“Hear this Word that the Lord has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying: ‘You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.’” Amos 3:1-2
Israel repaid God’s love with betrayal. He made a covenant with them like unto a man marrying a woman. “You only have I known of all the families of the earth.” He preferred Israel above all others. Therefore, Israel’s action against Him warranted a noticeable reaction.
“Can two walk together unless they are agreed? Will a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey? Will a young lion cry out of his den if he has caught nothing? Will a bird fall into a snare on the earth, where there is no trap for it? Will a snare spring up from the earth if it has caught nothing at all? If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid? If there is calamity in a city, will not the Lord have done it? Surely the Lord God does nothing unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets. A lion has roared! Who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken! Who can but prophesy?” Amos 3:3-8
God had walked with Israel until she began to place others before Him and diminish His importance unto her. God could not agree with her idolatrous ways. A lion roars when it has prey. A bird is captured due to being trapped. A signal is sounded when a danger appears. God’s prophets spoke because God was roaring. Severe judgments were about to befall Israel.
“Proclaim in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt and say: assemble on the mountains of Samaria; see great tumults in her midst, and the oppressed within her. For they do not know to do right, says the Lord, who store up violence and robbery in their palaces. Therefore thus says the Lord God: an adversary shall be all around the land. He shall sap your strength from you, and your palaces shall be plundered.” Amos 3:9-11
In the past, God protected Israel from attacks by the Philistines of Ashdod and from attacks by the Egyptians, but now He calls them to assemble for war at Israel’s borders. Israel had tumult (מְהוּמָה) confusion and (עֲשׁוּק) oppression / tyranny in her midst. She no longer knew how to do right. She only knew how to use violence to get what she wanted. She would fall before the Philistines and Egyptians. They would plunder her wealth.
“Thus says the Lord: as a shepherd takes from the mouth of a lion the legs or a piece of an ear, so shall the children of Israel be taken out who dwell in Samaria—in the corner of a bed and on the edge of a couch! Hear and testify against the house of Jacob, says the Lord God, the God of hosts, that in the day I punish Israel for their transgressions, I will also visit destruction on the altars of Bethel; and the horns of the altar shall be cut off and fall to the ground. I will destroy the winter house along with the summer house; the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, says the Lord.” Amos 3:12-15
The shepherd takes the remains of the sheep to the owner of the sheep to prove that it did not just wander away due to his carelessness. It was attacked by a lion. He did not want to pay for the loss. Israel was going to be attacked with overwhelming force.
God promised to punish Israel for their transgressions. He promised to the destroy the altars of false gods in Bethel. He also promised to destroy the winter house along with the summer house. “The houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, says the Lord.” Those who made it rich by deceiving and leading people astray would pay for their crimes. God is a just judge. He is not manipulated by bribes. He is not deceived by misinformation. God is omniscient and omnipotent. In due season, crime networks are exposed and eliminated.
“Hear this Word, you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who say to your husbands, ‘Bring wine, let us drink!’ The Lord God has sworn by His holiness: behold, the days shall come upon you when He will take you away with fishhooks, and your posterity with fishhooks. You will go out through broken walls, each one straight ahead of her, and you will be cast into Harmon, says the Lord.” Amos 4:1-3
The cows of Bashan are the fat and wanton wives of the leaders. They wanted wine from their husbands. They enjoyed oppressing and crushing poor and needy people. The Lord was going to drag them and their children with fishhooks through broken walls and cast them out to Harmon referring to the place of their exile under the Assyrians.
“Come to Bethel and transgress, at Gilgal multiply transgression. Bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three days. Offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, proclaim and announce the freewill offerings; for this you love, you children of Israel! says the Lord God. Also I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and lack of bread in all your places; yet you have not returned to Me, says the Lord.” Amos 4:4-6
God gives them up to their self-willed idolatries in Bethel and Gilgal. In John 13:27, after Satan entered the heart of Judas to betray Jesus. Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.” Romans 1:18, 28 says, “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” “Even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting.” It is not a good sign when God stops restraining people from sinning. It is a sign that He willing to let them go their own way even though it grieves Him to do so.
The people of Samaria brought sacrifices, tithes, leaven and freewill offerings to the Lord. They loved to proclaim and announce what they did for the Lord but the Lord was not impressed. They were not really bringing food offerings to God so He was not going to bring food to them. Thery would have clean teeth in all their cities because they would have no daily bread to eat.
“I also withheld rain from you when there were still three months to the harvest. I made it rain on one city. I withheld rain from another city. One part was rained upon, and where it did not rain the part withered. So two or three cities wandered to another city to drink water, but they were not satisfied; yet you have not returned to Me, says the Lord.” Amos 4:7-8
The Lord withheld rain from them to create a thirst in them to return to Him. He even did selective rain distributions where one part of the city had no rain and another part did. He made it so they had to seek for water in other cities. He made them to seek water to survive even as their souls needed to seek God to be saved.
“I blasted you with blight and mildew. When your gardens increased, your vineyards, your fig trees, and your olive trees, the locust devoured them; yet you have not returned to Me, says the Lord. I sent among you a plague after the manner of Egypt. Your young men I killed with a sword, along with your captive horses. I made the stench of your camps come up into your nostrils; yet you have not returned to Me, says the Lord. I overthrew some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a firebrand plucked from the burning; yet you have not returned to Me, says the Lord.” Amos 4:9-11
The Lord sent a plague, paused and waited for a return to Him. No response. Then, He sent another wave, paused, still no response. In Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28, the Lord prophesied that He would do waves of disciplines on wanderers to bring them back to Him. In Revelation 6-16, God speaks of 21 waves of judgments in the last days. Chapters 6-7 list the seven seal judgments. Chapters 8-11 list the seven trumpet judgments. Chapters 15-16 list the seven bowl judgments. Above all else, God wants to save these souls and bring them to heaven.
“Therefore thus will I do to you, O Israel; because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel! For behold, He who forms mountains, and creates the wind, who declares to man what his thought is, and makes the morning darkness, who treads the high places of the earth—the Lord God of hosts is His Name.” Amos 4:12-13
The Lord wanted Israel to think about their relationship with Him. They had shut Him out from their lives. Finally, it was too late. They met God. Their sins were not forgiven because they did not believe in God.
Meeting God does not happen by chance. It’s not like Russian roulette or a role of the dice. It is not that one in a thousand meets Him! Everyone meets Him. Philippians 2:10-11 states that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. This means yours and mine too. This will happen 100%!
So, why push thoughts of meeting with God out of your mind? This is about eternity. Don’t gamble on it working out without giving it serious attention! Jesus Christ took the sins of the world on Himself so no one would have to be punished eternally for their sin. Think of it! Even if you were a 70-year-old person and had only sinned once per day during your lifetime, you wouls have 25,550 offenses against God on your record. When you acknowledge and profess Christ as your Savior, God blots out those sins. Jesus Christ is God’s designated Savior. Ask Him to forgive your sins and fill you with His Spirit to save you and to make of you a new creation. He will.
Outcomes I seek: To glorify Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior - To build people's faith in Christ
Sunday, November 30, 2025
Divine Justice
The Lord Jesus has graced me with revelations from the Book of Jeremiah that are helpful to better understanding the relevance of the Law, the Prophets, the Gospel, the Apostles, and the Book of Revelation. I am in the midst of preparing 54 video-recorded presentations, one for each chapter of Jeremiah, plus an intro and conclusion presentation. When the presentations are done, I plan to publish them on YouTube. I also welcome invitations to share these revelations in-person. In the meantime, I publish articles online, intercede for the peoples of the nations, and say to the Lord, “Here am I Lord, send me.”
Saturday, November 29, 2025
Be Saved From The Fire
“The words of Amos, who was among the sheep breeders of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.” Amos 1:1
Amos saw the words of the Lord. He saw them in a vision. In Jeremiah 1:11, 13, Jeremiah saw the Lord’s words in a vision.
Amos was a sheep breeder not a theologian or a priest. His résumé did not thwart God from speaking to him and through him. God chooses “the weak things of the world to confound the mighty.” God anointed a humble care-giver of sheep with a gift of prophecy to reprove the cruelties of people on people violence and abuse in his day.
Amos received this prophecy in 762 BC two years before an earthquake struck Israel during the days of King Uzziah. This same earthquake is mentioned in the prophecy of Zechariah 14:5 which says that the Lord will stand on the Mount of Olives and the enemies of Jerusalem shall flee as they fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah.
This prophecy begins with words of judgment against enemies outside of Israel, but afterwards, focuses on enemies within Israel, namely themselves. God had raised up prophets among them, but they hated them. So, God sent to them Amos from Tekoa of Judah. Perhaps, the northern tribes of Israel would listen to a prophet from the tribe of Judah. Oh, by the way, Jesus God’s Son, will also come to them one day from the tribe of Judah.
“And he said: ‘The Lord roars from Zion and utters His voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the top of Carmel withers.’” Amos 1:2
The Lord roars from Zion and utters His voice from Jerusalem. As terrible as a roar of a lion sounds to shepherds and sheep, so ominous is God’s roar at people via His prophets. The Lord uses a lion’s roar as a metaphor for His prophetic voice in Hosea 11:10 and Joel 3:16. The lion roars before he tears. God warns before He strikes.
It is wise to give heed to God’s prophetic warnings because they will certainly come to pass.
Psalms 19:7-11 says, “The Law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them Your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward.”
Each nation in Amos is warned with the phrase, “Thus says the Lord, for three transgressions... for four transgressions.” God might have spared them, but since, after having been so often pardoned, and they still persevere in sin, He will no longer “turn away” their punishment. The Hebrew is simply, “I will not reverse it.” [JFBC]
“Thus says the Lord: for three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because they have threshed Gilead with implements of iron. But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, which shall devour the palaces of Ben-Hadad. I will also break the gate bar of Damascus and cut off the inhabitant from the Valley of Aven, and the one who holds the scepter from Beth Eden. The people of Syria shall go captive to Kir, says the Lord.” Amos 1:3-5
Damascus was the head-city of Syria. The leaders in Damascus led their people to thresh Gilead with threshing-instruments of iron which were instruments of torture.
In 2 Kings 8:12 and 2 Kings 10:32-33, Hazael king of Syria dashed Israel’s children, and ripped open their pregnant women. God promised to send fire on Hazael’s house and on the palaces of Ben-Hadad. Palaces, though richly furnished and strongly fortified, are indefensible against God Almighty. Their nation shall be carried captive into Kir of the Medes. God fulfilled this promise in 2 Kings 16:9, about fifty years later.
“Thus says the Lord: for three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because they took captive the whole captivity to deliver them up to Edom. But I will send a fire upon the wall of Gaza, which shall devour its palaces. I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and the one who holds the scepter from Ashkelon; I will turn My hand against Ekron, and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, says the Lord God.” Amos 1:6-8
Gaza was a chief city of the Philistines. These leaders captured people from Israel and Judah. In 2 Chronicles 21:17, they took away King Jehoram’s sons and his substance and sold them to the Grecians (Joel 3:4-6), and to the Edomites. Fire from God shall devour the palaces of Gaza. Like the devil who misleads people and ends up in the lake of fire, so the leaders of the Philistine cities of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, and Ekron were about to perish.
“Thus says the Lord: for three transgressions of Tyre, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom, and did not remember the covenant of brotherhood. But I will send a fire upon the wall of Tyre, which shall devour its palaces.” Amos 1:9-10
Tyre was a famous city for its wealth and strength. They sold Israelites who fled to them for safety to the Edomites. They betrayed the covenant that they had made with Solomon back in 1 Kings 5:12. Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Tyre’s palaces with fire.
“Thus says the Lord: for three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because he pursued his brother with the sword, and cast off all pity; his anger tore perpetually, and he kept his wrath forever. But I will send a fire upon Teman, which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah.” Amos 1:11-12
When Israel’s enemies put them to flight, the Edomites slew the survivors that were half dead. They cast off all pity. His cruelty was insatiable like the devil. God will send a fire on their palaces in Bozrah, which was major city in the region of Teman within the land Edom.
“Thus says the Lord: for three transgressions of the people of Ammon, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because they ripped open the women with child in Gilead, that they might enlarge their territory. But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour its palaces, amid shouting in the day of battle, and a tempest in the day of the whirlwind. Their king shall go into captivity, he, and his princes together, says the Lord.” Amos 1:13-15
The leaders of the Ammonites rejoiced in Israel’s calamities. They were filled with such lust for property that they ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead. They falsely assumed that by reducing the population of certain classes of people, they could seize their property. A fire accompanied with a sword shall come swiftly like a wind against them. In a sense, hell will breathe on them. Their palaces in their capital city of Rabbah shall be devoured by fire. Their king and princes shall be carried away to Babylon.
“Thus says the Lord: for three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because he burned the bones of the king of Edom to lime. But I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kerioth. Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting and trumpet sound. And I will cut off the judge from its midst, and slay all its princes with him, says the Lord.” Amos 2:1-3
Probably the “burning of the bones” means, “he burned the king of Edom alive, reducing his very bones to lime” [Maurer]. Kerioth was a major city in Moab. It was a center of worship for the Moabite god Chemosh. Moab’s palaces shall be destroyed with fire. An allusion to the devil’s destiny in the lake of fire, and the destiny of false prophets who mislead their followers.
“Thus says the Lord: for three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because they have despised the Law of the Lord, and have not kept His commandments. Their lies lead them astray, lies which their fathers followed. But I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.” Amos 2:4-5
God’s justice is equal. Judah is the tribe from which Messiah would come. Yet, when Judah’s leaders despised God’s law and rejected His commandments, God judged them with equal judgment. They had led their followers astray. Fire will devour their palaces. The Babylonians burnt the king’s palace, the houses of great people and the temple down.
“Thus says the Lord: for three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because they sell the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of sandals. They pant after the dust of the earth which is on the head of the poor, and pervert the way of the humble. A man and his father go in to the same girl, to defile My holy Name. They lie down by every altar on clothes taken in pledge and drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their god.” Amos 2:6-8
Certain categories of people were exploited in Israel. Righteous people and poor people were only useful to them for buying and selling. Revelation 18:13 describes merchants selling “souls of men” as “merchandise.” Their treatment of human lives as commodities contrasts with Jesus Christ who died on a cross to redeem the souls of people from eternal destruction due to sin.
The rich in Israel panted after the dust of the earth, that is, for earthly things. They were willing to push the poor to the ground (step on them) to get what they wanted.
The poor throw dust on their heads to express grief and lament due to being treated miserably.
The father and son went into the same girl likely means that they had sex with temple prostitutes. They placed garments of the poor that they obtained as collateral for making loans to them near to the altars of their idols and had sex with prostitutes on them. They drank wine that was offered to idols. They perverted the ways of the poor by forcing them to serve their self-gratifying pleasures. Thus, God had to deal with them.
“Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was as strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit above and his roots beneath. Also it was I who brought you up from the land of Egypt, and led you 40 years through the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite. I raised up some of your sons as prophets, and some of your young men as Nazirites. Is it not so, O you children of Israel? says the Lord. But you gave the Nazirites wine to drink, and commanded the prophets saying, ‘Do not prophesy!’” Amos 2:9-12
How foolish it is for people to silence the voices of those who speak for God. God’s prophets endured losses and physical abuse in attempt to restrain people from perishing.
The people of Israel treated God unjustly. He had destroyed enemies that were way too big and strong for them to defeat. He freed them from slavery in Egypt. He gave to them the lands of nations. He anointed some of their sons with His Spirit to speak for Him unto them. But they wanted these godly men to compromise with sin as they compromised with sin. They told them not to talk about God in their presence.
“Behold, I am weighed down by you, as a cart full of sheaves is weighed down. Therefore flight shall perish from the swift, the strong shall not strengthen his power, nor shall the mighty deliver himself. He shall not stand who handles the bow, the swift of foot shall not escape, nor shall he who rides a horse deliver himself. The most courageous men of might shall flee naked in that day, says the Lord.” Amos 2:13-16
God’s special treasure, His dearly loved people, had become a burden to Him. He described their future as one of wars and running for their lives. Even the most courageous of men will leave his clothes behind and flee naked due to fear.
2 Timothy 1:7 says, “God has not given unto us a spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control.” A lack of power, love and self-control is a sign that something is not right in our relationship with God.
In 2 Timothy 3:5, the Lord warned us that in the last days people will “have a form of godliness but deny its power.” He said to “have nothing to do with such people.” This verse describes people who appear religious but reject the spiritual power and transformative influence that true faith offers, such as the power of the Holy Spirit. In a sense, these people pose a greater threat to one’s soul than those who are obviously evil. They appear to be “Christians” but they stealthily urge lovers of Jesus to stop talking so much about Him and to “loosen up” and drop their beliefs and disciplines that keep their relationship with Jesus strong. The Lord says, “Have nothing to do with such people.”
As for the people in palaces who lead their nations astray, God dealt with such leaders in the past, He is doing it now, and He will keep dealing with evil leaders until every last one of them is either burning in fire or saved and transformed because they repented and gave their souls to Jesus Christ to be saved by Him.
The Lord urges us to pray for our leaders because He wants all people to be saved...
2 Timothy 2:1-4 says, “I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
Amen!
[JFBC] = Jamieson Fausset Brown Commentary
I also referred to Matthew Henry Commentary and Google for insights into some names of places and meanings of some phrases.
Amos saw the words of the Lord. He saw them in a vision. In Jeremiah 1:11, 13, Jeremiah saw the Lord’s words in a vision.
Amos was a sheep breeder not a theologian or a priest. His résumé did not thwart God from speaking to him and through him. God chooses “the weak things of the world to confound the mighty.” God anointed a humble care-giver of sheep with a gift of prophecy to reprove the cruelties of people on people violence and abuse in his day.
Amos received this prophecy in 762 BC two years before an earthquake struck Israel during the days of King Uzziah. This same earthquake is mentioned in the prophecy of Zechariah 14:5 which says that the Lord will stand on the Mount of Olives and the enemies of Jerusalem shall flee as they fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah.
This prophecy begins with words of judgment against enemies outside of Israel, but afterwards, focuses on enemies within Israel, namely themselves. God had raised up prophets among them, but they hated them. So, God sent to them Amos from Tekoa of Judah. Perhaps, the northern tribes of Israel would listen to a prophet from the tribe of Judah. Oh, by the way, Jesus God’s Son, will also come to them one day from the tribe of Judah.
“And he said: ‘The Lord roars from Zion and utters His voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the top of Carmel withers.’” Amos 1:2
The Lord roars from Zion and utters His voice from Jerusalem. As terrible as a roar of a lion sounds to shepherds and sheep, so ominous is God’s roar at people via His prophets. The Lord uses a lion’s roar as a metaphor for His prophetic voice in Hosea 11:10 and Joel 3:16. The lion roars before he tears. God warns before He strikes.
It is wise to give heed to God’s prophetic warnings because they will certainly come to pass.
Psalms 19:7-11 says, “The Law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them Your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward.”
Each nation in Amos is warned with the phrase, “Thus says the Lord, for three transgressions... for four transgressions.” God might have spared them, but since, after having been so often pardoned, and they still persevere in sin, He will no longer “turn away” their punishment. The Hebrew is simply, “I will not reverse it.” [JFBC]
“Thus says the Lord: for three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because they have threshed Gilead with implements of iron. But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, which shall devour the palaces of Ben-Hadad. I will also break the gate bar of Damascus and cut off the inhabitant from the Valley of Aven, and the one who holds the scepter from Beth Eden. The people of Syria shall go captive to Kir, says the Lord.” Amos 1:3-5
Damascus was the head-city of Syria. The leaders in Damascus led their people to thresh Gilead with threshing-instruments of iron which were instruments of torture.
In 2 Kings 8:12 and 2 Kings 10:32-33, Hazael king of Syria dashed Israel’s children, and ripped open their pregnant women. God promised to send fire on Hazael’s house and on the palaces of Ben-Hadad. Palaces, though richly furnished and strongly fortified, are indefensible against God Almighty. Their nation shall be carried captive into Kir of the Medes. God fulfilled this promise in 2 Kings 16:9, about fifty years later.
“Thus says the Lord: for three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because they took captive the whole captivity to deliver them up to Edom. But I will send a fire upon the wall of Gaza, which shall devour its palaces. I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and the one who holds the scepter from Ashkelon; I will turn My hand against Ekron, and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, says the Lord God.” Amos 1:6-8
Gaza was a chief city of the Philistines. These leaders captured people from Israel and Judah. In 2 Chronicles 21:17, they took away King Jehoram’s sons and his substance and sold them to the Grecians (Joel 3:4-6), and to the Edomites. Fire from God shall devour the palaces of Gaza. Like the devil who misleads people and ends up in the lake of fire, so the leaders of the Philistine cities of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, and Ekron were about to perish.
“Thus says the Lord: for three transgressions of Tyre, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom, and did not remember the covenant of brotherhood. But I will send a fire upon the wall of Tyre, which shall devour its palaces.” Amos 1:9-10
Tyre was a famous city for its wealth and strength. They sold Israelites who fled to them for safety to the Edomites. They betrayed the covenant that they had made with Solomon back in 1 Kings 5:12. Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Tyre’s palaces with fire.
“Thus says the Lord: for three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because he pursued his brother with the sword, and cast off all pity; his anger tore perpetually, and he kept his wrath forever. But I will send a fire upon Teman, which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah.” Amos 1:11-12
When Israel’s enemies put them to flight, the Edomites slew the survivors that were half dead. They cast off all pity. His cruelty was insatiable like the devil. God will send a fire on their palaces in Bozrah, which was major city in the region of Teman within the land Edom.
“Thus says the Lord: for three transgressions of the people of Ammon, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because they ripped open the women with child in Gilead, that they might enlarge their territory. But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour its palaces, amid shouting in the day of battle, and a tempest in the day of the whirlwind. Their king shall go into captivity, he, and his princes together, says the Lord.” Amos 1:13-15
The leaders of the Ammonites rejoiced in Israel’s calamities. They were filled with such lust for property that they ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead. They falsely assumed that by reducing the population of certain classes of people, they could seize their property. A fire accompanied with a sword shall come swiftly like a wind against them. In a sense, hell will breathe on them. Their palaces in their capital city of Rabbah shall be devoured by fire. Their king and princes shall be carried away to Babylon.
“Thus says the Lord: for three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because he burned the bones of the king of Edom to lime. But I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kerioth. Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting and trumpet sound. And I will cut off the judge from its midst, and slay all its princes with him, says the Lord.” Amos 2:1-3
Probably the “burning of the bones” means, “he burned the king of Edom alive, reducing his very bones to lime” [Maurer]. Kerioth was a major city in Moab. It was a center of worship for the Moabite god Chemosh. Moab’s palaces shall be destroyed with fire. An allusion to the devil’s destiny in the lake of fire, and the destiny of false prophets who mislead their followers.
“Thus says the Lord: for three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because they have despised the Law of the Lord, and have not kept His commandments. Their lies lead them astray, lies which their fathers followed. But I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.” Amos 2:4-5
God’s justice is equal. Judah is the tribe from which Messiah would come. Yet, when Judah’s leaders despised God’s law and rejected His commandments, God judged them with equal judgment. They had led their followers astray. Fire will devour their palaces. The Babylonians burnt the king’s palace, the houses of great people and the temple down.
“Thus says the Lord: for three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because they sell the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of sandals. They pant after the dust of the earth which is on the head of the poor, and pervert the way of the humble. A man and his father go in to the same girl, to defile My holy Name. They lie down by every altar on clothes taken in pledge and drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their god.” Amos 2:6-8
Certain categories of people were exploited in Israel. Righteous people and poor people were only useful to them for buying and selling. Revelation 18:13 describes merchants selling “souls of men” as “merchandise.” Their treatment of human lives as commodities contrasts with Jesus Christ who died on a cross to redeem the souls of people from eternal destruction due to sin.
The rich in Israel panted after the dust of the earth, that is, for earthly things. They were willing to push the poor to the ground (step on them) to get what they wanted.
The poor throw dust on their heads to express grief and lament due to being treated miserably.
The father and son went into the same girl likely means that they had sex with temple prostitutes. They placed garments of the poor that they obtained as collateral for making loans to them near to the altars of their idols and had sex with prostitutes on them. They drank wine that was offered to idols. They perverted the ways of the poor by forcing them to serve their self-gratifying pleasures. Thus, God had to deal with them.
“Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was as strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit above and his roots beneath. Also it was I who brought you up from the land of Egypt, and led you 40 years through the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite. I raised up some of your sons as prophets, and some of your young men as Nazirites. Is it not so, O you children of Israel? says the Lord. But you gave the Nazirites wine to drink, and commanded the prophets saying, ‘Do not prophesy!’” Amos 2:9-12
How foolish it is for people to silence the voices of those who speak for God. God’s prophets endured losses and physical abuse in attempt to restrain people from perishing.
The people of Israel treated God unjustly. He had destroyed enemies that were way too big and strong for them to defeat. He freed them from slavery in Egypt. He gave to them the lands of nations. He anointed some of their sons with His Spirit to speak for Him unto them. But they wanted these godly men to compromise with sin as they compromised with sin. They told them not to talk about God in their presence.
“Behold, I am weighed down by you, as a cart full of sheaves is weighed down. Therefore flight shall perish from the swift, the strong shall not strengthen his power, nor shall the mighty deliver himself. He shall not stand who handles the bow, the swift of foot shall not escape, nor shall he who rides a horse deliver himself. The most courageous men of might shall flee naked in that day, says the Lord.” Amos 2:13-16
God’s special treasure, His dearly loved people, had become a burden to Him. He described their future as one of wars and running for their lives. Even the most courageous of men will leave his clothes behind and flee naked due to fear.
2 Timothy 1:7 says, “God has not given unto us a spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control.” A lack of power, love and self-control is a sign that something is not right in our relationship with God.
In 2 Timothy 3:5, the Lord warned us that in the last days people will “have a form of godliness but deny its power.” He said to “have nothing to do with such people.” This verse describes people who appear religious but reject the spiritual power and transformative influence that true faith offers, such as the power of the Holy Spirit. In a sense, these people pose a greater threat to one’s soul than those who are obviously evil. They appear to be “Christians” but they stealthily urge lovers of Jesus to stop talking so much about Him and to “loosen up” and drop their beliefs and disciplines that keep their relationship with Jesus strong. The Lord says, “Have nothing to do with such people.”
As for the people in palaces who lead their nations astray, God dealt with such leaders in the past, He is doing it now, and He will keep dealing with evil leaders until every last one of them is either burning in fire or saved and transformed because they repented and gave their souls to Jesus Christ to be saved by Him.
The Lord urges us to pray for our leaders because He wants all people to be saved...
2 Timothy 2:1-4 says, “I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
Amen!
[JFBC] = Jamieson Fausset Brown Commentary
I also referred to Matthew Henry Commentary and Google for insights into some names of places and meanings of some phrases.
The Lord Jesus has graced me with revelations from the Book of Jeremiah that are helpful to better understanding the relevance of the Law, the Prophets, the Gospel, the Apostles, and the Book of Revelation. I am in the midst of preparing 54 video-recorded presentations, one for each chapter of Jeremiah, plus an intro and conclusion presentation. When the presentations are done, I plan to publish them on YouTube. I also welcome invitations to share these revelations in-person. In the meantime, I publish articles online, intercede for the peoples of the nations, and say to the Lord, “Here am I Lord, send me.”
Friday, November 28, 2025
Time For A Decision
“For behold, in those days and at that time, when I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem. I will also gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will enter into judgment with them there on account of My people, My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations. They have also divided up My land. They have cast lots for My people, have given a boy as payment for a harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they may drink.” Joel 3:1-3
I can imagine some people saying, “Wonderful, the captives are returning to Jerusalem!” But others questioning, asking, “What Lord? You are gathering the nations at our doorstep?” And the Lord saying to them, “Don’t panic! I’m gathering them to enter into judgment with them.” Their captors had used them as gambling chips... casting lots for them. Then, the winners used stolen Jewish boys to pay for the services of harlots. They used stolen Jewish girls to pay for alcohol beverages. Are there governmental leaders doing these kind of crimes today?
God promised to lead the offenders into the valley of Jehoshaphat where He would judge them. Jehoshaphat means “Yahweh has judged.” Once upon a time, this valley was called Berachah. In 2 Chronicles 20:26, in the days of King Jehoshaphat, his valley was called Berachah meaning “the valley of blessing.” This valley is situated between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives.
In Zechariah 14:2-4, the Lord promised, “I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem. The city shall be taken... Half of the city shall go into captivity, but the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations... in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives.”
In the days of King Jehoshaphat, in 2 Chronicles 20:22, God overthrew Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir in this valley. Here in Joel 3, God promised to overthrow the Tyrians, Zidonians, Philistines, Edom, and Egypt in this valley. He fulfilled this promise. These events foreshadow the future. The Mount of Olives is likely the place where He will return. Zechariah 14:4 says, “Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations... in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives.” Jesus ascended to heaven from the Mount of Olives. In Acts 1:11, an angel said to the disciples, “this same Jesus ... shall so come in like manner as you have seen Him go into heaven.”
“Indeed, what have you to do with Me, O Tyre, and Sidon, and all the coasts of Philistia? Will you retaliate against Me? But if you retaliate against Me, swiftly and speedily I will return your retaliation upon your own head; because you have taken My silver and My gold and have carried into your temples My prized possessions. Also the people of Judah and the people of Jerusalem you have sold to the Greeks, that you may remove them far from their borders. Behold, I will raise them out of the place to which you have sold them and will return your retaliation upon your own head. I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off; for the Lord has spoken.” Joel 3:4-8
The Lord promised swift retaliation on Tyre, Sidon and Philistia for transferring His silver and gold to their idols. They had also sold God’s people to the Greeks. God promised to sell these nations to the Judeans who would in turn sell them to the Sabeans.
“Proclaim this among the nations: ‘Prepare for war! Wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near, let them come up. Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weak say, I am strong. Assemble and come, all you nations, and gather together all around. Cause Your mighty ones to go down there, O Lord. Let the nations be wakened and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, go down; for the winepress is full, the vats overflow—for their wickedness is great.’” Joel 3:9-13
The Lord dared the nations to come against His people. In Joel chapter one, God’s people experienced one wave of locusts after another. Then, there was drought. Their orchards, vineyards, flocks and herds were decimated. In Joel chapter two an army came against them, but then, God spoke of pouring out His Spirit on all flesh. Recipients of His Spirit shall have divine visions and dreams. Their sons and daughters shall prophesy. Now, here in Joel chapter three, the Lord knows His people are ready. They are abiding in Him. With God nothing is impossible!
In Joel 2:28-29, the Lord promised, “I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.”
Peter quoted this passage on Pentecost Day to explain to a crowd why tongues of fire rested on their heads and he and the other apostles were speaking in tongues. In Acts 2:8-11, the names of 16 nations are listed. People from 16 different nations wondered how Galilean men could speak each of their languages simultaneously. It was a miracle! God did not give the gift of tongues to the apostles so they could enjoy an ecstatic experience like being drunk as some naysayers falsely assumed. God gave them the outpouring of His Spirit and this divine language to help people of every language to clearly hear the Gospel.
When I proclaimed the Gospel to people in Hong Kong and Guangzhou City, I asked the Holy Spirit to help me speak Cantonese and Mandarin. What did He do for me? He filled my heart with love for them. Love for them proved to be a powerful incentive for me to study Chinese. I also noticed that when I proclaimed the Gospel, the Holy Spirit brought the right words to my remembrance and helped me to speak above my normal level. Little by little with the help of a brother and sister in Christ, I also learned to read Chinese characters. I was like a Galilean – a simple day laborer – whom the Spirit of God helped to speak another nation’s language for the sake of proclaiming the Gospel. Praise the Lord!
However, the disciples were speaking a divine language on Pentecost Day. Everyone heard them speaking in their own language at the same time. Some attributed this phenomenon to intoxication, because no one can speak 16 languages at the same time. Peter affirmed that they were not drunk. No, the Holy Spirit gave them utterance so that everyone in their audience understood what they were saying in their own language. They were speaking in tongues.
What about prophesying? The Holy Spirit gives the gift of prophesying to people. This type of prophesying is not referring to being a composer of new books of the Bible. The gift of prophecy does not carry the same authority as Scripture. 1 Corinthians 14:32 says that the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets meaning that true prophecy always aligns with the Bible. The Lord warns us at the end of the Bible in Revelation 22:18-19, not to add to the Bible. The Bible is complete. True prophecy will always align with the Bible.
In 1 Corinthians 14:4, the Holy Spirit gives the gift of prophecy to build up the church, draw believers closer to God, and console them in times of need. In Acts 11:28, the Holy Spirit warned God’s people to prepare for a famine via prophetic utterance. In Acts 13:1, He called Paul and Barnabus to missionary service. In Acts 15:28, He helped Church leaders to conclude that new Gentile believers did not need to be circumcised. In Acts 16:10, He directed Paul and his ministry team away from a certain direction. In Acts 19:21, He gave Paul “resolve” to travel to Jerusalem. In Acts 21:8-9, He gave the gift of prophesying to four daughters of Philip the evangelist. The gift of prophecy is explained in detail by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 14.
In 1 Corinthians 14:39, the Apostle Paul instructs believers to “desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak with tongues.” In 1 Thessalonians 5:20, he wrote not to “despise prophecies.”
The Bible is filled with testimonies of divine miracles. In Luke 4:18-19, Jesus testified that the Spirit of the Lord anointed Him to proclaim good news to the poor and freedom to captives, to heal broken hearts, and give sight to the blind. In Romans 8:11, Paul wrote that if the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells in you, He will give life to your mortal body. He is speaking of the life that Jesus and His servants lived. In Numbers 11:29, Moses said he wished that “all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put His on Spirit on them.”
“Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will diminish their brightness. The Lord also will roar from Zion and utter His voice from Jerusalem; the heavens and earth will shake; but the Lord will be a shelter for His people, and the strength of the children of Israel. So you shall know that I am the Lord your God, dwelling in Zion My holy mountain. Then Jerusalem shall be holy, and no aliens shall ever pass through her again. And it will come to pass in that day that the mountains shall drip with new wine, the hills shall flow with milk, and all the brooks of Judah shall be flooded with water; a fountain shall flow from the house of the Lord and water the Valley of Acacias.” Joel 3:14-18
The Lord gave Joel a vision of many nations congregating in the valley of decision. This is where they meet their doom. Thus, it is a day of darkness and a day of shaking for them. “The valley of decision” and “the valley of Jehoshaphat” are one in the same.
Praise the Lord for Evangelist Billy Graham. The Holy Spirit led him to gather the nations around the preaching of the Gospel. He once preached to over 1 million South Koreans at one time. He gathered them to valley of decision where many were slain. How so? They died to sin and came alive to Christ. Billy believed the Gospel had the power of God to save souls, and he preached the Gospel with power and anointing from God.
In the Joel chapter 3 prophecy, nations gather against God’s people to destroy them. The Lord roars and they are defeated. God’s shield around His people is impenetrable. His people will know Him. Their gatherings are holy.
Mountains dripping with new wine, hills flowing with milk (from the herds) and brooks overflowing with water contrasts with the previous season of drought and pestilence.
“A fountain shall flow from the house of the Lord” is a reference to the Holy Spirit. In John 7:37-39, Jesus said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive.” The Spirit of God never stops flowing for those who open their hearts to Him.
“Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom a desolate wilderness, because of violence against the people of Judah, for they have shed innocent blood in their land. But Judah shall abide forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. For I will acquit them of the guilt of bloodshed, whom I had not acquitted; for the Lord dwells in Zion.” Joel 3:19-20
Empires built on military exploits and bloodshed disappear, but God’s kingdom of love is forever. He fights and wins the battles for us. He calls us to rest in His love and to testify of His goodness.
I can imagine some people saying, “Wonderful, the captives are returning to Jerusalem!” But others questioning, asking, “What Lord? You are gathering the nations at our doorstep?” And the Lord saying to them, “Don’t panic! I’m gathering them to enter into judgment with them.” Their captors had used them as gambling chips... casting lots for them. Then, the winners used stolen Jewish boys to pay for the services of harlots. They used stolen Jewish girls to pay for alcohol beverages. Are there governmental leaders doing these kind of crimes today?
God promised to lead the offenders into the valley of Jehoshaphat where He would judge them. Jehoshaphat means “Yahweh has judged.” Once upon a time, this valley was called Berachah. In 2 Chronicles 20:26, in the days of King Jehoshaphat, his valley was called Berachah meaning “the valley of blessing.” This valley is situated between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives.
In Zechariah 14:2-4, the Lord promised, “I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem. The city shall be taken... Half of the city shall go into captivity, but the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations... in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives.”
In the days of King Jehoshaphat, in 2 Chronicles 20:22, God overthrew Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir in this valley. Here in Joel 3, God promised to overthrow the Tyrians, Zidonians, Philistines, Edom, and Egypt in this valley. He fulfilled this promise. These events foreshadow the future. The Mount of Olives is likely the place where He will return. Zechariah 14:4 says, “Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations... in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives.” Jesus ascended to heaven from the Mount of Olives. In Acts 1:11, an angel said to the disciples, “this same Jesus ... shall so come in like manner as you have seen Him go into heaven.”
“Indeed, what have you to do with Me, O Tyre, and Sidon, and all the coasts of Philistia? Will you retaliate against Me? But if you retaliate against Me, swiftly and speedily I will return your retaliation upon your own head; because you have taken My silver and My gold and have carried into your temples My prized possessions. Also the people of Judah and the people of Jerusalem you have sold to the Greeks, that you may remove them far from their borders. Behold, I will raise them out of the place to which you have sold them and will return your retaliation upon your own head. I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off; for the Lord has spoken.” Joel 3:4-8
The Lord promised swift retaliation on Tyre, Sidon and Philistia for transferring His silver and gold to their idols. They had also sold God’s people to the Greeks. God promised to sell these nations to the Judeans who would in turn sell them to the Sabeans.
“Proclaim this among the nations: ‘Prepare for war! Wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near, let them come up. Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weak say, I am strong. Assemble and come, all you nations, and gather together all around. Cause Your mighty ones to go down there, O Lord. Let the nations be wakened and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, go down; for the winepress is full, the vats overflow—for their wickedness is great.’” Joel 3:9-13
The Lord dared the nations to come against His people. In Joel chapter one, God’s people experienced one wave of locusts after another. Then, there was drought. Their orchards, vineyards, flocks and herds were decimated. In Joel chapter two an army came against them, but then, God spoke of pouring out His Spirit on all flesh. Recipients of His Spirit shall have divine visions and dreams. Their sons and daughters shall prophesy. Now, here in Joel chapter three, the Lord knows His people are ready. They are abiding in Him. With God nothing is impossible!
In Joel 2:28-29, the Lord promised, “I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.”
Peter quoted this passage on Pentecost Day to explain to a crowd why tongues of fire rested on their heads and he and the other apostles were speaking in tongues. In Acts 2:8-11, the names of 16 nations are listed. People from 16 different nations wondered how Galilean men could speak each of their languages simultaneously. It was a miracle! God did not give the gift of tongues to the apostles so they could enjoy an ecstatic experience like being drunk as some naysayers falsely assumed. God gave them the outpouring of His Spirit and this divine language to help people of every language to clearly hear the Gospel.
When I proclaimed the Gospel to people in Hong Kong and Guangzhou City, I asked the Holy Spirit to help me speak Cantonese and Mandarin. What did He do for me? He filled my heart with love for them. Love for them proved to be a powerful incentive for me to study Chinese. I also noticed that when I proclaimed the Gospel, the Holy Spirit brought the right words to my remembrance and helped me to speak above my normal level. Little by little with the help of a brother and sister in Christ, I also learned to read Chinese characters. I was like a Galilean – a simple day laborer – whom the Spirit of God helped to speak another nation’s language for the sake of proclaiming the Gospel. Praise the Lord!
However, the disciples were speaking a divine language on Pentecost Day. Everyone heard them speaking in their own language at the same time. Some attributed this phenomenon to intoxication, because no one can speak 16 languages at the same time. Peter affirmed that they were not drunk. No, the Holy Spirit gave them utterance so that everyone in their audience understood what they were saying in their own language. They were speaking in tongues.
What about prophesying? The Holy Spirit gives the gift of prophesying to people. This type of prophesying is not referring to being a composer of new books of the Bible. The gift of prophecy does not carry the same authority as Scripture. 1 Corinthians 14:32 says that the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets meaning that true prophecy always aligns with the Bible. The Lord warns us at the end of the Bible in Revelation 22:18-19, not to add to the Bible. The Bible is complete. True prophecy will always align with the Bible.
In 1 Corinthians 14:4, the Holy Spirit gives the gift of prophecy to build up the church, draw believers closer to God, and console them in times of need. In Acts 11:28, the Holy Spirit warned God’s people to prepare for a famine via prophetic utterance. In Acts 13:1, He called Paul and Barnabus to missionary service. In Acts 15:28, He helped Church leaders to conclude that new Gentile believers did not need to be circumcised. In Acts 16:10, He directed Paul and his ministry team away from a certain direction. In Acts 19:21, He gave Paul “resolve” to travel to Jerusalem. In Acts 21:8-9, He gave the gift of prophesying to four daughters of Philip the evangelist. The gift of prophecy is explained in detail by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 14.
In 1 Corinthians 14:39, the Apostle Paul instructs believers to “desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak with tongues.” In 1 Thessalonians 5:20, he wrote not to “despise prophecies.”
The Bible is filled with testimonies of divine miracles. In Luke 4:18-19, Jesus testified that the Spirit of the Lord anointed Him to proclaim good news to the poor and freedom to captives, to heal broken hearts, and give sight to the blind. In Romans 8:11, Paul wrote that if the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells in you, He will give life to your mortal body. He is speaking of the life that Jesus and His servants lived. In Numbers 11:29, Moses said he wished that “all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put His on Spirit on them.”
“Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will diminish their brightness. The Lord also will roar from Zion and utter His voice from Jerusalem; the heavens and earth will shake; but the Lord will be a shelter for His people, and the strength of the children of Israel. So you shall know that I am the Lord your God, dwelling in Zion My holy mountain. Then Jerusalem shall be holy, and no aliens shall ever pass through her again. And it will come to pass in that day that the mountains shall drip with new wine, the hills shall flow with milk, and all the brooks of Judah shall be flooded with water; a fountain shall flow from the house of the Lord and water the Valley of Acacias.” Joel 3:14-18
The Lord gave Joel a vision of many nations congregating in the valley of decision. This is where they meet their doom. Thus, it is a day of darkness and a day of shaking for them. “The valley of decision” and “the valley of Jehoshaphat” are one in the same.
Praise the Lord for Evangelist Billy Graham. The Holy Spirit led him to gather the nations around the preaching of the Gospel. He once preached to over 1 million South Koreans at one time. He gathered them to valley of decision where many were slain. How so? They died to sin and came alive to Christ. Billy believed the Gospel had the power of God to save souls, and he preached the Gospel with power and anointing from God.
In the Joel chapter 3 prophecy, nations gather against God’s people to destroy them. The Lord roars and they are defeated. God’s shield around His people is impenetrable. His people will know Him. Their gatherings are holy.
Mountains dripping with new wine, hills flowing with milk (from the herds) and brooks overflowing with water contrasts with the previous season of drought and pestilence.
“A fountain shall flow from the house of the Lord” is a reference to the Holy Spirit. In John 7:37-39, Jesus said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive.” The Spirit of God never stops flowing for those who open their hearts to Him.
“Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom a desolate wilderness, because of violence against the people of Judah, for they have shed innocent blood in their land. But Judah shall abide forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. For I will acquit them of the guilt of bloodshed, whom I had not acquitted; for the Lord dwells in Zion.” Joel 3:19-20
Empires built on military exploits and bloodshed disappear, but God’s kingdom of love is forever. He fights and wins the battles for us. He calls us to rest in His love and to testify of His goodness.
The Lord Jesus has graced me with revelations from the Book of Jeremiah that are helpful to better understanding the relevance of the Law, the Prophets, the Gospel, the Apostles, and the Book of Revelation. I am in the midst of preparing 54 video-recorded presentations, one for each chapter of Jeremiah, plus an intro and conclusion presentation. When the presentations are done, I plan to publish them on YouTube. I also welcome invitations to share these revelations in-person. In the meantime, I publish articles online, intercede for the peoples of the nations, and say to the Lord, “Here am I Lord, send me.”
Thursday, November 27, 2025
With God Nothing is Impossible
“The Word of the Lord that came to Joel the son of Pethuel. Hear this, you elders, and give ear, all you inhabitants of the land! Has anything like this happened in your days, or even in the days of your fathers? Tell your children about it, let your children tell their children, and their children another generation. What the chewing locust left, the swarming locust has eaten; what the swarming locust left, the crawling locust has eaten; and what the crawling locust left, the consuming locust has eaten.” Joel 1:1-4
Praise God for the entrance of His Word into our lives. Psalm 119:130 says, “The entrance of Your Words gives light. It gives understanding unto the simple.”
The Lord wants the elders and inhabitants to tell their children, their grandchildren, their great grandchildren, and their great-great grandchildren how the current plague is more severe than any previous one. It’s one for the record books. Four waves of locusts have consumed crops.
“Awake, you drunkards, and weep; and wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the new wine, for it has been cut off from your mouth. For a nation has come up against My land, strong, and without number; his teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he has the fangs of a fierce lion. He has laid waste My vine and ruined My fig tree. He has stripped it bare and thrown it away. Its branches are made white. Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth. The grain offering and the drink offering have been cut off from the house of the Lord. The priests mourn, who minister to the Lord. The field is wasted, the land mourns; for the grain is ruined, the new wine is dried up, the oil fails.” Joel 1:5-10
Those dependent on alcohol wept because no alcohol was available. As lions devour meat the locusts devoured vines and grain. Branches were made white because the locusts consumed their outer skin. Priests mourn because they depended on farms for their food. The new wine and the olive oil which was almost ready for consumption was consumed by the locusts.
“Be ashamed, you farmers, wail, you vinedressers, for the wheat and the barley, because the harvest of the field has perished. The vine has dried up, and the fig tree has withered; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree—all the trees of the field are withered; surely joy has withered away from the sons of men.” Joel 1:11-12
Grape juice, bread, figs, pomegranates and apples contain nutrients the body needs. Bread, grapes, figs, and pomegranates are listed among the “seven species” of Israel which were sacred and central to their diet. As these foods disappeared so did their joy.
“Gird yourselves and lament, you priests! Wail, you who minister before the altar come, lie all night in sackcloth, you who minister to my God; for the grain offering and the drink offering are withheld from the house of your God. Consecrate a fast! Call a sacred assembly! Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God and cry out to the Lord.” Joel 1:13-14
Grief often proceeds positive change. Why do we endure broken until broken completely stops us from functioning? Those who wail... those who come to the altar... those who wear sackcloth all night... those who fast and gather to cry out to the Lord seriously want the broken mended. Why not cry out early on before everything comes to a standstill?
“Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is at hand. It shall come as destruction from the Almighty.” Joel 1:15
The day of the Lord refers to a day on which the Lord sits as a judge over the crimes that have been committed by a nation. Before He renders a verdict of consequences for perpetrators!
“Is not the food cut off before our eyes, joy, and gladness from the house of our God? The seed shrivels under the clods. Storehouses are in shambles. Barns are broken down for the grain has withered. How the animals groan! The herds of cattle are restless, because they have no pasture; even the flocks of sheep suffer punishment.” Joel 1:16-18
In various cultures, eating together after a time of worship unto God is common. The four waves of locusts took that blessing from God’s people. Joy, gladness, seeds, cattle and sheep are shriveled up.
“O Lord, to You I cry out for fire has devoured the open pastures, and a flame has burned all the trees of the field. The beasts of the field also cry out to You, for the water brooks are dried up, and fire has devoured the open pastures.” Joel 1:19-20
Rainless days caused dry conditions so that orchards and flocks withered
“Blow the trumpet in Zion and sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the Lord is coming, for it is at hand: a day of darkness and gloominess... A people come, great and strong, the like of whom has never been, nor will there ever be any such after them, even for many successive generations. A fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns; the land is like the Garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; surely nothing shall escape them. The Lord gives voice before His army, for His camp is very great; for strong is the One who executes His Word. For the day of the Lord is great and very terrible. Who can endure it?” Joel 2:1-3, 11
The four waves of locusts were just the first round of judgments against the land. Here it appears that the next wave of tribulation will be an army of real people. The Lord is leading them with His voice. He is executing His Word of judgment on an idolatrous nation. The question is, will anyone be able to endure it?
“Now, therefore, says the Lord, turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. So rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm. Who knows if He will turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind Him—a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God?” Joel 2:12-14
The Lord says their best option for survival is to open their hearts to Him, fast, weep, and mourn before the Lord. Don’t hold it in! Be desperate for rescue! The goal is to 100% know that God is greater than their problem. Don’t wait until the enemy is at the gate! Look to the Lord now! Read His Word. Build your faith in His grace, mercy and kindness.
“Blow the trumpet in Zion, consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly. Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children and nursing babes. Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, and the bride from her dressing room. Let the priests, who minister to the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar; let them say, ‘Spare Your people, O Lord, and do not give Your heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, where is their God?’” Joel 2:15-17
All hands on deck... the elderly, the young and the married couples with the priests... seek the Lord and ask Him to spare you from becoming slaves of the world. Pray for the witness of God among the nations. There’s still hope...
“Then the Lord will be zealous for His land and pity His people. The Lord will answer and say to His people, ‘Behold, I will send you grain and new wine and oil, and you will be satisfied by them. I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations. But I will remove far from you the northern army and will drive him away into a barren and desolate land, with his face toward the eastern sea and his back toward the western sea. His stench will come up, and his foul odor will rise, because he has done monstrous things.” Joel 2:18-20
As their zeal for God is rekindled, He adds zeal and pity upon them. He provides grain [bread], new wine and oil which are all symbolic of Christ His Son and of His Holy Spirit. The Word and the Spirit are like two hands of God reshaping people into God’s likeness. Previously, when their eyes were set on images made by human imaginations and human hands (idols), they became like them: contemptible. After becoming godly, God removes reproach and enemies from them.
“Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has done marvelous things! Do not be afraid, you beasts of the field; for the open pastures are springing up, and the tree bears its fruit; the fig tree and the vine yield their strength. Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God; for He has given you the former rain faithfully, and He will cause the rain to come down for you—the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. The threshing floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.” Joel 2:21-24
The Lord urges them to replace fear with gladness and rejoicing. 2 Timothy 1:7 says, “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” God did and will continue to do marvelous things for them. The Heavenly Father gives the rain that yields green pastures, fruitful orchards and productive vineyards. With God there is abundant grain [bread], new wine and oil... symbolic of Christ God’s Son and of His Holy Spirit.
“So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you. You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the Name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you; and My people shall never be put to shame. Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: I am the Lord your God and there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame.” Joel 2:25-27
Now, that His people have returned to Him with all their hearts, He blesses them by undoing the damage that idolatry previously did unto them. The Lord satisfies our souls so that we have an abundance of joy to praise His Name. We know that He is with us, and we with Him.
“And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.” Joel 2:28-29
The greatest harvest of happiness is being filled with God’s Spirit! To see sons and daughters prophesying for God. To be old and still have dreams due to God’s Spirit in your life! To have young men in one’s nation with visions of God and of what God wants to do.
God will pour out His Spirit on His servants. In Acts 5:32, Peter and the apostles told a group of religious leaders, “We are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.” As we give our hearts to Christ, He gives His Spirit to us.
“And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the Name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the Lord has said, among the remnant whom the Lord calls.” Joel 2:30-31
In Acts 2:17-21, Peter quoted this passage as coming to pass with the pouring out of God’s Holy Spirit by the baptizer in the Holy Spirit, that is JESUS. The signs of the last days can be released because the servants of Christ have been sealed by God’s Holy Spirit.
In Ezekiel 9:4, 6, the Lord said to His angel, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it. Utterly slay old and young men, maidens and little children and women; but do not come near anyone on whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary.”
In Ephesians 1:13, Paul wrote, “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the Word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.” In Ephesians 4:30, Paul wrote, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” In Ephesians 1:14, the Holy Spirit “is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession.” His presence in our lives is God’s down payment on our soul guaranteeing that it shall be with Him forevermore.
In Revelation 7:3, before the signs begin that turn the sun into darkness and the moon into blood, an angel cries out to four destroying angels, saying, “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” The Lord said prior to these end-time events via His prophet Joel, and later through His apostle Peter, “And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the Name of the Lord shall be saved.” Calling upon the Name of the Lord and being filled with His Holy Spirit is the way of salvation.
Joel’s prophecy and Peter’s Pentecost sermon were not just for the people of their days. God preserved these prophecies for all who suffer setbacks in this world. For all who have experienced wave after wave of loss and need no less than God to rescue them and fill them with His presence. With God nothing is impossible! Praise the Lord!
Praise God for the entrance of His Word into our lives. Psalm 119:130 says, “The entrance of Your Words gives light. It gives understanding unto the simple.”
The Lord wants the elders and inhabitants to tell their children, their grandchildren, their great grandchildren, and their great-great grandchildren how the current plague is more severe than any previous one. It’s one for the record books. Four waves of locusts have consumed crops.
“Awake, you drunkards, and weep; and wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the new wine, for it has been cut off from your mouth. For a nation has come up against My land, strong, and without number; his teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he has the fangs of a fierce lion. He has laid waste My vine and ruined My fig tree. He has stripped it bare and thrown it away. Its branches are made white. Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth. The grain offering and the drink offering have been cut off from the house of the Lord. The priests mourn, who minister to the Lord. The field is wasted, the land mourns; for the grain is ruined, the new wine is dried up, the oil fails.” Joel 1:5-10
Those dependent on alcohol wept because no alcohol was available. As lions devour meat the locusts devoured vines and grain. Branches were made white because the locusts consumed their outer skin. Priests mourn because they depended on farms for their food. The new wine and the olive oil which was almost ready for consumption was consumed by the locusts.
“Be ashamed, you farmers, wail, you vinedressers, for the wheat and the barley, because the harvest of the field has perished. The vine has dried up, and the fig tree has withered; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree—all the trees of the field are withered; surely joy has withered away from the sons of men.” Joel 1:11-12
Grape juice, bread, figs, pomegranates and apples contain nutrients the body needs. Bread, grapes, figs, and pomegranates are listed among the “seven species” of Israel which were sacred and central to their diet. As these foods disappeared so did their joy.
“Gird yourselves and lament, you priests! Wail, you who minister before the altar come, lie all night in sackcloth, you who minister to my God; for the grain offering and the drink offering are withheld from the house of your God. Consecrate a fast! Call a sacred assembly! Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God and cry out to the Lord.” Joel 1:13-14
Grief often proceeds positive change. Why do we endure broken until broken completely stops us from functioning? Those who wail... those who come to the altar... those who wear sackcloth all night... those who fast and gather to cry out to the Lord seriously want the broken mended. Why not cry out early on before everything comes to a standstill?
“Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is at hand. It shall come as destruction from the Almighty.” Joel 1:15
The day of the Lord refers to a day on which the Lord sits as a judge over the crimes that have been committed by a nation. Before He renders a verdict of consequences for perpetrators!
“Is not the food cut off before our eyes, joy, and gladness from the house of our God? The seed shrivels under the clods. Storehouses are in shambles. Barns are broken down for the grain has withered. How the animals groan! The herds of cattle are restless, because they have no pasture; even the flocks of sheep suffer punishment.” Joel 1:16-18
In various cultures, eating together after a time of worship unto God is common. The four waves of locusts took that blessing from God’s people. Joy, gladness, seeds, cattle and sheep are shriveled up.
“O Lord, to You I cry out for fire has devoured the open pastures, and a flame has burned all the trees of the field. The beasts of the field also cry out to You, for the water brooks are dried up, and fire has devoured the open pastures.” Joel 1:19-20
Rainless days caused dry conditions so that orchards and flocks withered
“Blow the trumpet in Zion and sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the Lord is coming, for it is at hand: a day of darkness and gloominess... A people come, great and strong, the like of whom has never been, nor will there ever be any such after them, even for many successive generations. A fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns; the land is like the Garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; surely nothing shall escape them. The Lord gives voice before His army, for His camp is very great; for strong is the One who executes His Word. For the day of the Lord is great and very terrible. Who can endure it?” Joel 2:1-3, 11
The four waves of locusts were just the first round of judgments against the land. Here it appears that the next wave of tribulation will be an army of real people. The Lord is leading them with His voice. He is executing His Word of judgment on an idolatrous nation. The question is, will anyone be able to endure it?
“Now, therefore, says the Lord, turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. So rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm. Who knows if He will turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind Him—a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God?” Joel 2:12-14
The Lord says their best option for survival is to open their hearts to Him, fast, weep, and mourn before the Lord. Don’t hold it in! Be desperate for rescue! The goal is to 100% know that God is greater than their problem. Don’t wait until the enemy is at the gate! Look to the Lord now! Read His Word. Build your faith in His grace, mercy and kindness.
“Blow the trumpet in Zion, consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly. Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children and nursing babes. Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, and the bride from her dressing room. Let the priests, who minister to the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar; let them say, ‘Spare Your people, O Lord, and do not give Your heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, where is their God?’” Joel 2:15-17
All hands on deck... the elderly, the young and the married couples with the priests... seek the Lord and ask Him to spare you from becoming slaves of the world. Pray for the witness of God among the nations. There’s still hope...
“Then the Lord will be zealous for His land and pity His people. The Lord will answer and say to His people, ‘Behold, I will send you grain and new wine and oil, and you will be satisfied by them. I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations. But I will remove far from you the northern army and will drive him away into a barren and desolate land, with his face toward the eastern sea and his back toward the western sea. His stench will come up, and his foul odor will rise, because he has done monstrous things.” Joel 2:18-20
As their zeal for God is rekindled, He adds zeal and pity upon them. He provides grain [bread], new wine and oil which are all symbolic of Christ His Son and of His Holy Spirit. The Word and the Spirit are like two hands of God reshaping people into God’s likeness. Previously, when their eyes were set on images made by human imaginations and human hands (idols), they became like them: contemptible. After becoming godly, God removes reproach and enemies from them.
“Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has done marvelous things! Do not be afraid, you beasts of the field; for the open pastures are springing up, and the tree bears its fruit; the fig tree and the vine yield their strength. Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God; for He has given you the former rain faithfully, and He will cause the rain to come down for you—the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. The threshing floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.” Joel 2:21-24
The Lord urges them to replace fear with gladness and rejoicing. 2 Timothy 1:7 says, “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” God did and will continue to do marvelous things for them. The Heavenly Father gives the rain that yields green pastures, fruitful orchards and productive vineyards. With God there is abundant grain [bread], new wine and oil... symbolic of Christ God’s Son and of His Holy Spirit.
“So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you. You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the Name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you; and My people shall never be put to shame. Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: I am the Lord your God and there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame.” Joel 2:25-27
Now, that His people have returned to Him with all their hearts, He blesses them by undoing the damage that idolatry previously did unto them. The Lord satisfies our souls so that we have an abundance of joy to praise His Name. We know that He is with us, and we with Him.
“And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.” Joel 2:28-29
The greatest harvest of happiness is being filled with God’s Spirit! To see sons and daughters prophesying for God. To be old and still have dreams due to God’s Spirit in your life! To have young men in one’s nation with visions of God and of what God wants to do.
God will pour out His Spirit on His servants. In Acts 5:32, Peter and the apostles told a group of religious leaders, “We are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.” As we give our hearts to Christ, He gives His Spirit to us.
“And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the Name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the Lord has said, among the remnant whom the Lord calls.” Joel 2:30-31
In Acts 2:17-21, Peter quoted this passage as coming to pass with the pouring out of God’s Holy Spirit by the baptizer in the Holy Spirit, that is JESUS. The signs of the last days can be released because the servants of Christ have been sealed by God’s Holy Spirit.
In Ezekiel 9:4, 6, the Lord said to His angel, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it. Utterly slay old and young men, maidens and little children and women; but do not come near anyone on whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary.”
In Ephesians 1:13, Paul wrote, “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the Word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.” In Ephesians 4:30, Paul wrote, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” In Ephesians 1:14, the Holy Spirit “is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession.” His presence in our lives is God’s down payment on our soul guaranteeing that it shall be with Him forevermore.
In Revelation 7:3, before the signs begin that turn the sun into darkness and the moon into blood, an angel cries out to four destroying angels, saying, “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” The Lord said prior to these end-time events via His prophet Joel, and later through His apostle Peter, “And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the Name of the Lord shall be saved.” Calling upon the Name of the Lord and being filled with His Holy Spirit is the way of salvation.
Joel’s prophecy and Peter’s Pentecost sermon were not just for the people of their days. God preserved these prophecies for all who suffer setbacks in this world. For all who have experienced wave after wave of loss and need no less than God to rescue them and fill them with His presence. With God nothing is impossible! Praise the Lord!
The Lord Jesus has graced me with revelations from the Book of Jeremiah that are helpful to better understanding the relevance of the Law, the Prophets, the Gospel, the Apostles, and the Book of Revelation. I am in the midst of preparing 54 video-recorded presentations, one for each chapter of Jeremiah, plus an intro and conclusion presentation. When the presentations are done, I plan to publish them on YouTube. I also welcome invitations to share these revelations in-person. In the meantime, I publish articles online, intercede for the peoples of the nations, and say to the Lord, “Here am I Lord, send me.”
Wednesday, November 26, 2025
The Father of the Fatherless
“When Ephraim spoke, trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended through Baal worship, he died. Now they sin more and more, and have made for themselves molded images, idols of their silver, according to their skill; all of it is the work of craftsmen. They say of them, ‘Let the men who sacrifice kiss the calves!’ Therefore they shall be like the morning cloud and like the early dew that passes away, like chaff blown off from a threshing floor and like smoke from a chimney.” Hosea 13:1-3
Ephraim was the most powerful tribe among the twelve tribes in Israel’s early history. When they spoke, there was trembling. This position of influence waned as they turned from God.
1 Kings 16:31 says, “And it came to pass, as though it had been a trivial thing for him [Ahab] to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians; and he went and served Baal and worshiped him.”
Israel’s first king, Jeroboam, set up calve idols and a false priesthood. Ahab promoted Baal worship and persecuted God’s faithful prophets. Ahab’s idolatry yielded death for him, and now, his nation, many years later, was about to be defeated and deported to serve the whims of the Assyrians. [JFBC]
Paul wrote in Romans 7:9, “Sin revived, and I died.”
Ephraim’s life as a nation was cut short like a morning cloud, early dew, chaff in the wind and like smoke from a chimney. They appeared strong for a season but disappeared from existence soon afterwards due to their bad choices.
“Yet I am the Lord your God ever since the land of Egypt. You shall know no God but Me. For there is no savior besides Me. I knew you in the wilderness, in the land of great drought.” Hosea 13:4-5
The Lord is a jealous God. He was invested in Ephraim. He did amazing miracles for Ephraim like none other had done for them. He brought ten plagues against Egypt. Egypt was determined to keep Ephraim as his servant, but God forced their hand. The Lord did miracles to keep Ephraim alive in a dry wilderness for forty years. Psalm 78:5 says that “Men ate angels’ food. He sent them food to the full.” He helped them to defeat 31 kings, and to settle in the Promised Land. Here, He tells them, “You shall know no God but Me. For there is no savior besides Me.”
“When they had pasture, they were filled. They were filled and their heart was exalted. Therefore, they forgot Me. So I will be to them like a lion. Like a leopard by the road I will lurk. I will meet them like a bear deprived of her cubs. I will tear open their rib cage, and there I will devour them like a lion. The wild beast shall tear them.” Hosea 13:6-8
It is evil to betray God. Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. 30 pieces of silver was the going price for a slave in those days. In John 6:70-71, Jesus identified Judas as a “devil” to the disciples. In Matthew 26:24, Jesus said of Judas, “Woe to that man.” In John 17:12, Jesus said, “Woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would be better for that man if he had not been born.”
According to Isaiah 14:12-17 and Ezekiel 28:2-17, the devil, originally named Lucifer, was a created angel who was perfect and beautiful. He was musical. In Revelation 12:4, 7, 9, 17, the devil is described as a dragon that leads a third of the stars of heaven (angels) to rebel against God. He was cast out of heaven and down to earth by God. He is against those “who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
Ephraim’s heart became lifted up against God. Thus, the Lord said that He would be as a lion, leopard, bear and beast toward them. The word lion is used over 150 times, leopard about eight times, bear twelve times, and beast many times in the Old Testament. In Daniel 7:2-8 and Revelation 13:2, these creatures symbolize human empires that God allows to rule the earth. In Daniel’s vision, lion, bear, leopard and beast are used to symbolize four successive empires (Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome). [GS]
“O Israel, you are destroyed, but your help is from Me. I will be your King. Where is any other, that he may save you in all your cities? And your judges to whom you said, ‘Give me a king and princes’? I gave you a king in My anger and took him away in My wrath. Hosea 13:9-11
In 2 Kings 15:28, in Hosea’s day, Pekah did evil in God’s sight. Then, in 2 Kings 15:29, the king of Assyria took over nine communities of Israel plus the land of Naphtali. He carried the Israelites in those region captive to Assyria. 2 Kings 15:30 says, “Hoshea... led a conspiracy against [King] Pekah... and killed him.” Thus, God gave a king in His anger to Ephraim and took him away in His wrath. Poor national leadership and tumultuous regime changes are signs that nation is in need of spiritual renewal. They needed to turn to God lest something worse happened.
“The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up. His sin is stored up.” Hosea 13:12
The worship of idols multiplied their guilt before God rather than remove it.
God prescribed the blood of bulls and sheep to remove guilt as symbolic of the sacrifice His Son would make later. Hebrews 9:22 says, “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” Hebrews 9:28 says, “Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” 1 John 2:2 says that “He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” Propitiation means the Mercy Seat or place where sin is forgiven by God. As we place our trust in Christ, God forgives our sins. We are graciously saved by His merits not our own.
“The sorrows of a woman in childbirth shall come upon him. He is an unwise son, for he should not stay long where children are born.” Hosea 13:13
The Bible uses childbirth to represent the intense suffering that precedes a new era, new life, or the coming of God’s kingdom. In Matthew 24:8, Jesus described end-time events as the “beginning of birth pains.” In Isaiah and Jeremiah, the imagery of childbirth is used to depict national calamities and divine judgment on a sinful nation. Isaiah 66 connects the pain of labor with the joy of a new birth for Israel. Suffering is not random but serves a purpose in God’s plan, much like labor pains lead to new life. [GS]
In 1 Thessalonians 5:3, Paul wrote, “For when they shall say, peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.”
Hosea compares Ephraim to an unwise baby who wants to remain in the birth canal. [JFBC]
Spiritually speaking, Jesus said in John 3:3, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
“I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. O Death, I will be your plagues! O Grave, I will be your destruction! Repentance shall be hid from Mine eyes.” Hosea 13:14
Paul referenced this passage in 1 Corinthians 15:54-55. He wrote, “So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?”
“’Repentance shall be hid from Mine eyes’ that is, I will not change My purpose of fulfilling My promise by delivering Israel.” [JFBC]
“Though he is fruitful among his brethren, an east wind shall come; the wind of the Lord shall come up from the wilderness. Then his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up. He shall plunder the treasury of every desirable prize. Samaria is held guilty, 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 ripped open.” Hosea 13:15-16
In Genesis 41:52, Joseph named his second son Ephraim, “For, [said he] God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.” In Genesis 48:19, Jacob told Joseph that Ephraim would be greater than his older brother. “His seed shall become a multitude of nations.” In Genesis 49:22, Jacob blessed Joseph saying, “He is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a well whose branches run over the wall.” God’s purpose for Ephraim was temporarily setback due to the tribe of Ephraim’s turning from the living God to idols. The east wind symbolizes destruction. Turning from God thwarted new births. The death of newborns in the physical realm mirrored what was happening in the spiritual realm, namely, people did not want to be born again.
“O Israel, return to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to Him, ‘Take away all iniquity. Receive us graciously for we will offer the sacrifices of our lips. Assyria shall not save us, we will not ride on horses, nor will we say anymore to the work of our hands, ‘You are our gods.’ For in You the fatherless finds mercy.” Hosea 14:1-3
You have sinned. Return to the Lord! The Lord even fed the lines to them that they needed to pray to return to Him. “Take away all iniquity!” “Receive us graciously!” “Save us by Your grace because we don’t deserve to be saved.” “We forsake other gods.” “Father in heaven, please be our father because until now we have been fatherless.”
“I will heal their backsliding. I will love them freely for My anger has turned away from him. I will be like the dew to Israel. He shall grow like the lily and lengthen his roots like Lebanon. His branches shall spread. His beauty shall be like an olive tree, and his fragrance like Lebanon. Those who dwell under his shadow shall return. They shall be revived like grain and grow like a vine. Their scent shall be like the wine of Lebanon. Ephraim shall say, ‘What have I to do anymore with idols?’ I have heard and observed him. I am like a green cypress tree. Your fruit is found in Me.” Hosea 14:4-8
Ephraim did not need to do something great to gain God’s attention. They needed to do something humble. After they asked God to forgive them... He did. Then, He watered them and caused them to flourish like lilies, olive trees and green cypress trees. They became like grain [bread] and wine. They had nothing more to do with idols. God’s fruit abounded in them.
“Who is wise? Let him understand these things. Who is prudent? Let him know them. For the ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them.” Hosea 14:9
At the beginning of this prophecy, God compared Ephraim to a harlot due to her relationships with many false gods. However, the Lord had mercy on her. He redeemed her after other lovers failed her. He purchased her back to Himself. He helped her to repent of her former lifestyle. He forgave her sins. He helped her to become a new creation.
In conclusion, the Lord turns to each of us and asks, “Are you wise, understanding, prudent?” He tells us that His ways are right. If we want to be right, we should walk in them. Then, we too, can share in the blessings that all the redeemed of the Lord experience. Praise the Lord!
[JFBC] = Jamieson Fausset Brown Commentary
[GS] = Google Search
Ephraim was the most powerful tribe among the twelve tribes in Israel’s early history. When they spoke, there was trembling. This position of influence waned as they turned from God.
1 Kings 16:31 says, “And it came to pass, as though it had been a trivial thing for him [Ahab] to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians; and he went and served Baal and worshiped him.”
Israel’s first king, Jeroboam, set up calve idols and a false priesthood. Ahab promoted Baal worship and persecuted God’s faithful prophets. Ahab’s idolatry yielded death for him, and now, his nation, many years later, was about to be defeated and deported to serve the whims of the Assyrians. [JFBC]
Paul wrote in Romans 7:9, “Sin revived, and I died.”
Ephraim’s life as a nation was cut short like a morning cloud, early dew, chaff in the wind and like smoke from a chimney. They appeared strong for a season but disappeared from existence soon afterwards due to their bad choices.
“Yet I am the Lord your God ever since the land of Egypt. You shall know no God but Me. For there is no savior besides Me. I knew you in the wilderness, in the land of great drought.” Hosea 13:4-5
The Lord is a jealous God. He was invested in Ephraim. He did amazing miracles for Ephraim like none other had done for them. He brought ten plagues against Egypt. Egypt was determined to keep Ephraim as his servant, but God forced their hand. The Lord did miracles to keep Ephraim alive in a dry wilderness for forty years. Psalm 78:5 says that “Men ate angels’ food. He sent them food to the full.” He helped them to defeat 31 kings, and to settle in the Promised Land. Here, He tells them, “You shall know no God but Me. For there is no savior besides Me.”
“When they had pasture, they were filled. They were filled and their heart was exalted. Therefore, they forgot Me. So I will be to them like a lion. Like a leopard by the road I will lurk. I will meet them like a bear deprived of her cubs. I will tear open their rib cage, and there I will devour them like a lion. The wild beast shall tear them.” Hosea 13:6-8
It is evil to betray God. Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. 30 pieces of silver was the going price for a slave in those days. In John 6:70-71, Jesus identified Judas as a “devil” to the disciples. In Matthew 26:24, Jesus said of Judas, “Woe to that man.” In John 17:12, Jesus said, “Woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would be better for that man if he had not been born.”
According to Isaiah 14:12-17 and Ezekiel 28:2-17, the devil, originally named Lucifer, was a created angel who was perfect and beautiful. He was musical. In Revelation 12:4, 7, 9, 17, the devil is described as a dragon that leads a third of the stars of heaven (angels) to rebel against God. He was cast out of heaven and down to earth by God. He is against those “who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
Ephraim’s heart became lifted up against God. Thus, the Lord said that He would be as a lion, leopard, bear and beast toward them. The word lion is used over 150 times, leopard about eight times, bear twelve times, and beast many times in the Old Testament. In Daniel 7:2-8 and Revelation 13:2, these creatures symbolize human empires that God allows to rule the earth. In Daniel’s vision, lion, bear, leopard and beast are used to symbolize four successive empires (Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome). [GS]
“O Israel, you are destroyed, but your help is from Me. I will be your King. Where is any other, that he may save you in all your cities? And your judges to whom you said, ‘Give me a king and princes’? I gave you a king in My anger and took him away in My wrath. Hosea 13:9-11
In 2 Kings 15:28, in Hosea’s day, Pekah did evil in God’s sight. Then, in 2 Kings 15:29, the king of Assyria took over nine communities of Israel plus the land of Naphtali. He carried the Israelites in those region captive to Assyria. 2 Kings 15:30 says, “Hoshea... led a conspiracy against [King] Pekah... and killed him.” Thus, God gave a king in His anger to Ephraim and took him away in His wrath. Poor national leadership and tumultuous regime changes are signs that nation is in need of spiritual renewal. They needed to turn to God lest something worse happened.
“The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up. His sin is stored up.” Hosea 13:12
The worship of idols multiplied their guilt before God rather than remove it.
God prescribed the blood of bulls and sheep to remove guilt as symbolic of the sacrifice His Son would make later. Hebrews 9:22 says, “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” Hebrews 9:28 says, “Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” 1 John 2:2 says that “He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” Propitiation means the Mercy Seat or place where sin is forgiven by God. As we place our trust in Christ, God forgives our sins. We are graciously saved by His merits not our own.
“The sorrows of a woman in childbirth shall come upon him. He is an unwise son, for he should not stay long where children are born.” Hosea 13:13
The Bible uses childbirth to represent the intense suffering that precedes a new era, new life, or the coming of God’s kingdom. In Matthew 24:8, Jesus described end-time events as the “beginning of birth pains.” In Isaiah and Jeremiah, the imagery of childbirth is used to depict national calamities and divine judgment on a sinful nation. Isaiah 66 connects the pain of labor with the joy of a new birth for Israel. Suffering is not random but serves a purpose in God’s plan, much like labor pains lead to new life. [GS]
In 1 Thessalonians 5:3, Paul wrote, “For when they shall say, peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.”
Hosea compares Ephraim to an unwise baby who wants to remain in the birth canal. [JFBC]
Spiritually speaking, Jesus said in John 3:3, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
“I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. O Death, I will be your plagues! O Grave, I will be your destruction! Repentance shall be hid from Mine eyes.” Hosea 13:14
Paul referenced this passage in 1 Corinthians 15:54-55. He wrote, “So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?”
“’Repentance shall be hid from Mine eyes’ that is, I will not change My purpose of fulfilling My promise by delivering Israel.” [JFBC]
“Though he is fruitful among his brethren, an east wind shall come; the wind of the Lord shall come up from the wilderness. Then his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up. He shall plunder the treasury of every desirable prize. Samaria is held guilty, 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 ripped open.” Hosea 13:15-16
In Genesis 41:52, Joseph named his second son Ephraim, “For, [said he] God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.” In Genesis 48:19, Jacob told Joseph that Ephraim would be greater than his older brother. “His seed shall become a multitude of nations.” In Genesis 49:22, Jacob blessed Joseph saying, “He is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a well whose branches run over the wall.” God’s purpose for Ephraim was temporarily setback due to the tribe of Ephraim’s turning from the living God to idols. The east wind symbolizes destruction. Turning from God thwarted new births. The death of newborns in the physical realm mirrored what was happening in the spiritual realm, namely, people did not want to be born again.
“O Israel, return to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to Him, ‘Take away all iniquity. Receive us graciously for we will offer the sacrifices of our lips. Assyria shall not save us, we will not ride on horses, nor will we say anymore to the work of our hands, ‘You are our gods.’ For in You the fatherless finds mercy.” Hosea 14:1-3
You have sinned. Return to the Lord! The Lord even fed the lines to them that they needed to pray to return to Him. “Take away all iniquity!” “Receive us graciously!” “Save us by Your grace because we don’t deserve to be saved.” “We forsake other gods.” “Father in heaven, please be our father because until now we have been fatherless.”
“I will heal their backsliding. I will love them freely for My anger has turned away from him. I will be like the dew to Israel. He shall grow like the lily and lengthen his roots like Lebanon. His branches shall spread. His beauty shall be like an olive tree, and his fragrance like Lebanon. Those who dwell under his shadow shall return. They shall be revived like grain and grow like a vine. Their scent shall be like the wine of Lebanon. Ephraim shall say, ‘What have I to do anymore with idols?’ I have heard and observed him. I am like a green cypress tree. Your fruit is found in Me.” Hosea 14:4-8
Ephraim did not need to do something great to gain God’s attention. They needed to do something humble. After they asked God to forgive them... He did. Then, He watered them and caused them to flourish like lilies, olive trees and green cypress trees. They became like grain [bread] and wine. They had nothing more to do with idols. God’s fruit abounded in them.
“Who is wise? Let him understand these things. Who is prudent? Let him know them. For the ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them.” Hosea 14:9
At the beginning of this prophecy, God compared Ephraim to a harlot due to her relationships with many false gods. However, the Lord had mercy on her. He redeemed her after other lovers failed her. He purchased her back to Himself. He helped her to repent of her former lifestyle. He forgave her sins. He helped her to become a new creation.
In conclusion, the Lord turns to each of us and asks, “Are you wise, understanding, prudent?” He tells us that His ways are right. If we want to be right, we should walk in them. Then, we too, can share in the blessings that all the redeemed of the Lord experience. Praise the Lord!
[JFBC] = Jamieson Fausset Brown Commentary
[GS] = Google Search
The Lord Jesus has graced me with revelations from the Book of Jeremiah that are helpful to better understanding the relevance of the Law, the Prophets, the Gospel, the Apostles, and the Book of Revelation. I am in the midst of preparing 54 video-recorded presentations, one for each chapter of Jeremiah, plus an intro and conclusion presentation. When the presentations are done, I plan to publish them on YouTube. I also welcome invitations to share these revelations in-person. In the meantime, I publish articles online, intercede for the peoples of the nations, and say to the Lord, “Here am I Lord, send me.”
Tuesday, November 25, 2025
Faithfully Cared For By God
“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son.” Hosea 11:1
Hosea 11:1 is quoted in Matthew 2:15 after an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream. He was told to take the Child and the mother and flee to Egypt because Herod would seek to destroy the child. So thus, God called His son out of Egypt referring to Christ.
The removal from Egypt symbolizes redemption. The people of Moses were slaves. They had to do the will of human masters until the Lord broke their bonds and brought them to a land of their own. Jesus Christ is our Redeemer. He sets us free from sin and brings us to the heavenly Promised Land.
His call out of Egypt fulfills the Hosea 11:1 prophecy about Messiah. It also symbolizes His identification with His people Israel.
“I taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by their arms; but they did not know that I healed them. I drew them with gentle cords, with bands of love, and I was to them as those who take the yoke from their neck. I stooped and fed them.” Hosea 11:3-4
Ephraim was the largest of the northern tribes. So, sometimes, God refers to northern part of Israel as Ephraim. God took Ephraim into His arms. He did not force Ephraim into a relationship with Him using a whip as a slave master might do. He removed the yoke that others placed on him. He wooed Ephraim with gentle cords and bands of love. He stooped down to his level and fed him. The imagery here is of a loving father tenderly caring for his son. Ephraim did not know that God healed him. So often it is this way with God. He heals us without fanfare. Thus, we might miss it, and fail, like Ephraim did, to thank God and give Him glory!
“He shall not return to the land of Egypt; but the Assyrian shall be his king, because they refused to repent. And the sword shall slash in his cities, devour his districts, and consume them, because of their own counsels. My people are bent on backsliding from Me. Though they call to the Most High, none at all exalt Him.” Hosea 11:5-7
Deceived by their rebellion against their loving Father, the people wanted to return the place of bondage and abuse (Egypt) for safety from Assyria, but that was not going to happen. Assyria would attack, destroy their cities and consume them. So often it is this way with rebellion. We have in mind how things will work out for us, but when we distance ourselves from God, things rarely end well for us.
Preacher Adrian Rogers once said, “Sin will take you further than you want to go, it’ll take you longer than you want to stay, and it will cost you more than you want to pay.”
“How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I set you like Zeboiim? My heart churns within Me. My sympathy is stirred. I will not execute the fierceness of My anger. I will not again destroy Ephraim. For I am God, and not man, the Holy One in your midst; and I will not come with terror.” Hosea 11:8-9
How could God let Ephraim become like the cities of Admah and Zeboiim? Genesis 19:28–29 indicates that more cities than just Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed... “when God destroyed the cities of the plain.” In Deuteronomy 29:23, God warned Israel that if they did not follow Him, the land would suffer punishment as did Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, “which the Lord overthrew in fierce anger.”
The people of Ephraim had been given more extensive revelations about God than the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Ephraim had the law of Moses. They had prophets of God speaking to them, yet they chose to stray far from God’s ways. Yet, the Lord confessed to the people of Ephraim, “My heart churns within Me. My sympathy is stirred.” God would preserve them even in the land of their enemies. He was the Holy One in their midst. He would go with them.
“Ephraim has encircled Me with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit; but Judah still walks with God, even with the Holy One who is faithful.” Hosea 11:12
Judah did not go into captivity at the same time as Israel did. In 2 Kings 19, when the Assyrian army surrounded Judah’s capital city, King Hezekiah and his people prayed to the Lord. The Lord heard their prayer. One of God’s angels slew 185,000 enemy soldiers. Ephraim’s capital city of Samaria looked to golden calf idols when Assyria’s army surrounded them. No rescue came.
“Ephraim feeds on the wind and pursues the east wind. He daily increases lies and desolation. Also they make a covenant with the Assyrians, and oil is carried to Egypt.” Hosea 12:1
In the Old Testament, the “east wind” is symbolic of destruction. The east wind is associated with drought, scorching heat, and enemy attacks. When we turn from God, we turn to Satan by default. Satan offers his buyers the world, but ultimately destroys them. Self-destructive tendencies are a sign of Satan at work in one’s life. Ephraim pursued destruction. They made covenants with Assyria and Egypt who eventually betrayed them.
“The Lord also brings a charge against Judah and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his deeds He will recompense him. He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and in his strength he struggled with God. Yes, he struggled with the Angel and prevailed; he wept and sought favor from Him. He found Him in Bethel, and there He spoke to us—that is, the Lord God of hosts. The Lord is His memorable Name. So you, by the help of your God, return! Observe mercy and justice and wait on your God continually.” Hosea 12:2-6
Jacob was a twin. In Genesis 25:25-27, Esau, his brother, was born first, but Jacob grabbed Esau’s heel in an effort to be born first. Thus, he was named Jacob which means “heel grabber” or supplanter. Jacob resorted to cunningly devised plans to take his brother’s blessings from him. He deceived his brother out of his birthright and his father’s blessing.
In Genesis 32:22–32, when Jacob met an angel, he refused to let the angel go unless the angel blessed him. This is when God changed Jacob’s name to Israel which means “one who struggles with God.”
The Lord urged Judah to look to the Lord, saying, “The Lord is His memorable Name. By the help of your God, return! Observe mercy and justice and wait on your God continually.”
“Ephraim said, ‘Surely I have become rich, I have found wealth for myself. In all my labors they shall find in me no iniquity that is sin.’ But I am the Lord your God, ever since the land of Egypt. I will again make you dwell in tents as in the days of the appointed feast. I have also spoken by the prophets and have multiplied visions. I have given symbols through the witness of the prophets. Though Gilead has idols—surely they are vanity—though they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal, indeed their altars shall be heaps in the furrows of the field.” Hosea 12:8-11
Ephraim assumed that their financial prosperity meant that there was no sin in them. They equated worldly success as favor with God. In Revelation 3:17-19, the Lord said to church people in Laodicea, “Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked – I counsel you... As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.”
James 2:1-7 says, “My brothers, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, ‘You sit here in a good place,’ and say to the poor man, ‘You stand there,’ or ‘Sit here at my footstool,’ have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers, has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts? Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called?”
Ephraim’s greatest treasure was God. He was speaking to them via prophets and visions. “I have given symbols through the witness of the prophets.” His prophets did object lessons for them to demonstrate what was going to happen to them. Sadly, they bet their money on idols that never helped them to turn the proverbial corner onto easy street. God promised to plow their idols under.
“Jacob fled to the country of Syria. Israel served for a spouse. For a wife he tended sheep.” Hosea 12:12
Jacob’s cunningly devised plan to steal from his brother resulted in him having to flee from his homeland lest his brother kill him. This was like Adam and Eve having to leave Eden due to sin. It was like Israel being exiled to Assyria. They should have trusted in God and remained faithful to Him. Thankfully, God in His grace, made their plan B into a part of His plan A for them.
“By a prophet, the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet he was preserved. Ephraim provoked Him to anger most bitterly. Therefore, his Lord will leave the guilt of his bloodshed upon him and return his reproach upon him.” Hosea 12:13-14
Ephraim refused to listen to God’s prophetic words. They did not believe in atoning sacrifices that were made with bulls and sheep to blot out their sins. They did not believe that the One who created them knew what was best for them. They provoked God to anger with their unbelief. Hebrew 11:6 says, “Without faith it is impossible to please Him [God], for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
In Acts 26:27-29, Paul asked King Agrippa, “Do you believe the prophets? I know that you do believe.” Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.” And Paul said, “I would to God that not only you, but also all who hear me today, might become both almost and altogether such as I am, except for these chains.” Paul preferred to appear a fool than to fail to preach Christ as all the prophets did before him.
God spoke to Ephraim via His servant Hosea. Ephraim ignored him. They gave God a bad reputation by touting themselves to be His people while living contrary to Him. The only cure for their hard hearts was hard circumstances. As much as God deeply yearned to protect, help, and bless them, He needed to let them suffer the consequences of their bad choices so that they would be set free from their sinful bondages. They needed to give God control of their lives so He could help them to soar from rock bottom to the highest of heights.
John 1:11-13 says of Jesus, “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His Name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” The greatest blessing is to be a child of God. He faithfully takes care of His own.
Hosea 11:1 is quoted in Matthew 2:15 after an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream. He was told to take the Child and the mother and flee to Egypt because Herod would seek to destroy the child. So thus, God called His son out of Egypt referring to Christ.
The removal from Egypt symbolizes redemption. The people of Moses were slaves. They had to do the will of human masters until the Lord broke their bonds and brought them to a land of their own. Jesus Christ is our Redeemer. He sets us free from sin and brings us to the heavenly Promised Land.
His call out of Egypt fulfills the Hosea 11:1 prophecy about Messiah. It also symbolizes His identification with His people Israel.
“I taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by their arms; but they did not know that I healed them. I drew them with gentle cords, with bands of love, and I was to them as those who take the yoke from their neck. I stooped and fed them.” Hosea 11:3-4
Ephraim was the largest of the northern tribes. So, sometimes, God refers to northern part of Israel as Ephraim. God took Ephraim into His arms. He did not force Ephraim into a relationship with Him using a whip as a slave master might do. He removed the yoke that others placed on him. He wooed Ephraim with gentle cords and bands of love. He stooped down to his level and fed him. The imagery here is of a loving father tenderly caring for his son. Ephraim did not know that God healed him. So often it is this way with God. He heals us without fanfare. Thus, we might miss it, and fail, like Ephraim did, to thank God and give Him glory!
“He shall not return to the land of Egypt; but the Assyrian shall be his king, because they refused to repent. And the sword shall slash in his cities, devour his districts, and consume them, because of their own counsels. My people are bent on backsliding from Me. Though they call to the Most High, none at all exalt Him.” Hosea 11:5-7
Deceived by their rebellion against their loving Father, the people wanted to return the place of bondage and abuse (Egypt) for safety from Assyria, but that was not going to happen. Assyria would attack, destroy their cities and consume them. So often it is this way with rebellion. We have in mind how things will work out for us, but when we distance ourselves from God, things rarely end well for us.
Preacher Adrian Rogers once said, “Sin will take you further than you want to go, it’ll take you longer than you want to stay, and it will cost you more than you want to pay.”
“How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I set you like Zeboiim? My heart churns within Me. My sympathy is stirred. I will not execute the fierceness of My anger. I will not again destroy Ephraim. For I am God, and not man, the Holy One in your midst; and I will not come with terror.” Hosea 11:8-9
How could God let Ephraim become like the cities of Admah and Zeboiim? Genesis 19:28–29 indicates that more cities than just Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed... “when God destroyed the cities of the plain.” In Deuteronomy 29:23, God warned Israel that if they did not follow Him, the land would suffer punishment as did Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, “which the Lord overthrew in fierce anger.”
The people of Ephraim had been given more extensive revelations about God than the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Ephraim had the law of Moses. They had prophets of God speaking to them, yet they chose to stray far from God’s ways. Yet, the Lord confessed to the people of Ephraim, “My heart churns within Me. My sympathy is stirred.” God would preserve them even in the land of their enemies. He was the Holy One in their midst. He would go with them.
“Ephraim has encircled Me with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit; but Judah still walks with God, even with the Holy One who is faithful.” Hosea 11:12
Judah did not go into captivity at the same time as Israel did. In 2 Kings 19, when the Assyrian army surrounded Judah’s capital city, King Hezekiah and his people prayed to the Lord. The Lord heard their prayer. One of God’s angels slew 185,000 enemy soldiers. Ephraim’s capital city of Samaria looked to golden calf idols when Assyria’s army surrounded them. No rescue came.
“Ephraim feeds on the wind and pursues the east wind. He daily increases lies and desolation. Also they make a covenant with the Assyrians, and oil is carried to Egypt.” Hosea 12:1
In the Old Testament, the “east wind” is symbolic of destruction. The east wind is associated with drought, scorching heat, and enemy attacks. When we turn from God, we turn to Satan by default. Satan offers his buyers the world, but ultimately destroys them. Self-destructive tendencies are a sign of Satan at work in one’s life. Ephraim pursued destruction. They made covenants with Assyria and Egypt who eventually betrayed them.
“The Lord also brings a charge against Judah and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his deeds He will recompense him. He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and in his strength he struggled with God. Yes, he struggled with the Angel and prevailed; he wept and sought favor from Him. He found Him in Bethel, and there He spoke to us—that is, the Lord God of hosts. The Lord is His memorable Name. So you, by the help of your God, return! Observe mercy and justice and wait on your God continually.” Hosea 12:2-6
Jacob was a twin. In Genesis 25:25-27, Esau, his brother, was born first, but Jacob grabbed Esau’s heel in an effort to be born first. Thus, he was named Jacob which means “heel grabber” or supplanter. Jacob resorted to cunningly devised plans to take his brother’s blessings from him. He deceived his brother out of his birthright and his father’s blessing.
In Genesis 32:22–32, when Jacob met an angel, he refused to let the angel go unless the angel blessed him. This is when God changed Jacob’s name to Israel which means “one who struggles with God.”
The Lord urged Judah to look to the Lord, saying, “The Lord is His memorable Name. By the help of your God, return! Observe mercy and justice and wait on your God continually.”
“Ephraim said, ‘Surely I have become rich, I have found wealth for myself. In all my labors they shall find in me no iniquity that is sin.’ But I am the Lord your God, ever since the land of Egypt. I will again make you dwell in tents as in the days of the appointed feast. I have also spoken by the prophets and have multiplied visions. I have given symbols through the witness of the prophets. Though Gilead has idols—surely they are vanity—though they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal, indeed their altars shall be heaps in the furrows of the field.” Hosea 12:8-11
Ephraim assumed that their financial prosperity meant that there was no sin in them. They equated worldly success as favor with God. In Revelation 3:17-19, the Lord said to church people in Laodicea, “Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked – I counsel you... As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.”
James 2:1-7 says, “My brothers, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, ‘You sit here in a good place,’ and say to the poor man, ‘You stand there,’ or ‘Sit here at my footstool,’ have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers, has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts? Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called?”
Ephraim’s greatest treasure was God. He was speaking to them via prophets and visions. “I have given symbols through the witness of the prophets.” His prophets did object lessons for them to demonstrate what was going to happen to them. Sadly, they bet their money on idols that never helped them to turn the proverbial corner onto easy street. God promised to plow their idols under.
“Jacob fled to the country of Syria. Israel served for a spouse. For a wife he tended sheep.” Hosea 12:12
Jacob’s cunningly devised plan to steal from his brother resulted in him having to flee from his homeland lest his brother kill him. This was like Adam and Eve having to leave Eden due to sin. It was like Israel being exiled to Assyria. They should have trusted in God and remained faithful to Him. Thankfully, God in His grace, made their plan B into a part of His plan A for them.
“By a prophet, the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet he was preserved. Ephraim provoked Him to anger most bitterly. Therefore, his Lord will leave the guilt of his bloodshed upon him and return his reproach upon him.” Hosea 12:13-14
Ephraim refused to listen to God’s prophetic words. They did not believe in atoning sacrifices that were made with bulls and sheep to blot out their sins. They did not believe that the One who created them knew what was best for them. They provoked God to anger with their unbelief. Hebrew 11:6 says, “Without faith it is impossible to please Him [God], for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
In Acts 26:27-29, Paul asked King Agrippa, “Do you believe the prophets? I know that you do believe.” Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.” And Paul said, “I would to God that not only you, but also all who hear me today, might become both almost and altogether such as I am, except for these chains.” Paul preferred to appear a fool than to fail to preach Christ as all the prophets did before him.
God spoke to Ephraim via His servant Hosea. Ephraim ignored him. They gave God a bad reputation by touting themselves to be His people while living contrary to Him. The only cure for their hard hearts was hard circumstances. As much as God deeply yearned to protect, help, and bless them, He needed to let them suffer the consequences of their bad choices so that they would be set free from their sinful bondages. They needed to give God control of their lives so He could help them to soar from rock bottom to the highest of heights.
John 1:11-13 says of Jesus, “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His Name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” The greatest blessing is to be a child of God. He faithfully takes care of His own.
The Lord Jesus has graced me with revelations from the Book of Jeremiah that are helpful to better understanding the relevance of the Law, the Prophets, the Gospel, the Apostles, and the Book of Revelation. I am in the midst of preparing 54 video-recorded presentations, one for each chapter of Jeremiah, plus an intro and conclusion presentation. When the presentations are done, I plan to publish them on YouTube. I also welcome invitations to share these revelations in-person. In the meantime, I publish articles online, intercede for the peoples of the nations, and say to the Lord, “Here am I Lord, send me.”
Monday, November 24, 2025
God Is Love
Boom! Expressing pain to a loved one can ignite a fiery outburst, especially if the loved one is the reason for that pain. In Hosea 5-10, God sets the example for us in His Word of expressing pain when hurt by the actions of those He loves. He does it to bring about a better relationship.
This type of prophetic word is not limited to the Old Testament prophets. Both Jesus and Paul expressed pain over the actions of those whom God’s loves.
In Matthew 23:37 and Luke 13:34, Jesus lamented over the city of Jerusalem. His people were “unwilling” to be gathered to Him “as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings.” Jesus had deep, personal sorrow over the city’s rejection of God’s will. The “hen and chicks” metaphor expresses the protective and nurturing desire of Jesus, which was met with refusal. Their rejection of Jesus foreshadowed the city’s destruction in 70 AD.
In 1 Corinthians 5:1-5, Paul confronted the Corinthian Christians for not confronting the ongoing sin of man who was sleeping with his father’s wife.
In 2 Corinthians 2:4, Paul wrote to them again, “For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you, with many tears, not that you should be grieved, but that you might know the love which I have so abundantly for you.”
In 2 Corinthians 7:9-12, Paul rejoices that the sorrow that his words caused them led them to repent, and that their repentance produced a wide range of good outcomes including diligence, clearing themselves, zeal and vindication. Paul explained the “why” of his approach to this situation. He wrote, “I did not do it for the sake of him who had done the wrong, nor for the sake of him who suffered wrong, but that our care for you in the sight of God might appear to you.” Paul wanted his care for their relationships to be obvious to them.
The Lord expresses His pain with the priests of Israel and their king in the Book of Hosea.
“Hear this, O priests! Take heed, O house of Israel! Give ear, O house of the king! For yours is the judgment, because you have been a snare to Mizpah and a net spread on Tabor. The revolters are deeply involved in slaughter, though I rebuke them all. I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me; for now, O Ephraim, you commit harlotry; Israel is defiled.” Hosea 5:1-3
The priests and king were a snare on Mizpah and a net upon Tabor. As hunters spread their net and snares, Mizpah and Tabor snared the people into idolatry and made them prey by injustice. Mizpah means “watch tower,” and Tabor means “lofty place.” High places are ideal for hunters. The Lord wanted the priests and king to be watchers for the people, but they were behaving as hunters entrapping them into idolatry.
“They do not direct their deeds toward turning to their God, for the spirit of harlotry is in their midst, and they do not know the Lord. The pride of Israel testifies to his face; therefore Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity; Judah also stumbles with them.” Hosea 5:4-5
The priests and king did not direct people to God. Why? They did not know the Lord. How can anyone bring someone to God when they don’t Him personally? The leaders had hearts for that which was not of God. Their self-pride prevented them from pointing people to God.
“With their flocks and herds they shall go to seek the Lord, but they will not find Him; He has withdrawn Himself from them. They have dealt treacherously with the Lord, for they have begotten pagan children. Now a New Moon shall devour them and their heritage.” Hosea 5:6-7
In the midst of declining circumstances, the priests and king of Israel attempted to lead the people back to God, but they had betrayed the Lord. They raised their children in pagan ways, but now they expected the Lord to act as though they had done nothing wrong and help them.
“The princes of Judah are like those who remove a landmark. I will pour out My wrath on them like water. Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment because he willingly walked by human precept. Therefore I will be to Ephraim like a moth, and to the house of Judah like rottenness. When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria and sent to King Jareb; yet he cannot cure you, nor heal you of your wound. For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear them and go away; I will take them away, and no one shall rescue. I will return again to My place till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.” Hosea 5:10-15
God speaks of pouring out His wrath (his judgments) like water on Judah. Ephraim is another name for the northern tribes because Ephraim was the largest of the northern tribes. God diminished their vibrancy to bring them back to Him. What did they do? They turned to the paganistic Assyrians for help. So, God ups the judgment from being a moth and rottenness to them, to being a lion that tears and takes them away. The Lord refused to receive them until they acknowledge their offense. “In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”
“Come and let us return to the Lord; for He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight. Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth.” Hosea 6:1-3
Torn and healed, stricken and bandaged, raised up on the third day to live in God’s sight. This is an allusion to the death and resurrection of Christ through whom there is forgiveness and salvation. When the Lord converts a soul, the person wants to know Him. The converted one wants the Lord to rain upon him or her.
“O Ephraim, what shall I do to you? O Judah, what shall I do to you? For your faithfulness is like a morning cloud, and like the early dew it goes away. Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets, I have slain them by the Words of My mouth; and your judgments are like light that goes forth. For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” Hosea 6:4-6
Morning clouds and early dew disappear almost as fast as they appear. So, brief were the moments of His people’s faithfulness to Him. God gave prophets to hew them like a stone cutter shapes a rock. God sent the sword of His Spirit against them to humble them.
In Matthew 9:10-12, Jesus quoted Hosea 6:6 in the context of Pharisees asking His disciples why He ate with tax collectors and sinners. Jesus said, “Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” The hard-hearted people in Hosea’s day needed to practice mercy to understand God’s mercy.
“But like men they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt treacherously with Me. Gilead is a city of evildoers and defiled with blood. As bands of robbers lie in wait for a man, so the company of priests murder on the way to Shechem; surely they commit lewdness. I have seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel: there is the harlotry of Ephraim; Israel is defiled. Also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed for you, when I return the captives of My people.” Hosea 6:7-11
The great commandment is to love God with all one’s entire being. The priests rejected this commandment and became untrustworthy lewd robbers and murderers. Israel was defiled. Judah was going to reap a harvest of judgments. What was that harvest? In 2 Chronicles 28:6, Judah lost a 120,000 “slain in one day.” Revelation 14:17-20 describes great military losses as a harvest of grapes being thrown into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
“When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was uncovered, and the wickedness of Samaria. For they have committed fraud, a thief comes in; a band of robbers takes spoil outside. They do not consider in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness; now their own deeds have surrounded them; they are before My face. They make a king glad with their wickedness, and princes with their lies.” Hosea 7:1-3
The king and princes were happy to have many defrauders and thieves in their kingdom. It strengthened their criminal network. They believed that they could sin without consequences.
“They are all adulterers. Like an oven heated by a baker—he ceases stirring the fire after kneading the dough, until it is leavened. In the day of our king princes have made him sick, inflamed with wine; he stretched out his hand with scoffers. They prepare their heart like an oven, while they lie in wait; their baker sleeps all night; in the morning it burns like a flaming fire. They are all hot, like an oven, and have devoured their judges; all their kings have fallen. None among them calls upon Me. Ephraim has mixed himself among the peoples; Ephraim is a cake unturned. Aliens have devoured his strength, but he does not know it; yes, gray hairs are here and there on him, yet he does not know it. And the pride of Israel testifies to his face, but they do not return to the Lord their God, nor seek Him for all this.” Hosea 7:4-10
They are hot like an oven due to their adulterous longings for other gods. Their judges and kings have not held the line for God. Ephraim was a cake unturned... burned on one side and not fully cooked on the other... not good. The gray hairs speak of their era coming to an end. Their society was in decline, but no one turned to God.
“Ephraim also is like a silly dove, without sense—they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria. Wherever they go, I will spread My net on them; I will bring them down like birds of the air; I will chastise them according to what their congregation has heard. Woe to them, for they have fled from Me! Destruction to them because they have transgressed against Me! Though I redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against Me. They did not cry out to Me with their heart when they wailed upon their beds.” Hosea 7:11-14
They looked to pagan nations to rescue them, but God was going to catch them and ensure that they paid for the evils that they had done. He redeemed them. They lied about Him. They needed to cry out to God, not look to co-conspirators against God to rescue them.
Have we only turned to God as a last resort? Why not turn to God first? What’s not to trust about God. He is faithful. His power is great. He loves us and is willing to help us.
“Set the trumpet to your mouth! He shall come like an eagle against the house of the Lord, because they have transgressed My covenant and rebelled against My Law. Israel will cry to Me, ‘My God, we know You!’ Israel has rejected the good; the enemy will pursue him. They set up kings, but not by Me; they made princes, but I did not acknowledge them. From their silver and gold they made idols for themselves—that they might be cut off. Your calf is rejected, O Samaria! My anger is aroused against them—how long until they attain to innocence? For from Israel is even this: a workman made it, and it is not God; but the calf of Samaria shall be broken to pieces.” Hosea 8:1-6
Israel set up Jeroboam and his successors as kings, whereas God had appointed the house of David as the rightful kings of the whole nation. In 1 Kings 12:28, 32, Jeroboam set up two calf idols and told the people that the golden calves were their gods. He set up false priests to lead his false religion. Thus, Samaria, the capital city of the northern tribes, was built on a bad foundation that would not last. God told the city’s watchmen to prepare the people for war.
“They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. The stalk has no bud; it shall never produce meal. If it should produce, aliens would swallow it up. Israel is swallowed up; now they are among the Gentiles like a vessel in which is no pleasure.” “I have written for him the great things of My law, but they were considered a strange thing.” “For Israel has forgotten his Maker and has built temples; Judah also has multiplied fortified cities; but I will send fire upon his cities, and it shall devour his palaces.” Hosea 8:7-8, 12, 14
They experienced food shortages. They hired mercenaries who did not fight for them. They treated God’s Word as a strange thing. They forgot God but built temples for false gods. They built great defenses for their cities and palaces, but God’s plan was to destroy them with fire.
“The days of punishment have come; the days of recompense have come. Israel knows! The prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is insane, because of the greatness of your iniquity and great enmity. The watchman of Ephraim is with my God; but the prophet is a fowler’s snare in all his ways—enmity in the house of his God. They are deeply corrupted, as in the days of Gibeah. He will remember their iniquity; He will punish their sins.” Hosea 9:7-9
What happened to their spiritual leadership? Sin rendered them foolish and crazy. They were a part of the problem not the solution. They were corrupt.
“I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstfruits on the fig tree in its first season. But they went to Baal Peor and separated themselves to that shame; they became an abomination like the thing they loved.” Hosea 9:10
At first Israel was a delight to the Lord, but after they abandoned Him for other lovers, they became like the abomination they loved. An abomination is something that is not stomachable.
“Because of the evil of their deeds I will drive them from My house; I will love them no more. All their princes are rebellious. My God will cast them away, because they did not obey Him; and they shall be wanderers among the nations.” Hosea 9:15-17
God confronted their misbehavior. He expressed His pain over their betrayal of Him but they disregarded His overtures of love so He cast them away and let them wander the world.
“He will break down their altars; he will ruin their sacred pillars.” Hosea 10:2
The Lord’s goal was to destroy the idols that were holding them captive.
“They shall say to the mountains, “Cover us!” And to the hills, “Fall on us!” Hosea 10:8
In Luke 23:27-31, Jesus quoted Hosea 10:8 while on His way to be crucified. Women were mourning and lamenting for Him. He told them not to weep for Him, but for themselves and for their children. He prophesied that the days were coming when people would want to be covered by mountains and hills. He said, “For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?” Hosea 10:8 is also quoted in Revelation 6:15-17, “the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man want to be hidden from Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. They say, “For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” A rhetorical question because what they are saying is that no man can stand up to God’s wrath on sin.
The Lord urged the people in Hosea’s day and I am sure this word is valid for us today...
“Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, till He comes and rains righteousness on you.” Hosea 10:12
The fallow ground is metaphor for a harden heart against God. Break it up. Let His Word by like a stone cutter who removes rough edges and shapes your heart into God’s image. Stop sowing seeds of sin and start sowing seeds of mercy and love for God’s glory. You take the first step and God will bless the next step after that. He will send the rain when our intentions are good.
“It is time to seek the Lord, till He comes and rains righteousness on you.” That is, He will help us to correct all that is wrong about our relationship with Him and with the people we love.
Expressing pain that others have caused us and acknowledging the pain we have caused them is uncomfortable. It can cause explosions. However, the Lord shows us in His Word that He is able to bring healing and reconciliation if we do. The Corinthian Christians experienced increased diligence, a clearing of themselves, a new zeal for love and vindication after they approached a relational breakdown with God’s help. In Hosea 5-10, the Lord expressed His desire for a healed relationship with the people of Israel and Judah. Praise be to God! He is a God of love.
This type of prophetic word is not limited to the Old Testament prophets. Both Jesus and Paul expressed pain over the actions of those whom God’s loves.
In Matthew 23:37 and Luke 13:34, Jesus lamented over the city of Jerusalem. His people were “unwilling” to be gathered to Him “as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings.” Jesus had deep, personal sorrow over the city’s rejection of God’s will. The “hen and chicks” metaphor expresses the protective and nurturing desire of Jesus, which was met with refusal. Their rejection of Jesus foreshadowed the city’s destruction in 70 AD.
In 1 Corinthians 5:1-5, Paul confronted the Corinthian Christians for not confronting the ongoing sin of man who was sleeping with his father’s wife.
In 2 Corinthians 2:4, Paul wrote to them again, “For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you, with many tears, not that you should be grieved, but that you might know the love which I have so abundantly for you.”
In 2 Corinthians 7:9-12, Paul rejoices that the sorrow that his words caused them led them to repent, and that their repentance produced a wide range of good outcomes including diligence, clearing themselves, zeal and vindication. Paul explained the “why” of his approach to this situation. He wrote, “I did not do it for the sake of him who had done the wrong, nor for the sake of him who suffered wrong, but that our care for you in the sight of God might appear to you.” Paul wanted his care for their relationships to be obvious to them.
The Lord expresses His pain with the priests of Israel and their king in the Book of Hosea.
“Hear this, O priests! Take heed, O house of Israel! Give ear, O house of the king! For yours is the judgment, because you have been a snare to Mizpah and a net spread on Tabor. The revolters are deeply involved in slaughter, though I rebuke them all. I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me; for now, O Ephraim, you commit harlotry; Israel is defiled.” Hosea 5:1-3
The priests and king were a snare on Mizpah and a net upon Tabor. As hunters spread their net and snares, Mizpah and Tabor snared the people into idolatry and made them prey by injustice. Mizpah means “watch tower,” and Tabor means “lofty place.” High places are ideal for hunters. The Lord wanted the priests and king to be watchers for the people, but they were behaving as hunters entrapping them into idolatry.
“They do not direct their deeds toward turning to their God, for the spirit of harlotry is in their midst, and they do not know the Lord. The pride of Israel testifies to his face; therefore Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity; Judah also stumbles with them.” Hosea 5:4-5
The priests and king did not direct people to God. Why? They did not know the Lord. How can anyone bring someone to God when they don’t Him personally? The leaders had hearts for that which was not of God. Their self-pride prevented them from pointing people to God.
“With their flocks and herds they shall go to seek the Lord, but they will not find Him; He has withdrawn Himself from them. They have dealt treacherously with the Lord, for they have begotten pagan children. Now a New Moon shall devour them and their heritage.” Hosea 5:6-7
In the midst of declining circumstances, the priests and king of Israel attempted to lead the people back to God, but they had betrayed the Lord. They raised their children in pagan ways, but now they expected the Lord to act as though they had done nothing wrong and help them.
“The princes of Judah are like those who remove a landmark. I will pour out My wrath on them like water. Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment because he willingly walked by human precept. Therefore I will be to Ephraim like a moth, and to the house of Judah like rottenness. When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria and sent to King Jareb; yet he cannot cure you, nor heal you of your wound. For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear them and go away; I will take them away, and no one shall rescue. I will return again to My place till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.” Hosea 5:10-15
God speaks of pouring out His wrath (his judgments) like water on Judah. Ephraim is another name for the northern tribes because Ephraim was the largest of the northern tribes. God diminished their vibrancy to bring them back to Him. What did they do? They turned to the paganistic Assyrians for help. So, God ups the judgment from being a moth and rottenness to them, to being a lion that tears and takes them away. The Lord refused to receive them until they acknowledge their offense. “In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”
“Come and let us return to the Lord; for He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight. Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth.” Hosea 6:1-3
Torn and healed, stricken and bandaged, raised up on the third day to live in God’s sight. This is an allusion to the death and resurrection of Christ through whom there is forgiveness and salvation. When the Lord converts a soul, the person wants to know Him. The converted one wants the Lord to rain upon him or her.
“O Ephraim, what shall I do to you? O Judah, what shall I do to you? For your faithfulness is like a morning cloud, and like the early dew it goes away. Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets, I have slain them by the Words of My mouth; and your judgments are like light that goes forth. For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” Hosea 6:4-6
Morning clouds and early dew disappear almost as fast as they appear. So, brief were the moments of His people’s faithfulness to Him. God gave prophets to hew them like a stone cutter shapes a rock. God sent the sword of His Spirit against them to humble them.
In Matthew 9:10-12, Jesus quoted Hosea 6:6 in the context of Pharisees asking His disciples why He ate with tax collectors and sinners. Jesus said, “Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” The hard-hearted people in Hosea’s day needed to practice mercy to understand God’s mercy.
“But like men they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt treacherously with Me. Gilead is a city of evildoers and defiled with blood. As bands of robbers lie in wait for a man, so the company of priests murder on the way to Shechem; surely they commit lewdness. I have seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel: there is the harlotry of Ephraim; Israel is defiled. Also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed for you, when I return the captives of My people.” Hosea 6:7-11
The great commandment is to love God with all one’s entire being. The priests rejected this commandment and became untrustworthy lewd robbers and murderers. Israel was defiled. Judah was going to reap a harvest of judgments. What was that harvest? In 2 Chronicles 28:6, Judah lost a 120,000 “slain in one day.” Revelation 14:17-20 describes great military losses as a harvest of grapes being thrown into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
“When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was uncovered, and the wickedness of Samaria. For they have committed fraud, a thief comes in; a band of robbers takes spoil outside. They do not consider in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness; now their own deeds have surrounded them; they are before My face. They make a king glad with their wickedness, and princes with their lies.” Hosea 7:1-3
The king and princes were happy to have many defrauders and thieves in their kingdom. It strengthened their criminal network. They believed that they could sin without consequences.
“They are all adulterers. Like an oven heated by a baker—he ceases stirring the fire after kneading the dough, until it is leavened. In the day of our king princes have made him sick, inflamed with wine; he stretched out his hand with scoffers. They prepare their heart like an oven, while they lie in wait; their baker sleeps all night; in the morning it burns like a flaming fire. They are all hot, like an oven, and have devoured their judges; all their kings have fallen. None among them calls upon Me. Ephraim has mixed himself among the peoples; Ephraim is a cake unturned. Aliens have devoured his strength, but he does not know it; yes, gray hairs are here and there on him, yet he does not know it. And the pride of Israel testifies to his face, but they do not return to the Lord their God, nor seek Him for all this.” Hosea 7:4-10
They are hot like an oven due to their adulterous longings for other gods. Their judges and kings have not held the line for God. Ephraim was a cake unturned... burned on one side and not fully cooked on the other... not good. The gray hairs speak of their era coming to an end. Their society was in decline, but no one turned to God.
“Ephraim also is like a silly dove, without sense—they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria. Wherever they go, I will spread My net on them; I will bring them down like birds of the air; I will chastise them according to what their congregation has heard. Woe to them, for they have fled from Me! Destruction to them because they have transgressed against Me! Though I redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against Me. They did not cry out to Me with their heart when they wailed upon their beds.” Hosea 7:11-14
They looked to pagan nations to rescue them, but God was going to catch them and ensure that they paid for the evils that they had done. He redeemed them. They lied about Him. They needed to cry out to God, not look to co-conspirators against God to rescue them.
Have we only turned to God as a last resort? Why not turn to God first? What’s not to trust about God. He is faithful. His power is great. He loves us and is willing to help us.
“Set the trumpet to your mouth! He shall come like an eagle against the house of the Lord, because they have transgressed My covenant and rebelled against My Law. Israel will cry to Me, ‘My God, we know You!’ Israel has rejected the good; the enemy will pursue him. They set up kings, but not by Me; they made princes, but I did not acknowledge them. From their silver and gold they made idols for themselves—that they might be cut off. Your calf is rejected, O Samaria! My anger is aroused against them—how long until they attain to innocence? For from Israel is even this: a workman made it, and it is not God; but the calf of Samaria shall be broken to pieces.” Hosea 8:1-6
Israel set up Jeroboam and his successors as kings, whereas God had appointed the house of David as the rightful kings of the whole nation. In 1 Kings 12:28, 32, Jeroboam set up two calf idols and told the people that the golden calves were their gods. He set up false priests to lead his false religion. Thus, Samaria, the capital city of the northern tribes, was built on a bad foundation that would not last. God told the city’s watchmen to prepare the people for war.
“They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. The stalk has no bud; it shall never produce meal. If it should produce, aliens would swallow it up. Israel is swallowed up; now they are among the Gentiles like a vessel in which is no pleasure.” “I have written for him the great things of My law, but they were considered a strange thing.” “For Israel has forgotten his Maker and has built temples; Judah also has multiplied fortified cities; but I will send fire upon his cities, and it shall devour his palaces.” Hosea 8:7-8, 12, 14
They experienced food shortages. They hired mercenaries who did not fight for them. They treated God’s Word as a strange thing. They forgot God but built temples for false gods. They built great defenses for their cities and palaces, but God’s plan was to destroy them with fire.
“The days of punishment have come; the days of recompense have come. Israel knows! The prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is insane, because of the greatness of your iniquity and great enmity. The watchman of Ephraim is with my God; but the prophet is a fowler’s snare in all his ways—enmity in the house of his God. They are deeply corrupted, as in the days of Gibeah. He will remember their iniquity; He will punish their sins.” Hosea 9:7-9
What happened to their spiritual leadership? Sin rendered them foolish and crazy. They were a part of the problem not the solution. They were corrupt.
“I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstfruits on the fig tree in its first season. But they went to Baal Peor and separated themselves to that shame; they became an abomination like the thing they loved.” Hosea 9:10
At first Israel was a delight to the Lord, but after they abandoned Him for other lovers, they became like the abomination they loved. An abomination is something that is not stomachable.
“Because of the evil of their deeds I will drive them from My house; I will love them no more. All their princes are rebellious. My God will cast them away, because they did not obey Him; and they shall be wanderers among the nations.” Hosea 9:15-17
God confronted their misbehavior. He expressed His pain over their betrayal of Him but they disregarded His overtures of love so He cast them away and let them wander the world.
“He will break down their altars; he will ruin their sacred pillars.” Hosea 10:2
The Lord’s goal was to destroy the idols that were holding them captive.
“They shall say to the mountains, “Cover us!” And to the hills, “Fall on us!” Hosea 10:8
In Luke 23:27-31, Jesus quoted Hosea 10:8 while on His way to be crucified. Women were mourning and lamenting for Him. He told them not to weep for Him, but for themselves and for their children. He prophesied that the days were coming when people would want to be covered by mountains and hills. He said, “For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?” Hosea 10:8 is also quoted in Revelation 6:15-17, “the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man want to be hidden from Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. They say, “For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” A rhetorical question because what they are saying is that no man can stand up to God’s wrath on sin.
The Lord urged the people in Hosea’s day and I am sure this word is valid for us today...
“Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, till He comes and rains righteousness on you.” Hosea 10:12
The fallow ground is metaphor for a harden heart against God. Break it up. Let His Word by like a stone cutter who removes rough edges and shapes your heart into God’s image. Stop sowing seeds of sin and start sowing seeds of mercy and love for God’s glory. You take the first step and God will bless the next step after that. He will send the rain when our intentions are good.
“It is time to seek the Lord, till He comes and rains righteousness on you.” That is, He will help us to correct all that is wrong about our relationship with Him and with the people we love.
Expressing pain that others have caused us and acknowledging the pain we have caused them is uncomfortable. It can cause explosions. However, the Lord shows us in His Word that He is able to bring healing and reconciliation if we do. The Corinthian Christians experienced increased diligence, a clearing of themselves, a new zeal for love and vindication after they approached a relational breakdown with God’s help. In Hosea 5-10, the Lord expressed His desire for a healed relationship with the people of Israel and Judah. Praise be to God! He is a God of love.
The Lord Jesus has graced me with revelations from the Book of Jeremiah that are helpful to better understanding the relevance of the Law, the Prophets, the Gospel, the Apostles, and the Book of Revelation. I am in the midst of preparing 54 video-recorded presentations, one for each chapter of Jeremiah, plus an intro and conclusion presentation. When the presentations are done, I plan to publish them on YouTube. I also welcome invitations to share these revelations in-person. In the meantime, I publish articles online, intercede for the peoples of the nations, and say to the Lord, “Here am I Lord, send me.”
Sunday, November 23, 2025
Married To God
In Matthew 22:35-40, a lawyer asked Jesus which is the great commandment? Jesus responded, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
Jesus divided the ten commandments into two categories. The first four call us to love God with all our being. The last six call us to love our neighbor as ourselves.
What are the first four commandments? In Exodus 20:3, the first commandment is to have no other gods before God. In Exodus 20:4, the second commandment is to not make images to be worshipped. God is a jealous God. In Exodus 20:7, the third commandment is to revere the Name of God. In Exodus 20:8-11, the fourth commandment is to remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
In Hosea 1:2, the Lord gave the Prophet Hosea a harsh assessment of His people. He said...
“The land has committed great harlotry by departing from the Lord.”
The great harlotry the Lord speaks of is unfaithfulness to Him. They have other gods before Him. They have images that they enjoy more than His. They treat His Name shamefully. They don’t have dates with God one day per week to maintain a close relationship with Him.
“When the Lord began to speak by Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea: ‘Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry and children of harlotry, for the land has committed great harlotry by departing from the Lord.’ So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. Then the Lord said to him: ‘Call his name Jezreel, for in a little while I will avenge the bloodshed of Jezreel on the house of Jehu and bring an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. It shall come to pass in that day that I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.’” Hosea 1:2-5
The Lord calls Hosea to embody His unhappy relationship with unfaithful Israel. His wife Gomer bears him a son and he calls his name Jezreel. God’s plan is to avenge the blood that Jehu shed in Jezreel. Jehu slew the Ahaziah King of Judah and his 42 brothers. He slew the 70 sons of Ahab King of Israel. He slew all the priests of Baal. He urged the servants of Jezebel to throw her down from a tower which they did. God was going to take Israel down and rebuild her on a better foundation that bloodshed.
“And she conceived again and bore a daughter. Then God said to him: ‘Call her name Lo-Ruhamah, for I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, but I will utterly take them away. Yet I will have mercy on the house of Judah, will save them by the Lord their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword or battle, by horses or horsemen. Now when she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, she conceived and bore a son.’ Then God said: ‘Call his name Lo-Ammi, for you are not My people, and I will not be your God. Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, you are not My people, there it shall be said to them, you are sons of the living God. Then the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together and appoint for themselves head; and they shall come up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel!’” Hosea 1:6-11
In addition to their son Jezreel, Hosea and Gomer have a daughter named Lo-Ruhamah and a son named Lo-Ammi. Lo-Ruhamah means “not an object of mercy” and Lo-Ammi means “Not My people.” “I will utterly take them away” refers to Israel being removed from their land and taken into exile and captivity. God promises to save Judah from being taken by the Assyrians which He did in the days of Hezekiah. Yet, there is hope for Israel. God promises to replenish their population, call them His people once again, and bring Judah and Israel back together.
“Say to your brethren, ‘My people,’ and to your sisters, ‘Mercy is shown.’ Bring charges against your mother, bring charges; for she is not My wife, nor am I her Husband! Let her put away her harlotries from her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts; lest I strip her naked and expose her, as in the day she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst. I will not have mercy on her children, for they are the children of harlotry. For their mother has played the harlot. She who conceived them has behaved shamefully. For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my linen, my oil and my drink.’” Hosea 2:1-5
How hurtful for a father to say to children that their mother is not his wife. He is not her husband. That he is not going to have mercy on them because they are not his children. She sold him out for lovers who wined and dined her and gave to her the kind of clothes she preferred. The family has turned against him and against the core principles for which he stands. Though it hurts him, he must speak the truth that they are not his.
“Therefore, behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns, and wall her in, so that she cannot find her paths. She will chase her lovers, but not overtake them; yes, she will seek them, but not find them. Then she will say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband, for then it was better for me than now.’ For she did not know that I gave her grain, new wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold—which they prepared for Baal.” Hosea 2:6-8
The Lord had to corral her with hedges of thorns and walls to keep her from going astray. When she begins to suffer lack, she returned to him. She didn’t realize that her blessings, which she gave to false gods, had come from him.
“Therefore I will return and take away My grain in its time and My new wine in its season, and will take back My wool and My linen, given to cover her nakedness. Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one shall deliver her from My hand. I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her New Moons, her Sabbaths—all her appointed feasts. And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, of which she has said, ‘These are my wages that my lovers have given me.’ So I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them. I will punish her for the days of the Baals to which she burned incense. She decked herself with her earrings and jewelry and went after her lovers; but Me she forgot, says the Lord.” Hosea 2:9-13
Though she returned to the Lord physically, her heart was far from Him. So, the Lord stopped her indulgent parties and made her sin known. She believed that her works of service to other gods were decking her with earrings and jewelry. So, the Lord sent beasts to devour her riches. The Lord wanted to revive her memory of Him.
“Therefore, behold, I will allure her, will bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfort to her. I will give her vineyards from there, and the Valley of Achor as a door of hope; she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt. And it shall be, in that day, says the Lord, that you will call Me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer call Me ‘My Master,’ for I will take from her mouth the names of the Baals, and they shall be remembered by their name no more. In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, with the birds of the air, and with the creeping things of the ground. Bow and sword of battle I will shatter from the earth, to make them lie down safely.” Hosea 2:14-18
What did the Lord to give her in exchange for her physical losses? He comforted her. He gave her vineyards. Jesus is the vine. As she abided in Him, good fruit came forth. The valley God gave her yielded everlasting hope. She sang to God again. She gladly owned God as her husband again. Once, the false gods, the evil spirits, were purged from her, she spoke of them no more. God called off the beasts, birds and creeping things from robbing her. These creatures are symbolic of war, famine and pestilence that God allows for people who stray from Him.
“I will betroth you to Me forever; yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, in lovingkindness and mercy; I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, and you shall know the Lord.” Hosea 2:19-20
God wanted to be close with His bride so He made a way for her to be righteous, fair, loving, kind, merciful and faithful. He helped her to see her sin for what it was... ugly. He gifted her with the will to acknowledge and repent of sin. He gave her a new heart with an appetite to be holy and pure as the Lord is holy and pure.
“It shall come to pass in that day that I will answer, says the Lord; I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth. The earth shall answer with grain, with new wine, and with oil; they shall answer Jezreel. Then I will sow her for Myself in the earth, and I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; then I will say to those who were not My people, ‘You are My people!’ and they shall say, ‘You are my God!’” Hosea 2:21-23
The Lord speaks to earth to bring forth abundant provisions for her. He identifies himself with her and she with Him. A work of God’s grace in her life has made her a new creation.
“Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go again, love a woman who is loved by a lover and is committing adultery, just like the love of the Lord for the children of Israel, who look to other gods and love the raisin cakes of the pagans.’” Hosea 3:1
In Hosea 2, the Lord prophesied to Hosea what would come about for Israel due to His careful husbandry of her, but it had not happened yet. So, in Hosea 3, the Lord instructs Hosea to pursue Gomer just as He, God, pursued Israel.
“So I bought her for myself for 15 shekels of silver, and 1 ½ homers of barley. And I said to her, ‘You shall stay with me many days; you shall not play the harlot, nor shall you have a man—so, too, will I be toward you. For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod or teraphim. Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the latter days.” Hosea 3:2-5
So, here, Gomer is redeemed by Hosea. He pays the price to get her back. He hems her in so that she cannot wander from him. In due season, her heart turns and becomes for him.
“Hear the Word of the Lord, you children of Israel, for the Lord brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land: there is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land. By swearing and lying, killing, and stealing and committing adultery, they break all restraint, with bloodshed upon bloodshed. Therefore the land will mourn; and everyone who dwells there will waste away with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; even the fish of the sea will be taken away.” Hosea 4:1-3
God’s bride had departed from Him both by her worship of other gods and by her ungodlike behavior. She swore oaths that she did not keep. She lied, killed, stole, defiled her body sexually, and broke all restraints. This is why God took away her material blessings.
“Now let no man contend, or rebuke another; for your people are like those who contend with the priest. Therefore you shall stumble in the day; the prophet also shall stumble with you in the night; and I will destroy your mother. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. The more they increased, the more they sinned against Me; I will change their glory into shame. They eat up the sin of My people; they set their heart on their iniquity. And it shall be: like people, like priest. So I will punish them for their ways and reward them for their deeds. For they shall eat, but not have enough; they shall commit harlotry, but not increase, because they have ceased obeying the Lord.” Hosea 4:4-10
They contended with the priests who were trying to help them. They rejected the knowledge and law of God. Thus, God was going to forget them. Their glory would turn to shame. Their faulty coping mechanisms would not help them. They needed to return to God.
“Harlotry, wine, and new wine enslave the heart. My people ask counsel from their wooden idols, and their staff informs them. For the spirit of harlotry has caused them to stray, and they have played the harlot against their God. They offer sacrifices on the mountaintops, and burn incense on the hills, under oaks, poplars, and terebinths, because their shade is good. Therefore your daughters commit harlotry, and your brides commit adultery.” Hosea 4:11-13
Sin enslaved their hearts to god that were no gods. Sin took them up mountains and through forests. It demanded much of them but yielded only trouble.
Preacher Adrian Rogers once said, “Sin will take you further than you want to go, it’ll take you longer than you want to stay, and it will cost you more than you want to pay.”
Hosea 1-4 is relevant for us believers today. Revelation 18 describes the behavior a harlot people during the end times. This harlot symbolizes God’s people who have joined themselves to the world. They justify the world’s rebellion against God by twisting God’s Word to mean what they want it to say. They bring to Scripture a preconceived idea of what it should it say and explain it that way, rather than looking to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit to reveal its meaning to them. Scripture interprets Scripture so cross-referencing verses with other verses is important. Reading a text out of context is a pretext – putting one’s own spin on it. The Bible points to Jesus as God’s Messiah. Where do you see Jesus in the text?
In Revelation 18, Babylon the Great is symbolic of the world’s rebellious and self-gratifying ways, not a literal city. Christ calls His followers to separate from her to avoid sharing in her plagues. Merchants lament Babylon’s downfall because they grew rich by doing business with her. As Jesus overthrew the tables of the money-changers in Jerusalem’s temple, He will overthrow the denominations and organizations who use His Name to defraud people.
Babylon is a place of sexual immorality. Such behavior is a sign that something is wrong with one’s relationship with God. When we abide in Christ, we don’t sin.
Babylon is “drunk with the blood of the saints.” Though she pretends to be Christ’s Church she destroys those who speak God’s Word accurately and live by it. She is okay with people giving a nod to the Word of God, but she hates saints. Disciples conform their lives to the Word of God. They love God with all their being. No one, no thing is placed higher in their lives than God.
Revelation 18, like Hosea 1-4, warns against the disastrous outcomes of spiritual adultery.
What is the great commandment? It is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. When we are filled with love for God, we do what is best for ourselves, for our family and for our neighbors.
Jesus divided the ten commandments into two categories. The first four call us to love God with all our being. The last six call us to love our neighbor as ourselves.
What are the first four commandments? In Exodus 20:3, the first commandment is to have no other gods before God. In Exodus 20:4, the second commandment is to not make images to be worshipped. God is a jealous God. In Exodus 20:7, the third commandment is to revere the Name of God. In Exodus 20:8-11, the fourth commandment is to remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
In Hosea 1:2, the Lord gave the Prophet Hosea a harsh assessment of His people. He said...
“The land has committed great harlotry by departing from the Lord.”
The great harlotry the Lord speaks of is unfaithfulness to Him. They have other gods before Him. They have images that they enjoy more than His. They treat His Name shamefully. They don’t have dates with God one day per week to maintain a close relationship with Him.
“When the Lord began to speak by Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea: ‘Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry and children of harlotry, for the land has committed great harlotry by departing from the Lord.’ So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. Then the Lord said to him: ‘Call his name Jezreel, for in a little while I will avenge the bloodshed of Jezreel on the house of Jehu and bring an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. It shall come to pass in that day that I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.’” Hosea 1:2-5
The Lord calls Hosea to embody His unhappy relationship with unfaithful Israel. His wife Gomer bears him a son and he calls his name Jezreel. God’s plan is to avenge the blood that Jehu shed in Jezreel. Jehu slew the Ahaziah King of Judah and his 42 brothers. He slew the 70 sons of Ahab King of Israel. He slew all the priests of Baal. He urged the servants of Jezebel to throw her down from a tower which they did. God was going to take Israel down and rebuild her on a better foundation that bloodshed.
“And she conceived again and bore a daughter. Then God said to him: ‘Call her name Lo-Ruhamah, for I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, but I will utterly take them away. Yet I will have mercy on the house of Judah, will save them by the Lord their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword or battle, by horses or horsemen. Now when she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, she conceived and bore a son.’ Then God said: ‘Call his name Lo-Ammi, for you are not My people, and I will not be your God. Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, you are not My people, there it shall be said to them, you are sons of the living God. Then the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together and appoint for themselves head; and they shall come up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel!’” Hosea 1:6-11
In addition to their son Jezreel, Hosea and Gomer have a daughter named Lo-Ruhamah and a son named Lo-Ammi. Lo-Ruhamah means “not an object of mercy” and Lo-Ammi means “Not My people.” “I will utterly take them away” refers to Israel being removed from their land and taken into exile and captivity. God promises to save Judah from being taken by the Assyrians which He did in the days of Hezekiah. Yet, there is hope for Israel. God promises to replenish their population, call them His people once again, and bring Judah and Israel back together.
“Say to your brethren, ‘My people,’ and to your sisters, ‘Mercy is shown.’ Bring charges against your mother, bring charges; for she is not My wife, nor am I her Husband! Let her put away her harlotries from her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts; lest I strip her naked and expose her, as in the day she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst. I will not have mercy on her children, for they are the children of harlotry. For their mother has played the harlot. She who conceived them has behaved shamefully. For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my linen, my oil and my drink.’” Hosea 2:1-5
How hurtful for a father to say to children that their mother is not his wife. He is not her husband. That he is not going to have mercy on them because they are not his children. She sold him out for lovers who wined and dined her and gave to her the kind of clothes she preferred. The family has turned against him and against the core principles for which he stands. Though it hurts him, he must speak the truth that they are not his.
“Therefore, behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns, and wall her in, so that she cannot find her paths. She will chase her lovers, but not overtake them; yes, she will seek them, but not find them. Then she will say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband, for then it was better for me than now.’ For she did not know that I gave her grain, new wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold—which they prepared for Baal.” Hosea 2:6-8
The Lord had to corral her with hedges of thorns and walls to keep her from going astray. When she begins to suffer lack, she returned to him. She didn’t realize that her blessings, which she gave to false gods, had come from him.
“Therefore I will return and take away My grain in its time and My new wine in its season, and will take back My wool and My linen, given to cover her nakedness. Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one shall deliver her from My hand. I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her New Moons, her Sabbaths—all her appointed feasts. And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, of which she has said, ‘These are my wages that my lovers have given me.’ So I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them. I will punish her for the days of the Baals to which she burned incense. She decked herself with her earrings and jewelry and went after her lovers; but Me she forgot, says the Lord.” Hosea 2:9-13
Though she returned to the Lord physically, her heart was far from Him. So, the Lord stopped her indulgent parties and made her sin known. She believed that her works of service to other gods were decking her with earrings and jewelry. So, the Lord sent beasts to devour her riches. The Lord wanted to revive her memory of Him.
“Therefore, behold, I will allure her, will bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfort to her. I will give her vineyards from there, and the Valley of Achor as a door of hope; she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt. And it shall be, in that day, says the Lord, that you will call Me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer call Me ‘My Master,’ for I will take from her mouth the names of the Baals, and they shall be remembered by their name no more. In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, with the birds of the air, and with the creeping things of the ground. Bow and sword of battle I will shatter from the earth, to make them lie down safely.” Hosea 2:14-18
What did the Lord to give her in exchange for her physical losses? He comforted her. He gave her vineyards. Jesus is the vine. As she abided in Him, good fruit came forth. The valley God gave her yielded everlasting hope. She sang to God again. She gladly owned God as her husband again. Once, the false gods, the evil spirits, were purged from her, she spoke of them no more. God called off the beasts, birds and creeping things from robbing her. These creatures are symbolic of war, famine and pestilence that God allows for people who stray from Him.
“I will betroth you to Me forever; yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, in lovingkindness and mercy; I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, and you shall know the Lord.” Hosea 2:19-20
God wanted to be close with His bride so He made a way for her to be righteous, fair, loving, kind, merciful and faithful. He helped her to see her sin for what it was... ugly. He gifted her with the will to acknowledge and repent of sin. He gave her a new heart with an appetite to be holy and pure as the Lord is holy and pure.
“It shall come to pass in that day that I will answer, says the Lord; I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth. The earth shall answer with grain, with new wine, and with oil; they shall answer Jezreel. Then I will sow her for Myself in the earth, and I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; then I will say to those who were not My people, ‘You are My people!’ and they shall say, ‘You are my God!’” Hosea 2:21-23
The Lord speaks to earth to bring forth abundant provisions for her. He identifies himself with her and she with Him. A work of God’s grace in her life has made her a new creation.
“Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go again, love a woman who is loved by a lover and is committing adultery, just like the love of the Lord for the children of Israel, who look to other gods and love the raisin cakes of the pagans.’” Hosea 3:1
In Hosea 2, the Lord prophesied to Hosea what would come about for Israel due to His careful husbandry of her, but it had not happened yet. So, in Hosea 3, the Lord instructs Hosea to pursue Gomer just as He, God, pursued Israel.
“So I bought her for myself for 15 shekels of silver, and 1 ½ homers of barley. And I said to her, ‘You shall stay with me many days; you shall not play the harlot, nor shall you have a man—so, too, will I be toward you. For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod or teraphim. Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the latter days.” Hosea 3:2-5
So, here, Gomer is redeemed by Hosea. He pays the price to get her back. He hems her in so that she cannot wander from him. In due season, her heart turns and becomes for him.
“Hear the Word of the Lord, you children of Israel, for the Lord brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land: there is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land. By swearing and lying, killing, and stealing and committing adultery, they break all restraint, with bloodshed upon bloodshed. Therefore the land will mourn; and everyone who dwells there will waste away with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; even the fish of the sea will be taken away.” Hosea 4:1-3
God’s bride had departed from Him both by her worship of other gods and by her ungodlike behavior. She swore oaths that she did not keep. She lied, killed, stole, defiled her body sexually, and broke all restraints. This is why God took away her material blessings.
“Now let no man contend, or rebuke another; for your people are like those who contend with the priest. Therefore you shall stumble in the day; the prophet also shall stumble with you in the night; and I will destroy your mother. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. The more they increased, the more they sinned against Me; I will change their glory into shame. They eat up the sin of My people; they set their heart on their iniquity. And it shall be: like people, like priest. So I will punish them for their ways and reward them for their deeds. For they shall eat, but not have enough; they shall commit harlotry, but not increase, because they have ceased obeying the Lord.” Hosea 4:4-10
They contended with the priests who were trying to help them. They rejected the knowledge and law of God. Thus, God was going to forget them. Their glory would turn to shame. Their faulty coping mechanisms would not help them. They needed to return to God.
“Harlotry, wine, and new wine enslave the heart. My people ask counsel from their wooden idols, and their staff informs them. For the spirit of harlotry has caused them to stray, and they have played the harlot against their God. They offer sacrifices on the mountaintops, and burn incense on the hills, under oaks, poplars, and terebinths, because their shade is good. Therefore your daughters commit harlotry, and your brides commit adultery.” Hosea 4:11-13
Sin enslaved their hearts to god that were no gods. Sin took them up mountains and through forests. It demanded much of them but yielded only trouble.
Preacher Adrian Rogers once said, “Sin will take you further than you want to go, it’ll take you longer than you want to stay, and it will cost you more than you want to pay.”
Hosea 1-4 is relevant for us believers today. Revelation 18 describes the behavior a harlot people during the end times. This harlot symbolizes God’s people who have joined themselves to the world. They justify the world’s rebellion against God by twisting God’s Word to mean what they want it to say. They bring to Scripture a preconceived idea of what it should it say and explain it that way, rather than looking to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit to reveal its meaning to them. Scripture interprets Scripture so cross-referencing verses with other verses is important. Reading a text out of context is a pretext – putting one’s own spin on it. The Bible points to Jesus as God’s Messiah. Where do you see Jesus in the text?
In Revelation 18, Babylon the Great is symbolic of the world’s rebellious and self-gratifying ways, not a literal city. Christ calls His followers to separate from her to avoid sharing in her plagues. Merchants lament Babylon’s downfall because they grew rich by doing business with her. As Jesus overthrew the tables of the money-changers in Jerusalem’s temple, He will overthrow the denominations and organizations who use His Name to defraud people.
Babylon is a place of sexual immorality. Such behavior is a sign that something is wrong with one’s relationship with God. When we abide in Christ, we don’t sin.
Babylon is “drunk with the blood of the saints.” Though she pretends to be Christ’s Church she destroys those who speak God’s Word accurately and live by it. She is okay with people giving a nod to the Word of God, but she hates saints. Disciples conform their lives to the Word of God. They love God with all their being. No one, no thing is placed higher in their lives than God.
Revelation 18, like Hosea 1-4, warns against the disastrous outcomes of spiritual adultery.
What is the great commandment? It is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. When we are filled with love for God, we do what is best for ourselves, for our family and for our neighbors.
The Lord Jesus has graced me with revelations from the Book of Jeremiah that are helpful to better understanding the relevance of the Law, the Prophets, the Gospel, the Apostles, and the Book of Revelation. I am in the midst of preparing 54 video-recorded presentations, one for each chapter of Jeremiah, plus an intro and conclusion presentation. When the presentations are done, I plan to publish them on YouTube. I also welcome invitations to share these revelations in-person. In the meantime, I publish articles online, intercede for the peoples of the nations, and say to the Lord, “Here am I Lord, send me.”
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