00:00 Introduction and Welcome

00:07 Recap of Compass VBS

01:13 Reflections on VBS Success

03:52 Transition to Hosea

04:08 Hosea's Background and Context

05:10 Hosea's Living Parable

06:40 Judgment and Hope in Hosea

12:55 Call to Repentance and Knowledge of God

17:30 Concluding Prayer and Encouragement

Find out more about Compass Bible Church.

Learn more about our Bible Reading Plan.

Questions or Comments? Email us podcast@compassntx.org

Hey everybody.

2

Welcome back to another edition

of the Daily Bible Podcast.

3

What's happening folks?

4

Hey, this is a grateful edition

of the Daily Bible Podcast.

5

Specifically for you, if you're listening

to this, you're part of our church

6

fam here in Compass, north Texas.

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You were involved in Compass VBS, and I

know that wasn't everybody, not everybody

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was able to be there in person, but I know

a lot of you were praying for us anyways.

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But those of you that were there in person

every night this last week and serving,

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and then especially yesterday morning.

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Our setup and tear down,

or our tear down rather.

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And then our setup again for church

this morning as it's Sunday as you're

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listening to this, went so smooth.

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We were done with everything.

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Within four hours.

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We had VBS torn down and church

setup in a four hour window.

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And the bonfire in the parking lot at

Founder's Classical Academy Fresco.

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That was amazing.

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Yeah.

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That was the fire department

came, people in helicopters came

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to dump water on top of that.

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But besides that, there was really

nothing outta the ordinary besides that.

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Besides that, no, but it was so cool.

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We just saw so many of our people show

up and just jump in and say, what?

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What can I do?

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We need clips taken off the ceiling.

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Okay, where's the ladder?

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Grabbing a ladder,

going up and doing that.

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We need the classrooms reset.

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We need chairs put on tables.

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We need, it just was everybody all

hands on deck and it was just the

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church being the church, which was

so good and so encouraging to see.

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And that's why we love what we get to do.

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Hebrews 13, you guys

make our jo a job, a joy.

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And we mean that it is such a great

body of believers here at Compass

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North Texas and we are privileged

to be able to be your pastors.

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And good job.

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Good job team.

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Good job, pastor Mark.

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Good job.

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Ali.

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Your whole team VBS

was a smashing success.

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I think it just was.

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Everything that, that we

hoped it would be plus more.

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We saw an increase in

attendance this year.

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We saw everything just go smoothly.

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I don't think that there were any fires

that needed to be put out throughout

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the week as far as there's one.

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Just the bonfire.

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There was just that one.

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Actually there was two then,

now that I think about it.

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The other fire that took place

was on stage at the closing dance.

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Pastor Mark was dancing it up.

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He was cutting the rug.

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So good.

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He was the, a fire lit on stage.

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The guy was just burning up.

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He was burning.

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Yeah.

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It was amazing.

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Yeah, he was fire.

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Yeah.

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But no controversies aside from that.

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And so it was awesome.

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Good job team.

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Hopefully you feel a sense of

righteous satisfaction in your

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labors and your efforts in knowing

that it was a good week of service.

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And listen, we are not about what

some churches out there will do and

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say, Hey, we're gonna, we're gonna

get a bunch of professions of faith

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from these kids during this time.

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We're gonna dot alter

calls during our VBS.

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We're gonna do this because

we really feel like.

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As they do as well.

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But we are really careful with that

because we wanna make sure that our

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kids are putting their trust in Jesus

of their own volition of him actually

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truly saving them and opening their

eyes to see their need for a savior.

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Not because they're caught up in the

emotions of things or because they've

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got a leader that they love that's

telling 'em they should, or that mom and

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dad are telling them that they should.

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So our.

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Fruit from this is not that we're gonna

have a baptism service next weekend where

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we're gonna baptize 40 kids from VBS.

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Our fruit from this is knowing man

seeds were planted, that we're praying

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and trusting that God's gonna water

and that God will cause the growth and

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that we'll see them come to faith down

the road and they'll be able to point

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back to a time like this last VBS where

they learned a lot about Jesus from

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day one all the way through day five.

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They learned a lot about Jesus

and we are trusting that God's

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gonna do great things with the

seeds that were planted this week.

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Good job team.

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I'd like to say that the seeds went

down as deep as they could have

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been, but I think we could have done

something else because at the end

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when they were Thanksgivings being

offered and then the dances ended at

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the finale, people were super stoked.

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And I think I heard the crowd saying,

pastor PJ Dance, I think I heard one or

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two people there was on, on, on our staff.

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People were calling for

it is all I'm saying.

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And.

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Their calls for gospel love through

dance did not come to fruition.

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So those seed could have been

planted deeper and are watering,

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are you telling Better are telling.

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Are you telling me at the bema seat

that Jesus is gonna say and dance?

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If you had danced more

would've been saved?

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Yeah, more would've been saved.

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I dare say I don't think that's

the proper interpretation of

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all things for all people.

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I I don't know man, pastor Mark

did it, so I'm just saying.

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He did.

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He did it.

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He cut the rug.

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I'm not saying it's his job,

but he is the kid's men pastor.

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Alright y'all, let's jump into Jose.

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We got a lot of ground to

cover today, seven chapters,

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but we recently covered this.

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We did in one of our sermons.

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So did, if you want to

hear an extended a shorter.

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A short but extended version, right?

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Because it wasn't the whole thing.

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You wanna hear more?

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Go download that sermon.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Jose is unique.

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He's a one of the prophets from

the north which I think to our

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knowledge make him and Jonah the

only two that we know for sure.

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Were from the north, and so he is

called from the north and he's called

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to prophesy bo, both the northern

kingdom and the Southern kingdom.

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Contemporaries of Isaiah and Micah.

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That's why we're also reading portions

of Isaiah right now during our daily

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Bible reading, which we'll be back

in Isaiah, I think in two days now.

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And he was prophesying.

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Jose was during a unique time in Israel's

history because this was not a time

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when a seer was knocking at the door

when Babylon was bearing down on Judah.

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This was a time of general prosperity and

and everything was easy and comfortable,

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and with that came a lot of moral decay.

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And so God was sending Hosea with a

message of you need to snap out of

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it and repent from your sinful ways.

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Repent from your idolatry of comfort

and ease and literal idolatry

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going after false gods and sexual

immorality and everything else

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that tends to come with that.

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And you need to return to faithfulness

to God, and he's gonna do so by

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having Hosea act out quite the.

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The living parable in

the first three chapters.

144

And that's what we find as the

book opens is Hosea is called

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to take a wife of Harlett tree.

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The ESV uses a word that's a little

bit stronger than that, I think, but he

147

is called to take an immoral wife, an

unfaithful wife, and there's debate about

148

whether or not she was already unfaithful,

that she was already in this profession.

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And then he.

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Marry her out of that, or whether this

was Hosea marry a woman who's going

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to prove to be unfaithful to you.

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But either way this was going to

depict Israel and Judah's relationship

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with God that Hosea was the God

figure in this living parable.

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He betroth himself to this woman

who proves herself to be unfaithful.

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But not only that, he also

has children with her.

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And these children become their.

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Own versions of living parables

by the names that they are given.

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And so God goes through and gives them

unique names that are gonna represent what

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he's gonna do in judgment to the people,

but also how he's going to redeem them.

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And so first he's gonna

have the child Jezreel.

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And again, this is probably as if you

remember the sermon and nod to Ahab

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and Ahab's wickedness in One Kings 21.

163

He did right by.

164

By eliminating the line of

the northern kings there.

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But he also went after the southern

kings and that was outside of

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what God had commanded him to do.

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So Jezreel there and then the

second one, he's gonna have

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this daughter called No Mercy.

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And then third, he's gonna have

a son called, not My People.

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And so it escalates.

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You can see that all the way till

the point that God says, Hey.

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Not my people.

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I'm done with you.

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And yet we also see a glimpse of hope

in these opening chapters where God's

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gonna reverse the fortunes and say,

there's going to be a time when I

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am gonna say that you are my people.

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I am gonna show mercy to you.

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And so mixed in the book of Hosea

is this hope for the remnant, the

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faithful remnant, but also the

intense judgment that is being

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threatened against an idolatrous.

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I immoral people in the

northern and southern kingdoms.

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Yeah, it seems like through mu much of

Hosea, there's this ongoing cycle and this

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kind of rhythm where you'll notice that

God judges his people, he's expressing

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his forthcoming judgment, but also

quickly thereafter, there's gonna be a

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section of, but I'm gonna love you again.

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I'm gonna restore you.

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I'm going to do good things to you.

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So it's a really interesting play.

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But it happens.

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A lot throughout the prophets.

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You're gonna see that same

kind of rhythm as you read.

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What's interesting here, pastor pge,

tell me about what you think about this.

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I read recently, and I noticed

this when I read this time around,

194

is that there's only one child

that's explicitly said to be his.

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The others are a little ambiguous.

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Would you put any stock in that?

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Are these his kids?

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Are they other people's kids?

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Do we know?

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Yeah.

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And that's commentaries are split on that.

202

Whether or not these are children

that she had with these other.

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People that she suitors Yeah.

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Was with, or whether these are hosea's and

I think that the commentaries that I went

205

to the most basically landed on, we, they

think that these are hosea's children.

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That these are his that there's

nothing explicit in that text,

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which would indicate that these are

somebody else's, that he's adopting.

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Even the fact that he's able to name them.

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Would it indicate as some suggested

that he has a role in their.

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Their progeny in their existence.

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That he takes the fatherly role of naming

these children as God commanded 'em to.

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Now God could still do that in

another situation, but I kind of

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land, I think these are all his, yeah.

214

Either way I don't think it really

changes a whole lot of the interpretation

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just to, a point of curiosity.

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Yeah.

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But another, regardless, it does show

that God is committed to his people

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besides the fact that they are adulterers.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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And that's really where after chapter

three the rest of the book really

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unpacks that and it lays out for us

the idolatry, the sinfulness of Israel,

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and why God was doing what he was

doing in these opening three chapters.

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And he goes after them.

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Pretty intensely and doesn't pull

back and doesn't pull punches on them.

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But he identifies their idolatry here

in chapter four with pretty stark words

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like verse 12 when he says, my people

inquire of a piece of wood, and their

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walking staff gives them oracles.

229

The prophets will do this often.

230

They will mock.

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The foolishness of

idolatry, and it really is.

232

They'll say you elsewhere in the prophets,

say you take a log and with half of

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it, you warm your house and with half

of it, you bow down and worship to it.

234

And that's the same thing

that he's saying here.

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You inquire, you ask of a piece of wood,

and your walking staff gives you oracles

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because your staff is the same thing as

the idle that you're bowing down before.

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Verse 17, EEM, remember Eem, anytime we

read that is the northern kingdom there.

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Eem is joined to idols, leave him alone.

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Even that we're joined there and I, and I.

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Should have gone to the Hebrew.

241

I don't know what the Hebrew word is

there but what came to mind is the

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idea of being betrothed, even with

the opening of this situation of

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Hosea marrying a wife of Harlotry.

244

I wonder there if this is the same root

word or at least a similar synonym there

245

for eing joining himself to idolatry.

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And God is just pointing out the intensity

and depth of the sin of the people.

247

But this is where he's going

in these opening chapters here.

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Yeah.

249

One, one thing I just wanna point

out to, in chapter four, specifically

250

the second half of verse 14, I just

wanna point out something that you're

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gonna see as part of the thematic.

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One of the themes that Hosea

captures, he says that people without

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understanding shall come to ruin.

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And the understanding is not

just an intellectual, generalized

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understanding about how the

world works, but specifically

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their understanding of the Lord.

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They're going through the motions in

some ways, and yet he's charging them

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with saying, you don't even know me.

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You don't understand my words,

you don't understand my will, and

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therefore what you're doing is all

out of a lack of understanding.

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And he's gonna say that people are

destroyed for a lack of knowledge.

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In fact, that's the top of verse six here.

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He says, my people are destroyed

for lack of knowledge because

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you have rejected knowledge.

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I reject you from being a priest to me.

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And since you have forgotten

the law of your God, I will

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also forget your children.

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Our relationship to God is founded

by founded on Grace through faith.

269

We are accepted by him.

270

We are adopted by him, and that

relationship is unilateral.

271

He extends grace to us.

272

We receive that.

273

But once we're in Christ, there is

an obligation that corresponds to

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our covenantal relationship to him

that says we ought to be obedient.

275

We ought to know his word.

276

We ought to do what his word says,

which is why we do this podcast in

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the first place, because we care so

deeply that we know who he is and we

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do according to what He wills for us.

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Our whole existence is to know and love

God, and this is how we do that lest

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we be destroyed for lack of knowledge.

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Yeah.

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And that's that lack of knowledge

there is a willful lack of knowledge.

283

To your point, it this is not like

God is, he's hiding out hiding.

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He's not hiding.

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And this is also not God

calling out people that.

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Didn't have an opportunity to know him.

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Oh yeah.

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They had every opportunity to know him.

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And that's another thing that

you see in the prophets as well.

290

When the prophets say are

prophesying and the people say, we're

291

putting our fingers in our ears.

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We don't wanna hear you.

293

Stop prophesying.

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Stop telling us these things.

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That's the lack of knowledge.

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That's a willful ignorance

there, to your point that.

297

That is God is gonna judge.

298

And in chapter five he gets into

what that judgment's gonna be and

299

he says, it's not just gonna be

Israel, but it's also gonna be Judah.

300

He says in verse five, Judah

shall also stumble with them.

301

And we get a little bit of a glimpse

of what that's gonna look like.

302

Later on in the chapter in verse

13, he says, when Eem, again, the

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northern Kingdom saw his sickness and

Judah his wound, then Ephrem went to

304

Assyria and sent to the Great King.

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Now this is unique here because this

is probably alluding to the Syria.

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Ate war.

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The war between them and Syria, as Syria

is proving to be a thorn in their sides.

308

They actually go to the nation.

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That's going to be their end.

310

They go to Assyria and they

ask Assyria to come and help.

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And Assyria is going to be a.

312

Sort of help because again,

we've, and we've talked about this

313

before on the podcast, the enemy

of my enemy is my friend, right?

314

And so they're gonna go after the

enemy that's coming against ere because

315

Assyria is gonna benefit from that too.

316

But then they're gonna

put ere under their thumb.

317

And so that's what's happening

here, ere rather than returning

318

to the Lord, trusting in the

Lord is going to try to appease.

319

Assyria, and that's gonna be a

problem, not just for Eem, but as

320

we've talked about also for Judah,

because the Assyrians are gonna have a

321

massive role in God's judgment against

both the northern and the southern

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kingdom, even though the Southern

kingdom is not gonna be completely

323

judged until Babylon comes along.

324

But Assyria is a problem, and that's the

judgment that's coming in chapter five.

325

Notice again in chapter five, verse four.

326

They know not the Lord.

327

The spirit of prostitution is with

them for they know not the Lord.

328

Sin emerges from a lack of knowledge

of the Lord's will and the Lord's ways.

329

And so if you want to fight your

sin better and know how to love

330

the Lord better, you have to do it.

331

In conjunction with a knowledge of the

Lord and a knowledge of his word, which

332

is where he goes in chapter six, right?

333

Because he's anticipating I, I

think here he's anticipating, okay,

334

maybe there are some that are gonna

hear this message and be cut to

335

the heart and say, what do we do?

336

And so he says there in chapter six,

come let us return to the Lord for

337

he has torn us, that he may heal us.

338

And we talked about that a lot.

339

That there's a, a.

340

There's a didactic purpose of God's

discipline in our life that God

341

will use discipline and suffering

to teach us something, to get our

342

attention, to bring us back to Him.

343

And that's the purpose of

discipline to begin with.

344

That's why, the writer of Hebrews brings

up discipline and says, a it's as a

345

father disciplines his son because he why?

346

Because he loves him and he

doesn't want him to go astray.

347

And so Jose is saying, God has

torn us that he may heal us, but.

348

If he's gonna heal us, we need to repent.

349

We need to return to him.

350

And like you've been talking

about in verse three, pastor

351

Rob, we need to know him.

352

Let us know the Lord.

353

In fact, I love the imagery.

354

Let us press on to know him.

355

Let's work at it.

356

Let's labor to know God and I think

this is that knowledge that is more

357

than just, do we know the theology?

358

Do we know the doctrine?

359

Do we have these things in place?

360

But it's more of the, do

we know him relationally?

361

Do we have that component in place there?

362

We're gonna be talking about that a lot.

363

This morning in church as we study

another amount of Prophet Haggai.

364

But this is a relational knowledge

that, that Israel had rejected God

365

and had walked away from it and.

366

Hosea here is calling them

back to that saying, come back.

367

Let's strive together to know the Lord.

368

Yeah.

369

Speaking of relational

knowledge, verse six, lemme

370

just point this out to you guys.

371

It says here Hosea is speaking

on behalf of the Lord.

372

I desire steadfast love,

Hess said, and not sacrifice.

373

In other words, I want

the relationship with you.

374

I don't care about the

offerings on the altar.

375

Those matter, but they don't matter

if there's no relationship there.

376

Second half of verse six, the knowledge

of God rather than burn offerings.

377

There you see God's desire for

connection with his people.

378

He gives them rules and regulations

and not so he can be overbearing and

379

command them to do what he wants.

380

He's commanding them for their

good and that those rules

381

and regulations are meant to.

382

To de determine to define the

boundaries of their relationship.

383

And so God desires their steadfast love.

384

He desires the same from you today.

385

He desires not that you obey all the

rules, although the rules are important,

386

he desires a relationship with you,

and the rules are there so that they

387

can foster and contribute to that

deepening and profound relationship.

388

Yeah.

389

Unfortunately, chapter Seven's gonna

reveal that Israel's not gonna.

390

Heed these words, at least by and large.

391

And he even says in seven verse one,

when I would heal Israel, the iniquity

392

of eem is revealed and the evil deeds

of Samaria for they deal falsely.

393

He goes on and on.

394

Verse 10, the main indictment here, the

pride of Israel testifies to his face,

395

yet they do not return to the Lord there

God, nor do they seek him for all of this.

396

Verse 11, Ephrem is like a dove silly.

397

Without sense.

398

Thanks for that man sound.

399

I didn't hear that.

400

That was just here.

401

That's really good.

402

Calling to Egypt and going to Assyria and

so you just, we read this and it's like,

403

why are you turning everywhere else but

to God who's trying to get your attention.

404

And yet sometimes that, that.

405

That's not unique.

406

That's been true of mankind

throughout human history.

407

That's true of people today.

408

That can be true of a Christian.

409

God may be trying to get your attention

today, and you may be looking for

410

everything else to try to solve the

solution and to find deliverance

411

rather than going back to God,

the one who may have torn you in

412

this season, that he may heal you.

413

Israel is rejecting God, saying,

no, we're not gonna go back to him.

414

Let's go to Egypt.

415

Maybe Egypt will help

us, so let's go to assy.

416

Let's go everywhere else we can

except coming back to God the way

417

that God is calling them to do.

418

Yeah, what a great.

419

Call to a life of repentance.

420

When we live the Christian life, there's

not a lot different from us in Israel.

421

There's a lot of differences.

422

Obviously there's a discontinuity.

423

We're dispensationalist and so we believe

God has a plan specifically for them.

424

But when it comes to our

relational connection to God,

425

there, there are similarities.

426

And there's a lot of similarities.

427

And there's a lot of differences.

428

But the thing I wanna point out

is that we're not too different.

429

We're still made of the same flesh.

430

The difference is that we have

by the power of the spirit, the

431

ability to connect with God in

a way that is satisfying, deep,

432

profound, and even permanent.

433

Their interaction with God was

largely contingent upon their response

434

to him, and it's the same for us.

435

Their difference is that they didn't have

the indwelling spirit like you and I do.

436

Which means we now have a power source

within us to draw near to God and to love

437

him with heart, soul, mind, and strength.

438

This is the beauty of the new covenant.

439

So as you read through Hosea and

you see the charges brought against

440

the people of Israel and Judah, by

God recognize that those are serious

441

charges that God still cares about,

he still cares about our fidelity.

442

But the biggest difference

is that we have the spirit.

443

God's not gonna talk to us

the way he talk to them.

444

We have the spirit of God.

445

We're in a different class,

and thank God for that.

446

Amen.

447

Let's pray and then we will be done

with these first seven chapters here.

448

God, we thank you for the book of Hosea.

449

We.

450

Pray that we would be

able to glean things.

451

This is a tough stretch.

452

It can be at least during our daily

Bible reading of being in the prophets

453

and trying to understand these things.

454

God we thank you that you've given

us commentaries and other helps to be

455

able to understand and sort through

these details and figure out what it

456

is these meant at that time and how

they should impact our lives today.

457

We pray that these podcasts would

help towards that end as well.

458

Lord.

459

Glad to be able to do this and

to pray that it would continue to

460

prove a blessing to our people.

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So we thank you for this time and your

word, and we pray this in Jesus' name.

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Amen.

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Amen.

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Keep reading your Bibles.

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Tune in again tomorrow for another

edition of the Daily Bible Podcast.

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See ya.

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Bye.

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PJ: thanks for listening to another

edition of the Daily Bible Podcast.

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This is a ministry of Compass

Bible Church in north Texas.

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You can find out more information

about ourChurch@compassntx.org.

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We would love for you to leave a

review to rate to share this podcast

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on whatever platform you happen to

be listening on, and we will catch

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you against tomorrow for another

edition of the Daily Bible Podcast.