839 - Les Feldick Bible Study - Lesson 3 Part 3 Book 70 - Israel's Glory is Still Ahead of Her - 3

https://lesfeldickbiblestudy.com Through the Bible with Les Feldick LESSON 3 * PART 3 * BOOK 70 ISRAEL’S GLORY IS STILL AHEAD OF HER - 3 Hosea 5:1 – 9:7 For those of you joining us on television, I think I mentioned in the last program, if you’re ever in the Mid-west and you can get into Tulsa for a Wednesday afternoon come in and do an afternoon of taping with us. We always appreciate especially out-of-staters, because, well, there’s just something about it to know that we’re reaching beyond Oklahoma’s borders. All right, we’re just a Bible Study. Again, we like to always thank our listening audience for everything that you make possible. We thank you for your letters and for your prayers. Keep praying for us and even our daughter. How she appreciates the fact that so many people are praying for her. It does make a difference. All right, we’re going to go right back in and keep working at this Book of Hosea. I kind of wanted to finish it today in the next program, but we’ll have to wait and see. But now chapter 7, I’m going to skip over a few verses in chapter 6 and go on into chapter 7. It’s still God’s controversy with the Nation as a whole, but the Northern Kingdom in particular. When we speak of Ephraim, or Israel, we’re talking about the northern Ten Tribes. Judah and Benjamin, of course, are down at the south where they still have the Temple worship. Don’t ever forget that. That all the while we’re dealing with all this idolatry, they’ve still got the Temple worship. The capital of Israel (Northern Kingdom) was Samaria. Don’t lose sight of that. You know, it just comes to mind when I maintain that Jesus never had a ministry among anyone but Jews. He had nothing to do with Gentiles except the two mentioned. Then I get letters that say, well, what do you do with the woman at the well? She was a Gentile. No, she wasn’t a Gentile. She was a Samaritan. Samaritans were these tribes of the north. After they had been taken captive, some either came back or remained and they are intermarried. So, the Samaritans of Christ’s day were half-breed Jews. That’s why they were detested by the rank and file Jew. But they were Jews. They weren’t Gentile. And Samaria was the capital of the Northern Kingdom. All right, I just had to get that in. Hosea 7:1 “When I would have healed Israel, (the Northern Kingdom) then the iniquity of Ephraim (That’s the other name for the Northern Kingdom.) was discovered, (In other words, God couldn’t heal them because they still were not turning from their idolatry.) and the wickedness of Samaria: (Now, Samaria was Jews.) for they commit falsehood; and the thief cometh in, and the troops of robbers spoileth without.” Do you see what a society they had become? It was rotten to the core. That’s what the Scripture calls them. Hosea 7:2-4 “And they consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness: now their own doings have beset them about; they are before my face. 3. They make the king (Here we come again, we go right to the top of the political spectrum.) glad with their wickedness, (He saw nothing wrong with all the rot that they were doing.) and the princes (That is the next echelon below the king.) with their lies. 4. They are all adulterers, (They were all mixing their Judaism with idolatry.) as an oven heated by the baker, who ceaseth from raising (that is the dough) after he hath kneaded the dough, until it be leavened.” Now, whenever I read something like this in the Old Testament, I’m reminded of when Iris and I were at Pompeii. There were big, outdoor brick-made ovens. Of course the baker would come in the night before and get the dough kneaded and ready. Then early in the morning, as the guide would explain it to us, they would put the bread into the ovens so the citizens of Pompeii would be ready to come down and buy fresh bread in the morning. Well, you have it here. Israel, or the Northern Kingdom, is going to be likened now to a baker and his ovens. I’m going to come back here in a little bit, but I want to continue on with this thought, so come on down to verse 6. Here is an analogy of how Israel was spiritually. They are like an oven. Hosea 7:6 “For they have made ready their heart like an oven, whiles they lie in wait: (In other words, they’re waiting for the bread to be baked, and so forth, so they can take it back home.) their baker sleepeth all the night; (He’s not paying attention to anything. And while he’s sleeping all the night, the fire that is heating the oven is not controlled, but it’s what?) in the morning it burneth as a flaming fire.” He hasn’t been minding his business. All right, now you’ve got an overheated oven. This is interesting. At least I think it is. Here we have an overheated oven, verse 7. #LesFeldick #BibleStudy #Bible