Hosea 8:4-7

Oseo chapter 8 and verses 4 through 7 They have set up kings, but not by me. They have made princes, and I knew it not. Of their silver and their gold, and they made idols, that they may be cut off. thy calf of Samaria have cast thee off Thine anger is kindled against them How long will it be ere they attain to innocence For from Israel was it also The workmen made it Therefore it is not God But the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces for they have sown the wind And they shall reap the whirlwind It hath no stock The bud shall yield no meal If so be it yield The strangers Shall swallow it up May God bless to us His sacred And holy word This evening There was a story in the Detroit News A resident in Chilchester, England got himself into real trouble Just trying to help his girlfriend His girlfriend was planning To catch a plane But it seems she overslep And she was certain to miss her flight So the man made a bomb threat Against the airlines involved In an attempt to delay The departure of her plane and the call resulted in a four-hour delay for the British airways flight. But the college plans also were put on hold when he was caught and convicted and sentenced to a year in prison. His small act had big implications. Prudent people look ahead to see the results of their actions. They look before they leap. Everything you do in life is classified as sewing, which implies a future harvest. The question is, what will the harvest be? Israel reaped a disaster because it sowed the wind. When you stray from God, when you sow your wild oats, eventually a harvest time comes and the Bible speaks of reaping the whirlwind Here in our text Expect disaster When you pursue goals Without consulting God I notice Verse 4 Here’s The first part of it They set up kings But not by me, they made princes, and I knew it not. The whole government is dependent upon God. God had a special interest in the government of Israel. Because it was not merely a civil government. We find that it had a spiritual application to it. It was a divine kingdom over which God would rule. It portrayed for us, of course, the kingdom of Christ that was coming. And thus they were to only have the government that God revealed from heaven. However, when they changed the form of government from judges to kings, God said that they had rejected him to recall through Samuel the Prophet. But what I think Osea has in mind here is the revolt of Jeroboam and his successors against the house of David because God had a covenant with David’s house. After the death of Solomon, you recall, there was a split in the kingdom. The northern kingdom, Israel, had ten tribes. The southern kingdom, Judah, had two tribes. And though Jeroboam fulfilled God’s purpose to discipline and to the waywardness of Solomon, yet he led his kingdom into apostasy. He set up the golden cats worship. He didn’t seek God’s counsel. And thus there was never a good king in the northern king. Only in Judah. Never in the northern king. Not one. You keep finding that phrase that he did evil in the southern king. of the Lord. They established a government which was wicked and apostate. Thus God says, I knew it not. I did not approve of it. So Israel’s government here is under consideration. Now there is a danger and not seeking God’s approval. You must seek God’s approval concerning politics and government. You know, the people had forgotten that their true king was God, and they sought deliverance in any human leader which offered the promise of better times. You know, choosing leaders without direction from God is not only sinful, but it’s foolish. Those who follow their own wisdom and the choice of leaders inevitably get what they deserve. This is certainly something we should be thinking about at this time of year when we have elections coming up. You should pray about who God would have as the next president or congressmen or so forth. We need to continue to pray for our political leaders. The powers that be ordained of God to carry out his were peaceful and law-abiding society as a punishment of evildoers. However, when leaders turn their backs upon God, it’s a mark of disaster for any nation. Those people who placed Adolf Hitler in power in the 30s, without seeking God’s approval, experienced the truth of this text. You must see God’s approval concerning politics and government. You must see God’s approval concerning church leadership. Since the church and state were mingled together in Israel, we should realize this text has something to say about spiritual leadership as well. The approval of a church officer, whether it be an elder or a deacon, is a serious matter and calls for seeking God’s will. Our Lord, I think, certainly set the example when he chose the 12 disciples. He spent the night in prayer before selection took place in the morning. Surely those who are choosing church officers, especially pastors, need to spend time in prayer seeking God’s direction. Today, there are many women and homosexuals in church office without God’s approval. They’re appointed to the office, but not by God. So you must seek God’s approval concerning church, leadership, as well. So expect disaster when you pursue goals without consulting God. Secondly, expect disaster when you create your own. image of the true God. In the second part of verse 4 through verse 6 we read these words. Of their silver and their gold have they made them idols that they may cut off. They may be cut off. by capo Samaria hath cast the off. My anger is kindled against them. How long will it be ere they attain to innocence? for from Israel was it also the workman made it therefore it is not God but the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces so we have here the matter of Israel’s golden cats like instructing a golden calf a supposed image of God Israel broke the Second Commandment They exchanged faith in the invisible Almighty God for empty obedience before a visible and powerless mental image, a dumb idol. God condemns the worship of the calf idol at the cult centers as idolatry. But Israel did not see it. as outright rejection of Jehovah. Sin was far more subtle. What happened was quite similar to what happened in the days of Moses and Aaron. The people were gathered around Mount Sinai while Moses was upon the mountain receiving the law and meeting with God. And the people clamored for a God like one of the gods of Egypt. And so Aaron made him a little bull calf out of gold. Aaron did not think of this as an idol per se, and that’s the point. He thought of the calf as representative of the strength of Jehovah. He proclaimed a dedication festival. He exclaimed it in Exodus 32-5 as the Feast of the Lord or Jehovah. But, But the people missed this distinction. They identified the calf with the fertility bull gods of Egypt and behaved according. The problem is that Israel in both instances was guilty of making their own God, constructing a god to their own liking and thinking. God promises that this golden calf worship would be destroyed. The calf of Samaria. one at the capital would be broken into tiny pieces. Senacharib, the king of Assyria, later bolsted that when he attacked Judah, he mentioned what he did to Israel’s gods or idols in Isaiah chapter 10, how he destroyed them and how they were powerless against him. And so we see here the danger of creating your own God. You know, as growing up they had a Mr. Potato Head tool. And at first, you only got, you had to use an actual potato. And you had eyes and ears and nose and mouth and the hat and shoes and all that stuff. And you’d put it on the, you press it into the potato. It was always a disaster, though, when you have wrong thoughts about God, when you construct an image of what you think God is like, like apart from the scriptures. We could talk about the Roman Catholic Church still practices the golden calf type of religion. It’s repudiated by God. We could talk about worshiping modern-day idols, money, the home, the car, the position, the family, and so forth. It’s a matter of what you actually give your time and devotion to and the family. this life. In this age, as more than in any other age, we rest all our hopes on technology. Technology has become the golden calf in today’s society. What I wish to focus to your attention on this morning is this concept of creating a false idea of the real God that’s very prevalent today. If you go on Facebook or Twitter or one of these media sites and you find people talking about God, you’ll find that they have wrong views of God. And they talk about it as if they know what they’re talking about, but they really don’t know God at all. It needs to be said with the greatest possible emphasis, that those who hold themselves free, think of God as they like, are breaking the Second Commandment. You’re making an image of your God. We may wish to think of God only as a loving Father. Never picture him as a God of wrath who would judge people. In the Old Testament, God explicitly commanded the slaughter of men. women and children during the conquest of Canaan. The promised land was given to Israel by a bloody sword, a sword even dripping with the blood of infants and children where whole cities were slaughtered. God directly issued this order for the blood back. It was a judgment on the Canaanites for their years of evil and wickedness. But you find modern day attempts to soften this event. A curriculum for high school students was prepared by a major church denomination. And it explained that in light of the New Testament revelation of God’s love, we know that God never issued such a belligerent command. The Old Testament is merely a record that we’re told of primitive warlike group of Hebrews who try to justify their ruthless policies by attributing them to divine sanction. And so they want to change God. They want to change what God said. People like to think of God as merciful and forgiving and not vengeful who repays evil and casts people into eternal flames. They want to think of God as a God who weeps and who weeps. when disaster strikes like a hurricane or tornado or something of this nature, and not as the one who directed the hurricane in the first place and created it. People like to think of God as only, who only steps in to correct matters when necessary, not as a God who sovereignly has decreed and controls all events. as a God who allows people to choose him according to their free will, and not as a God who elects and reprobates according to his good pleasure. People want a God who sits in heaven and brings his hands, hoping that people somehow or other are going to choose Christ, rather than a God who uses His almighty power to bring people to Christ and save sinners. People think of God who is satisfied with one hour of worship a week instead of one who demands submission of your whole life to Him. With your own erector set thinking, you can build and you can construct a God to your liking, one who pleases you. Make your own golden calf, so to speak. And it’s the same. Disasters. Thou thoughtest that I was altogether, such a one as yourself, but I will reprove thee, God says, in Psalm 50th, 21. Hell is full of people who thought they could create their own God, like a child playing with Mr. Potato Head Toy. So expect disaster when you create your own image of God. Expect disaster when you sow the wind. Let’s look at verses 7 and 8. But they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. It hath no stock. The bud shall yield no meal. If so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up. Israel is swallowed up. Now shall they be among the Gentiles as a vessel within his no pleasure. As we talked about you were sowing for a harvest. What will your harvest be like? Sowing the wind is a proverb, meaning to take a great deal of pain to little purpose. It means laboring in vain. It may be applied to all those who seek happiness in the way of sin. Israel lived a wicked life. Perhaps wicked isn’t the right word. Let’s just say an idle life, a useless life, an insubstantial life, as the wind. Josea then points out the results of such life will be useless, idle, and insubstantial also. You know, the deeds of the Israelites will return to haunt them just as surely and as inevitably it as the seeds grow and swell the form of harvest. In this case, the harvest is going to be the whirlwind, a destructive force that will blow them right off the face of the land, and they’ll end up in exile. If Israel emerged from the whirlwind torn and battered bobbing as a badly damaged boat of the Sea of the Nations, whose fault was that? It was their first. own. It was the result of their own evil deeds, an inevitable consequence of how they lived. It is a tragedy that many an individual and a nation helped dig their own grave. You were planting right now for a future harvest. What will be like. you shall reap what you sow. Sometimes sowings have a terrible harvest. So what will your harvest be like? Are you living in aimless life? It may not be hurting anybody per se. Just living with no aim or object, no godly purpose in your life. There is no chance of becoming a chance of becoming. holy without intending to be so. There is no chance of being great if you don’t purpose to be so. You don’t glorify God by accident. No, if you live an aimless life, nothing will come of it. It has no stock. Nothing will grow. Even if there be some kind of stock, the bud will produce no meal. You won’t get any fruit or meat. or production from it. You’ll find no comfort, even if things go pretty well for you in life. Because all you’re doing is treading water in life, doing essentially nothing. You have no noble end in view, no glorious purpose to accomplish in this life. No sublime aspirations to realize. Well, if that’s the case, and you can take it to grant, take it for granted, If these sow the wind, you’ll reap nothing but wind. Christian God says to you, I have made you for my glory. I have sent you into this world for a purpose. I have entrusted you with talents. I made you a steward of all my goods. Now it appears that you have wasted everything. Give an account of your stewardship. What will you say then? God save us from an aimless life. Are you leading a selfish life? Is self the beginning and end of all you do? You run your business solely to make money? Live in your home simply to be comfortable? Is there no care for God? No love for Christ? No thought about eternity? That is a life of sowing the wind. And it’s going to be a life. and sooner or later. It’s not possible to satisfy your cravings and the desires of your soul alone. You know, selfishness is like a scorpion. You end up stinging yourself to death. Only by loving God and loving your neighbor will you do your soul good. Now you’re living for a true purpose. But when self is everything to you, the Spirit dies within you and you become like a stone. You might, you know, gather riches, but there’ll be no happiness or contentment in them. It hath no stock. You will cry out like Solomon, vanity of vanity is all as an entity. There are those who die with millions. You know what? They weren’t a plug nickel. their whole life. You are worth it. You are worthless persons if you only value the money you possess. So I implore you not to live for yourself. Christ said, He that loses his life for my sake shall find it. You live for Christ you will find the joy and satisfaction that you need. And you’ll read. more than you so. Notice the consequences are much greater than the deed itself. Just as the whirlwind is greater than just the wind. The whirlwind is the tornado, the hurricane. It’s twice as strong as the wind at the very least. It’s a powerful force. Small things lead to great things. Tiny acorns lead to great oaks. What’s also true, is what Christ taught in the parable of the sow. The seed multiplied and increased some 30-fold, some 60-fold, some 100-fold. Thus, Josea warns you, if you sow the wind, you’ll reap the whirlwind. You’ll get more than you bargained for. A frightening increase. The consequences of your sinful actions may be deportionately larger than you ever imagine. Think of all those parents who recognize the sins of their youth as they reach advanced age and they see it in their own children. Sadly, there is increased form, form that turns into the whirlwind that destroys their young lives. The father was able to hold his ground against the wind, but the children get swept away by the whirlwind. You can flee from responsibilities as parents, let those children grow rebellious, and you’ll reap the whirlwind. If you are a soft-hearted Eli, don’t be surprised if your sons and your daughters get swept away by disaster. Perhaps you let an evil habit develop in your life. Maybe you think little of it at the time. Spurgeon told a story about a dream a man had. He said there was a Persian king who, excuse me, there was a Persian king who dreamed a dream. And he dreamed that he was drinking from a cup. And a fly came and tried to sip from the cup. And he shoot it away. But as he kept drinking, it returned. And it had grown as large as a bird. we drove the creature away. But it returned as large as an eagle. He managed to chase it away. Then he came back as a man who grinned at him most horribly. He wrestled the man and managed to drive him away. But it soon came back as a giant, knocked him over and crushed him to death. That is the picture of the growth of an evil habit. At first you say, it’s just a little thing. You can shoot away. You can look at it as a minor thing. But it grows. It increases. It becomes unconquerable. And you sow the wind, but you reap the world. You can’t live in sin without it coming back to haunt you. Like a howling tornado. Well, like the Englishman, you may engage in a small act. and it has big consequences. Calling, you know, a bomb thread in was not a bright idea. Everything you do in life is sowing. Eventually, there’s going to be a harvest. What will yours be like? And remember, you will also reap more than you sow, as the scripture indicates to us here tonight. Let’s close with a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your goodness, your grace, and your provision in this life. We do pray, Lord, that you would forgive us of our sins. Help us to avoid the sin that Israel engaged in here. Of thinking of you only in the way we want to think of you, and not as you are revealed from Scripture. Bless us as your people. help us to avoid the sins here of Israel altogether. Bless us and watch over us, provide for our needs. In the name of Christ, we pray these things. Let’s stand for the benediction tonight. Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ and sincerity. Amen.