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When God Adjudicates A Nation
KJV
1 Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel: for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.
2 By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.
3 Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.
These people are spiritually and morally dead because they have rejected the law of God.
Having given a basis for his pronouncement, the Judge declares that he rejects the priests and their children.[i]
I. The surety of this judgment: Therefore
I. The surety of this judgment: Therefore
KJV
Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.
A. Therefore: עַל־כֵּ֣׀ ( ‘al-ken); the later part of the conjunctionכֵן (kēn TWOT:964b)[ii] gives us our understanding of therefore for it means “for that reason”, “so it happens” 1. Hosea uses the conjunction in a way to brace his audience to hear the coming proclamation of the sentencing “but hardly prepares them for its scope.”[iii]
1. Hosea uses the conjunction in a way to brace his audience to hear the coming proclamation of the sentencing “but hardly prepares them for its scope.”[iii]
1. Hosea uses the conjunction in a way to brace his audience to hear the coming proclamation of the sentencing “but hardly prepares them for its scope.”[iii]
1. Hosea uses the conjunction in a way to brace his audience to hear the coming proclamation of the sentencing “but hardly prepares them for its scope.”[iii]
2. God’s “therefore’s” כֵן (kēn) are not always good news. Ezekiel used the word often
a) It was the word God use to tell Ezekiel that He was going to judge Israel in the midst of the nations –
Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because ye multiplied more than the nations that are round about you, and have not walked in my statutes, neither have kept my judgments, neither have done according to the judgments of the nations that are round about you; Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, am against thee, and will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the nations.
KJV
7 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because ye multiplied more than the nations that are round about you, and have not walked in my statutes, neither have kept my judgments, neither have done according to the judgments of the nations that are round about you;
8 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, am against thee, and will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the nations.
b) It was the word God used to tell Ezekiel the judgement would be so severe that the fathers would eat their sons and the sons eat their fathers –
b) It was the word God used to tell Ezekiel the judgement would be so severe that the fathers would eat their sons and the sons eat their fathers –
KJV
10 Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments in thee, and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter into all the winds.
c) It was the word God use to tell Ezekiel to prophesy against Jaazaniah and Pelatiah because they told the people judgement was not near -
c) It was the word God use to tell Ezekiel to prophesy against Jaazaniah and Pelatiah because they told the people judgement was not near -
KJV
Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man.
d) It was the word God use to tell Ezekiel that He would judge the shepherds because they failed to feed and shepheard His flocks
d) It was the word God use to tell Ezekiel that He would judge the shepherds because they failed to feed and shepheard His flocks
7 Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord;
8 As I live, saith the Lord God, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock;
9 Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord;
10 Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them.
B. There are those who will glibly state they are above the coming judgement of God, but they should remember the words of Job: “… the eyes of the wicked will fail, And they shall not escape, And their hope — loss of life!” ( NKJV)
B. There are those who will glibly state they are above the coming judgement of God, but they should remember the words of Job: “… the eyes of the wicked will fail, And they shall not escape, And their hope — loss of life!” ( NKJV)
NKJV
Faith is powerful
Faith is powerful
But the eyes of the wicked will fail, And they shall not escape, And their hope — loss of life!"
II. The scope of this judgment: the land will mourn
II. The scope of this judgment: the land will mourn
KJV
Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.
A. The text contains an important insight: The roots of this ecological crisis are to be found in the same attitudes of arrogance, irreverence, selfishness, and greed which expressed themselves in the failure to acknowledge God or to care for the neighbor.[iv]
A. The text contains an important insight: The roots of this ecological crisis are to be found in the same attitudes of arrogance, irreverence, selfishness, and greed which expressed themselves in the failure to acknowledge God or to care for the neighbor.[iv]
1. Many today talk about the coming disaster from global warming
1. Many today talk about the coming disaster from global warming
2. Possibly they should look to the root cause as not be a carbon foot print but rather the wrath and judgment of God.
2. Possibly they should look to the root cause as not be a carbon foot print but rather the wrath and judgment of God.
B. “It is a metaphorical expression, for properly it cannot be spoken of the senseless and inanimate creatures; but as men and women mourn under the loss of their comforts and joys.”[v]
B. “It is a metaphorical expression, for properly it cannot be spoken of the senseless and inanimate creatures; but as men and women mourn under the loss of their comforts and joys.”[v]
III. The targets of this judgment: everyone who dwells there will waste away
III. The targets of this judgment: everyone who dwells there will waste away
KJV
Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.
A. The day of the righteous judgment of God will not be escaped
A. The day of the righteous judgment of God will not be escaped
KJV
12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
[i] G. Herbert Livingston, “Hosea,” in Evangelical Commentary on the Bible, vol. 3, Baker Reference Library (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1995), 608.
[ii] John N. Oswalt, “964 כוּן,” ed. R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer Jr., and Bruce K. Waltke, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (Chicago: Moody Press, 1999), 433.
[iii] David A. Hubbard, Hosea: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 24, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1989), 107.
[iv] James Limburg, Hosea–Micah, Interpretation, a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Atlanta, GA: John Knox Press, 1988), 18.
[v] Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible, vol. 2 (New York: Robert Carter and Brothers, 1853), 858.