Hosea 6
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“Come, let us return to the Lord; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.”
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We ended chapter five with this prophetic message about the Lord placing His people in a place of discipline and captivity… until they were able to acknowledge their guilt and earnestly seek God’s face…
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As we come into chapter 6… the prophetic essence of this message continues… now… it jumps ahead to that time when the people of God finally wake up from their captivity… and they realize: that it’s time to do: JUST THAT!
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This is what the future, penitent generation will say.
-First thing: Come, let us return to the LORD.
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In verse 15 of the previous chapter… we find… that this is what God is waiting for. He is going to put them in a place where the circumstances they are living in, are intended to cause them to turn back to God.
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In , He warns of a terrible army and a swarm of locusts that are going to come upon Israel… it’s coming… and it’s going to be bad…
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And so… with this impending doom coming upon them… the prophet then says in
and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.
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To a people who had been living in captivity… first under the Babylonians, and then under the Medes and Persians… - The Word of the Lord said in
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Therefore say to them, Thus declares the Lord of hosts: Return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts.
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In the book of Nehemiah… when he was praying about his potential mission to Jerusalem… and in his prayer he quoted Moses from Leviticus and in two places in Deuteronomy..
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but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’
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And later, here in the book of Hosea…
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Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.
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with all this talk about warnings, and rebellion, and impending punishment… we must never forget… that God’s heart, God’s intent… is the bring people to the place where: they finally see their need, and willingly come back to the Lord.
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It’s interesting to note… that humanity will chose rebellion… and thus create the hardship that leads them into a life of captivity… -But God will orchestrate the hardships of that captivity, to cause humanity to chose repentance.
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God does not make us do anything… God has given us the will to choose, and He wants to be chosen… He knows, that choosing Him, is the only chance that humanity has.
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So… IN HIS GRACE… HE DIVINELY USES THE HARDSHIPS AND DIFFICULTIES THAT ARE ALREADY PRESENT… ALREADY ABUNDANTLY AVAILABLE IN OUR LIVES… to provoke us… encourage us… prod us on… - TO RETURN TO HIM.
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That’s what He does for Israel over and over again.
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Verse one goes on the say: “He has torn us, that He may heal us; He has struck us down, and He will bind us up. “
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In the previous chapter… is spoke of Ephraim’s sickness and Judah’s wound…
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Here, a repentant people see the purpose of their sickness and the purpose of their wound..
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God’s discipline is not lacking hope. It comes with a promise for restoration… It come with the intention of future repentance… If God tears us down… He does it because He loves us, and we have come to a place in life where we need to be torn down..
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BUT IF HE TEARS US DOWN… HE DOES IT, SO THAT HE CAN BUILD US UP AGAIN.
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If God strikes us down… He does it, so that He can bind us up again…
++whether it’s the sickness of Ephraim, or the wound of Judah.. the intention is the same… For them and for us… God wants us to see and experience the consequences of our rebellion… So that… we would return willingly… to the liberty of knowing Him, and walking with Him…
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In verse 2… we see that a repentant people will expect a response from God..
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They expect God to quickly bring a people who are willing to return… into a state of revival… into a state of restoration… and into a place of submission before Him.
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In verse three… the repentant heart gets pro-active. They proactively want to know the Lord..
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THIS TERM “LET US PRESS ON”, LITERALLY MEANS TO PURSUE OR TO CHASE. This shows us… that a repentant people are to be proactive, motivated and devoted
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Think about that concept for a moment… A person who has learned the lessons of their rebellion… comes back to the Lord with a new perspective..
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That perspective drives them to actively pursue the Lord…
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I THINK THAT MUCH OF CHRISTIANITY IN OUR WORLD… is a matter of people sitting back, relaxing into the reality that they are a Christian… and just receiving from the Lord… those things that come easy to them.
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You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.
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“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
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The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
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I think we need to ask a question of origin. Where did the sin of Israel begin? They became a people who were fully devoted to idolatry and God delivered them into captivity after many warnings..
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But where did it begin?
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I think the answer is simple… These were a people who once sought the Lord regularly… and for them, this was done through the many offerings that they brought to the Lord.. and through the feasts that the celebrated God with…
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But over time, the stopped celebrating Passover… they stopped tithing of their produce… they stopped bringing offerings to the temple… the Levites no longer had support and had to abandon their jobs in the temple, to work the fields..... -The people stopped giving their fields a year of rest… and they after a time… they just stopped all together..
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This was the number one complain that God initially… always brought against Israel… simply this: THEY FORGOT THE GOD WHO DELIVERED THEM OUT OF EGYPT. - Or, technically speaking.... THEY STOPPED CELEBRATING PASSOVER.
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I DON’T BELIEVE THAT GOD HAS CALLED US TO PASSIVE CHRISTIANITY… -I truly believe that God wants to be those who “press on to know the Lord.”
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the rest of verse three indicates to us… that the repentant heart believes that God is going to be dependable and consistent…
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His comings and going… His working in their midst… will be as sure as the dawn.. and as beneficial and refreshing as the rains that water the earth.
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What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away. Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light.
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Hosea 6:4-
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For the past several years we have gone on mission trips into Mexico. Every morning when you wake up, it’s cloudy. They place we usually stay is right on the water, and in the cool morning, it’s usually cloud covered…
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But, by mid-day… the sun is a bit higher in the sky and things warm up. As a result… that cloud bank that sits on the shore line tends to burn off.
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IN this passage… God is telling Israel and Judah… that their love for Him is like this cloud in the morning. It’s there, as long as the conditions are favorable… but as soon as conditions are not favorable…
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…As soon as the temptation arrives… as soon as the conflict shows up… as soon as it becomes easier to go with the world, than loving God… - Well… their love for God burns off…
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It’s fickle. THEY LOVE GOD WHEN IT’S EASY TO LOVE GOD… When tragedy hits… When they are teetering on the brink of something devastating… when it’s Easter…
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Some people only regard their kind thoughts towards God when everything is nice and happy… when everything is peaceful and the finances are strong and the relationships are peaceful and nobody is sick…
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GOD DECLARES THIS DEGREE OF FICKLENESS UPON ISRAEL… - And his response to their fickleness is harsh. - the words which have been spoken to Israel by the prophets.... -by the words of God… - they have hewn them…
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WHICH MEANS… THEY HAVE COME DOWN UPON THE PEOPLE LIKE AN AXE.. God’s response is harsh… but on par with the offense.
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And His judgment goes forth as the light… -Or, as the sun comes up every day.. as you can count on the sun to come up… and where that sun shines… - there will be judgment.
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There are a bunch of poetic parallels in this chapter… this one reflects back, in contrast to verse three, where it speaks of God’s dependability and faithfulness to bring what is refreshing and what is needed.
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Obviously, Hosea is showing us that consistency of the Lord to deal in kind… not only with the rebellious, but also with the repentant.
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For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
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This is the same message that Samuel gave Saul in
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And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.
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In that account, Saul had not completely obeyed the instructions of the Lord concerning the Amalekites. Instead of destroying their livestock, he saved them… instead of killing their king, a man named Agag, he kept him alive
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Interestingly… there’s a parallel to in more ways than one… - Here in Hosea… the Lord said that the prophets have hewn… or hacked… or chopped the people of Israel with their judgment…
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In … the same language is used as Samuel carries out the obedient work that Saul refused to carry out… it says.. … “and Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the Lord in Gilgal.”
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WE SEE ON BOTH SIDES OF THE ISSUE… THE LORD’S DESIRE… AND THE THE LORD’S DISGUST..
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His desire: That His children would simple walk in obedience. His disgust: That the acts of disobedience would be hacked to pieces…
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But like Adam they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt faithlessly with me. Gilead is a city of evildoers, tracked with blood. As robbers lie in wait for a man, so the priests band together; they murder on the way to Shechem; they commit villainy. In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing; Ephraim’s whoredom is there; Israel is defiled.
Hosea 6:7-10
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Speaking, I believe, to the priests… Hosea says:
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LIKE ADAM:
-WHAT DID ADAM DO?
He forsook his purpose and his design. He had a covenant with God, and he broke it. As a result, he no longer walked with God daily in the peace of the Garden, but had to toil in the soil that produced thorns.
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Adam fell from purpose… so also did this priesthood…
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Their behavior is likened to the most evil of men.
-their is blood… they are like robbers who lie in wait… they murder and commit villainy…
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the priesthood probably didn’t understand this accusation, because they didn’t see themselves doing these deeds… -But God saw it… As far as God was concerned… :
-EVERY SOUL THAT WAS DRAWN AWAY FROM HIM, AND LED INTO THE IDOLATRY… WAS ROBBED AND MURDERED…
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THE CRIMES OF THESE RELIGIOUS LEADERS… WERE MANY… THEY WERE HORRIBLE… AND THEY DEFILED THE ENTIRETY OF THE NORTHERN KINGDOM.
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IN NORMAL FORM… Judah doesn’t get a pass. - It’s as if he turns, after laying this heavy word upon Israel… and points at them.. - your time is coming Judah… you are not off the hook.
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when I would heal Israel, the iniquity of Ephraim is revealed, and the evil deeds of Samaria, for they deal falsely; the thief breaks in, and the bandits raid outside. But they do not consider that I remember all their evil. Now their deeds surround them; they are before my face.
Hosea 7:1-2
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They do not consider that I remember all their evil.
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This too is a repeated message in Hosea… Remember, this was a nation that was strong financially and militarily. They were doing good. They were confident..
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When things are good… you have a tendency to overlook things like… consequences… regrets… acts of rebellion…
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things are good… so, let’s not think about the bad… - BUT GOD LETS THEM KNOW… He has not forgotten. You think that I have, but I haven’t… I remember it all… and now, your deeds surround you…
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By their evil they make the king glad, and the princes by their treachery. They are all adulterers; they are like a heated oven whose baker ceases to stir the fire, from the kneading of the dough until it is leavened.
Hosea 7:3-
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An oven has a specific job for the baker… it is intended to be hot so as to bake the bread at the right temperature for the right amount of time..
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Isreal was like an oven that wasn’t ready… it wasn’t hot. It was allowed to cool down..
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And the baker is getting the dough ready to go in the oven… but the oven is disobedient… it didn’t prepare itself.. it didn’t have the foresight to prepare itself for the purpose God had given it.
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This verse makes me think about our callings… What has God called us to do… universally as Christians… and individually as Christians… - And if we know what we have been called to do… are we prepared to do it?
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Are we ready, in season and out to give a defense for our faith?
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Are we ready, to respond when the Holy Spirit prompts us?
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Are we equipped with the Word for the work of the ministry?
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Or, are we like the passive Christian, who was contrasted to the repentant Christian in chapter 6? - Instead of pursuing God, are we just floating along on cruise control?
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On the day of our king, the princes became sick with the heat of wine; he stretched out his hand with mockers. For with hearts like an oven they approach their intrigue; all night their anger smolders; in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire. All of them are hot as an oven, and they devour their rulers. All their kings have fallen, and none of them calls upon me.
Hosea 7:5-
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Between 753 and 732 BC, four of Israel’s rulers were assassinated.... The events are recorded in … This political intrigue provides the background for this section.
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This figuratively speaks of princes who let their plots and schemes smolder quietly, like an oven that smolders… but, when it comes time to devour their rulers… they burn hot like a flaming fire.
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As a result.. the kings died… one after another… and none of them called upon the Lord.
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Ephraim mixes himself with the peoples; Ephraim is a cake not turned. Strangers devour his strength, and he knows it not; gray hairs are sprinkled upon him, and he knows it not. The pride of Israel testifies to his face; yet they do not return to the Lord their God, nor seek him, for all this.
Hosea 7:8-
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The baking metaphor continues… this time, Ephraim is mixing with foreign nations… - the description of this, is like a cake that isn’t mixed… and is burned and discarded.
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We see the negative affects of Israel’s foreign policy in verses 9-10…
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they are like an elderly man… one who has noticed the gradual effects of the aging process… he has become weak and gray… Death is much closer than he expects.
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The people may have thought that their nation was strong… but in reality , THEY WERE LOOSING THEIR POLITICAL AUTONOMY.
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Ephraim is like a dove, silly and without sense, calling to Egypt, going to Assyria. As they go, I will spread over them my net; I will bring them down like birds of the heavens; I will discipline them according to the report made to their congregation. Woe to them, for they have strayed from me! Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against me! I would redeem them, but they speak lies against me.
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Israel’s political moves are compared to that of a simple bird..
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Under King Menahem, Isreal submitted to Assyrian dominion..
-Under King Pekah, they then joined a coalition against Assyria, which was crused.
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-King Hosea again acknowledged the Assyrians dominion over them, but then stopped paying tribute to them after seeking an alliance with Egypt..
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This was the move that broke the camel’s back, and led to the the invasion by the Assyrians… and the end of Israel as we know it.
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They do not cry to me from the heart, but they wail upon their beds; for grain and wine they gash themselves; they rebel against me. Although I trained and strengthened their arms, yet they devise evil against me. They return, but not upward; they are like a treacherous bow; their princes shall fall by the sword because of the insolence of their tongue. This shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.
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Hosea 7:14-
In these final verses of chapter 7… the prophet shows how the people did the opposite of what God called them to do… every time.
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They don’t cry out to me for help.... instead, they use those voices to wail upon their beds..
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Instead of letting God be their provider… it says, they gash themselves… which was an act of pagan worship… - they literally worshipped false gods to gain their daily bread.
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God trained them and gave them strength… but they used it for evil...
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They had a purpose… like a bow has a purpose… but a faulty bow doesn’t work… it might break when you pull back the arrow.. it doesn’t shoot straight… - Israel was designed to be something, and they were not being that thing. - IN FACT, THEY WERE BEING, JUST THE OPPOSITE.
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