Hosea 10:9-10

I direct you tonight to the book of Hosea chapter 10. I want to look at verses 9 and 10 this evening. Isaiah chapter 10 and verses 9 and 10. O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Givya. There they stood. The battle in Givya is, against the children of iniquity did not overtake them. It is in my desire that I should chasten them, and the people shall be gathered against them, when they shall bind themselves in their two pharaohs. God blessed to us is sacred and holy word of this evening. For my lifetime, I have seen wickedness grow worse and worse, from one generation to the next. I’m almost 70 years old, and so I’ve seen a lot during my time. I don’t know how old you are, but if you’ve lived quite a while, you’ve seen the same thing I have. What you find in our society is, is the long-term progressive sin. People stubbornly persisting in their sinful ways in growing worse and worse by the year. Generating, generation after generation, becomes more wicked. And there’s a turning away from the true and living God. None of this is really new. The same problem you’ll see plagued Israel many, many years ago. Spiritually, Israel was an empty vine, as we saw in verse 1. They didn’t bring forth anything of value and benefit to God. And we find that morally the nation had slid. into the pit of corruption. And the sad thing is they boldly persisted in their sinful ways, even after being sternly warned of the consequences. I wish to speak tonight on the topic of the consequences of stubbornly sinning against God. Now, you must be aware of the danger of the danger of stubbornly sinning against God. of stubbornly sinning against God. Now, you may be guilty of following the world’s confused moral values. We see the word Gibbia mentioned here. The days of Gibbya are best illustrated by that phrase that’s found in the book of judges, that every man did what was right. in their own eyes. They certainly weren’t following God’s law, but every person made up their own moral code. It was a time of religious and ethical degeneration. Remember what happened at Gidea? During the days of the judges, the Levite, who was on a trip, was making his way home with his country. concubine. He stopped at Gibbia for the night because it was an Israelite city in the tribe of Benjamin. And he thought he would be safer there than staying at a city that was heathen. However, during the night, there was a band of townspeople who knocked on the door where he was staying and demanded of the owner, the old man who was the owner, who was the owner, who was the owner, of the house to send out the Levite, for they wanted to know him. They wanted to have sexual relations with him and abuse him. The man refused to do that. And we find the Levites concubine, evidently, was sent out instead. Well, they abused her all night, and she made her way to the doorstep of the house. And in the morning, when the Levite came out of the house, she lay there dead. It was a terrible and shocking thing. This story, I think, is recorded just to show us a glimpse of the moral conditions at the time of the judges. One of the great sins of Israel during those days was they failed to obey God. drive out all the Canaanites from the land. And what happened is the Israelites and the Canaanites intermingled and all the bad behavior of the Canaanites rubbed off on the Israelites. And so it was a mess. Now, we’re living in the time of great moral confusion as well. In the book, the day America told the truth, the authors did a survey in which they asked people about their real views of life. And they discovered that in this time of moral uncertainty, people were fashioning their own moral code doing what was right in their own eyes. For example, according to the survey, only 13% of the people that they survey believed that they, in all ten commandments that we were given by God. 90% of the people of this country lie regularly. 3.3% of all married Americans have been unfaithful to their mates. 20% of American children have lost their virginity by the age of 13th, and In fact, 7% said they would kill a stranger if enough money was involved. Now, the danger of living in this world is we get caught up, like the Benjaminites here, with the confused moral values of the heathen. Sadly, there are many who perest to know the Lord, but there’s so much like a worldling you couldn’t tell them. a difference. That’s a sad thing. So you may be guilty of following the world’s confused moral values. Now you may be guilty of being involved in long-term sin. You notice it says from the days of Ghibia here. Josea’s purpose and drawing attention to Gibia was not just to argue that his own people were ethically degenerate. But he wanted to demonstrate that Israel continued on in these sinful ways since that time. So it was a long-term problem that he sees here. And not only is it long-term morally, but we see there was unfaithfulness in Israel religiously to the Lord God during this time. You know, falling into sin is one thing. Maybe you have a spiritual weakness and you fell into sin. But God expects his people to progress in holiness and not to continue in habitual sin. But one of the greatest dangers, I think, facing Christianity today is the fact that there is a belief that you can be a Christian and still engage in habitual sin and still be okay. in God’s sight. God says, The Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibia. Thus, he would say to them, you are not my people, and I will not be your God. Chapter 1 and verse 9. You know, the Church of Christ is compared in Scripture to an army. An army is supposed to be combating the enemy, not agreeing. with them, fighting against sin. Bible teaches that a believer who is someone who reforms his ways and behaves as a new creature in Christ. Those who are once sinners are washed. They are purified. They have new powers that are given to them so that they can overcome sin and they can live for Christ. Once Christ begins to live in you, you are renewed in your image. You’re a different person than you were before. But it’s frightening to behold those today who claim that they’re Christians and yet they remain covetous, spiteful, conceited, malicious, slothish, sloth, from day to day, from year to year, and there’s no improvement in their lives. This is very dangerous, and we need to consider carefully whether or not that’s the case with you, that you are really in the fate. And so you may be guilty of being involved in a long-term sin, as we see here. You may be guilty of stubbornly refaught. to give up your sins. There they stood, it says here. Now, if you read the story of Givya, of course, it doesn’t end with the dead concubine at the door of the place where he stayed. The Levite took his concubine, cut her up into 12 pieces, and set one piece to each of the tribes of Israel. One of the Israelites of the other tribes demanded that those who were given, guilty in the tribe of Benjamin would be turned over and punished. We find the Benjaminites refused to do so. Not only was there no shame in this sin, but they stood firm. They were willing to fight all the other Israelites at bad odds in order to continue on in their ways that were sinful. and what is interesting here is their initial success. If you read the story, the battle of Ghibia against the children of iniquity did not overtake them. In two days of fighting, the Benjaminites routed all the other Israelites and were very successful. They won two battles in a row against grave odds. And after their initials, success emboldened them in their stand, they firmly stood behind their homosexual brother and against all Israel. The Israelites rallied, they overcame the Benjaminites, slaughtered them, and we know at the end there was only 600 men that were left, survivors of Benjamin. They were hid at the rock of Rimman. So what you find here is a stubbornness in sin, a refusal to change their position when rebuke for it. This is extremely dangerous. Are you immovable? Do you refuse to change your ways? Repet of your sin? I’m confronted by God. Do you harden yourself in your sin? If you do you do, that leaves you in a very perilous position. You can’t win because God eventually will bring down his judgment. The best response when confronting with our sin is the response that David gave to Nathan the prophet, I have sinned against the Lord, to confess that sin and acknowledge it. So you must be aware of the danger of the danger of stubbornly sin. sinning against God. Secondly, tonight, you can expect God’s wrath to fall if you stubbornly persist in your sin. Notice verse 10 with me tonight. It is my desire that I should chasten them, and the people shall be gathered against them when they shall bind themselves in their two furrow. you should know that God delights in vindicating his honor. Talks about my desire here. The wording implies that he’s exceeding desirous to chastening them. It’s my will to chastain them, he says. God takes delight in vindicating his honor. For example, In Ezekiel 513, we read this. Thus shall mine anger be accomplished, and I will cause my fury to rest upon them, meaning Israel, and I will be comforted. God says. Proverbs 1.25 and 26. He have said it not all my counsel, and would none of my reproof, I will also laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your fear come. What a fear of my fear. condition to be in. Find yourself under God’s wrath and the know he takes delight in executing that wrath. There shall be nothing but joy in the heart of God when executing his justice upon sinners throughout all eternity. There is no remorse. There is no sadness about it. Moreover, God will call all the saints and angels to come to rejoice with him. He’s going to say something like this. Come, you angels and saints, rejoice with me. Here is a wretched sinner who has stubbornly and rebelliously acted against me in this life. See how my power has overtaken him. See the dreadfulness of my wrath. Come and rejoice with me forever. in this wrath. Thus, when we read about the harlot in the book of Revelation, Babylon, we read that when she is destroyed, God calls upon his people to rejoice. Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her. And then in chapter 19, we read this. And after these, these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia, salvation and glory and honor and power under the Lord our God, for true and righteous are His judgments, for He hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenge the blood of his servants at her hand. And again, they said, Alleluia, and her smoke went up forever. effort. So God calls upon us to honor him and give him praise for his judgment. Consider this if you desire to sin and find comfort and delight in breaking God’s commandments. Are you resolute in your sin? God can be resolute in his ways of wrath as well. You should know that God delights in vindicating his honor. You should be made to suffer. You shall be made to suffer for your sin. The people gathered against the Israelites here are the Assyrians. Their invasion of Israel was a fulfillment of God’s promised judgment against the nation. The nation most feared by Israel would be the very nation. that God used to judge Israel. God promises that he will bring their enemies upon them and they shall yoke Israel like oxen that are yoked to a plow. Themselves is better translated as them. Assyrians will bring the Israelites into bondage, slavery, and make them plow in their two pharaohs. In other words, double-womeness. work. It will be a time of grievous hardship and misery for the nation. The metaphors carry forth in the following verse in verse 11 as well. It was as if God were saying, when you see oxen a yoke together, think of the yoke of the yoke of the enemy. You live prosperously now, but under the Assyrians, you will be aeerian’s slaves, mere beast, to do their work for them. Sin doesn’t ultimately make you happy. It brings you misery, it brings you hardship. There may be pleasure for a season, but in the end, it will bring a lifetime of misery to you. Can ask David for one afternoon of pleasure with Bashiba, the sword never left his household, the rest of his days. We see what happened with Absalon and Amnon and all the rest. You can expect God’s wrath to fall if you stubbornly persist in your sin. It’s a vindication of God’s honor and you’re going to suffer a misery for your sin. Now, as you look at our present-day society, you see moral degeneration. You can’t help but notice how much worse it gets every year, it seems like, lately. One generation after another appears to be more vile, more corrupt. This is nothing new. Israel was guilty of the very same thing. The question we have tonight is this, are you going to learn anything from Israel? Are we going to take the heart what God says here, that we may see that this is the way to destruction, this is the way of a ruination of your soul, is to persistently sin against the Lord. Peace in heart and conscience can only come by doing God’s will. If you reject God’s word, he may confine you the double duty side. offering as he did with Israel of whole. May God bless to us tonight, his word, and may we take the heart its warning that we may do the right thing before our God and be cautious about how we behave. Let’s close with a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the opportunity we have to ponder your word. of it. Let us take the heart its basic message. And I pray, Father, that we may avoid all of the sin that we see in Israel, that we may avoid all the suffering and misery that they underwent. Let us learn from your word and let us see that a word to the wise is sufficient and take it the heart. We ask these things in Jesus’ precious name, with Thanksgiving. Amen. Let’s stand for the benediction tonight. Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen.