do not devise evil against your neighbor, for he dwells by you for safety's sake.

[00:04:00] Do not strive with a man without cause, if he has done you no harm.

[00:04:05] Do not envy the oppressor, and choose none of his ways.

[00:04:10] For the perverse person is an abomination to the Lord, but his secret counsel is with the upright.

[00:04:19] The curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked, but he blesses the home of the just.

[00:04:27] Surely he scorns the scornful, but gives grace to the humble.

[00:04:33] The wise shall inherit glory, but shame shall be the legacy of fools.

[00:04:39] Friends, today I'd like to take a closer look at verses 1 and 2.

[00:04:45] And Proverbs 3, verses 1 and 2 tell us this.

[00:04:51] My son, do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commands.

[00:04:58] For length of days and long life and peace they will add to you.

[00:05:04] Now friends, we will come back and look at those two verses prior to closing today.

[00:05:12] But what I'd like to do is to review our three points that I made on yesterday's podcast.

[00:05:19] Yesterday was episode number 653.

[00:05:23] And the three points were from chapter 9 of the book of Hosea.

[00:05:29] It says, give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.

[00:05:35] And that means that God was not happy with the Israelites.

[00:05:39] They were actually worshipping the fertility god Baal.

[00:05:46] And what they did is when they did that, God actually induced some of the women in Israel to actually miscarry their babies.

[00:05:59] Number two, all of their wickedness is in Gilgal.

[00:06:04] And what we did there is we talked about the book of Joshua chapter 5.

[00:06:09] We went all the way back when the Israelites were wandering in the desert for 40 years.

[00:06:15] And how that first generation that Moses had taken out of Egypt literally died in the wilderness because of their unbelief.

[00:06:27] And he told them they would never enter in to the promised land.

[00:06:33] And the third point yesterday, my God will cast them away.

[00:06:39] And I really kind of want to emphasize point 3 yesterday because it carries over into today's lesson.

[00:06:49] And today we are going to pick up beginning in chapter 10.

[00:06:54] Let's look at verse 1.

[00:07:17] So friends, my first point in today's lesson is,

[00:07:22] God brings forth fruit for himself.

[00:07:27] Now friends, as many of you know, I read out of the Nelson Study Bible.

[00:07:33] Listen to the commentary for verse 1.

[00:07:36] It says,

[00:07:49] And I really kind of want to talk about this first point for a while because God here is actually showing mercy on his people Israel.

[00:08:03] And he's actually emptying his vine, meaning that at this point in time, and it probably wasn't for long, but he is actually showing blessings on the Israelite people.

[00:08:21] Let's go to verse 2.

[00:08:23] Their heart is divided.

[00:08:26] Now they are held guilty.

[00:08:29] He will break down their altars.

[00:08:32] He will ruin their sacred pillars.

[00:08:34] Let's look at the commentary for this verse.

[00:08:38] Verse 2.

[00:08:39] Divided means referring to Israel's deceitful and hypocritical ways.

[00:08:47] And what is happening here is that the Israelite people are not consistent.

[00:08:55] At one point, they are praising God and following what he has asked them to do.

[00:09:03] And then literally, they will turn around and begin to do the exact opposite.

[00:09:10] And that's what that commentary is referring to when they talk about how the people are being hypocritical.

[00:09:19] Let's move on to verse 3.

[00:09:22] For now they say, we have no king because we did not fear the Lord.

[00:09:30] And as for a king, what would he do for us?

[00:09:34] So friends, my second point of today's lesson is we have no king because we did not fear the Lord.

[00:09:43] And as for a king, what would he do for us?

[00:09:46] Now friends, let's look at the commentary for this verse.

[00:09:50] Now they say, this verse anticipates the people's response when God's judgment came to destroy Israel's political stability and independence.

[00:10:03] And actually, that is kind of prophetic because he's referring to verses 7 and 15, which will take place on Monday's podcast.

[00:10:16] But what this passage of scripture is reminding me of is way back in the book of 1 Samuel when there had never been a king up to that point in Israel.

[00:10:31] So what I'd like to do is go back to 1 Samuel chapter 8.

[00:10:37] And this passage of scripture is entitled, Israel Demands a King.

[00:10:43] So let's begin in verse 1.

[00:10:46] Now it came to pass when Samuel was old that he made his sons judges over Israel.

[00:10:53] The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second Abijah.

[00:11:00] They were judges in Beersheba, but his sons did not walk in his ways.

[00:11:27] Now make us a king to judge us like all of the nations.

[00:11:34] But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, give us a king to judge us.

[00:11:41] So Samuel prayed to the Lord.

[00:11:43] And the Lord said to Samuel,

[00:11:46] Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you.

[00:11:51] For they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.

[00:11:59] According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them out of Egypt, even to this day, with which they have forsaken me and served other gods.

[00:12:13] So they are doing to you also.

[00:12:18] Now, therefore, heed their voice.

[00:12:22] However, you shall solemnly forewarn them and show them the behavior of the king who will reign over them.

[00:12:31] Now this is really interesting because here he's going to say,

[00:12:35] If you do receive a king, this is all that you are going to receive.

[00:12:42] Let's begin in verse 10.

[00:12:44] So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who asked him for a king.

[00:12:50] And he said, this will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you.

[00:12:57] He will take your sons and appoint them for his own chariots and to be his horsemen.

[00:13:05] And some will run before his chariots.

[00:13:09] He will appoint captains over his thousands and captains over his fifties.

[00:13:14] Will set some to plow his ground and reap his harvest.

[00:13:19] And some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.

[00:13:25] He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers.

[00:13:30] And he will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves.

[00:13:36] And give them to his servants.

[00:13:40] He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage.

[00:13:44] And give it to his officers and servants.

[00:13:47] And he will take your male servants, your female servants,

[00:13:52] your finest young men, and your donkeys, and put them to his work.

[00:13:57] He will take a tenth of your sheep.

[00:14:01] And you will be his servants.

[00:14:03] And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves.

[00:14:11] And the Lord will not hear you in that day.

[00:14:15] Nevertheless, the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel.

[00:14:20] And they said, no, but we will have a king over us.

[00:14:26] That we also may be like all the nations.

[00:14:29] And that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.

[00:14:37] And Samuel heard all the words of the people.

[00:14:41] And he repeated them in the hearing of the Lord.

[00:14:45] So the Lord said to Samuel, heed their voice and make them a king.

[00:14:54] God warned his people.

[00:14:57] And God basically is warning his people here.

[00:15:02] He's basically doing the same thing.

[00:15:05] Let's go back to Hosea chapter 10 beginning in verse 4.

[00:15:10] They have spoken words swearing falsely in making a covenant.

[00:15:17] This judgment springs up like hemlock in the furrows of the field.

[00:15:25] Now listen to the commentary for verse 4.

[00:15:27] This is pretty interesting.

[00:15:32] This analogy refers to poisonous weeds sprouting up in a field and choking out the crops.

[00:15:44] In the same way, God's judgment would replace his blessings.

[00:15:50] So that is such a vital point.

[00:15:54] I've told you earlier in this study that God is opening the door to grant mercy upon his people,

[00:16:05] the people of Israel, even though they have turned to Baal worship.

[00:16:11] They basically have turned away from him.

[00:16:15] And here he's still keeping that door ajar that one day he may have mercy on his people and invite them back in his good graces.

[00:16:28] Let's go to verse 5.

[00:16:30] The inhabitants of Samaria fear because of the calf of Beth-Avon.

[00:16:37] For its people mourn for it, and its priests shriek for it, because its glory has departed from it.

[00:16:48] The idol also shall be carried to Assyria as a present for King Jareb.

[00:16:55] Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel.

[00:17:03] So friends, my third and final point of today's lesson is its glory has departed from it.

[00:17:12] And when I am talking about it, we are literally referring to the calf at Beth-Avon,

[00:17:20] which the Israelite people have fashioned into an idol.

[00:17:26] Let's go back to verses 5 and 6 and look at the commentary.

[00:17:31] The Assyrians often carried off the idols of their defeated foes.

[00:17:37] His own counsel probably refers to Israel's foreign alliances, which would prove disappointing.

[00:17:46] Now friends, before we close today, I'd like to go back to our Proverb of the day.

[00:17:52] And my two verses today are the first two verses of Proverb 3.

[00:17:58] And it says,

[00:17:59] My son, do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commands.

[00:18:06] For length of days and long life and peace they will add to you.

[00:18:13] Now friends, when I think of those two verses, I think back to Hosea chapter 10, verse 2.

[00:18:23] And it says,

[00:18:25] Their heart is divided.

[00:18:28] Now they are held guilty.

[00:18:31] And friends, when we do God's will, and we do it on a consistent basis, we are going to be blessed.

[00:18:41] But the Israelites are not doing it on a consistent basis.

[00:18:46] Now what I'd like to do for just a moment is go to the book of James chapter 1.

[00:18:52] And James chapter 1, I want to go over these four verses because I believe that is what is happening in our story today.

[00:19:02] Let's begin chapter 1 of James beginning in verse 5.

[00:19:07] If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

[00:19:20] In other words, God wants us to ask him for wisdom.

[00:19:26] In the book of Job, it defines wisdom as having the fear of the Lord.

[00:19:33] Now obviously, in the time of Hosea, the Israelites are not showing the fear of the Lord.

[00:19:41] This would have been a good time for them to ask God for wisdom.

[00:19:47] Let's go to verse 6.

[00:19:49] But let him ask in faith, with no doubting.

[00:19:54] For he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.

[00:20:01] But let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord.

[00:20:07] He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

[00:20:15] And that reminds me of verse 2 in the book of Hosea.

[00:20:21] Listen to verse 2 again.

[00:20:24] Their heart is divided.

[00:20:27] Now they are held guilty.

[00:20:31] Friends, it all boils down to trusting in the Lord.

[00:20:37] Now today we went over Proverbs 3 and verses 5 and 6 tell us to trust in the Lord with all our heart.

[00:20:53] The Israelite people are not doing this.

[00:20:56] And that is why they are in the conundrum that they are in.

[00:21:02] God is watching them to see how they are going to get through this current mess that they are in.

[00:21:12] So friends, my call to action today is really pretty simple.

[00:21:16] I want to ask you a basic question.

[00:21:19] When you are having any type of difficulty in your life, are you putting your trust in God?

[00:21:31] Or are you looking at yourself and trying to make plans based on your own intellect and not seeking God for advice?

[00:21:47] Something to think about.

[00:21:49] Friends, I will never end a podcast without giving anyone an opportunity to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

[00:21:57] If there is anyone listening today and you have never taken that step, I ask that you repeat a simple prayer after me today.

[00:22:07] Lord Jesus, I confess that I am a sinner and in need of a Savior.

[00:22:14] I ask you to come into my heart.

[00:22:17] I make you my Lord and Savior.

[00:22:20] Friends, it's that simple.

[00:22:22] If you repeated that prayer, you are now a bona fide member of the family of God.

[00:22:30] Welcome to the kingdom.

[00:22:32] Now, may the Lord bless you and keep you.

[00:22:35] The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you.

[00:22:40] The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

[00:22:45] Friends, tomorrow I will be continuing my study on the Ten Commandments.

[00:22:53] Tomorrow we'll be taking a closer look at the Third Commandment.

[00:22:58] Please join me as we further explore wisdom today.