Presents
Pamphlet #8074
Hosea chapter 14
This is it, the Epilogue of Hosea bringing forth the final message, even the salvation message directly from our Father to His children He loves so dearly.
It is a national call as well as an individual call!
The story of Israel's iniquity and their fall has been eloquently and vividly portrayed in this Book of Hosea as if acted out on stage so that we can "see and hear" in our mind's eye and understand in our hearts the feelings and emotions of our Father and the enormous love He has for His children who, despite His bountiful blessings, almost totally ignore His Word thereby forsaking Him. This hurts Him deeply for not only does He long for their love, He must now bring chastisement upon them that they might reap the consequences of their deeds so that they may "see the light" and return unto Him.Hosea 14:1
O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.
The whole story is actually contained right in the meanings of names of the characters:
The Good News is that His children can return unto Him now, before the sands of time for this flesh age run out of the "hour" glass.Hosea = "Salvation", the husband and the Father
Gomer = "Completion", the wife who becomes an adulteress showing the fullness of Israel's sin of idolatry.
Jezreel = "A play on the name Israel and an homonym meaning scattering and sowing", showing Israel scattered and sown among the nations while losing his identity. He would eventually be sown in his own land.
Lo-Ruhamah = "Not compassionate", Israel as the unpitied one.
Lo-Ammi = "Not my people", Israel belonging to another.
Ammi = "My people", Israel returned unto Him.
Ruhamah = "Pitied one", Lo-Ruhamah's new name.(Reference pg. 1223 in Companion Bible)
Here is how to do it:
[2] Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto Him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.
Then promise to cut out the "bull" and praise Him with your lips instead of kissing the "golden calves" of men's traditions.
Here are three bulls to get rid of:
1. The Assyrian, representing the false messiah, cannot "save you" in anyway, i.e. neither nationally nor individually, neither physically nor spiritually. Hosea 13:4[3] Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.
..."There is no Savior beside me!"
2. The reference to "ride upon horses" is a from to Deut. 17:16 meaning do not trust in man's armies for deliverance.
3. Recognize and get rid of "man made" religion and traditions which much of churchianity has become. The traditions of men are pure "apostasy" and will lead millions of our brothers and sisters to worship Satan when he comes as the spurious Jesus! So "Take His (God's) Words!", not man's (vs. 2), and go to Him!
The "fatherless" are the orphaned children of Israel and those who have forsaken His Word and therefore cut themselves off from their heavenly Father.
Israel's "backsliding" does not refer to their flesh sins (i.e. adultery) but rather to their "apostasy" which is "idolatry"! You see, a person can have good morals and not be an adulterer while at the same time being a "spiritual whore"! Therefore, always remember what Israel's great sin is from Hosea 10:8! It is their Beth-avens,Hosea 14:4
I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.
their high places of worship, i.e. their churches which should be Beth-els (houses of God) instead of Beth-avens (houses of emptiness, i.e. void of His Word)! It is precisely because of the lack of the knowledge and understanding of His Word that the majority of Christians will fall into the great apostasy of the end time and worship Satan as if he were God. 2 Thes. 2:3 "Let no man deceive you by any means (Take His Words instead): for that day (the return of Christ) shall not come, except (until) there come a falling away (apostasy) first, and that man of sin (Satan, the false-christ) be revealed, the son of perdition;"
If there is one comforting thing we have seen from this great Book of Hosea it is that our Father is very willing to forgive the adultery/idolatry of Gomer and take her back into His loving arms. By the way, if He is so willing and able to forgive idolatry, the violation of the #1 Commandment of those 10 etched in stone, do you not think He is willing and able to forgive the lesser sin of the flesh, i.e. adultery? All that is required is repentance, the "return" spoken of in Hos. 14:1 and the healing and love of Hosea 14:4 takes over! Of course, without repentance a person remains an adulterer! So do not EVER let some preacher type tell you Christ cannot or does not forgive the sin of adultery and a person cannot remarry. You "Take His Word" for it, not some ignorant man's!backsliding = meshuwbah, mesh-oo-baw', Hebrew 4878; or meshubah, mesh-oo-baw'; from Hebrew 7725 (shuwb); apostasy :- backsliding, turning away.
The next three verses, 5 thru 7, describe the beauty (as a Lily) and splendor (as a tall cedar of Lebanon) and abundance (fruitfulness) of Israel following his redemption, which is yet future at the return of Christ. However, for those who are "wise" (vs. 9), and for those who have "eyes to see and ears to hear" (vs. 8) the words of Hosea, these verses apply right now, this day!
Our Father speaks:
The "dew" is a reference to the Song of Moses in Deut. 32:2 "My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:"Hosea 14:5
I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.
Also, did you know that the cedar grows its roots as deeply as its height, so that they are immovable? That is why God uses the analogy of the cedars of Lebanon to describe His children, because they were the tallest and most beautiful cedars in the world. So the question is: "How deeply are you rooted in the Word of God? Like a cedar of Lebanon? Do you stand tall with our Father, immovable as those cedars?
[6] His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.
The exquisite wine of Lebanon was celebrated for its sweet aroma and delightful flavor.[7] They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.
The Good News is that Ephraim will one day have his "Ears unclogged" and his "Eyes shall be opened" to HEAR Him and SEE Him [for at the last trump all are changed into spiritual bodies (1 Cor. 15:51-52)]. And they will exclaim and shake their heads at their idolatry even as those who have had their eyes opened and their ears unclogged do shake their heads at the foolish traditions of men they once followed, like bringing Ishtar and her sexual fertility symbols into their Beth-els, and believing fairy tales about snakes and apples, and that God would hideously torture and fry people like bacon forever (when the Word says they shall "perish", as in spiritual capital punishment, i.e. the second death, and be no more!!!), and death defying fly away bye-bye rapture stories spawned by a mentally sick woman in the year 1830 in Glasgow, Scotland, and perpetuated to this very day by the Biblically illiterate preachers and ministers Christ specifically warned us about in Mat. 24 and Mark 13!Hosea 14:8
Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard Him, and observed Him:
Yes, on that great day their eyes will be opened and THEN they will discover that the word "apple" is not even in the Book of Genesis and they will understand the great lesson of the Garden of Eden: If you eat and digest the bad fruit produced by the bad tree in the midst of the garden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the box-tree, that "te-ashshur" of Ezk. 31:3 who was in the Garden of Eden and who shall soon appear claiming to be Jesus Christ, the Tree of Life, then you will surely DIE, spiritually. You see, there is only ONE TREE OF LIFE, and He is Jesus Christ, the Word of God. FROM HIM, that Evergreen, Everlasting Tree, is from whom you take your fruit!
Hear it directly from the LORD if you have ears to hear Him:
From which tree do you get your fruit? Are you really wise enough to know? (Hint: It is a root question.)[8 ...continued] I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found.
Consider the next question most carefully!
So what is the answer to the question: "Who is wise?" and "Who is prudent, i.e. who has understanding?" There is no guesswork required to know the answer for it is given in the selfsame verse. The wise are the "just", the "zadok", God's elect who "walk in the ways of the LORD" because they believe Him and they love Him! They are the cedars of Lebanon who have cast deep roots in the Word of God and in His sight have grown beautiful as the Lily and tall and strong as the cedar. They are watered daily by the dew (Hos. 14:5) and nourished by the "daily bread", the manna from heaven, which they gather daily from the Word of God and consume it all.[9] Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.
Wake up America! The hour is late. The alarm is sounding and it is now time to make your choice, knowing that it is your loving Father's desire that you return to Him and choose life, even life which lasts forever. He has told you how in this Book of Salvation. The choice is now yours and He is calling you!
AmenDeut. 30:19
I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
To study the Bible is the noblest of all pursuits; to understand it, the highest of all goals.
We pray that with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, you accomplish both.