666. Hosea - Chapter 12 (#2) - Observe Mercy and Justice, And wait on your God continually - October 21, 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. Lord, I pray that you would reveal to everyone listening how much you truly love each and every one of them.

[00:00:34] In addition, I pray that everyone listening would have favor with both God and man. I ask this in Jesus name. Amen.

[00:00:44] This is Proverb 21 beginning in verse 1.

[00:00:48] The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord. Like the rivers of water, he turns it wherever he wishes.

[00:00:56] Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the hearts. To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.

[00:01:10] A haughty look, a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked are sin.

[00:01:16] The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty, but those of everyone who is hasty surely to poverty.

[00:01:26] Getting riches by a lying tongue is the fleeting fantasy of those who seek death.

[00:01:34] The violence of the wicked will destroy them because they refuse to do justice.

[00:01:40] The way of a guilty man is perverse, but as for the pure, his work is right.

[00:01:49] Better to dwell in a corner of a housetop than in a house shared with a contentious woman.

[00:01:57] The soul of the wicked desires evil. His neighbor finds no favor in his eyes.

[00:02:04] When the scoffer is punished, the simple is made wise.

[00:02:09] But when the wise is instructed, he receives knowledge.

[00:02:14] The righteous God wisely considers the house of the wicked, overthrowing the wicked for their wickedness.

[00:02:23] Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be heard.

[00:02:31] A gift in secret pacifies anger, and a bribe behind the back strong wrath.

[00:02:40] It is a joy for the just to do justice, but destruction will come in the workers of iniquity.

[00:02:48] A man who wanders from the way of understanding will rest in the assembly of the dead.

[00:02:57] He who loves pleasure will be a poor man.

[00:03:00] He who loves wine and oil will not be rich.

[00:03:05] The wicked shall be a ransom for the righteous, and the unfaithful for the upright.

[00:03:12] Better to dwell in the wilderness than with a contentious and angry woman.

[00:03:19] There is desirable treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise, but a foolish man squanders it.

[00:03:28] He who follows righteousness and mercy finds life, righteousness, and honor.

[00:03:36] A wise man scales the city of the mighty and brings down the trusted stronghold.

[00:03:44] Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles.

[00:03:50] A proud and haughty man, scoffer is his name, he acts with arrogant pride.

[00:03:58] The desire of the lazy man kills him, for his hands refuse to labor.

[00:04:04] He covets greedily all day long, but the righteous gives and does not spare.

[00:04:11] The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination.

[00:04:15] How much more when he brings it with wicked intent?

[00:04:19] A false witness shall perish, but the man who hears him will speak endlessly.

[00:04:27] A wicked man hardens his face, but as for the upright, he establishes his way.

[00:04:36] There is no wisdom or understanding or counsel against the Lord.

[00:04:42] The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but deliverance is of the Lord.

[00:04:49] The Lord.

[00:04:50] Friends, today I'd like to take a closer look at verse 21.

[00:04:55] And Proverb 21, verse 21 says this,

[00:05:00] He who follows righteousness and mercy finds life, righteousness, and honor.

[00:05:08] And friends, we will circle back and take a look at that verse prior to closing today.

[00:05:14] But what I'd like to do is to go back to Thursday's podcast, which was episode number 654.

[00:05:23] And what I'd like to do is go over those three points prior to beginning today's lesson.

[00:05:29] The first one, they make a covenant with the Assyrians.

[00:05:35] Number two, according to his deeds, he will recompense him.

[00:05:41] And this is just a reminder that God is going to give us basically what we earn.

[00:05:48] So if we do good, we will have good.

[00:05:52] And according to what we do is how we are going to be repaid.

[00:05:57] Number three, he struggled with the angel and prevailed.

[00:06:02] And this verse, we're talking about Jacob.

[00:06:05] When Jacob, before he became Israel, Jacob literally wrestled with God himself.

[00:06:14] The Bible says it was an angel, but he won in the end and he was victorious over the angel.

[00:06:24] So we're going to begin where we left off on Thursday's podcast.

[00:06:28] We are in the book of the minor prophet Hosea.

[00:06:32] We are in chapter 12.

[00:06:34] We are going to begin in verse 5.

[00:06:38] That is the Lord God of hosts.

[00:06:41] The Lord is his memorable name.

[00:06:45] So you, by the help of your God, return.

[00:06:49] Observe mercy and justice and wait on your God continually.

[00:06:56] So friends, that is the first point of today's lesson.

[00:07:00] Observe mercy and justice and wait on your God continually.

[00:07:08] Friends, I don't know about you, but I can't really think of a better instruction in life.

[00:07:14] Observe mercy and justice.

[00:07:16] We all want mercy.

[00:07:18] We want people to have mercy on us.

[00:07:21] Now, whether we want to have mercy on other people, that is really the question.

[00:07:27] We do like justice, though.

[00:07:30] We like to see justice be done.

[00:07:32] If people are evil and they break the law, we want them tried and we want justice to prevail.

[00:07:40] And that is what this verse is telling us.

[00:07:43] So it almost seems like the Israelites are finally starting to turn around.

[00:07:49] Now, friends, I am reading out of the Nelson Study Bible.

[00:07:53] What I'd like to do is read the commentary in my Bible for verses 5 and 6.

[00:07:59] Just as Jacob had come to his senses and recognized his dependence on God, so Israel was to repent or to return, reestablish justice in all of society and depend or wait on the Lord.

[00:08:21] Let's go to verse 7.

[00:08:33] Now, friends, my second point today is a cunning Canaanite.

[00:08:38] He loves to oppress.

[00:08:41] Now, let's listen to the commentary for verse 7 of my Bible.

[00:08:47] The word Canaanite also means merchant or a seller of goods.

[00:08:55] Here, the word may allude to Israel's dishonest economic activities, deceitful scales.

[00:09:05] In violation of the Old Testament law, dishonest merchants sometimes rigged their scales so that they could give buyers less than what the buyers thought they were purchasing.

[00:09:23] Now, friends, this is addressed in Proverbs 11, 1 and also Proverbs 16, 11 and also Proverbs 20, verse 23.

[00:09:37] It's also found in the book of the minor prophet Amos in chapter 8, verse 5, as well as the minor prophet Micah in chapter 6, verse 11.

[00:09:50] And let's go to verse 8.

[00:10:09] So, friends, my third and final point of today's lesson is they shall find in me no iniquity that is sin.

[00:10:23] Now, friends, this has been a pretty brief lesson.

[00:10:28] It has.

[00:10:29] But let's review our points.

[00:10:32] Observe mercy and justice and wait on your God continually.

[00:10:37] This, I suggest we do on a daily basis.

[00:10:43] If we have a need in our life, I believe we should pray to God and we should wait for his answer.

[00:10:50] Is he going to say yes?

[00:10:53] Is he going to say no?

[00:10:55] Is he going to say maybe?

[00:10:57] Sometimes he just says wait.

[00:11:01] Number two, a cunning Canaanite.

[00:11:05] He loves to oppress.

[00:11:08] Now, in the land of Canaan, we have the god Baal.

[00:11:14] That basically was the national god of the Canaanites.

[00:11:19] And what I'm going to do, this is Monday, either on Wednesday or Thursday's podcast,

[00:11:25] I have a little article talking about Baal and how he had an influence on the Israelites.

[00:11:34] So we will be discussing that on Wednesday or Thursday.

[00:11:38] But the third point today is they shall find in me no iniquity.

[00:11:44] That is sin.

[00:11:46] Now, I find this point interesting because up to this point in the book of Hosea,

[00:11:53] the Israelites have not been doing well.

[00:11:55] They have basically turned their back on God.

[00:11:59] And now it seems like they are actually trying to refer back to God.

[00:12:07] And it's like they're trying to forget the things that they've been doing.

[00:12:14] So we know that we are approaching the end of this book.

[00:12:18] I've told you three or four times in this study that by the time we end chapter 14,

[00:12:25] that Israelites will return to God.

[00:12:29] So we're starting to head in that direction.

[00:12:35] So they are turning from their evil ways.

[00:12:39] And it seems like they are at least beginning to turn back to God.

[00:12:46] Let's go to our verse of the day before we close this lesson.

[00:12:51] Today we are in Proverbs 21 and verse 21 says,

[00:12:56] He who follows righteousness and mercy finds life, righteousness, and honor.

[00:13:05] And friends, this to me is one of the most powerful verses of the book of Proverbs.

[00:13:12] He who follows righteousness and mercy finds life, righteousness, and honor.

[00:13:21] Let's look at the commentary for this verse.

[00:13:24] It is possible that these three ideas go together to mean a more abundant life.

[00:13:34] Now when I hear that word a more abundant life,

[00:13:37] I think of the Gospel of John chapter 10 verse 10.

[00:13:42] Now the first part says,

[00:13:44] The thief comes but to steal, to kill, and destroy.

[00:13:49] But I have come that they might have life and have it more abundantly.

[00:13:56] That is Jesus' desire for us.

[00:13:59] Those were the words of Jesus.

[00:14:02] The pursuit of righteousness is its own reward.

[00:14:07] In other words, when I think of righteousness,

[00:14:09] I think of doing the next right thing.

[00:14:13] Just do the right thing.

[00:14:15] And a lot of times in life, over and over again, we have that choice.

[00:14:19] Are you going to do this?

[00:14:20] Or are you going to do this?

[00:14:22] And all you have to ask yourself,

[00:14:24] Well, which one's the right one to do?

[00:14:25] And usually it's a clear choice.

[00:14:27] But added rewards are found in fullness of life, achieving righteousness, and receiving honor.

[00:14:39] All these things are gifts from the Lord.

[00:14:43] Isn't it awesome what happens when we do the right things in life?

[00:14:48] We will be recognized.

[00:14:51] Many times we will be promoted.

[00:14:53] Our spouses will love us a little bit more.

[00:14:56] They're going to take us a little bit, I think, maybe more seriously.

[00:15:02] Maybe we'll have a little bit more respect from them.

[00:15:06] If you simply do the right things on a regular basis.

[00:15:13] Do not do things to upset your spouse.

[00:15:17] Do things that are right with your friends, even with those people you don't know.

[00:15:25] Friends, we need to be gracious.

[00:15:27] We need to be kind.

[00:15:28] We need to be merciful.

[00:15:30] We need to show love to everyone we come in contact with.

[00:15:40] So, friends, my call to action today is,

[00:15:45] Do you consider yourself a righteous person?

[00:15:49] Do you have mercy on those who are less fortunate than you are?

[00:15:56] Something to think about.

[00:15:58] Friends, I will never end a podcast without giving anyone an opportunity to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

[00:16:07] If there is anyone listening today and you've never taken that step,

[00:16:10] I ask you to repeat a simple prayer after me today.

[00:16:14] Jesus, I confess that I am a sinner and in need of a Savior.

[00:16:20] I ask you to come into my heart.

[00:16:22] I make you my Lord and Savior.

[00:16:25] Friends, that's all you need to do.

[00:16:29] It's as simple as that.

[00:16:30] And if you said that prayer, you are now a member of the family of God.

[00:16:36] But that's only the first step.

[00:16:39] What you need to do is check online.

[00:16:42] Look at local churches in your area.

[00:16:45] What I suggest you do is try a couple out.

[00:16:48] Try to see if you fit in.

[00:16:50] If you like the people that are there.

[00:16:52] But try to go to a church that preaches directly out of the Bible.

[00:16:59] The Bible is where it's at.

[00:17:02] If people are not opening up the Bible and reading directly from the Bible,

[00:17:09] more than likely, stuff that comes from that pulpit may not be what you need to hear.

[00:17:15] Now, may the Lord bless you and keep you.

[00:17:20] The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you.

[00:17:24] The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.

[00:17:29] Friends, tomorrow is Testimony Day.

[00:17:33] Please join me and a special guest as we further explore wisdom today.

[00:17:39] I'll see you again tomorrow.