On Hosea (8) - Three Implications concerning Christ

0:00We praise the Lord for thy great plan, that we might well in place may be." Welcome to Life Study of the Bible, a presentation of Living Stream Ministry. Witnessly, a servant of the Lord for over seven decades, culminated his ministry with a 21-year book by book Exposition of the entire Bible, which he called Life Study. This Life Study is the basis for our program today, and includes short portions of the spoken messages given by witness Lee. Now, let's join today's program. To every genuine believer, the Bible becomes a sheer delight. One of the key elements that ushers us into a deeper appreciation of the Bible is when we begin to discover clear, unmistakable passages in the Old Testament that reveal our dear Lord Jesus in rich detail.

1:02Some Old Testament passages are well known in this regard, and unmistakable in how they reveal Christ, like Psalm 8 and Isaiah 53. But there are so many other portions, not so familiar, and not quite so obvious. But once the key to seeing Christ has been provided to us, they are nonetheless full of rich and nourishing revelations of the one who is the central focus of every book and every chapter of the Bible. Such a passage is found in the first four verses of the minor prophet, Hosea, in chapter 11. And Ron Kangus is joining us today as we have, I'd say, the privilege and the delight to enjoy this kind of message. Ron, I'll point out before handing it over to you that, unlike most of our programs, we don't have a recording of witness Lee today, as he was preparing and giving this Life Study of the minor prophets he completed his planned portion, all the outlines of Hosea, preparing to go on to the minor prophet of Joel.

2:03He was touched with this matter that we're going to touch today in Hosea 11. So he gave a supplemental message really in a church meeting, not a conference setting. That's why we don't have the recording, but this content is so rich that we felt we really should include it. So I'm glad to have you with us today for that purpose. I appreciate being here and I welcome the opportunity to fellowship on the implications concerning Christ in Hosea 111 through 4. It's really quite wonderful and delightful. And it reminds us of how we need the scriptures to be open to us as the Lord opened them in Luke 24. How we need our minds open to understand the scriptures. As the Lord also did in that same chapter, Luke 24. And here through the help of the ministry, we can see Christ, we can appreciate Christ, we can experience Christ and we can enjoy Christ based upon what is indicated and implied in these verses

3:11and relying upon the whole Bible to properly interpret and understand what is revealed and indicated here. I'm wondering if we shouldn't read the four verses and just have them before our listening audience. And for this I will give it back to you. Good. Happy to read these verses. Now that they have been opened as we've had the opportunity to get into this, they have become delightful. And I trust that our listeners will have the same reaction before we're through today. This is Hosea 11 verses 1 through 4. When Israel was a child, I loved him. And out of Egypt I called my son. As they called them, so they went from them to the bails they sacrificed and to the idols they burned incense. And it was I who taught Ephraim to walk. He took them in his arms, but they did not know that I healed them. I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love.

4:14And I was to them, like those who lift off the yoke on their jaws, and I gently caused them to eat. And Ron, as you prepare to speak on this, maybe I'll add a New Testament portion that this reminds us of in Matthew 2 verse 15. And was there until the death of Herod in order that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, out of Egypt I called my son. If we had only Hosea 111, we might not have the confidence to relate this to Christ. We still could, based upon the fact that Christ came forth from Israel, that He is the Son of God in the Godhead. And He became the Son of Man. But the Gospel of Matthew clearly applies this verse to the Lord's coming out of Egypt when He had fled not on His own,

5:21but through Joseph's provision for him and his mother. He was there to be protected, and then came forth from Egypt, you know, back to the Holy Land. And Matthew 2 speaks of this, and then quotes and applies this verse from Hosea out of Egypt I called my son. Well, if we view this from the standpoint of Hosea 111, this points forward to Christ as the Son, and it points forward in a somewhat of a prophetic way, if we look backward to the verse from Hosea from Matthew 2, then we can see how this connects Christ to Israel. Because clearly, God called Israel out of Egypt at the time of the Exodus,

6:24regarding the people corporately as His Son. But we're making the point that there are implications here in the text. Indications, something pointing toward Christ. And so we need to consider Christ as the Son of God, as revealed throughout the Scriptures, of course, especially in the New Testament. And this is a theme that in faithfulness to the divine revelation, we repeat and emphasize. But it's not a matter that's widely preached and taught and understood. And what I'm thinking of is the aspects of Christ's being the Son of God. And it's very important to, if we are to understand God's eternal purpose and His economy,

7:25and if we are to experience Christ and become what God intends in God's economy, it's important that we have an accurate understanding of the two main aspects of Christ as the Son of God. Of the first aspect is emphasized in the Gospel of John, even in the most well-known verse, probably in the whole Bible, John 3.16. And John, overall in this verse in particular, speaks of Christ as the only begotten Son of God. And that's in the first chapter and that's elsewhere. This refers to the absolute, eternal, unchanging, immutable deity of Christ, as the Son of God and God Himself in the Godhead. There was not a time when Christ came into being as the Son of God in the Godhead.

8:32His sonship, as the only begotten Son, is eternal, even as God Himself is eternal. Surely all genuine, and we may say orthodox, that is true to the faith, but once we are all delivered to the saints. Christians believe and confess that Jesus is the Son of God who came in the flesh. We boldly and shamelessly declare this. Jesus is the Son of God. In the Godhead, He is the only begotten Son. This is clear and unassailable in the divine revelation. However, the Bible speaks in more than one place of sons, of sonship. A verse like Hebrews 2.10 tells us, God in Christ is leading many sons into glory.

9:37And elsewhere, such as John 20, these many sons of God are called the brothers of Christ, and actually in Hebrews 2 there is a quotation from Psalm 22 about the resurrected Christ declaring the Father's name to his brothers. This clearly reveals that God has many sons. If that is the case, what about the only begotten Son? Nothing can jeopardize his sonship. Therefore we need to pay attention to other Scripture portions which speak of Christ as the first born son, or as the first born. Romans 8.29 Christ will be the first born among the many brothers conformed to his image. Hebrews 1, I think it's verse 6, speaks of God's bringing the first born into the world. This can prepare us to consider an even approach understanding, Romans 1, 3 and 4, that Christ,

10:48who came out of the seed of David according to the flesh, was designated the Son of God in resurrection according to the Spirit of holiness. Well, we don't want to say too much, we just would point out that God's goal and his economy is to produce many sons who are the reproduction of Christ as the first born son of God. The only begotten Son of God in the Godhead is unique. In his deity he cannot have brothers that would jeopardize his status in the Godhead as the only begotten Son. Nevertheless God has predestinated us unto son's ship and intends to produce many sons as revealed in Romans, Galatians, Hebrews, even somewhat in Revelation. In order for this to be accomplished and in order for Christ to be the Son who was called

11:49out of Egypt, the only begotten Son as the embodiment of the triune God became a human being, became man, the Word who as God became flesh. In the flesh he was the Son of man with his humanity. In his deity he is the Son of God, but he has a human part, the flesh of the old creation that is not divine, simply stated, but requiring much study, prayer and consideration and fellowship. In his resurrection, according to Acts 1333, along with Romans 13 and 4, Christ in his humanity was designated the Son of God. His humanity was uplifted into the sonship of the only begotten Son of God. Now in addition to being the only begotten Son with deity in the Godhead, he is the first born Son of God with both divinity and humanity.

12:53We need to have all of this in mind to understand these words out of Egypt I called My Son. The Son who was called out of Egypt as Matthew 2 reveals was the Son of God in his incarnation as a man. He is the one who is called out of Egypt. And eventually if we trace this line of thought in the New Testament, the Son of man in his humanity becomes the Son of God and is designated as such in resurrection. He is now the prototype for the producing of the many sons in him through him, by him with him. And although the life study message is so short, only four pages, if our listeners would avail themselves of this life study and ponder the section on out of Egypt I called My Son,

13:59they will find a very clear synopsis of the sonship of Christ as the only begotten and as the first born. All of this is implied in the words My Son. Wonderful. Ron of these three implications are indications of Christ in these few short verses. This one by far the most detailed and requires the most development. Let's go on to the second indication in just the first portion of verse 4. I drew them with cords of a man with bands of love. How does this imply an indicate Christ to us? The cords of a man that has to point to humanity. I mean it's so clear by the word man. The bands of love. This is Jehovah God speaking.

14:59The love in the bands of love is the love of God, the love which is God Himself in His essence. And these two phrases with the cords of a man with bands of love are in opposition, indicating that they are essentially the same in their significance. But here we have two main things. The cords are related to humanity. The love in the bands of love is a matter pertaining to God. So the thought here builds on, continues, and develops the implications regarding the sonship of Christ that we commented on earlier. The word cords is in plural.

15:59The cords of a man. Well, who is this man? This man must be our wonderful Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who became a man. A God man lived the life of a God man, died as a God man for our redemption. Is a man in resurrection and ascension. Stephen saw him as a man. He will return as a man, of course, the God man. And we gladly echo and say, amen, to applying the cords of a man to the processes through which Christ passed in His humanity. In carnation, His human living, He appeared to fishermen by the sea of Galilee, shined on them. What attracted them? There is the cords of a man drawing them.

16:59Matthew is doing his accounting business or tax collecting business. The Lord calls him. He leaves everything and follows him. There is some cord, some attracting element. If it were purely deity, we would all be frightened. We could not bear this. When God became a man in the humanity with the human virtues, the human living of the Lord Jesus, He draws us with cords. He died as the God man. He said, when I'm lifted up, I will draw all men to myself. Stephen was drawn to him when he was being martyred there in Acts 7. So the cords of a man are the aspects of Christ in His humanity, especially the steps of incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection and ascension. And the bands of love which refer to God as love and the love of God reach us in and

18:07through and by and with the cords of a man. This is God mingled with man. This is God contacting us through man. God drawing us to Christ through the human element, but we are drawn to contacting God in His wonderful love. Cords of a man, bands of love. The love we feel and return to Him does not begin with us, does it? That's really an involuntary response all most as we see more and more of Christ in these aspects. This is our experience. This is the clear word of a very particular apostle that is John writing in 1 John, chapter 4 somewhere. He says, we love because He first loved us. So His love begets in us the love with which we love Him and the love with which we love

19:07all of our dear brothers and sisters in Christ. Run, let's go on to the second half of this verse 4. And I was to them like those who lift off the yoke on their jaws and I gently cause them to eat another implication. Yes, the immediate reference historically is to the captivity in Egypt where there was a yoke on them in various ways. But here in the poetry, there's a yoke on their jaws which hinders them from taking in the Lord as food, from receiving His supply. This is a very severe deprivation. So the Lord lifts off the yoke and then, oh, we love this. The word says, I gently cause them to eat. We see this in Exodus 16 and other portions of the Pentateuch where God fed them with

20:13mana that came down gently and there is no force feeding. There's rather a gentle causing them to eat. The Lord knows that due to the degraded situation, not only of the world but of the religious sector of the world, the vast majority of His people have a yoke on their jaws and those who don't, they're starving. And someone who is not used to eating Jesus, feeding on the Word according to John 6, eating His flesh, drinking His blood. This takes a lot of cherishing and care shown by the Lord. And sometimes when we eat, we eat in haste or in an unbalanced way, but He gently causes. Even our eating of Him, we cannot do on our own.

21:14We cannot will ourself to do it. We cannot make ourself do it. We need to be caused to do the thing we most need to do for our spiritual maintenance, the maintenance of our spiritual existence, to feed on the tree of life, to eat Christ as the bread of life. But we need to be caused to do this. Every one of us may not need to be caused to think or cause to talk or cause to do religious things. But we need to be caused to eat and God Himself not only causes us to eat, He gently causes us to eat. He is patient, He is long suffering, He is for bearing, He is kind, but He will cause us to eat. And we can say, based upon the whole council of the Scripture, and based upon the fact that in eternity the tree of life will be the portion for the enjoyment of all of God's

22:18redeemed, eventually God will cause all of His children to eat. He will get through, we will all be feeding on Him, we will be like Jeremiah in the book, He wrote, Chapter 15, verse 16, your words were found, and I ate them. They became to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart. So look at the progression. We have the awesome revelation of the two aspects of the sonship of Christ, the only begotten son in the Godhead, the first born son in God's economy, to produce many sons. To draw us to Himself, we are drawn with the cords of a man, with the bands of love, through the divine humanity of the Lord Jesus. And after we're drawn to Him, He lifts off the yoke from our jaws, and gently causes us to eat. So Chris, may all of our beloved brothers and sisters, may they all realize they've

23:21been called out of the world, out of Egypt, in Christ the Son. May they be in their experience drawn with the cords of a man, the bands of love. May the yoke be lifted off of so many jaws, and may all of the Lord's people, our dear brothers and sisters, be gently caused to eat. A wonderful appreciation of Christ for our experience and enjoyment is opened up through these verses, rightly interpreted, in the light of God's eternal economy. I'm freshly thankful to receive this ministry, and to have a little part with you and so many others, in spreading in to the Lord's hungry seekers all over the earth. Boy, are they men that run? Well, this has been a cherishing interlude, I would say. A lot of heavy things in these books of the minor prophets, because the condition in Israel was so pathetic, but a nice transition.

24:23We are warmly recommending these printed messages. They're available if you'd like to read them online, if you'd like to have the volume for yourself. Call us toll free. We'll tell you how to find them online or to order the book yourself. And there's no charge to read it online, by the way. Our toll free number 1-888-Light Study, 888-543-3788. Veron Kangus, I'm Chris Wilde. Thank you very much for listening to this. We're Lord, we give ourselves to thee. We see the spirit to thy might set. Thank you for listening to Life Study of the Bible with Witnessly, produced by Living Stream Ministry. Living Stream Ministry is dedicated to the works of Watchmanee and Witnessly, two co-laborers with the Lord in China during the first half of the 20th century. After World War II, Watchmanee sent Witnessly to carry out this ministry in Taiwan. Later, the Lord led him to the United States, and eventually to the rest of the world,

25:27before he went to be with the Lord in 1997. Living Stream Ministry now has hundreds of titles by Watchmanee and Witnessly, available in English, plus many in more than 50 other languages. To find out more about Living Stream and all that we offer, visit our website, lsm.org. You can also reach us toll free at 1-888-543-3788 or email us radio at lsm.org. Thanks for listening.