“The Law of the Harvest”
July 30, 2006
Hosea 9:1-10:15
Three weeks ago, when we were last together in our study of Hosea, we learned about the “biblical law of the harvest.”
In God’s world, you harvest what you plant. Or you reap what you sow.
In God’s world, you harvest what you plant.
And we saw that Israel had sowed the wind and reaped...[what?]...the whirlwind. That was God’s judgment.
Well, chapters 9 and 10 have pretty much the same message. They are two of the saddest chapters in the whole book, and the whole Old Testament, even the whole Bible. Because in Hosea 9 and 10, God basically tells Israel that they are going to get what they deserve.
The key verses for these two chapters are in chapter 10, verses 12 and 13. And they are the central idea of today’s message:
“Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers righteousness on you. But you have planted wickedness, you have reaped evil, you have eaten the fruit of deception.”
Here’s the biblical principle again. In God’s World, You Harvest What You Plant.
What you are planting with your life will determine what you harvest.
God gave Israel a choice all along. He said (again in chapter 10, verse 12):
“Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers righteousness on you. But you have planted wickedness, you have reaped evil, you have eaten the fruit of deception.”
Sadly, most of chapters 9 and 10 explain that last sentence: “But you have planted wickedness, you have reaped evil, you have eaten the fruit of deception.”
Let’s look together at the sad seeds that Israel had planted. The first was idolatry. Chapter 9, verse 1.
“Do not rejoice, O Israel; do not be jubilant like the other nations. For you have been unfaithful to your God; you love the wages of a prostitute at every threshing floor.”
What is that? It is spiritual adultery which we have learned this Summer is idolatry.
Spiritual adultery is idolatry.
Israel has been unfaithful.
Like a prostitute, she has gone after other gods. Notably, the Baals.
And what will she reap? The evil of exile. V.2
“Threshing floors and winepresses will not feed the people; the new wine will fail them. They will not remain in the LORD's land [the Promised Land]; Ephraim will return to Egypt [slavery] and eat unclean food in Assyria. They will not pour out wine offerings to the LORD, nor will their sacrifices please him. Such sacrifices will be to them like the bread of mourners; all who eat them will be unclean. This food will be for themselves; it will not come into the temple of the LORD. What will you do on the day of your appointed feasts, on the festival days of the LORD? Even if they escape from destruction, Egypt will gather them, and Memphis will bury them. [A foreign graveyard is their destiny.] Their treasures of silver will be taken over by briers, and thorns will overrun their tents. The days of punishment are coming, the days of reckoning are at hand. Let Israel know this.”
Israel planted the wickedness of idolatry and will harvest the evil of exile.
All of the religious trappings and familiar surroundings of Israel will be taken away from them as they are dragged off into slavery.
“The days of punishment are coming, the days of reckoning are at hand. Let Israel know this.”
Israel planted the wickedness of idolatry and will harvest the evil of exile.
Idolatry is worshiping someone or something that is not God.
And we’ve learned that you don’t need statues of Baal to do it.
Anything other than God will do.
This Summer, we have been challenged to root out “idols of the heart” that take the place of God in our lives.
I have recently come to recognize that one of my strongest heart-idols is being liked and receiving the praise of men. I crave approval.
But I’m called to be a God-pleaser, not a Man-pleaser, so I have some heart-work to do. One my memory verses I’ve been thinking about recently is Proverbs 27:21, “The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but [Pastor Matt] is tested by the praise he receives.”
How about you?
Are you planting the seeds of idolatry or rooting them out?
I hope that you are not neglecting them.
Remember my carpenter ants? Well, I haven’t done a thing about them yet. I’ve been too busy trying to keep my van running (with the help of some friends) and get my lawn mowed. And I’d hate to kill those ants and lose the opportunity to use them as a sermon illustration!
But if I don’t get them sometime, they’ll ruin my house from the inside out.
And if we don’t root out the seeds of idolatry, we’ll have a painful harvest.
July 30, 2006
Hosea 9:1-10:15
Three weeks ago, when we were last together in our study of Hosea, we learned about the “biblical law of the harvest.”
In God’s world, you harvest what you plant. Or you reap what you sow.
In God’s world, you harvest what you plant.
And we saw that Israel had sowed the wind and reaped...[what?]...the whirlwind. That was God’s judgment.
Well, chapters 9 and 10 have pretty much the same message. They are two of the saddest chapters in the whole book, and the whole Old Testament, even the whole Bible. Because in Hosea 9 and 10, God basically tells Israel that they are going to get what they deserve.
The key verses for these two chapters are in chapter 10, verses 12 and 13. And they are the central idea of today’s message:
“Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers righteousness on you. But you have planted wickedness, you have reaped evil, you have eaten the fruit of deception.”
Here’s the biblical principle again. In God’s World, You Harvest What You Plant.
What you are planting with your life will determine what you harvest.
God gave Israel a choice all along. He said (again in chapter 10, verse 12):
“Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers righteousness on you. But you have planted wickedness, you have reaped evil, you have eaten the fruit of deception.”
Sadly, most of chapters 9 and 10 explain that last sentence: “But you have planted wickedness, you have reaped evil, you have eaten the fruit of deception.”
Let’s look together at the sad seeds that Israel had planted. The first was idolatry. Chapter 9, verse 1.
“Do not rejoice, O Israel; do not be jubilant like the other nations. For you have been unfaithful to your God; you love the wages of a prostitute at every threshing floor.”
What is that? It is spiritual adultery which we have learned this Summer is idolatry.
Spiritual adultery is idolatry.
Israel has been unfaithful.
Like a prostitute, she has gone after other gods. Notably, the Baals.
And what will she reap? The evil of exile. V.2
“Threshing floors and winepresses will not feed the people; the new wine will fail them. They will not remain in the LORD's land [the Promised Land]; Ephraim will return to Egypt [slavery] and eat unclean food in Assyria. They will not pour out wine offerings to the LORD, nor will their sacrifices please him. Such sacrifices will be to them like the bread of mourners; all who eat them will be unclean. This food will be for themselves; it will not come into the temple of the LORD. What will you do on the day of your appointed feasts, on the festival days of the LORD? Even if they escape from destruction, Egypt will gather them, and Memphis will bury them. [A foreign graveyard is their destiny.] Their treasures of silver will be taken over by briers, and thorns will overrun their tents. The days of punishment are coming, the days of reckoning are at hand. Let Israel know this.”
Israel planted the wickedness of idolatry and will harvest the evil of exile.
All of the religious trappings and familiar surroundings of Israel will be taken away from them as they are dragged off into slavery.
“The days of punishment are coming, the days of reckoning are at hand. Let Israel know this.”
Israel planted the wickedness of idolatry and will harvest the evil of exile.
Idolatry is worshiping someone or something that is not God.
And we’ve learned that you don’t need statues of Baal to do it.
Anything other than God will do.
This Summer, we have been challenged to root out “idols of the heart” that take the place of God in our lives.
I have recently come to recognize that one of my strongest heart-idols is being liked and receiving the praise of men. I crave approval.
But I’m called to be a God-pleaser, not a Man-pleaser, so I have some heart-work to do. One my memory verses I’ve been thinking about recently is Proverbs 27:21, “The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but [Pastor Matt] is tested by the praise he receives.”
How about you?
Are you planting the seeds of idolatry or rooting them out?
I hope that you are not neglecting them.
Remember my carpenter ants? Well, I haven’t done a thing about them yet. I’ve been too busy trying to keep my van running (with the help of some friends) and get my lawn mowed. And I’d hate to kill those ants and lose the opportunity to use them as a sermon illustration!
But if I don’t get them sometime, they’ll ruin my house from the inside out.
And if we don’t root out the seeds of idolatry, we’ll have a painful harvest.
The second sad seed of wickedness that Israel planted was hostility. Idolatry and hostility to both God and God’s messengers. V.7
“Because your sins are so many and your hostility so great, the prophet is considered a fool, the inspired man a maniac. The prophet, along with my God, is the watchman over Ephraim, yet snares await him on all his paths, and hostility in the house of his God.”
Israel should have loved God and listened to the truth of His prophets. But they treated Hosea like he was crazy, and they set traps for him.
They not only rejected God, but they hated Him, too.
And they hated His messengers.
They sowed the seeds of hostility.
And what will they reap? Hate in return. V.9
“They have sunk deep into corruption, as in the days of Gibeah. [We’ll see more about that in chapter 10.] God will remember their wickedness and punish them for their sins. [They will reap what they have sown. They will get what they deserve.] When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the desert [it was a happy time]; when I saw your fathers, it was like seeing the early fruit on the fig tree [surprised by joy!]. But when they came to Baal Peor [Numbers 25], they consecrated themselves to that shameful idol and became as vile as the thing they loved [idolatry and hostility together, therefore:]. Ephraim's glory will fly away like a bird–no birth, no pregnancy, no conception. Even if they rear children, I will bereave them of every one. Woe to them when I turn away from them! I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre, planted in a pleasant place. But Ephraim will bring out their children to the slayer.’”
“Give them, O LORD–what will you give them? [What would be right?] Give them wombs that miscarry and breasts that are dry. ‘Because of all their wickedness in Gilgal, I hated them there. Because of their sinful deeds, I will drive them out of my house. I will no longer love them; all their leaders are rebellious. Ephraim is blighted, their root is withered, they yield no fruit. Even if they bear children, I will slay their cherished offspring.’ My God will reject them because they have not obeyed him; they will be wanderers among the nations.”
Do you have a theological category in your brain for the hate of God?
God is a God of love. But He also hates sin. V.15 again.
“Because of all their wickedness in Gilgal [a leading idolatrous city], I hated them there. Because of their sinful deeds, I will drive them out of my house [like an adulterous wife who is no longer welcome]. I will no longer love them...”
And Hosea was called to name his daughter, “Lo-Ruhamah”–Unloved.
Now, notice that God’s hate is not capricious or impulsive. It is a proper response to the wickedness that Israel had planted. V.17
“My God will reject them because [of hostility] they have not obeyed him; they will be wanderers among the nations.”
God has been more than patient and more than compassionate. But He will not be mocked. They have earned His hate. “Woe to them when I turn away from them!”
You know what? That is what happened to Jesus when He hung on the Cross for you and me.
The Father turned His face away. Jesus bore the same kind of punishment then that God is promising here. He absorbed the hate of God on our behalf.
God is promising that if Israel is going to forsake and reject Him in hate, then He will hate them back.
But if you and I belong to Christ, He has absorbed the hostility of God for us, on our behalf. That’s the gospel!
If we have faith in Christ, we reap what he sowed!
Are you trusting in Jesus Christ for salvation? Why wouldn’t you?!
Turn in your hostility against God for faith in Christ Jesus!
The third sad seed of wickedness that Israel planted was hypocrisy. Idolatry, hostility, and hypocrisy. Chapter 10, verse 1.
“Israel was a spreading vine; he brought forth fruit for himself. [Sounds good.] As his fruit increased [...He gave more praise to God, right? ...] he built more altars [!]; as his land prospered [...He glorified the LORD...], he adorned his sacred stones[!].”
That’s all messed up. Instead of giving God the glory, Israel went the wrong direction. But he wouldn’t confess to it. V.2
“Their heart is deceitful, and now they must bear their guilt. The LORD will demolish their altars and destroy their sacred stones. Then they will say, ‘We have no king because we did not revere the LORD [then they’ll be truthful]. But even if we had a king, what could he do for us?’ [Here’s what they’re like...] They make many promises, take false oaths and make agreements; therefore lawsuits spring up like poisonous weeds in a plowed field.”
They are hypocrites.
On the outside, they claim to be fine upstanding citizens of God’s Kingdom enjoying His blessings.
But on the inside, their hearts are deceitful. They make promises and don’t keep them.
Lawsuits spring up like ragweed in a fertile field because nobody keeps their word.
They are hypocrites. They are sowing hypocrisy.
What will they reap? Terrible destruction. V.5
“The people who live in Samaria fear for the calf-idol of Beth Aven [1 Kings 12]. Its people will mourn over it, and so will its idolatrous priests, those who had rejoiced over its splendor, because it is taken from them into exile. It will be carried to Assyria as tribute for the great king. Ephraim will be disgraced; Israel will be ashamed of its wooden idols. [Hypocrisy will be judged.] Samaria and its king will float away like a twig on the surface of the waters. [Samaria was the capital city of the northern kingdom of Israel. It will be turbulently destroyed like a twig on a wave. V.8] The high places of wickedness will be destroyed–it is the sin of Israel. Thorns and thistles will grow up and cover their altars. Then they will say to the mountains, ‘Cover us!’ and to the hills, ‘Fall on us!’”
They will reap total destruction, so much so, that death will be preferred to life.
Does that last sentence sound familiar? V.8
“Then they will say to the mountains, ‘Cover us!’ and to the hills, ‘Fall on us!’”
The Lord Jesus said used those words in Luke 23 to describe those who will one day want to escape God’s judgment.
And John used those words in Revelation 6 to describe utter despair of the kings of the Earth as they try to get away from the wrath of the Lamb.
This is a foretaste of the great judgment to come.
All because of hypocrisy. Because their hearts were deceitful.
Are you and I sowing seeds of hypocrisy or do we love and live the truth?
Last week, we talked about learning, loving, and living the Bible. And a number of us had made commitments to growing in our learning, loving, and living the truth.
What do our lives say 7 days later?
Have we made any progress?
Are we still committed?
Are we saying one thing and doing another? That’s hypocrisy.
And we might think that we’re getting away with it, but in God’s world, you harvest what you plant. Guaranteed.
Be sure your sin will find you out.
The fourth sad seed of wickedness that Israel planted was the seed of immorality. Idolatry, hostility, hypocrisy, and immorality. V.9
“Since the days of Gibeah, you have sinned, O Israel, and there you have remained. Did not war overtake the evildoers in Gibeah? When I please, I will punish them; nations will be gathered against them to put them in bonds for their double sin.”
This is the second mention of Gibeah in today’s passage. The first was in chapter 9, verse 9. Gibeah’s story is told in Judges 19-21 and it is a sordid tale that I don’t want to repeat this morning.
It’s a story about gross rampant sin that was eventually judged by the nation of Israel.
God is saying that Israel now is worse than Gibeah was then. And it will take other nations to judge her.
In chapter 9, verse 9, He said, “They have sunk deep into corruption, as in the days of Gibeah.”
They have sown immorality. What will they reap? Military destruction.
“Nations will be gathered against them to put them in bonds for their double sin.” Sin of forsaking the Lord and trusting in other gods and other nations.
Here is the context that the key verses come in. V.11
“Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves to thresh [she likes the simple life of chugging along and eating as you go]; so I will put a yoke on her fair neck. I will drive Ephraim, Judah must plow, and Jacob must break up the ground.”
God’s will is for Israel to be judged. But here is the call:
“Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers righteousness on you. But you have planted wickedness, you have reaped evil, you have eaten the fruit of deception. Because you have depended on your own strength and on your many warriors [which won’t help!], the roar of battle will rise against your people, so that all your fortresses will be devastated–as Shalman devastated Beth Arbel on the day of battle, when mothers were dashed to the ground with their children. Thus will it happen to you, O Bethel, because your wickedness is great. When that day dawns, the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.”
In God’s World, You Harvest What You Plant.
And if you plant immorality, if you plant wickedness, you will harvest complete destruction.
Galatians chapter 6, verse 7 says, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
You see that the opposite is true, as well.
Israel did all the wrong things. They planted the sad seeds of idolatry, hostility, hypocrisy, and immorality, and they harvested destruction. They reaped evil and ate fruit of deception.
But that’s not what God was looking for!
And it’s not what God wants for us!
He wants us to sow to please the Spirit!
He wants verse 12 for us!
“Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers righteousness on you.
First, SOW FOR YOURSELVES RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Righteousness is right living, just living, goodness and living in God’s right way.
We find out in both testaments that righteousness is only possible by faith. “The righteous shall live by faith.”
So, it takes faith for us to sow in righteousness.
And as we trust, we obey and live in God’s plan. That’s what sowing in righteousness is. It’s living out faith in God’s way.
It’s the opposite of sowing idolatry, hostility, hypocrisy, and immorality.
Sow for yourselves righteousness.
What do you reap?
“Reap the fruit of unfailing love.” That’s God’s love. God’s unfailing love comes to His people.
His covenant love. His never-stopping, never-fainting, never-sleeping, never-ceasing, never-quitting, never-breaking, never-halting, never-slowing, unfailing love.
Second, BREAK UP YOUR UNPLOWED GROUND.
I think that means repentance. Allowing yourself to receive the grace of God by allowing your hardness to be broken.
Remember, repentance (or turning) is not just a one-time event. Martin Luther said that the Christian life is race of repentance.
We need to turn from our idolatry, hostility, hypocrisy, and immorality daily (hourly! minutely! secondly!) and break up our unplowed ground.
And third, SEEK THE LORD.
Hosea says, “It’s time to seek the LORD.”
Run hard after Him.
Meet Him in His Word.
Talk to Him, pray to Him, relate to Him through the day.
Seek the LORD. And what will you reap?
Showers of righteousness.
“It is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers righteousness on you.”
And that’s His righteousness at work in your life: filling it, refreshing it, setting right, bringing joy to it, putting your life back together like it belongs under His righteous rule.
A shower of righteousness from the LORD.
That’s what He wants for us.
He wants to have His way with us.
The Law of the Harvest is that you reap what you sow.
In God’s world, you harvest what you plant.
What you are planting with your life will determine what you harvest.
What are we planting?
It comes down to are we living in verse 12 or verse 13?
Verse 13 was the sad downfall of the Northern Kingdom.
Idolatry, Hostility, Hypocrisy, and Immorality reaping destruction.
But verse 12 is what He wants for us.
Sowing in righteousness, breaking up our unplowed ground, and seeking the LORD.
He wants to have His way with you.
What are you planting with your life?
