-General James Green- 11/1/23
I have shown how the “if”/ “then” clause is used in Scripture. Normally the LORD sets conditions (the “if”) for His people to meet when dealing with their rebellions. The most outstanding one is found in 2 Chron. 7:14: “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, & pray, & seek My face, & turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, I will forgive their sin & heal their land.” (NKJV)
That was spoken in response to verse 13: “When I shut up heaven & there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people.” The CONDITIONS were, humble themselves, pray/seek God’s face, turn from wickedness. (see the rest of the “if”/ “then” clause in vv. 17-18, 19-20). But, as I’ve shown, the LORD’s love/mercies/forgiveness can be shown with no “if”/ “then”, as my text today shows: “How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? How shall I deliver thee, Israel? How shall I make thee as Admah? How shall I set thee as Zeboim? Mine head is TURNED within Me, My REPENTINGS are kindled together. I will NOT execute the fierceness of Mine anger, I will not return to DESTROY Ephraim: for I am God, & not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee: & I will not enter into the city.” Hosea 11:8,9, KJV. [note: some translations use the word “sympathy” in place of “repenting”]
-Background-
Hosea Chapter 11 gives us a word picture of God’s tender / affectionate love for Israel, by metaphors borrowed from the love of mothers toward their children. From this, occasion is taken to reflect on their ungrateful return to the Divine goodness, & to denounce them the judgments of the Almighty God, 1-7. Verse 7 says, “And My people are bent to BACKSLIDING from Me.” The Prophets time & time again called to Israel to RETURN to the LORD.
America, dear ones, is in the balances today: will the LORD RELENT/REPENT of His planned punishments, or will He allow them to have full reign? There is no doubt that America is BACKSLID as HELL! None at all. The Church, state, & family is in full rebellion. Sure, there are those who are not, but as a WHOLE, America is far from God. All their “evil,” “machinations” (i.e., plots/schemes) to DESTROY the USA are evident, not any longer “conspiracy theories” but are FACTS that can’t be denied!
In Hosea’s day there were inner wars as well as external plots to destroy Israel. As I write this (Nov. 1, 2023) it appears that WW3 is about to become a nasty, bloody reality. America has many internal & external enemies. The Spirit has had us WARN this nation for years & years now that His judgments/punishments will be executed “if” we do not TURN from our WICKED ways. (we have many publications containing those Divine Warnings recorded).
All one has to do is read the Biblical accounts of God’s punishments upon both His sinning people & pagan nations. While, at times, He shows mercy, other times He does not. Beams of love – mercy – forgiveness can break forth from the dark clouds fraught with His VENGEANCE. All one has to do is see the awful vengeance being executed upon the land of Gaza. Horrors upon horrors! We might ask ourselves, “what did those people do to cause such destruction upon them?” I’m not referring to the bloody/merciless attack upon the Jews Oct. 7, 2023, by Hamas. I refer to their nation/people in general. And, how do we know what will be done to Israel. I have shown many times where God uses the pagans to punish HIs very own people. I have shown where He uses His people to punish the pagans, I have shown where God pits pagans against pagans (see jesuscallstoall.com for some recent prophecies).
There is no doubt in my mind that God desires peace in/on earth; not war. But men’s wickedness causes the LORD to act: wrath – fury – indignation. The Bible tells us that He does not wish men to be destroyed, but to come to repentance. He wants men/nations to be pardoned, not punished! But men/nations WILL BE PUNISHED & DESTROYED!!! There are whole civilizations that have been destroyed by God (the Spirit has told us), now being dug up for proof.
It is a Biblical fact that God both loves & hates. It is a fact that He punishes (for remedial purposes), even utterly destroys for wickedness. As the Lion out of Judah He employs His mighty power or will as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the sinners. He has sent & will send His sinning people into captivity as well as deliver them out of it.
What we read in Hos. 11:8 is the struggle that God was having over Ephraim’s sin: “How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? How shall I deliver thee, Israel? How shall I make thee as Admah? How shall I set thee as Zeboim? Mine heart is turned within me, my REPENTINGS (KJV) are kindled together.” This struggle takes us back to 6:4 where the LORD is introduced (by Hosea), saying, “O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, & as the early dew it goeth away.” The people of God were pious only for a while, for the people were fickle in their love/service for the Most High. The clouds faded away before the sun & the dew speedily evaporated by the sun’s heat. Their “goodness” was there but not lasting.
So, what do we know here? God struggled between His love for Israel/Judah & justice that needed to be executed. Read all of Hosea 6. God desired mercy & not sacrifice (v.6), but His people dealt treacherously (v.7).
The truth of the matter is this: God taught His people the right way to live via His prophets. He was more willing to love/save than to destroy… but was the case, He had to execute justice too many times against His people over the centuries.
There are times when God will choose not to punish (for His Name’s sake), choosing to relent/repent instead. His mercies plead for life, not death. But, as we’ve seen in our study of the “if”/ “then” clause, most of the time their (Israel’s) wellbeing depended upon God’s required condition: repentance. Justice demands punishment! Are we any different in man’s laws? A murder is committed; the person who committed the murder MUST pay the price: Prison or many times death. Hosea 11:8 uses “repentings” (plural). Put another way, verse 8 can read: “My heart is oppressed. & I am weary with repenting – with so frequently changing my purpose.” This shows us first how merciful & compassionate the LORD really is. Tell me, what “saint” or sinner has not been a subject of God’s gracious forgiveness?
Verse 9 is the issue of this conflict in the Divine heart & mind of the LORD: “I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim.” He will not destroy Israel as He did Sodom & Gomorrah (see Jude 5-7).
I admit, some of the things written in the Prophets are hard to grasp or understand. I have no problem grasping or understanding the principle of the “if”/ “then” clauses found in Scripture. I do, however, find it hard to understand what is written in many places. One must have a good amount of knowledge of the historical background of those places & times. But history does teach us that God has executed His fierceness & anger against Israel many times – showing little mercy, not to mention pagan nations. We can look at the example of Jonah & Ninevah:
“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, & cry against it; for their WICKEDNESS is come up before Me,” -Jonah 1:2. Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian empire. Their “wickedness” was great. Just what was their SIN? “Wickedness” is a personification of “evil” It ascends from earth to heaven; and stands before the Supreme Judge, to bear witness against its own delinquency! Do you suppose America’s “SINS” are testifying against her as I write this?
Well, we know the genre, the LORD spared that great city because the people believed God (via Jonah), and repented: “Then God saw their works, that they TURNED from their evil way; & God RELENTED (NKJV) from the DISASTER that He had said He would bring upon them, & He did not do it!” -Jonah 3:10
“…Cry against it (Nineveh); for their wickedness” (1:2); “And God saw their works” (3:10). God sees all, friends. ALL! Their sins, our sins. Because the people of Nineveh believed Jonah’s warning that in “…forty days, & Nineveh shall be overthrown” (3:4), they “…proclaimed a fast…” (3:5), which caught the eye of God “…& God REPENTED of the evil, that He had said that He would do unto them; and He did it not.” (4:10). God saw their humility & repentance, therefore He REPENTED, i.e., changed His mind & purpose, and the city was saved.
The purpose was: if the Ninevites do not return from their evil ways, & the violence that is in their hands, within 40 days, “I will destroy the city!” You see, the threatening was CONDITIONAL.
This is a TRUE story. Many in church la-la land believe it to be mythological, all allegorical, or hypothetical. NO! It was literal!
Note Jonah 4:11 where the LORD tells Jonah: “And should not I spare Nineveh…six-score thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand, & their left hand.”
The LORD had pity on those sinners.
From this short prophecy we can learn many lessons. Sadly, and I don’t mean to spoil a good ending, that great city eventually fell back – relapsed – about 150 years afterwards, hence, the Prophet Nahum was sent to it. Nahum gives us a description of Nineveh’s destruction – read that book, Nahum wrote: “The LORD is slow to anger, & great in power, & will not at all acquit the wicked…” –Nah. 1:3. But the time will come when God puts a choice before us: repent or be destroyed.
Nahum gives a prophecy against the Assyrians; God denounces a WO! against Nineveh for their perfidy & violence (Nahum 3:1) (Note Nahum 3:4, this could describe the USA!). Nineveh’s richness, variety, & greatness of power brought God’s disfavor once again. This time there was no REPENTANCE. That city was FULL of LIES, hence, LIARS. Sound familiar?
A SAD ending: “There is no healing of the bruise; thy wound is grievous…” –Nahum 3:19. Nineveh was the capital of Assyria, which at times God used the Assyrians for His vengeance. The Assyrian empire was a great force. Will God destroy America, aka, Amerika for its SINFULNESS? True, we have a good amount of true Christians here but as a WHOLE the U.S. has become an enemy of Godliness. Time to REPENT!
