Hosea 5:12-15

There are many people who do not realize when they’re seriously ill. Suppose a man will call him Tom as a serious case of tuberculosis. But he continues on not thinking he’s any major problem or sickness to it. And you try to persuade Tom, but he sees himself as someone in pretty good health. Therefore, there’s nothing really wrong with him. Eventually, after months of pleading, he finally admits that he’s been feeling very well lately. And you reply, well, Tom, he kept insisting that your health was good and all that time the sickness was progressively getting worse. Now today, there are many who do something. similar because they’re not aware of the danger with regard to their spiritual health. And we find that they are not aware of the problem that’s eating away at them. We read here tonight that of God’s initial judgment upon you for sin may be gradual and unperceived as verse 12 indicates here. Therefore will I be unto Ephraim a moth into the house of Judah as rodents. He uses, Jose uses two different metaphors to illustrate the disease of Israel and Judah, moth and rottenness. Now moths are a greater problem in the Palestine area than they are even in our country. But a moth in the Bible was a symbol of destructiveness. And some moss lay their eggs in clothes of clothes of garments and force the larvae come out and eat up the garments. The larvaeers are hatched and they eat it up as food. The operas were hatched. of those caterpillars can be very deceptive. From the outside, you may not perceive anything wrong. They’re not seen at first. And that’s when they go to work and the next thing you know, your garment is all full of holes. They got eaten numb. Ephraim wasn’t afraid of moss. He only looked on the outward appearances of the of things and thought himself as, I think, a well-dressed young man, so to speak. But soon it will reach the point where Israel will have no clothes and be standing there naked. The word for rottenness here in the Hebrew actually refers to a worm, which is able to eat the heart out of the strongest of wood. a worm like the Terrarado, which breeds in ships at sea, is able to eat out the strongest oak planks in the ship in the ship. And so the Jews here would little by little utterly decay and eventually be consumed. But at first it seems almost imperceptible. the moth and the worm are doing their work and people are not paying attention. They didn’t see themselves as spiritually sick. They thought they were doing well. This passage no doubt refers to that period recorded in 1st Kings 15 to the end of 2nd Kings 17 in our scriptures. So he uses the end of 2nd king’s 15 to the end of 2nd king’s 17 in our scriptures. these two metaphors. Now, the point here is you may not immediately be aware of God’s anger. You might think yourself secure. I mean, you don’t see the moth, you don’t see the worm. And yet they’re busy destroying things. Just because God doesn’t bring a severe judgment at once does not mean that everything is okay. He may send a lesser judgment. And he often does this. He deals with you in very small ways to start. In such a manner, you may not even perceive it at first. Perhaps the worm and the moth nibble away at your goods and your possessions and your financial security, small things begin to go wrong. Sickness eventually overwhelms you. And so it’s so gradual and you may not perceive the magnitude of what is taking place. Now as we read later in this text, God comes as a lion. The moth and the worm come first. And when God comes as a lion, then you will know and he will tear you apart, so to speak. It would be easy to discover God’s judgment. if there was a nuclear Holocaust, or maybe as we’ve experienced in the past, a pandemic of some sort, we might be more perceptive to these things. But the worm and the moth are silently working behind the scenes. You remember how God struck down Ananias and Sappira for lying to the church and to the Holy Spirit about how much money they were going to give for the relief of those in need. And they, you know, it was obvious to all. The great fear came upon all because of the God striking them down. It stood out. But I don’t know if you recall, but when you read the book of Corinthians, there was a judgment upon them because they were abusing the Lord’s supper. He said many are weak and sickly among you. Not as blatant, not as strong as Ananais and Safira, but still God’s judgment was taking place. And that’s what we find in scripture. Now God may punish you by degrees here. The fall of the kingdom of Israel and Judah, kingdoms of Israel and Judah, did not come about suddenly and unexpectedly. There was no bolt of lightning that just struck them down. Things usually don’t happen that way. Usually you begin to slide downhill slowly to your own destruction. Some people die suddenly because they have a heart attack. But most people perhaps get sick first. They don’t have a weak heart. Or they have a congested heart with fluid building up and so forth. And it’s more slow, but eventually it’ll be deadly. And so that’s what we see. That’s what we see. here in a sense in our text, God has already pronounced that both Israel and Judah would fall. Chapter 5 and verse 5. And so now you see this end will come about gradually. After God has sent the worm in the moment. Let them work. Let them eat away. Let them begin the destruction. It’s not an overnight process. God often is slow in punishing people, at least from our perspective, but then he gradually increases the severity of things until his wrath and anger become very obvious. If you look at the plagues that came upon Egypt, they started out more gradual and then he got more severe as they went along. You know, at first he had the water change the blood and the frogs and the lies and the flies, more nuisances. Then the darkness. Then the hail. Then the locusts. And then eventually, that terrible blow of the death of the firstborn comes along. There is an increasing intensity to it all. God turns up the judgment a notch each time. Like a burner on a gas stove and you can adjust the flame by turning it up. God turns up the judgment and makes it more and more severe. King Ahesia in 1st Kings 22 and in 2nd Kings chapter 1 did evil in the sight of the Lord. And then we read that Moab rebelled against him. Moab was subjected to him, but they rebelled. And he lost dominion over that nation. He had revenue loss. And then the king had a terrible fall down through the ceiling of his roof. And he was bodily injured and badly injured. And the injury was long term because he was sick for a period of time before he tried to address it by appealing to the Lord. And then Elijah comes along and pronounces his death. So it should also be noticed that the moth were quicker than the worm. Just as strong wood, you know, holds out longer than a garment, we see this happening with the judgment. Judah held out about 100 years after this threat that Israel only about 40. So you never know how quickly God is going to work. and deal with you. It’s entirely up to his sovereign will. So God’s initial judgment upon you for sin may be gradual and unperceived, at least at first. Now secondly, tonight, eventually you will come to an awareness of the seriousness of your condition. Verse 13, when Ephraim saw his sickness and Judas saw his wound, Then went Ephraim to the Assyrian and sent to King Jerob, yet he could not heal you nor cure you of your wound. God will eventually force you to acknowledge your spiritual sickness. Israel’s communion with God was broken and the harmony and unity of the nation was destroyed and there was internal fighting and people killing one another to take over the kingship and so forth, fighting for the throne. And yet no one paused and thought about this initial unrest, this internal unrest, this quarreling, this division. And it gradually stripped the country of its, defenses. God’s judgment may begin in a secret, in a gradual manner, but he will eventually make you aware of the seriousness of your condition. So both Judah and Israel saw now that they’re sick, that they’re in need of help. The pride of your heart will not easily allow you to acknowledge that the hand of God is heavy upon you. Now you’ll notice in Isaiah 2611 this this Isaiah complains here, Lord, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see. They refuse to acknowledge the hand of God. Then he goes on to say this, but they shall see and be ashamed. You know, eventually you’ll see, and you’ll be you have to admit that it’s true. You know, Jonah went through a terrible storm before he finally confessed his fault. And you may go through some terrible storms until you finally admit that your spiritual relationship with God isn’t what it should be. Pharaoh had a haughty spirit, but God eventually increased the pressure by the various plagues upon him until he confessed, I have sinned against the Lord. You may be like David and think you can sweep your sin under the rug, so this speak. But God has got to point out to you that you have sinned against the Lord, and you’ll have to confess it, as he did. So God will force you to ignore it. your spiritual sickness. You may seek a false cure. Here we have the Assyrian nightmare. Israel was foolish enough to turn to a charlinton here to get help. A king Jerob of Assyria, as the King James talks about, this king Jerob. The only one with enough power to arrest the horrible disease of Israel at this advanced stage was God. But Ephraim thought he didn’t need the Lord. He was able to get help, he thought, from the Assyrian king. Just what Jose had in mind with the word, Jerob here. I’m not sure there is no King Jerob that we are aware of. But the word means fighter, defender, Avenger. At this time, Assyria is one of the most powerful nations in the area. And we know that Menaheim, who was one of the usurpers to the throne, made a treaty with Poole, Tiglath, Polisar, the 3rd, a well-known Assyrian king. He made a large payment of money to this Assyrian king, 1,000 talents of silver, hoping that he would help confirm his hold, his weakhold on the throne of Israel. Josea here does not call Tic-Klaff policer by his own name, but I think he refers to him here under King Jerb. This was certainly appropriate, but this Assyrian monarch loved the fight. The whole world trembled at his presence in the area. But it seems that God is making a joke here of the Meneheim Treaty that was made with this king. The whole situation, became a nightmare. Eventually, the Assyrian king, took control and conquered Israel completely. Didn’t come to his aid as he thought he would. He would. We learned from this that vain is the help of man. And it’s sad that when you discover your need of help, you usually turn to man instead of God. That’s a constant. common problem. You see your wound, you see your sickness, and you seek help from a human source. But the Bible tells us very clearly, the arm of flesh will fail you. It will fail you. You dare not trust your own. You turn to everyone else before you get down on your knees, seek the Lord. Maybe there’s some other way. way. Somebody could help me in this. You put your trial, your trust in the great men of the earth, maybe the president, or their congressman, or a military leader, or a popular religious leader, before you turn to seek the Lord. Do you really believe that a mere creature can cure you? Do you think your spiritual sickness is going to be cured by, you? men? Never going to happen. In 2nd Chronicles 25, King Amaziah of Judah, in a time of danger, hired 100,000 men out of Israel to support his army. The problem was that these men were all idolaters. And the Lord would not permit him to add any of them to his army. Told them, send them all back home. Let not the army of Israel go with thee. The Lord is not with Israel. But the king murmured here, what shall I do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel? I’m getting a raw deal here. And the prophet replied, be content to lose a hundred talents. Do not use these wicked men. who are forsaken the Lord. Men will leave you in your eye of need. Just ask Judas. When he went back to the religious leaders and said, you know, I have sinned. I’ve betrayed innocent blood. What does that us? What do we care? They didn’t give them any sympathy. They got what they wanted out of it. Jeremiah says, that’s that the Lord. Cursed be the man that trusteth in man and maketh the flesh his arm and whose heart departeth from the Lord. Eventually you become aware of the seriousness of your condition. And then we see here, you will suffer a more severe judgment if you don’t respond to a lesser one. It’s verse 14. It makes clear to us. For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion and as a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I will tear and go away. I will take away and none shall rescue. Now, a lion devires his prey. The moth and the worm are the judgments, but God will appear as a fierce lion eventually and tear them part. This is the very severe judgment that he brings. You know, Leviticus 2618 says, if you will not for all this hearken unto me after he brings the lesser judgments, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. I will bring an even more severe punishment upon. If you don’t repent under the worm and the moth judgment, judgment, well, God says, oh, I’m going to come as a lion, and then you will be torn apart. You will be harmed. And you’ll know it. Your little world will be torn apart. Now, the lion here defies anyone to stop him. None shall rescue him. Now, you think you’re going to stop the Lord coming as a lion, and you’re somehow or other you’re going to escape, never going to happen. Who can rescue the victim? You know, the lion is the king of the beast. And all the other creatures are fearful of him when he roars. And when he comes after his prey, he devires them. You know, you can reach the point where there is no turning away God’s judgment. There’s a point where even a Noah or a Moses, or Daniel and their prayers cannot rescue you. So the lion defies anyone to stop him. A lion departs leaving others to pick the carcass clean. I will tear you apart. I will go away. The lion will eat his share and then after he’s done all the other animals that are canned, the birds and so forth, they’re going to come and pick that carcass clean of all the rest of the flesh. that he didn’t eat. It’s the heavy blow of God that tears you, that wounds you and then leaves you in that condition. And that’s a sad thing. While God is dealing in this passage with apostates, it is also clear that the true believers should be warned by this. God may take away his protective hand from you and then you’ll be exposed. You know how Job, who was innocent, had the hedge of God taken away and look what happened. How severe the blow came against him. And so we should be aware of this. You know, God certainly will not abandon his true people. But he can bring severe judgment in our lives. And then let’s see the conclusion that he makes here. If you’re a spiritually sick. You need to turn back to the Lord. Verse 15. I will go and return to my place till they acknowledge their offense and seek my face and their affliction. They will seek me early. You need to acknowledge your sin, he says here. It’s sad that most people go along denying that they are spiritually sick. But God will hide his face from you until you admit your guilt. There is hope in the darkest hour when God’s judgment comes. What happened is that you do everything you can to avoid the exposure of your sin. You go to great lengths to cover up your spiritual wickedness. But unless you’re convinced of your sin, and confess your sin. You can’t find relief. We saw Daniel’s prayer tonight that Russell read for us. We have sinned and committed iniquity and have done wickedly and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments. If Israel was going to come back from captivity, which that chapter talks about. Daniel realized, well, we’ve got to repent if we’re going to come back. There has to be a change in an acknowledgement of our guilt. So long as you think yourself, I’m okay. Maybe this happened as a coincidence. You have no hope in that. Finally, you need to seek God’s mercy and grace. Seek my face. Now, you’ll notice it’s not enough just to acknowledge your guilt. Judas acknowledged this guilt. Aiken acknowledged his guilt. That’s not enough. You must actively seek God’s favor that your heart’s humiliation must be active and not passive. There are those who pine away in their sins. They are troubled in mind and conscience. You can even become ill and enter into a state of deep depression. and lie in bed and suffer anguish because of your sin. That’s a bad sign, however. Because if that’s what you do, you’re not seeking the Lord. That what you need to do is seek the Lord. Here’s the test then of whether or not your troubled conscience is genuine or not. You become zealous to seek God’s mercy and forgiveness. True repentance. is not merely the seeking of relief from trouble, but seeking God’s favor and mercy in your trouble. And that’s what we find God bringing these two nations eventually to do. Seek God promptly. Realize your need. Psalm 63-1 says, Oh God, Thou art my God. early will I seek thee. My soul thirsteth for thee. My flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is. Seek the Lord. God himself can heal you. Or you will never be healed. He’s the only one it can. Finally, we see this in Isaiah 55. Seek ye the Lord while we may be found. Call you. upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord. And he will have mercy upon him. And to our God and he will abundantly pardon. Seek the Lord. Return to him. And there is mercy in forgiveness to be found in the Lord that’s the encouragement that our text gives us tonight. Well, let’s close with a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we bow before you. Acknowledge our foolishness and the sinfulness of our ways. I pray, Lord, do you make us aware when we sin and that we would deal with our sin quickly, promptly, and not drag it out. did not go through the lesser judgments leading to the more severe. May we learn our lesson early on and turn from our sins. Encourage us, Father, and bless us as your people. And we thank you, Lord, for the warning of this text tonight. We ask these things in Jesus, precious name with Thanksgiving. Amen. Let’s stand for the benediction tonight. Grace, with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ and sincerity. Amen.