53 lines
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53 lines
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<title>Blue Letter Bible: Text Commentaries</title>
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<h2><a onclick="return mV('Hsa',8,'1-');">Hsa 8</a> - Sow the Wind, Reap the Whirlwind</h2>
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<p>A. Sowing idolatry, reaping exile.</p>
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<p class="c1">1. (<a onclick="return mV('Hsa',8,'1-6');">1-6</a>) Casting off God and embracing idols.</p>
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<p class="c2"><span>"Set the trumpet to your mouth! <i>He shall come </i>like an eagle against the house of the <span class="c6">Lord</span>, because they have transgressed My covenant and rebelled against My law. Israel will cry to Me, 'My God, we know You!' Israel has rejected the good; the enemy will pursue him. They set up kings, but not by Me; they made princes, but I did not acknowledge <i>them. </i>From their silver and gold they made idols for themselves; that they might be cut off. Your calf is rejected, O Samaria! My anger is aroused against them; how long until they attain to innocence? For from Israel <i>is </i>even this: A workman made it, and it <i>is </i>not God; but the calf of Samaria shall be broken to pieces."</span></p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Set the trumpet to your mouth!</span></b> Trumpets were used to assemble God's people and to call troops to battle. Here, God commands the <b><span class="c3">trumpet</span></b> to sound to gather the mighty Assyrians against Israel for judgment, <b><span class="c3">because they have transgressed My covenant</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">Israel will cry to Me, "My God, we know You!"</span></b> But their cry is not sincere, because <b><span class="c3">Israel has rejected the good</span></b>. They set up rulers and princes against the Lord, and were steeped in idolatry.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. <b><span class="c3">My God, we know You!</span></b> But they didn't really know God. It will be the same way for many church-goers today. Jesus said, <i>"Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'"</i><span> (<a onclick="return mV('Mat',7,'22-23');">Mat 7:22-23</a>)</span></p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">They set up kings, but not by Me</span></b>: "To choose leaders without the direction of God is not only sinful, it is foolish. Those who follow their own wisdom in the choice of leaders inevitably get what they deserve." (Boice)</p>
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<p class="c4">d. <b><span class="c3">The calf of Samaria shall be broken to pieces</span></b>: Israel made beautiful idols out of silver and gold, but they will not stand. In judgment, God will break them <b><span class="c3">to pieces</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. <b><span class="c3">Your calf is rejected</span></b> "is literally 'your calf stinks.'" (Wood) That's what God thought of their idols!</p>
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<p class="c1">2. (<a onclick="return mV('Hsa',8,'7-10');">7-10</a>) Israel judged and regathered.</p>
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<p class="c2"><span>"They sow the wind, and reap the whirlwind. The stalk has no bud; it shall never produce meal. If it should produce, aliens would swallow it up. Israel is swallowed up; now they are among the Gentiles like a vessel in which <i>is </i>no pleasure. For they have gone up to Assyria, <i>like </i>a wild donkey alone by itself; Ephraim has hired lovers. Yes, though they have hired among the nations, now I will gather them; and they shall sorrow a little, because of the burden of the king of princes."</span></p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">They sow the wind, and reap the whirlwind</span></b>: It will seem to Israel that they judgement they receive is worse than the sin they committed. This isn't true in the sense of God being worse to us than our sin deserves, but it is true in how judgment feels. This is usually because our sin is <i>sown</i> over a long period of time, but often <i>reaped</i> in a contracted period of judgment.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">Now they are among the Gentiles...now I will gather them</span></b>: God promised that Israel would face the conquering Assyrians and exile, but also that He would one day <b><span class="c3">gather them</span></b> again. This note of mercy is sprinkled through the song warning of judgment.</p>
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<p>B. Why God will not accept their offerings.</p>
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<p class="c1">1. (<a onclick="return mV('Hsa',8,'11-13');">11-13</a>) Israel considers God's word a <b><span class="c3">strange thing</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c2"><span>"Because Ephraim has made many altars for sin, they have become for him altars for sinning. I have written for him the great things of My law, <i>but </i>they were considered a strange thing. <i>For </i>the sacrifices of My offerings they sacrifice flesh and eat <i>it, but </i>the <span class="c6">Lord</span> does not accept them. Now He will remember their iniquity and punish their sins. They shall return to Egypt."</span></p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">They have become for him altars for sinning</span></b>: Israel foolishly built <b><span class="c3">many altars for sin</span></b>. So it is no surprise that those altars became <b><span class="c3">altars for sinning</span></b>. When we give ourselves opportunity and occasion for sin, it is never surprising when we end up <b><span class="c3">sinning</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">I have written for him the great things of My law, but they were considered a strange thing</span></b>: In their sin and idolatry, Israel also rejected the Word of God. God had <b><span class="c3">great things</span></b> for Israel, but they seemed like a <b><span class="c3">strange thing</span></b> because their hearts were far from God.</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">I have written for him</span></b>: This tells us the <i>author</i> of the Bible - God Himself. Spurgeon said it well: "<span>This volume is the writing of the living God: each fetter was penned with an Almighty finger; each word in it dropped from the everlasting lips, each sentence was dictated by the Holy Spirit."</span></p>
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<p class="c5"><span>i. "If this be the Word of God, what will become of some of you who have not read it for the last month? Most people treat the Bible very politely...When they get home, they lay it up in a drawer till next Sunday morning; then it comes out again for a little bit of a treat and goes to chapel; that is all the poor Bible gets in the way of an airing. That is your style of entertaining this heavenly messenger. There is dust enough on some of your Bibles to write "damnation" with your fingers." (Spurgeon)</span></p>
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<p class="c4">d. <b><span class="c3">The great things of My law</span></b>: This tells us the <i>content</i> of the Bible - <b><span class="c3">great things</span></b>. "<span>The Bible treats of great things, and of great things only. There is nothing in this Bible which is unimportant. Every verse in it has a solemn meaning, and if we have not found it out yet, we hope yet to do it." (Spurgeon)</span></p>
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<p class="c4"><span>e. <b><span class="c3">But they were considered a strange thing</span></b></span>: This tells us the way the Bible is received by the <i>natural man</i>. Paul expressed the same idea in <a onclick="return mV('1Cr',2,14);">1Cr 2:14</a>: <i>But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned</i><span>. The Word of God and the things of the spirit are <b><span class="c3">great things</span></b></span>, but seem like a <b><span class="c3">strange thing</span></b> when man is in sin and idolatry.</p>
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<p class="c5"><span>i. Sometimes people reject the Bible because they think "science" is superior. "But the science of Jesus Christ is the most excellent of sciences. Let no one turn away from the Bible, because it is not a book of learning and wisdom. It is. Would ye know astronomy? It is here: it tells you of the Sun of Righteousness and the Star of Bethlehem. Would you know botany? It is here: it tells you of the plant of renown-the Lily of the Valley and the Rose of Sharon. Would you know geology and mineralogy? You shall learn it here: for you may read of the Rock of Ages, and the White Stone with a name graven thereon, which no man knoweth, saying he that receiveth it. Would ye study history? Here is the most ancient of all the records of the history of the human race. Whatever your science is, come and bend o'er this book; your science is here." (Spurgeon)</span></p>
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<p class="c4">f. <b><span class="c3">But the <span class="c6">Lord</span> does not accept them</span></b>: Sure, they still brought sacrifices to the <span class="c6">Lord</span>. But it was all just an outward ceremony because they were still steeped in sin and idolatry. Therefore their sin remained uncovered, and God will <b><span class="c3">remember their iniquity and punish their sins</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c1">2. (<a onclick="return mV('Hsa',8,14);">14</a>) When God's people forget their Maker, there is no refuge.</p>
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<p class="c2"><span>"For Israel has forgotten his Maker, and has built temples; Judah also has multiplied fortified cities; but I will send fire upon his cities, and it shall devour his palaces."</span></p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">For Israel has forgotten his Maker</span></b>: Israel <b><span class="c3">built temples</span></b>, but not unto the <span class="c6">Lord</span> who made them. Therefore, the judgment described in this chapter is coming upon them.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">Judah also has multiplied fortified cities</span></b>: While Israel practiced outright idolatry, Judah was guilty of a more subtle sin. They trusted in the <b><span class="c3">fortified cities</span></b> they built against the Assyrians. Those <b><span class="c3">cities</span></b> would be of no help (<b><span class="c3">I will send fire upon his cities</span></b>), and the only the <span class="c6">Lord</span> would preserve Judah from total destruction (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',37,'33-36');">Isa 37:33-36</a>).</p>
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<p class="c5">i. Perhaps we can capture some of the ungodly heart of Israel and Judah by examining our own attraction to bigness and nice facilities. What could be wrong with success and nice buildings? They easily become idols if your heart turns from God. If God brings size and great buildings, it is wonderful - as long as we don't turn our eyes of Him, making those things idols.</p>
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