Lesson #11

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Hosea

September 21, 2015

Lesson #01

January 6, 2010

Lesson #02

January 6, 2010

RETURN TO SYLLABUS

HOSEA 10
Lesson #11
THE VINE IN THE SPIRITUAL GARDEN

• Memory Verse: Hos 10:12

• In Hosea chapter 9 we discussed the prosperity and materialism that Israel was experiencing. There was so much prosperity in the nation that people laughed at the prophets that predicted destruction.

• Background:
• There are three botanical symbols in scripture that refer to the nation of Israel. The whole nation of Israel (the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom) is represented in parable form as a vineyard in Hos 10.
• What are the other two symbols for Israel?
• Rom 11:17
• The olive tree
• Mat 24:32 Mar 11:21
• The fig tree
• Jesus repeated this parable in Mat 21:33-46.
• Read Isa 5:1-7 The Song of the Vineyard
• What do we learn from this passage in Isa 5 about the privileges God gave to the nation of Israel?
• …”fenced” = God protected Israel from its enemies.
• …”gathered out the stones” = God helped the Israelites defeat the enemies that lived in the land when they entered the Promised Land with Joshua.
• …”planted it with the choicest vine” = God chose he Israelites to possess the land.
• …”He built a tower in the midst of it” = God gave Israel his Word to guard them and to guide them.
• …”He made a winepress therein” = the winepress is a symbol of judgment:
• God will judge other nations by how they treat the Jews.
• The Jews were supposed to discern their own sinful behavior.
• God will judge Israel for their level of faithfulness to Him.
• He expected Israel to bring forth good spiritual fruit for God by being a light to the gentiles and an example of a nation faithful to God
• Read Hos 10:1-15

• “Israel is an empty vine…”

(1)

• What is the “empty vine”?
• Israel was not unproductive at the time God gave these words about an empty vine to Hosea. In fact, she was so productive that it appeared there would be no end to her productivity and prosperity.
• What does the phrase “empty vine” really mean?
• The word “empty” literally means = luxuriant which describes the actual productivity and prosperity of that period of time. However, the play on words refers to their spiritual emptiness.
• An empty vine has an abundance of leaves and branches but no fruit.
• Jesus used this same concept when he cursed the fig tree for having an abundance of leaves but no fruit. (Mat 21:19)
• The next phrase in verse 1 gives us the full story, “…he bringeth forth fruit unto himself…”
• Israel was rapidly using up her resources that God gave her.
• Israel was using those resources to build more altars to worship other gods instead of producing spiritual fruit for God.
• These verses about the vine remind us of Jesus’ words in the New Testament.
• Read Joh 15:1-8
• According to Jesus’ words, believers cannot produce fruit without the presence of the Lord.
• The things that cause a branch to wither and to become unproductive are:
• If the branch is not perfectly connected to the vine.
• The little phrase “in me” represents the close, intimate relationship between the believer and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Joh 15:4)
• If the branch is not nourished by the Word of God.
• The believer cannot produce healthy fruit in his life if he is not nourished by the Word of God. (Joh 15:7)
• The unproductive branches that are cut off and burned. (Joh 15:6) (Jer 2:21 Jer 22:6-9)
• Read Rom 11:1, 17-21, 23.
• While the metaphor changes from grape vines in Hosea to an olive tree in Romans, the message is the same.
• Israel will be cut off temporarily as an unproductive branch so that the Gentiles might be grafted into the tree.
• The divided heart that cannot produce fruit:

• Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty…”

(2)

• God told the Israelites that they could not worship Him and other gods. He told them He was a jealous God.
• From the time of the first worship of the golden calf, Israel tried to worship Jehovah and the pagan gods.
• In our study of this book, we have already seen where James 1 tells us that a double minded man is unstable and will receive nothing from the Lord. (Jam 1:6-8)
• Trusting in the government that cannot produce fruit: (3)
• When God’s judgment came upon them and they lost their sovereignty and their nation, they would cry because they had no king to help them.
• Instead of looking to God in faith for guidance and protection, the Israelites were just like many people today.
• They were looking to the government to fulfill all their needs.
• They were trusting in foreign treaties and international promises to keep them safe. (4)
• The poisoned fruit:

• “…this judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field.”

(4)

• Hemlock is a poison. The illustration indicates that the fruit that is produced in the garden is this poisonous plant that grows up rapidly.
• The poisoned fruit of jealousy and pride that was produced in Israel’s garden flourished between two prominent cities of the Northern Kingdom. (5)
• The city of Samaria was the capital of the Northern Kingdom where a large temple was constructed for the purpose of the worship of a large golden calf.
• The city of Bethel (house of God) was the location of another temple with a large golden calf. God calls this city, Beth-aven (house of wickedness).
• These two cities argued over which one had the largest golden calf, which calf had more gold on it.
• What happened to these golden calves?
• They were taken as gifts to the king of Assyria. (6)
• The garden without glory:
• Hosea tells us in verse 5 that the glory departed from Israel.
• The glory of the golden calves in which the people trusted, would depart when their enemies destroyed Israel.
• The book of Ezekiel, the prophet of the Holy Spirit, tells us in detail about the departing of the glory of God. (Eze 9–10)
• The glorious presence of God dwelt in Solomon’s temple but departed from the temple and from Israel just before the fall of the Southern Kingdom to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.
• It is interesting that when Israel RETURN ed to the Promised Land after the Babylonian captivity and rebuilt the temple, the Bible does not tell us that the glorious presence of God came to dwell in that temple.
• Therefore, when Jesus walked in Herod’s temple, He was the representation of the glory of God in that temple. When Jesus walked out of that temple, there was no glory of God in that temple.
• The New Testament tells the believer to grow the spiritual fruit of the Holy Spirit in the spiritual gardens of our lives.
• Read Gal 5:22-25
• The garden without a king. (7)
• This prophecy concerning Samaria’s king tells us that the Northern Kingdom will never have another king that comes from their rebellious family of kings.
• The next king that Israel will have will be Jesus Christ, the King of Kings. He will be the king of both the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom.
• The garden without “high places” (8)
• When Israel first entered the Promised Land with Joshua, God commanded them to destroy the idolatrous places of pagan worship. (Num 33:52 Deu 12:2-3)
• The high places in Israel were places of pagan garden temples, idolatry, and religious prostitution.
• This prophecy tells us that these places of “aven” or wickedness will be destroyed by God because the Israelites failed to do it. This prophecy was fulfilled twice:
• …in the destruction of the Northern Kingdom. 721 BC
• …in the destruction of the Southern Kingdom. 586 BC.
• “…they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.”

(8)

• This detail of prophecy was first fulfilled in the fall of the Northern Kingdom.
• The second fulfillment of this prophecy is in the latter days at the second coming of Christ. (Rev 6:15-17)
• The garden with the greatest sin: (9)
• The reference in verse 9 is the events found in Judges 19 and 20.
• We discussed this event previously in our study of Hosea. It is the horrible story of a homosexual group of men that attacked a woman and left her for dead. The priest took her body, cut it in 12 pieces, and sent one piece to each of the 12 tribes. This prompted a civil war in which the men homosexual men of Gibeah were killed but the sin remained.
• Hosea uses this story of gross immorality as a symbol for the immorality and violence that existed in the whole nation.
• God’s desire was to clean out this garden, so He will join Ephraim, the Northern Kingdom together with the Southern Kingdom like two animals yoked together to plow the land. (10)
• This illustration of two animals yoked together represents the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom bound together in the Babylonian captivity that purged Israel of its immorality and idolatry.
• God encourages them to sow righteousness and reap mercy from their spiritual garden until Christ comes.
• Read Gal 6:7-8
• The polluted garden: (13)
• Israel plowed wickedness in the land.
• Israel trusted in the lies of their leaders.
• Read Dan 4:17
• This passage tells us that God puts in authority over a nation, the kind of leaders that reflect the spirituality of the people.
• The Northern Kingdom was a kingdom sown in rebellion. The people reaped evil kings and believed their lies.
• Spiritual Principle:
• An immoral people who choose to live without God will never choose righteous leaders to rule over them.
• “Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people, and all thy fortresses shall be spoiled, as Shalman spoiled Betharbel in the day of battle…”

(14)

• This is a very specific prophecy that predicts the final destruction of the Northern Kingdom and their line of kings. The name “Shalman” refers to Shalmaneser which is a name taken by many of the Assyrian kings.
• Shalmaneser V was the son of Tiglath-pileser III.
• Israel, under Hoshea, the final king of the Northern Kingdom, angered Shalmaneser V when he refused to pay the tribute money and attempted to deceive King Shalamneser V. Assyria attacked Israel in 725 BC. (2Kin 17:3) This was the beginning of the end of the Northern Kingdom.
• Betharbel is the name of a region in the Northern Kingdom.
• “…the mother was dashed in pieces upon her children.”

(14)

• The Assyrian army was a very fierce fighting force known for its brutality.
• In order to control large land areas and large multitudes of people, they killed the majority of young mothers with babies and took the majority of people captive and marched them on foot to the city of Babylon. Many of the weak died along the way. Then they imported other defeated people to inhabit the Northern Kingdom.
• The Babylonian army used the same practice as the Assyrians when they defeated the Southern Kingdom.
• Application and summary:
• From this lesson about Israel’s failures, we should be able to discern how to grow a spiritual garden that would produce good fruit for God.
• Discussion: If Israel was an empty vine, what would a full (productive) vine look like?

HOMEWORK
Hosea 11
This is a self-study. Please do not send homework answers to the teacher forcorrection.

• Application of Hos 10
• What does the garden of your life look like? Is it an “empty vine” with physical luxuries in a spiritual vacuum?
• How can you plant and nourish the true root, Jesus Christ, in your personal life to be able to produce good fruit for the Kingdom of God?
• Preparation for Hos 11
• Read Hos 11:1-12
• What is God’s great dilemma in verses 8-9?
• What are the characteristics of God’s “tough love”?
• Memory verse: Hos 11:7