Through the Bible with Les Feldick
LESSON 1 * PART 3 * BOOK 70
LO-AMMI – NOT MY PEOPLE – PART 3
Hosea 1:1–2:18
Okay, it is good to see all ready to go again. We are on program number three this afternoon in book 70. So, we’ve been here a long time. My, we just can’t believe we’ve been doing this for sixteen years in October. Unbelievable! How we appreciate all you folks across the country out there in TV-land. Again, we want to thank you for your kind letters about how the Word is impacting.
Okay, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover, so we’ll dispense with any other comments and get right back into Hosea. Hosea, for those of you here in the studio audience, we’re in chapter 1. Let’s jump back in at verse 7.
Hosea 1:7a
“But I will have mercy…” Now you see, whenever God expresses His wrath and His vengeance and His judgment, He also shows the other side, which is His mercy. Here we have it again. That even though He’s going to have to bring chastisement upon the Nation and He will utterly take them away, yet He says:
Hosea 1:7
“But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, (that’s the Southern two tribes, remember, where Hosea is ministering.) and will save them by the LORD their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.” But rather by His own intrinsic Sovereign power.
Now, let’s be reminded that the Southern Kingdom lasted about a hundred years longer than the Northern Kingdom. Israel, the Ten Tribes, will be overrun by the Syrians about a hundred years before Judah goes under the hand of the Babylonians. Now I don’t think, if I’m remembering correctly, I did not really finish our verses back there in II Kings. I’m going to bring you back here again, if I may, so that you see why God’s patience ran out with the Ten Tribes that we are now calling Israel.
For some reason or another I digressed. I guess that’s when I jumped up to the New Testament, wasn’t it? All right, come back with me to II Kings. I want you to see why God’s hand of chastisement came upon these Ten Tribes of the North. All right, we were in verse 7 of II Kings 17.
II Kings 17:7-8
“For so it was that the children of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods, 8. And walked in the statutes (or the religious rituals and systems) of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made.”
Now, I made comment in the last program that as the leadership goes, so goes the Nation. It’s the same way today. If you have a corrupt leadership, the nation is going to go right down with it. All right, now verse 9. Here we get to the crux of the problem.
II Kings 17:9a
“And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right…” We covered that in the last lesson – verse 10.
II Kings 17:10-12a
“And they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree: 11. And there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the heathen whom the LORD carried away before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the LORD to anger: 12. For they served idols,…” I think that’s where I jumped up to the New Testament. All right, now let’s jump in to verse 13.
II Kings 17:13a
“Yet the LORD testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets,…” Now, I had a thought as I was studying this. Where’s the priesthood? Well, they’re not much better than the rank and file. So, who does God have to use to preach to Israel, common ordinary men, the Prophets. Have you ever thought of that before – that none of the Prophets were priests? I never had. They were totally separate from the priesthood.
Now, the priests were religious. They carried out all the Temple worship, but in heart and mind they were just as idolatrous as the people. But here we have that little remnant of Prophets that God raises up to warn the people that if they do not change, if they don’t repent of their idolatry, this is what’s coming. All right, go back into verse 13.
II Kings 17:13
“Yet the LORD testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye (Now that’s repentance.) from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants (not the priests) the prophets.” Amazing, isn’t it?
II Kings 17:14-15a
“Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the LORD their God. 15. And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies…” Now verse 16, I’m doing this for sake of time now.
II Kings 17:16
“And they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made them molten images, (In other words, they melted down the metals.) even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.”
Do you see what they are doing? It wasn’t even the idols that they made out of whatever it was, but they worshipped the moon, they worshipped the sun, they worshipped the mountain, and they’d worship a tree. Anything to fulfill their idolatrous desires! It’s just beyond me, and I imagine it is for most of you. But this was Israel! Now, we’re not talking about the Babylonians! We’re not talking about the Syrians. We’re talking about Israel, the chosen people. Isn’t it unbelievable?
And yet, you know, as I told somebody at break time or before we started this afternoon, in my own mind’s eye, even though I have no scriptural basis to do so, who do I have to compare with Israel? The United States of America – because we have been so blessed spiritually. The whole purpose of our founding fathers to come over here was to get away from the heavy hand, not of politics, but the heavy hand of what? Religion! On that basis our forefathers established this nation on the Word of God. Whether they were all born again believers or not is to me moot. They rested on the Word of God.
I always like to rehearse what I read years ago. When they were trying to pound out our Constitution, being representative of everybody in the country, some of the big states like Pennsylvania and Virginia were kind of heavy handed over the smaller states like Rhode Island and maybe some of the New England states. So, what was the fear of the small states? Well, they wouldn’t have a voice in government. That was one of the most crucial things that our founding fathers had to hammer out.
But as this writer put it, and I have to depend on what people say, that when they got at loggerheads, the big states like Virginia and Pennsylvania would not just overrun the small states, they would dismiss. They would go to prayer rooms and those men were not ashamed to get down on their knees and pray and ask for wisdom. They’d come back to the convention hall and they would pick up where they left off. That was how our Constitution was finally hammered out.
Now, what are we seeing today? They don’t even want the name of God on our currency. They don’t want it even spoken in the Pledge of Allegiance. They’re making so much noise that government people are starting to listen to them. And it’s frightening that we’re going down the same road. We’ve been so blessed, and we’re turning our back on it. So, as we go through all these teachings in the next several programs in these Minor Prophets, do like I do. Just make the parallel, even though scripturally I can’t say that, but just on the basis of common sense and what we know of our own national history, my, aren’t we in the same kind of a situation?
All right, back to II Kings – why did God finally permit the Syrians to come in and overrun them and take them out? All right, verse 17, now this was getting pretty low. We covered this when we studied Isaiah.
II Kings 17:17a
“And they caused their sons and their daughters (their little infants) to pass through the fire,…” In other words, they offered them to the “fire god, Moloch.” You remember I pointed out when we were in Isaiah that they named the valley The Valley of Drums, because they were beating the drums to drown out the cries of their little ones. Horrible! Horrible! Now, these weren’t pagans. These were Israelites.
II Kings 17:17-18
“And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination (satanic power) and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger. 18. Therefore, the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only.” And of course Benjamin was with them. So, the Ten Tribes to the North, now, are who we’re dealing with. But, Judah also is heading down that same road. They’re going to go out, like I said earlier, 75 or 100 years later.
II Kings 17:19-20
“Also Judah kept not the commandments of the LORD their God, (Even Judah with the Temple in their midst) but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made. 20. And the LORD rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, (That is invaders.) until he had cast them out of his sight.” Isn’t that sad? No longer God’s People. No longer His chosen. He cast them out. Now, verse 21:
II Kings 17:21-22
“For he rent (or He tore) Israel from the house of David; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king: and Jeroboam drove (or led) Israel from following the LORD, and made them sin a great sin. 22. For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; (There again, like I said, as the leadership goes so goes the masses.) they departed not from them;” God took it with mercy and compassion and pleading and they would not and finally the day came.
II Kings 17:22b-23
…and they departed not from them (their sins), 23. Until the LORD removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day.” Now remember, Israel here is the Ten Northern Kingdoms – the Ten Tribes of the North. So, “Israel was carried away out of their own land to Assyria.”
So, Sennacherib was, if I’m not mistaken, the king that came in and took the Ten Tribes. Now, I always have to make a point. You know that there’s been teaching over the years as false as a $3.00 bill saying that the Ten Tribes that were supposedly lost became the people of Western Europe and Scandinavia. Well, number one, the Ten Tribes were never lost. By the time that Ezra and Nehemiah come back from the captivities, all the Tribes are represented.
So, what happened? Well, I haven’t got time on the program like I’d like to, but if you will do this on your own. You go back and research the civil wars between Judah and Israel. They had civil war just like you are seeing in Iraq today. The Southern Kingdom actually set up an array of military against the Ten. Well, numbers alone will tell you, what’s it going to be? How many troops can two tribes provide compared to ten? Well, the number of the first civil war was something like 300,000 from Judah, but the Ten Tribes of Israel had 1,300,000. Naturally, they just wiped them out.
Well, when you go about ten years later, if I remember correctly, they have another civil war and the numbers are about even. They both have about the same. Then you go thirty years later and they have another civil war. Now, Judah has one million some hundred thousand and Israel’s army was like a little flock of kid goats. Well, what in the world had happened? Well, they’d been migrating. Common sense will tell you that. The Temple was down in Judah. They’d probably had more prosperity down there. So, the people of the Ten Tribes to the North were migrating down into Judah, so that by the time Sennacherib comes in and takes Israel captive, hey, it was probably only ten percent of the whole. So, don’t ever buy into that teaching that the Ten Tribes to the North were lost. No, they were never lost. They were assimilated.
Now, I’ve got a verse of Scripture to show that, all the way up in the New Testament. Let’s jump up to Acts a minute. Keep your hand in Hosea. We’ll come right back. But just to prove my point that the Ten Tribes of the Northern Kingdom were never lost, come all the way up to Acts chapter 2. We have Peter on the day of Pentecost. Acts chapter 2 verse 36, just to make my point that the Ten Tribes were never lost. If I had time, I could show you that even in Ezra and Nehemiah it’s referenced that all Israel came back from the captivity. All the tribes were represented. But look what Peter says, verse 36.
Acts 2:36a
“Therefore let ALL the house of Israel know assuredly,…” Well, who’s the whole house of Israel? Well, all the Tribes. Not just Judah and Benjamin, not just the Ten Tribes of the north, the whole house of Israel is all of them. Now, I’ve got some more verses we’re going to look at here in just a minute, but I’m running ahead of myself. Come back to Hosea verse 8. We’re still dealing with Hosea and the wife that he took out of idolatry from the North.
Hosea 1:8-9
“Now when she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived, and bare a son. (Now remember, she had a son and then a daughter, and now she has another son.) 9. Then said God, Call his name Lo-ammi: (which meant not my people) for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God.” Now, you see all the symbolism here?
The first child was the result of Hosea, a prophet in Judah, taking a wife out of idolatrous Israel. The first child came and it was an indication of the blessings that would one day come upon the Nation of Israel. Then she has the daughter, and it was named Lo-ruhamah, which meant there was no pity. In other words, God’s wrath would come because of their unbelief and their idolatry. Now we come down to their third child, and his name indicates that they are not God’s people. They have refused to repent of their idolatry, and He turns His back upon them.
But always remember, what was the promise made way back to King David through the prophet Nathan? That even though Israel would sin…let’s go back and look at it. I’ve got to do things from Scripture. I can’t help it. II Samuel chapter 7 verse 14 – now listen, the Word of God never lies. It may seem like God has forgotten what He said, but He hasn’t. It’s still a valid promise. All right, you all got it? God says:
II Samuel 7:14
“I will be his father, and he shall be my son. (Speaking now of the Nation of Israel in a little different form of grammar.) If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him (I will discipline him) with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:” What does that refer to? Invading armies.
I will chasten them with invading armies. They’ll overrun you. They’ll take away your crops. They’ll put you into subjection. They’ll tax you to death. Now, I want people to know that’s what the Koran teaches, too, you know. That if the Muslims take over a country, anybody that doesn’t succumb to the Muslim, or doesn’t convert, if they’re not put to death, they can choose a state, which they call the dhimmi (the d-h-i-m-m-i). What’s a dhimmi in Muslim government? It is a man with no rights who can be taxed to death. They can come into his home and take everything he’s got. He’s got no defense, because he’s a dhimmi. And that’s what people want? I don’t. But that’s what the Koran teaches. It’s either convert or you become a dhimmi.
Well, now Israel was under that same thing until they started going back to their homeland. That’s why I’m aware of all this. I’m reading the book again that I recommended in my last newsletter, From Time Immemorial by Joan Peters. Now, it’s not an easy read. But I’ll tell you what. It’ll open your eyes as to what caused the Jews to return to their homeland.
All right, so here we are. God says, “I will chasten him with invading armies, and with the stripes of the children of men.” In other words, the subjection to enemy government and rule. What’s the first word of the next verse? “But.” The flipside! This is God. He’s a God of vengeance, but He’s a God of love and mercy.
II Samuel 7:15
“But my mercy shall not depart away from him, (Even though God says, you’re not my people. Even though God says, you’re out of sight. Yet, in the heart of God, His mercy is still waiting to be exercised. So, He says, I will not turn my mercy from you…) as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee.”
All right, now then, if you’ll come back to Hosea. I only have a few minutes left. Now verse 10, here’s the promise coming back on the other side of the coin. Even though he will not be their God in verse 9, verse 10 says:
Hosea 1:10a
“Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass,…” Now, when I taught the Book of Isaiah, you remember what I emphasized? What does that mean? It’s going to happen. Israel is not going to disappear. Oh, we’ve got this guy over in Tehran who thinks they will. He thinks he’s going to drive every Jew into the sea. Obliterate them with “nukes” or whatever. No, he’s not. Israel isn’t going to cease being a nation. Oh, God’s going to chastise them again, but they’re not going to cease being a nation. We’ll look at that maybe in our next program. Okay, so reading on now in verse 10.
Hosea 1:10b
“…and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.” Well, what is that? That’s a complete reversal. Do you see that? God will never abandon the Children of Israel. Oh, even now most of them are over there in unbelief. And they’re going through hard times. They’re going to go through a lot more. But, God hasn’t abandoned them. He hasn’t given up on them.
Hosea 1:11
“Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, (Now, you see it? The two Kingdoms, all twelve Tribes now.) and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel. (or the day of their blessings)”
Now, I think I’ve got time enough. Let’s go back to Deuteronomy chapter 30. This is an explanation of where we are in the news today. This is the answer for the world’s dilemma. What about these Israelites, or Israeli’s, as they are called today? What about them? Where did they come from? Well, not like these covenant replacement people tell us. They’re not from some tribes in the Russian Steppes. They’re not the Czars. They’re not from some place east of the Caucasians. But rather, there are Jews that are in Israel today. They are just as Jewish as these people in the Scripture. Here’s my point, Deuteronomy 30 verse 1. We’ve used it before.
Deuteronomy 30:1
“And it shall come to pass, (Again, it’s going to happen.) when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, (See the ups and downs of Israel’s history?) which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind (Where?) among all the nations, (Every last nation on earth will have Jews within its borders.) whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee,” And, you know, by 1970 that was a total reality. There was not a nation on the face of this planet that did not have a Jewish community. Not a one! So, this was fulfilled. They have now been scattered into every nation under heaven. But look at the promise in verse 2:
Deuteronomy 30:2
“And shalt (What?) return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul;” Now, I just told somebody on the phone, several times in the last week or two, in light of everything that’s going on in the Middle East and how people hate the Jew and how they think that they’re usurpers and they have no business being there.
Listen, this prophecy was written 3,500 years ago. And it’s being fulfilled right before our eyes. But the world can’t see that. But this is what God said thirty five hundred years ago – you’re going to be scattered unto every nation under heaven, and then you’re going to come home. And there they are. They can’t tell me they don’t belong there, because God said they would. He says they will return, and then the day would come when they would serve God with all their heart and with all their soul.