This episode of Through the Bible explores the deep, sometimes sobering lessons found in the book of Hosea. With Dr. J. Vernon McGee guiding us, we delve into the vulnerabilities that prosperity can bring, drawing parallels to contemporary society as we grapple with the seductive pull of materialism. The episode offers a timely reminder of the consequences when a nation deviates from its covenant with God, with historical references that shed light on our spiritual path today. Join us as we continue our five-year expedition through the Bible, understanding who we are in our blessings and the responsibility it
The foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith.
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Prosperity blinded Israel. And as we’ll learn, our teacher Dr. J. Vernon McGee believed America’s prosperity has also led us to a false sense of security. Thanks for joining us on Through the Bible for our five-year journey through the entire Word of God. I’m Steve Schweitz, your host, welcoming you aboard the Bible bus as we pick up Dr. McGee’s study in Hosea at chapter 8, verse 1. Now, as you find your place in God’s Word, here’s an introduction that Dr. McGee recorded specifically for this section of Scripture.
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Now we’ve come again today to a very solemn section, actually, of Hosea. And you have noted already that not only the major prophets but the minor prophets all had a word of warning to the nation Israel that since they were so particularly blessed of God, and had the knowledge of him that they were held more responsible than other nations. And so when we see them here departing from God, going into idolatry, that judgment is bound to come. And of course, some of us wonder today how long the United States can continue in a godless manner and have the knowledge of God. Every hotel room has a Gideon Bible in it. Every motel across the country. There’s no place in the world blessed with the Word of God like we are. You can’t turn on the radio as you ride today without coming across a Christian station that’s broadcasting a gospel message. And yet, with all of that, America continues on into the night. And the Lord is in the habit of judging. as well as loving and blessing people. And when they turn from him, as we have, why, judgment is bound to come.
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Even if judgment is coming, let’s not forget that God has given us a window of opportunity to share his word with the world. And the really great news is that people are responding. So join us in praying more people come to know Jesus while they still can. To learn how you can pray with us and support the ministry in fulfilling Dr. McGee’s vision of taking the whole word to the whole world, you can visit ttb.org forward slash pray or call. 1-800-65-BIBLE, or just click on the Donate button in our app. Let’s pray. Gracious Heavenly Father, thank you for your word that changes us, that softens our hearts to receive your instruction, and then gently leads many to a personal knowledge of Jesus Christ. We pray that that would happen even today. It’s in his name we pray. Amen. Here’s Through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee in our continuing study of Hosea chapter 8.
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Now, if you have your Bible, turn to the 8th chapter of Hosea. Why, we’ll start up the Bible bus and get going. We want to finish Hosea now, shortly, but it’s rich in meaning. And as all of the prophets had a local message, one that reaches way down in the future, even beyond us today, but it has an application for us. And I suppose there’s no prophecy that is more applicable to our day than the prophecy of Hosea, and if that is true, and I think I said that in Jeremiah, both of these prophets prophesied right at the time of the downfall of the nation. That actually ought to alarm us as a nation today, but I don’t have really the faith that it will, because I think probably we have stepped over the line as this nation had. Now, in chapter 8, this is the subject we’ve given it. Israel turns to golden calves and altars of sin. And now they have turned from God, and they look to their king and their wealth to deliver them. Will you listen to this? Set the trumpet to thy mouth. He shall come like an eagle against the house of the Lord, because they have transgressed my covenant and trespassed against my law. Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee. Israel hath cast off the thing that is good, and the enemy shall pursue him. They have set up kings, but not by me. They’ve made princes, and I knew it not. Of their silver and their gold they’ve made idols for themselves, that they may be cut off. Now God is explaining to them Why? He is going to send them into captivity. Now, before he has spelled out the sins, they have broken his commandments. Now, that has led them to break God’s covenant that he’s made with these people. You see, God had made a covenant with Abraham that’s applicable to them. And God made a covenant with Moses that’s applicable to them, and especially as it pertained to that land. And how he would bless them in that land. Then if they didn’t serve him, he’d put them out of that land. And then God made a covenant with David. Now, they have broken these covenants. But God will never break these covenants. The covenant of Abraham that God made with him is unconditional. One he made with David is unconditional. And they can transgress it. And when they do, they will be judged. They will be put out of the land, but that will never destroy the fact that God says that I’m giving you that land for an eternal possession. Just means that generation’s going to be put out, but another generation will be brought back to enter the land. That was true when they came out of Egypt. They would not enter because of unbelief, and when they didn’t, God says, then you won’t enter, but your children will. Now, we have practically that in these covenants. Now, he says something else here, that they’ve set up kings, but not by me. Now, as we explained last time, God had said that the line of David was to rule over them. Jeroboam led a rebellion, and the line of kings that were set up were never men who turned to the living God. They never attempted in any way to bring the people into the worship of God. They all went into idolatry. Jeroboam, from the very beginning, put up these two golden calves, one in Samaria, one in Bethel, and he did it to keep the people from returning back to Jerusalem to worship in the temple. But this is God’s judgment of them, that they have set up kings over them that God does not approve of. And then in verse 5, he says, Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off. Mine angers kennel against them. How long will it be before they attain to innocence? Well, they’re guilty. They’re sinful, not innocent at all. But notice he says, Thy calf, O Samaria. Now, Samaria became the capital under Omri, the father of Ahab. And Ahab married Jezebel, and her father was a priest over in Sidon among the Phoenicians, worshiper of Baal. And she transported over several hundred prophets of Baal into that land. And they became worshippers of Baal. That was the calf worship that was there. And so there was this calf set up. Now, God said that his anger was kennel against them and intend to judge them. And though they’ve returned to that land today, friends, and when they got it, they had to stop all tours up to the ruins of old Samaria because the Arabs there were hostile. They still are. And they’ve made a new way in. That’s the reason I insisted on taking our tour up there. But it’s a desolate place, though a beautiful spot. The desolation there is something that is appalling. You can’t help but be overwhelmed by it. And when you stop to think that, there were palaces of ivory there. And in the ruins, the archaeologist today says that they have found, for instance, very lovely ivory perfume bottles. All kinds of ivory, bric-a-brac, beautiful things that have been found there in the ruins of that. But the ruins, to behold them. Actually, I noticed that our tour was depressed having seen all of that, and rightly so. Why? Because God has judged Samaria. And it was a beautiful spot. And those were lovely buildings that were put up there. And these people were worshiping the calf there. Now, if you’ll notice, verse 6, far from Israel was it also. The workman made it. Therefore, it is not God, but the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces. I don’t know where you’d find it today. They certainly found no golden calf or any part of it or any piece of it up there. It was taken somewhere and broken to pieces. Probably it was melted down. But God says, you worship this thing. It’s no God at all. It’s not God. You’ve turned from God to worship this, and it’s not able to help you. Listen to him. Verse 7, For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. It hath no stalk, the bud shall yield no meal. If so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up. Again, the judgment of the famine, as well as the enemy that came in. Now he says here, verse 8, Israel is swallowed up. And you know where the ten tribes are today? Well, if you think that we are Ephraim today, you read these chapters here about God’s judgment on Ephraim. My friend, so many people that turn to this idea that we might be Ephraim and this nation might be, which is absolutely absurd. And I can’t think of anything more absurd than that. But a great many people like to think that. Well, nothing in the world. But judgment is mentioned of Ephraim here, friends. And Israel is swallowed up. Now shall they be among the nations like a vessel in which is no pleasure. You can’t locate them, and you’ll not be able to locate them either. Nobody could locate them. I’m confident that they are mixed up with the tribe of Judah when they return, and there’s been no way in the world to separate them out, and they’re scattered throughout the world today. Actually, there’s more of Israel in New York City than there is in the whole nation of Israel. And there are more outside of Israel, many times more than there are in the land. At least four times as many are outside of the land, even today. And God has made it very clear here. Swallowed up. And now he says, verse 9, here is another reason, just a specific act that they did that brought judgment. For they are gone up to Assyria. A wild ass alone by himself. Ephraim hath hired lovers. And what a condemnation, they say. They’re like one of these long-eared mules. And a great many of us sometimes feel like we’ve acted like that. And they went up to Assyria for help. And they tried to buy off Assyria, paid lovers. But they found out. that they couldn’t buy off Assyria. And God will use Assyria to judge them. Yea, though they have hired among the nations, now will I gather them, and they shall sorrow a little for the burden of the king of princes. Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, altars shall be unto him to sin. Now, an altar is a place to worship. God gave the nation Israel an altar. And we today in the church have an altar. Those of you that were with us in Hebrews, the last book we studied before we came here, the Hosea, we saw that we have an altar. It’s in heaven. And the throne of God today is a throne of grace. And the Lord Jesus is our great high priest at that altar to make intercession for us. Actually, an altar is a place of worship. Now, God says here that they’ve made many altars to sin. and altars shall be unto him sin, not worship. What does he mean by that? He means that they’ve turned to idols, and they’ve turned to religion, and the worship of idols, and it won’t help them. It’ll bring judgment upon them. And religion, friends, has been the most damning thing that this world has ever experienced. Religion has damned the world. Look at India today. They can’t even have a porterhouse steak over there because the cows are sacred. And yet multitudes starve into death and they can’t raise cattle. May I say to you, look at the condition of China today. Anywhere religion has gone and you take our ancestors, the under in the wilderness of Europe, the forests there and in England. May I say to you that religion has not helped. It’s damned the human race. Only the Lord Jesus can deliver us. Now, let’s move on down. He says, I’ve written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing. That is, they didn’t know anything about it. Now, let me repeat this again today. I say this many times. But because so few are saying it, I say it more times than I probably need to say it. And it’s just simply this. As we’ve already seen here, God says, I’ve given them my written word. And to them, it’s a strange thing. They’re ignorant of it. And friends, that’s the condemnation of our nation today. We try to pass as a civilized Christian nation. We’re anything but that. And the ignorance of the Word of God today is, to me, one of the most amazing things that there is in this land. And that’s the reason we’re committed to teach it. I think the Word of God needs to be taught. And I consider that the biggest business today that the church has is to get out the Word of God. I don’t think your preacher is to be a business administrator. I don’t think that he’s called upon to be a social lion and be able to mix and mingle with people. The important thing is when he stands in that pulpit, does he give you the Word of God? And friends, if he does, you stand back of him. and you back him. But if he’s toying around and playing today and riding the fence, I don’t ask you to support a man like that, and especially in liberalism. But we need to stand back of men who are teaching the Word of God. And across this land, there are many today that are doing that. But frankly, though, I think they are the men that are getting a hearing today. Yet, They’re not getting the hearing that they should have. And we rejoice oftentimes about the way this little program of ours has grown. But I want to say to you, we’re just a drop in a bucket. This nation is ignorant of the Word of God. Now he says, “…they sacrifice flesh for the sacrifices of mine offerings, and they eat it, but the Lord accepteth them not.” They go through the ceremony. They’ve got the ritual. And they know the vocabulary. But that’s all it is. And the Lord knows them and doesn’t accept them. I discovered as a pastor that you have a few people who learn the vocabulary of fundamentalism. And fundamentalism has a vocabulary. They know when to say, praise the Lord and the Lord bless you. They’re wonderful expressions. But I tell you, in the mouth of some people, it freezes me in my tracks when I hear some make a statement like that. Because, my friend, it’s just a ceremony. It’s just an outward show. Now he goes on and he says that the Lord accepteth them not. Now will he remember their iniquity and judge their sins. They shall return to Egypt. Now, I don’t want to go into this, but I think it’s becoming increasingly evident today that when Babylon destroyed Assyria, that many of the ten tribes joined with the ones that were taken into Babylonian captivity of Judah, and many of them returned back to the land. And as you know from Jeremiah, many of the people in that day, after the Babylonian captivity, went into Egypt. And actually, I think that’s what Hosea is saying here. Now, I can’t get very much backing for that from some very fine commentators that I respect a great deal, Bible expositors today that I listen to. But that’s just my own private judgment, and you take it for what it’s worth, which may not be very much. Now, verse 14, “…for Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples.” And Judah hath multiplied fortified cities. But I will send a fire upon his cities, shall devour their palaces. Now, God says that Israel hath built temples. They tried to build substitutes for the temple in Jerusalem. And the very interesting thing is that it was in that temple, in that temple only, that God said sacrifices were to be made to him. But Judah has sinned also. God will judge them later. But the thing that’s going to happen to these that were building these temples, they are to be destroyed. And if there is a section of that land that seems to me to be more desolate than any other section, because it ought not to be. Now, way down in the Negev, they don’t get any rain. It’s a very arid area, and you expect it to be that way. But up in the northern section, you wouldn’t expect to see a desolation as you see it. And especially when you have a valley like the Valley of Esdraelon, it’s probably the richest valley in the world even today. But yet, all around, you see evidences of the judgment of God even to this day upon that land. Now, when we come to chapter 9, we’re coming here to a new section. In chapters 9 and 10, Israel now turns to land productivity. That is, prosperity is what they are trying to produce. In other words, they are trying to increase the value of the dollar, and they are attempting to increase production from the land. And they are nothing in the world but a backsliding heifer, God says. Now, in chapter 9, we have here prosperity had really blinded them. God had blessed them. And that had blinded them. And now there is coming upon them his judgment of famine. He says, Rejoice not, O Israel, for joy like other peoples. For thou hast played the harlot from thy God. Thou hast loved a reward upon every threshing floor. You’re trying to increase your production, and that has become a judgment upon you. We are seeing today that big business and these great big combines, great corporations today, are not the blessing that we thought at one time they would be. And even farming is in that area. And the important thing is the stock market today. It certainly is more important than the Scriptures to this nation. And that was happening in Israel. And they were being blessed. That is, there was a false prosperity in the land. And by the way, they’re having that same prosperity over there today. But they’re far from God, even today. And I’ve gone into that, and I expect to go into it later. Verse 2, “…the flour and the winepress shall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail in.” In other words, there’s going to be scarcity rather than abundance. “…they shall not dwell in the Lord’s land, but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean things in Assyria.” In other words, they’ve been turning from God, breaking the law. Now God says, I’m really going to give you a diet of unclean things. And so they’re not going to have any more fun. They were sinning more, but enjoying it less. And I’m of the opinion that that’s true today with a great many people. A man that talked to me when I was in a meeting. I don’t want to even identify the place. It’s back east, however. It came to me, and he said, the reason I came tonight, Dr. McGee, he said, I’ve tried everything in this world. And he said, I am so sick of sin. Just sick of it, you see. Sinning more, enjoying it less. And that’s what brought that man to Christ, by the way. Just that very thing like that. Now, God says he’s going to put them out of the land. Verse 3, they shall not dwell in the Lord’s land, but Ephraim shall return to Egypt. They shall eat unclean things in Assyria. They shall not offer wine offerings to the Lord, neither shall they be pleasing unto him. Their sacrifices shall be unto them like the bread of mourner. All that eat of it shall be polluted for their bread, for their soul shall not come into the house of the Lord. You see, God judging them in this particular area here. Verse 5, What will ye do in the solemn day? For in the day of the feast of the Lord. For lo, they’re gone because of destruction. Egypt shall gather them up. Memphis shall bury them. The pleasant places for their silver. Nettles shall possess them. Thorns shall be in their tabernacles. And many of them went down to the land of Egypt. actually after the captivity. But again, out of the land, they could not worship God as God intended them to. And then a blindness set in upon them. And I’m going to have to reserve that until next time. So next time we will begin in chapter 9 at verse 7. Until then, may God richly bless you, my beloved.
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Difficult to hear, isn’t it? Is it possible that we too are experiencing a false prosperity and trusting in the gods of materialism? You know, there’s more to come in this great study of Hosea, so please join us. And if you’ve missed a message, or maybe you want to listen again, listen for free anytime in our app or at ttb.org. Dr. McGee’s entire five-year series is also available for purchase on our Bible Bus flash drive. To see all the additional content offered on this terrific resource and to purchase your copy, visit ttb.org to find our online bookstore. Of course, you can always call us at 1-865-BIBLE if we can help you find what you’re looking for. And while you’re visiting us at ttb.org, I hope that you’ll check out all the great resources that we offer to help you go deeper in God’s Word. From booklets to Dr. McGee’s notes and outlines and our new softcover Bible companions for the New Testament, we got your Bible study needs covered. Again, that’s ttb.org or 1-865-BIBLE. So thanks for spending your time with us here on Through the Bible. I certainly look forward to seeing you again as Dr. McGee guides the Bible bus through Hosea chapter 9.
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Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe. Sin had left the prince unsaved, he washed it white as snow.
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Through the Bible exists to take God’s whole word to the whole world. And we invite you to stand with us with your faithful prayer and financial support. Where will God’s word go today?
