Happy Heralds, IncLAYING FOUNDATIONS FOR A SPIRITUALLY SUCCESSFUL FAMILY LIFE (Ex. 2:1-10: Gen.12:1-8) by Dr. Fred Wittman II.D. BESETTING RESPONSIBILITY: CHILDREN (Hos. 4:1,6,7) ‘‘1 Hear the word of The LORD, ye children of Israel: for The LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. . . . 6My 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. 7As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame. (Hos. 4:1,6,7) Introduction: What is the difference between ‘the Bible way’ and ‘The Scriptural way’ or The God’s way? What would you do if The Holy Spirit of God brought to your attention that your children are in danger? That they are in danger of being forgotten from want of memory or attention by The God? Some one might respond with, “Would God do that?” Another might say, “My God wouldn’t do that!” “My God wouldn’t be like that.” But the responding question is, “Which God?” The god of one’s imaginations? Many people today imagine what The God is like apart from The Scriptures. Then after creating a god in their mind, they bow down and worship it. The God of The Bible has clearly indicated what He is like and what He will or will not do. We might not like what Scripture says about Him or we might be surprised at what He says or what is written in Scripture. But if you refuse to acknowledge Him properly, you no doubt serve a different god than The God of creation Who is The God of The Bible. The time that Hosea wrote his prophecy was c. 725 B.C. The God stipulated His attitude toward His people Israel. Note three things concerning the passage of Scripture quoted before the Introduction: The Controversy, The Consequences, and The Consideration of this prophecy. A. The Controversy (Hos.4:1-7) The controversy that Jehovah has with His people Israel is a legal action, a lawsuit. Israel is prosecuted for breaking The God’s Covenant. 1. The Claim - involves three things (4:1): a. Infidelity and impiety - unfaithful to The God, His Word, His Covenant and His Truth; b. Impiteous (merciless) - in relation to their fellow humans (4:1e,2); c. Ignorance in knowledge of The God (4:1f,6a,b,e). 2. The Crimes (4:2): a. Swearing by using The God’s name, b. Lying, c. Killing and murder, d. Stealing, e. Committing adultery, 3. The Cause (v. 6): They rejected full, experiential knowledge and treated it with contempt. They disdained The God’s Word and refused to study It to know The God’s will and ways found in The Scriptures. Contrast this with the attitude of Paul the apostle (Phil. 3:8). B. The Consequences (4:6;7): 1. Destroyed (4:6a); Hebrew word is dâmâh {daw-maw’} means ‘to perish, to cut off, to cease, to be brought to silence, to destroy.’ 125 years before Hosea prophesied and 40 years before Israel was taken into Syrian captivity Isaiah prophesied that Jehovah stated that His people are gone into captivity because the have no knowledge (Isa. 5:13). Now Hosea quoted Jehovah as claiming that His people are destroyed for two reasons concerning knowledge: firstly, they lacked knowledge (they refused to study The God's Word); secondly, they rejected knowledge (they refused to listen to The God's Word, let alone study it). 2. Rejected by The God (4:6b,c); Rejection of the God's Word led to rejection of Jehovah Himself! 3. The Priesthood Denied (4:6d); Access into His presence was denied to the people of Israel, who as a congregation refused to listen to Jehovah's voice at Mt. Sinai, but preferred to hear Moses relate It to them (Ex. 20:18,19 thus rejecting the priesthood that Jehovah intended for the whole nation (Ex. 19:5,6 cf. 1 Pet. 2:5,9). Heaven became as brass to Israel and Jehovah reaffirmed the denial by Hosea (4:1,6). 4. Their Children Are Abandoned and Forgotten (4:6f); 5. Their glory Changed to Shame (4:7). Note: in The New Testament (Phil. 3:19), The God’s principles do not change (Heb. 13:8). C. The Consideration. How does The God’s dealing with man under Grace alter His character and principles that The God applied in dealing with man under Law? Just because it is the day of grace, why should we expect The God to honor us who claim to love Him, even though we are disobedient and dishonor Him? Or even if we are partially obedient to His Word or to Christ’s commands and will not study The Scriptures for the knowledge that The God wants His children to have, why expect special favor and mercy more than the people of Israel? Why should He treat stubborn, rebellious people, who know better, differently with special lenience? Sometimes He does show mercy and lenience because our ignorance brought about the omission. But when we are exposed to enough of The Word and should know better, what then? (Heb. 10:26; Jn. 12:47,48). Sixty years prior to Hosea, Amos prophesied that The God would send a famine of hearing The Words of The LORD (Am. 8:11,12). Sixty years Hosea recorded that famine prevailed in the land in his day. Fathers are responsible to teach The God’s Word to their families just as the fathers of Israel were responsible to do so. It is not to be left up to the school whatever school it may be. Father, will you fail as the fathers of Israel did and your children be destroyed? Conclusion: Review the three main points. Emphasize knowing The God’s Word by experience and embracing The New Covenant mediated By The One Mediator, The Lord Jesus Christ (1 Tim. 2:5; Heb. 9:15; 12:22-24). Application: Fathers, you can ignore the challenge of The God’s Word to be responsible to see that you and your wife and your children study The Scriptures and do nothing in this regard. Or you can flatly reject the validity of The Truth presented in this message. Or you can commit NOW to The Lord Jesus Christ and commit to take the responsibility for your family to teach The God’s Word in your home and faithfully study It yourself preferably under one who has been discipled and willing to disciple with at least one hour each week as well as faithfully study in The God’s Temple, the local church every time the doors are open. To delay or procrastinate is rejection. What will you do to obtain the full experiential knowledge of The God’s Word, The Holy Scriptures which is available to you? Return to the Notes/Sermon page...
Send mail to Info@HappyHeralds.org
|