Bound by the cords of their own iniquity

God says in Hosea 13, ‘I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great drought. [6] According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore have they forgotten me.’

“Whatever they needed Him to be, that’s what He gave them and when they were filled, their heart was exalted," explains Richard Jordan. "They thought the blessings and glory of the provisions from God were their own doing.

“Ephraim says in Hosea 12:8, ‘Yet I am become rich, I have found me out substance: in all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me that were sin.’

“What braggadocios nuts they had become! But you see they were doing everything according to their own understanding. They were ‘going about to establish their own righteousness.’

“They took the blessings God gave them and forgot who gave it to them and you know who they wound up saying gave it to them? They said, ‘We did it ourselves,’ and they attributed it to false gods: ‘Mother Nature did it.’

“You remember what Hosea said about Gomer? ‘I loved her in spite of her sin. I paid her bills. I bought her groceries. I gave her all these provisions and she gave all of her lovers credit for what I did.’

“God says in Hosea 13, ‘Therefore I will be unto them as a lion: as a leopard by the way will I observe them: [8] I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them.’

“You know, if you meet a lion by the way, that’s not a good thing. If you meet a bear bereaved of her babies, that’s not a good thing.

“All four of those beasts describe the Antichrist and God is telling them that He Himself is going to bring the Antichrist against the nation Israel. He says in II Thessalonians 2, ‘And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.’

“Literally the Lord Himself sends the Lie, the personification of ‘the Lie program,’ the Antichrist. Now, God didn’t think up the Lie. He doesn’t sanction the Lie. But He uses the wrath of men to praise him and, literally, He will allow Satan to attack the nation Israel through the Antichrist in order to purge out the people who want to believe the Lie.

“God says, ‘I’m going to send him so they’ll go; so that all those who want the Lie will have it and they’ll follow it.’

*****

“What God does in the first few verses of Hosea 11 is describe how, ‘I loved them; I called them my sons but they were ungrateful, they turned away from me.’ Verse 3 says, ‘I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms; but they knew not that I healed them.’

“He said, ‘I took them by the hand and I tried to teach them to walk.’ What do you do with a child? You try to educate them. He said, ‘They had no gratitude for me at all. They didn’t even know it was me that was doing it.’

“Verse 4: ‘I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them.’

“ ‘I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love.’ Isn’t that a wonderful way to say that?

“That term 'yoke' is talking about bondage. ‘And then I laid meat unto them.’ He's saying, 'I gave them liberty and all kind of provisions out of my love.'

“Liberty came from God and His love; bands of love. You know, we talk a lot about ‘life, love and the pursuit of happiness.’ We talk a lot about being free.

"People have the idea that freedom is something that’s just a willy-nilly kind of thing out there, but freedom really comes not from revolt, not from casting off . . .

“When He says, ‘I was to them as they that take off the yoke,’ that’s what they were trying to do with their religion. You remember in Hosea 4:1, when he starts the teaching part of the book: ‘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. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.’

“That thing about breaking out--all those sinful activities they were involved in; they were trying to break the cords of God. We saw that in Psalm 2 where Israel joined the Gentiles. They said, ‘We’ll break His bonds.’ They looked at God’s Word like bondage.

“God says, ‘You know what it really was? It was really liberty. Liberty from the bondage of sin and corruption.’ And that’s the key. A man who is bound by sin is not free. God knew that.

“In fact, Jesus said, ‘Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin,’ and when He says in John 8, ‘You shall know the truth and truth shall set you free,’ that’s not made for the masthead of a political newspaper like people do. That freedom in John 8: 33-36 is freedom from the bondage of sin.

“When people are bound in sin, they’re not free. They’re not free to obey God.

"Romans 6:20: [20] For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. People who are in the bondage of sin are not free to serve God. People think, ‘Oh, we’re free.’ You’re not free. You’re bound by the cords of your own iniquity.

“That principle is what He’s talking to Israel about back here, but Israel didn’t get it. They thought freedom was through what they were doing in their religion and it only made them more and more bound in the round of their sin.

“God doesn’t stampede people to Himself. The Lord is not a dictator. He’s worthy of being loved. John says, ‘We love him because He first loved us.’ And He draws us with His love. And the love of God puts an obligation on people to respond."

(new article tomorrow)