Chapter 4

Shama

Listening

Whom Do You Trust...

Having sufficiently condemned religion, Yahuweh turned His attention to politics.  "When I heal (rapha - restore and repair) Israel, the wickedness (avon - sin, iniquity, liability and guilt) of Ephraim will be revealed (galah - made known, uncovered, aired publicly, and exposed), especially the calamities (raah - evil deeds, harm, illness and injury, misery and pain, wickedness and wretchedness) of Samaria [the capital city of the Northern Kingdom]. For they deal deceptions (pa’al sheqer - perform vainly, act in a misleading way, fashion falsehoods, forge frauds, plot betrayals, devise lies, and contrive mistaken beliefs)." (Hosea 7:1)

There is nothing evil hates more than being exposed, which is why Yahuweh, the creator of the world’s first free press - His Scriptures - does the job journalists once did. He exposes wrongdoing and explains the consequence.

Unfortunately, America’s media deals deceptions. They are so brazen, they have moved from sweeping the evidence of their evil agenda under the rug to flaunting their frauds. They call it "Reality TV." And if parading fake love and self-reliant survival games weren’t enough, now the craze is "Hoax TV," in which the stated purpose is to deceive. While that’s bad, it wouldn’t be aired unless the populous craved it.

Yahuweh’s opening salvo gets right to the heart of the matter. Politicians lie. They deceive and betray because they are vain. Politicians plot. Contriving misleading perceptions, they maliciously forge mistaken realities. In this the arena of egos, the only reliable product is calamity - wickedness and wretchedness.

George W. Bush is a textbook case. He calls himself a Christian and yet he won’t condemn the Satanic organization to which he belongs - Skull and Bones. In fact, he filled his cabinet with Bonesmen. He put America at odds with Yahuweh and sided with Baal, announcing that the Promised Land would be sawed into two. A Palestinian State would take God-given land away from Yahuweh’s chosen people and give it to Allah’s terrorists. He said that the god of the Qur’an is the God of the Bible. He called Satan’s murderous religion peaceful, even great and good. He allowed Islamic rituals and prayers to be performed in the White House. Then he invaded Afghanistan and Iraq, wasting American blood and coin, in a war against a tactic, rather than the source. The reason for his lies and deceptions was simple: it made GWB a war president. It made him appear strong, righteous and popular. But ultimately, his deceptions and betrayal will only father chaos and calamity.

What’s frightening about this is GWB was reelected by virtue of being perceived as moral and godly. America’s Christian community was so ignorant and deceived, they cheered him on and voted him in. Never have Hosea’s prophetic words been more appropriate: "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge and understanding."

The misleading, mistaken, and fraudulent schemes of politicians aren’t victimless crimes. We all suffer as a result of their cravings for power. The nation becomes ill; its collective spirit is injured. Misery and pain, wickedness and wretchedness follow.

But we have no one to blame but ourselves. We opened the door to the vault where our national treasure was stored and allowed our politicians to ransack our liberties and send our children off to foreign lands with guns.."The thief comes inside. Bandits raid (pashat - strip the people bare and cause destruction) outside (chuts). They do not consider in their hearts (lebab - inner man, mind, and soul) that I will remember their deeds and those who associate with them (ra’ah). Now their exploits surround and encircle them." (Hosea 7:1-2)

The "thief," ganab in Hebrew, "steals souls by stealth, buying and selling humans as if they were chattel." By deficit spending to fund societal entitlements, politicians are secretly stealing from children to bribe their parents and grandparents into voting for them. By fighting a foolhardy war that cannot be won against a tactic, soldier’s lives are sacrificed as if they were chattel for the political positioning of the commander in chief.

The "bandit," gedud, "is a raider, a marauding mercenary who takes things which do not belong to him." In a modern setting, this is the Robin Hood mentality of politicians. They forcibly confiscate taxes from productive citizens so that they can redistribute their ill-gotten gains to their political advantage. In so doing they injure the productive and destroy the dependant.

The gedud are "terrorists who harass their enemy, plundering them." In an ancient setting it reveals that the poligious dogma of Baalism was indistinguishable from Islam. Muhammad led 75 terrorist raids to harass and plunder his enemies. Since 97% of Muhammad’s assaults were aggressive and not defensive, his enemy was defined as anyone who did not surrender and submit to his religion and rule, paying him the required homage and taxes. During Muhammad’s lifetime, every Muslim was a gedud - a raider, a marauding mercenary who took things which did not belong to him." And they did so chuts - "in plain view, in the streets and public places, from businesses and farms."

Today, this remains the means, mission, and consequence of the poligious doctrine of Islam. It continues to be a nasty business.

There is some confusion as to how ra’ah should be rendered in this passage. Most translations focus on the version of ra’ah which "denotes various shades of evil from a moral and ethical perspective." This definition of ra’ah describes "malevolence in the absolute sense, as well as evil in its various shades and gradients." Crafty politicos realize that an element of truth must be mixed with lies for deceptions to appear believable, and thus be effective. This is why half truths and counterfeits are used to beguile and seduce. This definition of ra’ah infers that if "someone is harmful, they are evil." If something is inconsistent with God’s teaching, it is bad. According to Hebrew dictionaries, "anarchy and chaos" are ra’ah. But so is "anything that distresses or displeases" Yahuweh. "Wickedness" is ra’ah, but so is "mischief." So by using ra’ah, a word that encompasses the full spectrum of deception - from one part lie mixed with 99 parts of truth to 99 parts deception and one part truth - Yahweh is saying that He will hold people accountable for corrupting truth to any degree as just as surely as for promoting boldfaced lies. And He is the final arbitrator - there is no court of appeals.

Speaking of this kind of trickery, Yahuweh told Moses: "You shall purge the evil (ra’ah) from your midst." And that would be everything academic and cultural, religious and political that was in any way, shape or form different than His instructions.

This brings us to the other definition of ra’ah, which means: "associates, companions, and cohorts." In this case, it is the people who inspire evil and those who associate with them that Yahuweh will hold accountable and that He has ordered us to "purge from our midst." It matters not if the person is the deceiver or just in cahoots with the politician - a party member or their representative. The ra’ah could be pulling the politician’s strings as the Satanic, socialist, and secular humanist, Council on Foreign Relations, does today, or merely be an associate - someone they have deceived in Freemasonry, for example. So, according to God, when it comes to politics and politicians, to half-truths and hypocrites, we not only get the government we deserve, we deserve the destruction, death, and damnation that result. And that should give us pause when we vote for the lesser of two evils.

Next, Yahuweh reveals that politicians prosper because the people encourage them. "With their wicked assemblies (ra’ah - evil organizations) they cause the ruler to be elated and arrogant (samach - to rejoice from being intoxicated), and also their princes (sarar - superintendents, administrative overseers, people with implied authority, governors, officers and officials) with their lies (kachash - spoken untruths, deceptions, that which does not conform to reality, delusions, errant opinions, deceit, and rebellion)." (Hosea 7:3) This is a perfect depiction of the political climate in America today. We are a nation in rebellion, swimming in errant opinions, deluded by the verbal diarrhea of half-truths and altered reality.

Yahuweh likes to use the metaphor of marriage because family relationships between husbands and wives, parents and children, brothers and sisters, vividly and accurately portray the kind of personal relationship He desires with us. When they are close and compassionate, loving and nurturing, open and honest, faithful and true, they are a source of unbridled joy, discovery, harmony and purpose. But when they break down, chaos prevails.."They are all unfaithful people (na’aph - adulterers who violate the sanctity and purpose of the marriage relationship)."

In order to paint a picture of our predicament, Hosea uses another metaphor to describe the nature of our infidelity: "They are like an oven used for cooking bread kindled by the baker, who ceases to stir it up (sabat uwr - takes an intermission from being diligent and alert, rests from rousing, puts a stop to awakening, is ill-prepared to be lifted up) and stops the kneading (lush - manipulating, pressing and rolling with our hands) of the dough (batseq - grain flour mixed with water) before it is seasoned and ready to rise (chamuts - leavened, worked until it is prepared, glowing and brilliant)." (Hosea 7:4) This example ties in with the overall theme of Hosea. As a people we have become lazy and thus willfully ignorant. Ill-prepared and ill-equipped, we have become ever more susceptible to the deceptions which eat away at the beriyth between ourselves and our God. To know and understand requires diligence. We must prepare ourselves by rolling up our sleeves and opening the book with our hands, then working our way through it. When we take an intermission from the truth, as we have done, we are no longer prepared to be risen. Our witness fails because our light dims as our spirit ceases to glow. A fire must be kindled and stirred if it is to burn brightly. Bread must be kneaded and seasoned before it can rise.

Continuing to speak of political organizations and their assemblies, their leaders and supporters, Yahuweh explains that they are intoxicated with a false spirit. Together, they act like demonic monsters engaged in the essence of politics: "mediation and mockery, interpretation and deriding." As a result, the politicians and their legions "ambush" their victims in "deceptive traps, conspiracy schemes, and plots designed to harm by way of deception." Every word of which has become synonymous with politics circa 2005. "On the day our ruler celebrates, the governmental officers and administrators become afflicted (chalah - become ill, diseased, weak, sick, internally wounded) with the rage (chema - anger, wrath, fury, hostility, antagonism, poison, displeasure, and indignation) of being intoxicated with alcohol. He stretched out and raised his hand (yad - hand; source of power) with scoffers (lilith - demonic monsters of the night, those who scorn, scoff, deride, interpret, mediate, and mock), for their hearts (leb - inner man, mind and understanding, heart and soul, knowledge and thinking, reflections and memories, inclinations and resolutions, their conscience and moral character, their emotions and passions) are like a firepot as they present their ambush (oreb - deceptive trap, conspiracy, scheme, ruse, trickery, plot designed to harm by way of deception, treacherous maneuver, intrigue)." (Hosea 7:5)

The Hebrew word for "stretched out and raised" used before hand, is masak. It suggests the Lord Baal serving ruler required same kind of salute the Nazis made when they shouted, "Heil Hitler." Although we do not have pictures, the Qur’an ordered Muslims to greet Muhammad similarly, "with a worthy salute." Along those lines, "scoffers" is lilit, meaning "creatures of the night - and specifically demons and devils." Just like the Northern Kingdom rulers who served Halal in the guise of Baal, both Hitler and Muhammad preferred to deliver their demonic message in darkness of night. Mein Kampf:710 "I was astonished by how much better my message was received at night. It’s a mysterious magic that allows an encroachment upon man’s free will. In the evening they succumb more easily to the dominating force of a stronger will. The domineering apostolic nature weakens their resistance." Islam’s fuhrer used the same psychology to weaken men’s resistance: Qur’an 073.001 "Keep watch all the night except a little, reciting the Qur’an as it ought to be recited in slow, measured rhythmic tones. We will soon entrust you with Our weighty Word. Surely the night is the most devout way when the soul is most receptive and the words are the most telling."

The most telling line, "magic allows an encroachment upon man’s free will," exposes Satan’s agenda. If deceit encroaches on man’s free will, we lose our ability to choose Yahuweh and to accept his gift of eternal life. When we lose our free will, we lose the ability to love and to know God. When we lose the ability to choose, we die. It isn’t a coincidence that history’s least-free poligious communities have succumbed to doctrines of submission delivered under the cover of darkness. Death and destruction was not only predictable, it was a predetermined consequence.

Before we leave this review of the similarities between leaders inspired by Baal/ Satan/Allah, consider how Islam and Nazism resemble what we just read a few verses earlier: "For they deal deceptively, perform vainly, act in a misleading way, fashion falsehoods, forge frauds, plot betrayals, devise lies, and contrive mistaken beliefs... With their wicked assemblies and evil organizations they cause the ruler and their officers and officials to be elated and arrogant with their lies, spoken untruths, deceptions, that which does not conform to reality, delusions, errant opinions, deceit, and rebellion." Confirming the role of seductive verbal expression in achieving victory, der fuhrer shared: Mein Kampf:704 "The emphasis was put on the spoken word because only it is in a position to bring about great changes for general psychological reasons. Enormous world revolutionary events have not been brought about by the written word, but by the spoken word." Mein Kampf:704 "The agitatory activity of speech is bound to have mass influence." Hitler’s mentor never allowed his words to be written or read, only spoken. And that’s because: Bukhari:V6B60N662 "Allah’s Apostle said, ‘Some eloquent speech is as effective as magic.’" Bukhari:V9B87N127 "The Prophet said, ‘I have been given the keys of eloquent speech and given victory with terror so the treasures of the earth were given to me.’"

Hitler, like Muhammad, despised scribes. Mein Kampf:712 "The average sparrow brain of the scribbler produces intellectual babble." Muhammad dispensed with the verbal assault. He simply killed them.

Speaking of the kind of assemblies Hosea has just described, Hitler preached what Muslims practice: Mein Kampf:715 "The meeting is necessary if only because new adherents of a new movement feel lonely and are easily seized with the fear of being alone. Brought together they sense a greater community... They are carried away by the powerful effect of the suggestive intoxication and enthusiasm of the others. The crowd confirms the correctness of the new doctrine in his mind and removes doubt. He then succumbs to the magic seductive influence of the meeting." Mein Kampf:717 "Gott [the name of the Germanic Satanic spirit from which the word "God" is derived] be praised and thanked that unspoilt people avoid bourgeois mass meetings as the Devil avoids holy water." Togetherness can be as seductive as it is coercive. It is the essence of mob mentality. It is the nature of what Hosea was explaining and what we today are experiencing. An evil person with a bad idea can be parlayed into an eruption of uncontrollable rage. Speaking of Muhammad, the first Muslims said: Ishaq:580 "Our strong warriors obey his orders to the letter. By us Allah’s religion is undeniably strong. You would think when our horses gallop with bits in their mouths that the sounds of demons are among them. The day we trod down the unbelievers, there was no deviation or turning from the Apostle’s order. During the battle the people heard our exhortations to fight and the smashing of skulls by swords that sent heads flying. We severed necks with a warrior’s blow. Often we have left the slain cut to pieces and a widow crying ‘alas’ over her mutilated husband." The study of Islam, like Nazism and Baalism, is an exposé on gang mentality, of lies spoken by demons enveloped in darkness. Muhammad’s and Hitler’s gang of ghouls fed off each other’s rage. Terror and piracy became good because everyone they knew was a terrorizing pirate. This is why beriyth is personal - not collective.

"Their anger smolders all night (layil - in the darkness and absence of light, an obscuration by way of a shadow)." The primary meaning of apah, the Hebrew word translated "anger" is "to be baked with leaven." And yashen, the world translated "smolders," more precisely means "being in an altered state of awareness, being asleep and unable to act appropriately." In that leaven is analogous with sin, the sentence could be translated: "With the truth obscured by the shadow of Satan, by stewing in the darkness, those who are immersed in politics are cooked in their evil ways so as lose their grasp on reality and all sense of objectivity."

What Yahuweh predicted has come true. Like minded and similarly unfaithful and immoral people congregate. A recent poll taken of government officials revealed that 95% are liberal - politically, religiously, academically, and socially. That is to say that politically they prefer greater government and thus more human control. Religiously they prefer revisionist interpretations to the literal meaning of Scripture, and they are mostly agnostic and secular humanist. Academically they prefer relativism to reason or absolutes, opinions to evidence, outcome based evaluations and government control over curriculum. Socially they prefer multiculturalism and the absence of moral restraints. The same pollsters took the pulse of the media and discovered that 95% were both liberal and agnostic. Academia is equally skewed with 95% of university professors saying that they hold liberal views. Political correctness is the secular humanist’s version of morality.

This means one or all of the following three things must be true. Academia is manufacturing a comatose society of misfits without a moral compass who can no longer think. Only political, religious, social, and academic liberals are interested in working in society shaping and conditioning fields. Or, the administrators in government, university, and media centers are so biased they will only hire like-minded individuals.

Confirming the universal nature of politicians and those who empower them, Hosea reveals: "At the end of the distressing darkness (boqer) it rages like a flaming fire. All of them are enraged (chamam - are hot, have strong feelings of animosity and strife toward others, feel uncontrolled sexual passions, burn with lust) like a firepot. And they feed upon, consume, ruin and destroy their authority figures (shaphat - judges, adjudicators, leaders, rulers, governors, and litigators). All their rulers have fallen and are out of control (naphal - have been brought down, and are prostrate). None of them calls on Me." (Hosea 7:6-7)

The nuances of the Hebrew words used in the opening of this passage helps us see beneath the surface and into the soul of those who covet power and control. Boqer means: "to make sacrifices for omens, to relinquish something to a false deity in order to gain secret information." In that Halal is the Morning Star, boqer translates "morning sacrifice." Boqer also gives a "sense of meditation and self-searching." "Rages" is ba’ar, meaning: "the act of igniting combustible material, to kill, destroy, burn and consume." Flaming fire is lehabah es, meaning "a fire with destructive qualities." Self-righteous, self-reliant, and self-important, those lured to power usually have "strong feelings of animosity toward those they control." And as we have seen repeatedly, their "sexual passions are uncontrolled." Moreover, the reason these people are in such a mess is that they "seek to destroy authority figures." They not only deny the authority of God they are cannibals, eating their own. The only thing they enjoy more than idolizing men is ruining those they have put on an undeserved pedestal.

Ignorance kills and power corrupts which is why "all of their rulers have fallen and are out of control." And ultimately, it all comes down to this: who do you trust? Do you put your faith in men or God? As for the Northern Kingdom, they did not know Him. In that we are just like them, we don’t either.

Qara is the Hebrew word translated "calls upon" in the concluding line of the verse. It also means none "summon" Me. Qara tells us that the political rulers are estranged from God for "none come into My presence." Qara reveals that the politicians "call and designate Me by a name and/or title that I do not know" like Lord and even Allah, perhaps. After all, qara is the Hebrew equivalent of Qur’an. Qara also suggests that "no one publicly proclaims" Yahuweh’s name or "invites Him into their lives, demonstrating hospitality" toward him - something equally resident in the poligious doctrines of secular humanism and Islam. Rather than being the guest of honor, Yahweh is excluded and isn’t even mentioned by the practitioners of both revolts.

Human folly is the direct result of not knowing God. And according to God, the reason most don’t know Him is because our political and religious leaders, our scholars and reporters, have made understanding difficult. They have mingled incompatible cultural mores, political doctrines, and religious edicts into a confounding concoction of half baked lies. "Ephraim mixes (balal - mingles, confuses, confounds, and makes understanding difficult) with other nations, people, and cultures. Ephraim has become an unreliable, round half-baked cake (hapak uga)." (Hosea 7:8) Haphak also means: "upside down and ruined." It conveys "to be changed in a disturbed way." Haphak tells us that this "round bread" has been turned into something which cannot be trusted. It is interesting in that it is "half-baked," similar to most lies. Round and flat sun-shaped disks of bread like these were used in Baal worship in Hosea’s day and are used in Catholic masses today. Uga derivatives include, "cake" which is a sweetened form of bread. This suggests that lies are beguiling - often sounding sweeter than truth.  A second derivative infers "continually going round" as in the circular reasoning so often evident in deceptions. A third derivative belies the method used to sell lies: "repetitive assertions."

There has never been a shortage of ignorant politicians willing to base their nation’s security on the words of untrustworthy men rather than a relationship with God. Hosea’s kings, like today’s American presidents, spent a fortune in Egypt and then Iraq trying to mitigate terror. "Strangers (zuwr - foreigners who are enemies, loathsome and offensive people who lead others astray) devour his wealth (kocha - power and potential), yet he does not understand (da’ah - possess information that enables wisdom in judgment)..he is unaware. Though the arrogance of Israel testifies against him, they have neither returned to (shub - believed in, changed their behavior, or restored the relationship with) Yahuweh their God, nor have they sought (baqash - desired or requested, searched for or inquired about) Him, throughout this discussion. So Ephraim has become like an easily deceived (pathah - easily seduced, allured and persuaded by glib speech; carelessly enticed into holding an errant view; open-minded and naïve; gullible) pigeon, without sense (leb - inspiration or intelligence). They call to Egypt, they go to Assyria." (Hosea 7:9-11) Everyone learns history - most, unfortunately, by repeating it.

God doesn’t want His people forming a relationship with or relying upon Satan’s people because He knows that when they do, bad things happen. "When they go, I will spread My net over them; I will constrain them like the birds of the sky. I will chastise them (yasar - correct and discipline in hopes of improving behavior; warn regarding a future danger or consequence; teach and instruct) in accordance with the proclamation to their assembly (edah - socio-religious group, party, community, and congregation). Woe to (owy - a sorrowful state of intense hardship and distress follows for) them, for they have strayed from Me (nadad - cast Me aside and wandered away)! Destruction (shod - havoc, violence, devastation, ruin, looting and plundering, oppression and suffering) is theirs, for they have rebelled against (pasha - revolted, sinned, transgressed, and been in open defiance against; breeched the agreement with and offended) Me!" (Hosea 7:12-13) This is the companion passage to the verse to the Romans passage at the beginning of the chapter. It is a warning to political and religious leaders. God is going to hold them accountable for the public proclamations they make.

God wants to help us, just like the father of rebellious and wayward children wants to save his loved ones. But sometimes we are too stubborn and self-reliant to listen. "I would rescue (padah - ransom, redeem, and deliver) them, but they speak lies against Me (kazab - promote the worship of false gods, delude their people with opinions and deceptions). And they do not cry out to Me for help from their hearts."  (Hosea 7:13) Israel got the government it deserved. They were as rotten spiritually and as morally bankrupt as we are today. We are riddled with violence and crime, pornography and economic scams because, ignorant of His instructions, we have deceived and been deceived. Acting in harmony with the vile spirit of Satan, we have collectively done our utmost to blow out our only candle of hope.

While we don’t have time for God, we always seem to have plenty of time for the things our hearts desire. For the Israelis of Hosea’s day these things included sexual immorality and false worship. "Rather, they shriek on their beds and wail for bread and wine. They assemble themselves (guwr - conspire to stir up trouble, strife, and quarrel; they congregate to rebel, they cause uproars and incite riotous situations which promote fighting) and they turn away from Me."  (Hosea 7:14)The poligious climate depicted continues to mirror Islamic society. Serving Allah rather than Yahuweh, Islamic clerics and kings promote fighting by shrieking: "A paradise of virgins, beds, and rivers of wine awaits good Muslims who murder, following Muhammad’s example." They call it jihad - holy war. 

Yahuweh and His prophet Hosea were under no illusions. They knew that the political and religious establishment would not only reject this message, but worse, they would condemn the messenger and his God. They would do so by labeling His truth lies, and their lies truth. There would be no repentance or return. The same could and should be said of any culture whose political and religious leaders spew similar nonsense.

"Although I instructed them (yacar - chastened, disciplined, corrected, and admonished them) and established them for the purpose of accomplishing something, yet they devise evil against Me. They turn, but not upward." (Hosea 7:15) Yes, indeed, man has turned, but in the wrong direction. We have been receiving our marching orders from Satan for a very long time. Man was created to love God and the Jews were chosen to reveal His instructions so that this relationship would be possible. But we prefer azab to beriyth, ignorance to knowledge, delusions to truth, fighting to peace, sex to the spirit, man to God.

Upward is derived from the Hebrew word ‘al which actually means "the Most High." It is Yahuweh’s title.

Politicians and religious clerics are always armed with the same weapon. "They are like an untaught bow (remiyah qeset - an unfit and weak bow, a faulty and failed bow, a lazy and habitually shifty weapon, a deceitful and treacherous weapon, a multicolored circle which breaks up light and causes something which is false to be believed as true so as to mislead)."

Words are important. We ought to be careful of what we say. Politically and religiously inspired words often lead to death and damnation. "Those in charge, those in positions of power and authority, will fall (naphal - will fail, be attacked, conquered, fall prostrate and die) by the sword because of the insolence (za’am - impudence, disrespect, brazenness, rudeness, audacity, anger, wrath, extreme indignation, curses, and fury) of their tongue. This will be their derision (la’ag - scorn, ridicule, mocking, contempt, and stammering) in the land of Egypt." (Hosea 7:16)

Yahuweh concludes His condemnation of politicians, and those who support them, by saying that they will reap what they sow. Glib words come with a price. When our politicians form alliances with nations like Egypt and Saudi Arabia, there will be hell to pay.

America, like Israel before us, has set a course down the road to oblivion. We like they will soon reap the whirlwind. "Put the trumpet to your lips!" This means "Sound a warning or alarm. "An unclean bird of prey (nesher - a vulture who eats refuse) comes against the house of Yahuweh, because they have transgressed (abar - alienated themselves from, done away with, formally passed over as a result of intoxication and drunkenness) My covenant (beriyth - personal and national relationship, pledge and agreement, compact, alliance of friendship, treaty, marriage contract, and constitution between God and man; solemn oath that seals relationships between parties with promises of blessings for keeping the accord and curses for breaking it). They rebelled against (pasa al - revolted against, sinned before, were in open defiance against the authority, the standard, and agreement detailed in) My Torah (towrah - law, direction, instruction; body of prophetic teaching). " (Hosea 8:1)

This succinctly summarizes the reasons behind Israel’s immanent fall. Oblivious to it, America will soon repeat the lesson.

Collectively and individually, we all have a choice to make. We can accept Yahuweh and follow His instructions or we can reject God and follow man’s decrees. But fair warning: if we alienate ourselves from Him we will be devoured by birds of prey - by vultures who have been fed man’s refuse, both religious and political.

Yahuweh doesn’t care much for hypocrisy. When He first defined the nature of the beriyth with Abraham He called him to: "walk beside Me; be at ease and conversant with Me; be honest and open with Me." It remains the ultimate privilege - one that Israel and America have rejected. "They cry out to (za’aq - wail and weep to, appeal to; they make public outcries in pain and emotional anguish, calling out for help; they gather together and issue an official written proclamation with instructions and principles for) Me: ‘My God, we of Israel know (da’ah - possess knowledge and information about) You!’" (Hosea 8:2) Too bad they didn’t read it, understand it, and act appropriately upon it.

So Yahuweh said: "Israel has rejected (zanach - cast off and spurned, removed and thrown out) good (tobah - that which is pleasing and morally correct, profitable and benevolent, joyous), so the enemy (ayab - foe in open hostility, animosity, enmity, and rancor) will pursue (radaph - chase after, persecute, hound, and strive against) him." (Hosea 8:3) The primary meaning of zanach accurately describes the nature of a nation that casts off and spurns good: "it stinks and becomes foul-smelling, emitting an odious stench due to stagnation." And I find it interesting that the rancorous and openly hostile enemy is prophesized to "strive against" the Jews. To strive in the context of attacking "the people of the Scripture Book" is the etymological and actual basis of Jihad.

If the people know and trust Yahuweh, God will reciprocate and take care of them. He will establish their government and their governors. If they don’t, they will wallow in their own folly. "They have set up rulers and coronated kings, but not by (minniy - away from, without guidance or direction from, separate from) Me. They have appointed governors and put leaders in positions of authority, whom I do not know." Judging by their words and deeds, I’m convinced that Yahuweh will say this of Bill Clinton, both George Bushes, and most Congressmen and Senators. And then He will ask us why we choose them as opposed to asking Him to guide us.

These questions will be for our benefit. God already knows the answer.."With their silver and gold they have made idols for themselves, things that they revere and worship." And He knows the result.. "So they will be cut off (karath - severed from the source, uprooted and violently torn from the land, excluded from the covenant, broken and consumed)." (Hosea 8:4) More than ever before, Americans have put their faith in and covet things. But even our "smart weapons" will fail us. For Scripture says that freedom, prosperity, joy, life itself and all eternity are based upon the answer to this question: who do you know and trust?

If you idolize things and if your god is the Lord, you may be in serious trouble. "He has rejected your bull (egel - idol in the shape of a bull calf representing the sun god Lord Baal), O Samaria [the capital city of the Northern Kingdom], saying, ‘My anger is aroused and burns with displeasure against them!’" As an interesting aside, since "rejected" is zanach, Yahuweh is saying that the guises of Satan "stink."

Yahuweh revealed earlier in Hosea and in Daniel that the prophesized reunion will not occur until the day of Atonement in 2033 (2000 years after they rejected their Savior), so this is a rhetorical question: "How long will they be incapable of innocence (yakol niqqayown - fail to attain purity and thus be free from punishment; be unable to be morally impeccable and thus be acceptable; be unable to prevail, overcome and enjoy the victory; experience what it feels like to be clean; regain confidence and accomplish something worthy; understand and grasp how to become innocent)?" (Hosea 8:5)

The Northern Kingdom was not alone. As both archeology and Scripture reveal, Israel had idols too - lots of them. "For from Israel is even this! A craftsman made it, so it is not God. Surely the bull of Samaria will be broken to pieces." (Hosea 8:6) Israel’s problem, like ours, is ignorance of and/or apathy to the first three Commandments. If we were to get those right, everything else would fall into place - including us.

The first Commandment says: "I Am Yahuweh, your God. You shall have no other gods before me." So what did we do? We scratched Yahuweh’s name out of His Scripture and replaced it with the LORD, the name of the bull idol Yahuweh said stunk.

The second Commandment says: "You shall not make for yourself any idol." So what did we do? We idolized all manner of things and made for ourselves flags with stars on them and decorated our churches with satanic sun god steeples and crosses.

The third Commandment says: "You shall not promote, advance, accept, or tolerate in the name of Yahuweh your Elohiym, anything that is false or destructive." So what did we do? We proposed and pontificated, advanced and tolerated every Satanic counterfeit religious notion and every self-serving human political doctrine under the sun.

And because we have done these things, we will suffer the consequence. Because we were unwilling to heed Israel’s example as presented for our benefit in Scripture, we are destined to suffer as they suffered. "For they sow the wind (rucha - spirit), and they shall reap (qatsur - bear and be restricted to, be confined to) the whirlwind (suphah - the storm, tempest, circular whirling gale)." Isaiah prophetically links this "whirlwind" to the Islamic Magog war that will kill a quarter of the earth’s people during the Tribulation.

Standing grain about to be harvested is symbolic of the saints - those who are anointed with Yahuweh’s Spirit. During Hosea’s day there were very few such people in Israel. Grain is also a symbol of productivity and of the nourishment needed to sustain life. Israel had squandered her purpose and abandoned the source of her sustenance. "The standing grain has no heads (tsemach - living parts, growth or branches). It yields no flour. Should it yield, strangers would engulf it and swallow it up. (Hosea 8:7) The word for "strangers," zuwr, means "foreigners outside of the cultural group; people from a different place who are estranged from the society." To be zuwr is to be "alienated, deserted, abandoned, and separated from the relationship." To be zuwr is to "live in a state of apostasy and rebellion" Interestingly, in its shorter form, zur means "offensive and loathsome ones who stink like the devil." Yahuweh is speaking of Baal worshipers, known then as Canaanites, Philistines, Assyrians and Babylonians. They are known today as Muslims. That may be why Yahweh used balah for "swallowed." Not only does it sound like the name of the Islamic god, it means: "to do away with, to destroy, and to devour."

And it happened just this way.."Israel is swallowed up (balah - made invisible, consumed, devoured and destroyed). As a result (atah - there will come a time when, on account of that which has occurred, and in response to it, that) they shall be among the Gentiles (Goyim - non Yahudim/Jewish nations), a vessel (keliy - an object or thing) in which no one desires (chephets - finds desirable, delights in, enjoys the company of, takes pleasure in)." (Hosea 8:8) This sounds like the Middle Eastern view of Jews for the past 2600 years, Europe’s for the past 1900 years, the Islamic world’s for the past 1400, and more and more like America since the Second World War.

Once again we are confronted with a verb bearing Allah’s name associated with the land of his birth and the people who terrorize Jews on his behalf. "For they have gone up (alah - headed north following the flight of the birds) to Assyria." Hosea began the 8^th chapter speaking of vultures, birds of prey who devour rubbish, so now he’s telling us that the Jews will follow them home.

A complete definition of alah reveals that the word means: "one who stands before God in judgment, holocaust and burnt offering, to break the day, to cause to burn, to carry away, to cut off, to exalt oneself, to levy and tax, and to make pay." Allah, who has already been judged by Yahuweh, is identified with Halal’s Morning Star moniker in that he "breaks the day." But what I find horrifying is that alah means "holocaust." Why is it that we have failed to make this connection? It even means "to cut off and carry away, to cause to burn in a sacrificial offering, to make pay" which is exactly what the Arians dressed in black and wearing skull and bones insignias did to six million Jews.

In the book of Genesis, Yahuweh called Ishmael’s descendants, today’s Muslims, pere - "wild asses of men." Due to their deviant political and religious practices, these Jews had become like them. It is why God is intolerant of such things. "Like a wild asses all alone (badad - isolated, withdrawn and separated), Ephraim [the Northern Kingdom] has indentured itself as a prostitute (tanah - hired themselves out) for illicit favors. Even though they hire allies among the Gentile nations, a time will come in the sequence of events (atah) when I will gather them up (qabats - assemble and collect them, rekindling the relationship with them; collect these objects of great value, lifting them up and harvesting them from the field and vine)."

Although half of the world’s Jews have been collected and assembled, the relationship will not be reestablished, and they will not be lifted up, until the final and seventh advent of the Messiah which will occur on the Day of Atonement in the seventh year of the Tribulation. Fortunately, Yahuweh is more reliable, trustworthy, loving and longsuffering than we are.

Two thousand seven hundred years before the promised reunion, these Jews had to bribe their "friends" just like America does today. The root of tanah means: "to pay the price demanded by a prostitute for his or her services." This word for "hire" has no favorable connotations. It is "a bribe or tribute payment." Muhammad would call it the Jizyah - and he would extract it from Jews and Christians - or kill them. Qur’an 9:29 says: "Fight those who believe not in Allah, and do not forbid that which has been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger (Muhammad) and those who do not submit to religion of truth (Islam) among the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians) until they pay the Jizyah with willing submission and feel themselves subdued." (The words inside the parenthesis were included by the translators for clarification.) I’m sure Satan enjoys the fact that the degrading tax leveled upon Yahuweh’s chosen - Jews and Christians - bears God’s name. Satan knows it, even if Christians and Jews don’t.  

And unfortunately, long before the promised and glorious reunion occurs, Satan will wreck havoc amongst God’s chosen, profaning them and reducing their number. Here, the Adversary is shown defiling the Jews under his God given name: "But they will be defiled (halal - profaned, treated with contempt, be seen violating the Covenant, be desecrated, dishonored and bear false witness, be pierced and mortally wounded unto death, become carnage in battle, sustaining fatal injuries, will become wicked and perverse, destined for punishment), and they will be diminished to a relative few because of the burden (massa - hardships and distress caused by, the desires and yearnings of, the tax payments to, and the submission to the utterance and oracles) of the rulers (melek - heads of state, those embodied with political, social, religious, and military authority, national leaders) and governors (sarar - superintendents, those with implied authority, chieftains, governmental officials, captains, political and military officers)." (Hosea 8:9-10) While Satan is busy, Scripture reveals that our politicians are eager to give him a helping hand. 

And just as predicted, Yahuweh’s name was profaned by the Lord Baal/Halal worshiping Assyrians and Babylonians. They called the followers of Yahuweh "Yahoos" during the captivity. Yahoo is to Yahudi as Nigger is to Negro.

Satan’s fingerprints, his name, nature and means, have been encoded throughout this prophetic revelation. Yahuweh wants us to know that those who represent and do the following things are working for the Devil: "foes in open hostility, animosity, enmity, and rancor, who chase after, persecute, hound, and strive against" Israel. Those serving Satan will be: "foreigners outside of the cultural group; people from a different place who are estranged from the society." They will be "alienated and separated from a relationship" with Yahuweh, "living in a state of apostasy and rebellion," serving another god. Halal’s followers will be "offensive and loathsome ones who stink like the devil." Their religion will emanate from the land of "the Assyrians." And they will balah: be those who try "to do away with, destroy, and devour" Israel. Satan’s team wants Israel to be "made invisible."

We will be able to recognize the Devil’s inspiration, because those who league with Satan will: "stand before God in judgment." They will be responsible for the "holocaust," making "burnt offerings" of Jews. Their god will be "Halal," the Morning Star, who "breaks the day." His followers will "cause [Jews] to burn." They will "carry them away, and cut them off," while "exalting themselves." They will even "tax" the Jews, "making them pay." Those who submit to Halal will: "profane" God’s chosen people, "treating them with contempt." Like Muslims, they will "be seen violating the Covenant." They will "bear false witness," and will "pierce and mortally wound" Jews, causing them to "become carnage in battle." Like "wild asses" they will be "wicked and perverse."

Halal’s followers will perpetrate these savage crimes against the Jews, not because God wants them to, but because the Jews opened themselves up to it. "Since Ephraim has multiplied altars for sin, they have become altars of sinning for him." (Hosea 8:11) Satan will get his way with the Jews because they placed themselves on his altar.

Lord knows, God tried to warn them, tried to keep them separated from Satan’s torments. "Though I wrote for him [Israel] ten thousand instructions (towrah - prescriptions of things that should be done, teachings, and laws), but they considered them (chashab - determined that their value was, accounted them as, regarded them as, plotted with the purpose and plan to render them) a strange thing (zuwr - something that is estranged from society, separated from the culture, something to be rejected, abandoned and not associated with, fulfilled or completed; something that is offensive and stinks)." (Hosea 8:12)

The Hebrew word translated "wrote" is katab. Since Yahuweh is speaking in first person in this passage, katab means that God "wrote, engraved, and inscribed" His instructions. Katab means: "to communicate by symbols or alphabet on stone, parchment or papyrus using instruments like pens and ink." Therefore a katab is "a written record of a message and of events which includes the signature of the author." In short, katab is Scripture inspired by Yahuweh. So when people don’t value it and separate themselves from it, they are putting themselves in open defiance against God.

Yahuweh saves; religion doesn’t. That is the message of the next verse. The atoning sacrifices were designed to temporarily absolve man of sin so that we could fellowship with a perfect God. They were for us, not Him. And they were prophetic. Those who understood them and remembered them would be able to recognize the Messiah when He made atonement universal and permanent. "As for the sacrificial offerings, they sacrifice the flesh and consume it themselves. Yahuweh takes no delight in them. Therefore, He will remember their iniquity (aown - sin and wickedness, habitual wrongdoing and guilt), and hold them accountable for their sins." Without a Savior, we are all accountable for our sins, and the consequence of sin is death and eternal separation.

Salvation is liberation. Damnation is separation and thus bondage. That is why the exodus is referenced here: "They will return to Egypt." The reason was simple: "For Israel has forgotten (shakach - become lame, crippled and ceased to care about) his Maker." Rather than revere and trust God, they came to revere and trust things. "Instead they built palaces (heykal - temples for worshiping (false gods), sanctuaries (to Satan), and great public halls). And Judah has multiplied fortified cities."

But it was and will be for naught. "But I will send a fire on its cities that it may consume its palatial dwellings." (Hosea 8:13-14) In this case fire is both literal and symbolic. It is symbolic of judgment, and God is clearly unimpressed with our behavior and our things. Moreover, raging fires did consume every palatial shrine, hall and dwelling in the land. It happened because the Jews put their faith in things. Are we not following them into the fire?

Israel, like today’s America, was looking for love, joy, and prosperity in all the wrong places. Israel, like today’s America, was observing counterfeit Satanic symbols, rituals, and holidays, preferring them to the ones Yahuweh had detailed in Scripture. God was telling them, and us through them, that we are not to celebrate pagan festivals, or accept Satanic substitutes, like other people do. "Do not rejoice (samach - delight in and be elated by, celebrate, drink and be merry), O Israel, with exultation and jubilance like other nations (am - people and associations; followers who are in close association or agreement with, and allegiance to, a human leader)! For you have been unfaithful and immoral prostitutes, willing to accept bribes, and forsaking (min - moving away from the source) your God. You have desired and preferred (ahab - shown affection for an object based upon its association or relationship with something; focused on things and preferred people over some One more important) sex and money (ethan - the wages of harlots and the circular loop earrings worn by pagan prostitutes) in every community gathering place and on threshing floor where grain is processed and winnowed (goren)."

This reminds me of an email I received from a Catholic who was miffed because I had revealed that the Roman Catholic Church was responsible for substituting the Satanic ritual of Sunday worship for the Sabbath day of rest, as well as for observing the Satanic holidays of Easter and Christmas instead of Yahuweh’s Passover and Tabernacles. The Catholic gentleman used the excuse Yahweh rejected here. He said that since the Protestants also observe these things, they can’t be pagan or Satanic. Yahuweh doesn’t want us doing what other people do. He wants us to do what He prescribed for us in His Scripture. If it’s not there, and Sunday worship, Easter and Christmas aren’t, we shouldn’t be observing them, especially in the context of our relationship with God. And if it is there, as the Sabbath, Passover and Tabernacles are, we should keep these appointments in accordance with God’s instructions.

Yahuweh completes the thought by explaining what He thinks of the Satanic counterfeits, exposing why He is intolerant of them, and revealing the ultimate consequence of observing and trusting them. "The threshing floor and wine press will not shepherd and protect (ra’ah -care for, tend to, and nourish) them, and the new wine will deceive and fail (kachash - disappoint and be insufficient for) them." (Hosea 9:1-2) The threshing floor is the place where the grain is separated from the chaff. It is symbolic of Yahuweh’s people being separated from Halal’s. Furthermore, grain and wine are Scriptural metaphors for the harvest of the saints who have been redeemed by the atoning blood of the Messiah - the Lamb of God. So Halal, ever the counterfeiter, and never the creator, incorporated corrupted rituals using bread and wine into his holidays. These Jews were observing them just as we do today. 

Ra’ah is an interesting selection in this context. It reveals the nature of the relationship Yahuweh intends to form with us. He wants to "shepherd and protect" us - things that I find comforting. And He has volunteered to "care for and nourish" us. This is a vivid picture of God working for and serving man. It may be one of the most unreligious and inspiring thoughts in Scripture.

But there is much more to the selection of ra’ah in this context. Yahuweh has put us on notice that we relinquish these wonderful benefits of His personal care when we trust and observe Satanic substitutes. By using ra’ah, Yahuweh is informing us that Halal will never be: "a friend or companion" like God has promised to be when we choose to form a relationship with Him. In other words, Halal cannot be trusted.

Ra’ah is also "the best man." He’s "an attendant of the groom at a wedding" so this definition ties nicely into the role Hosea is playing as God’s messenger announcing Yahushua’s position at the wedding ceremony in which we formally united in a loving and eternal relationship with Yahuweh.

Ra’ah has some rather sinister connotations, too, all of which are applicable in reference to Satanic counterfeits. It means: "evil and wicked, wrong and harmful, morally degrading and perverse." It is the "opposite" of what God wants and thus it will bring "anxiety, distress, misery, calamity, ruin, disaster, and misfortune." To avoid such things we need to focus on re’eh, a derivative of ra’ah, "our Friend, Companion, and Associate who cares for us;" our "Personal Advisor who provides counsel and suggestions and who desires a powerful and enduring association" with us.

The other important word in this passage differentiating between Yahuweh and Halal is kachash. It reveals that counterfeit teachings, symbols, rituals and holidays not only fail, they deceive - giving the people a false sense of security. Kachash tells us that the counterfeits, like the counterfeiter, are: "speaking lies with the intent to deceive." Their promises are "insufficient and will disappoint.  They "belie," which is to say "they contradict, deny, and falsify that which is true." Kachash ties Baal worship to Islam because it means "to cower in fear" and "to bow in submission" as the result of "being deceived in a relationship." Islam’s great commandment isn’t to love God but to fear him. The word "Islam" means "submission." The religion’s signature move is the prostration prayer - bowing five times a day in submission to Allah. And no doctrine was ever more contradictory of Scripture, denying that which is true. As a result, Muslims are kachash: "deceived, deluded, and disowned, beguiled by the lie."

The Baal worshiping Israelites were on the cusp of consequence. They were about to become the guests of the kachash. "They will not remain in Yahuweh’s land. Ephraim will return to Egypt [bondage], and in Assyria they will eat unclean food. They will not pour out offerings of wine to Yahuweh. Their sacrifices will not please Him. Their bread will be wicked and false bread (awen - deceitful and evil thoughts and words which are damning to the relationship with God and man because they represent a false and wicked deity). All (kol - anyone and everyone, the totality of those) who eat of it (akal) will be defiled (tame - unclean and thus unfit, desecrated), for their bread will be for themselves alone (nephesh - only sustaining their animal nature until death). It will not enter (bow’) the house of Yahuweh." (Hosea 9:3-4)Yahuweh is anti-religious because its "false bread deceives. All who eat of it will be damned" - eternally separated from God. While it may feed the flesh, it desecrates the soul. Satan’s lies will have no place in Yahuweh’s home.

Let’s take a moment and look more closely at akal and bow’. In addition to "consuming lies" akal means: "to be eaten away and destroyed," something that is indicative of the corrosive nature of deceptions. In connection to religious taxes and collections, akal means to "pay out money in a way that is wasteful." And what is ultimately "wasted, eaten away and destroyed," is our bow’: "ability to arrive at the goal which is to be included in the association" with God. Akal excludes us from bow’: "pursuing and following" God, and from being part of His "harvest."

Yahuweh had established seven Miqra, seven scheduled appointments between God and man that He wanted us to keep and observe. They are festivals and feasts, communal parties, indicative of the relationship He seeks with man. Moreover, they are atoning and instructive, giving us the means and understanding necessary to come into His presence and enjoy the relationship. When these Miqra are not kept, we lose touch with God. So Yahuweh asked the Yahudim: "What will you do on the day of the designated and appointed meeting time for the festival, feast and assembly (mow’ed)? And what will do on the day of the Feast and Festival (Chag) of Yahuweh?" (Hosea 9:5)

Then He announced the consequence of not attending the seven annual appointed meetings, and of substituting counterfeits in their place: "For behold (hineh - pay attention to this detail), as a result (min) they will be destroyed (shod - ruined, violently violated, oppressed, plundered and looted, suffer). Egypt will gather them up, Memphis will bury them. Weeds (qimows) will take over (yarash - to take possession of, to dispossess the native people, stealing their property by way of military force, to drive out, to impoverish and make destitute, to steal, rob and control by way of false pretense) their treasures of silver (mahmad kesep). Thorns (chowcha) will be in their tents (ohel). The days of reckoning (peqdah - assigning responsibility, judgment leading to punishment for offenses and violations) have come. The days of retribution (shilum - just payment, the quid pro quo) have come. Let Israel know and understand (yada)!" (Hosea 9:6-7) Egypt remains a metaphor for bondage, for living in submission to Satan. Memphis is Egypt’s City of the Dead. Figuratively, it was where the Jews were headed.

The qimows are Satan’s children. As Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks, Romans, Ottomans, and modern-day Muslims, they would take possession of the Promised Land, driving the Jews out and impoverishing it. Qimows means: weeds, thorns, nettles, briers, brambles - the non-productive parts of a plant." It is symbolic of those who are wicked and do not know Yahuweh. These people will yarash: "dispossess" the Jews "from their land using military force." They would "steal and control their property by way of false pretense." This is precisely what qimows, pretending to be Palestinians, have done. Moreover, fulfilling the prophecy, the qimows have "impoverished the land and made what they control a land of the destitute."

Mahmad kesep, rendered "treasures of silver" can mean "money, property, belongings, or any unit of exchange." It is "anything precious and valued, lovely and pleasing, including one’s spouse and children." This is exactly what Muhammad’s Muslims did to the Jews. They stole their land, their farms, their synagogues, businesses and homes. They decapitated the men, raped the women and sold the children into slavery. Those who survived had their money confiscated by way of the Jizyah tax.

Next we learn that chowcha will be in their ohel. A chowcha is a thornbush, a bramble of briers, and thus jihadists - Satanically deceived demons. We know this because chowcha also means "an implement of control so as to compel total submission [Islam] to the conqueror [Islamic terrorists]. An ohel is a tent-dwelling. So this is the opposite of what Yahuweh intended. The seventh Miqra is Tabernacles (Ohel Mow’ed), a festival in which the Israelites were instructed to pitch tent-dwellings so that they could tabernacle or dwell with God. But as a result of their devious political and counterfeit religious practices, they would be living with chowcha - Muslim thorns.

As an interesting aside, the "instrument of control" suggested by chowcha is a "fish hook or gaff placed in the nose or jaw." The Assyrians did this very thing to the Jews when they hauled them off into captivity, demonstrating that Yahuweh’s prophecies are both precisely accurate, even in their subtle nuances, and also reveal near and far fulfillments.

Yet not all prophets are inspired by Yahuweh. Some are possessed by Halal’s demons. This fellow is a dead ringer for Muhammad, the Devil’s most effective advocate: "The prophet is a corrupt fool (‘eviyl - one who despises wisdom and morality; a hypocrite who mocks others when he, himself, is guilty; one without understanding who is quarrelsome and licentious; a stillborn simpleton demonstrating stupid behavior; like the whole body of citizens of a corrupt nation). The man who is possessed with this spirit (ruwach) is demented (shaga - a madman who is out of his mind and acts like a maniac, irrational, howling with rage), because of the magnitude and abundance of your iniquity (aown - sin, wickedness, and wrongdoing), and because your hostility (mastemah - animosity, enmity, hatred, opposition, and antagonism) is great." (Hosea 9:7) This verse confirms what I alleged in Prophet of Doom. I suggested that Muhammad succeeded in making the Qur’an appear religious only because rebellious Jews sold him apocryphal stories from the rabbinical Babylonian Talmud. They, like Americans today, manufactured their own enemy. Moreover, God told them that they would do so.

When men seek to rule, they seek to compete with God. Their every word becomes a dangerous and beguiling trap designed to control people. As a result, they create hell on earth. "The man watching over Ephraim is in competition with (‘im - fighting and arguing against) my God, a prophet, and yet a snare (pach - something dangerous that traps, confines and controls) and fowler (yaqowsh - one who lays bait to entrap others) in all his ways (derek - paths, directions, manners, and habits). There is hostility, animosity, hatred and opposition in the house of his god. They have gone deep into (amaq - a profoundly difficult position where there is a total lack of understanding, an abyss in which nothing can be seen or known, a dark place of mystery and secrecy) corruption (shachath - destruction, ruin, decay, and uselessness; being morally blemished, marred, spoiled, injured, rotten, castrated and decayed) as in the days of Gibeah." (Hosea 9:8-9)

Gibeah was the place where politics and religion mixed. Clerics and king banded together to rule the people. From this site a band of prophets helped Saul trap David. Gibeah is also the second Sodom, a city whose morality was as grotesque as the day the angels visited Lot.

God is a just judge. Do the crime; pay the price. "He will remember (zakar - recall and proclaim the information and events pertaining to) their iniquity and wickedness. He will record, summon and punish their sins and offenses." (Hosea 9:9)

This is so very sad. I can almost hear God cry. "I found, met with, and took possession of Israel who were like grapes in the wilderness (midbar - desert and wasteland; wilderness of words). I saw, selected, paid attention to, delighted in, provided for and revealed myself to (ra’ah) your forefathers as the first fruit ripened on the fig tree the very first time. But they came to Baal-Peor and separated themselves from Me, devoting (nazar - dedicating and consecrating, sanctifying) themselves to shame (boshet - disgrace, a lowly and humiliated status). And they became as detestable (vile, filthy, defiled, horrible, desolate, vacant, idolatrous, pagan, abominable, repulsive, and abhorred) as that which they loved (ahab - were attracted to, desired, showed affection for, and formed a relationship with)." (Hosea 9:10)

This passage is filled with profound imagery. The grapevine is the metaphor for God’s chosen people. When it’s rooted in His teachings and grounded in His presence, it produces wine, the symbol of blood atonement, the agent of salvation. The fig is the sweet fruit of success. Due to God’s attentiveness and nurturing, the relationship was designed to be purposeful and productive. Firstfruits is the third Miqra. It is symbolic of harvesting those who have benefited from the forgiveness of Passover, where blood atonement unleavens our mortal bodies of sin, enabling us to from a beriyth with Yahuweh.

But the Northern Kingdom, like most in America today, chose the Lord. Instead of befriending and loving Yahuweh they elected to worship and serve Baal, better known as "the Lord." And they did this the same way Saint Constantine and his Roman Catholic Church created the religion of Christianity - they consecrated and sanctified the Devil’s schemes. So they became as disgraceful, lowly and humiliated as the fallen angel they served. They became as detestable as the Devil, as vile, filthy, and defiled as Halal himself. Rather than being anointed with Yahuweh’s Spirit of truth, light, and comfort, they became horrible, desolate, and vacant. They fell for Satan’s idolatrous and pagan scams, so like the Adversary, they became an abomination, repulsive and abhorred. They became like their god.

Baal Peor is an actual place. In Numbers 25 we read: "The Israeli people began to be immoral and unfaithful with the daughters of Moab. For they invited the people to attend the sacrifices to their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israelis joined themselves to Lord Baal at Peor. And this made Yahuweh angry at Israel." So then, Yahweh, revealing that religious tolerance is the ultimate evil, showed compassion for His people by ordering Moses to: "Take all the leaders of the people and execute them in broad daylight.." Religion is poison. It is a cancer that rapidly festers and spreads, killing every living thing in its path. Unless it is removed from society, the people and their nation will be destroyed. Religion is Satan’s present to man - the gift that keeps on damning. Religion is an abomination.

Later, in Deuteronomy 3, Moses reminds the Yahudim of what happened at Baal Peor. "Israel, listen to the statutes and instructions which I am teaching you in order that you may live and go in and take possession of the land which Yahuweh, the God of your fathers, is giving you. You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of Yahuweh your God. Your eyes have seen what Yahuweh has done in the case of Baal Peor, for all the men who followed Baal, Yahuweh your God has destroyed them from among you. But you who held fast to Yahuweh, your God, are alive today, every one of you." Expose, repudiate, and expunge evil religions, and you live. Embrace them or tolerate them and you die.

If you believe in God, if you trust the Scriptures, if you consider yourself a Christian or Jew, it is essential that you recognize that our Creator despises religion more than anything. Religion beguiles and deceives, and it separates us from a relationship with Him. Religion kills and damns. God said so.

"As for Ephraim, their glory (kabowd - honor and respect, status and wealth, abundance and reward, their gift, the manifestation of their power) will fly away like a winged creature. No child shall be born to you (yalad) [i.e., the Messiah will come through Judah], you’ll have no productive internal guts or desires (beten - womb, stomach and abdomen; cravings, heart and feelings), and no rebirth or redemption (herown - the process of birth)! Though they boast about their children, yet I will bereave them until not a man is left. Woe to them indeed when I turn away, depart, and remove myself from them!" (Hosea 9:11-12) Whether God leaves us or we leave God the result is the same - hell.

I believe that America headed around this bend some time ago. If not, He owes Israel an apology. "Because of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out (garish - expel, cast out, drive away, and banish them; divorce them and cast them aside) from My house (bayith - home, household, and family)! I will love them no more. All their politicians and superintendents, rulers, governors, and officers are rebels (carar - stubborn and defiant, obstinate and rebellious, unwilling to change)." (Hosea 9:15) Those who crave religious and political status and power are usually corrupt. Once they are empowered, power corrupts them all the more and they in turn corrupt the people. Everyone becomes corrupt and unlovable.

And yes, it is true. There comes a time when a people and their nation are so rife with poligious misconceptions and sin that even God can’t and won’t recognize or love them anymore. And this is what happens when that happens.."Ephraim is stricken (nakah - fatally smitten, beaten, afflicted and wounded; attacked, defeated, captured, destroyed and slain). The root that anchors and nourishes them is dried up. They will bear no fruit. Even though they bear children, I will see to it that they will not live, even the valued treasures of their womb and desires." (Hosea 9:16) Truth or consequence.

"My God will reject them, avoiding an association with them (maas - despise, spurn, disdain, and be averse to) them because they have not listened to (shama - heard, received, reported, proclaimed or obeyed the news regarding; paid attention to or understood) Him. And so they will be wanderers (nadad - those who flee and are banished, cast aside and chased away) among the Gentile nations." (Hosea 9:17)