HOSEA 8-11 YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW2011 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Hosea 8-11 You Reap What You Sow

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2011.

Alright, well this evening we're in Hosea chapter 8, and as we continue in the book of Hosea, there's a scriptural principle, a spiritual law that you need to be familiar with because it runs all throughout the chapters we'll be looking at this evening. And it's found, you don't have to turn there, but in Galatians chapter 6, verses 7 and 8, give this spiritual law that is unchangeable, that is always true, that is not shaken.

Galatians chapter 6 verse 7 says, It goes on in verse 8 to say,

The spiritual law is this, you reap what you sow. And that's what these chapters are really all about this evening in the book of Hosea. You reap what you sow. And Paul says there in Galatians 6, don't be deceived. Don't be confused about this. Don't think that you're an exception or your situation is an exception. The reality is, the truth is, whatever you sow, that is what you are going to reap.

Whatever you plant, that is what you're going to harvest. That is a spiritual law. Just like it's a physical law, right? If you plant apple seeds, you get apples. If you plant orange seeds, you get oranges. If you plant grape seeds, you get grapes. Never do you plant grape seeds and get oranges. It does not happen. In the same way, you reap what you sow spiritually. And if you sow to the Spirit...

You will reap spiritual things. But if you sow to the flesh, that is, if you sow to the sinful nature, then you will reap the results and the effects of sin, which is destruction and death. And that principle, that law is illustrated and declared all throughout the chapters we're looking at this evening.

Now, as we talk about the things that are going on here in Hosea and the judgment that is being proclaimed, I think it's important for us to understand that not every judgment or not every difficult or tragedy in life is the result of sin. Just because someone's going through hard times doesn't mean that they're in sin. And we should not jump to that conclusion like Job's friends did and accuse someone of sin because of the situation of their life.

But if you flip it around, it is always the case that when you are involved in sin, it will bring judgment and difficulty and destruction and tragedy. Sin, that's what it brings. Now, just because a person is facing difficulty doesn't mean that they're living in sin, but

But if you live in sin, if you're practicing sin, you will experience the chastening and the judgment of God to bring you to repentance. And so there will be some serious things happening in your life if you are practicing sin. And that's what we're seeing here in the book of Hosea. Hosea is being used by God to call the people to repentance by announcing upon them judgment because of their rebellion.

They're experiencing tragedy and destruction. And it's not just, you know, as it happens in the season of life, you know, they're experiencing judgment or tragedy. The reality is they've been in full-on rebellion against God. They've been ignoring God. And so as a result, he's brought these difficulties, this affliction into their lives so that they would turn and get right with him.

So we pick it up in Hosea chapter 8 and let's look together at verses 1 through 6. It says, Set the trumpet to your mouth. He shall come like an eagle against the house of the Lord because they have transgressed my covenant and rebelled against my law.

Israel will cry to me, My God, we know you. Israel has rejected the good. The enemy will pursue him. They set up kings, but not by me. They made princes, but I did not acknowledge them. From their silver and gold they made idols for themselves, that they might be cut off. Your calf is rejected, O Samaria. My anger is aroused against them. How long until they attain to incense?"

Verse 1.

Here as we start out in Hosea this evening and looking at chapter 8, what we find is Israel claiming to know God. And God says, look, you claim to know me, but you don't know me. And so he says, set the trumpet to your mouth. Now the trumpet was used to sound the attack. It was the call to battle. And here what God is doing is he's calling the Assyrians to battle. He's calling the Assyrians to conquer Israel.

the nation of Israel as a result of their rebellion against God. And he explains that there in verse 1. He says, because they have transgressed my covenant and rebelled against my law. They are experiencing this affliction, this attack as a direct result of their rebellion against God. It's judgment. God is bringing this into their nation, into their life because of their sin.

Well, what's interesting about that is he goes on in verse 2 and he says, Israel will cry to me, my God, we know you. And so God says, look, this affliction is coming upon you because you've transgressed my covenant. You've broken my covenant. You're rebelling against me.

But at the same time, they're claiming, hey, we know God. Why is this happening to us? We know God. We worship God. We sacrifice to God. How could this happen to us? And what's going on here is although Israel claimed to know God, their practices prove that they do not know God.

Jesus told us in John chapter 14, verse 23, he says, if anyone loves me, he will keep my word. A lot of people claim to know God and love God today. But Jesus gives us some criteria to measure. If I claim to know God, then you will see that evidence by me keeping his word. Not perfectly, of course, and not without fail.

But the rule of my life will be that I'm obedient to the Word of God, that I'm following His commands, that I'm living in obedience to God. And anybody who claims to love God but is walking in sin or practicing sin, practicing disobedience to God, Jesus says, they're lying. They claim to love me, they claim to know me, but they don't really.

In fact, Jesus said in Matthew chapter 7 something pretty scary. He said in Matthew 7, 22 and 23, He says, Many will say to me in that day, that is the day of judgment. So picture us, we're standing before God. It's the final judgment. We're there before God. And many will go up to Jesus and say, Lord, Lord, we've prophesied in your name. We've done mighty works. We've cast out demons. All kinds of things for you.

And Jesus says, and I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me. Now they say, Lord, Lord. They call out the Lord. They're calling on the Lord. They're saying his name. They're saying, hey, we loved you and we worked hard for you. We did lots of miracles for you. And then Jesus says, I never knew you. How is that possible? Well, he says, depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. You see, the reality is those who practice lawlessness say,

Do not know God. And here's Israel practicing lawlessness, but there in verse 2, they're crying out and saying, My God, we know you. Jesus says, there's many on that day in the final judgment who will say that same thing. And I'll say to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. And so here's the reality, guys. Here's what we need to understand.

Just like Israel needed to understand. Those who practice lawlessness do not really know God. Those who have a sinful lifestyle do not know God, do not love God, are not walking with God. And they should be expecting to receive the judgment of God. But what happens is we confuse ourselves, we...

deceive ourselves and say, look, I love God. I go to church. I do these rituals. And so I'm okay even though I practice these sinful activities, even though I continue on in this sin. But Hosea is telling the people it's not okay. It's not right. And you're experiencing this judgment. Even though you claim to know God, you're experiencing this judgment because of your practice of sin, because of your rebellion against God.

Now one of the ways that they were rebelling against God was they were worshipping false gods.

And there in verses 4 through 6, he's talking about these golden calves that they had set up. And right when the nation was split in two, the northern kingdom, Israel, set up two golden calves. One in Dan at the northern part of Israel, and then one in Bethel at the southern part of Israel, so that the people could go and worship there. And there they were set up, and 1 Kings chapter 12, they proclaimed and declared, these are your gods that brought you out of Egypt.

And so they tried to replace God with these two calves, these two idols that they had set up. And so Israel has been worshipping these idols, these calves that were set up, worshipping them but calling them the name of the true and living God. They were calling them as God. They were worshipping them as God. But of course, these idols were not God. Verse 7 says,

It says,

And they shall sorrow a little because of the burden of the king of princes. Verse 11. Because Ephraim has made many altars for sin, they have become for him altars for sinning. I have written for him the great things of my law, but they were considered a strange thing. For the sacrifices of my offerings, they sacrifice flesh and eat it. But the Lord does not accept them.

Now he will remember their iniquity and punish their sins. They shall return to Egypt. For Israel has forgotten his maker and has built temples. Judah also has multiplied fortified cities. But I will send fire upon his cities and it shall devour his palaces. Here as we go on in chapter 8, he says there in verse 7, They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind.

Now I told you this law, this principle is going to be all throughout these chapters we look at tonight. You reap what you sow. And so he says, look, they sowed the wind and what they're reaping is the whirlwind. They're now reaping what they have sown. They've been in rebellion against God.

And now they're reaping the destruction that comes from rebelling against God. Now, the wind versus the whirlwind seems like it's a little bit unfair. I mean, they're sowing the wind, but they're reaping a whirlwind, which is much more severe, much more devastating than just a wind. But the way that it works with sin, the way that God does this, is when you are practicing sin, He's patient with you to give you opportunity to repent and turn back.

Remember last week we talked about God saying, they don't realize that I remember all of their wickedness. Remember how it talked about how then their wicked deeds have surrounded them and trapped them? So what happens is, God allows you to sow to the flesh. He allows you to practice sin. He doesn't strike you down immediately. He gives you opportunity to repent. But if you don't repent, that sin continues to build up.

And so it comes upon you, the destruction as a result of that sin comes upon you suddenly like a whirlwind, but for a long time you've been sowing to the wind. You've been sowing to the wind for an extended period, but the judgment that comes is concentrated. It comes upon you at once like a whirlwind. And so this destruction is coming upon them. They sow the wind and they reap the whirlwind. That's what God declares is happening.

Verse 11 is really interesting. It says, I look at this verse and I think, well, duh. Yeah, if you make a lot of altars that are intended for sin, then they will become to you altars for sin. They will be altars where you sin. They will be opportunities for sin. And so, yeah, it makes sense, but...

Even though it's like, hey, that's a no-brainer, it's interesting how we as Christians can do this same thing. You know, we kind of build our altars, but we tell ourselves we're not really going to use them. You know, we hold on to our quote-unquote Christian liberties, holding on because of the principle of, you know, hey, I can do whatever I want, the Bible says that, and so I'm going to hold on to this thing in my life. I don't got to get rid of this area of my life. I don't have to do away with that.

And so we hold on to these altars in our lives, not willing to give them up for the Lord, even though we tell ourselves, I'm not really going to practice it, I'm not really going to involve myself, but it's the principle of the thing. I've got to hold on to this liberty of mine. But then what happens is those altars for sin that we leave, that we create, become for us altars where we sin. Christians who are living in sin say things like, you know, I can stop any time.

You know, I'm just involving myself, you know, but it's not that big of a deal. It's not that big of a sin. It could be worse. I know other Christians and they're blessed and they're doing worse things than I'm doing.

And so we kind of justify our alters, the practices of sin in our lives. Or a Christian who's living in sin will say, like, it's under control. You know, I can stop any time. I have it under control. I'm only hurting myself, you know. It's just about me and nobody else is being affected by this. And we use all these types of things to justify sin.

The altars of our sin. The practices that we have where we're worshipping these false gods by disobeying God. Holding on to our Christian liberties perhaps or flat out engaging in sin. This is what the nation of Israel did. They built these altars to these false gods and then those altars were, well, opportunity for them to sin. So as many altars as they built, that was...

The extent of their sin against God. They multiplied their altars and so they multiplied their sin. You and I as believers need to understand that sin and compromise never leads you closer to the Lord. Never once does compromise improve your relationship with God. It always leads you astray. It always separates you from God or leads you away from God. Don't be deceived. God cannot be mocked.

Whatever a man sows, that he will reap. Israel worshipped false gods. They sowed to this idolatry. And so what did they reap? Well, verse 14 says, What happened? They sowed to this idolatry. What did they reap? They've forgotten God. When you involve yourself...

and the pursuit of things that are not of God. When your passion that is supposed to be for God is given to other things, it will wind up causing you to forget your Maker. Although we tell ourselves and we proclaim, that'll never happen to me, again, I've got it under control, I can stop anytime I want, we say all those types of things, but the end result is what you reap from those pursuits is forgetting God, forgetting your Maker.

And losing that relationship with God that you once had. And so Israel is right about now to reap what they have sown. This long time of idolatry and rebellion against God is bringing upon them the judgment that it deserves. Heading into chapter 9, look at verse 1 through 6. It says, Do not rejoice, O Israel, with joy like other people's.

Verse 1.

They shall not offer wine offerings to the Lord, nor shall their sacrifices be pleasing to him. It shall be like bread of mourners to them. All who eat it shall be defiled, for their bread shall be for their own life. It shall not come into the house of the Lord.

What will you do in the appointed day and in the day of the feast of the Lord? For indeed they are gone because of destruction. Egypt shall gather them up. Memphis shall bury them. Nettles shall possess their valuables of silver. Thorns shall be in their tents.

Here in verses 1 through 6, Hosea is addressing the people and it's very possible this is given during one of the feast times of the nation. And so he's telling them, don't rejoice like the other peoples are rejoicing. Although it's a feast time or although it's a time where you would normally be rejoicing, you guys, you need to stop rejoicing, Hosea says. Why? He says, well, you've played the harlot against your God.

Remember, God uses harlotry as a picture for idolatry.

That is, the idea of being unfaithful to a spouse or involving yourself in prostitution is the same as giving to other things the passion, the devotion, the love that is meant for God. You are to be loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And if your love for God is unfaithful,

taken away from Him and directed towards other things, well, that's harlotry. That's adultery. That's idolatry. They're all the same thing. It's worshipping other gods. It's trying to worship God as well as other things. Of course, you want to say, you know, I still love God, but if He's not first, if He's not foremost, then He says, don't rejoice with joy like other peoples. If God is not first in your life,

If He is not the most important thing, if your passion for God does not consume you, don't rejoice. Even if it's a birthday party, even if it's a big celebration, even if it's Christmas or whatever. Listen, it's not time to rejoice. If your love for God, if your passion for God is not all-consuming, if that's not the whole focus and purpose of your life, it's not time to rejoice, it's time to repent.

Because what you've done in taking that love and that devotion, that passion away from God and putting it towards other things, it's what he says here. He says, you've made love for higher on every threshing floor. Now, they would worship these false gods in these immoral practices on the threshing floor because they thought that it would make their harvest more plentiful. It was a way to, you know, have better success in business.

And so they would compromise. They would involve themselves in this idolatry in order to try to get better returns from their crop. But he goes on in verse 2 to say the threshing floor and the wine press is not going to feed you. If you devote yourself to God and worship God, God's promise is I will feed you. I will take care of you.

But if you pursue other things and you are subtracting away in your relationship with God in order to pursue providing for yourself, God says it won't feed you. First of all, it's idolatry. Secondly, it won't be able to provide for you. So you're not going to accomplish what you're trying to accomplish. You have to put God first. You have to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness first.

And then all these other things will be added to you. But God must be first. And so they played the harlot against God. And so God says, it's not time to rejoice. It's not time to offer sacrifices to the Lord. It's time to repent. It's not time to feast and to celebrate. It's time to turn and get right with God. Verse 7.

The days of punishment have come. The days of recompense have come. Israel knows. The prophet is a fool. The spiritual man is insane because of the greatness of your iniquity and great enmity.

Verse 8, the watchman of Ephraim is with my God, but the prophet is a fowler's snare in all his ways. Enmity in the house of his God. They are deeply corrupted as in the days of Gibeah. He will remember their iniquity. He will punish their sins. Here we see in verses 7 through 9 that Israel's corruption has now also affected the spiritual leaders of the nation. The spiritual leaders of Israel were also corrupt.

Israel refused to listen to the prophets that God had sent. And so instead, what they ended up with was useless prophets. Prophets who are not really speaking on behalf of God. Prophets who are fools. Spiritual leaders who are insane. When a people refuses to hear the message of God through his prophets, when they refuse, they're stopping up their ears.

Paul says, instead what people will do is they will gather up for themselves people who will tickle their ears, their itching ears. And so what they end up with is spiritual leaders who are not speaking on behalf of God, but spiritual leaders who are insane. Spiritual leaders who are fools. Spiritual leaders who really have nothing to do with God. We can see that happening in our nation today. Even those who are supposed to be spiritual leaders.

There's a good majority of spiritual leaders who are fools, who are insane. I was reading about this pastor back east who has decided that they will not perform any more marriage ceremonies until they can perform marriage ceremonies to everybody. So they can't right now perform legal marriage ceremonies for gay and lesbian couples, but they can for heterosexual couples.

And so they've decided, we're not going to do any marriages at all, whatsoever, until we can marry gay and lesbian couples as well as heterosexual couples. Fool! Insanity! This is not of God. But this is a pastor. This is a minister. And our nation, which has stopped up its ears and refused to hear from God, is now accumulating and amassing to themselves fools,

And insane people as spiritual leaders. We can see it happening right in front of us. He says in verse 9, they're deeply corrupted. As in the days of Gibeah. Now the days of Gibeah, you can look back into the book of Judges chapter 19, if you want to, later on. In Judges chapter 19, it gives the account of some great horrible atrocities that were committed and sexual immorality that was going on in the days of the judges. And

Well, you can read it later. It's just wickedness. And so he says, look, their corruption is like that. It's that same level of corruption and iniquity. But notice he says at the end of verse 9, he will remember their iniquity. He will punish their sins. Forgotten sin is a benefit of repentance. Then God forgives. He casts it as far as the east is from the west. But sin that is not repented of is not forgotten. And so God says he will remember their iniquity.

And then he will punish their sins. They will reap what they've sown. Even though it doesn't happen immediately, just like when you sow an apple seed, you don't walk out the next day and have, you know, a tree full of apples. It takes some time for it to grow and then finally to produce fruit. In the same way, they've been sowing. It's taken some time. God's not forgotten. He knows their sin. And in due time, at the right time, he's going to

to bring the harvest. He's going to bring them the judgment, the discipline for their sinful activities. Verse 10, I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness. I saw your fathers as the first fruits on the fig tree in its first season.

But they went to Baal Peor and separated themselves to that shame. They became an abomination like the thing they loved. As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird. No birth, no pregnancy, and no conception. Though they bring up their children, yet I will bereave them to the last man. Yes, woe to them when I depart from them. Just as I saw Ephraim like Tyre planted in a pleasant place.

So Ephraim will bring out his children to the murderer. Verse 14, Give them, O Lord, what will you give? Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.

Verse 2.

Here in verses 10 through 17, we have God likening them to grapes in the wilderness. Grapes in the wilderness would be, well, it would be something pleasant, be something nice. And God likens them to this vine that he has planted and cultivated and taken care of. And now they're producing fruit. And at first they were producing good fruit. They were walking with God and God was doing a work in their midst.

So God gathered them, He protected them, but then it says there in verse 10 that they went to Baal Peor and separated themselves to that shame. Again, they began to practice idolatry. They began to sacrifice to these false gods. And it says there at the end of verse 10, they became an abomination like the thing that they loved. And that's the reality. You and I will become the thing that we worship. If you worship the true and living God.

If He's your all, if your pursuit and your passion is for Him, you will become more and more like Him. He will be transforming you into His image. But if you pursue other things, whether it be materialism, whether it be lust, whether it be pleasure or entertainment, if you pursue those things that are corrupt, you will become, like them, corrupt and abomination.

Just like the thing that you love, just like the thing that you worship. And so he says their glory is flying away. They've come to a nice place. As I've said in previous weeks, I mean, the nation of Israel was looking good on the outside. They had money, they had success and prosperity, things were going good. But now he says their glory is going to fly away. And he talks about now the fruit of the nation in regards to their children.

He says they bring up their children, but God says, I'm going to bereave them of their children to the last man. So they're raising kids, but God says they're going to experience judgment. They're going to experience the result of their sin, and their kids are going to be put to death. Now understand that one of the ways that they would worship their false gods is they would sacrifice their children on the altars. And so you see here they're reaping what they've sown.

They're sacrificing their kids and God says, okay, so your kids are going to be put to death. You reap what you sow. You're sacrificing your kids. So verse 14 says God will give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts. They're going to be barren. They're not going to be able to produce because they've been worshipping these false gods. And so they're reaping what they've sown. It's right. It's just. It's fair. It's fair.

It's the law that God has established. He says in verse 15, Gilgal is an interesting place. It used to be, in earlier days before this, it used to be a place where prophets were trained.

There in Gilgal, Elijah and Elisha trained prophets. There was a school of prophets that were there. And so leaders, spiritual leaders for the nation were raised up there. It was like a Bible college or a school of ministry there for the prophets. And so they were trained. They were raised up. It was a spiritual center of the nation. But now, as Hosea is writing this, Gilgal is a place of idolatry and sinful practices. And so at once,

It was a spiritual place. It was a spiritual center. But now it's a center for idolatry. Something to consider. Are there places in your life that at one time were used for spiritual things, for spiritual growth, for training, for preparation, but now have been used for ungodly things?

Could you imagine if at one time this building, we're here, we're worshiping the Lord, but then later on it becomes a house of prostitution or a bar or some other type of place that's used for ungodly purposes? I mean, how terrible would that be? But consider your own life and maybe your home. At one time when you would go home,

your home would be used, you'd be spending time with the Lord. It would be used for things of God. It was where you, you know, listened to some good Bible teaching or you spent time studying the Word or you were, you know, spending time in worship or whatever the case may be. It used to be a place where, you know, you could come and grow in the Lord. But has it become now a center for idolatry? A place where

Now, ungodly practices are going on. No longer is it that center of worship, that center of training, that spiritual growth. But now it's, well, it's a place of ungodliness. It's not helping your spiritual walk. Or maybe think about, we live in modern times, your computer. And at one time, man, your computer, it was used to help you study.

The Word of God. You were involving yourself. You're looking on Blue Letter Bible. You're learning about words. You're doing word studies and researching and doing your devotions and really digging in. But now is it an instrument of pornography? That's the same type of thing. That's what Gilgal was transformed into. And God says, as a result of that, I'm going to drive them from my house and I will love them no more. We need to consider, guys, we reap what we sow.

And if you are sowing to the flesh through the blessings that God has given to you, you will reap destruction. Verse 17 says, My God will cast them away because they did not obey Him. You reap what you sow. You say, no God, no God, no God, no God. And then finally God says, okay, I'm going to let you go on your own. Cast them away. I'm going to let you wander, God says. I'm going to let you experience life without me. You're going to get what you've asked for. You're going to reap what you've sown.

Going into chapter 10, verses 1 through 4, it says,

They have spoken words, swearing falsely and making a covenant. Thus judgment springs up like henlock in the furrows of the field. Again, we see Israel reaping the fruit of their sin. There in verse 1, Israel is emptying his vine. He's talking about and describing the harvest. He's taking the fruit off of the vine. What is the fruit that they're taking off the vine? The judgment that they've accumulated for themselves.

It's this idea of harvest or reaping what they've sown. And so they've been sowing this sin and rebellion. It says there, according to the multitude of his fruit, he's increased the altars. They've increased their idolatry. And so now the harvest is coming and they're reaping the vine. They're taking all the fruit off of the vine and reaping the judgment that they've stored up for themselves. What have they sown? Increased altars.

sacred pillars, which were things that were involved in idolatry. And then in verse 2, he says their heart is divided. They've sown a divided heart. What's a divided heart? Well, it's very simple. It's a heart that's divided. That's partially for God, but also partially for these other things. Again, what does God require? You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Jesus says, look, if you don't love me more than everything else and anything else, you cannot be my disciple. Jesus requires absolute love, adoration, passion, and commitment to him. He must come first. Anything other than that is a divided heart. You can't, you know, try to love the Lord or walk with the Lord, but also be pursuing these other passions and desires that are not of God. You have to seek first the kingdom of God.

You have to put him first. Israel has sown a divided heart. And so what are they reaping? Well, he says there in verse 4, judgment springs up like hemlock in the furrows of the field. Hemlock is a poisonous herb. So when you plant poisonous herb seeds, don't be surprised when a poisonous herb grows up.

Hemlock springs forth from the furrows of the field. So they've plowed, you know, they've dug, and then they've planted the seeds there in the field of this poison. Practicing sin, maintaining a divided heart, is like sowing poisonous seeds. You're going to reap poisonous effects. See, once again, God is telling us, reminding us of the severity and the seriousness of sin. It's not to be played around with.

It's not to be practiced as if, well, you know, another thing Christians often say, there's grace. Sure, there's grace. But if you plant poisonous seeds, you're going to get poisonous plants, a poisonous harvest. It's going to bring destruction. Don't be deceived. God cannot be mocked. Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. Whatever a woman sows, that she will also reap. It's a law. It's going to happen.

And so if you're practicing sin, if you've got a divided heart, if you're not sold out for the Lord, you are going to reap the consequences and the effects of that. That's what Hosea is telling the people. They're receiving now the effects of their rebellion against God. They're reaping what they have sown. Verse 5. The inhabitants of Samaria fear because of the calf of Beth-Avon.

Verse 2.

As for Samaria, her king is cut off like a twig on the water. Also the high places of Avon, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed. The thorn and the thistle shall grow on their altars. They shall say to the mountains, cover us, and to the hills, fall on us. Verse 9, O Israel, you have sinned from the days of Gibeah. There they stood, the battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake them.

Here God continues on to deal with their idolatry and their rebellion against God. He says that,

the inhabitants of Samaria. That was the capital city of Israel. He said that they're going to mourn for the calf at Beth-Avon. Now Beth-Avon is another name for Bethel. Bethel, you might remember, was called House of God. It's the House of God. It's where the Lord met with Jacob as he was fleeing away from Esau. It was the House of God. But Beth-Avon...

It means house of idolatry. And so now, once was the house of God, is the house of idolatry. And here at Bethel is where they set up one of these calves that they were worshipping. These golden calves that they declared are the gods of Israel. And so they're worshipping this false god. And now the people are mourning. Why? Because the glory of that calf is taken away. The god that they've been worshipping...

is being proven and shown to be a false god. It says there in verse 6, the idol will be carried to Assyria. The problem with worshipping other gods is those gods can be taken away. What good is it to worship, to devote yourself to, to devote your passion and love and adoration to things that can be taken away, things that can be stolen from you? You see, worshipping false gods is a lot of work.

You have to provide for them. You have to protect them. You have to maintain them. And so on and so forth. But when you worship the true and living God, He does all that for you. Instead of you having to provide for your God, your God provides for you. Instead of you having to protect your God, your God protects you. What is it that's your God? Is it something that you have to protect and you have to maintain? You have to fight for this? You have to fight for that? You have to work hard to...

to preserve these things that are so important to you in your life, that's a lot of work. It's exhausting. And then when they're taken, then you're devastated. But when you worship the true and living God, He takes care of you. He protects you. He provides for you. He meets your needs. We've seen all throughout the prophets how ridiculous it is to trade in the worship of the true and living God for a false God, and yet that's what we do. We give the devotion, the passion, the love,

that belongs to God to other things in our lives. And it's our destruction because we reap what we sow. God says there in verse 10, when it's my desire, I will chasten them. At the right time, when he's ready, he will bring the chastening, the discipline, the judgment as a result of their worship of these false gods. Verse 12, sow for yourselves righteousness, reap in mercy.

Verse 2.

What do we see? Again, the spiritual law. You reap what you sow. He calls the people. He begs the people. Sow for yourselves righteousness so that you could reap in mercy.

Even at this point, as he's proclaiming this judgment upon the nation, he says, look, it's not too late. You can start right now to sow righteousness. You don't just have to give up and continue on in your wickedness. Start right now and you'll reap in mercy. It doesn't mean nothing bad will happen, but you'll begin to experience the mercy of God.

And so he says, break up the fallow ground. Now, fallow ground is ground that has been idle. It's been, it was turned over, it was tilled, but then it wasn't sown. And so he says, look, your hearts are like that. You,

You need to break up the fallow ground. Your heart's just been lying there dormant in regards to the things of God. It's been inactive. So break it up. Start to stir things up and begin to plant for yourself righteousness. Start doing what's right. Start walking with God. And guess what? You will reap what you sow. And so as you sow righteousness, you will reap mercy. But he goes on in verse 13 to explain, here's what you've done. You've plowed wickedness. That's what you've sown.

And so what are you reaping? Iniquity. You've sown sin and so you're reaping iniquity. Your life is full of sin because that's what you're involving yourself in. You're experiencing the destruction and devastation of sin because that's what you've been involving yourself in. But if you will sow righteousness, you will reap mercy. You'll reap of the Spirit everlasting life.

Walking with God is a lot like farming, and that's why this principle is so powerful. That's why this illustration is used. Like farming, it's hard work. And you have to be faithful and diligent even when you don't feel like it. The farmer can't say, well, I don't really feel like plowing today. No, it's based upon the seasons and the times. There's limited amounts of times that they're able to plow. You can't just harvest when you feel like it because it's only ripe for a certain season.

And so whether you feel like it or not, you have to involve yourself and engage in the hard work of farming in the same way for spiritual things. You have to be diligent. You can't be like, well, I just don't feel like it.

Walking with the Lord today, I don't feel like reading my Bible today. I don't feel like obeying God today. I don't feel like sharing the Gospel today. I don't feel like reaping the harvest today and asking them, inviting them to be a part of what God is doing. You can't allow those things to dictate how you live. You have to be involved and disciplined in the work of God, whether you feel like it or not. It's a lot like farming.

He uses this picture of sowing and reaping also to remind us that sometimes the results, in fact, most of the time the results are a season away. They sow, let's say in the springtime, they reap in the harvest several months later. It's not immediate results. Many times we begin to sow righteousness and we get frustrated because there's not immediate results.

You've got to be patient. You've got to be diligent. You've got to be disciplined and you've got to wait. Because you know the law. Here's the law. You will reap what you sow. And so if you sow righteousness, you will reap mercy. God will be working in your life. But if you sow wickedness, rebellion, you will reap destruction. In verse 13 he says, because you trusted in your own way. They trusted in their own way. They thought, our ways are good. We've got it figured out. We don't need to listen to God. And that's why they're in the place that they're in.

Chapter 11, verse 1. When Israel was a child, I loved him. And out of Egypt I called my son. As they called them, so they went from them. They sacrificed to the Baals and burned incense to carved images. I taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by their arms. But they did not know that I healed them. I drew them with gentle cords, with bands of love. And I was to them as those who take the yoke from under their neck. I stooped and fed them.

Verse 5, he shall not return to the land of Egypt, but the Assyrians shall be his king because they refuse to repent and the sword shall slash in his cities, devour his districts and consume them because of their own counsels. Verse 7, my people are bent on backsliding from me, though they call to the Most High, none at all exalt him. God here says, look at what I've done for them.

I've loved them. I called them out of Egypt and delivered them from the bondage there. And as I called them, then they went from me and began to sacrifice to the Baals. As I did this great work for them, it wasn't very long, they began to pursue these false gods. He says, look, I taught them to walk. I took them by the arms. He's picturing, you know, like teaching a little baby to walk. He's like, I taught them. I raised them. I cared for them. I loved them. But then they...

turned and rebelled against God. God says, I taught them, I healed them, I expressed gentleness and I fed them. But then they refused to repent. They insisted, no, we're doing it our way. To the point where God says there in verse 7, my people are bent on backsliding from me. They're bent on backsliding. They're insisting, no, I'm going to backslide. I'm going to fall away from God. That was the stubbornness of their hearts.

But I think verse 7 is something every one of us needs to wrestle with. I would encourage you, write it down, spend some time, chew on it this week. Because look what it says. He says, My people are bent on backsliding from me, though they call to the Most High. See, we tend to think if you're calling to God, then you cannot be backsliding. We tend to think, hey, if I'm calling on the Lord, then I must be all right. I must not be backsliding.

But here's a people who are bent on backsliding and at the same time they're calling out to God. How can that be? How is that possible that a people are backsliding while at the same time they're calling out to God? Well, it's possible because of the last part. He says, though they call to the Most High, none at all exalt Him. They don't lift Him up. They don't exalt God.

We look at our lives and we determine whether or not we're in a backslidden state by whether or not we're calling out to God. We think about our lives and we go, well, look, I've been reading or I've been praying or I went to church. I must be fine. I'm calling out to God. But the real question is not, are you calling out to God or are you praying or are you reading? The real question is, are you exalting God? Is He the Lord of your life? Is He the Master?

Are you living your life in obedience to Him? Is He first? Is He foremost? Is He most important? Have you lifted Him up so He's the primary passion? Again, He's what consumes your life. You see, if He's not consuming your life, you're backsliding. Even if you call out to Him, even if you come to church regularly, you're backsliding. If He's not first, we must seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Verse 8.

Verse 1.

My heart churns within me. My sympathy is stirred. I will not execute the fierceness of my anger. I will not again destroy Ephraim, for I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come with terror. They shall walk after the Lord. They shall roar like a lion when he roars. Then his son shall come trembling from the west.

Verse 11, They shall come trembling like a bird from Egypt, like a dove from the land of Assyria, and I will let them dwell in their houses, says the Lord. We end this evening with a beautiful portion where God says, My heart churns within me. My heart churns within me. God is bringing some severe judgment against this nation, but he's not doing it with a smile on his face. He's not happy about it. He's not excited about it.

He says, how can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over? How can I do this? My heart churns. It's turning over within me. It's agonizing to God. He's not out to destroy them. He's out to restore them. God is basically giving the speech that maybe you heard as a kid. This is going to hurt me more than it hurts you. He hates to see this happen. Chastening is pleasant for nobody. Nobody enjoys chastening. Not the person receiving it.

not the person giving it. God is not enjoying the chastening, but he's bringing it because he loves them to bring restoration to them. He's allowing them to reap what they've sown so that they can turn and sow righteousness and reap in mercy. The worship team is going to come up and close us in a few last songs. And as they lead us in this first song, I want to encourage you to spend some time just between you and the Lord and ask yourself, what have I been sowing?

Think about this week. What have you been sowing? What will you reap from the things that you have sown this week? What will you reap from the things that you've sown today? Have you been involved in sin? Have you been practicing unrighteousness? It's time to repent. Remember, forgotten sin is a benefit of repentance. Otherwise, it adds up to the point that we reap what we have sown. We need to turn from sin.

We need to repent, make a 180 degree and sow righteousness. So let's take some time just to examine our hearts and allow God to speak to us. If God shows you some things going on, then repent. Turn from your sin. Deliver those things over to the Lord right now. Stop practicing. Stop sowing to the flesh and begin to sow to the Spirit. Let's worship the Lord together.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.