Class 2 from this series was used in GCT Episode 270.
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Good afternoon, beloved brothers
and sisters in the Lord Jesus
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Good afternoon, beloved brothers
and sisters in the Lord Jesus
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Christ.
If you have had disappointments
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with your family over the last
many years, you’ve tried to
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raise them in the truth, to
guide them in the truth, then
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this book is for you.
If you have trouble in your
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marriage and it has not turned
out the way you wanted it to
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turn out, if it has its
struggles, its heartaches, its
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feelings of loneliness and
isolation, then this book is for
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you.
If you’ve had ecclesial trouble
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and the sense that the Ecclesia
is always on the brink of
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collapsing trouble assails it on
every side, and things are never
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what they ought to be, and this
book is for you also.
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Now, brothers and sisters, we we
won’t start in Hosea.
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We’re going to start in Psalm
78.
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So if you’ll turn there with me,
we’ll spend a little time in
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that Psalm before we look at
Hosea.
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And it begins this way.
Give here are my people to my
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law.
Incline your ears to the words
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of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a
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parable.
I will utter dark sayings of
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old.
Now why would he use this kind
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of language?
And then speak so clearly in the
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rest of the Psalm about what he
wants to talk about.
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Because for people who are not
listening carefully to the word
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of God, everything is a parable
they can’t work out or
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understand.
The implication of everything is
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a dark saying that is obscure to
them.
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It’s a message for somebody
else, not for them.
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That’s how people who listened
to Christ’s parables looked at
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them.
They didn’t understand them
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because they didn’t reflect
deeply on them.
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They didn’t look to be changed
by them.
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And so these are dark sayings.
They’re they’re parables to
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people who aren’t used to
listening to the word of God.
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He goes on and he says, which we
have heard and known, and our
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fathers have told us, we will
not hide them from their
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children.
Showing to the generations to
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come the praises of the Lord and
His strength and his wonderful
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works that he has done for He
established a testimony in Jacob
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and appointed a law in Israel,
which He commanded our fathers
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that they should make them known
to their children, that the
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generation to come might know
them, even the generation which
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should be born who should arise
and declare them to their
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children.
Now you might count the
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different generations and find
5-6 the number of them doesn’t
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matter.
The point is that what God
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taught to those he taught his
message to had to be cascaded
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through all the generations
faithfully, completely, without
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omission, without breakage,
without gaps and forgetfulness,
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without any deficiencies.
Now did Israel do that?
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Did they actually do that?
But the Psalm tells us 7 The
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whole intent of the passing on
the transmission of the word,
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the handing on from generation
to generation of the word of
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God, was that the people
receiving it might set their
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hope.
Not in arrows, not in bows.
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Not in tanks.
Not in retirement funds.
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Not in governments of this
world.
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Not in whatever political power
people have around them.
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Not in money.
Not in what they drive.
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Not in where they live.
Not in who they know, but in
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God.
And not forget the works of God,
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but keep His commandments.
And might not be as their
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fathers a stubborn and
rebellious generation, the
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generation that set not their
heart aright, and whose spirit
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was not steadfast with God, the
children of Ephraim being armed
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and carrying bows turned back in
the day of battle.
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Now what is that an allusion to?
What is it referring back to in
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time?
Well, it could be referring to
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that time when the Israelites
took the Ark of the Covenant
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like some kind of nuclear
missile with them into battle,
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thinking that it would have a
magical power that would conquer
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the enemies of Israel, but they
had no faith.
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The priests that were around it
was smitten down by God and the
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old priest who should have
passed these things down to his
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kids so that they were faithful
and disciplining them and they
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were not, fell backwards, broke
his neck and died when the ark
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of the covenant was lost.
Because they had no faith.
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It didn’t matter what they were
armed with.
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They could not deal with the
trials that they faced in the
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battlefield.
And brothers and sisters, you
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know, when all that we have is
the strength of our arm and our
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brain and our friends and have
no faith, when certain kinds of
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trouble come into our lives,
we’re like the Ephraimites,
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fully armed, helpless, unable to
deal with the challenges.
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The narrative goes on and it
says they kept not the covenant
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of God.
They refused to walk in His law
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and they forgot his doings.
Now how would they forget the
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doings of the Lord after
everything he had done?
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How is it that there was a
generation in the land so soon
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after the generation that had
fought its way into the land?
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Who knew not?
The Lord knew not Yahweh.
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How is that prosperity?
A generation got into the land,
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experienced decade over decade
of increasing prosperity.
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Their lives became taken up with
the land, its produce, their
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crops, gold, silver, all those
things that they valued.
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Now I’m a member of a generation
that knows what that is, like
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the baby boom generation.
I’m 61 years old.
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I’m not 12.
I look like I’m 15, but I’m 61.
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The baby boom generation had one
foot firmly planted in the truth
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they did, and the other foot
firmly planted in the world and
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all it had to offer.
It’s entertainment, it’s
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prosperous lifestyle, It’s fancy
neighborhoods, it’s brand name
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everything.
All of the expensive holidays a
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person could want and have.
The best schools, private
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schools, not one car, two cars,
sometimes an SUV on top of that.
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Not a three bedroom house, a six
bedroom house, a three or four
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car garage.
It it was a generation afflicted
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with upgrades of everything.
Upgrade itis nothing was ever
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good enough.
For very long now, we raised a
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generation of kids thinking that
they would be OK.
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But what our kids saw was mom
and dad equally in this world
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and enjoying it and attached to
it and in the truth and trying
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to support the ecclesia.
That split, that conflict in our
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lives, led to many of the
children we raised.
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Stepping away from the truth.
Turning away from God.
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Turning away from the difficult
life that a life of a believer
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is really all about.
Turning away from a place that
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celebrated things so humble and
glorious at the same time with
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people they didn’t necessarily
want to rub shoulders with.
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And so it wasn’t that we wanted
to harm the generation after us,
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it’s that we were too in love
with the world, the step away
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from it, and to keep our kids
fully connected to and involved
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in the truth and the ecclesia
and the life of the ecclesia.
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How is it that Israel lost the
truth as the generations went
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on?
Because for them, when they
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looked at the religion of the
things that I worship in this
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world that make me feel good and
eclise your life, I think the
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world makes more sense for me.
That was the rationale many of
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our kids went through.
In their minds, it’s a hard and
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sobering truth for us to think
through.
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For many in this room, you
didn’t have that experience, but
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many of you did have it, and you
do know what I’m talking about.
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And then we look at that
cascading effect, the visiting
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of the sins of the fathers upon
the children, the the outflow
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and consequences of our mistakes
to the children that come after.
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And we recognize our children as
they go through the generations,
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continue to make some of the
mistakes that we made.
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And so when we read this Psalm,
it’s not about those people over
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there in quaint and ancient
times.
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It’s about people in this room
today, right now.
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So it goes on and it talks about
what it was ultimately that
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Israel was doing.
It says though he took care of
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them in verse 17, they sinned
yet more against him by
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provoking the Most High in the
wilderness.
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And they tempted God in their
heart because that’s where the
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battle against God starts.
In all of the darkness of the
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human heart, they tempted God in
their heart by asking meat for
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their lust.
Yeah, they spake against God and
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listen to what they said.
Can God prepare a table in the
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wilderness?
Be only smote The rock and the
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waters gushed out and the
streams overflow.
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But can he also give bread?
Also, can he provide flesh for
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his people?
What does all that mean?
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It means I want flesh.
I want something that God hasn’t
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given me.
God’s given me manner, but I’m
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tired of this old manner.
I want more than that.
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I want something bigger, better,
tastier than that.
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Brother, in your life, in your
career, when you want that
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promotion more than anything
else in your life, you’re
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obsessed with that step up that
might be flesh that God doesn’t
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want you to have.
As though Israel wanted flesh.
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And and and the way that they
wanted it cast a terrible insult
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on God who had so generously
provided for them and was with
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them.
In Western life today, we’re not
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satisfied with a humble and
quiet, downsized and downscaled
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life.
Many of us we struggle with the
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same kind of wanting that Israel
struggled with.
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We look at them with a gimlet
eye, condemning them for their
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mistakes without always
realizing how close they are to
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our own.
And so it says, they spake
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against God saying these
terrible things.
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Verse 22, because they believed
not in God.
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They trusted not in his
salvation.
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God was saving them.
He was saving their lives,
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literally walking with them, the
Angel of Yahweh, the pillar of
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cloud in a pillar of fire
protecting them, his armed
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warriors around them that they
couldn’t see, fighting beside
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them as they fought with their
enemies.
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But but they didn’t appreciate
those things.
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They wanted what they didn’t
have.
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They wanted what they couldn’t
get, what God felt was not
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necessary for them, and they
trusted not in his salvation.
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So a fundamental question you
and I have to ask ourselves is
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this.
Do we trust in the salvation of
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the Lord?
Do we believe in it with all our
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heart?
Do we want it more than anything
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else?
Do Are we playing for praying
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for the equivalent of of of
flesh that God has not given us?
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Or are we praying for knowledge,
for understanding, and for
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wisdom, so that we can live with
joy, anticipation, and
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contentment in this life, so
that it could be said of us?
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Godliness with contentment is a
great gain, and so Israel was
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not contented, and they were not
godly.
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He gave them what they wanted,
but he gave it to them in anger,
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and it came with rebuke, it came
with pain, with trial, with with
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an outbreak amongst them.
Verse 30 They were not estranged
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from their lust.
Verse 32.
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For all this they sinned still,
and believed not in his wondrous
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works.
And they remembered.
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And they remembered only after
he slew them, only after he
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broke out against them in
correction, in discipline, when
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he slew them.
Then verse 34, they inquired
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after him, and they returned and
inquired early after God.
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And they remembered that God was
their rock and the High God
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their Redeemer.
Nevertheless, they did flatter
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him with their mouth, and they
lied unto him with their
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tongues.
In this country and in countries
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around the world, when the Six
Day War was going on, ecclesial
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halls were packed with people
who hadn’t been to meeting for
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20 years.
Two weeks after the Six Day War
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was over, they stopped coming.
That’s the mentality right
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there.
When they were when they were
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corrected in this way and
disciplined in this way, when
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they saw the the hand of God
mightily in evidence and
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manifested, then they were all
interested in God.
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And then it waned.
As quickly as it has come up, it
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went away and God himself saw
through what their level of
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interest was and said they were
just flattering me.
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00:19:18,400 –> 00:19:21,520
They didn’t really mean it.
It wasn’t from the heart.
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00:19:22,480 –> 00:19:27,240
They were not people who were
changing, Verse 37 says.
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00:19:27,240 –> 00:19:32,160
Their heart was not right with
him, neither were they steadfast
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00:19:32,360 –> 00:19:36,040
in his covenant.
But, and look at the heart of
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00:19:36,040 –> 00:19:40,640
our God after working with
generation after generation
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00:19:40,640 –> 00:19:44,160
after generation, disappointment
after disappointment after
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00:19:44,160 –> 00:19:47,920
disappointment.
It says that he being full of
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00:19:47,920 –> 00:19:52,920
compassion, forgave their
iniquity and destroyed them.
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00:19:53,200 –> 00:19:58,520
Not.
Yeah, many a time turned he his
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00:19:58,520 –> 00:20:04,800
anger away, and did not stir up
all his wrath, for he remembered
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00:20:04,800 –> 00:20:11,240
that they were but flesh, a wind
that passeth away and cometh not
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00:20:11,240 –> 00:20:15,960
again.
My father is 85 years old,
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00:20:17,800 –> 00:20:22,000
Worked hard.
He and my mother accumulated
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00:20:22,000 –> 00:20:23,840
whatever they accumulated
through the years.
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00:20:23,840 –> 00:20:28,840
Property investments, scrimped,
saved, put their kids through
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00:20:28,840 –> 00:20:33,200
school, got to a point of
prosperity.
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00:20:34,840 –> 00:20:40,840
I asked my dad.
All that work, all that saving,
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00:20:42,240 –> 00:20:46,160
all that you have, does it make
you happy?
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00:20:47,760 –> 00:20:51,720
And my dad, who’s done the
truth, said no, it doesn’t mean
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00:20:51,720 –> 00:20:58,200
a thing to me.
When you are 85 years old, you
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00:20:58,200 –> 00:21:04,600
see the true value of everything
you thought was important and a
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00:21:04,600 –> 00:21:09,280
value and significant outside of
God’s truth.
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00:21:10,840 –> 00:21:16,400
And a Christadelphian brother or
sister in his or her 80s or 90s
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00:21:16,400 –> 00:21:19,840
understands all that is truly
important.
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00:21:22,120 –> 00:21:31,760
Is the Kingdom God, the Lord,
Jesus Christ, our relationships
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00:21:32,040 –> 00:21:36,280
with each other.
Now, I know when you’re 16 or 20
245
00:21:36,280 –> 00:21:40,000
or 30, that’s a stretch for you
because you’ve got a laundry
246
00:21:40,000 –> 00:21:42,360
list of all the important things
that you want to be able to
247
00:21:42,360 –> 00:21:44,760
accomplish.
I need to meet a girl, I need to
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00:21:44,760 –> 00:21:48,000
meet, need a boy, meet a boy.
I need to get married, I need to
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00:21:48,040 –> 00:21:51,440
have children, I need to have a
house, I need to have a job,
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00:21:51,680 –> 00:21:53,880
etcetera, etcetera, services,
all the things.
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00:21:53,880 –> 00:21:56,920
And then there comes a point in
time in your life where you have
252
00:21:57,160 –> 00:22:04,600
all those things and and if most
of your time has been spent on
253
00:22:04,600 –> 00:22:10,760
those things alone.
If you truly ask yourself, am I
254
00:22:10,760 –> 00:22:14,880
happy?
You know the answer is going to
255
00:22:14,880 –> 00:22:21,720
be not always or not really.
Because unless God is at the
256
00:22:21,720 –> 00:22:28,360
center of your life, unless
ecclesial life is supremely
257
00:22:28,360 –> 00:22:33,520
important to you, unless the
word of God is your guide, is
258
00:22:33,520 –> 00:22:38,440
your light in the darkness of
this world, you’ll never be
259
00:22:38,440 –> 00:22:41,600
truly happy no matter what you
have.
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00:22:42,360 –> 00:22:49,480
Because because by by by any
worldly standard, the happiest
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00:22:49,480 –> 00:22:52,320
people on the earth should be
billionaires.
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00:22:55,160 –> 00:23:02,040
Is Donald Trump a happy man?
No, he is not.
263
00:23:03,680 –> 00:23:08,040
Jeff Bezos is desperately
investing in life extension
264
00:23:08,200 –> 00:23:17,120
research right now because he
can feel the merciless uncoiling
265
00:23:17,120 –> 00:23:24,600
of death in his withering husk.
He knows it’s coming for him,
266
00:23:26,240 –> 00:23:28,080
and he doesn’t have any way to
stop it.
267
00:23:30,560 –> 00:23:37,160
But you and I might be
desperately I’ll might have a
268
00:23:37,160 –> 00:23:41,480
bucket full of problems, might
have all kinds of trouble and
269
00:23:41,480 –> 00:23:44,440
heartaches.
But if we have the truth and we
270
00:23:44,440 –> 00:23:51,080
have faith, we have all we need.
And the more you live, the
271
00:23:51,080 –> 00:23:54,800
longer you live, the more you
see that to be true.
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00:23:54,800 –> 00:23:59,680
Now we’re going to come back to
Hosea, then Hosea Chapter One.
273
00:24:01,880 –> 00:24:07,120
And so many of the things that
will be said this weekend are
274
00:24:07,120 –> 00:24:12,520
simple.
Work a day, obvious, the things
275
00:24:12,520 –> 00:24:16,360
that everybody knows.
But it’s the things that
276
00:24:16,360 –> 00:24:19,200
everybody should know that we do
not pass on through the
277
00:24:19,200 –> 00:24:23,040
generations that caused the
problems we just read about in
278
00:24:23,040 –> 00:24:28,160
Psalm 78.
So Hosea begins the word of the
279
00:24:28,160 –> 00:24:38,120
Lord and stop right there.
The word of the Lord is at the
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00:24:38,120 –> 00:24:46,520
center of our life in the truth.
If we are not reading the word
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00:24:46,880 –> 00:24:54,760
of the Lord, if we’re not
reading it every day, then it’s
282
00:24:55,160 –> 00:24:59,600
it’s like the life sustaining
medication you need to take that
283
00:24:59,600 –> 00:25:04,240
you just stop taking.
If you do that as an older
284
00:25:04,240 –> 00:25:07,600
person and you you take a heart
medication, you know what’s
285
00:25:07,600 –> 00:25:12,680
going to happen if you’re a
diabetic and you stop taking
286
00:25:12,680 –> 00:25:16,000
your insulin or what other
medications you may need to
287
00:25:16,000 –> 00:25:18,040
have.
You know what will happen to you
288
00:25:19,320 –> 00:25:23,040
if you’re in Stage 3, cancer and
you say to the doctor, look, I’m
289
00:25:23,040 –> 00:25:26,720
not interested in any kind of
treatment, You know that the
290
00:25:26,720 –> 00:25:29,920
next thing that’s coming for you
is palliative care and getting
291
00:25:29,920 –> 00:25:31,800
ready for death and pain
management.
292
00:25:32,240 –> 00:25:35,520
That’s all you’ve got.
Now, you might think I’m young.
293
00:25:35,920 –> 00:25:39,120
I’m in my 20s.
This old people talk is really
294
00:25:39,120 –> 00:25:43,800
getting on my nerves.
You’ve got a chronic disease
295
00:25:43,800 –> 00:25:47,840
that’s killing you right now.
It’s called human nature.
296
00:25:49,160 –> 00:25:55,320
It’s in you right now, killing
you, every one of you young
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00:25:55,320 –> 00:25:58,320
people.
And the only, the only
298
00:25:58,320 –> 00:26:05,800
medication that we have is the
word of God, and we need to take
299
00:26:05,800 –> 00:26:09,120
it in every day.
You know, for years I didn’t do
300
00:26:09,120 –> 00:26:11,400
the readings consistently.
I didn’t.
301
00:26:12,960 –> 00:26:17,040
I’d be doing Bible study.
I’d be reading portions of
302
00:26:17,040 –> 00:26:19,600
Scripture.
I was studying to get ready for
303
00:26:19,600 –> 00:26:23,200
this or that.
But the actual doing of the
304
00:26:23,200 –> 00:26:27,680
readings every day, I didn’t do.
I wish I could go back and
305
00:26:27,680 –> 00:26:33,240
recapture every one of those
years and do them over and over
306
00:26:33,240 –> 00:26:37,520
again every single day that I
lost.
307
00:26:39,040 –> 00:26:43,160
So the one thing we need to
encourage ourselves in is the
308
00:26:43,160 –> 00:26:48,400
word.
Without that word, alive in our
309
00:26:49,040 –> 00:26:53,960
everyday experience, something
is dying in US.
310
00:26:54,960 –> 00:26:59,360
The process of death of that
thing is speed up.
311
00:27:00,240 –> 00:27:09,720
Our faith dwindles, it Withers.
It falls apart and we fall
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00:27:09,720 –> 00:27:10,880
apart.
In God’s truth.
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00:27:11,400 –> 00:27:13,200
We may have our moments of
strength.
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00:27:13,760 –> 00:27:18,040
We may wait till Sunday.
We might have a midweek Bible
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00:27:18,040 –> 00:27:22,360
class and attended consistently
or inconsistently and find that
316
00:27:22,360 –> 00:27:26,240
we have a bit of a boost and we
think that’s enough.
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00:27:26,240 –> 00:27:29,600
It isn’t enough.
It’s not even barely enough.
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00:27:30,480 –> 00:27:36,680
But the daily reading of the
Word of God opens up parts of
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00:27:36,680 –> 00:27:43,320
our brain that are not usually
used by people in this world.
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00:27:45,160 –> 00:27:51,200
And the more we read the word of
God, the more we know it is the
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00:27:51,200 –> 00:27:57,760
Word of God, because we begin to
see patterns, themes, threads,
322
00:27:57,760 –> 00:28:03,640
ropes, rivers of connections
from the beginning through to
323
00:28:03,640 –> 00:28:09,800
the end that are inexplicable
aside from this being the
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00:28:09,800 –> 00:28:12,600
inspired word of God.
Now, don’t we all know this?
325
00:28:12,920 –> 00:28:16,560
Yes, we do.
But do we act like we know this?
326
00:28:17,520 –> 00:28:19,000
Not if we’re not reading
scripture.
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00:28:23,120 –> 00:28:27,720
If we pray to God, and sometimes
our prayers are perfunctory,
328
00:28:28,520 –> 00:28:34,920
wizened little things.
If we pray to God, that’s A1
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00:28:34,920 –> 00:28:37,480
sided conversation.
Don’t you want to hear the other
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00:28:37,480 –> 00:28:41,480
side of the conversation?
Sisters, You all know men like
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00:28:41,480 –> 00:28:43,960
that.
They’re good at talking at but
332
00:28:43,960 –> 00:28:48,200
not listening to.
It’s not a thing they’re born
333
00:28:48,200 –> 00:28:50,080
with.
They have to work at it.
334
00:28:50,440 –> 00:28:52,600
Don’t look at your husband,
smile at me that way.
335
00:28:53,680 –> 00:28:59,760
But you know what I mean?
So we can have A1 sided
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00:28:59,760 –> 00:29:03,960
conversation where it’s just me
talking to God, but I don’t have
337
00:29:03,960 –> 00:29:08,960
the time or the energy or the
space in my life to listen to
338
00:29:08,960 –> 00:29:12,000
him.
And this is where he talks to
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00:29:12,000 –> 00:29:16,800
you in his word.
Now as we’re reading it, we ask
340
00:29:16,800 –> 00:29:21,840
ourselves, OK, what is it
stating?
341
00:29:23,680 –> 00:29:28,960
What does that mean in the
passage, historically or in the
342
00:29:28,960 –> 00:29:31,040
context of the chapter or the
book?
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00:29:31,880 –> 00:29:34,840
And then the third piece,
speaking brethren, take note.
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00:29:36,080 –> 00:29:39,120
So easy for us to state and
explain and sit down.
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00:29:40,120 –> 00:29:45,120
We have to state, explain and
apply.
346
00:29:45,600 –> 00:29:49,040
How does this apply to my life
today?
347
00:29:49,040 –> 00:29:53,240
The word comes at the beginning
to Hosea.
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00:29:54,520 –> 00:30:00,040
Now Hosea writes, inspired by
God, about the different kings
349
00:30:00,040 –> 00:30:04,160
whose reigns he worked in, and
it starts off.
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00:30:04,160 –> 00:30:08,160
And Hosea, by the way, is a
prophet in Israel, not Judah,
351
00:30:08,600 –> 00:30:11,960
Israel.
But he starts off and he he’s
352
00:30:11,960 –> 00:30:14,040
talking all about kings of
Judah.
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00:30:14,040 –> 00:30:19,000
And one of the things we bring
to scripture is questions,
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00:30:19,120 –> 00:30:23,800
questions, questions.
Why would it say it that way?
355
00:30:24,960 –> 00:30:30,480
Why wouldn’t it say he was a
prophet during the time of the
356
00:30:30,480 –> 00:30:35,440
kings of Israel and list them
and then maybe say to help
357
00:30:35,440 –> 00:30:38,960
people orientate themselves who
the kings of Judah were?
358
00:30:39,960 –> 00:30:40,840
Why?
Why do you reckon?
359
00:30:40,840 –> 00:30:48,280
Because perhaps it is to imply
the kings of Judah, for all
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00:30:48,280 –> 00:30:50,880
their problems, were the
legitimate Kingdom.
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00:30:52,000 –> 00:30:58,520
The Kingdom of Israel started on
illegitimate grounds and was an
362
00:30:58,600 –> 00:31:03,400
illegitimate Kingdom starting
with the worship of the calves
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00:31:03,960 –> 00:31:09,680
and leading down, down, down as
the people descended from one
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00:31:09,680 –> 00:31:15,120
level of ignorance, down into
the depths of gross darkness and
365
00:31:15,120 –> 00:31:18,960
unawareness of the God of
Israel, who was their God.
366
00:31:20,240 –> 00:31:25,560
They had a kind of religion that
was intermingled like the feet
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00:31:25,960 –> 00:31:31,760
of Daniel’s image, partly of the
worship of Yahweh and partly the
368
00:31:31,760 –> 00:31:36,600
gods and goddesses of the world.
Sounds like a thing we struggle
369
00:31:36,600 –> 00:31:41,280
with sometimes, doesn’t it?
I know our presiding brother
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00:31:41,600 –> 00:31:46,040
this, this this afternoon talked
about having tears in the heart
371
00:31:46,720 –> 00:31:52,760
that need to be sutured after.
This is intentional from the
372
00:31:52,760 –> 00:31:55,600
word of God.
I know we always want to have a
373
00:31:55,600 –> 00:32:00,080
a happy message that comes out
of everything, but we’re given
374
00:32:00,080 –> 00:32:06,520
these messages so that we can
reflect deeply and grow and
375
00:32:07,680 –> 00:32:12,360
become better believers.
He worked for a long time.
376
00:32:14,240 –> 00:32:17,440
The estimates are anything
between 40 or 50 years, all the
377
00:32:17,440 –> 00:32:24,320
way up to 70 years. 70 years of
people not listening to you and
378
00:32:24,600 –> 00:32:27,560
not wanting to hear what you
have to say.
379
00:32:30,240 –> 00:32:33,080
Sisters, that’s 70 years of
raising a teenager.
380
00:32:35,920 –> 00:32:40,280
That’s what that is.
Now if someone did work and
381
00:32:40,280 –> 00:32:43,320
worked in the Ecclesia and
didn’t get a thank you and
382
00:32:43,320 –> 00:32:47,400
didn’t see a result, didn’t see
an improvement, only saw things
383
00:32:47,400 –> 00:32:53,520
going like a Corkscrew down down
into the earth, it was Hosea, a
384
00:32:53,560 –> 00:32:58,360
Jew in Ecclesia life.
Are you the thank you man who
385
00:32:58,360 –> 00:33:02,520
needs to be thanked and praised
for the work that you do?
386
00:33:03,720 –> 00:33:07,040
And then if you don’t get that
praise, you sit and have a bit
387
00:33:07,040 –> 00:33:12,560
of a pout because you didn’t get
the praise, or your work wasn’t
388
00:33:12,560 –> 00:33:16,440
appreciated, or you got some
criticism from Brother X or
389
00:33:16,440 –> 00:33:18,520
Sister Y and then you’re not
doing it again.
390
00:33:19,040 –> 00:33:23,000
Don’t ask me again if you can do
a better job than you do it.
391
00:33:25,400 –> 00:33:29,920
What if you had 70 years of
having no liberty to pass it off
392
00:33:29,920 –> 00:33:34,880
on to someone else or to pout,
but you just had to keep going?
393
00:33:36,280 –> 00:33:42,000
That’s what a brother in Christ
does.
394
00:33:43,080 –> 00:33:46,440
He doesn’t give up.
He doesn’t check out.
395
00:33:47,000 –> 00:33:51,120
He doesn’t stop serving.
Because if he does that in
396
00:33:51,120 –> 00:33:54,000
ecclesial life, guess where else
he’s going to do that?
397
00:33:55,640 –> 00:34:02,440
In his family?
In his job, in all areas of his
398
00:34:02,440 –> 00:34:09,280
life, we can’t be people who are
doing what we do to be thanked.
399
00:34:11,120 –> 00:34:19,360
We do what we do to give thanks.
It’s work we do in thankfulness
400
00:34:19,360 –> 00:34:25,320
to God for what he’s done for us
with his son.
401
00:34:27,480 –> 00:34:31,440
So Hosea does this work, and it
says, when the Lord spake at the
402
00:34:31,440 –> 00:34:38,400
first by Hosea, he said to him,
Now if you have a young married,
403
00:34:38,960 –> 00:34:42,320
that is your child or
grandchild, I want you to look
404
00:34:42,320 –> 00:34:48,360
at what God said to this man and
ask yourself, would you give
405
00:34:48,360 –> 00:34:57,440
this advice to your child?
Go take unto thee a wife of
406
00:34:57,440 –> 00:35:03,120
whoredom, and there will be
children of whoredom that she
407
00:35:03,120 –> 00:35:09,320
will have.
There was no more difficult life
408
00:35:11,000 –> 00:35:17,080
than the life of a prophet.
Their job was to take a message
409
00:35:17,080 –> 00:35:21,520
from God that no one wanted to
hear except a tiny remnant.
410
00:35:22,480 –> 00:35:25,720
And sometimes it was so tiny or
so silent you didn’t even know
411
00:35:25,720 –> 00:35:28,000
they were listening and that
they were there.
412
00:35:28,600 –> 00:35:31,840
To the extent that you might
say, like Elijah, I only am
413
00:35:31,840 –> 00:35:33,080
left.
There’s no one else left.
414
00:35:34,400 –> 00:35:38,360
And God had to say to him,
listen, no, there are many
415
00:35:38,360 –> 00:35:42,320
thousands that have not bowed
the knee to bow.
416
00:35:43,160 –> 00:35:45,520
You still have work to do.
So get up and get working.
417
00:35:45,800 –> 00:35:50,240
What are you doing here, Elijah?
And so he goes back to work.
418
00:35:52,400 –> 00:36:00,280
God says to this young man
Hosea, So now I’m going to bring
419
00:36:00,320 –> 00:36:06,040
a pain into your life that is
excruciating.
420
00:36:08,840 –> 00:36:15,600
I’m going to have you marry a
woman that you will love deeply,
421
00:36:18,600 –> 00:36:26,400
who will be utterly and
completely unfaithful to you.
422
00:36:29,000 –> 00:36:33,480
Now I know one or two of you,
given the size of the crowd, has
423
00:36:33,480 –> 00:36:35,320
got a child that’s gone through
that.
424
00:36:37,160 –> 00:36:42,040
You know as a parent what that
felt like for you to pray for
425
00:36:42,040 –> 00:36:49,040
them, to cry for them to have
that anger towards your
426
00:36:49,040 –> 00:36:53,800
son-in-law or daughter-in-law
that you did because of the
427
00:36:53,800 –> 00:36:59,800
unjust treatment of your child
and the things that that child
428
00:36:59,800 –> 00:37:05,640
had to go through.
You may be going through a
429
00:37:05,640 –> 00:37:09,800
trial, brother or sister that
you are barely able to cope
430
00:37:09,800 –> 00:37:13,360
through.
You feel like you’re held
431
00:37:13,360 –> 00:37:22,000
together with the weakest of
glues and that you’re right on
432
00:37:22,000 –> 00:37:30,960
the brink of falling apart.
That trial is in your life, and
433
00:37:30,960 –> 00:37:38,320
God is at work.
And in that trial out of your
434
00:37:38,320 –> 00:37:48,160
life, God will bring a gigantic
compassion and empathy and
435
00:37:48,160 –> 00:37:56,440
understanding and wisdom that
apart from that pain, apart from
436
00:37:56,440 –> 00:38:02,520
that loss, apart from that
destruction of what you held
437
00:38:02,520 –> 00:38:06,960
dear, you would never have
otherwise.
438
00:38:10,600 –> 00:38:15,280
This prophet of all the
prophets, aside from the Lord
439
00:38:15,280 –> 00:38:21,560
Jesus Christ, was able to
understand the heart of God in a
440
00:38:21,560 –> 00:38:31,000
way that brought him right into
God’s hurt and his love, his
441
00:38:31,000 –> 00:38:37,200
disappointment, his desire to
save in spite of the gaps, in
442
00:38:37,200 –> 00:38:42,320
spite of the failings of a
wayward wife.
443
00:38:45,440 –> 00:38:51,640
But his life and it’s heartache
must have been indescribable.
444
00:38:53,960 –> 00:38:55,960
So he marries a girl, Her name
is Gomer.
445
00:38:57,000 –> 00:39:01,080
She’s the daughter of de Blime,
which conceived and bare him a
446
00:39:01,080 –> 00:39:04,000
son.
She bare him a son.
447
00:39:05,120 –> 00:39:10,920
Then it goes on to say after
that she bare a daughter.
448
00:39:11,680 –> 00:39:15,480
And then it goes on to say after
that she bare a son.
449
00:39:16,520 –> 00:39:18,560
But you notice the word that’s
missing in those two other
450
00:39:18,560 –> 00:39:26,280
instances, Him.
It doesn’t say she bear him that
451
00:39:26,280 –> 00:39:31,000
second son.
It doesn’t say she bear him the
452
00:39:31,000 –> 00:39:35,840
daughter.
So those children more than
453
00:39:35,840 –> 00:39:40,000
likely were not Hosea’s
children.
454
00:39:42,720 –> 00:39:48,640
So not only did he have to
contend with the heart
455
00:39:49,280 –> 00:39:58,320
fragmenting waywardness of his
wife, but babies that were not
456
00:39:58,320 –> 00:40:02,240
his.
And it goes on.
457
00:40:03,040 –> 00:40:10,640
It says the first child is to be
called Jezreel, first child is
458
00:40:10,640 –> 00:40:14,440
to be called Jezreel.
That name is full of echoes,
459
00:40:14,440 –> 00:40:17,520
isn’t it?
It reminds us of what happened
460
00:40:17,520 –> 00:40:25,120
with Jihu, The pursuit of Ahab’s
descendants and the destruction,
461
00:40:26,080 –> 00:40:29,520
all the blood and gore that
occurred, the hands and the
462
00:40:29,520 –> 00:40:37,880
scowl of wicked Jezebel, the
destruction of all of the
463
00:40:37,880 –> 00:40:39,920
priests and the worshippers of
Baal.
464
00:40:40,200 –> 00:40:42,960
Though there must have been some
kind of survival of that
465
00:40:43,200 –> 00:40:47,880
religion, because it’s still
referred to in Hosea, and we
466
00:40:47,880 –> 00:40:52,120
know about all that bloodshed.
We know that God said to him
467
00:40:52,120 –> 00:40:54,000
that he had done what he wanted
him to do.
468
00:40:55,520 –> 00:40:58,880
But we know also that a lot of
what drove Jihu was about
469
00:40:58,880 –> 00:41:05,240
personal ambition, settling of
scores, vindictiveness, and that
470
00:41:05,240 –> 00:41:09,800
there’s an autocratic,
tyrannical approach that he has
471
00:41:10,200 –> 00:41:14,560
to the rest of his reign.
And he kept the false religion
472
00:41:14,560 –> 00:41:17,440
going.
He knew God.
473
00:41:17,440 –> 00:41:21,480
He knew who he was.
He knew that God had delivered
474
00:41:21,680 –> 00:41:25,640
Israel into his hands, and he
didn’t have enough faith in him
475
00:41:27,120 –> 00:41:31,560
to stop the false religion.
Now we look at these men and
476
00:41:31,800 –> 00:41:37,960
we’re we’re astonished that
these men in the presence of
477
00:41:37,960 –> 00:41:41,040
Yahweh, spoken to by his
prophets, blessed in the
478
00:41:41,080 –> 00:41:45,560
outcomes of what he asked them
to do, would still not fully and
479
00:41:45,560 –> 00:41:51,560
completely fulfill His will and
need.
480
00:41:51,560 –> 00:41:57,760
I said we just need to reflect
on that in connection with our
481
00:41:58,080 –> 00:42:02,800
own individual struggles.
We all struggle.
482
00:42:04,000 –> 00:42:09,920
Every one of us, every one of
us, has got something that our
483
00:42:09,920 –> 00:42:14,040
mind is engaged in, Our hearts
are tied to and attached to.
484
00:42:14,040 –> 00:42:20,320
That is, that is totally foreign
to that is as repugnant as an
485
00:42:20,400 –> 00:42:27,240
idolatrous religious artifact to
God, as as as the things that
486
00:42:27,240 –> 00:42:32,600
Jihu and Israel was attached to
were repugnant to him.
487
00:42:34,440 –> 00:42:42,480
So we go on and God says, I will
avenge the blood of Jezreel upon
488
00:42:42,480 –> 00:42:45,600
the House of Jehu.
I will cause to cease the
489
00:42:45,600 –> 00:42:49,840
Kingdom of the House of Israel.
And that is exactly what
490
00:42:49,840 –> 00:42:53,200
happened.
Jehu’s house came to an end with
491
00:42:53,200 –> 00:42:56,240
the assassination, followed by
multiple kings and
492
00:42:56,240 –> 00:43:00,760
assassinations, some of whom
lasted barely any time at all,
493
00:43:01,840 –> 00:43:06,240
something between 19 and 21
kings in the history of Israel
494
00:43:06,240 –> 00:43:11,440
over what, 208 years?
That is a ridiculously large
495
00:43:11,440 –> 00:43:15,520
amount of kings because they
kept hacking each other to
496
00:43:15,600 –> 00:43:21,960
death, being an ungodly people,
worshipping idols with
497
00:43:21,960 –> 00:43:28,080
inadequate faith in Yahweh.
And then he says in verse 7,
498
00:43:29,600 –> 00:43:31,880
after the the children have been
named.
499
00:43:32,320 –> 00:43:35,000
And then reading.
That was done beautifully for us
500
00:43:35,000 –> 00:43:37,720
this afternoon.
We don’t even have to translate
501
00:43:37,720 –> 00:43:43,120
them, because the ESV translates
the meaning of lo ruhamar and lo
502
00:43:43,120 –> 00:43:46,760
AMI.
Those names are translated from
503
00:43:46,760 –> 00:43:51,600
what we heard in the reading,
Not my people not loved.
504
00:43:53,440 –> 00:43:57,560
And then he goes on.
He says, after all the
505
00:43:57,560 –> 00:44:01,840
discipline that Israel and their
kings will experience.
506
00:44:02,440 –> 00:44:06,120
But I will have mercy on the
House of Judah, and will save
507
00:44:06,120 –> 00:44:11,960
them by the Lord their God, and
will not save them by bow, nor
508
00:44:11,960 –> 00:44:17,640
by sword, nor by battle, by
horses, nor by horsemen.
509
00:44:17,640 –> 00:44:23,320
Think of think of Israel today.
We love them for the Father’s
510
00:44:23,320 –> 00:44:27,520
sake.
But that is one of the nations
511
00:44:27,520 –> 00:44:32,400
of the Kingdom of this world.
That’s what the government is.
512
00:44:33,840 –> 00:44:36,800
That’s what they’re system of
government is.
513
00:44:37,160 –> 00:44:38,760
It’s a part of the Kingdom of
this world.
514
00:44:40,000 –> 00:44:42,680
And and if you think it isn’t
and if that feels like a thought
515
00:44:42,680 –> 00:44:48,080
that you’re backing away from,
shying away from, is that
516
00:44:48,360 –> 00:44:50,720
government going to survive into
the Kingdom?
517
00:44:52,360 –> 00:44:57,280
No it will not.
It’s going to be done away with.
518
00:44:57,280 –> 00:45:02,480
It’s going to be done away with.
We love Israel not for their
519
00:45:02,480 –> 00:45:08,640
government, not for their civil
system, not for anything that
520
00:45:08,640 –> 00:45:13,680
they have in their over reliance
on the power of their arm, their
521
00:45:13,680 –> 00:45:17,240
bows, their arrows, their
nuclear missiles.
522
00:45:17,560 –> 00:45:19,840
We don’t love them for that
because we know that’s all the
523
00:45:19,840 –> 00:45:25,000
wrong headedness of this people
we see described for us in Hosea
524
00:45:25,000 –> 00:45:30,000
Chapter One.
We know that looking at it, and
525
00:45:30,000 –> 00:45:32,520
that’s something that they have
always been afflicted with.
526
00:45:34,200 –> 00:45:38,360
And so the God says, I’m not
going to save Judah with nuclear
527
00:45:38,360 –> 00:45:47,240
missiles, with arrows, with bows
and brother and sister.
528
00:45:48,640 –> 00:45:56,320
Your family in its trouble, your
marriage and its problems, you
529
00:45:56,400 –> 00:46:03,640
and your crushing, humiliating
heart aches and challenges.
530
00:46:05,480 –> 00:46:16,080
God will not save you with bows,
with arrows, with peeled stakes.
531
00:46:17,200 –> 00:46:22,320
You know how he’s going to save
you through the tears that you
532
00:46:22,320 –> 00:46:27,480
cry as you wrestle with his
Angel and he puts your hip out
533
00:46:28,960 –> 00:46:31,480
and you feel that pain upon
pain.
534
00:46:32,400 –> 00:46:36,520
But you know that God is with
you and that he loves you and
535
00:46:37,720 –> 00:46:45,040
that through all of that pain,
through all of that trouble, God
536
00:46:45,600 –> 00:46:52,800
is saving you.
And so, brothers and sisters,
537
00:46:56,160 –> 00:47:02,600
verse 10, God says, after all of
these rebukes, and all of these
538
00:47:04,040 –> 00:47:08,400
threats of what he is going to
do, yet the number of the
539
00:47:08,400 –> 00:47:12,600
children of the of Israel shall
be as the sand of the sea, which
540
00:47:12,600 –> 00:47:17,000
cannot be measured nor numbered.
And it shall come to pass, that
541
00:47:17,000 –> 00:47:20,960
in the place where it was said
unto them, Ye and not my people,
542
00:47:21,280 –> 00:47:25,320
there shall be said unto them,
ye are the sons of the living
543
00:47:25,320 –> 00:47:27,520
God.
Who’s that talking about?
544
00:47:28,440 –> 00:47:32,120
Israel?
Yes, dispersed, then,
545
00:47:32,120 –> 00:47:34,440
regathering.
But who?
546
00:47:34,640 –> 00:47:35,120
Who?
Who?
547
00:47:35,120 –> 00:47:37,680
Who does Paul apply that to?
Israel.
548
00:47:37,680 –> 00:47:47,960
Only there was a people that
dwelt in darkness and saw a
549
00:47:47,960 –> 00:47:54,040
great light, and they’re sitting
in this room right now.
550
00:47:56,440 –> 00:48:04,880
Everyone of you, we who were not
God’s children, grafted in from
551
00:48:04,880 –> 00:48:12,240
lands, never called the land of
God, not a people low army.
552
00:48:12,520 –> 00:48:19,880
Lo Ruhama, who God gave his
beloved Son, For that every
553
00:48:19,880 –> 00:48:26,800
Gentile one of us might have
hope, the hope of life in his
554
00:48:26,800 –> 00:48:31,920
Kingdom, and our number with
Israel.
555
00:48:33,080 –> 00:48:38,000
All of us together, spiritual
Israel, Jew and Gentile, united,
556
00:48:38,840 –> 00:48:43,720
will be without number.
We see us singing together in
557
00:48:43,720 –> 00:48:49,560
Revelation, chapter 5, all of us
to that worthy lamb.
558
00:48:51,440 –> 00:48:55,960
Ye are the sons of the living
God, then that shall the
559
00:48:55,960 –> 00:48:59,520
children of Judah and the
children of Israel be gathered
560
00:48:59,520 –> 00:49:06,120
together, and they shall come up
out of the land, for great shall
561
00:49:06,120 –> 00:49:12,160
be the day of Jezreel.
This is a picture that God gives
562
00:49:12,840 –> 00:49:18,600
to a wayward, disobedient nation
in which he says at it’s heart
563
00:49:18,600 –> 00:49:26,000
the following change and giving
you time to change.
564
00:49:27,200 –> 00:49:33,160
Change before it is too late,
because you’re going to lose
565
00:49:33,240 –> 00:49:37,440
everything.
Change because I love you and I
566
00:49:37,440 –> 00:49:43,840
want to save you, but I need you
to reach out and take my hand
567
00:49:44,040 –> 00:49:49,680
that is stretched out to you.
Listen to these words, painful
568
00:49:49,680 –> 00:49:53,400
though they may be.
They don’t entertain you.
569
00:49:53,920 –> 00:49:59,240
They don’t make you delighted,
but these are words of love.
570
00:50:00,320 –> 00:50:04,240
They come from a place of
intense commitment.
571
00:50:05,800 –> 00:50:12,360
They come from a place of a
father’s heart, of a husband’s
572
00:50:12,560 –> 00:50:18,000
heart.
And they set an example for
573
00:50:18,280 –> 00:50:25,040
every husband in this room.
You have a wife at your side.
574
00:50:25,200 –> 00:50:28,160
Thank God for your wife,
brother.
575
00:50:29,520 –> 00:50:32,640
She’s still with you after all
these years, in spite of who you
576
00:50:32,640 –> 00:50:35,400
are and all of your
inadequacies.
577
00:50:36,880 –> 00:50:43,000
Thank God for her every day.
You could be without her and
578
00:50:43,000 –> 00:50:46,440
alone.
And where would you be then?
579
00:50:48,520 –> 00:50:52,480
Be grateful for her.
She’s not the weaker vessel
580
00:50:52,480 –> 00:50:57,000
because she’s more sinful to you
or less than you, but because
581
00:50:57,000 –> 00:51:02,360
physically her frame doesn’t
have the strength that yours
582
00:51:02,360 –> 00:51:06,480
does or did.
So take that into account and
583
00:51:06,480 –> 00:51:11,400
don’t overburden her.
And should your wife be like
584
00:51:11,400 –> 00:51:16,080
Gomer or what do you do?
Walk away and say good riddance?
585
00:51:16,680 –> 00:51:20,520
Is is that what God did to his
wife?
586
00:51:22,040 –> 00:51:28,720
Is that what Hosea is allowed to
do with his wife?
587
00:51:30,000 –> 00:51:32,040
Well, we’ll look at that in a
little bit more detail in the
588
00:51:32,040 –> 00:51:33,040
next session.
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