It Matters Where I Work

Text:

Hosea 10:11–15 “11 And Ephraim is as an heifer that is taught, and loveth to tread out the corn; But I passed over upon her fair neck: I will make Ephraim to ride; Judah shall plow, And Jacob shall break his clods. 12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness, Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground: For it is time to seek the Lord, Till he come and rain righteousness upon you. 13 Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; Ye have eaten the fruit of lies: Because thou didst trust in thy way, In the multitude of thy mighty men. 14 Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people, And all thy fortresses shall be spoiled, As Shalman spoiled Beth-arbel in the day of battle: The mother was dashed in pieces upon her children. 15 So shall Beth-el do unto you because of your great wickedness: In a morning shall the king of Israel utterly be cut off.”

Introduction:

Here we see Israel or Ephraim represented as a strong people that loves to work. They were all the Tribes of Israel except for Judah and Benjamin. Hosea 10:11 likens Israel to a trained young cow that had been allowed to eat while treading the corn. Treading was a chore given to young calves where they would loosen the chaff from the grain.

Israel harvested both Barley and Wheat, which both have what is called Chaff. When harvesting wheat, there is an outer protective layer to the seed - this is called chaff. You cannot eat chaff, similar to how you wouldn’t eat a banana peel.

The phrase “But I passover upon her fair neck” in verse 11 points to God putting a yoke upon Israel - who was taught how to work in the field. God was ready to use the Nation for His purpose, but there was one problem - they weren’t working in the right place. They weren’t treading out the crop. The training that God had done was not strenuous on the Cow - it did not cause chaffing or pain to the animal.

Matthew 11:28–30 “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

When God yokes you to work for His kingdom - His yoke is light. The world will always take you one step further than what you asked for. It will ravage you and take from you until there’s nothing left to give. God will restore you if you’ll wait on Him. It will run you into the ground from exhaustion.

You will find yourself working until there’s nothing left. You will work with no restoration to your mind, body, and soul.

In comparison, when you work for God: The animal was allowed to eat and was well taken care of by the Lord

God doesn’t starve you when He calls you to work in His field

Deuteronomy 25:4 “Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn.”

1 Corinthians 9:9 “For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen?”

Further, we should understand that Judah would plow the ground or break it up for seed, while Israel would cover said seed back up for protection. In other words, God wanted to used both Nations in what He desired to do.

The problem is these two nations held a grudge and literally hated each other. When you hate your brother and sister - you are telling God you hate part of his divine body. They may have frustrated you, but if they don’t get restored - God’s seed is going to be left unprotected because of your bitterness! Or even worse - the ground will never get plowed in the first place!

We now arrive to verse 12, where Hosea prophesy’s sew unto yourselves righteousness and reap God’s hesed or covenantal faithfulness. Righteousness or justice requires obedience to God’s law. Christians would understand this as following “The Way”.

Israel bore the wrong fruit when they went their own Way instead of God’s WAY.

IT MATTERS WHERE YOU WORK!

The Way: Where I Should be Sewing

John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

Jesus here was talking to His disciiples. He didn’t say that there was any other way to God - only Him.

So if Jesus is the way, what other ways can follow?

Hosea 10:13 “Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; Ye have eaten the fruit of lies: Because thou didst trust in thy way, In the multitude of thy mighty men.”

Notice, Israel got in themselves in trouble because they leaned on their own understanding.

Proverbs 3:5–6 “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; And lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, And he shall direct thy paths.”

Psalm 86:11 “Teach me thy way, O Lord; I will walk in thy truth: Unite my heart to fear thy name.”

Notice the Psalmist said teach me your way, I will walk in your trustworthiness. Give me an undivided heart to fear your name.

We’ve got to have the fear of the Lord if we’re going to walk in the way. In other words, we need to understand He’s sovereign.

Today, many of us face a dilemma - we have come into a fork in the road, where we can choose to follow the Way of Christ or our own way.

I can choose faithfulness or I can choose to do what I desire

I can choose to seek God’s will for my life or settle for what I want to do because I think I deserve it

I can choose to stay where I’m planted and grow or I can choose to go where I want and do my own thing - I don’t need this craziness I’m dealing with right now

I can choose what I have been raised to know is right or I can choose to do what the world is doing. I can change out the Jesus I’ve known for the antichrist I want.

The Way: What am I Eating

1 Peter 2:9 “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:”

We are all called to work in the ministry. Well, what do you mean by that Brother Berry. If you are filled with the Holy Ghost, you are called to bear the light.

In the past, the only place where God’s holy light could be seen was within the holy place within the Tabernacle. Jesus became the New Testament Tabernacle and passed His light onto us to bear.

With that being said - we will minister something. The old adage is this - you are what you eat!

The problem is A. We’re sewing in way of our own choosing - not God’s; hence, we eat the wrong fruit or B. We aren’t eating anything because we aren’t doing anything.

A healthy person has to stay active to live a long life. Physicians have done multiple studies on the elderly that show when they become inactive - death is often not far behind.

A Tuna fish is designed in such a manner it has to always keep moving. If it ever stops moving it will suffocate because it can’t get oxygen through its gills.

2 Thessalonians 3:10 “For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.”

Working in the Kingdom of God is more than holding a position, title, or office. It is being a servant and being willing to do what the Lord directs you to do.

It is having compassion for your brother and sister - this includes your pastor, pastors wife, and pastoral staff. We can’t do it all - we need help.

The reality of ministry is it requires work, but work develops us and keeps us alive. Without it - we’ll be cut off.

I’m going to love you regardless of what you do, but understand this I can’t control what happens when a part of the body isn’t getting blood flow.

The Way: A Tumult Arises When We Lean on Our Own Understanding

Hosea 10:14 “Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people, And all thy fortresses shall be spoiled, As Shalman spoiled Beth-arbel in the day of battle: The mother was dashed in pieces upon her children.”

The Hebrew word for tumult is:

Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon שָׁאוֹן

שָׁאוֹן

(Sa-own)

where its definition in this context is a state of confusion or commotion.

In other words, God will allow commotion and confusion in order to move you into the right direction.

Another definition for Saown is a loud roar.

The Lord will allow the commotion to scatter the sheep in order to get them back on track. The issue is a sheep can choose to head back to what it has always known to be truth or run off into the wilderness.

The purpose of the tumult is to save you, but so many panic and become lost during this time. As a result, they become isolated from the flock and devoured by the thing that caused the panic to begin with.

Altar Call

I will choose to remain on God’s path for my life

I will break up the fallow ground of my heart - repent, turn to Jesus, and allow him to revitalize my purpose in His Kingdom.

I will listen to my Pastor’s voice of authority and allow it to correct me when I’ve gone astray