A. Self Deception

Hosea 11:12 - 12:1 (NKJV)
¹² "Ephraim has encircled Me with lies,
And the house of Israel with deceit;
But Judah still walks with God,
Even with the Holy One who is faithful.

¹ "Ephraim feeds on the wind,
And pursues the east wind;
He daily increases lies and desolation.
Also they make a covenant with the Assyrians,
And oil is carried to Egypt.
(AMP) | (NIV) | (NLT) | (KJV) | (NASB)

Application: Outside of the Lord what you are grasping for will only leave you weak & malnouished, dry and lifeless. Self-deception is one of the road signs on the road to ruin for a person or nation.

Hosea 12:7-8 (NKJV)
⁷"A cunning Canaanite!
Deceitful scales are in his hand;
He loves to oppress.
⁸And Ephraim said,
"Surely I have become rich,
I have found wealth for myself;
In all my labors
They shall find in me no iniquity that is sin.'
(AMP) | (NIV) | (NLT) | (KJV) | (NASB)

Application: Deceit, smoothness, dishonesty is praised today. Honest people are seen as foolish.

Hosea 12:9-14 (NKJV)
⁹"But I am the LORD your God,
Ever since the land of Egypt;
I will again make you dwell in tents,
As in the days of the appointed feast.
¹⁰I have also spoken by the prophets,
And have multiplied visions;
I have given symbols through the witness of the prophets."

¹¹Though Gilead has idols--
Surely they are vanity--
Though they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal,
Indeed their altars shall be heaps in the furrows of the field.

¹²Jacob fled to the country of Syria;
Israel served for a spouse,
And for a wife he tended sheep.
¹³By a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt,
And by a prophet he was preserved.
¹⁴Ephraim provoked Him to anger most bitterly;
Therefore his Lord will leave the guilt of his bloodshed upon him,
And return his reproach upon him.
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Application: How many preachers, sermons, stop signs have you ignored?

Hosea 13:1-6 (NKJV)
¹ When Ephraim spoke, trembling,
He exalted himself in Israel;
But when he offended through Baal worship, he died.
²Now they sin more and more,
And have made for themselves molded images,
Idols of their silver, according to their skill;
All of it is the work of craftsmen.
They say of them,
"Let the men who sacrifice kiss the calves!"
³Therefore they shall be like the morning cloud
And like the early dew that passes away,
Like chaff blown off from a threshing floor
And like smoke from a chimney.

⁴"Yet I am the LORD your God
Ever since the land of Egypt,
And you shall know no God but Me;
For there is no savior besides Me.
⁵I knew you in the wilderness,
In the land of great drought.
⁶When they had pasture, they were filled;
They were filled and their heart was exalted;
Therefore they forgot Me.
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When they made this choice, God said that they died.
Spiritually at first ...
then what was in their heart was manifested in their actions.

Application: James 4:10 (NKJV): "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up." If you exalt yourself, God won't. If you humble yourself, He will lift you higher than you could ever life yourself. He will be glorified - not you.

Verse 4: It's not like they were uninformed; they were without excuse. Men today see God's truth and suppress it. All kinds of immorality flows from them and they reach a point where they become proud of it and flaunt it.

E. Sins Stored Up

Hosea 13:7-13 (NKJV)
⁷"So I will be to them like a lion;
Like a leopard by the road I will lurk;
⁸I will meet them like a bear deprived of her cubs;
I will tear open their rib cage,
And there I will devour them like a lion.
The wild beast shall tear them.

⁹"O Israel, you are destroyed,
But your help is from Me.
¹⁰I will be your King;
Where is any other,
That he may save you in all your cities?
And your judges to whom you said,
"Give me a king and princes'?
¹¹I gave you a king in My anger,
And took him away in My wrath.

¹²"The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up;
His sin is stored up.
¹³The sorrows of a woman in childbirth shall come upon him.
He is an unwise son,
For he should not stay long where children are born.
(AMP) | (NIV) | (NLT) | (KJV) | (NASB)

Application: The interval between sowing and reaping. Unrepented sins accumulate and reap a harvest of judgment. - "The Harvest of Sin"

Hosea 13:14-16 (NKJV)
¹⁴"I will ransom them from the power of the grave;
I will redeem them from death.
O Death, I will be your plagues!
O Grave, I will be your destruction!
Pity is hidden from My eyes."

¹⁵Though he is fruitful among his brethren,
An east wind shall come;
The wind of the LORD shall come up from the wilderness.
Then his spring shall become dry,
And his fountain shall be dried up.
He shall plunder the treasury of every desirable prize.
¹⁶Samaria is held guilty,
For she has rebelled against her God.
They shall fall by the sword,
Their infants shall be dashed in pieces,
And their women with child ripped open.
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II. THE CALL FOR ISRAEL TO REPENT
Full text: Hosea 14 (NKJV)

A. Return

Hosea 14:1 (NKJV)
¹ O Israel, return to the LORD your God,
For you have stumbled because of your iniquity;
(AMP) | (NIV) | (NLT) | (KJV) | (NASB)

Hosea 12:2-6 (NKJV)
²"The LORD also brings a charge against Judah,
And will punish Jacob according to his ways;
According to his deeds He will recompense him.
³He took his brother by the heel in the womb,
And in his strength he struggled with God. (Gen. 32:22-32, NKJV)
⁴Yes, he struggled with the Angel and prevailed;
He wept, and sought favor from Him.
He found Him in Bethel,
And there He spoke to us--
⁵That is, the LORD God of hosts.
The LORD is His memorable name.
⁶So you, by the help of your God, return;
Observe mercy and justice,
And wait on your God continually.
(AMP) | (NIV) | (NLT) | (KJV) | (NASB)

B. Repent

Hosea 14:2a (NKJV): Take words with you, And return to the LORD.

Romans 10:8-10 (NKJV)
But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (Deut. 30:14, NKJV) (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
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Hosea 14:2b-4 (NKJV):
Say to Him,
"Take away all iniquity;
Receive us graciously,
For we will offer the sacrifices of our lips.
³Assyria shall not save us,
We will not ride on horses,
Nor will we say anymore to the work of our hands, "You are our gods.'
For in You the fatherless finds mercy."

⁴"I will heal their backsliding,
I will love them freely,
For My anger has turned away from him.
(AMP) | (NIV) | (NLT) | (KJV) | (NASB)

Hosea 14:2b (NKJV): "Say to Him, 'Take away all iniquity; Receive us graciously, For we will offer the sacrifices of our lips.'"

Hosea 14:3 (NKJV): "Assyria shall not save us, We will not ride on horses, Nor will we say anymore to the work of our hands, 'You are our gods.' For in You the fatherless finds mercy."

Hosea 14:4a (NKJV): "I will heal...!"

Hosea 14:4b (NKJV): "I will love them freely, For My anger has turned away from him."

The Father does not love because Christ died, but Christ died because the Father "so loved." (John 3:16, NKJV)

Hosea 14:5-8 (NKJV)
⁵I will be like the dew to Israel;
He shall grow like the lily,
And lengthen his roots like Lebanon.
⁶His branches shall spread;
His beauty shall be like an olive tree,
And his fragrance like Lebanon.
⁷Those who dwell under his shadow shall return;
They shall be revived like grain,
And grow like a vine.
Their scent shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
⁸"Ephraim shall say, "What have I to do anymore with idols?'
I have heard and observed him.
I am like a green cypress tree;
Your fruit is found in Me."
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D. Walk in Righteousness

Hosea 14:8-9 (NKJV)
⁸"Ephraim shall say, "What have I to do anymore with idols?'
I have heard and observed him.
I am like a green cypress tree;
Your fruit is found in Me."

⁹Who is wise?
Let him understand these things.
Who is prudent?
Let him know them.
For the ways of the LORD are right;
The righteous walk in them,
But transgressors stumble in them.
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The ways of the Lord are right. You either stumble on them or walk in them.