Amidst the backdrop of a changing world, Through the Bible continues to inspire and transform lives as it opens doors worldwide with God’s Word. We invite you to be a part of this vital journey by joining our world prayer team. Hear firsthand stories of transformation, like our listener from Burundi, and embrace the transformative power of faith on a global scale. As we conclude with reflections on the necessity of genuine spirituality over mere religion, find hope and direction in a divided world.
The foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith.
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How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in his excellent word. Do you recognize those lyrics? Yep. That’s the great hymn that has introduced our Through the Bible program for decades because it represents the only true, sure foundation that we have in this ever-changing world. And that’s our Lord Jesus Christ. I’m Steve Schwetz, welcoming you aboard the Bible bus for another great adventure in God’s Word. Although many of us would like to put our trust and hope in our family or church or even in our country, you know, the truth is God is the only firm foundation upon which we can rely. If you wonder what that means for the United States, then you’ve come to the right place as our teacher, Dr. J. Vernon McGee, answers the question with clarity. Let’s listen as he introduces our study.
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Now we come to a chapter that reveals the ultimate victory of God. That is, though He’s going to judge the nation Israel because of their sin, and their responsibility was great because they had light that no other nation had, and as a result God judged them at that time, but that He ultimately and finally would have the victory because they would in the last days return to him. That’ll be the subject of this chapter now that we are coming to. May I say that all of this does have application for us today. Only when we get to this chapter, I find no place in the Word of God where the United States is mentioned, especially in the last days, which means we probably have passed off the stage as a great world nation. There is no great turning of this nation to God as far as the Word of God is concerned because it doesn’t deal with us as a nation. And that’s the reason God’s people in this nation today and like God has given us does create a responsibility. I think our responsibility is greater. And I think we’re in graver danger today than we’ve been told. And I’m not attempting to pontificate about prophecy, nor do I attempt to be a doomsday speaker. But may I say to you that we just well take our head out of the sand today, as the proverbial ostrich failed to do, and recognize that we are in grave danger in this hour. I trust this section of the Word of God may have a message for us as individuals.
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Although Dr. McGee recorded those words many years ago, we can certainly relate to them. We face many grave dangers as a nation and personally as Christians. So the responsibility to share God’s Word is still ours and still needed. Well, here at Through the Bible, God continues to open the doors into the whole world as we share His Word through trusted and true methods and also in new and exciting ways. and we’d like to invite you to partner with us in prayer. In fact, I’d invite each one of you personally to join me and thousands of other warriors in traveling the globe and praying for one country at a time by joining our world prayer team at ttb.org forward slash pray. Now, as a member of this important ministry team, it’s really simple. All we ask you to do is pray, nothing else. So please join us by signing up at ttb.org forward slash pray to start receiving our daily emails Monday through Friday that are filled with inspiring stories from and about God’s people and work all around the globe. Now, we really do believe there’s nothing more important that you can do for this ministry. than to support us in prayer. And we’re so grateful for those of you who partner with us and make it possible by asking God to bless us as we take his word to the whole world. And God is faithful. Again, the address to join is ttb.org forward slash pray. Now, before we dive into Hosea, let me share a letter that illustrates the purpose and impact of your prayers. It’s from a listener in Burundi who listens in his language of Swahili. Hello, I express my gratitude for the program that you have provided. Before embarking on this program, I was lost and hopeless. Now my beliefs have been transformed and I repented and received Jesus Christ as my Savior. I look forward to meeting you in heaven. It will bring great joy to see you there. Well, praise God. And you know, that’s the reason we teach God’s word. And that’s the reason we ask you to join us in prayer. As we begin our study now, let’s bow our heads and commit our time to the Lord. Heavenly Father, we pray that your word takes root and grows in the hearts and minds of all who are listening. Thank you for changing lives for your glory. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. Now it’s time for our study in Hosea 5. Here’s Through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee.
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Now, friends, as we come here to the sixth chapter, I must say it’s not quite as doleful as chapter 5 was, which was entirely judgment. And here the subject is, Israel will return in the last days, but presently they’re to be judged for their current sins of that day. But there is the hope that we have here. Now, God says here in verse 15 that closes chapter 5, He says, I will go and return to my place till they acknowledge their offense and seek my face. In their affliction, they will seek me early. Now, God says, until they call upon me, I will go and return. That is, I will not deliver them until they turn to me. That is the thought that you have here. Now, their great sin, as we see, has been idolatry. Now, will you notice? He says, verse 1 of chapter 6, Come and let us return unto the Lord, for he hath torn, and he will heal us. He hath smitten, and he will bind us up. As it were, for that day, it was God’s last call to the nation, the northern kingdoms. And it was also a warning to any nation that has made a profession of being a Christian nation that has had the benefit of the Word of God. A great principle is put down here. And this also looks to the future, that God’s future plan is that He will heal them. Though He’s torn them, He intends to bind them up. Now, verse 2 is a remarkable verse. After two days will he revive us. In the third day he will raise us up and we shall live in his sight. Now, here is something I would like to develop, but do not have time to do so. But let me give you a line that you can pursue. In the third day he will raise us up. Now, that’s interesting in the light of the resurrection of Christ on the third day. And he was raised for our justification today, both Jew and Gentile. And may I say that that will be applicable in that day, because you will find in the 37th chapter of Ezekiel, and we’ve already been over that, you’ll recall that God speaks of the day that he will bring them back into that land and bring them to himself as a resurrection. And it will be based on the one who was raised on the third day. It rests upon that because there was a redemption provided and a justification that if any man will accept, will bring him into a right relationship with Almighty God. And Paul develops that in the 11th chapter of Romans. I would like to turn to it, but I’m having to resist the temptation to do that. because we want to move into this chapter a little farther. I doubt whether we will, but we hope to. And in the 11th chapter, God receives this nation back, which he intends to do after he completes his purpose in the church and takes the church out of the world, which is made up of both Jew and Gentile, people out of every tribe and nation. And I believe that today, and I’m not sure what radio is going to be the means, It’s penetrating every corner of the globe today. Now, our program is, and there are other programs, and the Word of God is going out today by men who are giving sound teaching. And I believe that there are going to be people out of every tongue and tribe and nation that are going to come before him in the church to worship. Now, after God gets through with that program, he turns again to this nation and he’s going to raise them up. This prophecy, as every prophet that wrote in the scripture and some that didn’t write, spoke of God’s future purpose for the nation Israel. Even Moses, before they could even get in the land, began to talk about the day would come when for the third time he’d restore them back to the land. It would be a permanent restoration in the land. And on the third day, he’d do it. It would be the third. The third day he raised Christ from the dead. And that just doesn’t happen to be an accidental number, by the way. Now, let me read verse 3. 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, and as the latter and former rain unto the earth. Now, I’m going to hold till we get to Joel, talk about the former and the latter rain. And there are those that say that the latter rain is returned to that land. I had heard a great deal about that before I have made several trips to Israel now. I don’t think that you could say that either form or latter rain is returned. They have a certain amount of rainfall, but it’s much less than Southern California. And it’s not the rain that makes this the Garden of Eden. And also, Garden of Eden, it’s filled with smog and traffic. But it’s irrigation that does that. And Israel actually doesn’t have enough water to irrigate everything over there today. You couldn’t say we’re seeing the fulfillment of that. But again, when these people turn to God, not only does a blessing come to the people, but it’ll come to the land, comes to the animal world. That’s the great solution to even ecology today. I get so weary of these ecologists telling you how they think that it ought to be done. And of course, most of them are not involved financially in any of these things. But they, for instance, don’t want oil brought from way up in Alaska. Well, if I interpret the conditions rightly, we’ve got to have oil. And we’re going to be in a bad fix if we don’t get it. But friends, just soon as man gets moving in that area, he’ll spoil it. Because man’s a sinner and he spoils everything that he can. We’re even now making the moon a garbage dump. We got a lot of it up there already. And I guess we’ll keep on. And we do need a place to dump garbage. There’s no question about that. I won’t argue that point. But the important thing is, then shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord. That is the very secret of the solution to the problem of life, is to know the Lord. And Paul, even after he came to the end of his life, that was still his ambition. that I might know him, that is, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, and be made conformable unto his image. And there’s no way for improvement in this world apart from a knowledge of God. Now, the Word of God is very emphatic about that. Neither it’s right or it’s wrong. So far, after all these thousands of years, it’s been proven right. And I don’t think this present generation is upsetting it by any means. Now, let’s move on here. Verse 4. He says, O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? For your goodness is like a morning cloud, and like the early dew it goeth away. Now, God says this as if he is just a little bit confused. He’s frustrated. Well, what am I going to do with you? I love you, but you continue on in sin, and I’m going to have to judge you. You see, it puts God on the horns of a dilemma. A judgment is a strange work of God. He wants to save, not judge. But when people keep turning away from God, then the day comes when he has to judge them. Now, these people were religious, but you see, they had no knowledge of God, and they were far from God. May I again bring this up today? We today have a lot of religion, and I’m opposed to religion today. But here in a newspaper where the editor permits people to write in their viewpoint, and someone wrote the editor here, he says, in today’s society, religion has outlasted its usefulness. Man at long last has outgrown the necessity for this opiate. No longer does he have to explain the unknown with folk tales and the worship of a superior being. In a complex society such as ours, religion can only mute and cloud the mind. Religion blurs and distorts important details and information, interferes with important decisions, and promotes bigotry and prejudice. Now is the time for humanity to discard this mental blindfold. And I’m going to say something that’ll startle you. I agree with that. I wish we could get rid of religion today. And somebody answered that. And they did it so much better than I could. Let me read what they wrote. And the editor published it. It says in response to the April 26th letter entitled, Religion Term Mental Blindfold, I agree with Mr. So-and-so about the effects of religion. For religion is man’s attempt to reach God through his own efforts. I have never been a religious man. But about four years ago, something happened that has really changed my life. I invited Jesus Christ to take control of my life and accepted the fact that I cannot reach God by myself, but that he has made a relationship with him possible through his son, Jesus Christ. Since that commitment, I have grown increasingly aware of my social responsibility and have grown to love and accept myself and other people regardless of age, race, creed, or color. And I don’t think you could improve upon that. And I appreciate the person in San Diego who sent… That, to me, by the way, and it’s so applicable in a situation like this. People today say, out with religion. I say, fine, let’s sweep it out the back door, and let’s let Jesus Christ, the light of the world, shine in. That’s the important thing, you see. Now, these people, they were going through religion. They were religious, but their goodness was like a morning cloud. It’s just all form, ritual, and ceremony. And like the early Jew, it goeth away. And that’s all in the world that their religion was. And a great many people today, they wear religion like you’d wear some loose-fitting garment, something you can put on and take off at any time. Well, that’s the thing that God’s condemning them for. They were religious, but they didn’t know God. And they had never had really a transforming experience. And I personally, though, in this first letter that I read here, I don’t appreciate the assumption of a writer like this. that he has and his little crowd of liberals today have a monopoly on intellectualism and they have a monopoly on all the brains of the world. The fact of the matter is, if you want to weigh brains, they’re just about as much on one side as the other. Even today it’s about equally balanced. There was a time when it was all on the side of the Word of God. That, of course, is not true today, but I do think it’s pretty well balanced today. So this assumption that we’ve reached a high intellectual level and we can get rid of God My friend, that’s the problem. Religion has kept a great many people from knowing God. Now, listen to him. He still talks to them here. He says, “…therefore have I hewed them by the prophets.” God says, I skinned them alive with the prophets. I appreciate the letters that I get that commend us for just giving the word out as it is. Hew to the line, let the chips fall where they may. I’ve done that in all my ministry. And I’ve always found that the real folk always want to hear the word of God, and the others, you expect to hear from them that they oppose you. And personally, I don’t mind that at all. I appreciate those, however, that stand with us in this kind of a ministry. And I believe that we ought to give the word of God out just like that, by the way. And that’s exactly what God says here to his people, says, I’ve skinned you alive with the prophets. They have really gone after you. But you didn’t listen to them. And that’s been the problem today. We rejoice in the tremendous outreach that we have. But we recognize it’s really a small minority when you really get down to basic facts. There has been a great interest in turning to the Word of God. But again, how much of it has really been genuine, you see? And I see people turning in all directions today, going the wrong way. Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets. I’ve slain them by the words of my mouth, and thy judgments are as light that goeth forth. You see, it wasn’t for the lack. of information or the availability of it. God had sent them prophets, but they had turned their back. Now God says in verse 6, for I desired mercy and not sacrifice. You see, they were going through a form. And I’d like to say this very carefully. You can go to church on Sunday and be as fundamental as anyone can be. You criticize the preacher, criticize the choir, criticize everybody, and maybe they deserve it. I don’t know. But may I say to you, until you can put the Word of God in shoe leather and let it get down out yonder where the rubber meets the road and there be an evidence of mercy in your own heart and in your own life, I decide mercy and not sacrifice and the knowledge of God more than burnt offering. And don’t think that going to some church banquet, which is sort of a burnt offering anyway, that that somehow or another is a substitute for really eating the bread of life and carving off a nice big porterhouse steak. out of the Word of God and studying the Word of God. No substitute at all. Now, let me move hurriedly here. But they like man have transgressed the covenant, that is, God’s covenant with this nation. Therefore have they dealt treacherously against me. Gilead is a city of those who work iniquity and is polluted with blood. But you see, there will be a bomb out of Gilead. We need that bomb today. But what came out of that? Iniquity. Verse 9, “…and his troops of robbers wait for a man, so the company of priests murder in the way by consent, for they commit lewdness.” In other words, the priests, in refusing to give men the water of life or to give them the bread of life, were actually committing murder. And I’ll be honest with you, I think a minister that stands in the pulpit and doesn’t give the word of God out is guilty, just as we have it stated right here. I didn’t think of that. The word of God says it here. You’re guilty of murder, my friend. Now, verse 10, “…I have seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel.” There is the harlotry of Ephraim. Israel is defiled. Also, O Judah, he hath set in harvest for thee. In other words, your day is coming. This is a warning for them. When I return the captivity of my people. Now there’s a day coming. God says, I’m going to return them, bring them back to the land. But now I have to judge them for their sins. Now, that brings us now down to chapter 7 here. God’s continuing on here. In fact, here from chapter 7 through 12, we have Israel could escape judgment by turning to God, the one who loves her and the only one who does love her and the only one that can help. I’ve picked out of this section here, verse 8, as being a key to the entire section. Won’t have time to go into the chapter, so let me just lift out this key verse. Verse 8, chapter 7 of Hosea. Ephraim hath mixed himself among the people. Ephraim is a cake not turned. And have you ever cooked pancakes? In that day, they cooked bread on hot stones and no ovens. And when you cook pancakes on top of the stove, I know my mother used to, sometimes she’d forget, and they’d be burned on one side and raw on the other side. Blow hot and cold. One day, while these people are running to the temple, bowing down, going through the rituals, you see the next day, they’re out living for the devil. You see hot on one side, burnt on one side, And on the other side, raw. Absolutely, that’s a picture. I would say today that’s a picture of a great many professing Christians. That is a great many church members today. Burned on one side, raw on the other side. And that was a picture of this nation. We’ll see that when we get into chapter 7 next time. Until then, may God richly bless you, my beloved.
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And we offer all sorts of materials. all for the purpose of helping you deepen your own personal study of the Bible. So what are you waiting for? One specific resource I want to draw your attention to is Dr. McGee’s booklet, Tested and True, Lessons on Faith from God’s Classroom. It’s based on the book of James. This great teaching takes us to God’s classroom where we learn valuable lessons on living the Christian life, all revolving around one important theme, faith. And we’ll also learn that as our teacher, God gives us tests. How do we spot them? Well, why does God allow them? James gives us three good reasons. You can download a free copy anytime at ttb.org or call 1-800-65-BIBLE if we can help you find what you’re looking for. The Bible bus continues to roll along through the Old Testament book of Hosea. I’m Steve Schwetz inviting you to hop aboard and join us.
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Jesus made it all. All to him I owe. Sin had left the prison safe. He washed it white as snow.
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Through the Bible is a five-year study of God’s entire word, and together we discover God’s purposes in history and our lives, found only when we believe in Jesus Christ. Do you know him yet?
