Bible Reading

Hosea 3:1-5  -  New International Version - You can find this passage on pp.  in your pew Bible.

 


“Hear this, you priests!  Pay attention, you Israelites! Listen, O royal house!  This judgment is against you:  You have been a snare at Mizpah, a net spread out on Tabor.  2 The rebels are deep in slaughter.  I will discipline all of them.

3 I know all about Ephraim;  Israel is not hidden from me.  Ephraim, you have now turned to prostitution;  Israel is corrupt.  4 “Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God.  A spirit of prostitution is in their heart;  they do not acknowledge the Lord.

5 Israel’s arrogance testifies against them;  the Israelites, even Ephraim, stumble in their sin;  Judah also stumbles with them.  6 When they go with their flocks and herds to seek the Lord, they will not find him;  he has withdrawn himself from them.

7 They are unfaithful to the Lord;  they give birth to illegitimate children.  Now their New Moon festivals will devour them and their fields…..12 I am like a moth to Ephraim, like rot to the people of Judah.  13 “When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his sores, then Ephraim turned to Assyria, and sent to the great king for help.  But he is not able to cure you, not able to heal your sores.

14 For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, like a great lion to Judah.  I will tear them to pieces and go away;  I will carry them off, with no one to rescue them.  15 Then I will go back to my place until they admit their guilt.  And they will seek my face;  in their misery they will earnestly seek me.”

14:1Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God.  Your sins have been your downfall!  2 Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to him:  “Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips.  3 Assyria cannot save us;  we will not mount war-horses.  We will never again say ‘Our gods’ to what our own hands have made, for in you the fatherless find compassion.”  4 “I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them.

Sermon Notes

“LOVE DIVINE, ALL LOVES EXCELLING”(part 4)

Hosea 4:1-7,12-15; 14:1-4                          August 23, 2009

 

 

 

1.  THE God WHO KNOWS:  5:3,6, 12-15

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.  THE PEOPLE WHO KNOW THAT God KNOWS:  5:4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.  THE PEOPLE WHO KNOW THAT God KNOWS CAN KNOW GOD:  14:1-4