Steps in the fall of

Israel

Hosea

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•Steps in the fall of Israel

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1. Lack of knowledge

• Hosea 4:6-8

• [6] My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

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• [7] As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame.[8] They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity.

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• Verse 6 may be the best-known verse in Hosea

• It points to a key reason for the destruction that Israel faced

• Why was Israel to be destroyed?

• BECAUSE THEY DID NOT KNOW GOD’S WILL!

• One cannot accidently obey God

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• Knowing the will of God during the Christian age is important to the well-being of our souls!

• Eph. 5:17

• [17] Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

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• We can prevent this lack of knowledge if we:

• Read (1 Tim. 4:13)

• Study (2 Tim. 2:15)

• Grow (2 Pet. 3:18)

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Hosea 6:6

• [6] For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings

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2. Pride

• Hosea 5:5

• [5] And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face: therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity; Judah also shall fall with them.

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• “Pride is certainly a fatal flaw to the soul.”

• We are talking about sinful pride that leads us away from God as we come to trust in ourselves & others more than God

• Prov. 16:18

• [18] Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

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• “Pride led them to exalt their own wisdom, religious systems, moral practices, military might, etc.

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3. They were guilty of

conforming to the world

• Hosea 7:8

• [8] Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people; Ephraim is a cake not turned

• Israel was “half-baked” – mixing with the nations and being defiled by them, they had not developed spiritually as they should

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Ps. 106:35-39

• [35] But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works.[36] And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them.[37] Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils,

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• [38] And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.[39] Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions.

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Rom. 12:2

• [2] And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

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1 Jn. 2:15-17

• [15] Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.[16] For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.[17] And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

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4. Backsliding

• Hosea 11:7

• [7] And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt him.

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• To backslide – to turn back, or turn away – Hosea is describing Israel’s turning back to the old ways of sin and away from God

• “Their only hope of continued blessing and protection was to follow the will of God, but that was the one thing they were unwilling to do! This sounds like the great majority of our citizens today.” (Winton)

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Heb. 3:12-13

• [12] Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.[13] But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

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1 Cor. 10:12

• [12] Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall

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5. Idolatry

• Hosea 13:2

• [2] And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, and idols according to their own understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves.

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• “they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves” – to kiss the calves meant the worship of calves (idols) – they called on others to do as they did and offer sacrifices to idols

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• Idolatry is anything that rivals God for first place in our lives

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• Money

• Pleasure

• Family

• Power

• Etc.

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Rom. 1:32

• [32] Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

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• There are seven steps listed in Hosea which trace Israel’s downfall – we noted 5 in this lesson

• The other two are:

–Instability (Hosea 6:4)

–Corruption (Hosea 9:9-10)

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Conclusion

• Israel was commanded to repent or perish

• Because they would not repent they were destroyed as a nation

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Acts 17:30-31

• [30] And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:[31] Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

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