Camdenton MO February 16, 1997 AM
(Hosea 8:7 KJV) "For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up."
INTRODUCTION
A. This metaphor has become a proverb applied to those who are doing things which will bring about their own destruction.
B. If it is true that "whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap;" it is also true that he reaps an increase of what he sows.
1. He sows the wind, he reaps the whirlwind.
2. He sows folly, vanity and sin, he reaps disappoinment, emptiness and destruction.
C. In this case, the ten rebellious tribes of Israel set up their own kingdom and worship. The whirlwind from Assyria was poised to sweep them up and never return them.
D. What were their seeds of destruction? Are men still planting them today?
I. Lack of Knowledge, (Hosea 4:6 KJV) "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children."
A. This was not a lack of worldly wisdom, but of the word of God. It was literally a famine of the word of God.
1. (Amos 8:11 KJV) "Behold, 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:"
B. The word is necessary to grow; (1 Pet 2:2 KJV) "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:"
C. It has value in resisting temptation.
1. (Psa 119:11 KJV) "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee."
2. Example of Jesus in Mt. 4.
3. (Eph 6:13-17 KJV) "Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. {14} Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; {15} And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; {16} Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. {17} And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:"
D. One needs to know the word in order to teach others.
1. (1 Pet 3:15-16 KJV) "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: {16} Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ."
E. One neglects study of the word of God only by sowing the wind for a harvest of destruction.
II. Trusting in the wrong sources for help.
A. This of course is directly related to lack of knowledge. When one is unlearned regarding what is the truly their help, they have know resource, but to go to the wrong sources for that help.
B. Israel had joined themselves to idols; (Hosea 4:17 KJV) "Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone."
1. We study the mistakes of Israel and recognize their folly and consider them foolish in their mistakes.
2. However one cannot call them foolish when one has so many things in their life that they seem to consider more important than God, money, work, personal pleasure....
a. (Col 3:5 KJV) "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:"
C. They (the Israelites) when to Assyria for help (Hosea 5:13 KJV) "When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb: yet could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound.").
1. Men today turn to the wrong sources, alcohol and drugs, worldy friends, etc. for their help today...never thinking that they too have turned to the the wrong source for real help.
a. (John 14:13-14 KJV) "And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. {14} If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it."
III. Personal inconsistencies.
A. The claimed to worship God, yet greivous sins were commonplace.
1. (Hosea 4:1-2 KJV) "Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. {2} By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood."
B. Men oft times make the same mistake today.
1. Col. 3:3-17
CONCLUSION
A. We can learn from the Israelites that we should not sow the wind. We learn from their mistakes that it is God's word that we must learn, God whom we must turn to, and God to whom we must be faithful....anything else reaps the whirlwind.
B. What are you sowing?