“My people are being destroyed because they don’t know me. Since you priests refuse to know me, I refuse to recognize you as my priests. Since you have forgotten the laws of your God, I will forget to bless your children.” Hosea 4:6 NLT.
Calvary greetings to you and your loved ones. I believe you’re fine and keeping pace with your daily study. You would not lack appropriate knowledge you need to succeed in your journey of life in Jesus name. Some Notes on Hosea chapter 4.
1. Sins of Israel 1-2.
Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel! The Lord has brought charges against you, saying: “There is no faithfulness, no kindness, no knowledge of God in your land. You make vows and break them; you kill and steal and commit adultery. There is violence everywhere— one murder after another.
Hosea 4:1-2 NLT.
Take.
* No faithfulness
* No kindness
* No knowledge of God
* Make vows and break them
* Kill
,* Steal
* Murder
* Rampant violence.
A.The following are the charges of God against Israel:
One of the ways to dimension this list from God is to ex-ray my personal life against each item. Am I a faithful person? Can I be trusted in any way? No I have any milk of human kindness or I am so judgmental? Do I seek to know God? If my answer is yes, what practical steps have I taken in the last six months. Even if I am a pastor, activities and loaded programmes do not amount to my seeing to have the knowledge of God. We have discussed about vows severally. Do I make vows I knew I would not redeem even at the point of making it? Do I kill people with my mouth – character assassination? Am I a violent individual although I go to church?
These things were counted as sin by God against Israel in the old testament. Today, they’re still sin. So I must abstain from them.
Receive grace today in Jesus name.
2. Judgment of Israel 3-5.
That is why your land is in mourning, and everyone is wasting away. Even the wild animals, the birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea are disappearing. “Don’t point your finger at someone else and try to pass the blame! My complaint, you priests, is with you. So you will stumble in broad daylight, and your false prophets will fall with you in the night. And I will destroy Israel, your mother.
Hosea 4:3-5 NLT
Take.
A. Verse 3. “Your land is mourning, and everyone is wasting away ” This chapter answers the many whys that some people have been asking concerning the level of wastage and carnage in the world today. Wherever sin is abounding, wastage of human lives and properties will abound because the bible says:
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 6:23 NLT.
Please take a listen to this statistics. “Bandits killed 323 people, abducted 949 in 3 months in
Kaduna “according to CGTN Africa online. Aljazera reported another case: “Gunmen stormed villages ,kill dozens in Zamfara in one day. In Nigeria, those that escaped the cold hands of death in the COVID-19 pandemic are now being killed massively by gunmen and bandits on a daily basis.
But this carnage resulting from sin is not limited to so-called poor nations. Please take a listen:
According to a report published in the New York Times of May 27, 2021, captioned “Partial List of Mass Shootings in the US in 2021″: The carnage has continued into 2021, with at least 232 mass shootings as of May 26, 2021″ Mass shooting is defined as shooting where at least 4 people were injured or killed. So you can do the maths. The point? Due to abounding sin, there is abounding wastage of lives! Don’t forget the verse 3 we are studying States “everyone is wasting away”. The preceeding verse states: “There is violence everywhere- one murder after another.” The above is the meaning. May God give the world a spirit of genuine repentance.
B. Verse 3b. ” animals..the fish of the sea are disappearing ” . Due to our rebellion, the earth
is no longer yielding in its full capacity. Hunger is killing more people than ever before in human history.
C. Verse 4. Bulk passing will not work. ” Don’t point finger at someone else”. I need to own up on my own contributions to this challenge, confess to God , repent and ask for mercy. This is why we started with the personal dimension of the sins that God raised against His people.
D. Verse 4b. “My complaints, you priests is with you.’ God’s expectation is that the church, His children, you and I in all nations, would be manifesting His lights. But rather we are doing programmes, activities that do not actually fix the sin problem ; scheming for positions and all.
God says My complaint is you My church, and not the unsaved world.
E. Verse 5 ” So you will stumble in broad daylight, and your false prophets will fall with you in the night. And I will destroy Israel, your mother.” Hosea 4:5 NLT.
Take.
A. “So you…” Consequent upon the sin of the church, particularly the pastorate and the priesthood as the case may be, “You would
stumble in broad daylight.” The church and the nation would take a lot of missteps, journeys into error and programmes that would not deliver anything, both by the church and by the governments of nations.. To stumble in broad daylight means apparently wrong policies would be made by various governing authorities.
“False prophets will fall in the night” . Illumination is needed to navigate effectively at night. Recall in our study of the book of John we read:Jesus spoke to the people once more and said,
“I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” John 8:12 NLT.
False prophets lead their people by “another spirit” therfore, they and those being led must fall. Very recently a part of the Christiandom watched the SHOW OF SHAME that happened in the US when big prophets predicted a particular outcome of an election. Even when they failed, they still insisted the duly elected president would not be sworn in because “Oh this is not what the spirit of God is saying “. This is an example of what it is to fall in the night. This
horror is not restricted to the US , but in all other nations of the world. This just confirms Satan is on rampage all over the world. None of us shall fall in Jesus name.
3. Judgment Continued 6-11.
“My people are being destroyed because they don’t know me. Since you priests refuse to know me, I refuse to recognize you as my priests. Since you have forgotten the laws of your God, I will forget to bless your children. The more priests there are, the more they sin against me. They have exchanged the glory of God for the shame of idols. “When the people bring their sin offerings, the priests get fed. So the priests are glad when the people sin! ‘And what the priests do, the people also do.’ So now I will punish both priests and people for their wicked deeds. They will eat and still be hungry. They will play the prostitute and gain nothing from it, for they have deserted the Lord to worship other gods. “Wine has robbed my people of their understanding.”
Hosea 4:6-11 NLT.
Take.
A. Verse 6 a. “My people are being destroyed because they don’t know Me”. A nation that does
not know God is headed for destruction. Please the knowledge of technology is desirable and would enhance living standards, but it doesn’t compensate for lack of knowledge of God. Second, knowing your pastor isn’t the same thing as knowledge. This is bible study. What this scripture says is that My people are being destroyed because they don’t know Me”
My people- God’s people. Know Me – know God. The goal of the pastorate and the congregant must be the same: we are thirsting for the knowledge of God because we don’t want to be destroyed.
B.Verse 6b. “Since you priests refuse to know Me, I refuse to recognize you as My priests “. Here is a fundamental issue . Please understand this by the help of the Holy Spirit.
* The priests , pastor is supposed to KNOW God for real and be growing in the knowledge of God in a dynamic way.
* But these priests have refused the knowledge of God but are interested in programmes politics and schemes among other diversions.
* God’s response was to DERECOGNISE the priests. Officially someone is a pastor , Sunday school teacher or choir leader and all, but he has
been derecognised by God because of rebellion. God has changed his access code to the heavenly computer. The bottom line: the password the pastor has is no longer valid. Jesus! None of us would end up at this terminus in Jesus name.
C. Verse 6c. ” Since you have forgotten the laws of your God, I will forget to bless your children. ” . This is what our learned friends call collateral damage. The negligence of the pastor is now hindering the blessings of the church members. The second level of this same challenge is that the negligence of the Church has resulted in the spiritual, mental and material poverty of nation! This was what happened to Israel in the time of prophet Hosea. It is the same thing happening in all nations today.
D. Verse 7a. ” The more priests there are, the more they sin against Me.” This is tragedy! The relationship ordinarily should have been reciprocal. That is the more the number of priest the more reduction in sin level in Israel. But the opposite was the case. Religiosity and spirituality have never been the same and will never be the same.
Unfortunately today , this trend that God calls evil is being justified by the brilliant last day church. “If we have these huge numbers of priests,pastors, prophets and all, and crime rate is still on the rise, imagine if we didn’t have these huge number of churches in all our nations”. Brethren perhaps for the first time, we are being told today. The above logic is NOT biblical . It is a compensatory logic to cover our collective failures.
The expectation of God is that as the number of born again Christians is exploding, numbers of pastors and priests are rising, churches and places of worship- house fellowship centres are multiplying; THE LIGHT should be multiplying, thereby diminishing the darkness; and not darkness increasing. But God will help us. If I continue to refuse the knowledge of God, I cannot manifest light. This is key in understanding this spiritual equation(v 6 a&b).
E. Verse 7b. “They have exchanged the glory of God for shame of idols” Take. Nothing is worth exchanging my salvation for. Nothing.
Verses 8-9. We need to be careful of evil mutual gains. If as a pastor, big man makes a
contribution that I know is beyond his 5 years earnings would I have the courage to reject it or ask questions? Would I not say this is the breakthrough prophet Joel spoke about in chapter 2? Really? “So, the priests are glad when the people sin” Jesus! Why? I, my church have intrinsic benefit from the members sin. Hmm..
F. Verses 10-11. “Wine has robbed My people of their understanding ” This is a divine advice for me to stay away from anything that would compromise my thinking and ability to speak the truth.
4. Idolatry and Judgment 12-14.
They ask a piece of wood for advice! They think a stick can tell them the future! Longing after idols has made them foolish. They have played the prostitute, serving other gods and deserting their God. They offer sacrifices to idols on the mountaintops. They go up into the hills to burn incense in the pleasant shade of oaks, poplars, and terebinth trees. “That is why your daughters turn to prostitution, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery. But why should I punish them for their prostitution and adultery? For your men are doing the same thing, sinning with whores
and shrine prostitutes. O foolish people! You refuse to understand, so you will be destroyed.”
Hosea 4:12-14 NLT.
Take.
A. Verse 12. ” They think a stick can tell them the future..” . Recall the Almighty had said in verses 6-7 that He was Rejecting and derecognising the pastors/ priests/prophets for rejecting the knowledge of God. These pastors still have to ‘deliver and perform ‘ although they no longer have valid password. So what’s the way out? The bible provides the answer in these two verses. They resort to divination- use of stick/rods and other token used in fortune telling. Hmm..
B. Verses 14-14. Destruction shall be the end of the priests that results to divination , his followers and the nations so guided by the spirit of divination. This was what happened to Israel and her priests. It is the same lot that awaits anyone that shall voyage in the same direction today.
5. Warning to Judah 15- 19.
“Though you, Israel, are a prostitute, may Judah not be guilty of such things. Do not join the false
worship at Gilgal or Beth-aven, and do not take oaths there in the Lord’s name. Israel is stubborn, like a stubborn heifer. So should the Lord feed her like a lamb in a lush pasture? Leave Israel alone, because she is married to idolatry. When the rulers of Israel finish their drinking, off they go to find some prostitutes. They love shame more than honor. So a mighty wind will sweep them away. Their sacrifices to idols will bring them shame.
Hosea 4:15-19 NLT
Take.
This chapter closes with a caution against the spirit of the Jones. We have all been called unto separate, distinct, individual and unique races. Judah was being warned here. Today, you and I are being warned. Refuse to succumb to peer pressure. But reun your own race that you may OBTAIN.
●Isn’t it obvious that all runners on the racetrack keep on running to win, but only one receives the victor’s prize? Yet each one of you must run the race to be victorious.” 1 Corinthians 9:24 TPT.
● “Know ye not that they which run in a race run
all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.” 1 Corinthians 9:24 KJV.
PRAYERS.
Father, I thank You for making me to accept Your salvation.
Father Lord, please continue to sustain me by Your mercy.
Father Lord please give me an insatiable thirst for You . Father please help me to dwell in Your love forever.
Daddy as many pastors, priests and ministers that have departed into divination and darkness,let Satan drive them back to You.
(Recall I told you of my friend that went to seek alliance in darkness. It was the voodoo priest that God used to send him back into Christ. The satanic agent asked him: we are in darkness, why do you want to leave like Light for darkness?. It is a live story! God can use stones. Please pray for the redemption and recovery of those pastors and ministers.).
Let us ask God to forgive the Church for the damage of negligence.
Tell God to keep you in His love till the end.
Pray for those believing God for the fruit of the
womb and healing.
Thank Him for answered prayers. Thank You Jesus.
See you tomorrow, Thursday by His grace.
IT IS MY TIME TO FLY…I SHALL FLY IN JESUS NAME.
