Please turn with me to the prophet Hosea this afternoon. We are going today to look into the 8th chapter of Hosea. And we are going to continue with the proclamation of the Lord towards the nation of Israel, the northern tribes of Israel, and His thoughts concerning their doing in the time of decline, when Israel, as a nation, were away from the Lord, and before they were ready to be taken captive by the Assyrians. And God had proclaimed His thoughts concerning the nation. And the prophet Hosea was speaking to the nation and challenging them with one statement after another. And after, if you remember, we repeat again and again to remind us that Hosea had experienced the unfaithfulness of the one that was very dear to him, his own wife.

Here we see God is experiencing the unfaithfulness of his own wife, the nation of Israel. And in chapter 8, we read those 14 verses and the theme or the subject of chapter 8 is the idolatry of the nation of Israel. And God is saying in verse 1, "Set the trumpet to thy mouth. He shall come as an eagle against the house of the Lord, because they have transgressed my covenant and transpassed against my law. Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee. Israel has cast off the thing that is good. The enemy shall pursue him. Israel, this is they, have set up kings, but not by me.

They have made princes, and I know it not. Of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off. The calf of Samaria has cast thee off. Mine anger is kindled against them. How long will it be ere they attain to innocency? For from Israel was it also the work men made it. Therefore, it is not God, but the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces. For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. It has no stock. The bud shall yield no meal. If so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up. Israel is swallowed up.

Now shall they be among the Gentiles as a vessel wherein there is no pleasure. For they are gone up to Samaria, a wild ass alone by himself. Ephraim has hired lovers, yet though they have hired among nations. Now will I gather them, and they shall sorrow a little for the burden of the king of princes. Because Ephraim has made many altars to sin, altars shall be unto him to sin. I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing. They sacrifice flesh for the sacrifices of mine, mine offering, and eat it. But the Lord accepteth them not.

Now will he remember their iniquity and visit their sins. They shall return to Egypt. They shall return to Egypt. For Israel has forgotten his maker, and buildeth temples. And Judah has multiplied fenced cities. But I will send fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the places thereof. In chapter 8, brothers and sisters, we have a continuation of the response of Jehovah, the Lord, to the nation of Israel. A response to them for what they have been doing as a nation after the division of the two kingdoms. And in chapter 8, really the theme of this chapter is the idolatry of Israel. Now this is important because idolatry means that the nation would choose to worship someone else instead of the true and living God.

The nation would choose to worship idols, to bring sacrifices on the altars that were not given by the Lord, rather than to come and worship the true God, and bring sacrifices upon the altar which God had set in the city of Jerusalem, in the land of Judea, in the land of Israel. And so in chapter 8, there is a continual challenge that the Lord is challenging the nation of Israel. And I am reminded of a verse that we read in Isaiah chapter 42, when the Lord said, if you remember through the prophet Isaiah, he said, I am the Lord, that is my name, and my glory I will not give unto another.

Neither my praise to graven images. Isaiah chapter 42 and verse 8. God said to Israel in Hebrew, What he is really saying that I am not going to share my glory with someone else. I am not going to allow you to worship another God. I am not going to share my glory with somebody else. I am not going to give my praise to graven images. And so what we see in chapter 8 of this book, that Hosea was told by God to challenge the nation of Israel concerning their idol worship. Now remember that idol worship, what was for Israel a literal image, for us as believers in Yeshua the Messiah in this present day dispensation, is not necessarily in images, but for us it can be anything that take away from our true response to God.

It can be many things in the life of the believers in this present day dispensation of the church age. In fact, the apostle John, in 1st John chapter 5, he concluded with this challenge to the believers. He said to them, "Little children," 1st John 5 verse 21, "Keep yourselves from idols." That's how he closed this epistle, the first epistle, 1st John. He wrote to believers in Yeshua the Messiah, and he told them, "Beloved little children, keep yourselves from idols." Now, idol is amazing that it can be anything and everything in the life of the believer that is hindering us from fellowship with our Father, from fellowship with God.

It could be a job situation. It could be a family. It could be anything, any things that creep into our life that can cause us to be drawn after those things and not spending time and giving the time that God deserved to receive from his own people. So here we see in Hosea's time, when Israel was there in a time of decline, God is now, in the first 7 verses of Hosea 8, He is showing to Israel the wrongdoing in following idolatry. And He is showing this to them how wrong it is to follow idolatry. After all, He was Israel's God. After all, He was the one who called them, who chose the nation of Israel for Himself.

And He discovered that over the years, the nations have been drawn after other gods. And so, look what He is telling them now as He continues in His response to the nation. He is saying in verse 1, sound the trumpet or set the trumpet to thy mouth. And then He said, he shall come as an eagle against the house of the Lord. What God is saying, He's saying, listen, give the alarm, sound the shofar. And here actually, the word here in the English is the trumpet. And so He's saying, listen, sound the trumpet, sound the shofar, and give warning for the nation. Because what's going to happen, there is someone, and He's speaking about a foreign nation, who is going to come so fast, like an eagle, against the house of the Lord.

You see, God is saying to Israel, He says, listen, there is judgment that is going to come. I'm going to send the Assyrian against you. And I want you, and He's speaking to the nation, He says, sound the shofar, give the warning. Because there is someone who is coming to take the nation in judgment, give the warning. He says, sound the trumpet, sound the shofar. Again, and so what's happening, the one that is coming, speaking about the nations from the north, the Assyrian, He's coming like an eagle against the house of the Lord. Now, I want you to remember that the word house of the Lord here does not necessarily speak about the temple in Jerusalem, because we are talking about the northern tribes.

They did not go to Jerusalem anymore. They're the house of the Lord. Or this expression, the house of the Lord speaks about the people themselves, the nation themselves. In our classes, we have talked about it. The church of the living God in this present day dispensation is the house of God. The people of God are the house of God where He dwells in the midst of His nation. So, God is saying to Israel, Israel, listen, I'm going to send someone and He's going to come very speedily like an eagle. He's going to come very fast and He's going to come against the house of the Lord.

Here we see the judgment begin at the house of God. He's going to come against the house of God. He's going to deal with His people, first of all. And so, He gives them reasons why will the northern enemy going to come against the house of the Lord. Why will he come against the house of the Lord? He's going to show them now in the next six and a half verses or seven verses. He gives them six reasons why the enemy of the nation is going to come against the nation of Israel. He gives them six reasons. And He laid this down before them. There's a great lesson to learn from these brothers and sisters because God is frankly and honestly presenting before His beloved nation Israel why He's going to punish them and discipline them.

He gives them the reasons. And He clearly showed this to them one point after another. And let's go over that and we'll see why does the nation from the north going to come very fast as an eagle against the house of Israel. Here are six reasons. Reason number one is found in verse 1b. And the reason, the first reason is that Israel transgressed God's covenant. Look at this. Verse 1b. He says because, number one, they, this is Israel, they have transgressed my covenant. In other words, God made a covenant with the nation of Israel. In the covenant, if you remember specifically, He's speaking about now, He doesn't talk about the new covenant yet.

Because the new covenant had not yet been established. It was going to come in a future day. But He has given them the Mount Sinai covenant in Exodus 19 and 20. And you know, the first command in the covenant that God had given to Israel in Mount Sinai is, "I am the Lord thy God, which have brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, and thou will have no other gods before me." That was the first command that God had given to His own nation, the nation of Israel. And lo and behold, you find out that Israel have adopted to themselves other gods.

The gods of the nations around. They have adopted themselves, idols, all kind of things that they have adopted into their lives. And that is something that has violated God's covenant. God's command from the nation of Israel. And so the first thing that He's accusing them here, is Israel transgressed God's covenant. Secondly, He's telling them in the same verse, and He's moving also into verse 2. Verse 1c, and also verse 2, Israel trespasses God's, or against God's law. He's saying there in verse 1-3, He says, "And they trespassed against my law, and Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee." You see, what He's saying now, it's not only that they have transgressed His covenant, but they trespass, they violated God's law, and they are claiming that they know God.

You see, it says in verse 2, "Israel shall cry unto me." And they're going to say, "My God, we know thee, we know thee, we know thee, God." But the truth of the matter, that they didn't. The truth of the matter, that even they did know Him by words, but by action, they did know, they violated the law of God, the commands of God. And if you remember, many times we read this in scripture, for example, and I quote Isaiah chapter 29, where he said this. Notice what Isaiah is saying in verse 13. He says, "These people draw near unto me with their mouth, but with their lips.

They honor me with their lips, but they have removed their hearts far from me." Isaiah chapter 29 and verse 13. You see, it's not sufficient to speak about God and to say to God, "I know you, I know you, God." But in practice, they didn't follow Him. They didn't submit to His word. You know, it is, in the New Testament, a view about this. You remember what Yeshua said in Matthew chapter 7? In the Gospel, when Yeshua looked around, and He's looking, and He says, "You know, many," and I'm going to read this verse also. Matthew chapter 7 and verse 21. "Not every man that saith unto me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.

But he that doeth the will of my Father, which is in heaven, many will say unto me, 'In that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name we have cast out demons, and in thy name we have done many wonderful works.' And then He says, "Then I will profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity." You see, it is not sufficient to say to the Lord, "Lord, we know you, we know thee," as it says here in verse 2. But in practice, they didn't follow Him. In practice, in actuality, instead of following the God of the nation who brought them out of Egypt, they ended up following all sorts of idols.

And they said such statement, "My God, we know thee, we know thee." Isaiah said, "These people draw near unto me with their mouths and with their lips, they confess me, but with their heart, they have departed from me." God wants the heart of the nation, of Israel. God wants the hearts of mankind. And no leap profession is that which gives Him joy, but He wants the heart of the people of God. So first of all, they transgressed God's covenant. Secondly, they trespass against God's law. And God did not find delight in it. Already, in the earlier chapter, in chapter 4, in verse 6, He said to them, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you, that you will be no more a priest unto me," God said to the nation.

See, they rejected the knowledge of God. And therefore, God was the one who is coming before them and revealed this unto the nation. And so they are guilty in transgressing His covenant. They are guilty in trespassing against God's law. Now notice in verse 3, the third thing that He is laying down before them. And He is saying to them, "Israel has cast off the thing that is good." It says in verse 3, "Israel has cast off the thing that is good, the enemy shall pursue him." Pursue Israel. What is the thing that is good, brothers and sisters? You see, they have rejected the blessing that they have had.

They have set aside the good things that God has for the nation of Israel. There are two psalms that are mentioned that God is good to the nation of Israel. Psalm 73 and verse 1, "God is good to Israel." Psalm 100 and verse 5, "For the Lord is good." We read it, the psalmist said that. God is so good, God is so gracious, but Israel has cast off the thing that is good. When they set God aside, they actually set that which is good away from them. Application to us, when we set God aside in our lives, it doesn't matter who we are. It doesn't matter where we are, in any state we are.

We set God aside, we actually set that which is good in our own life. And we replace it with that which is less good, or that which is no good whatsoever. That is the challenge that God is giving to the nation of Israel. And so we continue now, in the next verses. In verse 4, the first part of verse 4, we give them the fourth accusation. The fourth reason why they are going to be judged and why the nation is going to come swiftly as an eagle against them. In the first part, verse 4 says, "Israel have set up kings and princes without God's approval." You see, he says, "They have set up kings, but not by me.

They have made princes, and I knew it not." Now, isn't it true? We always like people to lead us that makes us feel good. We always like people to lead us, or our own kings, the way we are choosing them, because we want to choose those that are meeting our own need. But you know what God says? "They have set up kings, but they didn't set up by me." And you remember, brothers and sisters, what happened when the nation, the northern tribes of Israel, they have been the one that has set up another king. And if you remember, even in the beginning, before the nation was divided, they have chosen King Saul.

And King Saul was not the choice of God, it was the choice of men. God have allowed them to have Saul. And how Saul led the nation in a wrong direction, until David, the man after God's own heart, was chosen and established as the king of the whole nation. But when Israel had been divided into those two kingdoms, the northern tribes have set up another one to be their own king. And his name was Jerobam. Jerobam in English. And they have set him to be the king over the nation of Israel, the northern tribe. And beloved brothers and sisters, if you would look throughout the history of the northern tribes, if I'm correct, they had about 18 kings.

And every one of these kings did evil in the eyes of the Lord. You will see the whole history of the northern kingdom. King after king and prince after prince have done evil in the sight of the Lord. Because they did not submit themselves to the order that God had given through the king David, through the house of David, the tribe of Judah. And so he's accusing them. He says, you know why the northern kingdom of the Assyrians is going to come against you swiftly? Why are you going to come against the house of Israel like eagle very fast to judge you? Because, number four, they have set up kings, but not by me.

I set up, princess, and I did not know it at all. In other words, it was their own thinking, their own plans, their own desire, and that's why I'm going to punish them. For us in the church age as well, brothers and sisters, God raised men. God raised brothers, leaders among the church of the Lord Jesus, in the church, in the body of Christ, the body of Messiah. And he, the leaders that God raised, are not perfect. They are not, in a sense, without blame. They have many weaknesses in them, but God raised them. And he's raising them for the purpose of being edifying and building the body of Messiah.

And that's why we need to be very sensitive and very discerning on how God raised men and leaders among the people of God. And we might have sisters in their sphere of service that God give them gifts and enable them to be a blessing to the brothers and sisters among the assembly of God's people. But it is God the one that raises up. It is God the one that gives instruction in his word. It is God who gives counsel and advice. It's got to be from the Lord. Otherwise, there is no blessings if it's not from the Lord. So, they have set up kings, but not by me.

They have made up princes, and I knew it not, he's saying to them. That's why they have been led into such a condition. Now, notice number five, in verse 4b, all the way to verse 6, verse 4b, 5 and 6. Here's the fifth accusation why God is going to bring the judgment upon the nation of Israel is because Israel have made idols of their own silver and gold. You see, look, I'm reading. Verse 4b. Of their silver and their gold they have made them idols, that they may cut off. The calf of Samaria has cast thee off. Mine anger is kindled against them. How long will it be before they attain to innocency?

For from Israel was it also the work men made it. Therefore, it is not God, but the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces. I always was puzzled when I read in the book of Exodus, when Moses went up to the mountain to receive God's written law to bring to the nation of Israel. You remember how the nation of Israel right already then, while they were in the wilderness, they could not wait until Moses will come down from the mountain. And what did they do? They have built a golden calf. And it is amazing how God clearly described this in His word, that they said, here Israel, this is the God which has taken you out of the land of Egypt.

I mean, how is it possible? You and I might say, a nation that just have enjoyed liberty, that they just have been brought out of the land of Egypt with a strong arm with the power of God delivered and brought to the wilderness and later on headed to the promised land. How in a world they can take a golden calf and say, this is the God that took you out of the land of Egypt. Well, apparently it is possible. It was possible in Israel's heart and it is possible in our hearts, brothers and sisters. We are not exempt from that. We are not better. We are not superior.

We also, it shows the human condition of the human heart, what we are capable of saying or what we are capable of doing. Now, notice he twice mentioned here the calf of Samaria. Now, I want you to turn with me, please, to 1 Kings chapter 12. And I want to read to you a little bit about the calf of Samaria. In 1 Kings and chapter 12, we read in verse 25. "Then Jeroboam built Shikim in the Mount of Ephraim, and he dwelt therein, and he went out from there, and he built Penuel. And Jeroboam said in his heart, now shall the kingdom return to the house of David. If these people go up to sacrifice in the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, then shall the heart of the people turn again unto their Lord, even unto Rechoboam, the king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rechoboam, the king of Judah." Now, listen what he did in verse 28.

"Whereupon the king took counsel, and he made two calves of gold. And he said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Behold thy God, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And he set one in Beth El, and the other he set in Dan." And listen to what we read in verse 30. "And this thing became a sin. For the people went to worship before the one even unto done. And he made a house of high places. And he made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi. And Jeroboam ordained the feast in the eighth month.

And on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar, so did he at Beth El, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made. And he placed in Beth El the priests of the high places which he had made. So he offered upon the altar, which he had made in Beth El the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised in his own heart. And he ordained a feast unto the children of Israel. And he offered upon the altar, and he burned incense." Now that was an abomination before the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

When this man by the name of Jeroboam, who was chosen by the nation of Israel to become the king, when he had done so, the Bible tells us that this thing became a sin against the nation of Israel. And that's why God is determined to discipline his people. He is determined to send the northern kingdom of the Assyrians to come very fast as an eagle against them because they end up building those golden calves and sacrificing incense and sacrificing animals upon altars to those idols that he called them. These are the gods of Israel which brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Can you imagine that, brothers and sisters?

I mean, to our mind, it seems like it is not logic. How can a person do such a thing? Especially building from silver and from gold the shape of a calf and asking the people to worship that calf and follow all the instruction that he gave to offer incense, to offer sacrifices upon altars that God did not give an instruction for the people of Israel. And because God is holy, and because he is just, he is going to discipline his people because of this. In Psalm 115, which I will not read, if you read it in your own leisure you will find out, that these gods cannot move.

They have eyes, they cannot see. They have ears, they cannot hear. They have mouths, they cannot speak. They cannot touch, they have legs, they cannot walk. But he told them, these are the gods that took you out of the land of Egypt. And they sacrificed us, and they worshipped these gods. Can you imagine how it offended the God of Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And that's why God is saying to them, I will discipline the nation when the enemy will come and take you away. And finally, brothers and sisters, in verse 7, the sixth thing that Israel did, that God presented before them, is that Israel have sown to the wind.

Look, verse 7. For they have sown to the wind, and they shall reap a whirlwind. You know, the word wind here is the Hebrew word for ruach. As it says in Hebrew, it says, It says simply here that what they sown was merely a wind. Simply empty. Whatever they have sown, it was really simply sowing the wind. Empty, just merely wind, without nothing. No power, no reality. That's what he's saying to them. But he's saying to them, Listen, because you sow wind, you are going to reap a storm. That's what he's saying. You remember the verse that we have in the book of Galatians, "Whatsoever man soweth, that shall he also reap." A principle that we have in the Bible.

If we sow unto the flesh, we will reap unto the flesh. Corruption. If we sow unto the Spirit, of the Spirit will reap fruit for God. That's what we read in the book of Galatians chapter 6. And what we find out in the state of the nation of Israel, that they have sown merely wind. Empty. God says, "Listen, you know what you are going to reap because of that?" He said, "You are going to reap a storm, a whirlwind. That's what you are going to reap." In other words, what he's saying to the nation of Israel, "Look Israel, I brought you into such a privileged place.

You, as he said earlier, you have decided to set away from you that which is good. You have cast away that which is good. And because you have cast away that which is good, because you have sown wind, you are going to receive a storm, a whirlwind of God's judgment against the nation." And so, God responding to the nation and idolatry is the first thing that God commended the nation of Israel to abstain from. "Thou shalt have no other God before me." And when they have set these idols before God and they have worshipped them and they have ended up sacrificing towards them, God had to come in judgment upon the very one nation whom He loved.

And so, He's saying to them in those first seven verses, that He's showing to the nation of Israel the wrong of their doing because of idolatry. At the end of verse 7, He's saying, "It has no stock. The bad shall yield no meal. And if it will, the strangers shall swallow it up." He's saying, "Your idolatry will bring you nothing. The idolatry will give you no profit, no benefit from this nation of Israel," He said, "It has no stock, these idols. The bad yield no meal. But even if there will be something come of it," He said, "The enemies will come, the strangers will come and will take this away." Idolatry is that which dishonor the Lord when His people are going in that direction.

And I would like again to make a parallel to us as believers in the body of Messiah. Again and again, we have been warned in the Scripture that we are to abstain from that which is idolatry. That which takes away our heart from the things of the Lord. That which draws us away from God, from the Lord Jesus, from Yeshua the Messiah. And we know that, brothers and sisters, we are warned by the Lord and we are warned again and warned again and at times we neglect to hold ourselves, to ask the Lord to help us. And when we do not ask the Lord and we do not get His counsel and we end up following after the things that draw us away from the Lord, we find ourselves falling on our faces.

Falling empty, without no power, no spiritual energy. Again, in our Bible classes we were talking about the importance of staying close to the vine. Yeshua says, I am the vine, here are my branches. If any branch bring no fruit, God has to chop it. He has to deal with it. He has to discipline it. And that's what happened to the believers in this present day, in fact, it happened to the nation of Israel in the time when Hosea was writing to them. So God shows Israel their wrongdoing in following the idols in verses 1 to 7. And now notice that in verses 8 to 14, the second half of this chapter, Israel's sin in trusting others rather than of God is being displayed here in three statements that we have here in the last verses of chapter 8.

First of all, in verse 8, it says, Israel is swallowed up. Now shall they be among the Gentiles as a vessel wherein there is no pleasure. What God is saying? When God's people adapt the ways of the world, when the nation of Israel adapted the Gentile world influence and idolatry, it says that they become, they have been swallowed up by the whole nations of the world. And they became, as it says here, as a vessel that no one has any pleasure in it. You see, now, Israel, God is saying, being swallowed up by the nations around, and they don't have any more testimony. They become a vessel that nobody want to use.

They become without, they have no testimony anymore. Do you find this, brothers and sisters, in our life when we depart from the ways of the Lord, we are no longer used as vessels of honor unto the Lord. We cannot be used by the Lord. Because when we adapt the ways of the world, God cannot use us, and we are swallowed up by the nations around us. There was a brother who used to say this, "It is okay for a ship to be in the sea, but watch it when the sea go into the ship." The sea going into the ship, the ship is sinking, swallowed up by the water.

No longer testimony, no longer a power of testimony among the nations of the world. You see, Israel, brothers and sisters, was called by God to be different than all other nations of this world. When Bil'am was called by Balak to curse the nation of Israel in the book of Numbers, you know what Bil'am said? Look what he said. Numbers 23 and verse 8, "How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? Or how shall I defy whom the Lord has not defied? For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him. Lo," he is speaking about Israel, "The people shall dwell alone and shall not be reckoned among the nations." You see, God called Israel to be different than all other nations upon the face of this world.

But Israel, in a time of decline, were not satisfied with this. So you know what they said? "We want to be like the other nations. We will adopt their idolatry. We will adopt their way of living. We will adopt their style of life. We're going to be like the nations of this world." And they became swallowed up by the nations. And we read here in verse 8 that they are like vessels that there is no pleasure in this anymore. See, the nations of the world could use Israel when Israel was right with God. But the nations of the world can no longer use Israel when Israel is not right with their own God.

Let me make an application to us. The Lord can bless us when we are right with him among the nations of the world as a testimony for him. But when we walk like the world, when we set aside the Lord Jesus as the object of our hearts and our life, when we live a life of disobedience and a life of sin and condoning it in our own life, you will see that there will be no power in our own testimony among the nations around us. It was Samson because of his condoning sin in his life and not judging us. When he had so much power against the Philistines that came against him again and again, when Delilah said, "The Philistines are against you!" And he rose up and he teared these ropes that held him.

The last time when he revealed his secret to Delilah, and when she cut the locks that he had upon his head, and the Bible tells us that he rose when she said the Philistines are coming against you, Samson, and he rose up at other times to fight the Philistines. And the Bible tells us he did not know that the Lord had left him, and he didn't have any more power like he had before. This is exactly what happened, beloved brothers and sisters, to a nation. They were called to be different than all other nations in the world that it says, "Behold," he says, "they are not to be reckoned among the nations.

They are to dwell alone. They are to be different." But they blew it. They failed in it. We failed, and I'm part of this nation of Israel. They failed in this tremendously, just like the church failed in their testimony to the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. And that's why God says to the nation of Israel, "Listen, you are like a vessel that there is no pleasure in it anymore, cannot be used anymore." And so now notice quickly the last verses in the end of chapter 8. Now he tells them three things here. Three things in verse 9 and 10 is the first thing Israel trusted in others rather than in God.

No wonder they could not be a vessel that pleasure could be found in it, because it says in verse 9, "For they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself. Ephraim has hired lovers. Yet though they have hired among the nation, now will I gather them and they shall sorrow a little for the burden of the king of princes." You see, why they cannot be a vessel that found pleasure in it? Because look, they have chosen to go to Assyria rather than to go to God. They have chosen, they have gone after Assyria as a donkey alone by himself. Stiff-necked. Self-will. Do you have this problem?

Do I have this problem in our own lives? Sometimes like a donkey. He says here like an ass by himself. A donkey, stiff-necked, I will do my thing. I'm going to do it. Never mind what anybody is going to say. It is my choice, it is my decision and I'm going to do that. And they have gone to Assyria. And he hired lovers. He hired, in other words, he paid. When you hire somebody, you pay. Somebody to love you, to take care of you, to like you. They end up paying instead of receiving the lover of their soul, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

They have hired other lovers. They have hired among the nations, other lovers. And you know what God said? I will gather them and they shall sorrow for the burden of the king and princes. They are going to experience the sorrow of being away from me. God is saying to them. They are trusted in others, rather than God, verses 9 and 10. Look at it, verses 11, 12 and 13. Israel multiplied altars. Altar here, and altar there, and altar here, and altar there. Notice verse 11. Because Ephraim, and this is Israel, has many altars to sin. Altars shall be unto him to sin. I have written to him the great things of my law.

But they were counted as a strange thing. Verse 13. They sacrificed flesh for the sacrifice of all mine offerings. And they eat it. But the Lord acceptes them not. Now will he remember their iniquity and visit their sins. They shall return to Egypt. You know what he is saying to them? In the second thing. In those last verses. Why they couldn't be a vessel of honor anymore for him. Because not only they have chosen the Gentile nation of Assyria rather than him. But they have multiplied altars. Oh, you see, we can have an altar here. And we can have an altar here. And we can have an altar there.

We can have many, many, many altars, you see. And we can offer sacrifices. In other words, they introduced a false religion. They introduced a place to sacrifice. Instead of coming to the place where God had chosen in his word. They have ended up placing or offering sacrifices in a place where God did not set his name there. Let me remind you what God said to Israel in the book of Deuteronomy in chapter 12. And I'm reading those verses. Very interesting verses. Verse 1. He said, These are the statutes and the judgment which ye shall observe to do in the land. Which the Lord thy God, the God of thy father, has given you to possess it.

All the days that you live upon the earth. Ye shall utterly destroy all the places wherein the nations which ye shall possess serve their gods. Upon high mountains and upon hills and under every green tree, he said. Ye shall overthrow the altars. And you break down their pillars. And burn their groves with fire. And ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods. And you destroy the names of them out of that place. Ye shall not do so unto the Lord your God. But unto the place. Notice there is a place. Which the Lord your God shall choose out of your tribes to put his name there.

Even unto his habitation shall ye seek. And to there ye shall come. In verse 6. And to there ye shall bring your burnt offering. And your sacrifices. And your tithe. And the heave offering of your hand. And your vows on your free will offering. And the firstling of your herds. And your flocks. And I'm jumping to verse 13 of Deuteronomy chapter 12. Take heed. God is telling them. To yourself. That you offer not thy burnt offering in every place that you see. But in the place which the Lord shall choose in one of thy tribes. There you shall offer thy burnt offering. And there you shall do all that I commanded thee.

But what did they do? Instead of submitting to what God had said in his word. Through Moshe. Through Moses. The men of God. What did they do? You see. Ephraim has many altars. Altar here and altar there. Many altars. Many sacrifices. And beloved. You see. He's saying to them in verse 12. I have written to him. The great things of my law. And they are counted as a strange thing to Ephraim. Ephraim. Israel. They knew it. It was written to them. And they ended up offering sacrifices everywhere. And God would not be pleased with this. And that's why he said. And I do not accept these offerings at all.

I do not accept them. Because they were not offered in a right place. And to the right God. In the right city. In the temple in the city of Jerusalem. Where he set his name there. In this city. It was not offered in a proper way. Into the right and living God of Israel. And he says. Now I will remember. Their iniquity. And I will visit their sins. And they shall return to Egypt. When he says to return to Egypt. It doesn't mean that they will return to the land of Egypt. To the country called Egypt. In a sense. He is going to disperse them.

You remember what was it in Egypt? They were slaves. They were in bondage. They were in desperate need. And they cry unto God. That's why we have the feast of Pesach. Passover. Which speaks of the deliverance of God. From judgment. From this idolatry. And from this bondage. That they have been for so many years. But sin takes us back there. Disobedience. The idolatry takes them back. And Egypt for the believer today. Is a picture of the world. That is under the judgment of God. We have been redeemed. You remember what we read today. In 1 Peter chapter 1. We have been redeemed. Not with corruptible things of silver and gold.

But with the precious blood of the Messiah. As a lamb. That was without blemish. And without fault. We have been redeemed by the blood of Yeshua the Messiah. That was Peter was saying. To the first century Hebrew believers. To remind them of that. And they would be taken back to idolatry. To bondage. To sin. If they continue in this way. So Israel trusted others rather than God. Israel multiplied altars. And finally listen to the last verse. Of Hosea chapter 8. Israel have forgotten his maker. And look how clear God says. For Israel has forgotten his maker. And built the temples. And built the temples. And then he had Judah later on.

But I want you to just see. How sad. It must be. When God had to say. To his own people. Israel. Have forgotten. His maker. You remember what Solomon said. In Ecclesiastes chapter 12. He says. Remember thy creator. In the day of thy youth. Remember him. Before you're going to get old. Before you're not going to see clear anymore. You're not going to hear clear anymore. Your teeth will not be anymore the same. You will not be able to walk right. Remember your creator. In the day of your youth. Don't forget him. Because you depended upon him. You need the one that is your maker. You notice he says.

Israel have forgotten his maker. You know God made Israel. Who Israel is. You know the Lord Jesus made the church. The assembly. Whom the assembly is. The church is. We did not choose him. He chose us. He formed the body of Messiah. And made us part of this body. And saved us. And brought us into this wonderful relationship with him. And he tells us. Not to forget what he have done for us. And how he saved us. And brought us to himself. Israel. Have forgotten. His maker. When they turn to idols. When they've chosen. That which is no God. They've ended up forgetting their maker.

And facing the consequences. In being taken captive. And have no power in testimony. And they became as a vessel. When there is no pleasure. When there is no pleasure. Well. God responds to the nation. One chapter after another. And it seems to be redundant. Again and again. Chapter 6. Chapter 7. Chapter 8. And you will see. The next chapters. God reminding the nation of Israel. The importance. The importance. Of staying. In a relationship with him. Because if not. The consequence. Will come. And it will not be good for them. God who loved the nation. Will have to discipline. His own. People. All that which is written. A fourth time.

Was written for our learning. That we. Will learn from it. Learn the lessons. And stay close. To Yeshua the Messiah. Can you say amen for that? Amen.