KNOW - Joseph didn't "know" Mary until after Jesus was born - this was personal physical intimacy
Knowing is "experiencing" Him - it consumes the whole person (all 5 senses). It doesn't just engage the brain
Westerners tend to view Scripture in terms of information, but Jews tend to view it in terms of Experience!
The goal is to KNOW God, to have pure "unadulterated" intimacy with Him
When God's seed takes root in us His life explodes in us! The devil doesn't want this - so he is attacking
How is he attacking? By a spirit of prostitution
A prostitute is someone who is "intimate" with someone who is not hers
A prostitute reveals knowledge of herself to anyone who will pay for it
A prostitute values the wrong thing - she gives up her most prized posession for temporary gain
As an individual we are a child, as a group we are the church - the church is God's bride
Satan wants the church to cheat
Hosea 6:3 - Press on to KNOW
Anything that we value more than God is a spirit of harltotry in us
God won't stand for this because He's a jealous God
If we prize anything other than God He will withdraw Himself from us
We must press on to KNOW Him
What's the result when we do this? The same thing that happens when it rains - LIFE explodes! Growth takes place
How are we intimate? Time spent with him, communicating, enjoying, resting, etc.
Phil 3:7 - "I press on to KNOW Christ"
Hosea 4:6, 10-12 & 5:4 (12/5/13)
Knowing & Harlotry
December 5, 2013 • Benham Brothers
Hosea 1:2 (12/5/13)
December 5, 2013 • Benham Brothers
God had to "make" Hosea the message before he could speak the message Before God does something THROUGH you He wants to do something IN you He didn't want Hosea to just speak the word, He wanted him to live it first Hosea 2 was God's message - "Israel has cheated on me and I will punish her, but then I'll take her back!" Hosea 3 - God now tells Hosea to "do" the very thing He was going to do for Israel - take his adultrous wife back! Rev 12 - 3 ways to overcome the devil: 1) Blood of Lamb 2) Word of Testimony 3) Not loving your life A testimony is powerful! It's a first-hand experience of God working in and through you God gave Hosea a testimony before He gave him a message The question is - do you have a testimony? Often times it's a choice
Hosea 2:2 (12/6/18)
December 6, 2018 • Benham Brothers
* God rebukes his people for three things. * These same three things will rip apart a marriage, as it did Hosea’s: * 1) Idolatry - competing affections. * God must be #1 in your life or you violate the law of priority. * 2) Ingratitude - this is received as rejection. * Ingratitude separates those who should be joined together. * 3) Hypocrisy - they said one thing but did another. * You cannot live a secret life.
Hosea 2:14 (12/7/17)
December 7, 2017 • Benham Brothers
* This is a great verse for men who’ve lost their loving feeling for theirs wives. * Allure - the quality of being powerfully and mysteriously attractive or fascinating. * In dating attraction leads to affection. * Then we get married and things will inevitably change as real life hits. * But in marriage it’s reversed - affection leads to attraction. * Affection - a bent of mind toward a particular object. * Affection takes place in the mind first. * Matthew 6:21 - Jesus tells us where our treasure is there our hearts will be also. * Our hearts will go where our minds take them. * Our attraction will go where our affection takes it. * Hosea 2:14 shows us this - even though the Israelites had cheated on God, He was going to win them back through the power of allure. * God would “speak tenderly” to her (affection) and this would win her back (attraction). * So do you want to be mysteriously and powerfully attractive to your spouse again? * Then be proactively affectionate even if you don’t want to, and just watch what happens.