Could you please turn this afternoon to the prophet Hosea? And we are moving along towards the end of the book. And today we are reading from the 12th chapter of Hosea. Hoshea was writing to the northern tribes of Israel, he was telling them of the love of God, if you remember in chapter 11, that God's love is so unique towards the nation of Israel that his love is unchangeable love towards the nation of Israel. And as he took that pause in chapter 11, and he was telling about the love of God towards the nation, the unchanging love of God towards the nation, then after that pause, he is returning to speak to the nation and to show to them that he is rebuking the nation because of sin, and that immediately, very shortly, coming soon, the judgment of 722 BC when the northern tribes of Israel will be taken by the Assyrians.

And if you remember, really in the Hebrew scripture, verse 12 of chapter 11 is really the first verse of chapter 12. And so I'm reading from verse 12 of chapter 11 into chapter 12 and verse 14. Ephraim compasses me about with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit. But Judah yet ruleth with God, and is faithful with the saints. actually this portion of verse 12 is really not a positive word about judah but really in a sense negative if you read it in the hebrew judah is wayward and he's wayward with god and he's wayward with the holy one who is faithful to them now chapter 12 and verse 1 ephraim feedeth on wind and he followeth after the east wind.

He daily increases lies and desolation, and they do make a covenant with the Assyrian, and oil is carried into Egypt. The Lord has also a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways. According to his doings will he recompense him. he took his brother by the hill in the womb and by his strength he had power with God yeah he had power over the angel and prevailed he wept and made supplication unto him he found him in Beit El and there he spake with him even the Lord God of hosts the Lord is his memorial Therefore turn thou to thy God Keep mercy and judgment And wait on thy God continually He is a merchant The balances of deceit are in his hand He loveth to oppress And Ephraim said Yet I am become rich I have found me out substance In all my labors they shall find none iniquity in me that ever that were seen.

And I that am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles as in the days of the solemn feasts. I have also spoken by the prophets and have multiplied visions and used similitudes by the ministry of the prophets. Is there iniquity in Gilad? Surely there are vanity. They sacrificed bullocks in Gilgal. Yea, their altars are in a sehip in the furrows of the field. And Jacob fled into the country of Syria, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep. And by a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved.

Ephraim provoked him to anger, most bitterly. Therefore shall he leave his blood upon him, and his reproach shall his Lord return unto him. And I stop here at the end of chapter 12. You know, if you read this chapter just like that, it's not easy to understand, because there is so much references to history. You don't know who speak at times. Is it spoken about the nation, or is it God speaking? Some of the text, as you read it in the English, is not easy to be read and understood. Even in the Hebrew, it's not easy to understand. But nevertheless, by the grace of God, as we are speaking and sharing the Word of God today, from Hosea chapter 12, the Holy Spirit of God will help us to understand this passage.

Remember that in chapter 11, the previous chapter, as I mentioned all earlier, God, in a sense, took a pause. Chapter after chapter, he was speaking concerning the nation of Israel, and he's answering Israel. He's telling Israel of the fact that they have been sinning and disobedient to him, and he's telling them again and again that he's going to send them away. He's going to judge the nation. He paused in chapter 11, and he said these words that are really moving. In verse 8, if you remember, How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? How shall I deliver thee, Israel? God paused in this chapter and he said to Ephraim, just before he's going to send him in judgment by the Assyrian, he's pausing and he says, how can I do this to the nation that I love so much, to Ephraim, to Israel, how I'm going to do this to this nation.

He loved this nation. He said in the first verse of chapter 11, when Israel was a child, I loved him and I called my son out of Egypt. So God is pausing in the midst of a declaration of judgment. He is pausing and saying to the nation, as if we're lamenting over the nation that he's ready to be judged. And he's reminding himself he's reminding the nation of his love towards the nation similar to you and I when God had to discipline the believer in the present day dispensation do you think he does it without a sense of the love for his own nation for his own people for the assembly for the church for the ecclesia he does the very same thing he pauses and he is reminding himself as it were of the fact that he chosen us in eternity past.

He brought us to himself and we belong to him but judgment must begin at the house of God. He is too holy to behold iniquity and cannot look upon sin and therefore sin must be judged even in the people that belong to God. So now he is returning in chapter 12 and he is now declaring and rebuking Ephraim and Israel because of their sin. After he took that pause, he is now continuing to speak to the nation. And in a sense, what he does here, beloved brothers and sisters, in chapter 12, he takes them back to their history. He takes them back to the past even long before they came out of Egypt.

He takes them to their forefathers, Jacob, Yaakov. He takes them back to the past, how Yaakov became Israel, Israel. how there was a change in the life of Yaakov, and how Yaakov became Israel, and there was a purpose that God had for Israel, for the descendants of Yaakov, descendants of Israel. And so in the last verse of chapter 11, which is really the first verse of chapter 12, he said, the Lord is speaking of Ephraim, that Ephraim was no longer living in a healthy relationship to him, but they were living in deceit and in lies that was not in accordance with God's will for them. Look what he says in verse 12 of chapter 11.

He says, Ephraim compasses me about with lies. This expression compasses, that means he surrounds me with lies. And he says, and the house of Israel with deceit. In other word Ephraim and Israel surrounding me with lies and deceit. You see he is saying to Israel to Ephraim he says look you are surrounding me with lies and deceit. You see Israel was in the time in their history of departure from God that it was lies and deceits was part of life. And God says you are surrounding me with lies and deceit and you're going to see that in the first verse of chapter 12 in a moment but you see what it says here in the same verse 12 of chapter 11 he's speaking now also about judah the southern tribe and when you read it in the king james it sounds like the tribe of judah was pretty good well the tribe of judah was much better than the northern tribes of Israel but the tribe of Judah and Benjamin also have declined and in this verse in the Hebrew text it should be read instead of Judah yet ruleth with God and is faithful with the saints it should be better read that Judah yet is waywardness with God and his waywardness with the holy one that is faithful unto him see judah here in this verse was already also departing from the lord and hoshea is addressing israel reminding him of the tribes of judah as well so you can see that when he's addressing the northern tribes of israel from time to time is also speaking about the southern tribes.

By the way, the northern tribes were taken by the Assyrians in 722 BC captive. The southern tribes were taken by the Babylonians down to Babylon by 586 BC. About 150 years later, 140 or so years later, they were also taken to Babylon and there they were captives. They were in the diaspora, in the dispersion. So, he's addressing Israel, mentioning that word lies and deceit. And now, in verse 1 of chapter 12, he shows them how their deceit was manifested. How the deceit of Israel and Ephraim was manifested. Look at chapter 12, in verse 1, and we read, Ephraim feedeth on the wind, and he followeth after the east wind. He daily increases lies and desolation, and they do make a covenant with the Assyrian, and oil is carried into Egypt.

You see what he's saying, how the lies and deceit was manifested? It was manifested with the fact that they were feeding on wind. The Hebrew word for wind is ruach. When you have wind blowing, really there is nothing there, it's only air. It's like beating the air. He's saying to them, they are feeding on the wind, they're following after the east wind, and the word here for east wind is the Hebrew word kadim. It is the hot desert east wind that is ultimately destroying and causing destruction. So when he's saying to them, you are feeding on the wind, you are following after the east wind, He showed to them how they are doing that.

Instead of trusting in God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Israel, they are trusting in the Assyrians and in the Egyptians. They are trusting in men. You see, they were trusting in the people to whom they were already anticipating to be taken captive by them. You see what they were doing? It says, he daily, this is Ephraim in Israel, increases in lies and desolation, and they make a covenant with the Assyrian. You see, they were making covenant with the Assyrian instead of being restored to the God who made covenant with their fathers. You see, they were making covenant with the Assyrian. Oh, the Assyrians are going to help us.

The Assyrians are going to deal with our problems. The Assyrians are going to fix everything. We're going to make covenant with the Assyrian. And then it says, and the oil is carried unto Egypt. In other words, you know what they were doing? They were on the one hand making covenant with the Assyrian. And behind the back, they were giving oil to Egypt. Egypt was the greatest enemy of Assyria. They were doing dealing and willing. They're making covenant with the Assyrian, selling oil to the Egyptian. In the meanwhile, there were two enemies of each other. And doesn't it remind us, beloved brothers and sisters, of exactly what's going on today in the world in which we live in?

There are certain countries who do like this. They sell ammunition to this country, and then they sell ammunition to the other country, and those two countries hate each other. And yet they sell them ammunition, they make an agreement with them, and behind the scene an agreement with the other one, and at the end what you can see is nothing but deceit and lies. It's not only the history of Israel, it's the history of mankind in this world in which we live in. You just listen to the news today and you will see. These countries sold ammunition to this, and then they sold ammunition to them, and they have a friend with them, and everybody is their friend.

They're making all kind of agreement, and those countries hate each other, enemies of each other, and they try to find peace, to find shalom, to find rest. And this is exactly what Israel did. The mistake that Israel have done is instead of turning to the God who made covenant with them, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, they ended up making a covenant with Assyria and they're carrying oil into Egypt, willing and dealing and not being restored to the God of their fathers. That was the problem at the time when Israel, in the northern part of the land, they were making all kinds of agreements without restoration to the God of their fathers.

Twice, God mentioned in verse 12 of chapter 11, they are compassed me about with lie. They are compassed me about with deceit. Chapter 12 and verse 1, he daily increases lies and desolation. God is mentioning this. Deceit and lie. And lie cover the other lie. Deceit cover the other deceit. And at the end, you don't know what is truth anymore. And there is the warning to the nation. And you think God does not see that? how the nation behave, do you think God does not see us as well? He searches the hearts. He tried the rain. He knows everything. And sometimes he's warning us, giving us all these warning signs in order to restore the people of God to himself.

Here he's addressing Ephraim and he's addressing Judah in those two verses that mentioned so far. So after saying this to them, he's appealing to them. And in the next verses, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, the Lord appealing to Israel to forsake their sin and to turn to him. He always appeals to his people to forsake their ways and to turn to him because his ways are always the best way. So look what he does. First, he's promising the punishment to Jacob. And so in verse 2, he appealed to Israel and he promised that he's going to punish Jacob he says listen the Lord has also controversy with Judah again he's mentioned Judah you see why verse 12 of chapter 11 when he spoke about Judah it's really a negative statement of Judah because God has a controversy with Judah and also he has a controversy with Judah and he will punish Jacob, according to his way, according to his doings, will he recompense him.

By the way, he's speaking to all the 12 tribes of Israel. In this verse 2, he is including Judah, and when he mentions Jacob, he's including all the 12 tribes. The ones that are going to be later on taken by the Babylonian Judah and Benjamin 586 BC and the one that is soon are going to be taken by the Assyrian 722 BC he's speaking to those two groups or two nations which are really one nation called Jacob Israel and he's speaking to them listen the punishment will come you are going to receive according to your ways and according to your doing I will recompense you I will return to you exactly what you have done and the way you have lived and so now he's appealing to them and look how he does it it's very precious and in verse 3 and 4 and 5 actually he's making references to three historical events that occur to this man by the name of Yaakov he going back into three accounts in the book of Bereshit, the book of Genesis, and he's mentioning to Israel, to the 12 tribes, of how everything had began with their forefathers, Yaakov, Jacob.

And so he makes three references, and I think it's very precious here, because he began even before Jacob was born, right when he was still in the womb of his mother Rivka. Look, it says in verse 3, it says he took his brother, Yaakov took his brother by the hill in the womb and by his strength he had power with God. Do you remember the story that is found in the book of Genesis chapter 25? You remember when God have allowed Rebekah to get pregnant later on. She could not bear children. And in chapter 25 of the book of Genesis, it says in verse 19, these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son.

Abraham begeted Isaac. And Isaac was 40 years old when he took Rivkah to be his wife, the daughter of Bethuel, the Syrian, of Padan Aram, the sister of Laban, the Syrian. And Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife because she was barren. And the Lord was entreated of him, and Rebekah, his wife, conceived. And the children, notice there were two children, struggled together within her. And she said, if it be so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the Lord. You see, she got pregnant by Isaac, Yitzchak, her husband. And when she was pregnant, these two little ones in her belly, in her womb, were struggling with each other.

They were fighting as if it were with each other. So she didn't know what to do. So she went to inquire of the Lord. And it says there in verse 23, the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb. Two manners of people shall be separate from thy bowels. The one people shall be stronger than the other people. and the elder shall serve the younger. See, God gave her a prophetic message concerning the younger and the elder. And he said to her, listen, you have two nations in your womb. And he said they were going to come as two nations. And he said to them that one people shall be stronger than the other.

He is, of course, speaking about the nation that will come as a descendant of Yaakov. The people that will come out of Jacob, He's going to be stronger than the other. He also said, the elder shall serve the younger. And you know very well how it all happened. Because it says here, when her day was to be delivered, were fulfilled. Behold, there were twins in her womb. And the first came out red, all over, like hairy garment. And they called his name Esav, Esau. And after, then came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's hill, and his name was called Yaakov, and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them.

In other words, here came two nations, the one called Esav, the other one called Yaakov, and Yaakov held the hill of Esav. The hill in Hebrew is Akev, and that's why his name was Yaakov, or Hill Holder. He held the hill of Esav, his brother, as they were coming out of the womb of Rebekah, their mother. So what Hosea says here, he's taking them back to the history, and he's saying to them, you know what? Already in the womb of your mother, you were struggling. Already in the womb. That's what it says here in verse 3 of Hosea 12. He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he had power with God.

In other words, as he was struggling and fighting right inside, if it were almost like he wanted to come out first. And no wonder today in our time we can see the same descendants of these two nations are today struggling, fighting, constantly with this friction. Years have passed by, and Israel, descendants of Jacob, and all the other nations, descendants of Esav, are still, till this present-day dispensation, are still struggling and fighting with each other. So we read, in effect, that Jacob, already in the womb of his mother, showed strength, showed that he was fighting and struggling and carrying on, trying as if it were to win against his twin brother.

So he's taking them back, and he shows them, look, it is a struggle and struggle. That's what you have been. That's what characterized you all the time. Then he shifted, and moving from chapter 25 of Genesis to another event that happened, and we read of this event just earlier in our reading. In the first part of verse 4, he shows us that Jacob prevailed when he clung to God, rather than when he trusted in himself. Look, it says here in verse 4, he, speaking about Jacob, had power over the angel and prevailed. He wept and made supplication unto him. This is the first part of verse 4. This part takes us back now to Genesis chapter 32, where we have read, And I love, brothers and sisters, Genesis chapter 32, because we learn that true strength and true victory does not come in the energy and the power of the flesh, but it comes when one is clinging to God himself.

True spiritual strength does not come because we are doing some activity and will in our own flesh, but simply when we are clinging to God and depending upon Him. You see, He's saying, yeah, He had power over the angel. And He says, He prevailed, and ye wept and made supplication unto Him. Now the word angel, which is found in Hosea 12 and verse 4, is not found in Genesis 32.

in genesis 32 it was a man that wrestled with him in hosea 12 4 it is an angel now you learn from these passages that these expressions speak to us really about the messiah himself yeshua himself in his pre-incarnate appearing to some individuals in the history of the nation of israel he appeared unto abraham in his pre-incarnate appearing in genesis chapter 18 he appeared unto hagar in the time that he appeared as an angel in the time in genesis chapter 16 he appeared unto yaakov in genesis chapter 32 in which hosea make a reference to as men and hosea look at him and he says an angel but it is the pre-incarnate appearing of the

son of god the Messiah Yeshua who appeared as man in order to communicate with Yaakov and look what it says you remember the story as we have read Yaakov was left alone Genesis 32 and verse 24 and they will wrestle a man with him until the breaking of the day Jacob at that time on the way to Canaan assuming that maybe his brother Esau was coming to fight him he did not even recognize who this man was he thought in the beginning that it may have been Esau so he was wrestling and he was fighting and you can see that it is a description of ourself or mankind when he against God he resists God

he fights his ways against God trying to do things on his own without submissiveness to the Lord so look what we read here in Genesis chapter 32 and when he saw that he prevailed not against him he this is that man he touched the hollow of his thigh and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint as he wrestled with him see what this man did you can see that he's more than just a man he's just touching the hollow of his thigh and Jacob's thigh was out of joint in other words Jacob could no longer resist him and fight him when he wanted to subdue him Jacob needed something to happen to him.

So he touched all of his thigh. And you know, when this has happened, it says here that he said, let me go. This man said to Jacob, Jacob, let me go. I want to go. And Jacob, this time, he did not fight him, but he clinged to him. He held him. He didn't let him go.

It says here in this chapter 32 verse 26, he said, I will not let you go except you will bless me see now Jacob realized that he needed the blessing of this man that this man was more than just another man he recognized that this man could bless him and he didn't want to let him go there was a change in the heart of Jacob you can see now that he was broken he no longer could fight against no longer could wrestle against this man his thigh was broken he became crippled he could no longer depend upon himself so he held on to that man and when he held on to this man now the

true strength that come from God is exposed and presented because now he wanted the blessing of this man the blessing of the Lord instead of depending upon himself he trusted now in the blessing of this man who is none else but the pre-incarnate messiah the son of God who was appearing to Jacob and dealing with him breaking his will breaking him and showing to him that he cannot do things with his own strength but he needed the strength of the Lord and so that's what happened he said to him why do you seek my name and he said to him what is your name and he said Yaakov and he said to him in verse

28 your name shall no longer be called Yaakov but Yisrael for as a prince you have been with God and with men and you have prevailed you see Jacob prevailed only when he clung to this man clung to this angel he clung to God and did not depend upon his strength and you see what God does here in the prophet Hosea when he's speaking to the nation of israel he said to them look jacob you see i remember when you were already fighting with struggling in the womb of your mother i remember when you were struggling with this man here he says an angel in verse 4 and you eventually have wept and made supplication

see you don't read that he wept and made supplication in Genesis 32.

But God reminded Israel, Ah, you know, Jacob, when you needed me at that time, when you needed the blessing of this angel, you wept before him, you clung to him, and you said to him, I'm not going to let you go until you will bless him. You sought the blessing of the Lord. So Jacob needed to be reminded of that. And so Israel as a nation now, the northern kingdom, they all have everything fine with them. They don't need God anymore. They are worshiping idols, and God said to them, listen, Israel. Oh, Jacob, I know you from the womb you were struggling with your brother.

I know you when you came back to the promised land when you were struggling with this man, and I had to break you, the hollow of your thigh, to make you cripple, so you will look to me and you will depend upon my strength. And though he's saying to him, oh, you wept at that time, and you were supplication, you asked for blessing. And it truly, you see, what God is really saying to him here, you cannot trust yourself, Israel. You got to turn to God, repent of your sins, and turn to God and trust Him, because then you can really be a prince for God.

Then you can really be a person that is testifying for God. And so the third thing he gives us here in verse 4b and verse 5, now he is taking them to another event in the history of Jacob, And this time in Genesis chapter 28, when he's taking them now to another event that happened in the history of Jacob, it says here in verse 4b, he found him in Beit El, and there he spake with us. Even the Lord God of hosts, the Lord, his memorial. You see verse 4b and verse 5 of Hosea 12 refers now to events that occur in Genesis chapter 28. And you remember what happened in Genesis chapter 28 after Jacob took the birthright away from his brother Esau, he fled from his house towards Syria.

And as he was running and fleeing from his own brother towards Syria, on the way he went into a place that he didn't know. He says, what is this place? In Genesis chapter 28, he didn't know of that place, and there the Lord met him. It says in Genesis chapter 28 and verse 10, And Jacob went out from Be'er Sheva, and he went towards Haran. And he lightened upon a certain place, and he tarried there all night, because the sun was set, and he took off the stones of that place, and he put them for his pillows, and he lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed, and behold, a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven, and behold, the angels of God was ascending and descending on that ladder.

And behold, the Lord stood above, and he said, I am the Lord God of Abraham, thy father, the God of Isaac, the land whereon thou layest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed. And I'm going further down, and Jacob, in verse 16, wake up out of sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place. And I knew it not. And he was afraid, and he said, How dreadful is this place. This is none other but the house of God, Beit El. And this is the gate of heaven. And Jacob rose up early in the morning and he took the stone that he had put as his pillow and he set up there for a pillar.

And he poured oil upon the top of it and he called the name of that place Beit El. But the name of that city was called before Luz at first. He called the name of that place Beit El, the house of God. Why? Because it was the place where God met him. And you see, brothers and sisters, in verse 4 and 5 of Hosea chapter 12, God is saying that Jacob was found by God at the city or the place that is called Beit El, the house of God. So he is telling them, look, Israel, you are ready to be punished. but you are responsible to accept what I'm telling you and repent and turn around and come back to me.

And you see, he's reminding them of their history. If you remember and look at your history, your personal history, before you became a believer in Yeshua the Messiah, where were you? Who were you? Who were we? We came from all kind of background. What kind of life we have lived in the past. We were away from God. We had no hope. We were people that were living for the world, living for the enemy of God, never wanted to hear about Yeshua the Messiah. We were just the same, whether we are Jewish or whether we are non-Jewish. That is the history of our life. Some of us may have had the privilege of growing up in a messianic home, in a Christian home.

Praise God for that. But most of us came from homes that did not believe in Yeshua the Messiah. They did not know Yeshua the Messiah. And we have been brought to be part of a family of God, redeemed company. And God wants us to live for him. God wants us to live a godly life, to testify for him and not to live an ungodly life. That's what he's saying to Israel. Israel, look at the background. You came from the womb you were struggling with your brother Esau. I met you at the place where I have changed your name from Yaakov to Israel. And even when you were running away from your brother Esau, in Genesis chapter 28, I met you at the house of God.

That's what is God saying to the nation of Israel at that time? And so now, after he's challenging him and telling the nation about their history, about Yaakov, all the twelve tribes of Yaakov, then in verse 6, he appealed to them, and he gave them three words that they need to respond to. Number one, turn back. Number two, keep the judgment and the justice of God. Number three, hope in God continually. That's what he tells them in verse 6 to do. Therefore, turn thou to thy God. Number two, keep mercy and justice. Number three, hope or wait on thy God continually. Three words he's telling them. The Hebrew word is shuvu, shimru, and kavu.

Or shuv, shmol, ve'kaveh. In other words, turn around. Don't continue to go on your way of lifestyle of sin. Turn around. That's what is called conversion. In the case of a believer today who go astray from the Lord, it is meant turn your way 180 degrees and come back to God from your life of sin. Turn back to the Lord. Don't continue in the way you live. Secondly, the second word, keep, shmuel. Be keeping the mercy and the judgment, the thing that is pleasing to the Lord. Keep them. And then thirdly, wait, the Hebrew word for wait on your gods, it's a Hebrew word is not so much wait, but hope.

Hope in God, trust God. He's our hope. He's the one that gives us the promises. And he's saying to the nation of Israel, Jacob, turn around to the Lord. Keep his mercy and hope in the God that he provided for you. Hope, hope in him, trust in him, and don't trust yourself. This is important, brothers and sisters, because Christians, believers, can do the very same thing today. The church of Yeshua, the Messiah, is in a condition today in the Laodicean age, which we're going to make a reference to it in a moment, is very similar. The people of God are scattered. The commitment to the truth of God is being set aside.

I don't want to say by all, but by much of it. The truth of the scripture is not being kept. Life of sin is being condoned and allowed. all kind of activities under the umbrella of Christendom or Christianity is being allowed today among the people of God. So what God says to Israel apply also to the believers in this present day dispensation. And so we've covered now up to verse 6, the appeal of the law to Israel, turn to God, keep his mercy, hope in God. And then he continued in verses 7 to 11, And he shows them that instead of trusting in God, they have trusted in themselves, and they trusted in wealth, and they trusted in that which they can achieve, instead of trusting in God.

How sad it is. Look at this, verse 7. Israel became like a merchant, a buyer and seller. In fact, they became like the Canaanites, the Knaanim, who used to live like this. he is a merchant, the balances of deceit are in his hand, he loved to oppress. Again, please understand that we are reading the scripture in English, but if you read this passage in the Hebrew language, what we just read in verse 7, in verse 7 it says here that their hand become like the Canaanites. The Canaanites were the people who were living there. The word Canaan is actually mentioned in verse 7. Instead of the word merchant, it should be said, in his hand Canaan.

Simply meaning that Canaan lifestyle became the lifestyle of the nation of Israel. Israel were called to be different but instead of being different they became like the people of the land of Canaan that is exactly what he's really saying here in verse 7 this is what God says simply meaning that in his hand you can see the lifestyle of the Canaanites the Canaanites used to be merchants buying and selling and therefore they became like willers and dealers. That's what they were. And that's what Israel, who entered into the promised land, who was supposed to be different than the Canaanites, end up to adopt the lifestyle of the Canaanites.

Well, look what he's telling them in verse 7. He says, the balances of deceit are in his hand. In other words, the word balance is the scale. It's like selling to somebody some vegetables or fruit with a whey and a scale. Instead of giving him a full one pound, giving them half pound for the same price of a pound. In other words, deceit was happening. The balances were really not proper. They were not acting in a proper way. They were not buying and selling with an equal and fair agreement. There was a balance of deceit in his hand. There's a very nice verse in Proverbs chapter 11.

The first verse of Proverbs chapter 11 where God through Solomon the king says this, listen, a false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is the Lord's delight. In other words, what he's saying, when Israel dealt with each other, with the Lord, and so on, their balance was, as he says here, deceit. And their hands became like the hands of the canaanites who were living this kind of life that's what he's saying that's why it is so important for us in dealing with each other in a fair way that's why he's warning israel and he says listen you israel became like a canaanite your hands is like the canaanite the balance of deceit are in his hand he loved to oppress and god always warned the people who oppress the poor And even in our time, in our days, God always wanted to take care of the poor and the needy and those that are well-to-do and a responsibility, always warning them not to forget where they came from and always to deal in a fair way with those that are in need.

So Israel became like the Canaanites. The balances, the scale was not true and become deceitful. And God says, I am not pleased with this. Now he's continuing to tell them in verse 8 that you are boasting in your riches. Look, Ephraim said, yet I am become rich. I have found me out substance. In all my labor they shall find none iniquity in me that were sin. You see, what Ephraim was saying. Oh, he says, listen, verse 8, I became wealthy and I'm rich. I succeeded to get my own way. I became very rich. and then he said i have found me out substance in other words israel at that time were well to do when it's come to fun money and power and so on they were in one of the greatest time of their history they had much wealth and you know when wealth comes to man if he or she are not careful it can takes us away from the ways of the lord that's the warning that we have throughout the scripture the warning that God again and again warning the people of God not to trust in riches and to recognize that if God had blessed us we are not to trust in what he had blessed us but to give thanks to the one who gave us all things it was David the king of Israel who said in Psalm 62 and verse 10.

Trust not in oppression and become not vain in robbery. If riches increase, set not your heart upon them. God might bless one. God might bless his people. But the important thing is not to trust in that to the extent that we leave God. And we say to God, God, I'm rich now. I don't want you to bother me I don't want you in my life I'm fine when I'm going to have a problem I'm going to call you God that is the danger that we have and that is what Israel have done in the northern area they have said to themselves you know Ephraim said I have become rich I have found mere substance out he says and nobody can find anything wrong in me that the danger that Israel had and that is the danger and that was the accusation of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah to the church of laodicea in chapter 3 of the book of revelation we read there and look what the lord is telling to this church of laodicea in fact you and i are part of this church of laodicea the last church in a total church aid look what the lord is telling to this church of laodicea in chapter three of revelation he's saying to them in verse 14 he said unto the angel of the church of their allowed the sin.

Right. This thing says the amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. I know your works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would that you were cold or hot. So then because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth. And then look what he said to them in verse 17. Because you say, just like Ephraim said, I am rich and I increase with goods and have need of nothing and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. Do you think what God says to Ephraim is not applying to us today in this present day dispensation of the church age?

What Ephraim did before 722 BC, the professing church doing today in the years in which you and I live in? I don't need anything. I become rich. I increase with goods and I have need of nothing. I don't need you, Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. I have everything. I don't need God in my life. I don't need Yeshua in my life. Man is saying, professing Christians saying. And God's saying, the Lord Yeshua said to them, you don't even know that you are wretched, that you are miserable, that you are poor, and that you are blind and you are naked. You really have nothing. I can remove it out of you.

What I gave you and I allow you to enjoy was given to you by me. James had to say, Every good and perfect thing come from above, from the Father of light, with whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Everything, brothers and sisters, that we have can be removed from us in a moment. We need to remember that when riches increase, set not your heart upon them. David said of all. Israel needed to learn that. The five need to know that they learned a sin. Church needed to know that as the Lord rebuked them in Revelation chapter 3. Not only that, look what Paul, the apostle, said to Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter 6.

He's saying to them, especially in those verses, in verse 10 of 1 Timothy 6, he said the love of money is the root of all evil. He doesn't say that money is the root of all evil, But the problem that we have is the love of money, not money. Money, if you can pile them here up to the ceiling, it will not move. The problem is not with the money, the problem is with our hearts. Look what he says in verse 17 of the same chapter. Charge them, verse 17 of 1 Timothy 6. Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded and trust in uncertain riches, but that they will trust in the living God who gives us richly all things to enjoy.

You see, Ephraim said, I'm rich and I'm fine. I don't need anybody. The church of Laodicea says, I'm rich and I need nothing. And God was ready to send them to the Assyrians to captivity because of their ways and their behavior. And so now as we are reading here in verse 8, Israel boasted in riches and God is telling them Ephraim he says I become rich and I found me out substance in all my laboring they shall find none iniquity in me that was sin and so God tell them listen Israel you will be punished when you have such an attitude such as this you will surely face the consequences of your pride and of your sin and in verse 9 he's telling them look at this brothers and sisters amazing the ways of the lord with men he said in verse 9 and i that am the lord your god from the land of egypt god is appealing to them will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles as in the days of the solemn feasts now if you don't understand this verse you will not really get the true meaning what god has in mind here when he's speaking to the nation He's saying to them, you see, he said to Israel, you know Israel, you pride yourself with riches.

You know church, Laodicea, you pride yourself with riches. You don't have a need of nothing. But I want to tell you, Israel, I want to tell you, Laodicea, that I am the Lord, the God that brought you out of Egypt. I redeemed you. I saved you when you were in bondage. And I took care of you all the way through the wilderness journey. I am the one who provided for you, God is saying to them. But look what he's telling them at the end of verse 9. He said to them, I will make you to dwell in tabernacles. Now that was a mistake, whoever wrote that word tabernacles here.

The correct word is not tabernacle, is not sukkah, it's ohel in Hebrew, in tent. What God is really saying to Israel, I brought you out of Egypt. On the way between Egypt and the Promised Land, I took care of you, and I provided for you Sukkot booth to dwell in, which shows God's protection for you. And I took care of you all the way, but you, Israel, of today, speaking to those in Hosea chapter 12, you are not going to dwell in booths, you're going to dwell in tents. Meaning that all the riches that you have had once, the big houses, the big stuff that you have had, Because you didn't acknowledge this, that I came from me, and you were priding yourself that I have increased, I'm going to take it away from you.

And you're going to live now in tents. Now you tell me, how would you like to move from a five-star hotel to a tent in the desert? You try to make this comparison and you will see. You see, the word for tabernacle here is not the word sukkah, but it's the word ohel in Hebrew. It is a home of a nomad, of a person who has no home, who has nothing, and is moving from place to place, like the Bedouin today in the land of Israel. They don't have a permanent place. They are moving from one place to another, and they are dwelling in what we call tents.

It's simply ohel, a covering to cover them, and they are dwelling. Now, if you can see the difference between one time they had so much, the other time they have nothing. And you can see what God is saying, I'm able to remove everything from before you. And that's what he's saying to them. And the lesson, brothers and sisters, is this. He speaks to Israel, he speaks to us. You know, the Lord gave us so much. Think about how much the Lord gave us. How much the Lord had blessed us, not only spiritually, but materially. It blessed us. He had given us so much. Now remember, this is a principle that we all need to learn.

Everything that we have came to us from the hand of the Lord. Nothing really, even the strength to work He had given to us. Even the breath that we breathe in Him, we move and live and have our life, our breath. Everything is given to us from the Lord. And the appeal here, don't forget the Lord. Remember that everything that is given to you is given to you from the Lord. That's why the psalmist, again, allow me to express some of the voices of the psalmists of Israel who said, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless his holy name.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. Who forgive all your iniquities? Who healeth all your diseases? Who redeem thy life from destruction? Who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies? Who satisfy thy mouth with good things? See, God is the provider. Psalm 103, in the first four or five verses. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless his holy name. Don't forget the benefits that the Lord had given unto each and every one of us, brothers and sisters. Israel needed to be challenged by that in the appeal of the Lord to the nation. When he's telling them, listen, Israel, you trusted in riches.

I'm going to give you tents. You had all the riches and the wealth that had been provided for you. And you neglected me because of that. And now what's going to happen to you? You're going to end up to dwell like in the past when you came out of Egypt in a desert. Instead of in booth, in sukkah, you're going to dwell in tents. I'm going to remove what I've given to you. All the wealth and the riches that you have trusted in. And so, here you can see how precious this appeal of the Lord. He's telling them now in verse 10. that the Lord is reminding to them how he spoke to them again and again through the prophets of old.

He challenged them throughout the history. In verse 10, I have also spoken by the prophets and I have similitude visions and use similitudes by the ministry of the prophets. You see, he's telling them, I use the prophets to preach to you, to share with you, to appeal to you, to challenge you.

like we have today thank god for these godly men and women who remind us again don't forget yeshua the messiah thank the lord for parents who tell their children don't forget god you need god in your life you cannot just live for the world time for pleasure time for business time for every activity but not time for yeshua that's what he's telling them in this old testament language he said i spoken to you by the prophets and i have multiplied vision and use similitude the word similitude is all kind of similarity of things i've given you all kind of visions i've given them all kind of messages to proclaim to you the necessity of turning

back to the lord but they have not turned to the lord that they have ended up rejecting the words of the lord jeremiah in chapter 7 and verse 25 said this since the day of your fathers came forth out of the land of egypt and to this day i have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets daily they rose up and i send them again and again every day to you oh israel oh judah god was sending the servants the messengers to preach to the nation that have departed from him every day every morning he was sending them to appeal to his own people well the lord now in verse 11 pointing to

the nation of israel to their idolatry and he's saying to them is there iniquity in gilad surely they are vanity they sacrifice bullocks in gilgal yeah their fathers are as hips in the follows off the fields.

By the way, Gilad and Gilgal are in the two sides of the Jordan River. Before Israel entered into the promised land, they were in Gilad, in the mountains of Gilad. And the two and a half tribes, the Menashean, they wanted to stay on the eastern side of the Jordan River. And there in Gilad, they remain. Then those who cross in and they went the first place to Gilgal and what he's saying that on the two banks of the Jordan River what happened is their iniquity there is iniquity in Gilad and there is iniquity in Gilgal idolatry worship of idols that's why he said is there iniquity in Gilad surely he said they are vanity they sacrifice bullocks in Gilgal yet their fathers are as hips in the furs of the fields in other words they die they carry on their life and they die standing in the fields and they carry on the new generation and the new generation that's what happened with the northern tribes of israel there was no one godly king in the northern tribes of israel there were godly kings in the southern tribes in judah and benjamin but not in the northern godless after godless and idolatry worship of the two calves and so on in dan and so on and that's what god is telling to the nation of israel just before he's going to send them to be captive by the Assyrian.

And so the last verses, brothers and sisters, verses 12 to 14, here's the coming punishment of Israel. Look what it is. Again, he's referring to Jacob. Again, he's looking back to Jacob's history, but he's telling them at the end, the judgment surely will come. Verse 12, he says, And Jacob fled into the country of Syria, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep. Now look, he's taking them back again to the history of Jacob. Again, he's going now to Genesis chapter 28 and 29. And you remember, when Jacob fled, after he met God in Beit El, he went further to Syria. And if you remember, Laban, the brother of Rebekah, was from Syria.

In other words, Jacob, in the past, he was going back to his mother's homeland, Syria. And what it says there, he served for a wife. You remember? He fell in love with Rachel, with Rachel. And he was willing, if you read Genesis chapter 28 and chapter 29, he was willing to work hard for seven years to buy a wife. Most of us never had to work for one day to get our wife. Thank God for our wives who were willing to accept us. But Jacob had to work seven years to get one wife.

you know what happened after he worked seven years he was tricked by his father-in-law then he had to work another seven years for his wife and that's why it says jacob fled into the country of syria and israel served for a wife and for a wife he kept sheep and you know what he was like a shepherd taking care of the sheep working for his father-in-law for those seven years were tricked for another seven years he loved rachel so much that he was willing to work hard for his wife i wish we would love our wives in the same way that we will work hard for our wife and bless them that's what an example

we have in jacob but you see what god is really doing is just like jacob loved his wife and worked hard in order to get her god says i worked hard for you i worked so much in order to gain you Israel as the bride the wife of Jehovah see what God is really saying Jacob I worked hard to earn you to have you for me as a wife in verse 13 he said and by a prophet you notice in verse 13 he's saying just the same like the prophet Moses was used by God to bring Israel out he says look and by a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt and by a

prophet was he preserved you see God says, look, I've sent messengers, Israel to you, Yaakov to you, to bring you out of Egypt.

You were slaves. And I brought you out of Egypt. I worked, in a sense, I worked hard like Jacob sought a wife. And I worked hard in sending messengers to bring you out of Egypt and to preserve you all the way to the promised land. And then he says, I worked hard to care for Israel, like Jacob was working hard to care for his wife, to purchase his wife, Rachel. But then he said, and he concluded here with this chapter, but Ephraim provoked him to anger most bitterly. Therefore shall he leave his blood upon him and his reproach shall his Lord return unto him. In other words, Israel, all the hard work, all what I have done to preserve you on the way to the promised land, to save you, to redeem you, Ephraim, you provoked me to anger.

Instead of submitting to me, you caused me, you provoked me to anger. Bitterly Ephraim, that's what you have done. And therefore he says, I leave his blood upon him. Ephraim, I love you. I love you, nation of Israel. I care for you. I worked hard to gain you as my wife, as the wife of Jehovah, but the judgment will have to come. I will leave his blood upon Ephraim, upon Israel, and his reproach shall his Lord return. The shame that you gave me, the reproach that you allowed me to experience as your God, you are going to face this reproach and shame when you are going to be taken captive by the Assyrian.

Judgment was ready to come to the nation of Israel. You know, I heard of one of the wicked nations upon the face of this earth, where the Assyrians, in the way they treated the people whom they took captive. You must read history and the way that they have treated the nation of Israel when they took them in judgment. In history, we read it was so terrible to describe the way that they have treated the tribes of Israel, which they have been allowed to take captive by the Lord, the God of Israel. His blood will be upon him, and his shame will return unto him. So, beloved brothers and sisters, here is Jehovah's rebuke of Israel's sin.

And it's all looking back to how he brought him, how he saved Israel, how he called Jacob how he brought Jacob to have relationship with him may we learn from these lessons and ask the Lord to help us not to turn away from him and when we turn away may the Lord help us to repent and confess it and go back to the God the Lord Jesus who loved us so much can you say amen to that? Amen