Isaiah chapter 19, the burden of Egypt. This is becoming familiar language
now. We know what this is, the burden
of Egypt. Behold, the Lord writeth upon
a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt and the idols of Egypt
shall be moved at his presence. And the hearts, the heart of
Egypt shall melt in the midst of it. And I will set the Egyptians
against the Egyptians and they shall fight everyone against
his brother and everyone against his neighbor, city against city
and kingdom against kingdom. And the spirit of Egypt shall
fail in the midst thereof. And I will destroy the council
thereof. They shall seek to the idols and to the charmers, and
to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards. And the Egyptians
will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord, and a fierce
king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts. And the waters shall fail from
the sea, and the rivers shall be wasted and dried up, and they
shall turn the rivers far away, and the brooks of defense shall
be emptied and dried up, the reeds and flags shall wither.
The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and
everything sewn by the brooks shall wither, be driven away,
and be no more. The fishers also shall mourn. And all they that cast angle
into the brooks shall lament. And they that spread nets upon
the waters shall languish. Moreover, they that work in fine
flocks, and they that weave networks, shall be confounded, and they
shall be broken in the purposes thereof, all that makes sluices
and ponds for fish. Surely the princes of Zoan are
fools. The counsel of the wise counselors
of Pharaoh has become brutish. How say ye unto Pharaoh, I am
the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings? Where are they? Where are thy wise men? And let
them tell thee now, and let them know what the Lord of hosts hath
purposed upon Egypt. The princes of Zoan are become
fools. The princes of Noph are deceived. They have also seduced Egypt,
even they that are the stay of the tribes thereof. The Lord
hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof, and they
have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man
staggereth in his vomit. Neither shall there be any work
for Egypt, which head or tail, branch or rush may do. In that
day shall Egypt be like unto women, and it shall be afraid
and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the Lord of hosts,
which he shaketh over it. And the land of Judah shall be
a terror unto Egypt. Every one that maketh mention
thereof shall be afraid in himself because of the counsel of the
Lord of hosts, which he hath determined against it. In that
day shall five cities, In the land of Egypt, speak the language
of Canaan, and swear to the Lord of hosts, one shall be called
the city of destruction. In that day shall there be an
altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar
at the border thereof to the Lord. And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the Lord
of hosts in the land of Egypt, for they shall cry unto the Lord.
Because of the oppressors, he shall send them a savior, and
a great one, and he shall deliver them. And the Lord shall be known
to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day, and
shall do sacrifice and oblation, yea, they shall vow a vow unto
the Lord and perform. And the Lord shall smite Egypt,
he shall smite and heal. And they shall return even to
the Lord, and he shall be intrigued of them, and shall heal them. In that day shall there be a
highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into
Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptian shall
serve with the Assyrians. In that day shall Israel be the
third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst
of the land, whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, say, blessed
Blessed be Egypt, my people, and Assyria, the work of my hands,
and Israel, mine inheritance. Blessed be Egypt, my people? Well, as I said, we're becoming
familiar with this language, aren't we? The burden of Egypt.
God pronounces woe. You think about, just try to
get some perspective on it. God pronounces woe upon an entire
nation, an entire kingdom, and there is woe. Think of the power
and majesty of God. He waves his hand, as it were,
in empire's fall, or rise, as it pleases him. Most religious people still believe
in a God that wouldn't destroy a nation. But our God destroys nations
and saves them. Notice that the Lord comes swiftly. He rides upon a swift cloud. People usually think of the Lord
working his works slowly. Depends on whose timetable you're
on. I was on an elevator one time
with a man, and he said, this elevator is as slow as the second
coming. And I just hung my head up. People,
for the most part, are godless and stupid, aren't they? Let's
just call it what it is. That's what we are by nature.
Godless and stupid. Our Lord said many centuries
ago in Revelation 22 7 behold, I come quickly He's coming quick
Blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this
book When you think about this book and what it means to you
Think about what he said I'm coming back quick. I Do you know what it means to
keep the same of this book? It doesn't mean obey the Ten
Commandments. It means to attend to carefully, to take care of,
to guard in your heart all of the words of this book. And may we do this in regard
to our text tonight, because it's a beautiful gospel story. As well as every word that proceedeth
out of the mouth of God, may we live by this book. Man doesn't
live by bread, but by every word that comes out of God's mouth.
May that be true of us, because he rides on a swift cloud, my
friends. The message of this book is not
keep God's law. That's not what this book says.
It doesn't teach you to keep God's law. The message of this
book is you haven't kept God's law and you're not about to keep
God's law. That's the message of this book.
And so you need a savior. That's the message. You're not
going to keep God's law and you never have, you never will flee
to Christ, bow to Christ. Trust Christ as your law keeping
and your sin offering. That's the message. That's what
we live by. Not just prayer, we live by the
gospel, the gospel. So God comes swiftly. If you don't think so, then you
need to think about whose timetable you're on. And I'll tell you this, when
he does come in judgment, A lot of people are going to wish there
was more time. Seems slow, doesn't it? Seems slow. A whole lot of
people are going to wish it was slower. When he does come. What we have, what we have is
now. That's what we have right now.
Most not that self of tomorrow. And what God does when he comes,
It's told in verse 22, and everything else in this chapter revolves
around that verse. Just clearly. And that's what
we always need to find in the Word of God. What's being talked
about? What's the central truth of this
chapter, this book of the Bible, this whole book? What's the central
message? Well, God said, I'm coming on
a swift clock. What are you going to do, God?
I'm going to smite, and I'm going to heal. And most of the chapter
talks about him smiting. And then at the end, it talks
about the healing, gracious, healing hand of God. That's our
life story if we're a believer. This is the way God deals with
all mankind. Smiting and healing Now here
Egypt is used as a picture Egypt normally represents the world
And I have no problem seeing that in this chapter because
that's what we are. We're of this world by nature
By nature the children of wrath even as others He is said here
to smite and heal an entire nation but not every individual will
be smitten by In the same way, and not every individual in the
nation will be healed. He's not going to smite the whole
nation all the same and then heal the whole nation. That's
not how God deals. He deals with individuals, but
the nation is a picture. In Matthew 21, our Lord told
a parable of a husband and mother. And when he'd gotten through
telling that parable, well, let's turn over there. Look at Matthew
21. Hold your place there in Isaiah 19 and look at Matthew
chapter 21 verse 42. Matthew 21 42. Jesus saith unto them. Did you never did you never read
in the scriptures? The stone which the builders
rejected, the same has become the head of the corner. This
is the Lord's doing. God has exalted his son, his
rejected, despised, man of sorrows, acquainted with grief son. God
has made him both Lord and Christ. He's the chief cornerstone. Precious,
disallowed indeed of men, but elect and precious of God. And
that's marvelous in our eyes. Not everybody wants to see him
on the throne. Not everybody wants to see God
exalt the Lord Jesus Christ, but we do, don't we? That's marvelous
in our eyes. Therefore, verse 43, I say unto
you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to
a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall
fall on this stone shall be broken. But On whomsoever it shall fall,
it will grind him to powder. And when the chief priests and
Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake
of them. He sure enough did too, didn't
he? And all of us. But when they sought to lay hands
on him, they feared the multitude because they took him for a prophet. Now here we go. Have you fallen
on the stone, or is the stone going to fall on you? And I want
you to notice here that everybody gets broken. Everybody gets broken. One way or another, you're not
going to stay the way you are. You're just not. I'm not, you're
not. Nobody stays the same, but some
are ground to powder. Some are absolutely destroyed,
crushed. Annihilate him. What you want
to do is fall upon him. That's what you want to do. That's
what I want to do rather than have him fall on you. You will be broken if you fall
on him, but you'll also be healed. But if he falls upon you and
crushes you, you're a goner. You as you are, And notice again,
either way now, there isn't anybody that comes out of this unbroken
in one sense or another. You, as you are, will be destroyed. As Saul of Tarsus was. You think
about Saul. He was destroyed in a moment
now. Saul of Tarsus is a goner. But by God's grace, there's an
apostle Paul. Living in the same skin Broken Broken the Lord Jesus
Christ goaded him like a donkey He said is it hard for you to
kick against the goes brought him down into the dust And made
him look up Broken But healed turn to Psalm
51 Psalm 51 verse one, listen to
this beautiful passage of scripture. This is us now crying because
we've sure enough been broken. Psalm 51 one, have mercy upon
me, oh God, according to thy loving kindness, according to
the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgression. Wash
me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin, for
I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have
I sinned and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest
be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest,
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive
me. Behold, thou desirest truth in
the inward parts, and in the hidden part thou shalt make me
to know wisdom." And here, considering that thought now, let him say,
you desire truth on the inside. It's not just about what we do
outwardly. You desire a pure heart, a true
heart. And so here's his cry, purge
me with hyssop. Purge me with hyssop and I shall
be clean. Hyssop is what they dipped in the blood and splashed
it on the mercy seat. And on all of the sanctuary,
the items of the sanctuary, and on the people at times, they
would dip hyssop in blood. And that's what David's talking
about, purge me with hyssop. Splash me with the blood and
wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy
and gladness that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. I wanted you to see all that
first part because this is what salvation is. This is God causing
us to know the exceeding sinfulness of our sin and then washing us
from them. This is the way David describes
it. You broke my bones. You broke me. You smitten me. But even the bones that you broke
are going to rejoice in you. I'm going to thank you for tearing
me up. You are too, if he ever does. Hide thy face from my sins and
blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart. We referred to that this morning,
didn't we? Because that's what we need. Cleaning the outside
of the cup is not going to help you. You need a clean heart. And you know how you get one
of those? God creates it. We live in a blind world of blind
people, don't we? Religion all over this world
is telling people what they need to do to be saved. And what people
need to hear is how God saves a sinner. He creates a clean
heart within us and renews within us a right spirit. Only He can
do that now. You see, if people tell you what
you need to do to be saved, then you're going to start doing things.
And no flesh has ever been justified by the works of the law, and
never will be. But if somebody somewhere will
stand up and tell sinners, you're beyond that, it's too late for
that, you can't help yourself, you
can't fix yourself, you're not sick, you're dead, and there's
only one that can give life. And we see this same method throughout
all of the word of God. God breaks us. What does he mean
break my bones? That's not physical. That's what
he's been talking about before. When he said, look at my sin,
my sin is ever before me. I can't wake up in the morning
without thinking about what a wretch I am. And I go to bed at night
thinking, look at the wretched things I've done all day. Look
at my black heart. That's God breaking you. Taking
the stuffing out of you. Causing you to realize what a
wretch you are. But those bones that He breaks
will rejoice in Him. All through the Word of God.
Turn to 1 Samuel chapter 2. 1 Samuel chapter 2. Verse one, and Hannah prayed and said, my
heart rejoiceth in the Lord. Mine horn is exalted in the Lord. My mouth is enlarged over my
enemies because I rejoice in thy salvation. There is none
holy as the Lord. For there is none beside thee,
neither is there any rock like our God. Talk no more exceeding
proudly. Let not arrogancy come out of
your mouth. For the Lord is a God of knowledge,
and by him are actions weighed. Do you see that? Quit talking
about yourself and how wonderful you are and how your good outweighs
your bad and how you're going to do this and you're going to
do that. God is a God of knowledge. He knows you better than that.
You see that? You're not going to fool Him. He knows you. So just shut up
about it. Shut up about you. And may He
give me grace to shut up about me. The bows of the mighty men
are broken, and they that stumble are girded with strength. They
that were full have hired out themselves for bread, and they
that were hungry ceased to be hungry. So that the barren hath
born seven, and she that hath many children is wealthy. Hannah
is praying this way because her womb was barren for a long time,
you know, and the Lord blessed her with a son. The Lord killeth, And the Lord
maketh alive. Has He ever done that for you?
Which one? Both? Both. He killed me and He made me alive. He bringeth down to the grave.
You know what Paul said? When the law, the commandment
came, sin revived. And what happened to Paul? I
died. But he also brings up, the Lord
maketh poor and then maketh rich. If you ever see how poor you
are by nature, poor and destitute and miserable. Remember in Revelation
when he said, you think you don't have any need of anything that
you're rich and increased in goods when really in reality
you're poor and wretched and miserable and naked and blind.
If you ever see that, you'll be rich. You remember what he
said to the Pharisees that despised that blind man in John chapter
9 so badly because he trusted in Christ? He said, if you were
blind, you would have no sin. He bringeth low and lifteth up. He raiseth up the poor out of
the dust. How'd they get in the dust? He put him there, didn't he?
And lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill. How'd they get
on the dunghill? To set them among princes, to make them inherit the throne
of glory. Now a beggar like you and like
me are going to reign with him someday. We're gonna inherit the very
throne of glory. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's.
He does what he wants to, doesn't he, in his earth. And that's
what he wants to do. He wants to kill and he wants
to make a lot. He wants to smite and he wants to heal. And he
hath set the world upon them. He will keep the feet of his
saints and the wicked shall be silent in darkness for by strength
shall no man prevail. The adversaries of the Lord shall
be broken to pieces. Now, He's going to put us in
the dust. He's going to break us, but not
utterly. Not to pieces. Those that fall
on the rock will be broken. But those upon whom He falls
are broken to pieces. Out of heaven shall He thunder
upon them. The Lord shall judge the ends of the earth, and he
shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his
anointed. All through the scripture now
we see this same thing. God is going to bring horrible,
horrible judgment upon Egypt. And we see the description of
it here. Many Egyptians are going to be crushed to powder. The
rock is going to fall upon them. But some, some are going to fall
upon the rock. They're going to suffer, too.
They're going to suffer in this tribulation. They're going to
be hungry, too. They're going to be thirsty,
too. The rivers are going to dry up for them, too. They're not going to be any fish.
The fishermen are going to be sad because they ain't catching
anything. That's pretty horrible. But they, unlike the others,
they're going to fall on the rock when that happens. That's
the reason he's breaking them, to cause them to fall upon him.
The same heat of the sun that burns up the seed that are fallen
by the wayside. Always remember that same heat
of the sun will nourish and cause to flourish that seed that is
planted by God in good ground. The same sun, the same tribulation,
the same smiting. It'll have two different effects
because of him. And this is what our Lord said
in Luke chapter five. Let's turn over there. I want you to see
this in the scripture now. Luke chapter 5, verse 27. Luke 5, 27. And after these things, he went
forth and saw a publican named Levi sitting at the receipt of
custom. And he said unto him, follow
me. And he left all, rose up, and followed him. And Levi made
him a great feast in his own house. And there was a great
company of publicans and of others that sat down with them. But
their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying,
Why do you eat and drink with publicans and sinners? And Jesus
answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician,
but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. The Pharisees didn't need the
Lord Jesus Christ, and so they didn't come to Christ. He said
to them, you will not come to me that you might have life.
You know why? Because they weren't dead. They
said, we're fine. Why do sick people go to the
doctor? Because they're sick. How'd they get sick? The Apostle Peter in Matthew
14 cried out, Lord, save me. Lord, save me. Why did he cry
that? Because there was a storm. That's why, what does it say?
He saw winds and the waves, boisterous. And he began to sink and cried,
Lord, save me. Who sent the storm? Turn to Psalm 107. Verse 15. Oh, that men would praise the
Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children
of men, for he hath broken Praise God for breaking things.
You better believe it. You better believe it. He has
broken the gates of brass and cut the bars of iron and sundry. You know what that is? We've
barred the gates against Him, the gates of our heart. Barred
against God. He ain't coming in. We got no
use for Him. God makes us sick by nature.
We got no use for Him. But He's broken those gates. You know, religion talks about
the Lord knocking on the door of your heart and waiting for
you to invite him in. They take that out of context
from the book of Revelation. That's not what he does. Does
that sound like what he did to Saul of Tarsus? No. He broke the gates, didn't
he? He broke down the bars. Fools because of their transgression
and because of their iniquities are afflicted. You see what he's
talking about breaking the gates and the bars? Because our iniquities
have separated between us and our God and we're fine with that.
We don't want to be near God. We don't want him near us. We
don't want to be, but we love the Jesus of our imagination
now, but the God of the Bible, no use. And that's why they're
afflicted. Their soul poureth all manner
of meat. They draw near unto the gates
of death. Then they cry unto the Lord in
their trouble. When God breaks down the door
of your heart and reveals to you what you are, then you're
going to cry unto him. And you know what he's going
to do? He saves them. He saves them. He sends trouble. And then you
cry. And then he saves. That's what Isaiah 19 is about.
He's gonna smite, and he's gonna heal. So the question is, has
God ever broken you? Has God ever, has he ever smitten
you? If he has, if he does, fall upon
him. fall upon him lest he fall on
you. The Lord said in Matthew 5, 6, blessed are they which
do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Do you know when you'll be hungry? When God, like the prodigal son,
brings you to the place where you would fain Fill your belly
with the husks that the swine do eat. When you get that hungry,
you'd pull those corn husks away from them pigs and eat that.
You're that hungry. Nothing will satisfy you, though.
And then you realize, even the hired servants in my father's
house. I want to read that passage to
you. I know you were looking at a lot of scripture tonight,
but look at Luke 15. This will be a blessing to you now. This
is how God does it. It's what we see in our chapter.
He's going to destroy Egypt and he's going to save Egypt. And
for some of the individuals in Egypt, destruction is going to
mean destruction. Flat out, no holds barred, crushed
to powder, straight to hell without pass and go, destruction. But
to others, that destruction is going to be their salvation.
That smiting is going to result in their healing. This is how
he does it all through the Word of God. You look at Luke 15 verse
11 And he said a certain man had
two sons and the younger of them said to his father father Give
me the portion of goods that follow to me and he divided unto
them his living And not many days after the younger son gathered
all together and took his journey into a far country and there
wasted his substance with righteous living And when he had spent
all, there arose a mighty famine in that land. What a coincidence. Oh boy. And he began to be in
want. That's when you know a prodigal
son is fixing to be embraced by his father. When you begin
to be in want, when you're not satisfied with this world's philosophy,
with this world's religion, with this world's anything. He began
to be in one and he went and joined himself to a citizen of
that country and he sent him into his fields
to feed swine and he would fain have filled his belly with the
husks that the swine did eat and no man gave unto him. Oh man. You know why not? Usually somebody will give you
a handout in this world if that's what you need. You know why they
didn't though? Because this represents the salvation of God. And in our spiritual hunger and
thirst, nobody can help us. They can't give you anything
because they don't have anything. They don't have anything for
you. This world has nothing for you. And when he came to himself,
he said, how many hard servants of my father, of my father's
have bread enough and despair and I perish with hunger. I will
arise and go to my father and will say unto him, father, I've
sinned. Not eat, not, not father, I'm
hungry. He got right to the problem,
didn't he? The hunger is just an effect of the problem. Our problem is our sin. I've
sinned against heaven and before you. And I'm no more worthy to
be called my son. Make me as one of the hired servants. And he arose and came to his
father. But when he was yet a great way
off, his father saw him. Isn't that true of you? Is that
your testimony? I was a long way off, but he never took his
eyes off of me, not for a second. And had compassion and ran and
fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father,
I have sinned against heaven and in thy side, and am no longer
worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants,
bring forth the best robe and put it on him. and put a ring
on his hand and shoes on his feet and bring hither the fatted
calf and kill it and let us eat and be merry. For this my son
was dead and is alive again. He was lost
and is found. And they began to be merry. Why did the son return to his
father? Because he was hungry. Why was he hungry? Because God
sent a famine. Oh, does that sound like our
text? Verses 5 through 7, the rivers
are going to dry up. The lakes, the oceans are going
to dry up. I'm going to send a famine. It's going to be grievous.
It's going to be horrible. But some, as it says in the end of the
chapter, it's going to cause some to return unto the Lord.
The idols are going to be put away, and there's going to be
an altar unto the Lord in the land again. Cause of the trouble
that he sent because of the smiting there's gonna be healing you
see God the way he has grace on sin God will strip away all
your false. God look at verse one. We just
kind of look at a few things in our in our text specifically
I want to just kind of take the chapter as a whole clearly because
it's a lot of verses But do you see? In verse one the idols of
Egypt gonna be moved by him That's that's kind of Primary, isn't
it? When God begins to deal with
you, the first thing that's got to go is your false gods. You've
got to put your idols away, and it doesn't matter what they are
or how dear they are to you. They've got to be put away, even
if it's your religion. Especially if it's that which you hope in
the most, your religion. Your idols have got to be stripped
away. and I can preach to you the gospel. God has told me to,
and I believe called me to, and gives me grace to, but I can
never have any effect upon your heart. That's not what he sent
me to do, is melt hearts. God is the heart melter. You
see that in verse one? He's gonna melt their heart.
Melt the heart. The heart of stone. It's going
to be melted away. He's going to give you a new
one. Verse two, I will set Egyptians
against the Egyptians. You see, you're Egypt. You're
going to become your own enemy. Did you know that? Has that ever
happened to you? Paul said, the spirit lusteth
against the flesh and the flesh against the spirit. Now, before
God came in and began to deal with you, there wasn't any fight.
You were just fine with yourself, but now you're at war with yourself. See that in verse two? And this is also the teaching
of our Lord when he said, a man's foes shall be they of his own
household. You see that in verse two? Matthew 10, 36. Verse three, you're gonna despair
of self. God's gonna come swiftly where you are, and the spirit
of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof. You're gonna despair.
You're gonna say, I'm cut off. Isn't that what Isaiah said when
he saw the Lord high and lifted up? I'm cut off. Woe is me. Your own counsel, I will destroy
the counsel thereof. All of your counsel, all of your
so-called wisdom will be seen to be foolishness. God's gonna
take it away from you. Paul said, everything that I
thought before, everything that I held dear, everything that
was important to me, everything that I thought was right, I count
it but dumb now that I might win Christ. That's a devastating
thing, isn't it? That's a smiting, you talk about
turning somebody's world upside down. But God smites him before
he heals. And they're going to look to
all their other hopes. He says they're going to seek to their
idol. They're going to look to their idols. But what's an idol going
to do for you when you're starving to death? Spiritually, especially. What's
an idol going to do for you? What's the God of this religion?
He's waiting on you to do something and you're dead. You talk about
a ridiculous God that's not worthy of anything but to be mocked
and ridiculed like Elijah did. He mocked the false God. He said,
maybe he's on vacation. He's not hearing you. The God of this religious world
is waiting on you to do something. A dead man to take the first
step. It's laughable. If it wasn't
so horrible, it would be funny. They're going to look to their
other false hopes and not find any help there. That's the day
of grace. When you look to this world and
you look to your religious idols, you look to your understanding
of the scriptures and you're turning over a new leaf in your
religion and your decision and your will and see no hope there. God's mercy has come to you. Verse four, he said, I'm going
to give you over to the hand of a cruel lord and a fierce
king. One day you're going to discover that you're held captive, that you are a prisoner of war,
and you're held captive by Satan at his will. That's the evil
king here, the cruel lord, fierce king. Paul said to Timothy in
meekness, instruct those that oppose themselves. If God, peradventure
will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth
and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil
who are taken captive by him at his will. You're going to
find yourself one day when God turns on the light, you're going
to see there's a cruel and fierce king that rules over me. I've been talking about free
will and there's nothing free about me. I'm a slave of the
devil. I need to be flat saved. Verses 5 through 10, listen to
this, the water shall fail from the sea, the rivers wasted and
dried up, the rivers far away, the brooks of defense emptied,
the reeds and the flags, all the vegetation will die. The
paper reads by the brooks, the mouth of the brooks, everything
sung, the fishers also shall mourn, they that cast angle,
you ever wonder why fishing is called angling? Into the brooks, they're gonna
lament. We've already talked about it,
you're gonna be hungry, you're gonna be thirsty. No fish, no
bread, no water, no vegetation, no anything. And this is how
it happens. You know our Lord said, blessed
are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness. Well, that
doesn't sound like a blessed place. Hungry? I'm starving to
death and I'm blessed? Yes. Because when you hunger
and thirst after me, I'll fill you. I'll fill you. And we got hungry, we got that
way. by his grace. How did these people get hungry? God took their water away from
them, their food away from them. How'd they get thirsty? He took
the water. He dried up the rivers and the lakes. You remember what Hosea did? I'm not going to have you turn
there. You'll remember it, as I say, and if you want to look
at it later, Hosea 2, 5 through 11. Hosea and Gomer. God said to Hosea, go and love
a woman who's a harlot. And the Lord wasn't just telling
him to do that. He caused him to do it. He caused
Hosea to fall slap-dab in love with that horrible woman. to teach us something of his
love for this horrible sinner right here. And you know what
Hosea did? He said, I'm going to take away
Hosea. Let's turn there. Look at Hosea.
I've got to read it. It's right after Daniel. Hosea
chapter 2, verse 5. This is the message of our text
now tonight. Hosea 2, 5. Hosea 2, 5. For their mother
hath played the harlot. She that conceived them hath
done shamefully. For she said, I will go after
my lovers that give me my bread, and my water, and my wool, and
my flocks, and my oil, and my drink. And what she didn't realize
is Hosea was the one leaving those things for her on her doorstep.
He says that in the context. That wasn't her lovers giving
her those things. They didn't care. They were just using her
like this world uses us. But the Lord, even before we
knew him, even when we hated him and despised him and were
spitting in his face, he provided for us everything we needed,
everything. But then look, he said in verse
six, therefore behold, I will hedge up that way with thorns
and make a wall and she shall not find her path. What path
was Saul of Tarsus on? He was on the road to Damascus to persecute the Lord Jesus Christ. And God put a hedge right in
the middle of that road. And she shall follow after her
lovers, but she shall not overtake them. And she shall seek them, but
she shall not find them. And then shall she say, I will
go and return to my first husband. For then was it better with me
than now. For she did not know that I gave
her corn and wine and oil and multiplied her silver and gold,
which they prepared for Baal. That was me that gave. She thought
it was the world that was giving her those things. That was God.
That was Christ. Therefore will I return and take
away my corn in the time thereof. And my wine in the season thereof,
and will recover my wool and my flax given to cover her nakedness. I gave her all those things.
I'm going to take them away now. I'm going to strip her. And now
will I discover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and
none shall deliver her out of my hand. I will also cause all
her mirth to cease. Her feast days, her new moons,
her Sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts. It's over now. It's over. It's over. It's over. And what
happened after that? Gomer was used up and destitute
and nobody wanted her anymore and she was sold on the slave
market. A completely desolate and hopeless
waste of a human being. But then Hosea showed up at that
slave auction. and brought her to himself and
said, now you're mine, sure enough. And you're going to be for me
and I'm going to be for you and you're going to have everything
you need. You see the message of this book.
God smites, he afflicts, he breaks, and then he heals.