Shalom, everyone. Could you please turn with me today? We are going to move on to try to finish the book of Hosea. Remember, when we studied the prophet Hosea, we didn't quite finish that book. And I have a few weeks that is right now before us, and I thought it would be very important for us to conclude with the book of Hosea. And so we are turning today to Hosea, chapter 13. As you know very well, his Hebrew name is Hosea, comes from the same root word of Yeshua, or Yeshayahu, Isaiah, is the one that promised to us that he will save his people from their sins.

Speaking about Yeshua the Messiah, but the same root word is the name of Hosea the prophet. And what he had experienced, if you remember in our study of the book of Hosea, the fact that he had to take a wife to himself, if you remember from the early study of that prophet, and how his wife was unfaithful to him, and how he was told by God to go and to buy her back for himself, and how he went and he loved her so much that he was willing to pay a price so he can have her back to himself. And he surely did. He took her back home and had children with this wife.

And these children that he had, you remember, describe with their names all what is going to happen to the nation of Israel. And what a wonderful, beautiful ways in which God deals with us. Had God dealt with us according to what we deserve, we would be far away from him, never able to enjoy his love towards us. But because he loved us, because he loved Israel, he dealt with them in a unique way. And we can see it throughout the book of Hosea. Now we are nearing the end of the book. And here in this chapter 13, if you'll allow me to read it, the theme here is the penalty that Israel will receive from God because of Israel's refusal to repent.

Look what we read. Verse one. When Ephraim speck trembling, he exalted himself in Israel. But when he offended in Baal, he died. And now they sin more and more and have made them molten images of silver and idols according to their own understanding. All of it is the work of the craftsmen. They say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves. Therefore, they shall be as the morning clouds and as the early dew that passes away as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor and as the smoke out of the chimney. Yet I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no God but me, for there is no Savior beside me.

I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great drought. According to their pasture, so were they filled. So were they filled. They were filled, and their heart was exalted. Therefore, have they forgotten me? Therefore, I will be unto them as a lion and as a leopard. By the way, will I observe them? I will eat them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the coal or the fat of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion. The wild beasts shall tear them. O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself, but in me is thy help. I will be thy king.

Where is any other that may save thee in all thy cities? And thy judges, of whom thou saidest, give me a king and a princess. I gave thee a king in mine anger, and I took him away in my wrath. The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up. His sin is hid. The sorrows of the travailing woman shall come upon him. He is an unwise son, for he should not stay long in the place of the breaking forth of children. I will ransom them from the power of the grave. I will redeem them from death. O death, I will be thy plagues. O grave, I will be thy destruction.

Repentance shall be hid from mine eyes. Though he be fruitful among his brethren, an east wind shall come. The wind of the Lord shall come up from the wilderness. And his spring shall become dry. And his fountain shall be dried up. He shall spoil the treasure of all pleasant vessels. Samaria shall become desolate. For she has rebelled against her God. They shall fall by the sword. Their infants shall be dashed in pieces. And their women with child shall be ripped up. What a chapter to read here in one of the last chapters of the prophet Hosea. Hosea was writing to the nation of Israel in a time as we have already mentioned during the study of the prophet Hosea, that Israel, the northern kingdom, was in a state of decline.

Israel was getting ready for the judgment of God of 722 when he was going to send Shalmanetzer, the king of Assyria, to take the children of Israel captive and to take them away to the diaspora, to the dispersion. Well, Hosea is warning the nation of Israel prior to this time. And so this is now coming up to the climax. In this chapter, what we read in chapter 13, we have Israel's penalty because of refusal to repent. You see, what we learned from the word of God is that God knows when men depart from him and live in sin, God want him or her to repent, to turn back to him, and he will forgive.

He will restore the people who have gone astray. That's what God is saying to Israel here in chapter 13. If you will not repent of your sins and change your way, judgment will come. Well, that is exactly what Hosea is saying here. Now, there are a few points that we want to focus today on this chapter. That the first thing you will learn in this chapter, that sin in Israel's life will bring them into spiritual death. Sin in a life of believer today that is not judged will bring us, you and I, into spiritual deadness. You cannot enjoy fellowship with God. I cannot enjoy fellowship with God when there is an ongoing unjudged sin.

That's what God is saying to Israel. And so you notice that in the first verses here of chapter 13, in the first three verses, we find out the importance of humility, which bring blessings, in contrast to pride, which bring deadness. Look what it says in verse one, when Ephraim, Ephraim is the largest tribe and God have always used the name of Ephraim to represent the rest of the northern tribes of Israel. When we say Ephraim, we really say Israel. And so he's saying about Ephraim, he says, when Ephraim spake trembling, he exalted himself in Israel. You see, when Ephraim, when Israel, meaning the nation, when they were sharing a trembling with humility, with sense of the presence of the Lord, God have exalted them among the nation of Israel.

When there was humility, there was an exaltation. But look at the reverse in verse one, the second part. It says, but when he offended in Baal, he died. That's what happened. The moment Ephraim have offended God in introducing Baal into the midst of the nation of Israel and embracing Baalim as the God's small g of the nation. That sin have offended God. And what happened? It says here, he died. By the way, brothers and sisters, let's remember that the first sin that entered into this world brought death upon the whole human race. Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, God said to them, if you will read carefully in Genesis chapter two and verse 17, the day that you will eat out of this, the fruit of this tree dying, you shall die.

That's what happened. Sin and disobedience to God bring deadness. And that's what happened to Ephraim. That's what happened to Israel. God says, look, Ephraim, when you were humbled, I exalted you. But when you were proud and arrogant, and when you were offending me by bringing Baal and introducing him to be the God's small g of the nation, you died. And that's what we learned here. And the Apostle Paul said to the Ephesians in chapter two of the book of Ephesians, when you were dead in trespasses and sins. That's where we all came from. We were dead in trespasses and sins. We couldn't enjoy God. We couldn't love God.

We couldn't have fellowship with God. But God sent the Messiah, Yeshua, to die for our sins and gave us life when we have confessed our sins before him and repented and turned to him. That's what he's saying. So Ephraim, representing the nation of Israel, when he was trembling and walking in humility before God, he exalted himself in Israel. But when he sinned and brought Baal and prided himself in not needing the God of Israel, he spiritually died, though he was alive. If you remember once again to remind you about Adam and Eve, God said the day that you shall eat that you shall surely die.

Adam didn't die that moment. Eve didn't die that moment. But they lived in spiritual deadness until they turned to the Lord and brought the sacrifice. That's why they were blinded spiritually until God had to restore them through the sacrifice. And then they were made alive. Then they could restore the fellowship with the God of the universe. So Israel continued on with an ongoing sin. And that's why God has mentioned it. Here in verse 2, he says: "Now they sinned more and more," in verse 2, "And have made them molten images of their silver, and idols according to their own understanding, all of it the works of a craftsman.

They say of them, let the men that sacrifice kiss those calves." Now, you see what they have done. We have not read it today, but we have read it before when they have made in 1st King chapter 12, two molten calves. And those molten calves have been situated in the north of Israel, in Dan and in Bethel. And Jeroboam, that king of Israel, did not allow the rest of the people of Israel to go to Jerusalem. Why? Because he was afraid that they will end up and go and start to worship in a right way and be restored to God. So what did he do? He built those two molten calves.

And as he built those two molten calves, he said to Israel, "Here is your God." And so they went to worship those gods, those molten calves. And it says here, which we don't read in 1st Kings, they said, "Let the men that sacrifice kiss those calves." Do you know when you kiss the calves, it is an expression of worship and adoration and acknowledging that this is your leader. This is your God, that you are worshiping this one. That's why it was such an abomination to the Lord when they were telling to kiss these idols as they are offering sacrifice. Well, the opposite of it is being seen in Psalm, the second Psalm, where the Holy Spirit of God is speaking to the universe.

And you know what the Holy Spirit of God is saying in Psalm 2, verse 12, "Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way." God is saying to men in the universe, He said, "Kiss the Son, acknowledge Him as your Lord, acknowledge Him as the Messiah, as the Redeemer, as the Savior, because if you will not kiss the Son, you will perish from your way." And that Son, in Psalm 2, is none else but Yeshua, the promised Messiah of Israel. And every one of you, and I today, who came to the meeting and acknowledged Him as our Lord, we kissed Him by the virtue of the fact that we have acknowledged that He is our Lord and our Master, and He is the one that we have embraced Him as our Lord and as our Savior.

But, look at Israel in a time of decline. They say to the people, "Kiss those kelps." "You offer sacrifice to Baal, and you kiss those kelps." And they were ready and being prepared for the judgment that was going to come. So, this kind of lifestyle and a way for the nation of Israel to live brings about, ultimately, a dissolving life. Their life will be dissolved. It's like an empty wind. It's like an empty cloud. And that's why God is saying in verse 3, "Therefore He said to Israel, they shall be..." And notice, there are four things that they're going to be like in verse 3. Number one, they should be like the morning clouds.

The second one, they should be like, or as, the early dew. Thirdly, they shall be as the chaff that is driven by the whirlwind. And fourthly, they shall be as the smoke that He comes out of the chimney. Now, those four elements that we have here in verse 3, the cloud, the dew, the chaff, and the smoke, are things that are coming and vanishing away. They are coming, they are appearing, and they are disappearing. They are dissolving. That's what God is saying to the nation of Israel. Do you think, He's saying, that you can carry on in such a way, and you're going to sustain yourself?

I'm telling you, God's saying to Israel, you're going to be dissolved. You're going to disappear. You're going to experience what you have done. And just the same like the morning clouds appear, and then by 10, 11, 12 disappears. Israel, you're going to be like that morning cloud. Just the same like the early dew that God had given to this earth in order to water the plants here, the trees, and so on. The dew comes in the morning and disappears immediately. Just like the chaff that is being driven away by the wind, Israel, you're going to be like the chaff that has been driven away. And just the same like the smoke that come out of a chimney.

When the wood ended and completely consumed, the smoke disappears along with it. This is what God is saying. Like the cloud. Like the dew. Like the chaff. Like the smoke. That's what is going to happen to you, Israel. Because you have not repented. And you have not come to me in repentance. And judgment is going to come. And so, beloved brothers and sisters, in the first three verses, we learned that sin, an ongoing unjudged sin, will ultimately bring about judgment and blindness and deadness. And how sad. Look at our own nation today, Israel, who have all the truth. Through the nation of Israel, the Bible came to this world.

Through the nation of Israel, the prophets have been given to the world. Through the nation of Israel, the apostles were sent. Through the nation of Israel, the Messiah, Mashiach, Yeshua, came to this world. And yet the nation, unfortunately, as a nation, is still blind. Like God says here, When you offended me, He says, He died. Spiritually, Israel is today dead. Just the same like an unbeliever today, who is dead in trespasses and sin. And they need to be brought alive, awakened. And only God can awaken men, can bring a person back to himself. So, since the first three verses deal with sins, bring about spiritual deadness, and ultimately even physical deadness, because Adam, when he says, Dying you shall die, while we read about him in chapter 2 and verse 17, that God gave him this judgment, he became spiritually dead.

Well, you read in chapter 5 of the book of Genesis and verse 5, and you will find out that ultimately Adam did physically die. Not only spiritual death, but there is physical death coming. And if a person does not accept the Messiah during his life, he will be eternally dead, when he's going to have to be standing at the great white throne judgment. And so, that's the first three verses of Hosea chapter 13. Now, from verses 4 on, all the way to verse 13, we find out that the sin not only bring death, but sin even turned the heart of God who loved them, instead of now being gracious to them, he turned around and he become really as a righteous judge against the nation.

You know, God is love. The Bible does teach us that God is love. We sing about, "For God so loved the world." But brothers and sisters, if you carefully read your Bible, our Bible, you will notice that before we read that God is love, we read that God is also light. And light is always comes before love. First John tells us in the first epistle of John, "God is light." And then later on, it moves on, and we read, "God is love." But never love before light. Because light means that God is holy, and He demands to deal with sin. He judge sin in His holiness, but give and provide for that in His love.

That's what He did when Yeshua the Messiah died for us on the tree. So in verses 4 to verse 13, we have now God is turning around, and instead of dealing with His people in grace, which He will later on, but at the time He deals with them in discipline. He ends up to be now no longer towards them, that gracious God, but the judge who is going to judge His people. So notice that. First of all, in verse 4, "The Lord remind Israel of His covenant that He had made with them." He's saying to Israel, "Yet," He said, "I am the Lord your God from the land of Egypt, and you shalt know no God but Me, for there is no Savior beside Me," God is saying to Israel.

You know, He's reminiscing in a way. He's going back, and He's saying, "Israel, look, I am your God from the time that you came out of the land of Egypt." Don't you remember that, Israel? "When you were in the land of Egypt," He says, "I was there to redeem you and to bring you." He says, "You shall know no other God beside Me, Israel." Don't you remember this? We made this covenant, Israel. Now, if you just turn for a moment to Exodus chapter 20, you will notice that God, through Hosea here in chapter 13, takes them back to the first commandment that He gave the people of Israel, our own nation, when our people of old came out of Egypt.

He said to them in Exodus chapter 20, notice the first verses in Exodus chapter 20, "And God spake all these words, and He said," this is verse 1, and then verse 2, He says, "I am the Lord your God, which hath brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." And look at the first commandment, "Thou shalt have no other God before Me." Exactly what He said in Hosea chapter 13 and verse 4, "I am yet the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no other God beside Me." That's what He said to Israel. Well, if Israel were not to have any other God beside Him, how come those two golden, molten calves are there in Dan?

They're in Bethel. How come the nation of Israel going and kissing those calves? How can they do that if they are not to have any other gods? You see what God is reminding them, He's reminiscing, He's looking back, He says, "After all, my nation, Israel, don't you remember that we made a covenant there in Mount Sinai? And I ask you not to have any other God before Me." He says, and He continues in verse 4, "For there is no Savior beside Me, Israel." You remember when you were in Egypt? You cried to Me for help. And when I helped you and I brought you outside of Egypt to liberate you towards the Promised Land, we made a covenant.

There was nobody who could save you. You were in destitution. You were in a great need, Israel. Remind me of our own personal life. When we have problems, we always say, "Oh God, help me. If you'll take me outside of this problem of mine, I promise you, God, I'm going to follow you. I'm going to live for you, God." And then He helps us. And He takes us out of this problem. And then somehow the human heart forgets God. And we say to God, "You know, thank you for helping me this time, but I don't need you right now. I'm busy. I can do without you right now." That's how we are.

That's how Israel has been. That's how the church is. That's the way we are. The human race. We are failing people who constantly seem to need the reminder of the Lord that He brought us out of Egypt. That He paid a price for our sin and sins. And that He wants us to be for Him. That's what we learn from this. And God reminds. You know, God is so gracious in the way in which He speaks to His people. He's constantly reminding us and challenging us and seeking to awaken us so we will turn back towards Him. And so, in Hosea, in chapter 13, verse 4, He's saying to Israel, He says, "There is no Savior beside Me.

No one can save you except Me." In Psalm 81, we read, listen to these verses. In verse 7, "You call in trouble, and I deliver thee. I answer thee in a secret place of thunder. I prove thee at the waters of Merivah, Selah. Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee. O Israel, if thou will hearken unto Me." This is verses 7 and 8. And then He said to them in verse 9 and 10, "There shall no strange God be in thee, neither shall thou worship any other strange God. I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt. Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it." See, God is appealing to the nation, even through the psalms.

When the psalm is crying and speaking to the nation, it is a psalm of Asaph about singing to the Lord, about praising Him and remembering how He had been so faithful to the nation of Israel. And so God is saying to them, "There shall be no strange God in thee, neither shall thou worship a strange God. but lo and behold, they took Baal and worshipped Him. They set up calves and asked to kiss them. They set up all kind of strange system of worship that was not allowed by God. And they end up, as we read in verse 2, they sinned more and more and piled up additional sin that came into the history of the nation.

And so in verse 5 now, "The Lord did know Israel in the wilderness." Not only that He brought them out of Egypt, but He had walked with them throughout the wilderness journey. "I know thee in the wilderness in the land of great drought." Do you remember, Israel? "You cried in Egypt, I helped you and I redeemed you." "Now I walked with you through the wilderness journey for so many years." And as it says here in verse 5, "I knew you." Notice this expression, "I know you." Not only knowing about you, but I know you. It's an intimate relationship that God had towards the nation. The commitment that God had towards His people Israel.

It is, "I know only Israel have I known." We read in the scripture, meaning that God had a special relationship with this nation. So God's saying, "Listen, I knew thee in the wilderness, a land that was with much drought, dry land." When you needed something, I provided for you. And beloved brothers and sisters, think about the 40 years wilderness journey of the people of Israel. They never lacked food. He provided the man. He provided the quails. He took water out of the rock and provided them to drink water from the rock. He met all their needs. He provided for them. He knew them intimately. He loved them.

You know this expression, "It takes two to build up a relationship." What kind of response God, you think, wanted from His own nation, from the nation of Israel. So that's why God is really bringing upon them, showing to them why He will have to deal with them in judgment, is because of what He has done for the nation and the kind of response they have given unto Him. And so, you can read in the book of Deuteronomy chapter 8 and verse 15, Deuteronomy chapter 32 and verse 10, you will read those verses how God met the people of Israel in the wilderness and provided for them all along as they were walking in the desert.

And so, He is now telling them, after He is mentioning those two verses, that He remembers Israel and reminding them of the covenant that He made after coming out of Egypt and how He took care of them in the wilderness. In verses 6, 7 and 8, He shows Israel that self-exaltation by Israel will definitely bring the judgment due. And so, in verse 6, "Israel were filled, their hearts were exalted, and they forgot God." It says in verse 6, "According to their pasture, so were they filled. They were filled, and their hearts were exalted, therefore they have forgotten Me." See, He fed them, so they were filled. In verse 6, "He took care of them, but then their heart was exalted, and then they forgot God." That's what happens when we forget God in our life.

Not only the unbelieving world, but also the believing world. Oftentimes, we forget God. We just forget Him. We just don't want Him to participate. I don't know if you hear this expression. Some people say, "You are so religious, too much, I can't take it anymore." Well, what do you want? You want God for Monday, and not for Tuesday? When do you want God? Only, what, five days a week, four days a week, two days a week? Only for Sunday? We'll put the jacket on Saturday, or Shabbat or Sunday, and take it off on Monday and say, "God, listen, I left the jacket now for the weekend, and now this week I don't need you in my life." God says, "Listen, I brought you out of Egypt.

I fed you in the wilderness. I didn't bring you all the way for the weekend only. I brought you because I want you to be part of my life. I will take care of you. I will provide for you." That's what God is saying to Israel. That's what God is saying to the nation of Israel. But, look, as it says here, it says, "They were filled after they have eaten. Now their hearts were exalted, and therefore they forgotten me." That's what happened. For the nation that was supposed to be remembering constantly what God had done for them. The truth of the matter is that even from youth in the conservative Jewish homes, the teaching of the children is constantly to remember God.

That's why God says, "When you walk by the way, when you sit in your house, when you lay us down, when you rise us up, even when we call it the mezuzah that we put on the doorpost of your homes." Why? When you go out, you look at the mezuzah, and you are reminded of the word of the Lord. When you come in, you look at the mezuzah, which is not merely something to kiss, but the point is here, it is the word of God will be saturating the heart of everyone that belongs to Him. When you lay us down, when you rise us up.

When you go out, when you come in, at the door of your homes, that we will constantly be reminded of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In fact, even the tzitzit, if you know very well that the conservative Jewish people will wear that which is called tzitzit, and the other garment. Not the talit, what they call prayer shail. This has been introduced later on. But the tzitzit, it's a biblical introduction. God says in the book of Numbers that they will be on the corners of the garments, these blue colors that will remind the nation of Israel about the God that belonged to this nation.

That constantly the people of Israel will be reminded and have communion with God. But look, here we have the opposite that happened. Here we see that they have been filled. They began to exalt in their hearts. And therefore, it says here, they have forgotten me. There is a verse that I want to read in Psalm 103. It says in verse 1 and 2, listen to the psalmist who says, 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. That's what David said. He's speaking to himself. And he's speaking to his own soul.

His soul is different than the soul of the man in Luke, who were taking care and forgot about God, was not gracious towards God. But the psalmist David says, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. Who forgives your iniquities. Who heals your diseases. Who redeemeth thy life from destruction. Who crowns thee with loving kindness and tender mercy. Who satisfies thy mouth with good things, so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles. That's what he's saying. Forget not all his benefits. Don't forget that everything you have has been given to you by God. You know, my dear mother, she doesn't know the Lord.

But she told me every night when she goes to sleep, she acknowledged God. And she says to God, she prayed for all of us, all her grandchildren and great-great-children. She just lay in bed, and she talked to God. Now, she doesn't know Yeshua as her Messiah. But she talked to God. She told him. She acknowledged the food that she has, the clothes that she has, the measure of health that she has. That's what God wants from us. God wants for mankind. That we will not neglect, we will remember what he has done for us. And that's what Israel forgot here in Hosea chapter 13. And that's why Hosea is speaking to the nation.

And he's getting them ready because God ultimately will have to discipline those that have turned away from him. And so he's saying now, he says in this verse 6, he says, "Listen, they have forgotten me." And his heart was grieved because his own nation forgotten him. And his heart was grieved. And sometime, he's acting as a judge. And he doesn't take that role of what we would love to see, you know, everything is okay, we'll just do what you want, and we all love each other and so on. But sometimes God has to act in judgment over the people that he loved because he cared for them.

We as parents often fail in this. But God never does. He always does things in the right way. And so we see here that they were proud, they were arrogant, they were forgetful of what God had provided for them. And that's why God is now saying to them, and look how sad in the next verse, verses 7 and 8, "God became to his own people Israel whom he loved, he became to them like a lion, like a leopard, like a bear in judgment." Notice those verses here in verses 7 and 8. It says in verse 7, "Therefore, will I be unto them as a lion, as a leopard? By the way, will I observe them?" "I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps.

And I will rend the fat of their heart. And there will I devour them like a lion, the wild beast shall tell them." Now that is amazing. You know, the Bible is so consistent. In every book, the Bible interprets itself. We see here that God is now acting towards his beloved nation as a judge, He is giving us a description of an animal, the way animals will behave. As a wild animal. He is speaking here about the lion, the king of the forest. He is speaking about the leopard, that's speed running and watching and capturing. He is speaking like the bear, that when he is bereaved of her whelps, she will rend the fat of their heart.

In other words, he is giving a description of a real tearing and ripping and complete judgment that we sometimes are shivered when we think about what an animal would do to another or even to a human being. And if you carefully study your Bible, you will notice that what he describes here in verses 7 and 8 goes very much parallel with the prophet Daniel who saw whom God given him a vision in chapter 2 he gave to Nebuchadnezzar and in chapter 7 he gave to Daniel of the four kingdoms of the gentile kingdom of the world that will rule this world and that will also rule over the nation of Israel during the time of Israel's departure from the will of the Lord.

And if you will read, if you don't mind, please just turn a couple of pages back to the prophet Daniel. I just want you to see what Daniel saw. Daniel chapter 7 we read in the first verses it says there In the first year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed. Then he wrote the dream and he told some of them and the matters of them. Then it says Daniel spake and he said I saw in my vision by night and behold the four winds of heaven strove upon the great sea and four great beasts came up from the sea diverse one from another notice verse 4 the first one was like a lion notice verse 5 the second one was like a bear notice verse 6 and I behold and another or the third one was like a leopard and if you look at verse 7 it says and this I saw in the night vision and the fourth one was beast that is dreadful and terrible.

Now beloved brothers and sisters we're not going to go now through the book of Daniel for the teaching of what we have in the book of Daniel but those four animals the lion and the bear and the leopard and this dreadful animal really represent the four kingdoms that we know from Gentile world history the lion represent of course Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian kingdom the bear represent the Medo-Persian kingdom the leopard and the speed of the leopard represent the Grecian Empire and the dreadful fourth one that he wanted so much to know about represent the Roman Empire which will be so terrible and you know very much from Roman history what the Romans have done to

the nation of Israel what you really see you can see the kingdoms that will begin from the time of Israel's departure specifically from the time that Babylonian took Judah down to Babylon up till the time of the revived Roman Empire which will come about and specifically through the Roman Empire the Antichrist the counterfeit Messiah will come when they the revived Roman Empire which will come to pass including like it was in the past and like it will be in the future including the tribulation period you and I live today in between in what you call a mystery period of time which was not written actually in the Old Testament in the Tanakh the church age

is not there it was hid in God Ephesians 3 it was revealed to the Apostle Paul Ephesians 3 it was a new thing revealed to man even though it was in the mind of God from eternity past it was only revealed to man after Yeshua finished the work on the cross gone to heaven the spirit came and the body of Messiah was formed so when the Hebrew prophets were speaking about they were speaking about God dealing with Israel the nation so you see here with the lion the leopard the bear and the wild beast shall tear them this is exactly what happened to the Jewish people to the nation of Israel over the whole history

of the nation of Israel oh beloved brothers and sisters you just look at the history of our own nation Israel from the time that the Assyrians took the northern kingdom that the Babylonians took the southern kingdom and how Medo-Persia came about and how the Grecians and here we just celebrated Chanukah and we just saw what Antiochus Epiphany a Grecian-Syrian one what he have done to the Jewish people and how he defiled the temple in Jerusalem and what he have done to the people of Israel oh when you think about this how the word of God will surely come to pass heaven and earth will pass away but God's word will never change and so we

see here how interesting and when we see this world empire here through those lion, leopard and bear we are reminded also of what the Apostle Paul said when he wrote to the Romans about Israel in chapter 11 he says I do not want you to be ignorant brethren about the mystery that lest you should be wise in your own estimation blindness in part happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles will come in and so all Israel shall be saved as it is written they shall come out of Zion the deliverer and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob and so Paul reminded the Gentile church that this mystery that happened to Israel that Israel

will be blinded and judged by God judicially it is a judicial blindness until the fullness of the Gentiles become in and then all the nation of Israel will be saved of the tribulation period so here I am just putting it in so you can see the context here you can see what the Lord is really saying to the nation of Israel at that time and it was by the way before 722 BC before the Assyrian came and took them to Assyria and so now quickly in verses 9, 10 and 11 of Hosea chapter 13 first of all in verse 9 the Lord point out of Israel's Israel's self-destruction you know sometimes we destroy ourselves we

don't need somebody else to do this for us see it says here O Israel you know God is appealing He's speaking to us O Israel He says you have destroyed yourself but in me you have help you see how many lives have been destroyed by our own hands how many relationships have been destroyed by our own hands how many breakdowns came about by our own hands we are great in doing this we don't need somebody from outside to destroy we need right in our own self in our own hearts we are self-destructive this world by the way is a self-destructive world we destroy everything we are very capable to destroy he is saying to Israel

Israel you have really destroyed yourself think of what Paul said in Galatians 6 whatsoever man sow that shall he also reap if we sow unto the flesh the flesh will reap corruption how many sins came into our own life by virtue of our own decision nobody had to force us to do it and we destroy ourselves and so God says to Israel you know you destroy yourself the only solution to your problem is me God is saying to the nation in verse 10 he's saying Israel you wanted a king but those rulers couldn't help you he says in verse 10 I will be your king where is any other where is any other that may

save you in all your cities Israel and your judges of whom you said give me a king and princess in other words he said you wanted somebody of your own self to be a king over you but they couldn't help you and that takes us immediately to first kings when Israel came to Samuel and says we want to have a king like the other nations and God says to Israel but I'm your king why you want to be like others aren't you satisfied with what I provide for you but they want a king okay he says you want a king I'm going to give you a king and he gave them king Shaul and oh

what kind of king he was he didn't take care of his people he didn't take care of the nation of Israel in fact God had to remove him from that kingship sin and self pride what did he do he even wanted to kill David he threw javelin at him more than once that David will not become the king of Israel David who was a man after God's heart so you see God saying to Israel you know where are those that you wanted to rule over you you know you ask for kings and princes what they can help you they can help you in verse 11 God says you know I gave you a king but

I also removed the king in verse 11 I gave the king in my anger and I took him away in my wrath and that's exactly what he said about Saul and that is exactly what he says about Jerobam those two men whom Israel wanted God gave it to them but God also removed them from being a king and so in verse 12 and 13 we find out that Ephraim sin and sins are keep on piling they carry on they carry on no repentance no confession they carry on allowing themselves and you see God says it's like piling in the hip and ready to come to a day of judgment look at verse 12 he says

the iniquity of Ephraim is bound up his sin is hid in other words it's like a treasure that is hid you put it in the ground and you're piling it and you're piling it until one day you're going to have to take it out and it's going to be producing judgment these two words bound in Hebrew it's called means it's like you tie something together the words hid it's the Hebrew word safun it's like a treasure that is hid and then you'll have to take it out it's like piling so piling up until the day of judgment that's what happened in fact I think I'm going to read a verse in Romans chapter 2 and

the first few verses there where Paul is speaking about this world he says you despise the riches and goodness and for burdens and long suffering of the Lord don't you know that the goodness of God should lead you to repentance this is verse 4 and then verse 5 he said verse 5 he said but after the hardness and impatient heart you treasure up for yourself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God see what God is saying that men in the world is piling up ready for the wrath the judgment that is going to come in a judgment day and they don't recognize that the goodness of God should

lead to repentance God want us to repent God wanted Israel to repent God looking for repentance for men today but if there is no repentance there is a piling up of these sins that will bring about judgment in the day of judgment and so in verse 13 he is speaking about Ephraim and he says the sorrow of travailing woman shall come upon him this is upon Ephraim and every wife every woman that bears children knows what it means to be in labor the pain and God is making an illustration here is a woman in verse 13 that she is travailing in sorrows the pain that is involved those of us that had children know how

our wives felt when the time comes to bear a child and the pain that was involved in that and God saying this type of a pain that a woman have had before she bring forth children that's the kind of sorrow and trial you're going to experience at the day of judgment then he said he's an unwise son speaking of a fine for he should not stay long in the place of the breaking forth of the children you know when a child is going to come out it's the pain because the pain is going to be experienced by the nation because of their sin their sin and as we are drawing on to the end of

this chapter in verse 14 he gives us a little glimpse of God's eventual restoration of Israel it's so nice to see that because you hear about judgment but he gives us in verse 14 a very precious verse in verse 14 in verse 14 we find out that God will restore ultimately his people Israel to himself look it says God will restore Israel it says in verse 14 a I will ransom them from the power of the grave then he continues I will redeem them from death those two expressions the word for grave is the Hebrew word Sheol often times when somebody goes to the grave we call it in Hebrew the Hebrew word is actually

Sheol and then we have here the word for death the two Hebrew words Mavet and Sheol Mavet will really tell us when a person dies and is buried Sheol is the place of the departed spirits and what we really see here that God here gives us the promise of the resurrection of the nation of Israel he's saying I will ransom them from the power of death of the grave and I will redeem them from death you see God is saying listen Israel I'm going ultimately redeem you I'm going to resurrect you as a nation all what you need to do is to read Ezekiel 37 and the booklet here about Israel's glorious future when the

dead the valley of the dead bones and God asked Ezekiel son of man can these bones live?

you look at the dead bones there is no possibility that Israel as a nation will ever be resurrected not only physically but also spiritually but also spiritually and here God made a promise I will ransom them from the power of the grave I will redeem them from death and look what he said O death I will be thy plagues O grave I will be thy destruction see God says even death and Hades and Sheol and the grave will not ultimately keep the nation of Israel down and finished God will ultimately resurrect that nation and even though the nation will be scattered and divided and spread over the nations of this world and being judged by

the lion and by the bear and by the leopard and by this other the Roman Empire ultimately Israel as a nation will be resurrected and restored you know that Apostle Paul used the same verse here from Hosea chapter 13 and verse 14 to speak about the victory that Yeshua the Messiah won when he rose from the dead could you please turn to 1st Corinthians chapter 15 look when people do not believe in the resurrection of the body when people do not believe that people will be raised those who believe in Yeshua will be raised to be with him those that are unbelievers are going to be raised but they are going to be judged but

there is a resurrection from among the dead and Yeshua rose from among the dead but there is a resurrection of the dead and so he is saying in chapter 15 and verse 54 so when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption and this mortal shall have put on immortality then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written death is swallowed up in victory and here is the quotation oh death where is thy sting oh grave where is your victory the sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law but thanks be to God which gives us the victory through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah there is a victory there

is a victory because of Yeshua's redemption and when he paid for our sin through the death on the tree when he died and was buried and we raised and shed his precious blood this gives victory to everyone that trusted in him and that's why he says oh death where is your sting oh grave where is your victory victory when we are going to a funeral service and we look at this grave and that person entering into the bottom of that grave and we covered him with the ground it seemed to be that the grave won and had a victory but the Lord is saying no for the believer he says listen death has not victory

death where is your sting he says the grave where is your victory where is your victory he says listen the sting of death is sin yes what brought death is sin but what is the strength of sin is the law the law prove that we are sinners but thank be unto God that have given us the victory through the finished work of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah that's what Paul is saying here in 1st Corinthians in 1st Corinthians and he actually this was taken from the statement that Hosea was saying to the nation of Israel by the word of the Lord in verse 14 that God is going to resurrect the nation the nation well

in conclusion the last two verses verses 15 and 16 though Israel will ultimately be restored in verses 15 and 16 Hosea says that Israel's sin will still bring penalty even though they will be restored of the nation penalty is still coming when sin when we commit sin and God forgive our sins when we repent but he still have to give us the spanking these consequences to sin so in verse 15 and 16 though he be fruitful among his brethren an east wind shall come the wind of the Lord shall come up from the wilderness and his spring shall become dry and his fountain shall be dried up he shall spoil the treasure of all the

pleasant vessels Samaria shall become desolate for she has rebelled against her God they shall fall by the sword listen to this their infants shall be dashed in pieces and their women with child shall be ripped up now do you know beloved brothers and sisters from biblical history we know that at 722 BC Shalmaneser the king of Assyria came to Israel to Samaria and took Samaria away and took Israel the northern tribes to Assyria you can read that in 2nd Kings 18 verses 9 to 12 in 2nd Kings 17 verses 5 and 6 he took them away captive to Assyria and there are so much damage have been done this expression here where it says they

shall fall by the sword the sword the infant shall be dashed in pieces and the women with child shall be ripped up the kind of wicked treatment of the northern tribes of Israel by this king of Assyria the treatment that they have received from this king and all this was allowed by God he used him as a channel because of Israel's disobedience to the Lord therefore as God says the east wind shall come the wind of the Lord shall come up from the wilderness it is the wind that was sent by the Lord by the Lord against his beloved nation of Israel later on Judah was taken captive by the Babylonian and if you read

in the book of Daniel it was the Lord who sent Nebuchadnezzar against his people of Judah it is the Lord's judgment and so here this is chapter 13 which shows us Israel's penalty because of refusal of repentance may the Lord help us to repent before the Lord to tell him Lord we fail you and whenever we did fail him honestly to tell him we don't need to make a public we can go in the back of our bed there on the side in our closet and say to the Lord Lord you know my heart I failed you here I confess before you help me to be restored 1 John 1:9 if we confess our sins

he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness and we thank him for that can you say amen to that?

Amen