(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Jeremiah. So even though it's a short book, it's still referred to as the major prophets. And then you've got Daniel after after Ezekiel. Now, the reason why I'm saying that is some people believe that Daniel should be part of the minor prophets. However, Daniel comes after Ezekiel in terms of time frame. And if it was the first of the minor prophets, it wouldn't be in chronological order. But the Old Testament is divided in chronological order by section. And so Daniel's the end of the major prophets. Okay, because it's talking, he starts with Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon, but then the Medes and the Persians take over. Hosea is the start of the minor prophets. And what we're going to find out here at the beginning is that Isaiah, the first of the major prophets, and Hosea, the first of the minor prophets, are happening at the same time, but in different locations. Okay, I know that's a lot of information. You can you can check the recap of the sermon, just write down those first couple minutes and notes and everything. It's not gonna be that complicated, but the beginning is kind of. Hosea 1, verse 1. Let's look at the first verse, and I'll show this to you. Hosea 1, verse 1. The word of the Lord that came on to Hosea, the son of Biri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, king of Israel. Now I want you to notice in Hosea 1, verse 1, you know, a lot of times we read over these verses. And it's just a couple months ago, Brother Matthias said this in a sermon. But what you notice is the Bible gives you the events of when they're taking place, who are the rulers, the locations, the names. It doesn't say, well, there is a prophet in some place, in some time frame, and he turned this burden to whatever. You know, it actually gives you the exact time frame of when stuff's taking place. I mean, it's telling you Hosea during the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. And then it says, and in the days of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, king of Israel. Now keep your finger in Hosea 1 and go to Isaiah 1. Go back in your Bible to Isaiah chapter 1. Isaiah chapter 1. Isaiah 1. I mean, I don't know if you've ever looked at predictions by Nostradamus, but they're a joke. They're just these really vague things. It's like, you know, he'll have this really cryptic saying that there'll be like a sun and the moon will rise upon and people like, oh, he's prophesying about a woman world leader. I mean, it's just like a really vague thing and it's just like, it's not clear. See, the Bible is just very clear about what's being said. It's giving you a time frame. It's giving you events. It's very clear about what it's saying. Okay. Now Isaiah 1 verse 1, notice the vision of Isaiah, the son of Amos, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Now if you notice, we said basically the exact same thing here. It said in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. It said the same thing in Hosea chapter 1 verse 1. Now in Isaiah 1 verse 1, you'll notice it mentions Judah, the kings of Judah. It doesn't mention Israel. You say, why? Isaiah was a prophet to the kingdom, the southern kingdom of Judah. Okay. Now what you're going to find is any of these prophets, they make mention of the other kingdoms, but there's a primary place that they're actually preaching. And Isaiah was a prophet to the southern kingdom of Judah. Okay. Go back to Hosea 1 verse 1. Hosea 1 verse 1. Hosea 1 verse 1. Although Hosea will make reference to the kingdom of Judah a lot, he was a prophet to the kingdom of Israel. Now going back in time, you had the 12 tribes and they were united together, but as we're going to see later on in the sermon, they end up separating and you have two tribes with the southern kingdom of Judah and then 10 tribes with the northern kingdom of Israel. And see the mission Hosea had was that he was a prophet to the nation of Israel, the kingdom of Israel. Okay. Now obviously anybody who's a man of God, I mean, when you read the book of Isaiah, he's preaching against a lot of different countries, but he's primarily to the kingdom of Judah. Okay. Hosea was preaching the kingdom of Israel, although he will make reference to the kingdom of Judah from time to time. Okay. Now go to Numbers chapter 13. Numbers 13. Numbers 13. What we're going to see in the book of Hosea is that he's going to prophesy and talk about how basically Israel is done. He's saying, I'm done with you. I'm sick of you. And he's preaching about them going into captivity. Okay. About 25 years before the kingdom of Israel became captive by the Assyrian kingdom. Okay. Now you have to put yourself in this situation because in today's world, I don't preach about future events. Like I'm prophesying that in, you know, this year this is going to happen, but that's what they're doing in the Old Testament. Prophesying now is just preaching what is already written. We're just saying, thus saith the Lord, this is what the Bible says. But oftentimes they're preaching about future events. And what Hosea is saying is, hey, we're going to go into captivity. We're going to be destroyed. Now, do you think people would like that message? I mean, what if I got up and preached that in the year 2040 or in just a little bit of time, we're going to go in captivity to North Korea. We will be the bond slaves of North Korea. Do you think that people would be happy to hear that message? They'd be pretty angry, wouldn't they? And see, that is what Hosea is doing. He's saying, we're going to go into captivity. So when he's preaching this message, it's not really a shock. The prophets in the Old Testament, they're getting, you know, killed, imprisoned and everything else because they're very offended at what is being said about them. Okay. What is being said about their kingdom? And that is what Hosea is doing. He's preaching about the judgment to Israel. Okay. Now notice what it says in Numbers 13. This is all introduction. We'll kind of get into it here in a minute. Numbers chapter 13. What I want you to understand is that Hosea is another name for Joshua. Okay. In the Bible, you see sometimes names will change a little bit, and we're going to see this here in a second, but Joshua is basically another name for Hosea. Okay. Notice what it says in Numbers 13 verse 8. Of the tribe of Ephraim, Oshea, the son of Nun. Okay. Now Oshea is referring to the Joshua that we know. Kind of the right hand man of Moses, the book of Joshua, the sixth book of the Bible, and Oshea, the son of Nun. He's the only one who's the son of Nun. Okay. Now it does not say the son of a nun. Okay. This is not a nun that, you know, committed fornication and everything. And no, this is the son of Nun. That's his father's name. Okay. The son of Nun. Okay. But you can see with that word Oshea, O-S-H-E-A, it is all the letters of Hosea that are just kind of respelled. Okay. H is kind of put in the middle there. Notice verse 16. Numbers 13 verse 16. Numbers 13 verse 16. These are the names of the men which Moses sent to spy out the land, and Moses called Oshea, the son of Nun, Jehoshua. Now Jehoshua, if you remove the E and the H, you have Joshua. Okay. There's many names that are spelled different ways and things like that. And so what we're seeing is that Joshua is another name for Hosea. You say, why are you telling us that? Because Joshua, when it's put into the New Testament, it is transliterated into the word Jesus. So there are a few times in the New Testament when you see the word Jesus, it's referring to Joshua, not Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Okay. And you might not have realized that when you're reading over it, but Joshua is transliterated from Hebrew into Greek into Jesus. Okay. Go to Acts chapter 7. Acts 7. Acts chapter 7. Acts chapter 7. And there's kind of two main references. I'm just going to show you one of them here real quickly. This one is the one that I believe is a little bit more clear, but I want you to see here in Acts 7, verse 44. Acts 7, verse 44. Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen. So in verse 44, we're talking about Moses. Okay. Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers onto the days of David. Okay. This is long before the time of Jesus Christ when this is being mentioned When Jesus is being mentioned in verse 45, that's referring to Joshua. Okay. The right hand man of Moses. His name was transliterated into the Greek language to Jesus. Okay. There's one other reference in the Bible as well. So what I'm trying to tell you is introduction is this. Joshua was another name for Hosea. Okay. And his name was translated or literated into Jesus. In many ways, Joshua was kind of a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. Hosea is also a picture of the Lord as well. Okay. And that's important when you're reading this book and you didn't necessarily have to know all the stuff I just showed you. But Hosea in many ways is picturing the Lord Jesus Christ. Because think about what the story is. If you're familiar with Hosea. Okay. He is told to marry a woman who is what we'd say in the US is a very loose woman. If we're trying to be nice, a horse woman. Okay. And basically, you know, Hosea is a picture of the Lord. And this is what he tells him. We're gonna see this in the story. And basically his wife is whoring around on him. And it's a picture of the fact that the nation of Israel was whoring around on their Lord. And so Hosea is basically representing the Lord. And then his wife Gomer is representing the nation of Israel and the nation of Israel hoard around on the Lord. And then eventually God said, you know what, I'm done with the nation of Israel. Okay. So he is actually a picture of the Lord. Okay, now go in your Bible back to Hosea chapter one, Hosea one, Hosea chapter one. So in this entire book, Hosea, there's many people in the Bible that represent Jesus Christ, or they're a picture of him or they're a picture of God, even ones that are sometimes sinful. For example, Jonah was in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights. And that was a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, that doesn't mean that Jonah was perfect and sinless. Obviously, we know from the story he wasn't, but he did picture the Lord Jesus Christ. The only way those men could be saved is they threw him off the ship and then he's in the whale's belly for three days and three nights. He even said out of the belly of hell cried I. Now Jonah was not literally in hell, but obviously being in a whale's belly is not the nicest place to be for three days and three nights. Okay. But he was a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. Hosea is also a picture of the Lord in many ways. Okay, and not really a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, but just kind of the Lord in general, our Lord and one God that we worship. And then what you see is that the nation of Israel, they end up pouring around on God just like Hosea's wife did. Okay, notice what it says in Hosea 1 verse 2. And the first point is prostitute. Okay, prostitute and Hosea's wife is acts like a prostitute. I'll show you this in Hosea 1 verse 2. That's what it says. The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea. And the Lord said to Hosea, go take on the a wife of whoredoms. Okay, he says, I want you to get married to a woman that is a whorish woman. Now, that's not normally the advice I would give in a sermon or whatever, but this is a special situation. Okay. And then he says in children of whoredoms, okay, go take on the a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms. Now we're going to see in a minute. And I could see you being misunderstanding this or someone misunderstanding if they're just reading over. She does not have any children yet. There's no indication she has children. What he's saying in verse two, what God is telling Hosea is this, you're going to marry a woman and then after you're married, she's going to whore around on you. Just like the nation of Israel does to God. We're going to see that all throughout this sermon here today. And so the children of whoredoms have not come yet. And so when it says a wife of whoredoms, I presume that he married a woman who already showed questionable character and everything like that, but she actually starts cheating on him after they're married. Okay. That's very evident. Now, who are the children of whoredoms? Now notice what it said, though, in verse two, it said in children of whoredoms, children, is that singular or plural? Plural, right? So we're talking about at least two. Children is at least two. Verse three. So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblam, which conceived and bear him a son. Okay. Now it's interesting of these three children that are born in this chapter, it kind of words it differently. When it comes to this one, it says, which conceived and bear him a son. What the Bible's telling you is that this is Hosea's son. Okay. She bear him a son. So the first child that is born is his. She's not committing whoredom and cheating on him for that child to be conceived. That is actually his son. Okay. Verse number four. And the Lord said unto him, call his name Jezreel for yet a little while and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel. Now, later on in the sermon, we're going to find out why does he say call his name Jezreel. But what you saw is he will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel. He is a prophet unto the kingdom of the house of Israel. Okay. So the first child is called Jezreel. Now go to Hosea chapter two. Hosea two. Hosea two. Hosea chapter two. And tonight's sermon is more, uh, you know, just kind of a lot of information. So we make sure we fully comprehend this book. The future sermons are going to be kind of more making applications and stuff like that. But the first child was named Jezreel, but notice what it says in Hosea two verse one. Say unto your brethren Ammi and your sisters Ruhamah. Okay. Now we'll look at it here in a second, but in the first chapter, the names of the other two children are Lo Ammi and Lo Ruhamah. Okay. So we see Ammi and Ruhamah are Lo Ammi and Lo Ruhamah. Okay. It says, say unto your brethren Ammi and to your sisters Ruhamah, plead with your mother, plead for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband. Let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight and her adulteries from between her breasts. Now, look, I can understand Hosea being angry, even though he was told by the Lord, this would happen. His wife cheats on him. And not only does she cheat on him, she actually produces children, not just one, but two. I mean, just imagine, you know, that you're married and then all of a sudden, you know, your spouse cheats on you. And I can't imagine if I found out my wife was pregnant with some other guy. I mean, as a guy, you would, I mean, lose it, right? You'd be so angry. And this is what's taking place. Now, look, you look at the prophets in the Old Testament. They had to go through some pretty hard things, didn't they? Now, we'll see in several chapters in a sermon that I honestly believe that they're actually able to restore their marriage and have a solid marriage at some point. But this is setting the introductory thing, what we're seeing here in the story. And she basically whores around and she's going to have these two children, okay? He said, plead with your mother, plead for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband. Now, they are not divorced. But obviously, if she's fooling around with another guy, and we're going to see in later chapters that she actually leaves the home and he's left there by himself, they're not really husband and wife. They're not really acting like husband and wife, even if technically they're still married, okay? Then it says this, verse three, lest I strip her naked and set her as in the day that she was born and make her as a wilderness and set her like a dry land and slayer with thirst. And we'll talk about that next week in the sermon. But notice verse four, and I will not have mercy upon her children, for they be the children of whoredoms. He says, I will not have mercy upon her children. Notice how he does not say this to Jezreel. You say why? Because Jezreel is his son. But he says this to Ammi and Ruhamah. He says, I will not have mercy upon her children, for they be the children of whoredoms, okay? He's telling lo Ammi and lo Ruhamah, I will not have mercy upon her children because they're not his children, for they be the children of whoredoms. And so the two children that are children of whoredoms are lo Ammi and lo Ruhamah, not Jezreel, okay? Verse five, for their mother hath played the harlot. So notice he doesn't say my children, their mother hath played the harlot. She that conceived them hath done shamefully, for she said, I will go after my lovers that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink. And so when it comes to lo Ammi and lo Ruhamah, the second and third children born, those are not his children, okay? Now go back to Hosea, chapter one, Hosea one, Hosea one. And look at verse number two, you say, Brother Stuckey, why, why did God ask him to marry this woman who was going to end up, you know, cheating on him? Ended up pouring around on him and having children with another guy. Well, verse two, notice the end, for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the Lord. And see the land committed whoredom, the people of Israel, the nation of Israel, they basically hoard around on God. They started worshiping idols, they started worshiping other gods, and they basically were married onto Christ, and then they cheated on him. They committed adultery, and all of a sudden is going to create all these false religions. They've got these pagan practices, and they basically just rejected the Lord and went after other gods and other things that are against the things of the Bible, okay? And so he says, I want you to marry this woman that's going to do the same, and that's going to be a picture of what's happening to the nation of Israel. Now, one thing you need to understand is that throughout the entire Bible, anybody could be saved that believed, right? Absolutely anyone around the entire world, okay? Now, in our modern day, if you really want to serve God, what do you need to do? You need to get involved in a good church, right? I mean, that would be kind of the key to really getting fully involved in the things of God, because you got a church, you got fellowship, you got soul winning, right? You got to get involved in a church if you really want to serve God perfectly. Now, obviously, there are people that live around the world that don't have a great church, and obviously, you know what? That's a difficult situation, but the best situation is to be part of a good church, right? In the Old Testament, though, before God set up the system of church, if you really wanted to serve God, what did you have to do? You had to go to the nation of Israel when they were the 12 tribes, and really at this point, you have to go to the southern kingdom of Judah. Because of the fact he set up the Levitical priesthood and all the ordinances and things like that, and if you really wanted to serve God, you could get saved in Nineveh, you could get saved wherever, but if you really wanted to serve God, you had to really line up with God's people, okay? And so at this time, these are God's people. This is the area he poured out his blessing on. These are the people he expected to reach the world with the gospel, right? The northern kingdom of Israel, the southern kingdom of Judah, especially before that when they were one, they were connected as 12, and they had the land he gave them, he was basically pouring out his blessings upon them, and it was their job to reach the world with the gospel. You say, how do you know it was their job to reach the world with the gospel? God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance, that all should change their mind, and look, Jesus Christ is saying yesterday, today, and forever. He's always wanted all the world to get saved and to hear the gospel, but the system he was using was different, okay? And then what did he say in the book of Matthew? He's like, because they weren't producing any fruit, like the fig tree that had no fruit on it that he cursed, he said, I'm going to take it and give it to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof, saying, you're not preaching the gospel, you're not getting people saved, you're not obeying my rules, I'm done with you, okay? And that is what takes place, and he is done with them. Now, Hosea chapter one, Hosea chapter one, and let me say this, that our lives are meant to glorify God, and he wanted him to marry this woman, and you know what? That was God's choice for his glory, right? And he was using it as a picture. Now, obviously, this is not something that he would ask most people to do, but this is kind of a special situation, and that is who God wanted him to actually marry. So point number one, we see that his wife acts basically like a prostitute. I say prostitute because although she might not have technically been a prostitute, the reason why she was whoring around, we quickly read over it, is the fact that these other men are providing her bread, and her flax, and her wine. So basically, she's sleeping around and whoring around for the sake of actually getting something. It's like a prostitute, right? So she's acting like a prostitute. Point number two, we see preparation. preparation. Hosea one, verse four. Hosea one, verse four. And the Lord said unto him, call his name Jezreel. This is Hosea's son with his wife, Gomer. For yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel. And he tells Hosea, he's like, I want you to name his name Jezreel. And then he gives him the reason why. Now look, Hosea was a prophet of God. He obviously knew the scriptures. He's obviously aware of what Jezreel represented. And Jezreel in the Bible, a lot of bad things happen there. Saul and Jonathan, they get killed at Jezreel. Ahab conspires to take the vineyard of Naboth at Jezreel, which is basically showing, you know, kind of the judgment of God is represented. Jezebel dies at Jezreel. And so it's really kind of representing the judgment of God when he's saying, I want the name to be Jezreel. Okay, it had a specific purpose for this name. And what he's basically showing us is this, you know what, God is not going to be merciful forever. Because what he said in verse four is this, for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu. What he's saying is, you know what, I'm still going to be long suffering for a little while. Now the picture with Hosea realized this is actually his child. So although I'm sure his wife wasn't the greatest wife, given what she ended up doing later on, at the same time, you know, she's still, you know, his wife, she's not whoring around at this point. She doesn't have children with other guys at this point, at least. And so it's like the nation of Israel. Obviously, they weren't godly. But the picture he's showing is, you know what, they were okay for a little while, but they're going to get worse and worse. And I'm going to be basically merciful for yet just a little while. And then Israel is going to be destroyed. Okay, go to Judges chapter 16. Judges 16. Judges chapter 16. Now, I read this on Sunday. And look, I write my sermons in advance. So it's kind of a coincidence if I happen to be reading from the same scripture, but I guess maybe God wanted it to come up twice or something like that. But Judges 16 is a great example with the story of Samson, about how God might be long suffering with us when we're committing certain sins, but he's not going to be long suffering forever. Eventually, that mercy is going to run out. Okay, Judges 16 verse 15. And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? Thou has mocked me these three times, and hast not told me where in thy great strength lieth. Okay, here's a woman that Samson's not married to. And he's just committing fornication over and over and over again. Verse 16. And it came to pass when she pressed him daily with her words and urged him so that his soul was vexed on to death. Okay, it comes to the point where he doesn't want to go on anymore. This is someone who is a believer. Okay, if you are a saved person living in sin, it's going to destroy you. You're going to feel like, man, I don't even want to go on anymore. You're miserable. You're depressed. You're in a bad mood. And the reason why is because you're committing bad sins, right? And he says, you know what? His soul is vexed on to death. Why? He's committing fornication over and over again. And the person he's committing fornication with is trying to get him killed. It's like, yeah, that's a real smart choice, Samson. Okay, good choice for picking a woman to fool around with. Verse 17. And then it says that he told her all his heart and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head, for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb. If I be shaven, then my strength will go for me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man. When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sinned and called for the Lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he hath showed me all his heart. Then the Lords of the Philistines came upon her and brought money in their hand. And so she basically, you know, turns him in as guilty for money. That's the reason why she did it. And she made him sleep upon her knees, and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head, and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him. Now, I think I would wake up if somebody was cutting my hair. You know, I don't really get that. But I mean, if somebody was, like, buzzing my hair or something like that, I would assume I just wake up. But I don't know. Maybe he's a sound sleeper. Okay, I don't really know. Verse 20. And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep and said, I will go out as at other times before and shake myself. Right? And so this is kind of a picture about if somebody is committing the same sin over and over again, and basically they just kind of shake it off, and they just kind of go on with their life. Oh, nothing happened. It looks like I still have my strength. Right? An example for us in a church would be if you're somebody who's going soul winning, you're serving God, but you got that one major sin in your life. And look, this is a pretty major sin. Fornication over and over and over again that he's committing. And that you have a sin that you keep committing. You feel guilty about it. And then you come to church on Sunday, you feel terrible, but then you hear the preaching, you go out soul winning, and you're still able to get some people saved. And you're thinking, man, thank you, God, for helping me get somebody saved, even though I'm backslidden. And then you do it week after week. And then after, like, three or four times, you're thinking, man, I guess it's not really a big deal if I obey God's rules or not, because I'm still able to get people saved. Right? We can have and develop this attitude because God is long suffering and God is merciful, and we can lie to ourselves and think, oh, God doesn't care because of the fact, you know, nothing's happened to me yet. But think about if you have a child. You know, sometimes, you know, if your children are acting up, sometimes you're merciful with them. Sometimes you give them a chance. I mean, just 30 minutes ago, I did the five, four, three, I did the countdown. Right? It's like, Zeph, I'm being merciful. And then when he doesn't change, it's like, okay, well, there comes the spanking. Right? And it's like, sometimes, you know, God is merciful. We're his children. He loves us. I mean, he gives us chances and, you know, he's merciful with us, but he's not just gonna be merciful forever. Right? I mean, if you had a sin like fornication in your life, he's not just gonna turn a blind eye for 50 years while you're committing fornication as a believer. Right? Eventually, your luck's gonna run out, and his luck runs out. And guess what? And he wished not that the Lord was departed from him. And God basically is done with him at this point. He says, You know what? I've given you chance after chance after chance, and you're not changing. And he goes to shake himself, and he can't shake himself anymore. Verse 21. But the Philistines took him and put out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with fetters of brass. And he did grind in the prison house, and they take out his eyes. And now he's a blind man. Okay, now, when you think of the nation of Israel and when you think of I mean, even the kingdom of Judah and the 12 tribes and I mean, when you look at them, it's like they would turn to God when they're going through trouble in their life. And then all of a sudden, God would bless them. He'd give him a judge. And then all of a sudden, they start committing the same sins over and over again once that judge is gone. Isn't that true? They bounce back and forth like, God, forgive us. Please forgive us. Then all of a sudden, God forgives them. He gives them a chance. And then all of a sudden, 20 years later, God forgive us. We did it again. Just over and over and over. Well, I mean, eventually God's mercy is going to run out, right? Eventually God's going to be like, You know what? I've given you chance after chance after chance. And you know what? I chose you. And guess what? To whom much is given, much is expected. Much is required. And much was required from the kingdom of Judah and the kingdom of Israel. And they were just not producing the fruit. They weren't doing and obeying what God told them to. They worshiped idols. You know, this story, we're going to see that in the book of Hosea. They start having idolatry. And look, idolatry might not seem like a big sin if you're born in the Philippines, but idolatry is weird. And it's definitely wicked, according to the Bible, right? I didn't grow up seeing a lot of actual idolatry. Seeing giant statues, you know, at Catholic church, you don't have that in the US. I mean, here you're just driving down, you see all these statues. I mean, you're preaching the gospel and you're at somebody's door and in the background there's this big statue of Mary or whatever. And it's just like, that's weird. All these statues of Buddha, that really doesn't make any sense to me. When people aren't Buddhist, why they have Buddha statues, but you know, whatever. And it's just like all this idolatry. And look, that's the stuff that in the book of Hosea, the nation of Israel is shown to be guilty of. And they're committing all these sins over and over again. And look, when you're reading through the Bible, because Hosea is not the first book of the Old Testament, book after book, they're wicked, right? I mean, the kingdom of Israel, especially, even more so than Judah, were wicked over and over and over again. I mean, they were trying to persecute the kingdom of Judah as well. The ones that were actually trying to live for God. Eventually, God's not going to be merciful anymore. And eventually they would go into captivity because of their sin. Okay, go back to Hosea chapter one. And so this point of preparation is basically prepare to be destroyed, Israel. It's like you've got the warning. And here's the thing about God. Sometimes God puts out a strong warning, but it's really like a last chance. There's still a chance, right? I mean, with Assyria, that's a great example of that, right? In the book of Jonah, where basically they told they're going to be destroyed, and then the king feels bad and everything. He caused everyone to be in sackcloth and ashes. He caused everybody to hear this word and hear what Jonah was saying. And it was just published all throughout by decree. And God was merciful. God said, because you changed and got rid of the sin, I'm going to change my mind. I'm not going to destroy you. I'm going to give you a chance. And so, look, I do believe that the Kingdom of Israel, they would have still had a chance to change at this point. Okay, but it's very evident when we're reading this that that never happens. Okay, Hosea one verse five. And it shall come to pass that day that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel. Now, Jezreel really kind of represents the judgment of God. So we're looking at basically the valley of judgment or the day of judgment. He says it shall come to pass that day that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel. Now look at verse number six. So point one is basically a prostitute. Point two is preparation and point three is punishment. Okay, notice the punishment that is mentioned to the nation of Israel. Verse six. And she conceived again. Remember, she conceived Jezreel already. I know we bounced around, but Jezreel is the only one who's been conceived. And she conceived again and bear a daughter. Notice how it doesn't say she bear him a daughter. It just says she bear a daughter. You say why? Well, the reason why it adds that extra word for Jezreel is it's trying to make it very clear to you that the children of Hordom are the second and third, which makes sense because of the fact he still said I'm going to be merciful yet a little while because one of the children of Hordom has not been produced yet. But it says she conceived again and bear a daughter. She doesn't bear him a daughter. She bears a daughter. And then notice the reaction of God. And God said on to him, call her name Lo-ru-hamah, for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel, but I will utterly take them away. I mean, when you see the reaction in verse six, is it not clear that this is a child of Hordom? Because when God sees this child, he's, I mean, because children are a heritage. They're a blessing for a husband and wife. But when it comes with another guy that she's not married to, I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel. This is a child of Hordom's. She hoard around on her husband. Verse seven, but I will have mercy upon the house of Judah. Now, primarily Hosea talks about the nation of Israel, but he mentions Judah from time to time. He says, I'm not going to have mercy upon Israel, but I will have mercy upon the house of Judah 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. So there's a difference between Israel and Judah. Israel eventually is going to be taken into captivity by Assyria. Okay, now Judah, eventually their luck also ran out because although they're not as wicked as Israel, they become wicked. And throughout the Old Testament, we know this, they get driven into the Babylonian Empire, the Chaldean Empire. Okay, now turn to 1 Kings 11 real quickly. 1 Kings 11, 1 Kings 11. Look, this is probably going to be the deepest sermon in the book of Hosea. There's a lot of foundational stuff to understand in this book, but 1 Kings 11, I want you to see the split that takes place between Judah and Israel. Okay, why are there two kingdoms? Because originally, remember there was Jacob had 12 sons, right? 12 sons of Jacob. Okay, the 12 tribes of Israel, Israel or Jacob. Okay, now Judah comes from, you know, I mean, the term Jew comes from Judah, someone who was living in Judah. Okay, so that comes later on in the Bible. It doesn't come when the first half in the book of Genesis, when you have the 12 tribes of Israel, they're connected as one as the 12 tribes of Israel. And in our modern day, people think a Jew is one of the 12 tribes of Israel. They think someone who's a Jew and one of the 12 tribes is synonymous. No, I mean, a Jew was someone who's with the southern kingdom of Judah. Okay, and so notice what it says in 1 Kings 11. Let me show you the split that you have between these two kingdoms. Verse 29. And it came to pass at that time when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shiloh knight found him in the way, and he had clad himself with a new garment, and they too were alone in the field. And Ahijah caught the new garment that was on him and rented in 12 pieces. Okay, so Ahijah rents the garment on Jeroboam into 12 pieces. Now Jeroboam at one time was one of Solomon's, you know, trusted people. Solomon ends up getting involved in a lot of sin and everything. Then Solomon ends up hating Jeroboam and everything, and he flees, and he comes back after Solomon's dead with Rehoboam. But this is basically at the point where God says, I'm not going to be merciful to Solomon anymore. Although the 12 tribes were associated with him, David, his father, had the reign, and it was going to be passed down. Eventually it's taken away because of the sin of Solomon. And Jeroboam meets his prophet, and his clothing is written in 12 garments. Verse 31. And he said to Jeroboam, take the 10 pieces, for thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, behold I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give 10 tribes to thee. So what he says is, I'm going to take these 10 tribes from Solomon. This is something that takes place after the death of Solomon, okay, when his son Rehoboam is on the throne. But 10 tribes are going to go to Jeroboam, okay. Verse 32. But he shall have one tribe for my servant David's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel. And so he says, you know, 10 tribes are going to be taken, but one tribe is going to remain with him. You say, Brother Stuckey, says 12, then you got 10, and then you got one. What is 10 plus 1? It's 12, right? And the reason why it says 1 is that's referring to the southern kingdom of Judah. Judah was the primary tribe, but Benjamin is also there as well. So you have two tribes, but it's one, and the other 10 tribes go. Because with the kingdom of Judah, there was a primary tribe. But with the kingdom of Israel, there was no primary tribe, hence why it remains being called the kingdom of Israel, right, with the 12 tribes. It just, two of the tribes got taken. With the southern kingdom of Judah, though, Judah is the primary one, and Benjamin's kind of secondary, but it's two, okay. So there's your two, and that's why the numbering does, that's, it's one of the great contradictions in the Bible I just answered, right. That's one of the great contradictions online. Well, there you go. Go back to Hosea chapter 1, Hosea 1. And so that's when you see the split. So we saw Israel mentioned, and we saw Judah mentioned. They never come back together after this point in 1 Kings chapter 11, okay. They're always separate. When you're reading the Bible, they're always just fighting one another. Isn't that true? They always hate one another. Now, in Judah, what you'd see is there'd be, like, good king, bad king, good king, bad king, bad king, good king, bad, bad, good, bad, good. I mean, Israel's just, like, bad king, bad, he did evil, he did evil, he did evil. So you can see why God's mercy ran out with the kingdom of Israel, just because over and over again, just wicked leaders, right. Hosea chapter 1 verse 6, Hosea 1 verse 6. And she conceived again and bare daughter, and God said unto him, Call her name Lo-Rohama, for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel, but I will utterly take them away. So the house of Israel are those 10 tribes of Israel, okay. They were taken captive by the Assyrian Empire. Verse 7, But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the Lord their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, nor by horses, nor by horsemen. So he's merciful unto Judah for a while, okay. Now go to 2 Kings chapter 20, 2 Kings 20. Let us see, though, when God's mercy is done with the the tribes of Judah, the kingdom of Judah. This is associated with King Hezekiah. And look, the kingdom of Judah, they were afraid of going into captivity under Assyria as well, because Assyria was this big, powerful empire. Nobody could touch Assyria, really strong empire, taken over every kingdom of the world and everything. And if you remember the story of Hezekiah, Hezekiah is very afraid that they're going to lose this battle. I mean, you have Rab Shaki that comes and and mocks them and everything and just, you know, says all these wicked things and everything like that. And eventually, you know, God actually, you know, spares them because Hezekiah prays and the people are right with God. And look, you know what? God could spare you if he chose to, if there was a million people surrounding you with a gun, right? And, you know, there's no logical way they would have been saved, but they are saved because God's on their side. Okay. But then notice this in Hezekiah's life in 2 Kings 20, verse 12. At that time, Barad-dach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah, for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick. Okay. Remember, Hezekiah prayed to be healed. He was sick. And then God gave him more life. God gave him, I believe, 15 years it was. Verse 13. And Hezekiah hearkened unto them and showed them all the house of his precious things, the silver and the gold and the spices and the precious ointment and all the house of his armor and all that was found in his treasures. There was nothing in his house nor in all his dominion that Hezekiah showed them not. And so, you know, this person from Babylon, this king of Babylon, he's basically sending presents to Hezekiah. He had heard that he'd been sick and he was checking in on him. Okay. And we don't know a whole lot about this person, you know, how godly or wicked the person was or things such as that. But this person is checking in on Hezekiah and then all of a sudden Hezekiah just shows him everything, right? Just look at everything that we have. Well, I mean, it's kind of odd that Hezekiah does this. I mean, imagine if you were really sick and then someone was checking in on you. Hey, I heard you were sick. How are you doing? And then all of a sudden you're recovered. They go to visit your house. And then all of a sudden you say, look at all this gold that I have. It's just like, it's kind of weird, right? That's what Hezekiah is doing. I mean, when you're reading this, it seems like he's acting very arrogant, right? I mean, God gave him 15 more years. He's like, look at all the stuff that I have. And he's showing him everything. It says there's nothing in his house nor in all his dominion that Hezekiah showed them not. And honestly, I would think this is pretty strange. I wouldn't think you'd be open just to showing everybody everything that you have, but that's what he does. Verse 14. Then came Isaiah the prophet on that king Hezekiah and said unto him, What said these men? And from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country, even from Babylon. And he said, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All the things that are in mine house have they seen. There is nothing among thy treasures that I have not showed them. And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah, Hear the word of the Lord. Behold, the days come that all that is in thine house and that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day shall be carried into Babylon. Nothing shall be left, saith the Lord. And because of the fact he showed Babylon everything that he had, God says, I'm just going to give it all to Babylon. Right? That was God's reaction from it. So I personally believe the reason why Babylon became a powerful empire is simply because Hezekiah showed the king of Babylon everything he had. If it was a different king, I think a different kingdom would have risen up. It's, I mean, Nebuchadnezzar had this attitude like, Look at this kingdom I've built. No, I mean, you were just kind of chosen. I mean, oftentimes God will judge his people by other wicked empires. And because they're showing Babylon all the treasures they have, he's like, Okay, I'll just give it all to Babylon. Right? So I believe it was any other kingdom, any other king, God would say, Well, I'll just give it all to them. If it was Egypt, I'll just give it all to Egypt, whoever it was. Okay? That's what we see in Second Kings 20. Go to Hosea 1. Hosea 1. So God was merciful to Judah for a while, but eventually they end up becoming in captivity to the Chaldean empire or the Babylonians. Okay? And so point number one, we saw a prostitute. Point two, we saw preparation. Point three, we saw punishment. And point four, we see a parting where God basically will part with his people. Now it's going to talk about this throughout the Book of Hosea. We're not going to see the end of all of these events, but it's prophesying, and there's a lot of warnings that are given by God of, you know, the judgment that's going to come. Verse number eight. Now, when she had weaned Lo Ruhama, she conceived and bear a son. Now, once again, it doesn't say she it does not say she bear him a son. It says she bear a son. Okay? Then said God, call his name Lo Ammi, for you're not my people, and I will not be your God. God says, You're not my people. Right? And look, Lo Ammi was not really Hosea. Okay? And so Lo Ammi and Lo Ruhama, those were children of Hordom. She hoard around on her husband, and she had children with other men. And then God is pronouncing the judgment. That's a picture of what Israel did to God. He says, You're not my people, and I will not be your God. Okay? Now I want you to realize that this has nothing to do with individual salvation, what we're talking about. Okay? When it comes to salvation, salvation has always been an individual thing. Right? I mean, sometimes if you say, the Jews were God's people. Well, I mean, that's true. That was the nation that God used. And if you really wanted to serve God, you had to link up with him. That doesn't mean that everybody in the Kingdom of Judah was saved, though. I mean, good night. I would pretty much guarantee most weren't saved. Right? I mean, isn't that true that even in areas where Christianity is really around plenty of unsaved people. Okay? I mean, even if you have an individual church, right? I mean, if you have a church that has hundreds of people, you're gonna have unsaved people at that church. Right? Some people might be phonies. Some people might be confused. Some people might not understand. Some people might not be new. Not everyone's gonna be safe with the Kingdom of Judah. Not everybody was saved. Okay, obviously. And when this pronouncements being made about you're not my people, that's not an individual thing, though, because if somebody is serving God and they're right with God, that's still God's person that he loves. Okay? Obviously, they're still saved. Obviously, still, God's gonna bless that person. Obviously, Hosea was a person God was gonna bless, right? Obviously, Hosea was someone that God loved. And look, Hosea wasn't the only one. I'm sure there were other people as well that were serving God, that love God, that were winning souls, that were trying to do what's right. But by and large, the people had rejected God. I mean, I would not say the Philippines is a very godly country, but there are people that do want to serve God here. Now, I'm not really sure there's any nation you can really say is a godly country at this point. But within that nation, though, around the entire world, there are people within that nation that want to serve God, though. Okay, so when he says you're not my people, this has nothing to do about the salvation of an individual. But in terms of the nation being used by God, God says, I'm done with you at this point. Okay, Hosea one verse 10. Let's see last the promise of God. Hosea one verse 10. Hosea one verse 10. 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 that in the place where it is said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God. Okay, now, it's an interesting verse here in Hosea chapter one verse 10. And one thing that makes prophecy kind of difficult, although Hosea is not the most difficult book, is that oftentimes with prophecy, it kind of jumps around in time frame, right? I mean, these first nine verses, we're reading the story. I mean, I think it's understandable as we're seeing this, you know, what's going on in the story, the general understanding. But then all of a sudden, there's this verse 10 and 11, it's just kind of jumping into the future. And sometimes prophecy does that. Sometimes it will go along with the story, but it will also kind of foreshadow future events in even other locations. And what he said in verse 10 is, Ye are not my people, in the place where it is said unto them, Ye are not my people, there shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God. Say, what is that referring to? Go to Romans chapter nine, Romans nine, Romans nine. It's actually quoted, Romans nine actually quotes from Hosea one. Now, some of you stopped the Bible memorization at, like, seven, eight chapters, right? So you're like, oh, I didn't know this, right? All you needed was one more chapter, right? Romans chapter nine, Romans chapter nine, Romans nine, verse 25, As he saith also in Osea, now Osea is Hosea, O-S-E-E, that's referring to Hosea, I will call them my people which were not my people, and her beloved which was not beloved. And it shall come to pass that in the place where it is said unto them, Ye are not my people, there shall they be called the children of the living God. Now, we've taken a break from the book of Romans on Sundays, because I want to get through this holiday season, we had events and stuff. We're going to pick it up, the service after Christmas with both the family series and the book of Romans. So we're going to get into Romans nine pretty quickly, because we stopped the chapter eight, okay? I believe it's just the second sermon that we have coming here from the book of Romans. And this is a quote from Hosea chapter one. He said, you know, in the place where it's said unto them, Ye are not my people, there shall they be called the children of the living God. And so in the Old Testament, he used the nation of Israel, and then when they split, he used primarily the kingdom of Judah, but also the kingdom of Israel for a time. And basically, to really get fully on board with God, you had to actually join the people. Now in today's world, it would be the same thing. If we get somebody saved here in passing, praise the Lord they're saved, praise the Lord they're a child of God, but are they really going to serve God if they don't join our church? Probably not, okay? I mean, unless there's another great church in passing that I'm not aware of, you know, if they're going to serve God, they really need to link up with the church to learn the things of God, to hear the preaching of God's word, to have the fellowship, you have to actually be with God's people. So in our modern day, you know, we have the church here in the New Testament, okay? That's the institution that God is using to fulfill his will. And the reason why this took place, obviously God knew this was going to take place, is because of the fact the 12 tribes didn't do what they were supposed to do. They had the oracles of God committed unto them, that's where the word of God was, that's where the great prophets were, and by and large they rejected his word and eventually God's mercy was gone from them, okay? Go back to Hosea chapter 1, Hosea 1. So in Hosea 1 verse 10, it's prophesying about a future event where it says, the place where it said unto them, ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, ye are the sons of the living God, okay? And we'll get more into that when we go through Romans here in about a month. I don't want to go too much into that verse, but Hosea 1 verse 11. But what this is a prophecy of is towards the future. We'll see that here in Hosea 1 verse 11, then I'll clarify here. It says, then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel. Now let me ask you a question, have the children of Judah and the children of Israel, because they depart in the time of Solomon, right after that, Jeroboam and Rehoboam, they depart from one another, right? As you're reading through in the Bible, first kings, second kings, they're enemies. Is that not true? The 12 tribes, they're enemies with one another, okay? Do you ever see them just coming back together? Let's just put aside our differences. We're just on the same team. You never see that in the Bible, right? Now, a lot of people think that in 1948, God just gave the land back to Israel, okay? Now, here's what my question would be, because here's the thing, why did they lose the land to begin with? Because they were wicked and not doing what God said, right? Even in our modern day with a church, our church has a blessing of God on it right now, because we're going soul winning, we're preaching hard, we're serving God. But what if we stop soul winning one day? What if we change the music and change the preaching? We just allow major sin in the church, allow major problems, don't deal with it. You know, God's blessing is going to be gone, right? He's going to remove his candlestick, right? I mean, isn't that what it says in the book of Revelation, that if a church basically stops their first love, stops the first works of soul winning, then how are they fulfilling God's will? Our job is to reach the world with a gospel. And for the very least, we can reach this area with the gospel and try to spread out and eventually send people out to start churches. And look, if we ever forsake that, then we're done being used by God. I mean, we might have plenty of people here, people might think we're on fire for God and everything. But look, if we have 20 people at our church, but we're going soul winning zealously, it's a million times better than a church of 1000 people where people don't really care. They don't read the Bible, they don't serve God, the preaching's weak. No, God wants his people to serve God, to preach the word of God, to go soul winning in these things. We would lose God's blessing if we didn't fulfill as well. Well, here's the thing. That's what the nation of Israel did. They did not fulfill what God said, right? And eventually the southern kingdom of Judah does the same thing. And God says, I'll be merciful to them. And when God was saying in the book of Hosea, I'm going to be merciful to Judah. What he's saying is, I'm not really happy with Judah, but I'm going to be merciful for now. Right? He's like, basically, they have a chance. They need to get their act together because throughout the Bible, Judah is not exactly godly either. Okay. But what I want you to realize is what I want to ask you is this. When did the nation of Israel ever come back to God? I mean, right after World War II, they just magically started to read the Bible and go soul winning and serve God and believe on Jesus Christ. Is that what happened? I mean, if you went over the nation of Israel today, the people that are over there, do they love Jesus Christ? They blaspheme Jesus Christ. There's no group of people that blasphemes Jesus Christ more than the Jews do. Okay. I mean, literally in their own writings, what they teach in the Talmud is that Jesus Christ for all eternity is going to boil in hot excrement or tie or poop. That's what they teach in the Talmud. What they teach, there's a rock band called Pantera. And you know, I never liked Pantera because heavy metal was just kind of like, I guess, a little bit too hard of hard rock for me or whatever. But Pantera, I didn't realize they're basically a satanic band because Pantera in the Talmud, Jesus is referred to as the son of Pantera. Why is he referred to as the son of Pantera? Because what they teach is that Mary hoard around and with this guy named Pantera. And guess what? They had a child named Jesus. That's what they teach. So the rock band Pantera is just trying to blaspheme Jesus Christ and mock Jesus Christ. I mean, they teach that Jesus Christ was a sorcerer. They teach that he practiced magic in the Talmud. This is the book of the Jews. This is what they teach. Does that sound like they have a high opinion of Jesus Christ? All you got to do is go on YouTube and watch interviews with Jews being asked about Jesus Christ. Are you ever going to see them say anything positive? You don't run into a lot of Jews here in the Philippines, but I'll tell you what. We had Brother Bo visiting us one time, going soul winning in Rizal Park. I'm not sure what event we were doing, but he was going soul winning. I think Brother Matt was here as well, was the soul winning partner, or maybe somebody else from our church. But Bo was a silent partner. And as somebody was giving the gospel and he was there, there was this Filipino Jew. I don't know why a Filipino decided, but he was a Filipino Jew. And he said that this Filipino Jew just started to mock Jesus Christ. And he's like, oh, I'm Jesus Christ. Ow, ow, ow, I'm in pain. Does that sound like he loves Jesus Christ? Does it sound, I mean, what do you think that the Jewish children are being taught at a young age about Jesus Christ? Just, I mean, who would mock Jesus Christ like that? Because here's the thing. Every religion in the world says something positive about Jesus. Isn't that true? Now we believe Jesus Christ is our Savior, our Lord. He's the Messiah, the Christ. He was perfect. He was sinless. He died for our sins from eternity past, the Alpha and Omega. I get other religions don't believe that, but they think he was a good guy. Muslims speak very highly of Jesus. He was one of the five prophets. Buddhists think he was a great Buddhist teacher. I don't know where they get that, but they said he traveled to India in those 18 missing years in the Bible. And they have the big, the Hindus and the Buddhists have this big argument whether or not when he went to India for 18 years, he was a Hindu or a Buddhist. Okay, well, I missed the part where we went to India, but that's what they teach, right? I mean, everybody, I mean, literally around the world countries say, hey, Jesus Christ visited us. They just make this weird stuff up because everybody has a high opinion of Jesus, except, except the Jews. They do not have a high opinion. They mock him. There's a famous comedian, Sarah Silverman, and I'm not sure if she's famous here or whatever, but she got, she, she got in, I guess got in trouble. I don't know. Comics are kind of, you know, vulgar with her talk anyway or whatever, but she just always mocks Jesus Christ. And there was the one time she was talking about how, oh, do you feel bad about killing Jesus? She's like, no, I'd do it again if I could. And it's like, I mean, who says stuff like that, right? She wants to take credit for it, which, well, I mean, the Jews want to take credit for killing Jesus in the Bible, but that is what the Jews think of Jesus Christ. And look, I'll be preaching against the Jews for, you know, throughout this book of Hosea because of the fact this ties in with what's being preached. But my question is this, when did they ever turn back to God? To say the Jews are God's chosen people, in 1948, they turned back to God. Did that happen? I mean, you never find that. I mean, throughout human history, they were considered terrible people. They brought in pornography and gambling and prostitution and all these things into societies. Look, the, the, the oracles of God that were committed thousands of years ago have long been gone from them. They have no semblance of actually serving God and obeying his commandments. Go to Jeremiah 30. We'll close up here. Jeremiah 30. Jeremiah 30. But the prophecy in Hosea 1 of the children of Judah and the children of Israel being come together, that hasn't taken place yet. That will one day take place, though, because in the place where it said you're not my people, there shall you be called the children, the living God. And, you know, there's eventually going to be new Jerusalem. We're not at that point now, but it's prophesying about a future event. Okay, Jeremiah 30 verse 3. And Jeremiah 30 also prophesies about this as well. For lo, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the Lord, and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it. So look, this is something that's going to be prophesied in the future, and I'll talk about when we go through Romans chapter 9. But the last couple verses of Hosea 1, that is not an event that has taken place yet. Okay, but what are the main takeaways from this sermon? Because this is kind of an introductory sermon with just a little bit of preaching. The things you need to understand are this, that Hosea marries this woman Gomer, and they have three children. The first child, Jezreel, is Hosea's. Loami and Lo'ahama are not, okay? And the reason why God told them to marry this, right at the beginning, He said, you know, you're going to marry this woman, you know, the children of whoredom. She is basically going to whore around on you, and that is a picture of how the nation of Israel was going to whore around on God and be rejected by God. But at this point, God is still choosing to be merciful to the kingdom of Judah, although that will eventually run out as well. Let's close the word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and just getting to see your word and just getting to learn some things from the book of Hosea. God, help us to just dive into this book and to meditate on this book and help all of our people to read this book as we're preaching through it. There's many great truths we can learn, not only about the nation of Israel, but many foundational principles of marriage and a lot of other topics as well, God. And we just pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, turn to song number, what song? 434. 434, O Little Town of Bethlehem. 434 in your hymnal. 434. 434 on the first. O Little Town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie. Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by. Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light. The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight. For Christ is born of Mary and gathered all above. While mortals sleep the angels keep their watch of wandering love. O morning stars together proclaim the holy birth and praises sing to God the King and peace to men on earth. How silently, how silently the wondrous gift is given. So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of his heaven. No ear may hear his coming, but in this world of sin where meek souls will receive him still the dear Christ enters in. O holy child of Bethlehem, descend to us we pray. Cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us today. We hear the Christmas angels, the great glad tidings tell. Come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel. All right, let me close in order prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be in your house this evening. We just ask you to help us take these words with us as we go home here tonight. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen. Also we have ice cream and ice cream cones here tonight.