Faith From The Streets
Brian and Friends will discuss stories of faith, homelessness, hunger, and addiction. Most of all they will discuss how they serve the King of All, Jesus Christ.
Faith From The Streets
Hosea 7 & 8
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Pastor Scott, Sir Brian, and Tommy still breaking down the book of Hosea. Unfolding how the minor profits plead with Ephriam to turn from their wicked ways. Then God relenting and bringing them back to Him. But also warning Judah that they have not faired well either. Our Father in Heaven creator of all things, showing justice , punishment, love and forgiveness to all His children. Just as we as parents try to do for our own children. Even though He and we know they will mess up. He loves us anyways. Amen
Both, yes. We did that a couple of months ago. Um, so yeah, just good having him on the podcast with us. Get his expertise. Um that's generous of you to call it expertise.
SPEAKER_03Well, we all are experts at something, I think. So, but that's what God calls us to do, and that's fantastic in all the baptisms. Again, we had four at the gathering Saturday night. So five. Well, we also had one two weeks ago at the gathering. Okay. That lady. Oh, you did, yeah. So we've had six baptisms in like two weeks, which is just fantastic to watch what God's doing in this place.
SPEAKER_04I am Scott Johnson here with Tom and Brian, and we are here to study the Bible, continue looking at Hosea, and I think Tom wants to start off with a proverb.
SPEAKER_03So, one of our sessions, we're doing Proverbs and learning wisdom and how to be uh a good upstanding citizen in today's society. And going through the book of Hosea and thinking about what's next in the Proverbs in chapter 5, I want to read chapter 5, verses 3 and 4, and then we'll go into Hosea 7, I think is where we left off. Uh Proverbs 5, 3. For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil, but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword. Wonderful. I think that's gonna be a good segue into what we got going on from the first six chapters of Hosea. Um good things happening this week that we want to talk about before we get started?
SPEAKER_01Uh no, presently, like I've got something I'm kind of looking forward to. Uh, I met a man at uh a board gaming convention. It's kind of fun. Uh, gentleman said that uh uh he liked the way I sounded and wanted me for the voice for his video game. So I've just sent that away and we'll see if it happens. So sweet.
SPEAKER_03By the way, people, it was really fun to sit here and record Sir Brian. It sounds amazing. It does sound really good. I'm I'm looking forward to even playing the game, so I'm hoping to see that very soon.
SPEAKER_02We had baptism today. We had the baptism today.
SPEAKER_03We had four baptisms Saturday night. Uh talking about the baptism, there was a lady here. All right. Um, she had been coming to the gathering, and I think we had talked about her. She was the mother of a friend of my daughter's in high school.
SPEAKER_02Remember that? No.
SPEAKER_04So uh who was Tom talking to? I'm just kidding.
SPEAKER_03It was just interesting because like I ran into her at uh her church when we were doing shalom last year.
SPEAKER_05Okay.
SPEAKER_02Uh, and then I ran into her ex-husband at the gathering, and then a couple days later I ran into her, and uh, she had brought stuff over to donate or something, I think. And then she was here today with uh that lady we'd baptized.
SPEAKER_03They she'd like raised her kids kind of in like teaching them and stuff.
SPEAKER_02And wow, it was interesting that to see her here, like I had invited her here a couple times, not that she's looking for a new church, but um, but she actually prayed over me right before we did our exorcism sweet thing. Yeah, that's another thing. Um, Scott was the head demonologist or extra exercise. Both. Both, yes. Uh, when we did that a couple months ago. Um, so yeah, just good having him on the podcast with us, get his expertise. Um, but that's generous of you to call it expertise. Well, we all are experts at something, I think.
SPEAKER_03So, but that's what God calls us to do, and that's fantastic in all the baptisms. Again, we had four at the gathering Saturday night. Wonderful. So five. Well, we also had one two weeks ago at the gathering. Okay. That lady did, yeah. So we've had six baptisms in like two weeks, which is just fantastic to watch what God's doing in this world. A lot is changing lives here in Middletown, Ohio. Yeah, it's just it's amazing. And again, the the fact that all these people are coming together, they're all kind of again running into that lady at the gathering and here and at uh the shalom last year, just just seeing God movement. And if you if you're not seeing God movement, you just really are. Your eyes are closed. Yeah, you're not looking, man. It's just it's awesome to see it and be a part of it. Amen. So start us out with Hosea 7, Mr. Brian. And go into it in your best video game voice.
SPEAKER_01I want to heal Israel, but its sins are too great. Samaria is filled with liars, thieves are on the inside and bandits on the outside. Because people don't realize what I am watching. That's right, that I am watching them. Their sinful deeds are all around them, and I see them all. The people entertain the king with their wickedness and the princess. Sorry, the princess. I'm gonna start over again. The people entertain the king with their wickedness, and the princes laugh at their lies. They are adulterers, always aflame with lust. They're like an oven that is kept hot while the baker is kneading the dough. On royal holidays, the princes get drunk with wine, grousing with those who mock them. Their hearts are like an oven blazing with intrigue. Their plot smolders through the night, and in the morning it breaks out like a raging fire, burning like an oven. They consume their leaders, they kill their kings one after another, and no one cries to me for help. The people of Israel mingle with godless foreigners, making themselves as worthless as a half-baked cake. Worshipping foreign gods has sapped their strength, but they don't even know it. Their hair is grey, but they don't realize they're old and weak, their ignorance testifies against them. Yet they don't return to the Lord, their God, or even try to find him. The people of Israel have become like silly, witless dogs. First calling to Egypt, then flying to Syria for help. But as they fly about, I will throw my net over them and bring them down like a bird from the sky. I will punish them for all the evil they do. What sorrow awaits those who have deserted me? Let them die. For they have rebelled against me. I wanted to redeem them. But they have told lies about me. They do not cry out to me with sincere hearts. Instead, they sit on their couches and wail. They cut themselves, begging foreign gods for grain and new wine, and they turn away from me. I train them and made them strong. Yet now they plot evil against me. They look everywhere except to the Most High. They are as useless as a crooked ball. Their leaders will be killed by their enemies because of their insolence toward me. Then the people of Egypt will laugh at them. Well, that's a happy chapter, isn't it?
SPEAKER_03I kind of dug it. That was metal.
SPEAKER_04So this is a fascinating part because, again, we're dealing with God's kindness uh and his love using the first three chapters with Jose and Gomer as the marriage parable, right? Okay. And so uh now we're since chapter four, we've been kind of zooming in on what he's talking about. And here uh God has got to the point where he's talking about their political leaders, the people who were, because at that time, you know, the pure political leaders were also sometimes the spiritual leaders as well. Um, and in Israel's case, that was true. Um, but they talk about God, it starts out in verse 1, I want to heal Israel, but its sins are too great. And then it says Samaria is filled with liars. And that doesn't make any sense until you look at the last verse 16, because what the overarching theme of this is Israel is relying on their political leaders and alliances with people, even going to be willing, so historically, to ask Egypt for a treaty for protection from Assyria. God said, never go back to Egypt. And they do that, right? And even in Solomon, like when God lays out, okay, you want a king, here's what kings will do, but here's what a good king does. And he says, specifically, you should never make a treaty ever with Egypt. So here's what they're doing. So it it he there's this theme that comes out. He says, I don't the people don't realize it. Like thieves are on the inside, bandits are on the outside, they're ravening, they're they're devouring themselves basically because of their own lusts. And he says, they don't realize I'm watching them in verse two, their sinful deeds are all around them, and I see them all. Then he says, the people entertain the king with their wickedness, and the princes laugh at their lies. They're all adulterers, always aflame with lust. And then there comes this repeated thing, an oven that's used several times. Okay. Um, so he talks about that an oven that's kept hot while the baker's kneading the dough. Um, and then down later, it talks about an oven again, and you know, the Israel is basically as worthless as a half-baked cake, you know, um, and worshiping gods and all of that. Um, all this breaks out to power and lust, okay? Uh lust isn't always sexual, and in this sense, it's both it's power and the desire for pleasure mingled with power. So this oven thing comes in, like um, and really what this is talking to is the people of Israel um are going through this entire socioeconomic drama that we don't get to see, but we're reading about through Hosea. Okay, so he says their hearts are like an oven in verse 6, blazing with intrigue. And it refers to the lust of power and intrigue that burns in these hearts. Now, this is important because three Israelite kings were assassinated during Hosea's lifetime. Um, you have Zechariah, Shalom, and uh Pekahiah in 2 Kings 15, 8 through 26. And the king's foreign relations and domestic lives were in shambles because they ignored God and his word and went to the other people to get their stuff. So God is saying they're so consumed with lust, and then he gets down to the part where they have gray and don't realize that worshiping foreign gods esap their strength, but they don't even know it. Um I read that backwards, but it's both verse nine. Um so he's saying they're so incensed in their own lasciviousness and lust for power and comfort and things, they don't even know they're wasting away. And this ties back to the chapter, uh, I believe it's three, where Gomer is equated, it kind of comes out, God's not really talking about Gomer anymore, he's talking about Israel, and he says, You're giving all the things that I gave you, you're giving to Baal, and then saying Baal gave them to you. Right. You know, and I'm gonna take that out of out of you. So what's happening here is they're basically so power-hungry and messed up that everything is on fire. It's the meme with the dog with his cup of tea and the room's on fire, and he says, It's fine, everything's fine. You know, that that's what's happening, and Israel doesn't even know that. And so God turns in verse 10 and says their arrogance testifies, yet they don't return to the Lord their God or even try to find them. What are you guys picking up here? You got any?
SPEAKER_03Well, we were downstairs a little bit ago, joined in on uh a little bit of that study there towards the end. And the first thing that called out to me, you know where I'm going with this. Um I want to heal Israel. The sins of Ephraim is what this particular version says. In the end of it says, they do not cry out to me from their hearts, but wail on their beds. Uh, they were talking about when Jesus was walking on the water, and it says in Mark that he wanted to walk by. And the question was explain that basically. Like why? Why? And that right there is what we told him basically, is it not? I mean, we basically said it's not that he didn't want to, it's he wanted them to understand the resilience. And again, I brought up Moses in the desert, the wandering in the desert. You know, a 13-day walk took 40 years because they wouldn't rely on God. And here at the end of Hosea, they do not cry out to me from their hearts. They saw Jesus on the water, but they didn't cry out to him. Instead, they went to this, oh, it's a ghost. It's a ghost, we're scared. Yeah, which is ridiculous considering the day they had.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Well, and so often I think we we fall into that trap of self-reliance, and and he's just asking for us to call for him. Yeah. So just whenever you're done, you're done suffering? Apparently not. Okay. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Just whenever you are, just let me know. You know, it's that's funny that you said it that way, because I had a friend, and this was something in their particular past was it was an abusive relationship. And the the the parents of the abused would say, Well, apparently you like it, you keep going back. How much is that right here? You know, you keep going back to it. You keep going to these false gods, you keep giving credit where credit is not due.
SPEAKER_04And even though, like, you're literally killing your own kings, and the king's foreign relations and domestic lives are absolutely atrocious, they're leading you away. You have the law, you know you're doing wrong. And yet, verse 10 tells you everything you need to know. Their arrogance testifies against them. Is that not the most human passage that's in the Bible?
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Right? Like, there we always think we can do it. And we we we always look to these big, huge examples like of terrible arrogance. But how often do we think, like, oh, I'll figure this out on my own? No, brother. You know, in small things. I do it too often, even knowing what I know, I do it too often. It's it's because we're kind of our culture teaches us pick yourself up by your bootstraps, go on, don't ask anybody for help, you know, where God is telling us different. But our arrogance often testifies against us, just like it is here. It says, it's so bad that they don't return to the Lord their God or even try to find him. But the also the other part Jose is mentioning is they don't even know God's not with them anymore. You know, I mean he is, but he's yeah, getting rid of judgment.
SPEAKER_03This kind of thing is like scary. I am watching, yeah. Always watching. Like, that's like, oh, you know, and honestly, I've lived a lot of my life that way, just specifically because I've had people in my life that want me to act a certain way around certain people. And my first thought process is well, if I'm willing to do it knowing that God is watching me, what special power does this person you don't want to see that part of me? Because if I'm willing to do it in front of God, you really think I care what Joe Blow over here thinks or says Steve. Steve, yeah, I should have said Steve. I'm sorry. That's that scoundrel. Steve. That's mockery. No, not not exactly exactly Steve. Notice I I said I was gonna use mockery on the podcast today, and I did, so uh but yeah, it it's that that's in a way, it's terrifying. I don't know, but at the same time, it's kind of comforting, isn't it?
SPEAKER_04No, it is it is comforting to know that we're not the only ones.
SPEAKER_01But but at the same time too, like you ever wondered if he cared, or you ever like got it in mixed mismatched in your head? Like God that he didn't care that's not he's there always, yes.
SPEAKER_03And again, uh what with this, and I think it was I think it was Psalms that I I did in '91, if I'm not mistaken. Um he's there watching, he wants us to rely on him, and we keep trying to pick it back up ourselves. We keep trying to do it ourselves, we keep thinking that we can do it instead of dwelling with him, dwelling in it. And you said it earlier, he's with them, but he's not with them. He's watching, but he's not their their dwelling place, which would be a way to relate it to 91. You know, when you say dwells, it means you live in or with, not just visiting. They're kind of visiting here, yeah. You know, and a lot of times vi Israel, they live with a little bit, but then they start visiting, and then things fall apart, and then he's gotta fix it. Just like again, going back into the Proverbs one through four. And and the example I used earlier, you know, as a dad, you know your kid's getting ready to do something dumb. And it's either I either protect them from doing it, or let them learn, or let them learn. And that's what God does with us. Okay.
SPEAKER_01I'm gonna continue with uh chapter eight. Uh sound the alarm. The enemy descends like an eagle on the people of the Lord, for they have broken my covenant and revolted against my law. Now Israel pleads with me. Help us, for you are our God, but it is too late. The people of Israel have rejected what is good, and now their enemies will chase after them. The people have appointed kings without my consent, and princes without my approval. By making idols for themselves from their silver and gold, they have brought about their own destruction. Oh Samaria, I reject this calf, this idol you have made. My fury burns against you. How long will you be incapable of innocence? This calf you worship, oh Israel, it was crafted by your own hands. It is not God. Therefore, it must be smashed to be. But these very altars become places for sinning, even though I have gave them all my laws. They act as if those laws don't apply to them. The people love to offer sacrifices to me, feasting on the meat, but I do not accept their sacrifices. I will hold my people accountable for their sins. And I will punish them. They will return to Egypt. Israel has forgotten its Amaker and built great palaces. And Judah has fortified its cities. Therefore, I will send down fire on their cities and will burn up their fortresses.
SPEAKER_04Power? Judgment. I just think this continues the thing. Also, operational note in 8.5, it talks about Samaria. Samaria is the capital of the northern kingdom at this point. It's not Assyria. The Samaria from Assyria. So a lot of people think God's talking about two things. I just want to make that out. But he says, Oh Samaria, I reject this calf, this idol you have made. And so what we find is there are two regional places that we worship. You asked this trivia question, or the two altars at Taco Trivia the other time we did it. And one was Bethel and the other was it Dan? It was Gad or Dan or something. Dan. And so it was basically so equal access to these altars that were calves that they represented Baal. And so God calls them out on it. He says, That calf you worship was crafted by your own hands. It's not a god. You must smash it to bits. And that's back to the story of Moses in Golden Calfstock in Exodus, where he smashes it and makes them drink it. And I love this line. He says, They planted the wind and now they will harvest the whirlwind. Oh, yeah. You know, uh, it's like you plant a wind and now here comes the tornado, and you're sitting here wondering, well, how did that happen?
SPEAKER_03Is that kind of like uh the dumpster and you fill it with gasoline and then throwing a mole cocktail off? Yeah. Yeah, I mean basically that's kind of like I mean, what do you expect to happen? It's like evil begin evil, you know, or violence begetting violence at the same time. It's like, yeah, I do like that line too where it says that sowed the wind, and now here comes the whirlwind.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, and it's like you you played with fire, you're gonna get burned. Like you've touched the hot stove enough, now it's really gonna hurt. Yeah. And he even says you have everything you need, but you're not gonna eat it. Foreigners will. Which will be the Assyrians.
SPEAKER_03And the Oh, go ahead. So in five, we're talking about Samaria again. Is this the beginning of when Samaria, Samaria and Samaritan, is it the same thing? Or are we talking about two different things? The Samaritan woman, yeah.
SPEAKER_04This is those Samaritans.
SPEAKER_03Is this the beginning of how the the the two got clashed?
SPEAKER_04They were clashing before, and then the Jewish people wiped out the Samaritan temple that sat on the top. So that was the whole beef.
SPEAKER_05Okay.
SPEAKER_04Um, so but but what it's God is basically saying here is you're again one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel. Yeah. Right? Like, but you think you're doing right, but here comes the storm. And he says uh in verse 11, Israel's built many altars to take away sin, but these very altars became the place for sinning. Even though I gave all my laws, they act as if those laws don't apply. The people love to offer sacrifices to me, a self self-righteous religion, right? Correct. Um and the people love to offer those, but feast on the meat. They're not supposed to feast on the meat. No, they're violating it.
SPEAKER_03Again, God sees everything. Yeah, this is this is kind of a shadowing to what Jesus does at the temple. It kind of is, kind of, you know, because there's wickedness going on in Jerusalem. Oh Jerusalem, oh Jerusalem, what have you done? This is, you know, a different city, but again, it's the same thing. It's just another one of those nothing new under the sun. We keep repeating the same mistakes.
SPEAKER_04And this isn't God being like people again, Old Testament is like God is so wrathful. Listen to how patient he's meticulously laid out this case just in Hosea, right? And so ultimately they're sinning, and he says, in verse 12, even though I gave them all my laws, they act as if those laws do not apply to them. So that tells me people going around going, You're wrong, while doing the same thing they're pointing out.
SPEAKER_05Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_04Typical human nature. Yeah, one finger pointing away, but what three pointing back at you?
SPEAKER_02People forget about that.
SPEAKER_04And he says, You can offer he says they love to offer sacrifices, and I love that word, pun intended, because it's really intense. Like they love to do it, they're enthusiastic, but he says, I don't accept it. I love that. To hear God say I don't accept it. Oh man, you're gonna love Amos.
SPEAKER_03I haven't read Amos yet.
SPEAKER_04It says, I will hold my people accountable, I'll punish them, and they will return to Egypt. Not because God's gonna physically send them back to Egypt, because they're gonna be so scared that God strips away everything, they're gonna run back to the oldest enemy that they have for protection. That's how bad things are gonna get. Yeah. And then verse 14, as it finishes out, is the like the judgment that's about to get let down because chapter 9 is where that goes. Israel has forgotten her maker and built great palaces. Judah has fortified its cities, therefore, I will sit down fire on the cities and burn up all their fortresses. I mean, God's like, I don't accept, I'm going to hold you accountable for your sin and I'm gonna burn it to the ground.
SPEAKER_03In in in today's world, the accountability factor is huge. Nobody wants to take accountability for anything. Even in the first centuries, obviously, they didn't want to take accountability for anything. You know, but the thing I love about when you really delve into the Old Testament, yes, there is punishment. Yes, there is, you know, accountability, but there's always what I will give you if you are obedient, and there's always this is what's gonna happen when you mess up, and then there's always but you can turn back to me.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Or I want to save you, but you won't let me. And and I think we as humans focus on the misery, focus on the bad stuff. Agreed instead of looking at the front in the beginning.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_03You know, when you when you when you boil it down, the hard times are never as bad as or as long as the good times. Correct. A perfect example is uh at the gathering yesterday, okay. I had to fix some things, right?
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_03And it was like 20 minutes to service started, right? And I just came straight in and went to work. And then the next thing you know, it's like 15 minutes after service was supposed to start, and I'm still working on something. Like that 30 minute span gone. To me, it didn't feel like it was 30 minutes, it felt like it was like five or six minutes. So I thought I still had plenty of time. But again, when I was physically active, time went a lot faster. And I told you Saturday or Friday night that I was kind of getting myself out of that rhythm of being that handy person.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03But when you're doing something you enjoy and you love, time flies. And when you're miserable, when you're at work, time crawls, it crawls. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, so again, it's like we focus on the crawling time instead of the quick times that go by, and we don't appreciate and have the gratitude that we need for them.
SPEAKER_01How how frustrating is it to be caught in traffic? It's maddening, right? Now, the thing is, is as an angry person, I always used to uh I I would let that boil at me and I'd be angry at all these people and I would say silly things like you know, you know, uh maybe maybe there should be fewer people. Yes, yes, but again, but at the same time too, now as a Christian, I do come and I try to approach it with this. I'm just like I am surrounded by family. Yeah, it's a it's a crazy thing, and and and and and it quells that anger. Yeah. And and and my my patience increases.
SPEAKER_03So and we've said it a lot in our own studies. It's like, don't pray for patience because you'll have opportunities to be patient. Instantly answered every time. It's like the train or the traffic. If you want to believe in God, pray for patience. Yeah, you want to say God doesn't answer prayers, pray for patience. We have an elder, I I love him dearly, I love his family dearly, and he he made the comment one time at work because I used to work, I still work in the same department with him. He said he stopped praying for more money because that's when overtime would show up. And none of us really wanted to work overtime, especially in our advanced years. It's like advanced years. Well, I am in that age group. Chronologically advanced. Yes, chronologically advanced. That's a tag phrase in one of our group texts, isn't it? But yeah, it's just it's it's fascinating to see it and to understand it and to take the time. I think today in our Bible study, we may have blown his mind. The young man that joined us kind of sporadically. I think so. I think he was he he there was a lot of information that he probably had never heard before, and it probably blew his mind a little bit, which I loved it. I absolutely loved it. Yeah, it was fantastic though. He definitely seemed to learn a lot. And I noticed how you kept enjoying it too by looking over at him, getting him antsy, and then he was moving around. But then when we went down and joined the other group, that was fantastic too. I just I love seeing people around a Bible and learning. Oh, yeah, and the fact that they asked us when we went down there, again, we've talked about this a lot, me and you, Scott, is how did this happen? How did I get to this position in life? Where what what who am I to be doing any of what I'm doing now?
SPEAKER_04You know? It's because you paid attention during the horrible times.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I think you're right. And you realize that it doesn't have to be that way. It doesn't have to be that way, and my life has gotten a lot better. Now, with that, and with what we've read, again, it's hard times, it's harsh times. It's to be more on point, it's learning moments. Okay, it's healing moments, it's learning not to do those things. Taking responsibility again. Taking responsibility, learn not to do them again, and then move on. Do we want to continue with another chapter or we want to wait until next week?
SPEAKER_01No, no, no. We'll probably cut it off for here. It's for today. Uh, but let's let's keep going to God and let's go to God in prayer. Would somebody pray for us? I'll pray us out. Thank you, bro.
SPEAKER_03Holy Father God, you we just love you so much, and it's just so amazing to get together with our with our like-minded people and to be able to reach out to other people and show them things that they didn't see before. Open your word for them, let them understand that you love them and that you want them to come home, you want them to return home, just like we've talked about as being a parent. No matter what, you want your children home. That's when you're the most happy, and that's when God is the most happy. I'm sure there was such great parties this week as we baptize so many people and just welcoming people home, and it's just such an amazing feeling, and it's such an amazing thing to be a part of all those things, and to have all these groups that are coming together and joining and just celebrating you and worshiping you, and it's just so amazing. And you're such an awesome God, and I'm just so grateful that we are able to be a part of that and be able to witness that, Father. And we thank you for Jesus being the ultimate example, the ultimate uh trendsetter, if you will, to show us how to live and then to serve and then the sacrifice for us, Father. We thank you for that, and we ask all these things in Jesus Christ's name. Amen. Amen.