Hosea - Salvation | Ep. 140

Join us as we unravel the profound metaphorical and historical layers of the prophetic book of Hosea, exploring his mission through the reigns of four kings of Judah and one king of Israel. Discover how Hosea's life, including his marriage to Gomer, serves as a poignant symbol of Israel's unfaithfulness to God, what this ancient narrative can teach us about spiritual adultery and redemption, and God's faithfulness to His remnant.
 
Consider with us through the vivid imagery used by Hosea and Ezekiel the gravity of Israel's infidelity and God's enduring mercy. We'll draw fascinating comparisons between their messages and reflect on the enduring significance of the Old Covenant. We'll also delve into the prophetic connections between Jerusalem and Babylon, illustrating divine judgment, spiritual infidelity, and the remnant who will survive God’s wrath. Our discussion aims to provide a deeper understanding of how these themes transcend time, offering lessons that are relevant to us today.

In our final exploration, we'll highlight the themes of divine judgment and redemption through the lens of purification and eternal betrothal. We'll discuss how God's love and mercy persist despite Israel's repeated rebellions, and reflect on the New Testament's continuation of these themes, particularly through 1 Peter. We'll challenge you to choose God's word over human ideologies, emphasizing the necessity of faithfulness even in the face of impending judgment. This enlightening episode promises to deepen your understanding of the profound spiritual lessons woven throughout the book of Hosea.

Chapters

• 0:03 Hosea's Prophecy and Historical Context
• 12:14 Israel's Spiritual Adultery and Redemption
• 28:15 Fall of Jerusalem to Babylon
• 40:30 Restoration of Intimacy With God
• 47:17 The Consequences of Rejecting God
• 54:59 Israel's Rebellion and God's Discipline
• 1:12:24 God's Judgment and Mercy
• 1:25:31 Prophecies of Four Beasts Revealed
• 1:33:11 Choosing God's Word Over Man's Ideologies

Transcript

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 0:03

The vision received was that of blood cells traveling throughout the body, supplying the much needed oxygen and other nutrients to the differing members of the body to fulfill their purpose. Once the blood cells are spent, they must return back to the heart to be refilled before being sent out again and fulfill their purpose.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 0:26

Well, good morning Saints. I believe that the title is less important than the content and the content is less important than you hearing and applying what the content is. So, without trying to disrespect my dear brother, I don't know what the title is. I'm sure it'll just come about as I share the word. Normally I have notes, as you guys well know, not that I haven't studied, I just haven't taken any notes. I just want to share with you things that the Lord has been sharing with me, and I thought it was going to be on James and I come to find out a day later. Nope, it's not going to be on James, it's going to be on another book that I've read recently, and I've been on the Old Testament. Not that I don't read the New Testament, but I've been in the Old Testament since two to three years ago now.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:28

I think I told you I was in 1 and 2 Samuel and then I had it on my heart to read in chronology 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles, because I wanted to understand the lineage of the kings from Judah's line and from Israel's line, and I went through all that and then, after I finished that, I felt like I wanted to go into the prophets who were ministering at that time, during the kings that were out reigning at the time, because I wanted to understand these prophecies in context of their historical setting. So I then went into Amos and I went into Hosea, and so my message is going to be on Hosea, because that's where the Lord led me a day after and said no, this is what I want you to share. I gave this to you already and, even though you were hesitant on sharing it, I want you to share it. So I guess I should start with trying to give you an understanding, because sometimes you know we read books in the Bible and because we lack any historical understanding of who, what, when and where, we don't get the book. It's just hard to understand. We need context. Context is so important. You could take one verse out of scripture and be led into a completely erroneous conclusion just because you don't understand the context of the paragraph or the context of the chapter. So let me just give you a little tidbits on Hosea.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 2:56

Hosea was a prophet that served the Lord during four kings, and I'll say four kings of Judah. He served under Uzziah. He served under Jotham, his son. He served under Ahaz, his son, and he served with Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz. He served with those kings and on the other side hopefully you know that Israel used to be one big kingdom and when Solomon the king died, the kingdom was divided into two. Ten tribes went to the north. They called that the kingdom of Israel. Two tribes stayed in the south. Judah and Benjamin stayed in the south, and so you had two lines. One was the God-ordained line, because it continued after he cut off Saul. He cut off his children from that line. He began a new line with David, and that line stayed unbroken throughout the history of Judah. However, israel, even though their king was chosen their first king was chosen by God he fell away and many different lines and successions were cut off. In other words, their sons did not continue in their line. So Hosea ministered during King Jeroboam II, and I just give that to you to understand that in the line of Judah there were 19 kings and one queen who really wasn't a queen, and there were 19 kings in the line of Israel, but the line of Judah lasted a lot longer. So he reigned or not he reigned, but he served as a prophet during four kings of Judah and during at least one king in Israel.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 4:50

So everyone, if you will turn to Hosea and we're going to read directly from the scriptures, I'm going to highlight parts. I can't read all 13 chapters to you, but what I'm going to do is try to encapsulate in a message the account of Hosea and what it's meaning, not only is to him, not only is to who he was talking to, but also to us. You'll get in the first chapter that Hosea was during the days of the kings of Judah, and it tells you who their kings were and I've already told you that and also the kings of Israel. And it says in verse 2 that the beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea this is the first prophecies that Hosea gave. It says and the Lord said to Hosea go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms, for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the Lord. He uses the word the land hath committed whoredoms, and that caught my attention, because how could the land commit whoredoms? I mean, I just immediately thought the earth. I come to find out that really the land was just used as a metaphor for his people.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 6:13

If you read Hosea 4, chapter 1, and I'll just read that out to you. It says Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel, for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. And then he tells you why. So when he's talking about the land, he's talking about the people, the people of God he's got issues with because they've become a wife of whoredoms, of harlotry. They've slept around and they've gone from God to to god, to god rather than the god of israel, who called them out of the ur of chaldees, abraham.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 6:54

And he tells Hosea, I want you to take to you a wife, and this wife's name was Gomer. And this wife bore him three children. The first was named Jezreel, and the name Jezreel meaning is one that God has sown, or one seeded of El. It says. And He says I want you to call him Jezreel because I'm going to avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel. So already God is declaring that I am going to do away with this house. Now understand, there were 19 kings in the line of Israel and this happened kind of in the middle of the succession of those kings. And he's declaring I'm going to do away with this house.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 7:51

He has a second child and this second child is named Lo-Ruhamah, and that means one who has not been mercied, one who has not obtained mercy. This second child was a daughter and he says I want you to call her Lo-Ruhamah. Lo means not, Ruhamah means mercy, not mercied. His own daughter is going to be called not mercied because I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, but I will utterly take them away. He says but I will have mercy on the house of Judah and I will save them by the Lord, their God, and I will not save them with a bow or with a sword or with a battle by horses, nor by horsemen. So he says, specifically because he's going to stay faithful to the line of David, the line of Judah, he has to. He's already declared in his word that the seed would come from the house of David.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 8:49

And so you think oh, Judah's getting. You know, Judah's got the favor of the Lord. He's only dealing with the house of Israel. He says God will save Judah, but he's not going to save Judah by carnal means of strength, not chariots, not horsemen, not swords. He's going to do it in another way.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 9:12

And then he has a third child and after Lo-Ruhamah was conceived and weaned, he then had a third child, a son, and God tells Hosea call him Lo-Ammi. Lo, you already know, means not Ammi, means my people, not my people. He says, for ye are not my people and I will not be your God. And then he says something weird in verse 10. At least carnally, if you think of everything carnally. This is weird Because he says you are not my people, you are not my God. He says I will utterly take Israel away. And then he says yet the number of children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea. Well, I just thought you were going to take them away. He says they cannot be measured and numbered. He says again Huh, what, let me read that again of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered. And it shall come to pass that. In the place where it was said to them you are not my people, in the place that I called you, no, you are not my people. In that same place it's going to be said ye are the children of the living God, ye are the sons of the living God. You have to read that and say, huh, that's. It seems like a contradiction. Lord, you just said they're not your people, but they're going to be called your sons.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 10:52

It says in verse 11, then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel. Let me rephrase that what does Jezreel mean? Do you remember, because I just said it like five minutes ago? Huh, no, that's what he said he was going to do. But what was the name Jezreel mean? God sows the seeded of El. So it says here in verse 11 that he's going to gather the children of Israel and the children of Judah, and they will have one head and their great, great shall be the day of Jezreel, the seeded of El. Great will be those whom God has sown. But what is it tied to? The fact that he's going to bring the house of Israel and the house of Judah together? And he's going to bring the house of Israel and the house of Judah together and they are going to have one head. Now you have to understand.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 11:50

The prophets of old did not understand what he was saying. They heard it kind of made sense, and then at other times they kind of said huh, lo-ammi, but then you'll be called the sons of the living God. I don't understand Lord, how could you say they're not my people, yet they're the sons of the living God? Let's keep on reading Chapter two.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 12:14

It says say unto your brethren ammi. What does that mean? No Lo, ammi means not my people. No mercy, no mercy, my people. Ammi means not my people, ammi means my people. So he's saying to them say to your brethren, Hosea, my people, and to your sisters Ruhamah, who's Ruhamah, or what is Ruhamah Mercy? Say to my people, say to those that are mercied plead with your mother, please, talk to her, please. She is not my wife, she is not acting as my wife, and neither am I her husband. Let her, therefore, put away her whoredoms out of her sight and her adulteries from between her breasts. Huh, she's from between her breasts. Huh, Hosea. Say to your brothers, my people. Say to your sisters that are mercied tell your mother to stop acting like a whore. Well, who is their mother? He's talking about the nation of Israel, the nation of Israel as a whole, is who should be betrothed to the Lord. But they are acting not as a wife. They don't realize he is not their husband because she is committing whoredoms again and again and again.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 13:41

Now, if you've read all of the Kings and Chronicles, you would understand why the God is so angry with them. But I can't go into all that. I can only tell you if you're really interested, you'll go in to read into the book. Because I used to not like the old covenant. I used to prefer the new covenant. It was English to me, old covenant was just another language to me. But I can say safely, today I'm beginning to like the old covenant more than the new.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 14:07

But I have to balance that out and say, listen, I understand it's one book. I understand it's one word of the Lord. But I don't have that disdain or distaste for the old covenant because it's bringing to light things that when I first read it I did not understand. I did not understand of the second or the third or the fourth reading. It was just words to me. But I think I've been in the kingdom now. How long have we been married? 14 years, okay, maybe 16 years.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 14:38

I think I've been in the kingdom and now I'm starting to understand things I never understood before. Things are just coming together and that's what happens when you read the word. So here's my encouragement to you that when you read the word of the Lord and you don't understand it, don't stop reading it. Continue on, come back to it later and God will give you revelation. But I understand this story now because I've read the whole book several times now and it's beginning to make sense. God is beginning to make things click that I would have never connected.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 15:08

The first time I read the book I didn't have any understanding. He says plead with your mother, tell her to stop being a whore, to get rid of these adulteries from between her breasts. I mean, he gets really not vulgar, but he gets pretty graphic. And so I have to stop right there. I have to pause right there, because when I started reading this, god will do this with you. You will then get an image or an understanding of something else you read and you'll be like oh wait, a second, there's a connection here. I need everybody to keep your hand there and we're going to turn to Ezekiel 16.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 15:55

Now to give you a frame of reference, please understand. You had the line of Judah here 19 kings. You had the line of Israel here 19 kings. You had Isaiah right about here in the middle and he's serving the Lord as a prophet. Well, I just told you to turn to Ezekiel. Ezekiel came many years after he came, at the end of the line of Judah's kings, when their reign fell and they went into the Babylonian captivity which I'm sure you've heard of. Even Ezekiel was a part of that, as they went into captivity. He came at least 150 years after Hosea.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 16:30

But he says something very interesting in Ezekiel 16. So if you're already there, let me tell you what verse to go to, because I'm not going to read the whole thing. Ezekiel 16, verse 2. Son of man Talking to Ezekiel Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations. Thus saith the Lord, god unto Jerusalem, thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan, thy father was an Amorite and thy mother a Hittite. And as for thy nativity, in the day that you were born, when the navel was cut, he's using please understand, he's talking about a nation, jerusalem is talking about his people, and he's using natural means to convey what he did spiritually with the whole nation of Israel, when nation of Israel was just a babe, when they were just born and their navel was cut.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 17:29

He says you weren't even washed in water, you weren't suppled, you weren't cuddled, you weren't brought in, you were not salted, you were not swaddled, you were not cleaned. He says, no, I pitied you and no one had compassion on you. You were a reject. You were left for dead in your own dirt and your own pollution and without pity or compassion. Everyone just passed by you, kind of like the parable of the new covenant where Jesus talks about the Samaritan man, but everyone else just passed by, that broken man that was beaten and left bloody on the way. Well, he says, israel started out this way, but when I passed by you, I had pity on you, I had compassion on you and I saw that you were polluted in your own blood and I declared live. He spoke life unto the nation of Israel and he birthed them himself.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 18:29

And it says in verse eight I entered into covenant with you. You became mine. He says, and I washed you with water. I thoroughly washed away the blood from you and I anointed thee with oil. Anybody see those elements there Blood, water, spirit. He entered into covenant with them. Now, we've heard this many times before that, oh, it's been all throughout the Old Testament. Oh, I'm showing you again the blood, the water and the spirit. Yes, it's connected to covenants, whether you understand it or not. I entered into covenant with water and I took away thy blood and I anointed thee with oil. So he's bringing out a new birth, bringing a new nation upon the earth.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 19:15

And he didn't finish there. He says I clothed thee with broidered work and badger skin and I girded you about with fine leaven and I covered you with silk and I decked you with ornaments and leaven. And I covered you with silk and I decked you with ornaments and I put bracelets on your hands and a chain on thy neck. I put a jewel on your forehead and earrings, in your ears and a beautiful crown upon thy head. He's just using these things as a metaphor that I decked you out, israel. I lifted you up. I glorified you, Israel, amongst all the nations. I made you look beautiful amongst all of them. They all looked up to you and they all envied you. They all thought how beautiful she is. I put gold and silver raiment of fine linen and silk, embroidered work, and you ate of fine flour and honey and oil, and you were exceedingly beautiful and you prospered. I did this for you, God says, and thy renown went forth among the heathen. They all looked at you, all impressed with you.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 20:22

But then verse 15 came. It says but you trusted in your own beauty. Remember who he's talking about Jerusalem. He named Jerusalem, so he's talking about his people. He says you trusted in your own beauty and then you begin to play the harlot. Remember, Ezekiel came about 150 years after Hosea and he's continuing what he said to Hosea. He's saying it through Ezekiel because the downfall of Judah is about to happen. He lived in the last days of the last two kings of Judah and you poured out your fornications on everyone that passed by you.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 21:13

I have to stop here and pause again, because from here it brought to my mind something else that we've read recently. I've read it, I know it, I read it, but I didn't make the connection until recently. Thou didst trust in thine own beauty, were the words that just started just flashing. Whoa, whoa. I think I've read something like that before, I don't remember. Let me go look. So, everybody, put your hand there. Think about how we described Jerusalem's fall. They trusted in their own beauty and turn to Ezekiel, chapter 28. Listen to these words 28, 13. We've read them recently. This is about Lucifer. This is about the fall of Lucifer. Listen to the words that were described.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 22:14

He said thou has been in the Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone was thy covering sardius, top, topaz, diamond, beryl, onyx, the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, the carbuncle, the gold. The workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that was created. Do you see any similarity? He just decked Israel in fine linen, in gold, in silver, in ornaments, in jewelry, and put this precious stone on the head. I mean, she's looking fine, but Lucifer looked just like that in the day that he was created.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 22:50

Watch what happens. Thou are the anointed cherub you cover. Thou was holy upon the mountain of God. You walked up and down the midst of the stones of fire. You were perfect in thy ways from the day that you were created till iniquity was found in thee. You know what happened to Lucifer, so try to think about. How is this connected, it says, by the multitude of thy merchandise, by all the things that you were decked with. They have filled the midst thee with violence and thou hast sinned, and for that I will cast you out as profane. Out of the mountain of God. I will destroy thee, o covering chair from the midst of the stone, verse 17. Thine heart was lifted up.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 23:38

In what Beauty? Ooh, Jerusalem was decked in beauty. Everyone saw her, everyone was enamored by her and because she trusted in her own beauty, she fell and became a harlot. Lucifer was decked out. He was perfect in the day that he was created, but he trusted in his own beauty and he fell and became a harlot and brought others, because we know he took some of the angels of God with him and he began to commit harlotry because he brought them down with him. Thou has corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness, by thy glory that I gave you. God says. I will cast thee to the ground. I will lay thee before kings that they may behold thee. Thou has defiled thy sanctuary by the multitude of thine iniquities. Therefore, will I bring a fire forth from the midst of thee. It shall devour thee. I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. That's what he did with Lucifer in the beginning.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 24:58

So I come back to what he was saying about Jerusalem In Ezekiel 16. He says in verse 22, and in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms, thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth when thou was naked and bare, was polluted in thy blood. In other words, you forgot where you came from. You forgot how you were delivered, how you were cleaned, how you were sanctified. If I were to skip to verse 43, it says Because thou hast now remembered the days of thy youth, but hast fretted me in all things behold, therefore, I will also recompense thy way upon thy head Because you have done this. I'm going to recompense these things upon you. If you read all of 16, you'll see. In verse 26, he's talking about natural.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 25:53

Israel committed fornication with the Egyptians. He's talking about a nation, his people. It says in 28, you also play the whore with the Assyrians, his people. It says in 28, you also play the whore with the Assyrians. It says in verse 29, moreover, multiply thy fornications in the land of Canaan unto the Chaldea. They just kept sleeping around the nation of Israel.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 26:22

And he says in verse 32, as a wife that committeth adultery would take its strangers instead of her husband, you're the harlot. You know they give gifts to whores. What is it saying? When you come to a whore, a harlot, you pay them. At least, that's what a sinner would do. You pay them for the trick, but not Israel.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 26:47

Israel was even more debased than that, for it says but you give gifts to your lovers and hirest them, you, the harlot, you should be getting paid, but you're not even getting paid because you're giving away all my gifts that I have given you to them, all the gold, all the silver, all the precious things that I put into the house of the Lord, you think, naturally, they gave it away to all the people that were surrounding them. So he says Harlot, hear the word of the Lord. In verse 35. So he says harlot, hear the word of the lord. In verse 35. I will gather all of your lovers, all those whom you've taken pleasure with in verse 37, all of them that you loved, that I hated. I will gather them round about you and I will discover your nakedness unto them, that they may see all your naked. I'm going to expose you before them. You will become a shame before them. In verse 40 it says they shall bring up a company against thee and they shall stone thee with stones and thrust thee through with the sword, they shall burn thine houses with fire, executing judgment upon thee in the sight of many women. I will cause thee to cease from playing the harlot, and thou shalt give no more hire anymore.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 28:15

Think of what he's saying about his people, how it's indicative and how it signifies. What happened to Lucifer? What was the ultimate end of Lucifer? He's going to do away with him and the fire is going to consume him. Well, if Jerusalem fell in the same way, wouldn't it be not taking it for granted that he's going to deal with them the same way? For they fell in the same way?

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 28:48

But let's go back to Hosea, chapter 2. I had to bring you to that because you have to make the connection. Here he's talking to his people that fell in the very same way that Lucifer did. And then he says in verse 3 of chapter 2, lest I strip her naked and set her as in the day that she was born Remember how she was described in Ezekiel you were left alone, you were not clothed, you were dirty, you were naked before everyone and make her as wilderness and set her like a dry land and slay her with thirst. I will not have mercy upon her children, for they be the children of whoredoms, for their mother hath played the harlot I will go after, for she said I will go after my lovers, that they give me bread and my water and my wool and my flax and my oil and my drink. God is not going to have mercy on her children. I want you to take this down if you're taking notes, because I'm trying to connect these two covenants together.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 30:03

There was a great city spoken of in Revelation and if you turn with me to certain verses in there, I think you're going to see the connection because he, god, used the name Jerusalem in Ezekiel 16. But remember, it started in Hosea. Hosea came before Ezekiel. He started this prophecy of this woman and how he's going to deal with this woman. We're going to get through this and read it, but I need to make this connection because Ezekiel continued a prophecy and he used the name Jerusalem.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 30:33

So now let's go to Revelation 11, verse 8. For it says and their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city which, spiritually, is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified, talking about the man child here, the witnesses. They've died in the streets of this place that was called, spiritually, Sodom and Egypt. This is the place where the Lord was crucified. Well, where was that? Right outside Jerusalem, that great city. We can find it also in chapter 14, verse 8. It says and there followed another angel saying Babylon is fallen, that great city.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 31:32

When Lucifer fell, did he retain the name Lucifer? What did it become when Jerusalem fell? That great city is no longer Jerusalem. What do they become? Babylon? For Babylon, that great city, is fallen Because she made all nations to do what Drink of the cup of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, her whoredoms, I guess what I'm trying to say to you is that when I read Hosea, you can get caught up in just the natural. This is how we dealt with the house of Israel and I'm trying to connect with you that he's actually dealing with his people as a whole, not just those in the old covenant. T alk about those in the new covenant. Jerusalem has become the Babylon, this great nation, this great city that has fallen because of her fornications.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 32:37

If you turn to verse 16, verse 19. It says and that great city Was divided into how many parts? Three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and great Babylon there's that name again. The new name of the fallen, jerusalem Came in remembrance for God to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. Now we've also heard something about three parts Of his wrath. Now we've also heard something about three parts. There was a prophet who was told to do something and he was supposed to burn up two of the three parts, and two of the three would be consumed, while the other would be a remnant. He's talking about. He's going to deal with his people and only a remnant is coming out. The rest are going to be consumed in the fire of my judgment, in the fierceness of my wrath, and we'll find out why as we get through Hosea.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 33:39

But we can also look to chapter 17, verse 18. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill His will and to agree and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. And the woman which thou sawest, that was seated on the beast, is that great city, Jerusalem, that fallen is Babylon, and it's known in Revelation as mystery Babylon. What's the mystery? That she used to be Jerusalem and now she's Babylon and she's lost everything that she was decked with and she's not returned back, but she's riding on the beast. The beast, the spirit of whoredoms, is empowering her to do the things that she is doing. And it says that great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth. Turn to 18, verse 10, the very next chapter, standing afar off for fear of her torment, saying Alas, alas, that great city, Babylon, that mighty city. The people saw this in verse 18 and said and cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying what city is like unto this great city? And they cast dust on their heads and they cried, weeping and wailing, saying alas, alas, alas, this great city. And they cast dust on their heads and they cried, weeping and wailing, saying alas, alas, alas, that great city. It's all about this Jerusalem that is falling.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 35:17

If we turn to chapter 19, verse 21. It says, and the remnant, that one third, excuse me, and the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. Hold on a second. I'm reading. I'm sorry, it's supposed to be 16 verse 19. 16 verse 19. Or is it 18? Yes, it says in verse 21 of verse 18. My apologies. And a mighty angel took up a stone, like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying Thus with violence shall that great city, babylon, be thrown down and shall be found no more at all.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 36:17

So now that I've connected that, we understand that Revelation has to do with him dealing with his people and bringing out a remnant. Revelation, says it begins with this is the revelation of Jesus Christ, and we know that Jesus Christ is going to present to himself a body, a bride, without spot, blemish or wrinkle. This is how he's you read Revelation. And so catastrophe upon catastrophe. But he's been doing this since he was speaking it to Hosea. He's been dealing with his people all these years and it's taken all this time to be bringing out a remnant, because there is a plethora of people within his body that will not submit, plethora of people within his body that will not submit. So let me continue back to Hosea, chapter two.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 37:10

It says that she lusted after those things that satisfy her lust for the riches of the world. Because she said I will go after my lovers and they will give me the water, the bread, the wool, the flats, the oil. And what's God's response? He says in the very next verse in order to restrain her from doing so going to the other nations the Lord is going to hedge her up with a wall of thorns. She will try to follow after her lovers, but she will not find them. She shall seek them, but she will not find them. I will go and return to my first husband. She says In order for God to get the idols because that's how you commit spiritual adultery you have idols. In order for him to deal with your idols, He is going to seclude you. He is going to isolate you. Which is why it isn't a bad thing, when we see our brethren go off on their own, that we say, Lord, let them find nothing of satisfaction in the ways of the world, because that's the heart of God. I'm going to isolate her, I'm not going to let her find pleasure. She's going to seek these things and she will not find them. And she's going to return to the Lord and say this "it was better with me then than now, at the end of verse seven. When she's isolated, she can't find her things. She's going to return to the Lord. Now that another flash.

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When I read that, I said, wow, that sounds so familiar to the prodigal son. Didn't the prodigal say, when he had wasted away everything that he had and he was feeding from the slop of the pig, gosh, my father has bread and he has for all of his servants, and he has even more than that. Why don't I go back to him? It's the same spirit, it's the same thought. Let me go back from whence I came from, because now I remember, gosh, how good my father was unto me. My husband was unto me, but she was ignorant of this fact, that God blessed her, that God gave her all of these things the gold, the silver, the decking, the silk, linens, all these precious things. God gave them to her. What did she do? It says that she prepared them for Baal. In other words, she gave all the precious things to another God. She played the whore.

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So God says, therefore I'm going to come back and I'm going to take back my corn, I'm going to take back my wine. I'm going to take back my wool and my flax that I used to cover her nakedness. I'm going to take it all back. And you know what? Nobody is going to deliver her from my hand. He says none shall deliver her out of my hand.

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I will cause joy to cease from her feast days because I gave her her feet. You understand, feasts was a celebration. It was a celebration. I gave that to them so that they would have joy, so that it would celebrate. I'm taking it all away From her feast days, from her Sabbaths. You think they get joy out of their Sabbaths today anymore? They're so far removed from their God, who had called them. All the joy has ceased. It's like an empty carcass. A carcass. It's dead.

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It says I will destroy her vines or fig trees, whereof she said these are my rewards that my lovers have given me. See, now she starts putting this on oh, this is what my lovers gave me. You missed it. You've already forgotten. Your God Says I will visit upon her the days of Balaam, where she burned incest to them and she decked herself with earrings and jewels. And she went after her lovers Decked herself with earrings. That reminds me of Ezekiel 16, 15. He's using the same words to describe it, or I should say Ezekiel was using the same words Hosea used to describe it. Or I should say Ezekiel was using the same words Hosea used to describe it.

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Watch what he says in 14.

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I have family members that can't stand to read the Old Testament because all they see is the fire, judgment, indignation and wrath of God. He's so mean when they fall and they sin, and I just can't read it anymore. Well, look at what he says here. I mean, did you? He must? They must have missed this, because I know that they stopped reading. Therefore, behold, I will allure her and bring her into the wilderness and speak comfortably to her.

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He's talking about his people, right? His bride or who should have been his bride who became a harlot. I'm going to take all that stuff away, I'm going to bring her to a place of wilderness, wilderness like a desert, and there I'm going to speak comfortably to her and I will give her from her vineyards, from thence in the valley of Acre, and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt, and it shall be in that day that sayeth the Lord that thou shalt call me Ishi. Anybody know what that means? It means my husband. My husband, after God had taken away everything, my husband, after God had taken away everything, after isolating her, setting a hedge of thorns around her, after he begins to allure her back to Himself, she responds and says Ishi, not Lord, not God, but intimate word of Ishi, my husband, you are my husband, not my lover, not them, not, you are my husband. She comes back to him and reciprocates the love that He has poured out on her and shall call me no more Bali Bailey, for I will take away the names of Balaam out of her heart. His process of bringing her back to himself is going to be painful, there's going to be wrath, but there's going to be a remnant who will be led into the wilderness and hear his words of comfort and then respond back to him in love, ishi. And they will never speak the name of any other God ever again, because he will have taken Balaam out of her heart. This woman will be renewed in her intimacy with the Lord.

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It says in verse 19,. I will betroth thee unto me forever. This remnant, this person that comes back to me, will be engaged to me forever with all of my riches in heaven, which are righteousness forever, judgment forever, loving, kindness forever, mercies forever, faithfulness forever. She will know of me 22,. And the earth shall hear the corn, the wine and the oil. And they shall hear Jezreel. God sows the seeded of God. They're going to hear her again and I will sow into her Excuse me, and I will sow her unto me in the earth. And I will have see if you remember the word mercy on the? Not mercy. What's the old word? Do you remember the ruhama and the lo ruhama, not mercy, what's the old word? Do you remember the Ruhamah and the Loruhamah? And I will say to them, which were not my people, loami, ami, the Loami now has become my people again. Thou art my people. And they shall say Thou art my people and they shall say thou art my God.

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Now we can stay in Hosea and say, wow, that's an amazing thing he's doing with natural Israel. But I didn't see it happen. Still haven't seen it happen. So let's go to 1 Peter, because for some reason he quoted that very verse in 1 Peter, chapter 2, verse 9 and 10. Keep your hands up, hosea. We're not done, but I'm trying to connect with you, gosh, what is it they call it? When you're reading Shakespeare and you try to buy the yellow book to sort of help you out Cliff notes I feel like God is making me a cliff notes unto you today.

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I just want to try to help you, you know, connect all these things together so you have an understanding. So we go to 1 Peter, chapter 2, verse 10. Verse 9. Because you know this. But ye are a chosen generation, you are a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people that you should show forth, the praises of him that called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Who is he talking about there? Christians, saints, those born again of the new covenant. But then what does Peter say? Which in times past were not a people, were not or lo ami, which are now the ami of God, which had not obtained mercy, lo ruhama, and now have obtained mercy, the ruhama? He's connecting it for you. This doesn't have to do with natural Israel. This has to do with the people that are called by His name throughout the ages, throughout the centuries. This is who he's saving, this is who he's bringing unto Himself.

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So Hosea is commanded, and all verse chapter 3 does, going back to Hosea, all it does is sort of reiterate what he just said. Hosea is commanded to love an adulteress according to the love of the Lord, the same love that the Lord has for the children of Israel. Hosea, the man, the actual man, is going to love a harlot. And so that brings to mind that, oh my God, God is using the very lives of people as types and shadows of what he's going to do to all of his people. That's what he's going to do to all of his people. That's what he's using their own story to shadow, to be a shadow of what he's doing in the spirit with his people. God is going to isolate her, the adulteress whom he loves. Hosea is not going to allow her to play the harlot, and Hosea is going to make sure that he is going to be her lover. Only, all of this is just typifying what God is going to do with the nation of Israel.

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Israel will not have a king, will not have a prince, will not have sacrifices, images, ephods, teraphims, because he's going to. God is going to remove all of those idols. All that I just named became idols. They were supposed to be a theocracy listening to God, but they wanted a king. That king became an idol to them. Then they had princes under the king and they all became idols unto them because they were the governors of the different regions. And then they made images and all of these things and they became idols. Even remember the idol that wasn't originally an idol. The brass serpent lifted up became an idol. Everything that he had given them became an idol unto them. So he says at the end of verse 5 after I've done all this, after I've done all this, the end is verse 5 afterwards shall the children of Israel return and seek the Lord, their God, and David, their king, and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days.

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Just reiterates what he just said in two chapters. He now just said it in five verses, just giving it again, kind of like Genesis 2 or Genesis 1 and 2. Genesis 1 was all the seven days of creation. What was Genesis 2? Focusing on what happened on day six. Just a summary again. So we come to verse four.

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Now, this is the thing that I did not understand back when I was reading. Hosea served under four kings. Okay, when we read this book of 13 chapters, my initial impression was, oh, he got all these 13 chapters all at the same time. He didn't. He was in the reign of kings that lasted some 40 years and double-digit years, and it came in different segments to him and then they put it together in one book. So right here, at the end of chapter three, it's done.

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Chapter 4,. This happened sometime later, I can't tell you when. It just happened sometime later. And then he says Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel, for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. Remember I said that from the beginning, the inhabitants of the land, I've got an issue with you. Why? Because there's no truth, there's no mercy, there's no love of God or knowledge of God. There's a deluge of sin amongst the people. Years later he still has this issue. So he comes speaking about it to Hosea again and he says they're swearing, there's lying, there's killing, there's stealing, there's committing adultery. They break out and blood touches blood. They're killing one another and for that reason the land mourns and for that reason everyone that dwells therein is going to languish. It says yet let no man strive nor reprove another, for thy people are as they that strive with the priest. That flashed in my mind again. Where have I read something like that? I began to think. I guess I'm trying to get the spirit rather than just the letter, because it's not a quote. But he says let no man strive nor reprove one another. I read that in Matthew 7. You don't have to go there, but let me go there just so you can read it and see.

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In Matthew 7, Jesus says something, words of wisdom, and he says it to the quote-unquote natural people of God, Israel. He says judge not that ye not be judged, for with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged. And with what measure ye judge, ye shall be judged. And with what measure ye meet, it shall be measured to you. And then it begins to explain about the mode and the log and all of this stuff and his point, Jesus' point, is if you judge another person and you see someone else's fault and you're oblivious to your own, how can you help them? How can you judge them? What is it saying here? Let no man strive with one another. Why? Because you're like one who's striving against a priest. Therefore, you will fall in the day and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy mother. Why? Because everyone is guilty. Everyone is guilty. How can you judge him when you're guilty of the same thing? Says in verse 6, my people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge, because thou hast rejected knowledge.

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I will also reject thee.

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That thou shalt be no priest to me, seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. So what we see is if you reject the knowledge of God, who are you rejecting God himself? If you forget the law of God, who have you forgotten? You've forgotten God. The law of God is knowledge of God and he's saying do not reject me, I'm going to change their glory into shame. He's just repeating what he started the whole three chapters with.

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What am I going to do to these people, Israel? They eat up the sin of my people. They set their heart on iniquity. They shall eat and not have enough. They shall commit whoredom and not have an increase. Again, they're going to go into the sin and they will not be satisfied. They will not be filled. It will not satiate their lust. The Lord allows them to a gorge in their sin because it will not be enough. This spirit of cordons has caused them to err, caused them to whore after others, after others, after others, committing spiritual idolatry, adultery through idolatry. It says at the end of verse 14, therefore, the people that doth not understand shall fall. Those that don't understand how God is dealing with them are going to fall and we've seen the number two-thirds, one-third remnant come out.

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Then he speaks of Ephraim in chapter five and that caught my attention because I like who is Ephraim? And all of a sudden my wife, unbeknownst to me, starts talking to me about what she was telling either one of the kids I forgot who about who Ephraim was, and she reminded me that Ephraim was the son of Joseph. Ok, yeah, I think I remember that Ephraim was the son of Joseph. Okay, yeah, I think I remember that Ephraim, the son of Joseph, joseph had Manasseh and Ephraim. Manasseh was the oldest and Ephraim was the youngest, and Ephraim was on this side and Manasseh was on this side. And then Jacob did like this and he blessed Ephraim more than Manasseh. And I said, okay, yeah, I remember that.

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A wife who was Egyptian Now, I'm not saying that there was anything wrong with that, but you think about that Joseph Hebrew got together with a non-Hebrew and if you didn't know, if you didn't look into it, the daughter that he married was given to her by Pharaoh. Pharaoh gave him this particular woman to be his wife. Her name was Asnath, and the interesting thing about Asnath was she's the daughter of the priest of Om, genesis 46, 20.

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I said whoa.

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Well, we know, I mean, I read the Kings, I read Chronicles. Well, we know, I mean I read the Kings, I read Chronicles. I don't know about y'all, but I have. And I realized whoa, when we got together with the other nation, solomon started it all. When he got together with another nation, that caused him to fall. He began to commit adultery and the whole nation fell because of it. So here we have Ephraim.

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I know Ephraim and Israel is not hid from me in verse three of chapter five. For now, o Ephraim, thou commitest whoredom and Israel is defiled. Ephraim was one of the tribes that stayed in the north, for the spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them. Now, remember, god said I'm going to do away with Israel, but Judah, I'm going to keep up. Well, this is where you start looking at it. Naturally you say what? And the pride of Israel, doth testifies to his faith. Therefore, israel and Ephraim shall fall in their iniquity and Judah also shall fall with them. Whoa, they shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the Lord, and they shall not find him Again. All the things that God has given them, he's going to start taking them away. He's going to start isolating them away. He's gonna start isolating them because that's how he deals with the idols in their heart.

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It says in verse seven because they have dealt treacherously. That word started popping up in Hosea. They were treacherous and the reason why they were treacherous is because they forgot where they came from from. They forgot how they were, like that babe that was left alone in its blood and dust and pollution, and how they were just beautified by the Lord and how they he cut covenant with them and how he did all of these things. And then they talked badly about him and they went to other gods, treacherous, betrayal.

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And so I read in verse 9, ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke among the tribes of Israel. The princes of Judah were like them that removed the bound. Therefore, I will pour out my wrath upon them like water. And we hear so many times how wrath is not, you know, reserved for the righteous. And yes, it's not reserved for the righteous, for the people of God, but these are the people of God, but they're not righteous right now. Their present state is of hoarding adultery.

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It says that when Ephraim, when he's oppressed and broken in judgment because he willingly walked after the commandment. Therefore, will I be unto Ephraim as a moth and to the house of Judah as rottenness. God is going to be like a moth that eats up and takes away all the things. He's going to be like rottenness to Judah. It says. When Ephraim saw his sickness and when Judah saw his wound, what did Ephraim do? Cry out to his God. No, he went to Assyria. And yet Assyria could not heal his wound. I'm going to touch upon what that wound is. They could not be cured of the wound.

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It says I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, as a young lion. To the house of Judah, I will tear and go away and will take away, and none shall rescue him. Just describing the same glimpses of what he's going to do as he deals with his rebellious people. I will go and return to my place Till when. This is a glimpse of the heart of God. He is not there to destroy. He is not there to annihilate. He is there to deal with the rebellious people, to get them to turn back to him. I want them to acknowledge their offense, god says. I want them to admit their sin and their iniquity. I want them to seek my face again and in their affliction that I bring upon them.

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they will seek me. Does that mean none of them will die?

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No, a majority of them will, but there will be a remnant that will finally turn to him, calling him Ishi, calling him my God, and coming back and seeking him. So because of this, he says in chapter six what should be the cry of his children when they're chastised of the Lord, when they're beat, when they're given correction, when they're given discipline? What should be the children of God's cry? Come, let us return to the Lord, for he hath torn. Yes, he whacked me, but you know what he's going to heal me. He hath smitten, but you know what he's going to put a bandage on it and he's going to bring us back to health. It says after two days will he revive us and the third day will he raise us up and we shall live in his sight. How many days has it been since the Lord, god, was upon this earth giving out his blood for us?

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Two biblical days. The third day is going to revive.

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If you've read Revelation about the man child they revived on the third day, third and a half days. That's still after two days, isn't it? The sickness that Ephraim had that they went to the Syrians to get a cure for was sin that they brought upon themselves. Sin, was that sickness? They could not go to any other nation to get a cure for sin. How was it that the Lord was going to tear at Judah like a lion?

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It says in verse 5, I hewed them by the prophets, I slayed them by the words of my mouth. Thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth. This is how he brings about the discipline through the words of the prophets and the things that transpire after they don't listen to the prophets. This is the tearing that God was bringing about. God desires mercy for us. He desires that we increase in the knowledge of God more than he desires the sacrifices, because the sacrifices and the religious ceremonies became an idol to them. They depended on that more than they did on God. It says again in verse 7, they transgressed the covenant. They dealt treacherously with me or against me. God says in chapter 7, when I wanted to heal Israel, then I found the iniquity of Ephraim and the wickedness of Samaria. Again, you look at Hosea and you think, wow, that makes sense. He's talking about natural Israel. Yeah, they were far off. They had what was it? Bethel and Dan as the two idol-worshiping place that was a counterfeit of what should have been done in Jerusalem, and their kings would not allow them to go down to Jerusalem, knowing that if they did, they would turn away from all of their wickedness and go down to Jerusalem, and then they would have lost their kingdom. It says. They make the king glad with their wickedness and the princes with their lies. In other words, they became men pleasers. That's what they became.

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And then he begins to use this baker's metaphor. They are adulterers as an oven heated by the baker, who ceaseth from raising after he hath kneaded the dough until it be leavened. In the day of our king, the princes have made him sick with bottles of wine. He stretched out his hand with scorners, for they, so he says, you know, like a baker is cooking his dough in the oven and he's waiting for it to rise, so also are the adulterers who did not consider their own wickedness in their hearts. The oven. And what does it result in the morning? A burning flame of fire, that fire of their sin is going to consume them. Remember what he described about Lucifer the fire that is deep within is going to consume you and will cast you down before men.

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Ephraim is like a cake not turned you ever burn a pancake Because you forgot it on the stove and it just burned up on that one side. Well, that's how Ephraim's sin was. He doesn't know it, but his strength is being devoured. Why? Because of his pride. Pride does not allow him to do what he needs to do to return to the Lord. So judgment is going upon them in verse 13. Woe unto them. They ran away from me, they fled, and so the destruction is going to be upon them because they transgressed against me. Though I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against me, treacherousness again. They have not cried unto me with their heart. They rebel against me. They return, but they don't come back to me, to the Most High.

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So now we get chapter 8, separated. That prophecy was done, and so we get set the trumpet to thy mouth. He shall come as an eagle against the house of the Lord, because they have transgressed against my covering. Who? Israel shall cry unto me, my God, we know thee. You see, there is something that God has declared in the heavens that no matter what's happening in the earth, no matter how violent, how contrary it seems, if God has declared it it shall come to pass. Israel is going to cry out my God, we know thee.

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But because Israel has cast off the good thing, because they have rejected me, all of their enemies are pursuing them. They have set up kings. It wasn't by me, remember. This is Israel. Israel did not set up one king by the Lord, not one. They have made princes, and knew it. Not Of their silver and their gold. Have they made the idols that they may be cut off?

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And then there's the question how long until they attain to innocency, how long until they be purified, because the problem is that they sow, they plant in the ground the wind. What does that mean? They plant sin, and when you plant sin, you're going to get a harvest. And that harvest is not going to be the wind, it's going to be a whirlwind, it's going to be a tornado, a hurricane. The worst catastrophe that you can think of in the natural is what it's going to be in the end, spiritually, for those who sow sin. You're going to reap something you never even dreamed of. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. When you reap the harvest of your sin. No fruit will come it and whatever fruit does come of it, the stranger's going to take it away. Even if you think that you're proliferating in your sin and everything's good and you're okay, there will come a day where all of that will be taken away. The stranger will take it away.

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Ephraim rejected the counsel of his laws and so he's going to remember their iniquity because they willingly walked in sin. They are going to return to the bondage of Egypt. They are going to return to enslavement. Israel have forgotten the Lord is maker and Judah. They trusted in their fenced cities Speaking naturally, but this is speaking of something even more important spiritually. Judah had fenced cities. They kept protecting their borders and creating the high walls and protecting them from all of the, but they trusted in that more than they did their God. You read the Kings. You'll see how they started building up things rather than going to God and say God, we're about to be taken over by whoever, this person, that person. They built the high walls to keep them out.

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And so we come to verse 9, and Israel is still being described as a prostitute. Israel is also going to return back to its bondage. They will be forced to eat unclean things in Assyria. Do you know anything about the history of the nation of Israel? They were overtaken by Assyria. They were taken over by them and they had to eat the unclean things that God had pronounced in His law in Assyria. They were taken away captive. All of their sacrifices are rejected and all of their sacrifices are defiling to others.

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It says in this chapter and there's a curse because it says in verse 7, the days of visitation are come, the days of recompense are come. Israel shall know it. The prophet is a fool. The spiritual man is mad for the multitude of thine iniquity and great hatred. The watchman of Ephraim was with my God, but the prophet is a snail and a fowler in all his ways and hatred is in his house. And they have corrupted themselves. They have left the Lord. And it says in verse 10, they separated themselves. To Baal-peor.

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God says that over time, israel's glory, or Ephraim's glory, is going to depart, and their glory was in their numbers, but their numbers are going to dwindle as the Lord departs from them their children, it says in verse 11, their glory shall fly away like a bird, from the birth and from the womb and from the conception. He's going to take care of them in every single way. They will stop conceiving. Those that are in the womb are going to die in the womb and those that are born are going to die. It says in 13, ephraim shall bring forth his children to the womb and those that are born are going to die. It says in 13, ephraim shall bring forth his children to the murderer. They're going to be wiped out. The Lord hated them for the sin that they committed and declared that he would drive them out and will love them no more. Ephraim is cast away, for they hearken not to the Lord and become wanderers among the nations.

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It says in chapter 10, Israel is as an empty vine that bringeth forth fruit to himself. He hath increased his altars according to the goodness of the land, but they made goodly images. They did it for themselves, and it says that their heart is divided. It is faulty. They did it for themselves and it says that their heart is divided. It is faulty. Alters and images will be spoiled and broken down, says the Lord, for the glory thereof, because it is departed from it. Ephraim shall receive shame and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel.

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Then we get to verse 8. And there flashed again. I've heard that before. Where did I hear that? Everybody go to Isaiah, leave your hand, or go to Isaiah, chapter 2, verse 10. A couple chapters back, a couple books back. I don't want to read it all. I want to summarize it because I know we're running short on time. But Isaiah 2, 10 through, say 22,.

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It speaks of the God of justice that is going to humble the proud and the haughty and the. No, I'm excusing. He is going to take the humble and he's going to exalt them. He's going to take the proud and the haughty and he's going to bring them down. It's going to take the proud and the haughty and he's going to bring them down. It says the lofty looks of man shall be humbled, the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down. The Lord alone shall be exalted in that day Upon everyone that is proud and lofty. Everyone that is lifted up is going to be brought low. Upon all the cedars of Lebanon, all that are high and lifted up, upon all the oaks of Bashan, upon all the high mountains, upon the hills that are lifted up, upon every high tower and every fence wall, upon the loftiness of man, shall be bowed down. He's using natural things like cedars of Lebanon, like the oaks of Bashan. He's using those two as a metaphor to represent proudful people. I'm bringing them down, I'm going to humble them, the idols he shall utterly abolish.

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In verse 18, pride is an idol, it's an idol of self, and he's going to bring it down. It says they shall go into the holes of the rocks and into the caves of the earth for the fear of the Lord, for the glory of the majesty, when he arises to shake terribly the earth. One day, man is going to cast down his idols. They're going to hide in the clefts of the rocks when the Lord of glory arises to shake the earth in judgment. You don't get the full understanding there, though. Let me bring you where you have a better understanding. Attach that to Revelation 6 16.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:16:52

Watch the words that are spoken and used here, starting in verse 15, and the kings of the earth and the great men and the rich men and the chief captains and the mighty men and every bondman and every freedman, what they do? They hid themselves in dens, in the rocks of the mountains. Keep that with the idea of Isaiah. All the men that are prideful in the earth will one day hide themselves under the rocks and they're going to cry out to the mountains fallen. Hide us from the face of the one that seated on the throne, on the throne and the wrath of the lamb. That's the day of the judgment of god upon this earth.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:17:40

But you see, the mountains are metaphors for pride. They're metaphors for the idols that man has erected in his own heart. Whether it be pride, whether it be the lust of material things, whatever it is, Jesus comes. They're going to hide under all of those things, under the great big house, under a fancy car, under the preacher that they believed in that was false, under the church building that they congregated in every Sunday faithfully, all the things that they put their trust in. They're going to hide it under, because one day Jesus, the righteous judge, is going to come and they're going to say fall on us, fall on us, hide us from this person, and they will not be able to.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:18:29

You see what Hosea spoke of. And what Hosea spoke of that was like that's what God is doing throughout the ages to redeem himself, a man for himself, a bride for himself that he will call his own. It was seeded in the prophets of old. They spoke about this, but it was not understood. So when God's judgment comes, sinners will cry out to their gods to cover them, to protect them.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:18:59

The mountains and hills symbolize the false gods that are erected in their life. And so what does God tell his people? Sow to yourselves in righteousness. Quit sowing in sin. It will reap a whirlwind, but if you sow in righteousness, the harvest that you get at the end is God's mercy. You will not be afraid of the wrath to come, because today, during the days of your flesh, you sowed righteousness.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:19:32

It says break up your fallow ground, get the hard heartedness out of yourself, because it's time to seek the Lord. It was time for them in their day to seek the Lord. Two thousand years later, it is time for us to seek the Lord, because the same judgment to come is the same judgment that was to come to them. It came to them naturally. If you see the history of the nation of Israel. Their calamity was natural. But in the end, aren't they going to get judged before the great right throne of judgment? Whether they sowed righteousness or not, yes, they will. You plowed wickedness, you reaped iniquity. You've eaten the fruit of lies because you trusted in your own way.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:20:20

He says and then he prophesies in verse 15, in a morning shall the king of Israel utterly be cut off. Anybody know the name of the last king of Israel, hosea, same name as this prophet. Hosea was the last king of Israel and he spoke through Hosea. What was going to happen to that last king of Israel? He will be cut off. There has not been another king of Israel.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:21:03

When we get to verse 11, we begin to see more of the heart of God, because after everything I just went through over 11 chapters, you think, oh my God, I don't want to be a part of what's going to be happening. It says in verse 5, he shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian shall be his king, because they refuse to return. He's speaking of Israel, and the sword shall abide on his cities and shall consume his branches, his fruit and devour them because of their own counsels. And my people are bent to backsliding from me. Though they call them to the Most High, none at all will exalt him. Me. Though they call them to the Most High, none at all will exalt Him.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:21:48

Then, listen to these questions. This is why I have such issues with people. Say they read the Bible and it's just horrible, wicked nightmare. Did you read this verse? God says how shall I give up on thee, ephraim, after everything we just said he could totally wipe them out and do away with them. Then he said how shall I give up on thee, ephraim, after everything we just said he could totally wipe them out and do away with them. And then he said how shall I give up on thee, ephraim? How shall I deliver thee? I have a plan. How am I going to deliver you, ephraim? He says how shall I make thee as Adma? How shall I set thee as Zeboam? My heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together and what we see is that he doesn't want to give up on Ephraim.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:22:31

He doesn't want to give up on Israel he doesn't want to give up on any of his children. He has to deal with them and it looks like it's going to be annihilation. Well, they will exist no more, but in his heart he doesn't want this to happen. He has a plan, a way of deliverance, but his heart is for his rebellious children. It's not to execute the fierceness of his anger. It's not to execute the fierceness of his anger. It's not to destroy them, but to see them return and walk after him. That is his end goal. The means we may not like, but the end. If we respond correctly, we will not be disappointed. It says I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger. I will not return to destroy Ephraim, for I am God and not man. Man would do that For a holy one in the midst of thee and will not enter into that city. They shall walk after the Lord. He shall roar like a lion, and when he shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the Lord. He shall roar like a lion, and when he shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the west. They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt and as a dove out of the land of Assyria and will place them in their houses, saith the Lord.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:23:55

We get to chapter 12 that just speaks more of Ephraim and how he's feeding on the wind of his sin and he follows after the Ephraim. See, god is doing all of this and in his heart is churning because he doesn't want to, but he has to and there is a way that he will deliver them out, even if it's but a remnant. So when we get to verse 13, ephraim spake trembling. He exalted himself in Israel, but when he offended in Baal, he died, says in verse 4. Yet I am the Lord, thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no God but me.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:24:43

Again, he's isolating him to the point where there was no one else but me. He said I will take Balaam out of their heart. They will no more speak of a Balaam. It will be me, only Ishi. It says in verse 7,. Therefore, I will be unto them as a lion as a leopard, by the way, will I observe them? I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps. I will rend the call of their heart and there will I deliver them like a lion. The wild beast shall tear them.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:25:19

I want you to highlight four words there Lion leopard, bear, wild beast.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:25:31

There's another prophet that came after Hosea that spoke of a lion, a leopard, a bear and a wild beast in Daniel, chapter 7. So if you'll keep your hand there and turn to Daniel, chapter 7, which is only a book back, Daniel 7, maybe unbeknownst to him I don't know if he ever read Hosea because Hosea was way before him, hundreds of years before Daniel was not in the Babylonian captivity, he was with the Medes and the Persians, which came after Babylon. But we know the Babylonian captivity was at least 70 years. So he came way after Hosea. But he also prophesied, and he said this in the first year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon. That wasn't the first king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar was.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:26:22

Daniel had a dream and had visions and he said in verse 3,. And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse from one another. The first was like a what A lion, thank you, and had eagle's wings, and I beheld to the wings. The rough were plucked and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand upon the feet as a man and a man's heart was given to it. And behold another beast, a second like to a what A bear, and it raised itself up on one side and had three ribs in his mouth and between the teeth of it and they said unto this Arise, devour much flesh. And this I beheld and lo another like a? What Leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl and a beast had also four heads and dominion was given to it. And after this I saw in the night vision to behold a fourth, what Beast? There's the fourth. And if you know anything about Daniel, he was speaking of what was to come upon the people of God who were in captivity, if you will, under the Medes and the Persians. If you've known anything about Daniel's prophesies, he prophesied of the Medes and Persians that came after Babylon. He prophesied of the Greek kingdom that came after the Medes and Persians. He prophesied of the Roman kingdom that came after the Greeks. There's four. He also prophesied Well, he didn't prophesy. Nebuchadnezzar had a dream, if you remember, a head of what Gold? You were the head of gold, king Nebuchadnezzar. Then he had a torso of what Silver? That represented the next kingdom. And then he had a, you know, thighs and waist, and what was that? Of Bronze. And then you had down there clay mixed with iron. Those are the four kingdoms and we've seen them happen throughout the earth.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:28:36

Yes, he's speaking naturally, but if you tie it into what we've read in Revelation and you read about those beasts, which I will very briefly in Revelation, chapter 13, just so you can tie it together to realize, no, we're not talking about something in the past. It happened in the past and he used that example to typify what he was going to do in the future with his spiritual people. So he says in Revelation 13, verse 1 and 2 and there appeared a great nope, and I stood upon the sand of the sea and I saw a beast rise up out of that sea having seven heads and ten horns and upon his ten horns ten crowns and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard and his feet were as the feet of a bear and the mouth is the mouth of a lion. There's the four, again the same animals that were used by Hosea, used later on by Daniel, used later on by the Apostle Paul. So you see, it wasn't something that happened way back then and it's over. It's still yet to come on all the people of God.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:30:06

Israel's judgment is typified through the four beasts that he spoke of. And it says in verse 9, nevertheless, o Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself, but in me is thine hell. Remember the description he's going to do away with all of the idols. He's going to sequester and isolate you until he gets your heart to himself. The Lord, in anger, gave them what they desired in a king, and in his wrath he took him away. It says in verse 14, I will ransom them from the power of the grave. I will redeem them from death. Because he's answering his own question. How will I give the up Ephraim? How shall I deliver thee Israel? He's got the plan, and the plan to be a part of the remnant depends upon us, and this is how chapter 14 ends, hosea.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:31:13

If we return to the Lord, if we bring of our lips words which ask him to take away our iniquity I'm summarizing verse 14 for you which ask him to take away our iniquity. I'm summarizing verse 14 for you it To take us back graciously. If we admit that other gods will not save us, if we admit that the possession of horses, the possession of things that we idolize, the work of our hands, if we admit that those things will not save us but will say only in you, lord, god, do we find mercy. God says this in his response I will heal you of your backslidings, those wounds that I gave you, of your backslidings, those wounds that I gave you. I can heal you and I will heal you of them. I will love you freely, for my anger is gone. I will cover you and you will grow beautifully and bountifully. All that dwell under my shadow Shall return, revive, grow and be a sweet fragrance.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:32:26

How is it that you become a part of that remnant that Hosea spoke of? He ends in verse 9 of that chapter the ways of the Lord are right. That's the standard that has to be met. You have to come into agreement that the ways of the Lord are right, and if the just shall walk in them. That's his response. But the transgressors that break covenant, that break with his word, shall fail in the ways of the Lord.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:33:11

You have a decision to make today.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:33:15

It's the same decision that the natural Israel had to make in the days of Hosea Choose you this day, whom you will serve, choose you who this day, what is going to be your standard?

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:33:30

Is it going to be the ideologies of man, the philosophies of men, or is it going to be the word of God that is faithful and that is true.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:33:44

If you do decide that route, understand that even the prophets who spoke of the impending judgment to come on Israel and Judah also walked through in the captivity with them. You must remain faithful even through the judgment that is to come in this earth, because there is only one type of people that will stand on that day. It is those people that have put on the armor of their God. It is those people that have made God their rock, their abiding place. It is those people that remain under the umbrella of his mercy and grace by walking in the light of his word. Let us remember and consider these words, and I hope that it was a real help to you to connect all these things together, so that you see that these old covenant books are not just to be put on the shelf to collect dust. They are pointing us to the schoolmaster. They are pointing us to what that schoolmaster is going to do in the days of trouble coming.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:35:05

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