663. Hosea - Chapter 11 (#3) - I will let Them Dwell in Their Houses - October 16, 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] Father God, I thank you for anyone listening to this podcast today. Lord, 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.

[00:00:36] This is Proverbs 16 beginning in verse 1.

[00:00:42] The preparations of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.

[00:00:49] All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirits.

[00:00:56] Commit your works to the Lord and your thoughts will be established.

[00:01:01] The Lord has made all for himself, yes, even the wicked for the day of doom.

[00:01:08] Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord. Though they join forces, none will go unpunished.

[00:01:18] In mercy and truth atonement is provided for iniquity, and by the fear of the Lord one departs from evil.

[00:01:27] When a man's ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

[00:01:36] Better is a little with righteousness than vast revenues without justice.

[00:01:42] A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.

[00:01:48] Divination is on the lips of the king. His mouth must not transgress in judgment.

[00:01:55] Honest weights and scales are the Lord's. All the weights in the bag are his work.

[00:02:03] It is an abomination for kings to commit wickedness, for a throne is established by righteousness.

[00:02:11] Righteous lips are the delight of kings, and they love him who speaks what is right.

[00:02:18] As messengers of death is the king's wrath, but a wise man will appease it.

[00:02:25] In the light of the king's face is life, and his favor is like a cloud of the latter rain.

[00:02:32] How much better to get wisdom than gold, and to get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.

[00:02:40] The highway of the upright is to depart from evil.

[00:02:45] He who keeps his way preserves his soul.

[00:02:50] Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

[00:02:56] Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly than to divide the spoil with the proud.

[00:03:03] He who heeds the word wisely will find good, and whoever trusts in the Lord, happy is he.

[00:03:12] The wise in heart will be called prudent, and sweetness of the lips increases learning.

[00:03:20] Understanding is a wellspring of life to him who has it, but the correction of fools is folly.

[00:03:28] The heart of the wise teaches his mouth, and adds learning to his lips.

[00:03:35] Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul, and health to the bones.

[00:03:43] There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.

[00:03:50] The person who labors, labors for himself, for his hungry mouth drives him on.

[00:03:57] An ungodly man digs up evil, and it is on his lips like a burning fire.

[00:04:04] A perverse man sows strife, and a whisperer separates the best of friends.

[00:04:12] A violent man entices his neighbor, and leads him in a way that is not good.

[00:04:19] He winks his eye to devise perverse things.

[00:04:24] He purses his lips, and brings about evil.

[00:04:28] The silver-haired head is a crown of glory, if it is found in the way of righteousness.

[00:04:35] He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.

[00:04:45] The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.

[00:04:53] Friends, today I'd like to take a closer look at verse 6.

[00:04:58] And Proverbs 16, verse 6 says this,

[00:05:02] In mercy and truth, atonement is provided for iniquity.

[00:05:09] And by the fear of the Lord, one departs from evil.

[00:05:15] Friends, we will take a closer look at that verse prior to closing today.

[00:05:20] But what I'd like to do is continue our study in the book of the minor prophet Hosea.

[00:05:27] We are currently in chapter 11, and we will be finishing that chapter today.

[00:05:34] But what I'd like to do before I begin today's lesson is to review what we did on Monday's podcast.

[00:05:42] Monday was episode number 661.

[00:05:46] And the three points we went over, first of all, number one,

[00:05:51] He shall not return to the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian shall be his king.

[00:05:58] And I reminded everyone yesterday that in chapter 9,

[00:06:03] we said that Israel had been taken captive and they were taken to the land of Assyria.

[00:06:10] Number two, the sword shall slash in his cities.

[00:06:16] Now, friends, if you are taken captive into a country,

[00:06:21] there is a chance that if you tick these people off or make them upset,

[00:06:28] that they will have retribution towards you.

[00:06:32] And that's what this verse is talking about.

[00:06:35] They may just kill you with the swords if you do not do.

[00:06:42] And my third point on Monday was my people are bent on backsliding from me.

[00:06:50] And friends, I could mention that many people, I believe in today's society,

[00:06:56] are backsliding from the Lord as well.

[00:06:59] I think in order to truly be a wonderful Christian in our society today,

[00:07:05] that we need to be purposeful.

[00:07:08] We need to literally declare to ourselves that we are going to do the right thing most of the time,

[00:07:17] or if not all the time.

[00:07:19] I think we all mean to do well.

[00:07:21] But, you know, when in Ephesians chapter 6, it says we must put on the armor of God.

[00:07:28] And in 1 Peter, when it says we must put on humility,

[00:07:34] sometimes we may forget to put on our armor.

[00:07:38] Sometimes we may forget to put on humility.

[00:07:43] And if we do that, there is a very good chance that we will be walking in our flesh

[00:07:50] and end up doing things that we either shouldn't do or that we would prefer we don't do.

[00:07:58] Let's begin today's lesson, beginning in verse 8.

[00:08:03] How can I give you up, Ephraim?

[00:08:07] How can I hand you over, Israel?

[00:08:11] How can I make you like Adma?

[00:08:14] How can I set you like Zeboim?

[00:08:18] My heart churns within me.

[00:08:22] My sympathy is stirred.

[00:08:24] So, friends, my first point of today's lesson is my heart churns within me.

[00:08:32] My sympathy is stirred.

[00:08:36] Now, friends, if we are not walking with God,

[00:08:43] and, you know, this is God talking.

[00:08:46] My heart churns within me and his sympathy is stirred.

[00:08:52] So, regardless of how negative the Israelites have been,

[00:08:59] regardless how they have totally turned away from him,

[00:09:03] God is showing mercy here.

[00:09:06] God is showing mercy,

[00:09:08] and he is basically inviting the Israelites to come back to him.

[00:09:14] Let's go to verse 9.

[00:09:16] I will not execute the fierceness of my anger.

[00:09:20] I will not again destroy Ephraim.

[00:09:25] For I am God and not man,

[00:09:29] the Holy One in your midst,

[00:09:31] and I will not come with terror.

[00:09:35] So, friends, you can actually hear the sympathetic voice of God in this verse.

[00:09:43] You can see that basically he is pleading with his people.

[00:09:49] Now, friends, I am reading out of the Nelson Study Bible,

[00:09:52] and I'd like to go over the commentary for verses 8 and 9.

[00:09:57] As the Lord contemplated the judgment of Israel,

[00:10:02] his sympathy moved him to have compassion and stop short of totally annihilating the people.

[00:10:12] Adma and Zeboim, sister cities of Sodom and Gomorrah,

[00:10:18] were destroyed by God's judgment.

[00:10:21] For I am God and not man.

[00:10:25] When human beings get angry,

[00:10:29] they are often incapable of tempering their anger with compassion.

[00:10:34] But God's emotions operate in perfect balance.

[00:10:40] So God, unlike man, is able to control his emotions.

[00:10:46] And he doesn't like what he sees,

[00:10:50] but he doesn't really get that upset.

[00:10:54] Let's go to verse 10.

[00:10:57] They shall walk after the Lord.

[00:10:59] He will roar like a lion.

[00:11:03] When he roars,

[00:11:05] then his sons shall come trembling from the west.

[00:11:09] So, friends, my second point is they shall walk after the Lord.

[00:11:15] He will roar like a lion.

[00:11:19] And, friends, he, here we are referring to God.

[00:11:25] So he is going to roar like a lion,

[00:11:28] and eventually the Israelites are going to fall into line,

[00:11:34] and they are going to begin walking with the Lord again.

[00:11:40] Let's go to verse 11.

[00:11:42] They shall come trembling like a bird from Egypt,

[00:11:47] like a dove from the land of Assyria,

[00:11:50] and I will let them dwell in their houses, says the Lord.

[00:11:57] So, friends, my third and final point of today's lesson is I, meaning God,

[00:12:04] will let them dwell in their houses.

[00:12:09] God is such a God of mercy.

[00:12:12] He is absolutely awesome.

[00:12:15] And I am often glad that I am not God,

[00:12:20] because I would tend to be a little bit less merciful towards these people

[00:12:27] that have done all this wrong against God.

[00:12:32] Let's go to the commentary for verses 10 and 11.

[00:12:36] In the coming judgment, God would tear Israel like a lion.

[00:12:42] In the future, God's lion-like roar would summon his people to return from exile.

[00:12:50] In the past, the people of Israel had flown back and forth between the nations like a dove.

[00:12:59] In the future, the people would speed back to their homeland like a bird.

[00:13:06] And, of course, their homeland is the country of Israel.

[00:13:12] So, friends, let's go back to our verse of the day.

[00:13:16] And we are in Proverbs 16.

[00:13:18] And verse 6 was the verse I selected for today.

[00:13:22] And it says,

[00:13:23] In mercy and truth, atonement is provided for iniquity.

[00:13:30] And by the fear of the Lord, one departs from evil.

[00:13:35] So, friends, I selected this verse because I think it corresponds very well with our lesson today.

[00:13:42] God is showing mercy towards his people Israel.

[00:13:48] And they have committed iniquity.

[00:13:51] And he is going to provide atonement for them.

[00:13:57] And then we go to the last portion of this verse.

[00:14:01] And by the fear of the Lord, one departs from evil.

[00:14:07] So, even though the Israelites have been in a vicious cycle of staying away from God, they have gone back and forth and back and forth to worship him and to obey his commands.

[00:14:27] And then they have slipped back into Baal worship.

[00:14:30] And they have gone back and forth and back and forth.

[00:14:34] But overall, the mercy of God is going to win out in the end.

[00:14:40] So, friends, my call to action today, I want you to think about this.

[00:14:47] Where are you at in terms of providing mercy for people who wrong you?

[00:14:56] Now, we could easily look at God's perspective of what has happened in the entire book, basically, of Hosea.

[00:15:05] We probably would tend to be more judgmental of the people.

[00:15:10] We probably would not have anywhere near the mercy.

[00:15:13] And that is what my call to action for today is.

[00:15:18] Consider having mercy on people who wrong you.

[00:15:24] Learn to give people the benefit of the doubt.

[00:15:27] A lot of times when people wrong us, I don't think they do so intentionally.

[00:15:33] A lot of times I think people may do the wrong thing to us and it may end up costing us.

[00:15:39] But I really don't think it was intentional.

[00:15:41] I don't really think it's what they meant to do.

[00:15:44] And I think there's many times when they don't even know that they have hurt us.

[00:15:48] So, something to think about.

[00:15:50] But, friends, I will never end a podcast without giving anyone an opportunity to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

[00:15:59] If there's anyone listening today and you've never taken that very important step,

[00:16:04] today is your day of salvation.

[00:16:07] I ask that you repeat a simple prayer after me today.

[00:16:11] Jesus, I confess that I am a sinner and in need of a Savior.

[00:16:17] I ask that you come into my heart.

[00:16:19] I make you my Lord and Savior.

[00:16:23] Friends, if you said that prayer, you are now in the family of God.

[00:16:28] Welcome to the family.

[00:16:30] Now, may the Lord bless you and keep you.

[00:16:34] The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you.

[00:16:39] The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

[00:16:44] Friends, please join me again tomorrow as we further explore wisdom today.

[00:16:50] See you.

[00:16:50] See you.