(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Alright, we're in Hosea chapter number 3 and as I mentioned Hosea chapter 3 is only 5 verses long and so that's why I've really not read through all the way up through chapter 4 there. So we're going to cover all the content found in these two chapters but although Hosea is only 5 verses long there's actually a lot of doctrine, a lot of good symbolism here that we can learn from so we're going to go over that this evening. So just as a reminder what's taking place in the book of Hosea, God has instructed the prophet of Hosea to take a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms. So this is no easy ministry, this is no easy task to do and he commands him to do this to basically symbolize the spiritual state that Israel is in at this time. Israel has given itself over to idolatry which God considers to be whoredoms and there's committing spiritual adultery as we were going to say and he's basically using Hosea as an example of what God is trying to do with Israel. Now look down at your Bibles in chapter 3 verse number 1 it says, Then said the Lord unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, get an adulterous according to the love of the Lord toward the children of Israel who look to other gods and love flagons of wine. So the first thing I want you to notice here is the extent of God's love. He says there, Go, love a woman beloved of her friend, get an adulterous, just have to throw that in there, according to the love of the Lord toward the children of Israel. Now one of the reasons why he's commanding him to do this is because this is no easy task for a normal human being to do. You know it's kind of hard in our flesh, in our sinful nature to love someone who's been unfaithful to us or love someone who's been involved in adultery. It's very emotionally, just, it's difficult to deal with and that's why he says there to love them according to the love of the Lord. Now when I think of that phrase there, I'm reminded of Ephesians chapter 3 verse 17, you don't have to turn there, it says that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that ye being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, length, and depth, and height, and to know the love of Christ that passeth all knowledge. You see when we think of the love of God and what God has done for us, it really surpasses any knowledge that we have. It really surpasses our understanding of what God has done for us. The sacrifice that he has made for us, it surpasses what we can ever really comprehend because the love is so great. And in fact the Bible tells us in 1 John chapter 3 verse number 1, behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God, therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. So it says there in Hosea chapter 3 verse 1, he tells Hosea, hey, go love this woman who is an adulteress according to the love of the Lord. Now some people want to take this because it says according to the love of the Lord toward the children of Israel. And people want to say, see, there you go, that's your carte blanche, you know, the Jews are God's chosen people, he's going to love them no matter what, right? Because God's love is an unconditional love and it's never going to change, he's always going to love them with an everlasting love, well we got to keep reading because we will see in verse 2 how Hosea actually applied that and implemented that in his love for Gomer. Because it says in verse 2, so I bought her, okay, to me for fifteen pieces of silver and for an omer of barley and a half omer of barley. So God tells Hosea, go love Gomer according to the love of the Lord, well then what does he do? He goes and he buys Gomer for fifteen pieces of silver and for an omer of barley and a half omer of barley. You see that fits in perfectly with scripture because we see that the way God expresses love toward us is how? By giving up his son. Jesus Christ bled us with his own blood, he shed his own blood for us. God tells us in John 3.16, the most famous verse, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believed in him should not perish but have everlasting life. It says in Romans 5.8, but God commended his love toward us and while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. So we see here that Hosea knew exactly what God was talking about. It wasn't like, oh okay, do you mean like just love them, just love her, just keep her, just allow her to keep committing adultery, I'm just going to love her no matter what? No, pay for her. Sacrifice. That's the principle that we see there in verse number two. Now we'll get into that in a little more detail in just a bit, but I want to focus here just on verse number two, that it says for fifteen pieces of silver and for an omer of barley and a half omer of barley, now what is a omer? A omer is simply a unit of measure that would equal to about ten ephas that would actually advance in dry measures and we don't necessarily know how much that would actually amount to today, but I think it would be safe to assume, and I believe that this is true, that a half omer of barley would simply equal fifteen shekels of silver and the reason for that is because he gives fifteen pieces of silver and he doesn't give another fifteen pieces, he uses the omer of barley in order to pay for it. Now go to Leviticus 27 in verse number one, I'm going to read to you from Exodus 21 and verse 32, it says, if the ox shall push a manservant or a maidservant, he shall give unto their master thirty shekels of silver and the ox shall be stone. So the price that you would pay for a maidservant or a manservant if the ox were to gore someone who was a maidservant or a manservant is that you would pay thirty shekels of silver. Look at Leviticus 27 in verse number one, this is talking about someone who's made a vow and the estimation based upon their gender, really. It says in verse number one, and the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying unto them, When a man shall make a singular vow, the person shall be for the Lord by thy estimation, and thy estimation shall be of the male from twenty years old even unto sixty years old. Even thy estimation shall be fifty shekels of silver after the shekel of the sanctuary. And if it be a female, then thy estimation shall be thirty shekels. So that's why I would say that what Hosea paid for his wife was approximately about thirty shekels of silver. That's probably what he paid for to get his wife back. So we see here that loving Gomer according to the love of the Lord is manifested by purchasing her back. So what did he do? He went to her pimp, that's basically what's going on here. He went to her pimp and he bought her back for thirty shekels of silver. Of course the Homer of Barley is included in that. Now turn with me if you would to Acts chapter 20. This is a difficult thing. We don't know how or why he gave fifteen shekels of silver and why he gave the Homer of Barley. We don't understand why. We don't know if he owned a field and he basically got his own grain in order to pay for his wife. But we do know this is that he purchased her. Now there's a significant teaching on this in the New Testament and that is what we just mentioned that God purchased us with the blood of his son. In fact you don't have to turn there but Ephesians 1 verse 14 says which is the earnest of our inheritance referring to the Holy Spirit unto the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of his glory. Look at Acts chapter 20 verse 28. Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers to feed the church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood. So the Bible tells us there that in the New Testament God did not purchase us with silver and gold. In fact the Bible tells us that he did not purchase us with corruptible things such as silver and gold but with the precious blood of Christ. You see he didn't use money to buy us. He didn't use monetary means to purchase us. He purchased us with his own blood. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter number 6 if you would. I'm going to read to you from 1 Corinthians chapter number 7 verse number 20 says let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called. Art thou called being a servant? Care not for it but if thou mayest be free use it rather for he that is called in the Lord being a servant is the Lord's free man. Likewise also he that is called being free is Christ's servant. Ye are bought with the price be not ye the servants of men. Brethren let every man wherein he is called therein abide with God. Now another thing that we see here specifically in the New Testament is that when God bought us with his blood though we're purchased entirely we're still waiting to with the redemption of our body. So he's purchased our bodies he's purchased our souls but the Bible tells us the Holy Spirit resides in our spirit and the Bible tells us that the spirit bears witness with our spirit that we're the children of God and that's why as soon as we got saved we didn't want to just do right all the time because we still reside in this sinful body and this is a concept that the stupid Calvinists can't seem to understand. They think that as soon as you get saved it's just like you're just come ready made, righteousness all the way, no sinful desires, you're going to read the Bible cover to cover every single day, everything's just going to be right spot on. Well no it doesn't work that way Calvinists you know and I don't expect them to really understand that because the Bible tells us that the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. Go ahead and exegesis that in whatever language you want. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God neither can you know him for they are spiritually discerned and it requires a spiritual person to understand biblical truths. So you know we get frustrated with these Calvinists but it's just they're lying devils so that's why they won't understand it. That's ad hominem. Call it what you want but it's fact they're natural they're not saved. I can't expect a Calvinist to understand the word of God much less a Catholic or a Protestant who's not saved who doesn't believe it's by faith alone. I can't trust that anybody can understand the word of God any of them. So the Bible's teaching us here that once we get saved we're sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise unto the day of redemption and he calls it the earnest of our inheritance. What is that? That's like a down payment that God has placed on us to basically say hey one day I'm going to purchase the entire thing. And the day that Christ returns and we are caught up with him to be with him in the clouds we get our resurrected bodies. That's when the entire possession is purchased. That's when the thing is complete. We get glorified. Amen. But that's not happening at this time. You know when we get resurrected we will no longer be tempted to sin. And thank God for that. You know I look forward to that day because on a daily basis we struggle with sin on a daily basis we struggle with the old man we have to constantly fight the flesh and walk in the spirit that we should not fulfill the lust of the flesh. And let me say this if you were to get saved and everything just fell into place right afterwards then there should be no command in the Bible. Commandments should not exist in the Bible. If you just came ready made as soon as you got saved. But the reason there's commandments in the Bible is because God knows you have the propensity to do wrong. You have the propensity to give in to sin and in order to be perfect and complete and sinless you have to be glorified. We have a flesh we have flesh we have a sinful nature we have the old man. That's what the Bible tells us to put away the old man. Right. It constantly tells us put off the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust and be renewed in the spirit of your mind. That's a command. That means we have the propensity to actually do wrong. So we have to learn to do right. In fact David said teach me to what? To do thy will. Why would God have to teach us to do his will if right off the bat we just got it down pat. No thank you God I got it. I got saved. You know I come ready made. No. Teach me to do thy will. We have to learn how to do and why do we have to learn because the Bible is 66 books and it's filled with commandments. Do's and don'ts. Well when you first get saved you don't know you don't know all those do's and don'ts. We have to it takes years to learn these things and even then the Bible tells us that we still sin. Why? Because there's none righteous. No not one. There's none that doeth good. No not one. There's not a just man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not. Why? Because we're still in our sinful flesh. Now when we walk in the spirit we do things that are pleasing unto the Lord. You know we will confess our sins on a daily basis or or read the word of God will win people to Christ will do things that are pleasing unto God. But that's not going to happen all the time. Why? Because we live with the flesh. OK. Now look at First Corinthians Chapter 6 and verse 15 it says here knowing not that your bodies are the members of Christ shall I then take the members of Christ and make them the members of in Harlot. Very interesting that this is actually talking about being purchased but it's also making reference to the harlot just as we see in Hosea. God forbid. What? He that is joined into a harlot is one body for to say he shall be one flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body. But he that committed fornication sin is against his own body. What know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you which you have of God and ye are not your own for you are bought with the price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God's. So the Bible tells us here that though we're still in this flesh, this flesh is still purchased of God. Therefore we need to do our due diligence to try to glorify God in our bodies. Why? Because they belong to God. And in fact the Bible tells us that whosoever defileth the temple, him will God destroy. So this other argument that we see, oh you're just saying that you can get saved and live however you want? Who said that? No. You know what? I am saying that. Once you get saved, you can live however you want. But I'm not saying that you will not live without consequence. Because the Bible tells us him will God destroy. Hebrews 11 says that God will scourge you and chasten you. He will punish you for the sins you do on this earth. Why? Because he's purchased your body. You know if you rent an apartment, okay, you're renting there. But it belongs to someone. And if you destroy that place, guess what, you're gonna have to pay the price for it. So likewise, this body belongs to God. And if it belongs to God, we ought to do our due diligence to make sure that on our daily lives we are glorifying God in our bodies. That's not gonna happen all the time, but we ought to put in the effort to do so. But that does not change the fact whether we're saved or not. Because you know, these Calvinists, they like to say this, well yeah it is by faith alone. Of course it's by faith alone. But saving faith works. You know I like to throw that in there, oh it's not by works, of course it's not by works, but saving faith always works. Yeah that sounds cute. But so does the little Chihuahua, actually two Chihuahuas don't sound cute, you know. You know it may sound right in your little exegesis, little statement, your esoteric little arguments that you make, but it's not biblical. True faith, true faith works, no it doesn't, okay. You know the Bible says we are as workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, that we should walk in them it says. We should, but if we don't, it doesn't mean that we're not, that verse eight and nine don't apply anymore. Because that's what they're saying. You know, for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, that any man should boast, amen, amen. Verse 10, yeah, but if I don't do verse 10, verse eight and nine still apply. We're still saved by grace through faith. Even if we never do one single work ever after our lives, we are still saved. And they like to say this, well yeah we believe in eternal security, but if someone ever does the works, they were never saved to begin with. You know these little phrases and stupid little esoteric arguments that they like to throw out there to really, really what it is is to damn people to hell. Because someone who's straddling the fence in regards to salvation or maybe they don't know how to get saved, they're gonna hear something like that and be deceived by these devils. But it says there, for you're about with the prize, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God's. So we see that in the New Testament, this is being carried out what Hosea did with Gomer. He's purchasing her. He's loving her according to the love of the Lord, okay. Now how is that? Because he purchased Gomer. He purchased her from the pimp, okay. They paid 30 shekels of silver which is very interesting because Jesus Christ was turned in for 30 shekels of silver, okay. Now go back to Hosea, chapter number three. It says in verse number three of chapter three, and I said unto her, thou shall abide for me many days, thou shall not play the harlot, and thou shall not be for another man, so will I also be for thee. For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king and without a prince and without a sacrifice and without an image and without an ephod and without a teraphim. So what is it telling us here? Well, this is basically explaining to us that there's gonna be many days, years, thousands of years until the millennial reign. Because it's telling us there in verse number four that they shall abide without a king, okay. Why? Because they will no longer be under a kingly ruler of Judah, wherever it may be, or even in Israel. And it says they're gonna abide without a prince, they're not gonna have sacrifices. They will not have an image or an ephod or a teraphim. A teraphim is referring to an idol. So they will not only have not have the ephod, but they're not gonna be worshiping devils either. And it says there in verse number five, afterwards shall the children of Israel return and seek the Lord their God and David their king and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days. Now this is a good verse to show that we're not ushering in the kingdom either. Why? Because it says that they shall abide without a king many days. See a lot of people who adhere to this ushering in the kingdom say, well Jesus Christ already has his kingdom right now. You know? Because you know we're kings and priests, he's the king, he's ruling over. No it says here that they will not have a king over them until the latter days it says. So it gives us a time period and that is referring to the millennial reign. So this whole amillennial position where they say you know we're gonna usher in the kingdom, every single Christian's gonna permeate political rule and stores and mama pop spots and we're just gonna rule the entire world and then Jesus Christ will come back is a fraud. It's a lie. It's false. Okay? The Bible tells us that the world will wax worse and worse. It'll become more evil. More wicked people will come about. And we as God's people, we need to make sure that we're preaching the gospel to see people saved but the reality is the whole world's not gonna get saved. The whole world, I hate to break it to you, the whole world is not gonna get saved. More people will follow the broad way than the narrow way. More people will split hell wide open than those who will actually get eternal life. That's just fact. Okay? The Bible tells us that in the New Testament. Now let's go into chapter four. So chapter three really has to do with the action that Hosea took to purchase Gomer back. For those 15 shekels of silver, we see the beautiful symbolism that it has in the New Testament that Jesus Christ paid for us with his own blood. Not redeemed. We're not redeemed with silver and gold. With corruptible things as silver and gold but with the precious blood of Christ. Look at chapter four and verse number one. Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel, for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land because there is no truth nor mercy nor knowledge of God in the land. So the controversy is referring to the fact that he has conflict with his people. He has a problem with the people and the problem that he has is that first of all, the land is void of truth. In other words, no one's preaching the word of God. There's no mercy and there's no knowledge of God in the land. Verse two, by swearing and lying and killing and stealing and committing adultery, they break out and blood toucheth blood. So we see that Israel at this time is just filled with violence. And in fact, if you were to compare it to the United States of America, this would paint a perfect picture. All types of lying, there's killing, there's stealing, there's adultery, people are breaking out. I mean, people are committing a lot of violence. You go on social media, it's just one thing after another about people beating people up randomly on the street or just flippantly taking someone's life. I mean, this is violence, right? And just as God had a controversy with Israel in those days, I guarantee you God has a controversy with the United States. It's not God bless America. No, I believe God is going to curse America and America's already cursed. You say, well, you know, it's not that, the violence is not that bad. What about the millions of babies that are being aborted? What about the thousands upon thousands of babies who are being aborted, innocent babies that are being aborted on a daily basis? That is violence. No, it's a choice. I don't care what you call it, it's violence. You know, you're wicked and these people who want to abort, these ladies, these feminazis who want to abort their babies, bunch of hypocrites, when their mom chose not to have an abortion. You stupid feminists. You know, you want to go ahead and praise your mom and be thankful that your mom gave you life, but then you want to turn around and kill your own baby. You're a hypocrite. The land is filled with violence. You know, you have young people today who are striking the elderly for fun. You know, they're beating people up and they're just putting it on social media. It's a very wicked land that we live in today. Verse 3 says, therefore shall the land mourn and everyone that dwelleth therein shall languish with the beast of the field and with the fowls of heaven, yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away. I mean, he's going to destroy everything. He's like, not even your goldfish is going to survive. Everything's going to be gone. And this is the way he's going to allow the land to mourn because what is he saying? All these things are taking place and no one is mourning. No one is lamenting over the crimes being committed in the land. He goes, I'll make sure the land will mourn. Even to the point where I'll take the fowls, the beasts and the fish of the sea, I'll take it all out to make sure that the land can mourn. It says there in verse number 4, yet let no man strive nor reprove another. For thy people are as they that strive with the priest. So what does that mean right there? It's talking about that the people have become so wicked that they are actually striving with the priest. Excuse me, God's people are actually striving with spiritual leadership like those who are unsaved who strive with spiritual leadership. Those who hate God and hate religion and hate church, God's people at this time have become as that. And that reminds me of today because today you have so-called Bible-believing Christians who will criticize other Bible-believing Christians for what we preach. Are you considering yourself to be a Bible-believer? Yeah, that's who I'm talking about. Christians who claim to be saved, King James only, who fight against the priests of the land. Who say, yeah, we're not associated with, you know, this whole James White, you know, debating pastor Jason Robinson was Jason Robinson handing that dude's rear end to him. You know, before that whole entire interview, James White said this. He said that independent fundamental Baptists were calling in and saying, hey, just want to let you know we stand with you. They're like, we stand with you, we're not associated with them. You know, I'm thinking to myself, then take Baptists off your name. And I'm glad you drew that line to tell us that you don't stand with us because we don't want you to stand with us, you little sissified little heretic. If you're willing to stand with a bunch of heretics, then have it your way. You know, go ahead and side with the devils because anybody who sides with devils and agrees 100% with them, I don't care if your name is Baptist, you're not even saved. So we see that in this time, God's people are even striving with the priests, the spiritual leadership, but it's no different today. Today people who claim to be pastors and are saved, they're striving with Bible believing people. I mean, things that they used to preach 20 years ago, they're criticizing us for preaching today. You know, they were instant dead, but they're not instant now. That's how bad the land has gotten, okay? And in fact, you don't have to turn in Isaiah chapter 30 verse 10, it says this, which say to the seers, see not, and to the prophets, prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things. Prophesy deceits. You see, the reason they're striving with the priests and the spiritual leadership is probably because Hosea, who's the prophet, is telling them the truth. And you know what they don't want, they don't want the truth. But you're in a dangerous position when you no longer want to hear the truth. You're in a dangerous spiritual position when you no longer want to hear the knowledge of the word of God. When you just say, well, just tell me what I want to hear, tell me the seeds, preach unto me smooth things. It says, get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us. Look at verse number five of Hosea chapter four. Therefore shall thou fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy mother. Now verse six is the most famous verse found within the book of Hosea. Everyone could probably quote the beginning of this part. It says here in verse six, my people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. Now we often quote that to say, hey, don't be ignorant, right? Say, my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, therefore don't be ignorant. And I don't think that's a bad application, I think that's a good application to make because the Bible teaches us that, okay? And other portions of scriptures. But in context, that's not what it's saying. It's not saying you're going to be destroyed because you're ignorant. Let's read on, it says, my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge because thou hast rejected knowledge. I will also reject thee. So the reason that they're going to be destroyed is because God is going to destroy them. Why? Because they got the knowledge and they rejected the knowledge. Now pay attention to the wording because this sounds very similar to something that we see in the New Testament. It says, my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge because thou hast rejected knowledge. I will also reject thee that thou shalt be no priest to me, seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God. I will also forget thy children as they were increased so they sinned against me, therefore will I change their glory into shame. They eat up the sin of my people and they set their heart on their iniquity. Now hold your place here, go to Proverbs chapter number one. So remember, they're not being destroyed because they're ignorant. You know why they're being destroyed? Because they're willingly ignorant. It's because they don't want to know the word of God. They don't want knowledge. They got the knowledge and what happened? They rejected the knowledge. That's what we see there. Okay. Now look at Proverbs chapter one, verse number seven says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Skip down to verse 24. Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded, but you have said at not all my counsel and with none of my reproof, I will also laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your fear cometh. Verse 26 is a very good verse. I just saw, I just found a YouTube page called like the Exposing the New IFB or something like that. They have like that web page and it was my, they had my face on there and it says, brother Mejia says that God will laugh at, you know, their calamity or whatever. It's just like, yeah, that's what it says right here. Does God will laugh at them? Stupid people, man. The Bible says that God is actually the one who says I'm going to laugh at your calamity. I mean, exegesis that however you want. I'm sure it says that in the Hebrew as well. He's going to laugh at your calamity. In case you didn't, okay, let's, let's just say we just didn't, we, we, we misinterpreted laugh. I thought there were Christmas caroling in Spanish out there. Just in case we misinterpret what laugh means. He even puts it a different way in that same verse. I will laugh at your calamities. I will mock when your fear cometh. So you see how God increases our vocabulary a little bit? You know, in case you thought you didn't exegesis that correctly in the Hebrew, he put another word that's mocked, it means to make fun of. When your fear cometh. When your fear cometh as a desolation and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind when distress and anguish cometh upon you, then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer. They shall seek me early, but they shall not find me for that they hated knowledge. Remember what we saw in Hosea? Rejected knowledge. For that they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord. They would none of my counsel. They despise all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way and be filled with their own devices for the turning away of the simple shall slay them and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. Notice in verse 32, it says the turning away of the simple. You see, someone who is simple, the Bible says the simple passed on and are punished, but this person who's simple is turning away. That means they're reproved, they're instructed, and they just go, I don't want it, and they turn away from it. So it's not someone who's just ignorant. It's someone who has gotten, they gave them the word of God, and they said, I don't want it. And there's nothing new under the sun. Today, the same exact thing is taking place. You have Christians who claim to adhere to the word of God, but when knowledge is given to them, when you give them doctrine, when you compare scripture with scripture, what do they do? They reject it. And look, that's a dangerous place to be. You know, if you ever corrected on doctrine and the person is right, there's some validity to what they're saying. They're comparing scripture with scripture, and it's like black and white. Just change. Just change. Better to change than to fall into calamity. Better to change than to be destroyed. Better to just humble yourself and be blessed of God for the knowledge that you gain than to be prideful and to be destroyed in the long run, because that will be your end. We see that Proverbs chapter one fits perfectly with Hosea chapter four and verse number six. You see, God is no respected person. This is not just for an individual. This even takes place for a, this applies to a nation. Now what do we, go back to Hosea, what do we see with Israel at this time? Well they're basically about to slip into becoming a reprobate nation. You see, individuals are not the only ones who can become reprobates. Nations can become reprobates as well. In fact, the Bible tells us in Jeremiah chapter number six, reprobate silver, shall men call them for the Lord hath rejected them. And who is that referencing? It's talking about the nation of Israel. Because they rejected God and they refused to take away the wicked from the nation, the Bible tells us that God made them a reprobate nation. And look, America, I don't believe is a reprobate nation as of yet. And the reason I think, I believe that is because people are being saved, the work of God is still being accomplished. There's a lot of wickedness here, there's a lot of faggotry and idolatry and stuff like that. But we have not gotten to this point as of yet. You know, there's still 7,000 prophets who have not bowed the knee to Baal. There's still Bible believing Christians who adhere to the King James Bible and they're doing that which is right on the side of the Lord. They're working for God. I don't believe God has rejected the United States as of yet. But guess what, I don't think it's very far from it for them to become rejected, for us as a nation to become rejected. It's happened to other nations. I believe the nation of Japan is a reprobate nation. That's a fact because you look at the history of Japan and how they just rejected missionary after missionary after missionary after missionary and many nations like it. And you know, it's interesting that a lot of these nations that produce these mighty warriors, for example, you have the Spartan warriors, you have the samurai warriors, you have the Greek warriors, you have all these wonderful and capable warriors who are just killing machines, every single one of them are reprobates. Is that something they don't like to share with you in the history books? The Spartans, they're not what 300, you know, makes them out to be in that movie. Bunch of faggots is what they are. Oh man, but they're like, they just kill everyone. Yeah, because they're full of murder. They're full of murder. That's why they were able to do those research, these ancient civilizations who were just conquering and winning all these wars and battles, they were sodomites. That's the only reason they were able to kill so many people without any conscious because the Bible tells us that there were past feeling. Yay, even the samurais in Japan were a bunch of sodomites. You look at their records and the history, they'll tell you, they taught their young ones, the teenagers, the art of war and the art of love. That's a reprobate nation. And I'm telling you, I don't believe America's gotten to that point, but it's getting there. Because what do we have even in our military? The greatest military, a bunch of sodomites. So we're inching our way to becoming a reprobate nation to the point where God will just reject our nation and it becomes a reprobate nation. Now the Bible tells us in Jeremiah 6 and verse 28, by the way, even the Romans, most of these ancient civilizations that were conquering the world ultimately were destroyed after they started just accepting sodomy and implementing it into their civilization and just embraced it. And look, don't look up to any of those homos. You know Achilles, oh man Achilles is a great, that guy was a homo. Alexander the Great, more like faggot, faggot, faggot Alexander the Great. You don't like to tell you those things, but that guy was a sodomite. The Romans were homos, the Greeks were homos, you know, the Spartans were homos, the Samurais were homos, it's just fact, okay. Now Jeremiah 6 verse 28 says, they're all grievous revolters walking with slanders, they are brass and iron, they're all corruptors. The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire, the founder melteth in vain for the wicked are not plucked away. Reprobate silver shall men call them because the Lord hath rejected them. So we see here that the reason God is rejecting Israel is because the wicked are not taken away. It's like they're still offering sacrifices unto Baal, they're doing idolatry, they're worshipping Satan, and God's saying, man, if you're not going to pluck away all these wicked things, then you're just going to be rejected, okay. So in Hosea, go back to Hosea chapter 4, Hosea chapter 4 we see the decline in Israel and how they became that reprobate nation. Now here's the interesting thing, go with me if you went to Romans chapter 1, go to Romans chapter 1. The same steps that a nation takes to become a reprobate is the same steps that a person takes to become a reprobate as well. Now when a nation becomes a reprobate, it doesn't mean that everyone within that nation is a reprobate, okay. It means nation as a whole, okay, the way God sees it becomes reprobate. But not every single individual within that nation is actual sodomite or a reprobate. But the principle still applies in how they got there. Look at Romans 1 verse number 18, and I'm going to quote to you from Hosea chapter 4 as well. You don't have to turn there, just stay in Romans 1, it says, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness. Hosea 4, 5 says, therefore shall thou fall in the day and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night and I will destroy thy mother. So what do we see first and foremost to this path of being a reprobate is that the wrath of God is revealed. You see, when we hear about hell before we got saved, when we hear about that we hear about the wrath of God. You know what that causes us to do? It causes us to tremble into fear and say, man, I want to be saved. How can I get saved? And I don't care what anybody says, you know, another thing that irritates me about these Calvinists is to say, you know, this gospel that says, you know, you just want to escape hell or get saved, you know, that's not the right type of, that's not the way you should present it. You know, because you want to serve God and love Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, these noble Christians, so-called. No, John the Baptist said, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? You see, the wrath of God, hell, is what causes us to recognize I need a Savior, right? You see, Jesus Christ is called the Savior. Why is that so appealing to us? Because we need to be saved from hell. The place where there's fire and brimstone, where the worm diethane, the fire is not quenched. He's not called the Savior because when we hear about Christ, oh, I just want to follow Him. You know, I just want to live like Jesus and walk like Jesus and do everything like Jesus. You're a liar. You know, these Calvinists, they're a bunch of liars. No, we flee from the wrath to come. We recognize that we're on our way to hell because we're sinners. The Bible says that the law is our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ to help us to recognize that we need a Savior and that it's only through Him that we can be saved. Now, verse 19 says this, because that which may be known of God is manifest in them. For God hath showed it unto them. Remember that knowledge? For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. Because that when they knew God, you know, that knowledge, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened. Hosea 4 says, my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge because I was rejected knowledge. I will also reject thee, that thou shalt not be no priest to me, seeing thou hast forgotten the law of God, and I will also forget thy children. So we see here that it all begins with someone rejecting God. You know, the reason a reprobate was a reprobate to begin with is because they rejected the knowledge of God. When it was presented to him, they completely rejected it, okay? And a lot of people like to say, no, a reprobate like these psychopaths like Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer, they got that way because they looked at a pornography magazine when they were kids. No, that's not how it happened. But that's what they said. But they're liars. Ted Bundy said he was saved. And lo and behold, Jeffrey Dahmer said he was saved, too. They're liars. They're lying to you. You think all of a sudden after killing 30 people, they're just going to start telling the truth? I mean, come on. That's like you, you're willingly ignorant at that point. They're manipulators. Yeah, but they said they trusted Christ as their savior. They probably heard that. They probably grabbed a fortune cookie or something. They know exactly what to say. How do you think they got away with 30 murders? By saying something that sounded right. These people did not become that way because they saw pornography. They became that way because sometime along their life, they rejected Christ. And then God rejected them, and therefore, that's why they became that way. And it's the same thing with the nation. The nation did not become idolatrous because they just stumbled upon a stock, an image, a teraphim, and just started worshiping it. They became idolatrous because they rejected the knowledge of God. And what was the byproduct of that? They got into idolatry. That's how that took place. Now go back to Hosea, or I don't know if you're, yeah, go back to Hosea chapter number four. So we see there that the reason they became idolatrous is because they rejected the knowledge of God. They refused to adhere to the knowledge of God. Look at verse number nine. It says here, and there shall be like people, like priests, and I will punish them for their ways and reward them their doings, for they shall eat and not have enough. They shall commit whoredom and shall not increase because they have left off to take heed to the Lord. They will eat them in wine, and new wine, and take away the heart. My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them, for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God. So what is that referring to when it says that they ask counsel at their stocks? It's not talking about like the stocks of what today is, you know, how they make money. They're just, you know, studying the stock market. Stocks is referring to wood. That's what that's referring to because that's what idols were made of in those days, okay? They're asking counsel, they're going to the staff, they're going to their images in order to get what they need. Verse 13 says they sacrifice upon the tops of mountains and burn incense upon the hills under oaks and poplars and elms because the shadow thereof is good. Therefore, your daughters shall commit whoredom and your spouses shall commit adultery. So what do we see about a reprobate nation is that they enjoy being under the shadow of their idols. Well, what do we see in Romans chapter 1? That they burn in their lusts one toward another. You see, how do you know if you are a reprobate? Well, number one, if you hate God, right? But number two, if you burn in your lusts one toward another. If that's something that you desire to do, then you're a stinking reprobate. You see here, these people said that the shadow of their idols was good, okay? And the Bible tells us in Isaiah chapter 30 verse 2, woe unto them that walk to go down into Egypt and have not asked at my mouth to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh and to trust in the shadow of Egypt. Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion. Look at verse 14, I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom nor your spouses when they commit adultery for themselves are separated with whores. That's a good word to use there. And they sacrifice with harlots. For the people that doth not understand shall fall. Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend. And come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Bethaven nor swear the Lord liveth. So what does he say in verse 15? Look, he's saying, look, though you're involved in this idolatrous practice, don't cause Judah to offend. What does it mean to offend? To stumble. Now, the good principle that we have here that we can learn personally is that when you get involved in sin, don't pull someone down with you. When you have a bad habit in your personal life and you're involved in some sort of sin, don't take someone down, don't let Judah offend. You know, the Bible tells us lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men's sins. Keep thyself pure. We need to make sure that if we struggle with something or we're involved in something that we're not pulling someone down with us. Because why? Because then you cause someone else to suffer the consequences of your actions. You know? And that can apply to a myriad of different aspects of our life and sin, but you apply it to your personal situation. You know, if you get out of church, don't try to get someone out of church with you. If you struggle with a certain vice or a certain sin, don't try to get someone to accompany you in that sin to alleviate your conscience. Let not Judah offend. And he says there, come not ye unto Gilgal, Gilgal is like on the border of Judah, and go ye not unto Bethaibah, nor swear the Lord liveth. He's like, don't even go near it, okay? Now verse 16, it says, for Israel slightest back as a backsliding heifer, now the Lord will feed them as a lamb in a large place. So we see that Israel, that's where we get the term backslider from. A backslider is someone who is regressing, okay? And we need to make sure that we, as God's people, that we're constantly going forward. You know, two steps forward, one step back, but we're constantly going forward. You don't want to regress in your Christian life. You don't want to be considered a backsliding heifer. Okay? A heifer's a cow. He's like, man, that's a backsliding heifer right there. Okay? It says, now the Lord will feed them as a lamb in a large place, and that's in reference to the millennial reign. Many references to the millennial reign we see here. Now there's a couple of things that I'm going to skip over here. Look at verse number 17, Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone. You know, when someone sins in our church and they get excommunicated, you know, that's a good verse to think about. Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone. That means when someone is excommunicated out of the church, let him alone. Don't join them. Don't go hang out with them. Don't go have a burger with them. Don't go have a coffee with them. Don't stay in contact with them. Let him alone. Allow Satan to destroy their flesh. Allow God to do what he needs to do to help that person to come into repentance so they can come back to church. Let him alone. It says in verse 18, their drink is sour, they have committed whoredom continually. Her rulers with shame do love give you. And look at verse 19, the last verse here, it says, the wind hath bound her up in her wings and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices. Now go with me if you would to Psalm 1. Now why does it say the wind hath bound her up in her wings? Well, he's basically setting the platform for what he's going to say in Hosea chapter 8. And I'm going to read to you from Hosea 8 verse 7, it says, for they have sown the wind and they shall reap the whirlwind. It hath no stock, the bud shall yield no meal. If so be it yield, the stranger shall swallow it up. Look at Psalm 1 in verse number 4. The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Now go to Proverbs chapter number 1, this will be the last, one of the last, second to the last verses. So what did Israel do? Well they have sown the wind and guess what's going to happen? They're going to reap the whirlwind. Now this is not the same whirlwind that took Elijah to heaven. It's like, man, you've sown the wind, man, you're a winner. We're going to take you up first class to heaven. That's not what that's talking about. Let me show you what the whirlwind is referring to in verse 27 of Proverbs chapter 1. When your fear cometh as a desolation and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Now go to Proverbs chapter 25, in verse 25, excuse me, Proverbs chapter 10 in verse 25. It says here in Proverbs chapter 10 verse 25, as the whirlwind passeth, so is the wicked no more, but the righteous is an everlasting foundation. So what we see here is it's like, well, you wanted to reap the wind. Just play with sin, just do your idolatrous worship, but you know what you're going to reap? You're going to reap destruction. The whirlwind of God's destruction is going to come and it's going to make you desolate. But look, the principle for us, the way we can apply that in our personal lives is this, is that sin will take you farther than you want to go, it will cost you more than you want to pay, and it will keep you longer than you want to stay. So whatever little sin that you're dabbling in, just know this, you're sowing the wind, but you're going to reap the whirlwind. You're sowing the wind, but you're going to reap destruction and desolation. It may not seem that way because it's just a little wind, but a little wind ends up becoming a whirlwind that will make you desolate. It's going to destroy your life. And let that be a motive to you to do right. Let that be a motive to you to repent on a daily basis, to get right with God, to make sure that you're keeping sin out of your life so that you don't reap the whirlwind. Because the Bible says here that he's going to laugh at the calamity of those. That's what Proverbs 1.27 is in context of, is those who have rejected knowledge. We want to make sure that obviously we're not perfect, but we're not sowing the wind so that in the future we don't reap the whirlwind, amen? So basically, chapter 3 and chapter 4, chapter 3 is in reference to that purchase that God made for us, but chapter 4 is just telling them, hey, I'm going to destroy you. You're becoming a reprobate nation, and you're going to reap the whirlwind. Let's go ahead and bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your Word. Thank you for all the teaching in the book of Hosea, so much symbolism. I pray, God, that you'd help us to apply what we read tonight, Lord, and help us to keep sin out of our lives, and help us, Lord, to walk in the Spirit that we may not fulfill the lust of the flesh. And Lord, as a nation, I pray that you'd help us, Lord, as Christians, to continue to be a light in a perverse and crooked nation, and to shine forth as lights, and to hold the Word of life, the Word of truth, so we can continue to win people to Christ and do that which is pleasing unto you. And God, I pray that you would continue to use this in our nation, and we know we're not going to ever turn it back to God, but what we can do is see a lot of people saved. And I pray that you'd help us to give heed to that, and in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen.