Beloved and blessed, Father, we do thank thee. We are privileged and we are honored by thee to be able to gather together around the throne of grace and lift our hearts with thanksgiving and praise for thy tender mercies and the great salvation that thou has wrought, giving us thine only begotten Son, in whom, by whom and through whom we have our eternal redemption. Father, we thank thee for the greatness of thine heart of love, expressed and fully displayed, when God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son. And we thank thee together for what he means to each of us. We bless thee for the knowledge of salvation, thy grace through faith alone, not of works, lest any man should boast. But then we thank thee too, Father. We have not only been brought into the knowledge of salvation, we have the joy of growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To that end we pray that the Holy Spirit will teach us through thy word, and that our hearts and our consciences will be widely awakened and tuned to receive thy precious holy truth. We pray for one another. As we pray, we think of all thy people. We thank thee for every one born again, thy precious blood redeemed, and who belongs to the family of God and members of the body of Christ. We acknowledge we are united with them in that one body, and members of that one family, the family of the Father. For them all, we pray, varied we know their needs may be today. We especially would remember those that need our prayers and have asked our prayers for their physical welfare. How we ask thee to touch and heal and strengthen, if it be thy will to restore them. We pray for those unable to come to the class because of their infirmity. Be with them there at home, aware they are. We think of the many that are in hospitals and others that may be suffering among thy people. Then greater still, Father, we will share with thee and with our dear Lord his great heart of love and concern for his people. For as we study thy word and have been studying this book of Hosea, and shall continue, we recognize, Father, the brokenness of thine heart over the conditions prevailing amongst thy people. Lord, we know that we are living in similar times. And we pray that the Holy Spirit will remind us of the principles of truth as we study the word, that we may apply our hearts to wisdom and also recognize that even today thy people are in great need. But then we thank thee we know the Lord's coming. We thank thee for the promise, the bright glory that will be his. And there will be Israel when he does come back to the earth. And what will be the portion? The great portion and the eternal portion of we who belong to him as the bride, the church. We thank thee to us. He's the coming bridegroom. And we say with deep feeling, even so, come, Lord Jesus, come. Now open thy word. Instruct our hearts and our minds by the Holy Spirit's power. We ask in Jesus' worthy name. Amen. Amen. Chapter five we come to in the book of Hosea, and you will find on your lesson page, which is page number six, I believe, that's right. You will find the lesson outlined, and if you would like a copy, there's some single copies if you would need one. But you will find the outline on this page as we continue and study the rebuke, as well as the accusations that God brings. against and upon its people. We begin in chapter five. On your lesson sheet, you'll find the first seven verses in the first section of this page that we study. The title of the lesson in this chapter, and may I say, you may note it, that the lesson, particularly on this page, will go into chapter six, down into verse three. Now, the chapter divisions, as we have them in our Bibles, are very convenient. not found in the original writings of the Hebrew Scriptures or even the New Testament. But we will take this division because the first three verses in chapter six can be connected with chapter five. And you hand within the whole section God's rebuke, you find his judgment upon his people, and then the assurance of a future return to the Lord. Verses one through seven we would like to read. God saying through his prophet, Hosea, Hear ye this, O priest, and hearken, ye house of Israel, and give ye ear, O house of the king. The judgment is toward you, because ye have been a snare on Mithba, and a net spread upon Tabor. And the revolters are profound to make slaughter, though I have been a rebuke of them all. I know, Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me. For now, O Ephraim, thou committed hordom, and Israel is defiled. They will not train their doings to turn unto their God. For the spirit of hordom is in the midst of them, and they have not known the Lord. And the pride of Israel does testify to his faith. Therefore, Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity. Judor also shall fall with them. They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the Lord, but they shall not find them. He hath withdrawn himself from them. They have dealt treacherously against the Lord, for they have begotten strange children. Now shall a month devour them with their portion. May the Lord bless the reading of this section. And you will note upon your lesson sheet, first of all, as we introduce the section, in the opening of the verse, verse one particularly, we have a threefold rebuke. It is directed, if you may, note this very carefully. It is directed, first of all, to the priest, as you note the verse. Second, it is directed to the people, embraced by the statement the House of Israel. Third, it is directed to the house of the king. And if you will note very specially, there are three phases or classifications of the people that God directs this message to. And may I point them out in their importance. First, to the religious leaders. Second, to all the people of the land. Third, to the civil leaders, if you please. the king, those who should be in authority for the glory of God reigning in the land and over God's people. Please note them very carefully. I want you to note their order. Priests, the most important leadership in any nation, and particularly in Israel as we well know, was the priesthood. God never ordained that prophets were to be the only ones to lead the people to the knowledge of the Lord. The knowledge of the Lord Jehovah was to be ministered by the priests of Israel to the hearts of God's earthly people. But very significantly and signally the priesthood failed. And may I give you the suggested application that the great failure of Christianity laid first of all in its responsibility at the feet of the leadership, religious leaders if you please. Those who are to impart the truth and the knowledge of God, and I'd like to emphasize and apply it to the present day, can I repeat it? The sad fact that those who stand in the place of leadership, supposedly spiritual leadership, they are the ones that God judges, first of all, and accuses of failure. And that can be applied to the church. I say it lovingly, but I say it truthfully. The failure of the church can be attributed, first of all, in its responsibility to the failure of leadership. Unfaithful men. unsafeful to the truth of God. And may I say earnestly, what a responsibility leaders have to be true, not to the people. First of all, true to the Lord, in leading according to the word of God. By the priest, we saw it in an earlier chapter in chapter four, the people with the learned knowledge of God's way. and of God's truth. And so when you look at the accusation and the rebuke, the first comes against the priesthood. Let me be given the application. Apply it to any local church, to whatever church and group of fellowship of saints you may belong to. The responsibility of that testimony lies greatly and largely upon those who take the place of leadership within it. It's a solemn responsibility. And when you look at the seven letters to the seven churches of Asia, you have the Lord Jesus examining every church, walking in the midst of the candlestick, the lampstand, which is supposedly representing the outward testimony of the Lord, to shine for him in this world. And you'll always find the Lord Jesus at the touch upon the unfaithfulness of those who may be the leaders. God grant it will exercise our hearts, and may I say faithfully, may it enable you as well as me to be praying for faithful leaders of the truth. And then, of course, what they teach or what they fail to teach will affect the people. We saw in the preceding chapter, as priests, so the people. As priests, so the people. My people perish for lack of knowledge. And by the priest, the knowledge of the Lord was to be ministered from its word. And, beloved, one can recognize the effect spreads upon the whole testimony in its outward character. Then also, if you please, the authority of the king in Israel, the authority of the king in Judah, is the case may have been. The testimony of God, Jehovah rested upon the authority of the kings in Israel and Judah also. But then you can group them together. The failure of the priesthood, the failure of the priesthood, and the failure of civil authority. And if I may give an application, you can use that for this country, if you please. As a nation. The failure of God's truth. I received a communication just this past week that Madeline O'Hare has filed a petition with the FCC to take all radio ministry of Christian teaching away from the radio. Well, that's the trend. That's the trend. And then you can recognize not only does it affect the people, even the authorities, the civil authorities. And, beloved, that was the climax that caused God to turn away from his people, as we shall see. But read on, as you'll know, what he goes on to say. For judgment is ready for you. Judgment is ready for you. And one may recognize that judgment was ready, disastrous. And he goes on to say, because he had been a snare of Mimistah and a net spread upon Tabor. Now, these two places are very significant to realize the width or the greatness of the departure. Mitzpah was on the east side of Jordan, and Tabor was on the west side of Jordan. And the tribes of Israel, the ten tribes particularly, were both on the west as well as the east side of Jordan. And what God is signifying, the whole territory of Israel, the ten tribes, had been affected and snared by the failure of the priests, as well as the failure of the civil authorities to represent God as kings. And thus we can certainly recognize, note your paragraph on your lesson sheet, God gives the reason for this judgment, idolatrous worship at Mitzvah, as well as upon Mount Tabor. And Jewish traditions state, please note this reference, I found in some writings, that apostate Jews waited for the pious Israelites at Mithba and murdered them when returning from worshiping at Jerusalem. Now let me give an explanation of that. You may remember that when the tribes divided and the twelve tribes split, two tribes were Judah and Benjamin, ten were the other tribes in the northern section of Israel and Judah in the southern section. But Jerusalem was the place of worship. Now amongst the many people that were in Israel, the ten tribes, there were some unquestionably. Who knew Jerusalem was the place where they should worship? It was God's center. It was there the priesthood was in operation at the temple and so on. But what did Jeroboam, who was the first king of Israel, when they divided, do? He set up a calf up in Bethel and one down in Dan, and thus he set up a new system of worship, an idolatrous system. He set up a false priesthood. And he set up a false system of worship. But there were some in Israel that without question of doubt were pious and godly enough to go to Jerusalem. And God had decreed that was the place they must worship. And yet those apostate Jews would meet them and wait for them as they came across Jordan and to Mitzvah. And they would slaughter them. All beloved one can recognize. And yet we fail to realize and take it in deeply. How far the apostasy can spread to the degradation of even taking the lives of fellow citizens in Israel who knew their place was the worship of Jerusalem. But God noticed it. And he said, because of this judgment is coming. And then as you go to verse two, you recognize, he goes on to say, Those that revolt, they are profound to make slaughter, though I've been a rebuke of them all. And God didn't forget it. Now go to verse three, if you please, to verse seven. He tells that he sees, he saw it all, and he records it. I know, Ephraim, and Israel not hid from me. My beloved, how we can recognize, I wonder if you remember in our opening remarks when we began the study of the book, We made the reference to the fact God is holy, God is just, and we shall see before the end of the book, and at the end of the book, God is love. The attributes of God, they are unchangeable. He never changes. I am the Lord God. I change not. But how man fails, and even believers can fail to realize the holiness of God relative to sin amongst his people. And here you find God saying, I know them. Then their way is not hid from me. Ephraim, thou commitest hoarder, and Israel is defiled. May I say this was but spiritual adultery, spiritual idolatry, as they worship the idols, associated with all the idol worship, the licentious practices of wickedness and immorality. And God knew it. and it was not heard from him. My, I think of those words that Hagar in the wilderness learned. In Genesis sixteen, when, thinking that she would despair of life, as well as her boy whom she had hid under a bush, she might not see him die. And the angel of the Lord appeared to her. Remember what she said, Thou God seest me. And beloved, would to God be realized, the eye of God is ever upon his own. upon all that takes place amongst its own as well as the creatures of the earth everywhere. Nothing is hid from him. There's darkness and the light, said the psalmist in Psalm, Psalm one thirty-nine. They're both alike to thee. And beloved, oh, how we need to realize God's looking. I think of the story I read for dear old black man. He was going to do what's come and he was done by many of them in the past. He was a good chicken thief. And he went to the coop to seal some chicken with his boy. And he looked this way and he looked that way and he looked everywhere to see there was no one coming. And then his lad looked at him and said, Dad, you forgot to look up. And I guess we do forget to look up, don't we? Thou God see us, man. And beloved, look. Now let me make a comment. More important is what God sees than what you see and what I see. You and I may see things that are not pleasing to the Lord, but He sees everything. And well, may we say with the psalmist, Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way or way of pain and grief in me and lead me in the way of everlasting. And God continues to say, They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God. They don't even plan to turn unto their God. How solemn. For the spirit of Orden is in the midst of them, and they have not known the Lord. Can I solemnly reflect with you? God speaking to his own earthly people. A nation that he delivered out of Egypt, that he regained by the blood of the Pashtun lands. that he brought across the Red Sea, that he led through the wilderness and planted them in the land, a promise that he had given. And now he has to say to them, You don't even know me, the one who brought you into these blessings. Solomon is the accusation and great is the rebuke, the spirit of boredom, the spirit of adultery. And my beloved, let me not neglect to emphasize that that spiritual adultery can be found amongst the profession of God's earthly people upon the earth. In other words, unfaithful to the person of Christ, unfaithful to him. And when you think, for instance, how many deny his virgin birth? How many deny his deity? How many deny his perfect humanity? How many deny his perfect atoning sacrifice? How many deny that He's risen and alive and ascended and at the right hand of God? How many even deny that He's coming again? Beloved, please let me say that spirit of adultery, spiritual adultery, and departure from the truth of God prevails in the world today. But God sees it. And one can recognize judgment is coming. And let me repeat these words from... I Peter chapter three, I believe. Judgment must begin at the house of God. And here it is with Israel. Later God judged the nations that surrounded them. Later God judged the nations that oppressed them. But his judgment began first with his own people. And beloved, let you and I recognize we who constitute the testimony of God's house upon the earth, which is the church. The Lord Jesus judges and watches. And if you read the seven letters to the seven churches, he accuses, he rebukes, as well as threatens accordingly as it is fit. And so you can find God judges his people, first of all. And then as you go to verse five, The pride of Israel does testify to its faith. Therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity. And here's the solemn fact. God now brings in Judah. Shall also fall with them. You know one of the sad facts is this. We shall see it. Judah did not take the lesson from the condition and the judgment that God placed upon Israel. The ten tribes. But it was a solemn judgment. object lesson that Judah should realize what happened to what happened to Israel the ten tribes would happen to them as they failed unfortunately as we shall see it the tribe of Judah and Benjamin combined sometimes the exalted they were glad to see the people of Israel taken away we shall see why as we go down the chapter But then we read in verse six, they shall go with their flocks, with their herds to seek the Lord, but they shall not find him. He hath withdrawn himself from them. Now, I want you to note something very remarkable here. They will have their herds, they will have their flocks, and one can recognize the very things they were requiring for sacrifice to Jehovah. the flocks and their herds, and they could outwardly seek the Lord. But, says the Lord, they're not going to find me. I'm going to withdraw myself from them. Now let me give you the thought. Historically, this is indeed happened. The ten tribes of Israel that were first scattered and taken into Assyrian captivity have never been restored to their land. And to their divine provided approach to Jehovah. By sacrifice. Let me go a little further. When Titus, the Roman general, destroyed Jerusalem in AD seven-eighths, since that time God's earthly people, even of Judah and Benjamin, never have had a sacrifice to approach Jehovah. Now let me put it together. What has happened? God has withdrawn himself from them. Now when you read the Psalms, which I'm sure you may often do, you will find language by the Psalmist, acknowledging God has departed from his people. How long, O Lord? In fact, you have the prophet saying again and again, as they saw the departure, as they saw God's judgment to come upon his earthly people. How long, O Lord? How long? How long? And outside is the fact? God withdraws this. Now, let me give you an illustration of it. Even greater. The Lord, let me quote first John chapter one. Let me quote verse one. Now, chapter one and verse eleven, rather. Let me just quote it. For in the Gospel of John, you find the Lord Jesus presented from the very beginning as a rejected Christ, the rejected Messiah. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. And what did the Lord Jesus do? He came to them. They rejected him, and he withdrew himself. He withdrew himself. They haven't been able to find him. They're groping in their blindness that's happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles come in. And what a sad commentary. God withdrawing himself from his own earthly people. They may seek me, but they will not find me. Why? Verse seven goes on to say, they've dealt treacherously against who? The Lord? They have begotten strength children. Now shall a month, in a certain time, they will be devoured. They will devour them with their portions. And God undoubtedly disdainifies a specific time of definite, complete judgment which came. Now as we look at verse eight, you notice on your lesson sheet, as we look at the next section, verse eight through fifteen, God's judgment is announced. And particularly it is announced also to the Judah might take notice. Let me read your paragraph on number two, section number two on your sheet, paragraph A. God's trumpet or alarm announcing judgment. Verses eight and nine. Gibia and Rama, situated on the northern boundary of Benjamin, will be no remedy and no escape. Let me read the words. Blow ye the cornets in Gibia. and the trumpet in Rama, cry aloud at Beth Avon, and after thee, O Benjamin, Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebukes. Among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be. Now here you have. God announcing, as it were, with the trumpet. And perhaps you may have often noticed, we will, God willing, if we get to the prophecy of Joel, the next one in line, you find the reference to the blowing of a trumpet. And in this particular case, it's in reference to the coming of judgment. And as it is thus blown, as God speaks of it as such, he speaks of it to be done in Gidea, and may I point out to you, Gibbium was in the highlands of Judah, not in Israel, among the times Christ, but it was the city of Benjamin. In fact, it was the city where Saul, the first king of Israel, came from. And then you have the trumpet blown in Rama. And that was without question of doubt on, that was on the border of Israel, of Israel and Judah. Cry aloud at Beth Avon, after thee, O Benjamin. And now let me point out something regarding these places, and particularly as we read these words. And we thank God we see the borders of Israel and the borders of Judah combined by these names, Gibeah and Rama. But it goes on to say, cry aloud at Beth Avon. Now this is significant. The name of Beth Avon after the old Benjamin. And one can recognize a reference to Benjamin. who is part of the tribe of Judah in the division. But Beth Avon, Beth, the word Beth, whenever you read the word Beth in your Old Testament, or that form of the word, whatever it may be, Beth in the Hebrew means house. House. You remember Jacob, back in chapter twenty-eight, of the book of Genesis, when he laid his head on that pillar of stone for the night, and he dreamed that dream, of the ladder stretched from earth to heaven, and God above it, the angels of God ascending up and down upon the ladder. And God spoke to him. And he arose. And when he awoke, that morning, he was full of fear. He would have given it to him, and God had promised that he would have it. But he stole it, as it were, in his own deceitful manner, aided, unfortunately, by his mother. So he was unhappy. But that place, according to the scripture in Genesis twenty eight was called Luz, L-U-Z at the first, and he changed it to Bethel. And Bethel means, Beth means house, and El in the Hebrew means God, and it became the house of God. Beth El, Beth El, wherever you find the priest, El or the abbot, whatever, whichever way you come, El means God, and Beth means house. And when you look at the history of Israel, Bethel, Oh, that meant the house of God. And you will find also, Jacob was not happy in fellowship with God until he got back to Bethel after many years. And when he wanted to get back to God, he always went back to Bethel. But Bethel had become, not Bethel, it had become Beth Avon. And here you find that being Beth Avon means Instead of being the house of God, it had become the house of idolatry or the house of vanity. Oh, beloved, can I? Now, please, let me make a present application. And I quote the words of First Timothy, chapter three, verse fifteen. Paul writing to his son in the faith, Timothy said, These things lie thy unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly, that thou mayest know how thou order'st to behave. or to conduct thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and the ground of the truth. The church is the house of the living God. Thus church is the house of God. In other words, it's his habitation. Bethel is the place where God dwelt amongst his people, where they could learn of his presence and enjoy fellowship with him. But what were they doing? They were worshipping idols in that same very place. Can I say very solemnly, one wonders in our church circles today, everywhere, do we honor it as the house of God? His habitation? I remember in my early Christian days, Going back to my boyhood, teens as well as early twenties, we had an old hymn that we sang in our prayer meeting, began with these words, I'll just quote the opening words, God is here and that's a blessing. I want to say frankly, we have little consciousness of God's presence when we come together, unfortunately. Paul, writing to the Corinthians, corrected them for their misbehavior, shinned the testimony of the assembly of saints there in Corinth. He said, if an unbeliever comes in, he will not say, God is in the midst of you of a truth. I don't want to point out what God is saying. I came to dwell in your midst. Israel. That was one of the promises. You remember when they were delivered out of Egypt? Remember chapter fifteen of the book of Exodus? They sang the first song you have in the word of God on the ground of their redemption and God's power saving them from Pharaoh and all the Egyptian hosts. And they made a promise. We'll build a habitation, a house for the Lord. Where you can dwell in Al-Mas. And may I remind you God never had dwelt on the earth up to that time. In the Garden of Eden, he just visited Adam and Eve. And through the patriarchal age, he just visited the saints. But when, on the ground of redemption, he formed a nation of Israel, they built him a house. And he took his presence up there. You come to the end of the book of Exodus, the tabernacle is finished. And what happened? The cloud of glory of God's Shekinah presence filled it. Likewise Solomon's temple, when that was erected in First Gate Chapter A. And I want to tell you very frankly, to make the house of God a house of anony, is it is great? And I say it in love, but I say it firmly. Would to God we have the consciousness of the holiness of God's presence? I think it's some of my old Episcopalian friends. I never forget one dear old brother that had the joy of helping in the things of the Lord. He had been Episcopalian. If I knew the Church of England, man. But I tell you one thing that he venerated, when he heard the saints cutting up in the building, he objected. He said, you should write over the wall, God is in his holy temple. Let all the earth keep silent. Well, he had a point. Beloved, when we meet, you'll be recognized where the house of God is his people, and God is in the midst. How would you act if you went to visit President Reagan up in the White House? You wouldn't cut up, would you? No. We honor them because of their personage, their dignity, of office, or person as the case may be. And oh, beloved, let me say, Jehovah was Israel's God. And Bethel had become Beth Avon, the house of idols. Can you wonder then that God goes on to say, please blow the trumpet. Now I've known in verse nine, Ephraim shall be death, and in the day of rebuke. And among the tribes of Israel, have I made known that which shall surely be? I'm not going to recant. Judgment is coming, and it will. Now if you please note, as you go on to verse nine, you'll find that even the princes of Judah become subject to the divine wrath of God. The princes of Judah were like them that remove the boundary or the bounds. Therefore I will pour out my wrath upon them like water. Now I want you to know something very special here. As God mentioned, Judah, he has a specific reason. Now the word bound means the boundary of Judah and Israel had been set by God. In fact, all the tribes, they were placed in their particular tribal position as God lauded it out in the book of Joshua. And I want you to note something. If you've got your Bible, I've got a reference there. Go to Deuteronomy chapter twenty-seven and verse seventeen. I want you to note something because it's in reference to what is in our verse. what Judah was doing in relation to Israel. Deuteronomy chapter twenty seven and verse seventeen. It was a command by Moses and the responsibility given through Moses by God to his people. And in verse seventeen the prophet declares, Moses declares this responsibility. May I read the words very carefully? No. Verse seventeen. Now let me give you this thought to get the background of chapter twenty seven and twenty eight of the book of Deuteronomy. God is giving instruction to Moses when they get in the land that six tribes of Israel were to go on one mountain called Mount Eba and that the other six tribes were to go on Mount Gerizim across the valley in between was the valley. And what you read in chapter twenty seven are the curses that were to be pronounced from Mount Ebal upon the land, if the people were disobedient to God. And then in chapter twenty-eight, you'll find the blessings that God promised, and they were pronounced on Mount Gerizim. And when Joshua and the people came into the land and conquered it, they gathered together at that spot, and from Mount Ebal, the tribe, pronounced the curses. From Mount Gerizim the others pronounced the blessings. Now amongst the curses, note these words of verse seventeen of chapter twenty seven. Cursed be he that removeth his neighbors landmarks, and all the people shall say amen. Meaning, so be it. And it was a curse upon them if they removed the landmarks that God had set for their tribal inheritance. Now let me say frankly, when those of Benjamin and Judas saw that Israel, whom they often aided, the other ten tribes and fought with them, were taken into captivity, they took the advantage and started taking over some of the property, the landmarks. They trespassed the Word of God. They went over the boundaries. You have in the Book of Proverbs, have I got a reference there? I won't turn to it. But in Proverbs twenty-two and chapter twenty-three also, remove not the old landmark. And may I say very lovingly, I am ashamed that some of the great landmarks of Christianity are being removed. Being removed. It brings God's displeasure. We mentioned some of them regarding the person of Christ, the work of Christ, and many other things that he mentioned. And God says to Judah, please note the words again in verse ten, The princes of Judah were like them also that removed the boundaries. Therefore I will pour out my wrath upon them like water. And then he goes on to say about Ephraim. Ephraim is oppressed, broken in judgment, because he willingly walked. after the commandment. Therefore will I be unto Ephraim, as a moth, and to the house of Judah, as rottenness. Oh, beloved, what an attitude for God. I've got a reference. It's not on our lesson sheet. But turn with me, please. I don't think I've got it on the lesson. Yes, I do. Psalm chapter thirty-nine and verse twelve. There's a reference in Psalm thirty-nine, or is it verse eleven? Verse eleven. psalm thirty nine and verse eleven strange expression it is and an illustration how God will be in chapter thirty in chapter thirty nine and verse eleven and you have the spirit of God writing through the psalmist regarding what God would do and what God would be like chapter thirty nine and verse eleven here are the words that the psalmist writes when thou with rebukes doth correct man for iniquity Thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth. Surely every man, his vanity. There you can recognize, consume his beauty away like what? You know, a moth doesn't live very long, doesn't it? It's a little creature that doesn't last very long. And his beauty is destroying quickly. And so what the Spirit of God said. When they go away from the Lord, He will destroy them like a moth. And one can recollect. Let me read the paragraph, please. Letter B on your letter sheet. Note the second sentence. The princes of Judah, instead of weeping over Ephraim's calamity, rejoiced at the removal of Israel, because it would remove the boundary line and increase their land. And wrath was in store for Judah. To Ephraim, the Lord would be as a moth to destroy. and to the house of Judah, God would be as rottenness. Now we go to verse thirteen, if you please, and note with me as we follow on. God brings his judgment upon Ephraim and Israel and Judah, relative to Judah's they see the wound of Ephraim. When Ephraim saw his sickness, Judah saw his wound, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian and sent to King Jerem. Yet could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound. Let me note your lesson sheet, please. We might look at it under paragraph C. Then Israel, now what God is saying, instead of turning to me, when they saw their sickness, when they realized their predicament, instead of coming to me, Israel turned to the Assyrian for help, and King Jerob. But there was no help. as verse thirteen says he could not heal you he could not cure you of your wound beloved can I suggest a principle please can I suggest a principle you know excuse me but it's most unfortunate that when there's trouble and difficulty we have the tendency to turn to the help of man gone in the prophets or in the psalmist's words, says, vain is the house of man. My hope, said the psalmist, comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. And when Israel was in their difficulties, when it became apparent that they were facing judgment, who did they turn to for help? The Assyrians, the world, the powers around them, instead unto God, but since the Lord he can heal you, never will he cure you. And my beloved, let me say very frankly, when it comes to conditions that prevail amongst God's people that are contrary to his word, it takes the Lord to cure it. I can't cure it. It's the Lord that must be the healer. It's the Lord that can correct the situation. It's the Lord only to whom we must turn. in whatever problem and difficulty that we face. Seek ye the Lord. And that certainly must be, and can only be our deliverance from the perilous that we face. And may I say very frankly, I am fully aware. Well, maybe I should say fully, but I'm more aware than ever there are more difficulties facing the people of God today than ever in the history of the church. They are not only local, they are worldwide. in their character. And the difficulties of the path are such. To whom shall we go? I think of Peter saying, bless him for saying it, by divine inspiration, as God led him to Jesus. As Jesus looked at the disciples when many were leaving him, and asked, Will ye also go away? To whom shall we go, said Peter. Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we are sure that thou art the Son of the living God. To whom can we go? My beloved, I tell you very frankly, we who are God's people don't realize that our testimony for Him depends on Him, not upon us. Him. And Him alone. May I say again, I don't care who the brother and sister might be that you may look up to, you better look beyond them. The Lord. The Lord. What have we been reading? They called not upon me, said the Lord. They didn't turn to me. Now they turned to outside help. Oh, wicked God that we would declare and manifest our dependence upon God. Now know what he goes on to say in verse fourteen. For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion. And as a young lion to the house of Judah, I even, I will care and go away. I will take away. And none shall rescue him. I will go and return to my place so they acknowledge their offense and seek my faith in their affliction. They will seek me. Oh, beloved, one of the saddest commentaries. Let me link it up, please. You've got your Bible. Go to John chapter eight, if you please. The eighth chapter in the Gospel of John. I want you to know what the Lord Jesus, this portion of John, five, six, seven, and eight. Oh, so much is spoken by him to the religious leaders of that day, the Pharisees. But I just want to quote one verse. In John chapter eight, and I believe it, verse twenty-one. We read the Lord Jesus saying, If I may begin in verse twenty-one, Note what the Lord Jesus said, As he had been speaking in the temple, they would have liked to laid hands on him, but no man dared, for his hour was not come. But in verse twenty-one, Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, ye shall seek me, and ye shall die in your sin. Whither I go, ye cannot come. They didn't understand what he meant. But I want to bring out again. He came unto his own. And the spiritual leaders who should have recognized it, but may I point out to you, these spiritual leaders, nominally, theoretically, mechanically, they knew the scriptures. They could tell Herod where the Messiah was to be born. They could tell from the reading of Daniel when he was to be born. They could tell from the reading of Isaiah how he was to be born. But they had no use for him. He came unto his own. His own received him. And he says, I'm going away. I'm going to leave you. You'll die in your sin. And where I am. Ye cannot come. The offense was great. May I say lovingly, if God Jehovah was offended by Israel and Judah long before, how much greater was his offense when they took his dear son and rejected him and named him outside the gates of Jerusalem on the Roman ship? Ah, beloved, yes, he went away. But now may I also bring out those precious words when the Lord in the upper room said to his own, If I go away, I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am, there ye may be also. Oh, am I not glad I'm going to be where he is? Oh, the concept. He came unto his own, and his own received him not but to as many as received him. To them gave he the power, the right, the privilege, the authority, to be called the sons of the children of God, even unto them, that believe on his name. And so Jehovah said to Israel, I'll go to my place, I'll return there, till you acknowledge your offense, till you seek my faith, and in your afflictions, Now may I translate that, literally, when they come into the Great Tribulation, they must be very near it. They're going to seek me. They're going to seek my faith. They're going to acknowledge their offense. They'll look upon him whom they have pierced. They'll confess he was wounded for our transgressions and so on, probably calling Isaiah fifty-three particularly, and that they only... And then they will say, now, let me please repeat, we've been emphasizing it, the whole prophecy. All the prophecies emphasize it. In the midst of judgment, there is mercy. And the day is coming of future restoration. Now you go to chapter six, and you see it. It's right before us. As you look at chapter six, verse one, two, three, please note it very carefully. Our pressure is to recognize it at the foot of your page on your lesson sheet. the future return and the blessing of Israel. Let me read the words. Come, let us return unto the Lord, for he is torn. He will heal us. He is smitten. He will bind us up. Will you look at that reference in Deuteronomy chapter thirty-two? Deuteronomy chapter thirty-two and thirty-nine. Oh, the amazing thing that Moses long ago literally quoted these words. Deuteronomy chapter thirty-two. And I think verse twenty-nine. And what a joy to realize God fulfills this precious word. And here we find the word that God declares in verse thirty-nine, thirty-nine, rather, thirty-two, thirty-nine. Chapter thirty-nine. Note the word. See now that I, even I am He. There is no God with me. I kill. I make alive. I wound and I heal. Neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand. Ah, Israel's God. How they fail to realize this character. But as you look at verse one of chapter six in Isaiah, you have their confession and you can recognize they say, He's torn. He will heal us. He has bitten. He will bind us up. And then after two days, Will he revive us? In the third day he will raise us up. We shall live in his sight. And then shall we know. If we follow on to know the Lord, his going forth is prepared as the morning, and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter informer rain unto the earth. Let me read the last paragraph on your lesson sheet. Here we have the future return and the restoration of Israel, the repentant remnant. In verse one they will express what Moses said in Deuteronomy. In verse two we see they will be spiritually and nationally, though they have been spiritually and nationally dead for two days. On the third day they will be raised. There's a reference to Psalm ninety in verse four. Remember Moses wrote back Psalm saying a day where the Lord is as a thousand years and a thousand years as a day. And I want you to think of something. Surely Israel has been dead two days in literally for two thousand years. There's not been any national recognition of them as a nation until recently. And what a wonderful thing to read. What do you have? Just to remind you of this. Putting out the Lord Jesus three days and three nights in the grave and the third day he rose again. You've got a precious significant suggestion underlying these words. of the death and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And our beautiful is the symbol. After two days, He will revive us again. And that day is certainly coming, dear. And when that day comes, let me read the paragraph through. In verse two, they've been spiritually and nationally dead two days, and on the third day will be raised. And verse three declares their future blessing, spiritual and physical, Like Jonah was given up by the great fish the third day, so shall come for Israel a third day of life and glory. And Jonah was in the belly of the great fish three days and three nights. So shall the Lord's Son of Man be in the heart of the earth. And you've got the most beautiful type of Israel in Jonah, cast into the midst of the nations and swallowed up by the nation. But there's one thing the nations have never been able to do. They may have swallowed them up and never could eat them up. They couldn't digest the Jews. He sticks in their cross. And he does today. But the day is coming. And may I point out to you, when God spoke to the fish, the fish obeyed him. And you'll find everywhere, when God deals with any of his creatures in creation, to tell, telling them to do what he wants, they obey him immediately. They do better than men. We're stubborn. We have to be chastened. But they obey his voice. And my beloved, you've got to confess. Ah, dear President, thank God for him. But I tell you, finally, he's not going to make peace in Jerusalem. He's not going to make peace in Israel. No Arab king, no Arab ruler, no any other ruler in the world is going to make peace in Jerusalem. Absolute folly cannot be done. God's going to be the only one who will do it. And he will. In that coming day of sincere repentance, there will be restoration. And in that day, the godly remnant that are restored will follow the Lord. May I point out before we close? No, verse three. Then shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord. Let me stop for a moment right there. There's something for you and me in those words. I believe in the world today, I may have put it in this category, in the midst of the Christian profession, we've got two kinds of Christians. We've got half-hearted ones and whole-hearted ones. The whole-hearted are in the minority. The half-hearted are in the majority. But if you want to know the Lord, we shall know if we follow on to know the Lord. The whole-hearted believer will be occupied with that passionate desire to know the Lord. And follow him. And my fellow, please let me say, it's knowing the Lord. Knowing the Lord. And let me remind you what the prophet wrote elsewhere regarding in that coming day of millennial glory. They shall not say, know the Lord, for everyone will know the Lord. What a day that will be. All men know the Lord. Know the Lord. Today, you better get acquainted with computer business. And all the modern science. And scientific. Ideologies that they may have. My beloved. I think of a dear old saint. He was old William R. Newell. In fact. A member of his saint in Charlotte. When we had him together. Had some ministry for him. And he's talking about the millennium. He said in the millennium. It's going to be back to the log cabin. And the Bible. And it will. But listen my beloved. Believe the law. Let me exhort you. Know the Lord today. We shall know if we follow on to know the Lord. In that day Israel will. But may I say, I'm glad I don't have to wait for that day. Today, if we will not harden our hearts, we can know the Lord. And may I give you the entire plan, the Christian's occupation and business is to know the Lord. know the Lord. How much do you know him? How much do you know him? Hear through his precious word by the Holy Spirit, may I quote the words of dear Peter, grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So may you and I today not wait for Israel's restoration, but even in our hearts today, individually, know the Lord. Shall we pray? Beloved and blessed Father, we thank you for the knowledge of the Lord Jesus. We say with thy dear servant Paul, O that I may know him, the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering.