Showing posts with label hoshea. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hoshea. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Day 65 Reading the Bible in 90 Days


Good morning, we're on number 65 and it does not mean we can retire. Anyhow, let's begin our reading and we're going to start in Hosea chapter 14!


1O israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.
2Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.


The Lord tells Israel how to come back to Him; by simply speaking the words that confess your sins and keeping His commandments. Repent first, and then return. It is not like you can come as you are, you must confess with your lips and He will have mercy on you.


In the latter days, the children of Israel will say, what business do they have with idols. The wise will understand that the Lord's ways are right and the just will walk in them; but sinners, breakers of His laws will fall.
We're going to move right into the book of Joel.

Joel Chapter 1 1The word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.


Joel is speaking to Israelites and telling them to pass this information to their children from generation to generation. A harsh nation has come up on Israel, they are strong and have destroyed the Lord's vineyard. It is time to lament, it is time to howl, it is time to weep, ministers because the Lord is getting ready to do a thing on the earth.


What the Lord is getting ready to do upon the earth; even the cows will suffer at having no pasture. What is this? It is the day of the Lord; it is at hand where destruction comes from the Almighty God.

Joel 2


1Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;


A trumpet is blow in Jerusalem and everyone that lives there at this time will certainly be trembling; because the day of the Lord is getting closer and closer. Verse two tells us what kind of day it is; it is dark, gloomy, clouds, thick darkness; the way it will be has never been and will never be again. I do not like clouds period; so to have a dark gloomy thick darkness day is not going to be pleasing.


Verse three expands on the Armageddon war and when Gog and Magog and her allies deploy against Babylon the great in Jerusalem. When the approach Jerusalem, in front of them it will be a fruitful garden, as the Garden of Eden, but when they finish with it; it will look like a desolate wilderness and nothing will escape from them.


They are going to come down quick, and will not have any mercy.
The time of this is right before the Lord returns because the heavens will tremble, the sun and moon will be darkened, and the stars will appear to fall to the earth. Then the Lord will speak to His army, all the holy angels in heaven to prepare for a big war. If the day of the Lord or the Lord's day was Sunday, then according to Joel, it is a great and terrible day that no one can abide in.


The Lord knows what's going to happen on this day; and urgently commands that we repent and be humble before God on this day especially, who knows if He will repent of His evil and leave you a blessing?


15Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:
Priest and preachers are suppose to pray for their people and pray the Lord has mercy, especially ministers and priest of the children of Israel. If this is done by many preachers, the Lord will have pity on His people that He has scattered and peeled.


27And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.
28And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:


The Lord is going to restore Israel. All through our sixty-five day reading we have seen the same story; Israel transgressed the commandments of God; and did not teach the law to the other nations; He has destroyed and scattered them into slavery in every nation, but in the end will return them and treat them better than they were ever treated. That's the story on Israel by every prophet and when we read it in the New Testament, every Apostle.


The Lord will pour His spirit on His people as His second coming approaches and who ever calls on the name of the Lord (in truth) will be delivered. The deliverance comes out of mount Zion and Jerusalem, where the Lord will be on this earth (v29-32).

Joel 3


1For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,
2I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.


During the time that the sun and moon and stars go through a big change, that is when the Jesus Christ will return to the earth; it is at that time He will bring again the captivity of Judah. It is also at this time He will gather all nations and bring them on down to the valley of Jehoshaphat, which means the valley where Jehovah will judge, and He will war with the nations for His people and for Israel who they scattered and parted their land after scattering them.


The Lord is going to deal with these people; all of them, all nations are guilty for being over zealous in their chastisement of the children of Israel. People have sold them, sold a boy for a night with a prostitute, and sold a girl for a bottle of wine and the Lord ask can anyone repay Him for their evil?


The nations have taken all of the children of Israel's substance and took them out of their temples and brought to their own pagan temples and sold them to the Greeks; far from Jerusalem; but the Lord is going to bring them back.


9Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:
14Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.


The Lord is going to sell the children of the nations into the hand of Judah, who will then sell them to a people called the Sabeans, and they are far off; and it must be told to the Gentiles; because the Lord wrote to proclaim it to them. So to the Gentiles, prepare for war, turn your social programs and farming instruments into spears and weapons of war. Let weak nations tell the world they have nuclear weapons and let all nations come on down to the valley of Jehoshaphat and let the Lord kill you.


Bundles, and bundles, multitudes and multitudes of people and nations will be in the valley of decision; the valley of decision is where it will be decided who will run the earth, man or God.


15The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.


Verse fifteen again tells us the time this all will happen; because we see the sun every day shining in strength, and the moon, and stars; so this has not happened yet. The Lord is going to roar out of Jerusalem, being hope to His people; and will do a lot of killing, it will actually be a world wide killing tour. Egypt and Edom will be a total wilderness when the Lord is finished with them because of their violence against the children of Judah.


I fret that regular church-goers do not know of such a violent Jesus; if you do not read the bible; you won't know of such a violent Jesus. It is good to find out now while you have time to sanitize your house (your behavior), and learn the ways of God. It is better to clean your house before the guest arrive than to do it as they ring the door bell.


We are moving into the book of Amos.

Amos chapter 1


1The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
2And he said, The LORD will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.


Amos was a prophet of the Lord and his book as you will find spoke against many nations along with Israel. He prophesised during the days of Uzziah king of Judah, two years before the big earthquake. He picks up where Joel left off concerning the Lord roaring out of Jerusalem. Here is that world wide killing tour every prophet spoke of concerning the return of the Lord. Amos will go into details of each country or nation. He starts with Damascus and Gaza (v3-6).


11Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever:


Next up, the inhabitants of Ashdod and the Philistines. They will perish and many of these "middle eastern" nations have a hand in delivering the children of Judah, who escaped, to the children of Esau. The Lord speaks against the children of Edom because they pursued their brother Jacob with the sword and had no pity, and has kept his father's wrath for ever. Whose next? We see the children of Ammon in verse thirteen; they did some bad evil in ripping the child right out of the belly of a pregnant woman.

Amos 2


In chapter two, we move on to the children of Moab for their evil to the children of Edom. It's not just for what people did against Israel; it is for all the evil they have done. In verse four, the Lord is punishing Judah, because they disregarded the law of the Lord, ignored His commandments. Then we move right on along to Samaria or Israel, they were evil in selling their own people for a pair of shoes, a man and his dad will sleep with the same woman, just wickedness.


This is stuff that is going on now and that went on in the past.
The Lord especially did well by Israel, destroying the Amorites from before them, and these were a mighty people, the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt. People think this is a light thing; but image for a moment the Lord torpedoing a nation by the hand of two men who speak destruction against lets say the United States. 


These two men tell President Barack Obama to all the Filipinos to return back to their native land with riches and substance of the US; and if not plagues will fall on the US. Finally, the US gets beat up with things like Hurricane Katrina, and other like disasters until the US is flying every single Filipino out on first class jets, first class cruise ships. That is unheard of and amazing. That is what took place in Egypt; and Israel turned their back on such a God.

Amos 3


1Hear this word that the LORD hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying,
2You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.
3Can two walk together, except they be agreed?


The first three verses are worth marinating and really letting it soak in for all people and not just the children of Israel. The Lord says that the children of Israel are the only families on the earth that He has known. The Lord may address individuals of other nations; but He has never met an entire nation on a mountain and passed down His laws to them with His own mighty voice. Because He has done this with them; He is going to punish them for all of their sins.


They can't get away with as little as a "white lie" without someone grabbing them and snatching their job from them. Then He asked a rhetorical question; can two people walk together except the agree? No they cannot because of the one person says he does not want to walk and the other says he wants to walk, they won't take one step together until they agree to both walk.


Today we have this thing called, "agree to disagree" and we think it is all good. Even if you agree to disagree, you still disagree. Israel couldn't walk with the Lord because they disagreed with His laws.


6Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?
7Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.


The Lord makes more rhetorical questions to make another point that people do not think the Lord does. He ask can evil come on a city and the Lord have not done it? The answer is no. Even evil comes from the Lord. But He warns you before any evil comes; we just have to be wise enough to adhere to it. In verse seven; He will surely do nothing but reveal His secrets to His servants the prophets.


You want to know what the Lord is doing; read the books available by His prophets as we have been doing the last 65 days.
8The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy?


If you are bathing and a lion comes up about 20 yards from you and roars, who will not fear that? Likewise, if the Lord has spoken, of true servants, who can but prophesy?

Amos 4


6And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
This is addressing the ten tribes of Israel; Samaria for their oppressing of the poor and other sins. The Lord lets them know He has had enough of them and is ready to take them out of the land. He has already given the clean teeth because they don't eat but they will not return to the Lord and serve Him.


11I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
12Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.


They have been hit with a famine; remember the 3 year drought on rain that Elijah called on Ahab? Ahab still did not repent of his evil. The Lord slaughtered 70,000 in three days in the days of David; Israel just shook it off; and the Lord has sent pestilence like those in Egypt to them; but they still have not repented and sought the Lord their God.


He has even done some of them like He did Sodom and Gomarrah; but it did not matter; so the Lord tells them to prepare to meet their God, O Israel, in a way that will make not just your ears tingle; but your entire body.

Amos Chapter five (5)


4For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live:
5But seek not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beersheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought.


It is almost tiring to read over and over how horrible Israel has been and how the Lord is going to severly punish them; but this is a message from the Lord that hopefully wakes up His people. They may realize first who they are, why they are being punished, and that will give them the opportunity to correct themselves. Search for the Lord and His ways and live. That is a common theme through out the bible.


8Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name:
14Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.


If the Lord is telling the children of Israel this; others should jump the gun and get a leg in on doing right by hating evil and loving good.


Many people at times wish for the Lord to return; but to wish for that means a great deal of things must happen; such as, the great tribulation, the war of Armageddon, the Lord sitting in the sky watching, and then the massive killing all around the world. That is a lot to want to come down on the earth. So the Lord tells us in verse 18 not to desire the day of the Lord, because you don't know what it is going to be like to you. It will be a frantic day; like a man running from a lion and turns and sees a bear, then dived into his house and leaned on the door and a snake jumps up and bites him. In that day something is prone to get you; so do not desire it; just wait on the Lord.


18Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.
19As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.

Amos 6


Warnings of trouble to those who are at ease in Jerusalem and Samaria; they will be the first to go captive when the Lord brings trouble on the land.


8The Lord GOD hath sworn by himself, saith the LORD the God of hosts, I abhor the excellency of Jacob, and hate his palaces: therefore will I deliver up the city with all that is therein.


I just found out that the Lord can abhor or hate. He hated His own people because of their unlawful behavior. The God of the Universe can hate because He put in motion a plan to make more powerful beings like Him; yet His people want to be destroyed and hardheaded.

Amos 7


Amos is asking the Lord to repent of His evil toward this people, Israel.
11For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land.
12Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there:

13But prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king's chapel, and it is the king's court.
14Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit:
15And the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel.

16Now therefore hear thou the word of the LORD: Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac.
17Therefore thus saith the LORD; Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou shalt die in a polluted land: and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land.


The Lord is not trying to hear it; He has given them chance after chance. The faithful are going into captivity with the faithless. Why is this? Because those who knew better should have revolted against kings who set up an evil administration.


Amaziah, a priest, told Amos to scram out of town prophesying against Samaria. He told him to go talk that "nonsense" in Judah. However, Amos let him know he is doing the work of the Lord and cannot help be on the job and do the Lord's will, which was to speak to the children of Israel.


Amos further told him his wife will be a harlot in the city and his children will be killed and he will die in a polluted land and Israel is still going into captivity. I wonder if he kept talking against Amos then?

Amos 8


The Lord showed more visions to Amos, a basket of summer fruit. The Lord said the end is on His people Israel; there will not be songs in the temple; but instead people howling and dead bodies will be everywhere. People would see the Sabbath and couldn't wait till it passed so they could get back out there and sell their stuff in the market. The Lord is watching this, even today.


9And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day:
10And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.
11Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:


The Lord will cause the sun to go down at noon and will darken the earth on a clear day. He will turn their feast into mourning and the songs sung will be lamentations, you know like the blues. He will make it like it is the morning of someone's only son; a very bitter day (v9-10).


Soon enough, the Lord will send a famine in the land and it won't be for bread or water, but of the hearing of the words of God. People will wonder from nation to nation, looking for the word of the Lord and won't be able to find it at that time. Believe that this all has happened. The Lord caused the sun to go down at noon and it was completely dark in the earth, when Jesus died on the cross. We'll read about it later. And since Jesus died on passover, the feast immediately after the passover (Leviticus 23) was the unleavened bread, was a feast full of mourning, instead of joy. It was like the mourning of the death of an only son; and it was the death of an only son; the only son of the living God.

Amos 9


4And though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good.


Amos saw the Lord standing on the altar telling the fate of His people and how no one is going to get away. He'll go into the earth to get them, in heaven to bring that back. But no one is getting away scotch free; even if they go into captivity He will chase them with violence in the countries they go to and will look over them to do evil and not good.


7Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the LORD. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?


The Lord compares His children, the Israelites, physically to the Ethiopians. Ethiopians are Cush, Cush was a son of Ham, the land of Ham was renamed by a Roman General, to Africa. The name Ethiopia ʾĪtyōṗṗyā and its English cognate are thought by some recent scholars to be derived from the Greek word Αἰθιοπία Aithiopia, from Αἰθίοψ Aithiops 'an Ethiopian', derived in turn from Greek words meaning "of burned face." The would mean they are dark skinned people.


Egypt was conquered in 6th century by Arabs and today Arabs inhabit Egypt. This is why Amos compared them to Ethiopians because they have stayed in their land and complexion has not changed much.


9For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.
The Lord sprinkled Israel like wheat into all nations, just sifted them like a woman would do cereal grains. Sinners will die by the sword.


14And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.


Just as God sent them into captivity; He will surely bring them back out of their captivity; and as in Isaiah 61 they will build the old waste cities and live in them. The children of Israel will no longer study pagan gods, nor pollute the Lord's Holy name.


--
Peace & Grace

Monday, June 22, 2009

Day 64 Reading the Bible in 90 Days


Good morning and here we go reading on our sixty-fourth day. If it's not a habit by you by now; I don't know what to say.


Any how, we are going to start reading in Daniel chapter 9


While Darius was ruling, Daniel was reading the book of Jeremiah and he became confused because it said that the Jews would be in captivity for 70 years and here Daniel was been there 70 plus years and he was still sitting in captivity. So he prayed to God for answers. First he came humbly, asking for forgiveness for his people, his forefathers, and himself for breaking the Lords commandments and having the curses that were written by Moses poured out on them. So we find out these people were cursed, and are not the leaders of the world today; but are the bottom of the world. They are not the money lenders, but are the primary borrowers!


11Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.


Daniel prayed a very humble prayer, and while he was praying, confessing his sins and the sins of his people Israel, who are called by the Lord's name, Gabriel came to him.


24Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
25Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.


Gabriel came and informed him, that is what the holy ghost or holy spirit does, it informs us with skill and understanding. Again Daniel was reading Jeremiah, probably what we call chapter 25, and many kings took down Babylon; but Jeremiah was talking about Babylon the great, not Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon. So those 70 years obviously did not pertain to this time period, as Gabriel tells it became 70 weeks of years are the determined against the people; much has to be done. A finish of breaking the law, making an end of sins, make reconciliation for iniquity, bring in the everlasting righteousness, seal up the vision and prophecy, and anoint the Most Holy. All of this had to be done in those 70 weeks of years.


Ladies and gentlemen, this 70 weeks of Daniel goes all the way until the second coming of the Lord! But also some things had to be before His first coming; that is why Gabriel said to know and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem (not just the temple), to the coming Messiah (Christ) will be 69 totals weeks. When you multiply that by 7 weeks, you'll get 483 years.


With a good encyclopedia, like Groiler Encyclopedia, page 324, you can look up and see who and when the announcement and proclamation was made to rebuild Jerusalem. Cyrus ordered the rebuilding of the Temple. Artaxerxes commanded the rebuilding of Jerusalem. The years from that announcement, to rebuild Jerusalem, to the anointing of Jesus Christ was 483 years. This bible is pretty iron clad! Aren't you glad you're reading it with understanding?


26And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.


After the 62 weeks, the Messiah or Christ will be cut off or killed, but not for anything He did, and the people of prince, who are the Romans, will destroy the city. And the He, the Messiah, will confirm the covenant with many for one week and in the middle of the week He will cause the sacrificing of animals to cease. He did this by dying on the cross and being the ultimate sacrifice; then down the years because of too much sin; He will make Jerusalem desolate, and this is after the great tribulation. We went clean right unto the end of the world as we know it.

Daniel 10


6His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude.


Here is another vision that Daniel was praying for answers to receive from the Lord and he waited 3 full weeks, prayerfully waiting, without eating much nor drinking wine. Finally, he beheld an angel come upon him.


I just like to point out that when men of the bible saw angels they were scared to death nearly, the men praying with Daniel ran off, and Daniel himself had no strength to stand. Finally when the angel told him to stand, he stood trembling (v11).


Let's pay attention to verse 13 through 18. Gabriel was coming to give the answer to Daniel, the Jew, but was held up by the prince of the kingdom of Persia for 21 days. How can a man hold up an angel? It wasn't a man, it was an evil angel that rules over the kingdom, Satan? It took Michael, one of the chief princes to get Satan off of Gabriel. Gabriel told him visions of the last days and let him know that after Persia, Greek will come.

Daniel 11


This chapter continues right after the tenth, so after Persia, will come the Greeks. There will be 3 more kings in Persia, the fourth will be wealthier than them all. His riches will stir up the Greeks, where a mighty king, Alexander the great will rule with great dominance.


After his quick rule, he will be broken and four kings will come of it but won't rule in the strength Alexander the great ruled with. The four kings went to different locations. Cassander and Lysimachus stayed in the European area, Seleucus stayed in the middle eastern and Asian area, while Ptolemy went into Egypt and began to take over the Daniel is referring to the south. The south bared rule of strength for a while.


The south king took captives of the north king. This is stuff you can find crammed in your history books.


18After this shall he turn his face unto the isles, and shall take many: but a prince for his own behalf shall cause the reproach offered by him to cease; without his own reproach he shall cause it to turn upon him.


Then the king of the north is going to gain his riches and his strength and come back into the fray of power in the world. Many people are going to come against the king of the south, and we can imagine this in historical times when Europe came into the continent called Africa and laid many colonies to their claim. Many countries came up to claim lands they still colonize till this day.


No one will be able to stop the king of the north from invading the south and he will do his will and even take control of the glorious land of Jerusalem. Think about it? Who allowed the Jewish people to return to the land in 1948, even though the Palestinians were there already? The United Nations, comprised of mainly kings of the north.


Next step, the king of the north decided to go to the Islands of the sea and take over what we call the western hemisphere, the Americas, Canada, and the Islands. It is all written here, world history all right here.


After much conquering, he will try to rule and dominate his own land in dictatorship fashion but will not be able to do it. While all this conquering is going on, a vile person (organization) is going to stand up, and it does not really honor the kingdom but will come in peacefully and gain strength in the kingdom by flattering everyone.


They will eventually make an agreement to have their own sovereign government within another sovereign government, and then the vile person will work deceitfully. He will destroy in the name of peace (v19-24).


31And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.
32And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.


The vile person will stir up trouble against the king of the south but the south will reject him. But when he comes back, he will have more backing and more arms, and they will pollute the sanctuary of strength, and stop the daily sacrifice and they shall place the abomination that makes desolate into the temple that the Jewish people will build. The Jewish people will build a temple and begin animal sacrifices; but this king will stop the animal sacrifice after so many days.


He will do wickedly against the covenant of God by corrupting people with flatteries, but people reading the bible with understanding, who know their God, the God of Israel, Jesus, will be strong and teach people what's going on while this false organization is growing.


37Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.
39Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain.


Verse 33 is the reason why we are reading the bible through with understanding, so that when we see this we will be able to instruct the people that want and need to hear, however, many are still going to fall by the sword, flame, captivity, and spoil for many days. Now, even some with understanding are going to fall; the Lord is doing this to try them and purge out the fakers, to really make the serious servants white and clean.


Let's get a description of this vile person. The king will do according to his will, exalting himself, magnifying himself above every god, and will speak great things against the God of gods. This is the same guy we read about in chapter seven of Daniel, the same guy who changed times and laws, he is going to put himself ahead of God, in fact he calls himself the replacement for Christ.


He will prosper and will not regard the God of his fathers, nor does he desire women, he and his organization are celibate, they don't marry if they are in the ministry, so they don't have desire of women. If you do not desire women, it's built in you to desire someone? His focus is him, he will magnify himself. He will divide the land of Israel for gains and money.


Finally, people would have had enough of him and the king of the south will push at him and even the king of north and they will come like a whirlwind with a great army. He will enter into the glorious land, Israel, and overthrow countries, but three will escape. These three countries have something to do with the wilderness that the children of Israel will escape to; that is why these lands will escape being overthrown.


When this little horn sees the north and east coming at him he will attempt some more destruction but it will come to an end, and no one will help him any longer. This is crucial writing that was written before Jesus came in the first occasion.

Daniel 12


At the time of this placing the abomination that cause desolation, and the north and east comes against the little horn in a big war of Armageddon, Michael the great archangel will stand up and fight for the children of Israel. Why at this time? Because it will be a time of trouble that there has never been since there was a nation on the earth. Just scroll back and reflect on all the atrocities done on earth, and this time will trump them all.


It's at this time that God's people, Israel and strangers that choose to serve God, will be delivered. It's also at this time that we will have all of the people who have died and are buried in the dust of the earth shall wake up and be judged. Some to life so to shame and contempt. Here in the Old Testament we just read about the first and second resurrections.


The wise that chose to follow the Lord, will shine like the brightness of the sun, because they will be gods now. But Daniel was commanded to close the vision until the time of the end when knowledge will be increased. We know this today so it is an indication that we are in the end times.


The man reveal how long all these things will take place; and the other man answered three and half years.


11And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.


Daniel still did not understand these things; and was told to go and leave it alone because it was not for him nor his generation. Many will read Daniels book and other books in the bible, and be purified, while others who are wicked will not understand, but the wise will understand.


Lastly, from the time of the daily animal sacrifice being removed and stopped and the setting up of the abomination that makes Jerusalem desolate will be 1,290 days or three and half years and an extra 30 day. The Lord said blessed is the person who waits all these days for Him because at that time He will return.


We are going to move right into the book of Hosea, a prophet of the Lord.

Hosea Chapter 1


1The word of the LORD that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, 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.


Hosea was a prophet during the reign of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. The Lord commanded him to take a wife who was a whore so that he can see what the Lord is doing with the children of Israel.


In a metaphoric description of a marriage and kids from a whore, splitting up with her and bringing her back, the Lord tells us what He is doing with the children of Israel.

Hosea 2


The Lord is speaking to the kids of Hosea who are metaphorically the later generations of the children of Israel, and tell them to talk to their mother because she is not His wife as long as she is committing the abominations.
Eventually, Israel will get tired of chasing these false gods, and return to her first husband after realizing they had it better with him than in all the captivity they have been in. What the children of Israel did not realize is that they are a terrible people from their beginning, and the only thing that covered how terrible they were and are was the keeping of God's commandments (v8-9).


However, the Lord will forgive and allure her into the wilderness (right before and after the great tribulation), and speak good words with her there; and she will call Him Ishi, meaning my husband. What time will this happen? At the time the Lord will make a covenant with the beast of the field. Lions and tigers will be safe to be around like the days before Noah.


The Lord will marry her forever, in righteousness, lovingkindness, and in mercies (v19).

Hosea 3


Hosea went an purchased a prostitute and told her to stay with him and not commit adultery any longer. This example is the children of Israel, who will be without a king, a prince, a government, a sacrifice, without images, or anything. We do notice that the children of Israel do not have any authentic images of their great leaders. They were all taken in the siege of Jerusalem.


After while, in the last days, they will return and seek their God, and also David their king and will fear the Lord. Seeking a dead man is not customary; but king David will be resurrected at this time. For people who did not believe in the resurrection from the dead through Jesus Christ, this is a great time to begin investigating this.


5Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.

Hosea 4


The Lord has a big controversy with the children of Israel because their is no truth, mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. They break all His laws and make the world violent. We see in verse six that Israel was destroyed and sent into slavery because of their lack of knowledge. And since they rejected knowledge, He has rejected them.


They were suppose to be His priest to the other nations, but since they do not have the knowledge of the Lord, He has rejected them from being His priest. How can you administer His law if you can't keep them? The Lord is not listening to these people any longer and not sending any help at all.


13They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery.


The men of Israel will find that their wives and daughters are the most likely to commit adultery and fornication, and the Lord will not punish their daughters when they do this and won't punish their wives; because the men are committing adultery by serving other gods. The people who do not know and have understanding while serving God will fall (v14).

Hosea chapter 5


I can only imagine when a man finds out his wife has cheated on him with one man, he may feel hurt and betrayed but he may forgive. However, if she cheated with many men, it would leave that man to calling his wife a whore, slut, prostitute and more. I perceive in the readings of Hosea that the Lord is dealing with Israel in that fashion.


The children of Israel will seek the Lord; but will not find Him.
7They have dealt treacherously against the LORD: for they have begotten strange children: now shall a month devour them with their portions.The won't find Him because He has withdrawn Himself from them.
15I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.


The ten tribes tried to hid in Assyria and found no relief, the Lord then said He will be to Samaria (Ephraim), like a lion, and He will be like a young lion to Judah, He will tear and go away and none will rescue them. The Lord is going to go sit on His throne in Heaven till Israel acknowledges their offense and seek Him in righteousness and humbleness, when they get beat up bad enough, especially during the great tribulation; they will seek God early and swiftly with tears coming down.


Do you remember what Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon was in the dream Daniel had? A lion with wings.

Hosea 6


1Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.
2After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.
6For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.


Here the children of Israel have realized that the Lord has left them and the want to return to the Lord because only He can heal them. They realize the punishment from the nations came from the Lord. After two day the Lord will revive them, and on the third day He will raise them up like mentioned in Ezekiel the 37th chapter regarding the dry bones in the valley.


A day to the Lord is a thousand years. Titus sacked Jerusalem in 70 AD, and it is currently 2009 while I'm writing this book. That is two day ladies and gentlemen; the children of Israel are very close to being revived. The Lord still desires mercy and obedience over sacrifice as told to us by Samuel the prophet.


Because of the breaking of God's covenant, violent times have come on Judah and Israel, in turn the whole world. Robbers wait to rob men, and priest murder in the way. How does a priest murder; he teaches lies.

Hosea 7


The Lord was ready to heal Israel but He saw the wickedness in Samaria and had to forebear. The Lord would heal; but He is not going to heal people who are breaking His laws.


Other nations have ate the strength of Israel, and they do not even know it, and do not seek the Lord at all in all of this.There is nothing but trouble for them because they have left the Lord their God and rebelled against Him. They have returned but not to God, and they will be in constant derision in their captivity (v16).

Hosea chapter 8


1Set the trumpet to thy mouth. He shall come as an eagle against the house of the LORD, because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law.
2Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee. 3Israel hath cast off the thing that is good: the enemy shall pursue him.


The Lord is making an announcement that Israel has broken His law, the same story through out the bible, yet people are often confused that they do not have to keep the commandments. However the prophets cry day and night telling the people to keep them.


The Lord picked Israel's first three kings; but after while no one really consulted the Lord in who will be king, they just anointed whomever they pleased.


12I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing.


Israel is thus swallowed up among the Gentiles and the Gentiles do not have any pleasure with them. Israel is also among the Assyrians, the offspring of Cush or Ethiopia); and they also have no delight in the children of Israel. The children of Israel have forgottenn their Maker and are busy being punished without knowing.

Hosea 9


7The days of visitation are come, the days of recompence are come; Israel shall know it: the prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad, for the multitude of thine iniquity, and the great hatred.


Israel has departed from the Lord, and thus Samaria will go back to Egypt, bondage, in the land of Ham, while there they will eat the unclean foods of Assyria. While in captivity, Israel's prophets and preachers will be fools, their spiritual men will be crazy all because they hated the Lord.


14Give them, O LORD: what wilt thou give? give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.
These people have a tough time; their womb is not blessed, and they cannot even feed their children well. 17My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto him: and they shall be wanderers among the nations.


I never thought God could have this much hate; but when I read the bible I found that He can deliver perfect hate. The Lord will even slay the beloved fruit of their womb; those are the little babies.

Hosea 10


1Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself: according to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images.


Continued stories of woe and destruction of Israel; they are an empty vine, there is nothing good about these people and I do not mean to keep harping on this; but it is in the scripture we are reading; so it is the Lord, through His prophets harping on this.


13Ye 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.


The sin Israel is committing is leaking into the world; when they call out to mountains to cover them and to the hills, fall on us to hide them from the Lord. Israel is eating the same fruit that Adam and Even ate in the garden of Eden. They plowed wickedness, and have reaped sin and have eaten the fruit of lies; not an apple. The tree they ate from was Satan and his fruit was fresh lies (and rotten ones too). Come get yourself a bowl of fresh lies fruit salad, you won't die, you'll know the difference from good and evil.


Look around today so many people dying some can't even get a proper burial.

Hosea 11 1When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.

5He shall not return into the land of Egypt, and the Assyrian shall be his king, because they refused to return.


When Israel was in Egypt the first time, waiting to be delivered, they were humble, the Lord loved them and called them out of Egypt. However, when they came out they thanked another god for delivering them. So the Lord punished them. Although He refused to have them go back to Egypt, He lead them to Assyria.


The Lord will be and has been fierce against them; but He will soon have compassion and return them to their land.

Hosea 12


6Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment and wait on thy God continually.
7He is a merchant, the balances of deceit are in his hand: he loveth to oppress.


Israel, also called Ephraim because of the blessing to Joseph, chases wind, and follows after things that are vain. Other nations should turn from this and listen to the Lord's prophets who are all Israelites and who all wrote His message in a book.


Israel in a harsh battle in the womb of his mother Rebekah, grab his brother Esau's heel in attempts to wind the battle, and when Jacob saw the angel; he wrestled him all night and wouldn't let him go, thus having power with man and with God (v3-4). However, he has fallen off to deceits.


The Lord ask for all of us on the earth to wait on Him continually and not to be like the bad seed of the children of Israel, who are all about money, deceitful, and love to oppress.


13And by a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved.
14Ephraim provoked him to anger most bitterly: therefore shall he leave his blood upon him, and his reproach shall his LORD return unto him.


Moses was the prophet that brought Israel out of Egypt, and by Jesus and other prophets was Israel preserved, even in their captivity.

Hosea 13


6According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore have they forgotten me.
7Therefore I will be unto them as a lion: as a leopard by the way will I observe them:


This chapter begins by telling us when Israel was a humble nation that feared God, the Lord exalted them, but when they went after false gods, they died spiritually. And it is only getting worse every day.


Sin is like a vicious cycle; you start by having a lust, then sleeping with another mans wife, then getting the woman pregnant, then killing the husband and it just gets worse and worse, until you are totally immune to breaking God's laws, till there is no hope for you. That is how Israel was and that is why they are in slavery all across the world.


Since Israel have forgotten their God; He will be to them like a lion (Babylon), and like a leopard (Greece) in the way will God observe them. Like a bear (Medo-Persia) that sees it's cubs been attacked will the Lord come against Israel; and He will tear them to pieces as like a wild beast (Rome) would. These Gentile nations that put Judah and Israel into slavery across the world are working at the commission of the Lord God of Israel.


The children of Israel have no one to look to but God because he is the one firing the gun, the Gentiles are His bullets. As Adam and Eve have done, so has Israel, they have destroyed themselves by not listening to God.
8I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them.
9O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help.


The Lord God was their king then the foolishly wanted to be like the other nations who have flesh and blood kings that reign and get old then die. I don't see why they wanted to be like other nations; but God says He will be their king, and even ask where are the kings that they voted in? They are dead in the dust of the ground.


10I will be thy king: where is any other that may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes?
11I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath.


The Lord did not like being fired but He did it to show them that another king is not going to do it for them and as we have seen the result we certainly know why. If God had remained their king, evil kings would have never came in the picture. We read how He took away the last three kings of Judah by overturning, overturn, and overturning, and in wrath He dealt with Zedekiah.
Israel as a nation today are full of sorrows like a pregnant woman near delivery, they are an unwise son and harsh violence shall plague them.


Wherever they go; the curses will follow them, even if they do good; and definitely if they do bad. It is a troubling punishment the children of Israel are enduring.


This concludes our reading today. We will convene tomorrow. Peace and blessings in Jesus name.


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Peace & Grace