Chapter 3

Yada'

Knowing

My People Are Destroyed for Lack of Knowledge...

Mankind is in a fog. We are aiding and abetting our own demise. Ignorant of His Word, ignorant of Him, ignorant of the meaning of words themselves, the religious under the banner of moral values, and the politically correct under the guise of secular humanism, have escorted us to the edge of the abyss. In Romans, Paul speaks profoundly and eloquently of such a people, place and time. "For even though they once knew of (ginosko - learned about, came to have a knowledge of, and perceived the existence of) God, they did not recognize or dignify Him as Yahuweh, or give thanks. Instead, they became worthless and destitute in their imaginative speculations, contradictory perceptions and unsubstantiated opinions (dialogismos - the thinking of men who are deliberating with themselves, inward reasoning). Devoid of insight and understanding, unable to reason, their foolish (asunetos - unintelligent, without understanding, and stupid) heart (kardia - the seat of passions, desires, appetites, affections, impulses, purposes, endeavors, will and character) was darkened (skotizo - deprived of light). Professing themselves to be wise (sophos - skilled in letters, cultivated, and learned), they became fools (moraino - morons, foolish, dull, not acute, dimwitted; one out of touch with the purpose of existence; not having a sound mind). They exchanged (allasso - changed one thing for another, transformed and corrupted, even attempted to diminish) the glory (doxa - reputation and splendor; status and honor; magnificence, preeminence, dignity, and majesty) of the incorruptible and immortal God, for an image (eikon - likeness and resemblance) in the form of corruptible and perishing man, and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures." (Romans 1:21-23)

This defines the foundation of the academic, political, societal, and religious institutions of our day just as it surmised the mindset of Hosea’s Israel and Paul’s Rome. Evidential truth has been exchanged with unsubstantiated opinions, reason has been abrogated by irrational speculations, and man has replaced God with himself. This is the essence of our demise - the road to temporal and eternal damnation.   

So that leaves us with a choice. If we want to avoid being forsaken, we need to know God, to understand Him, the universe, and our place and role in it. To accomplish this we must immerse ourselves in His light as He reveals truth in His Word.

If we don’t replace man’s misleading version of god with the real one, replace ignorance with knowledge, and errant opinions with the truth, we will be left destitute - separated from Yahweh and thus from life eternal. And that is not my opinion; it is God’s conclusion.."Therefore, God surrendered them to their own filth and immorality, to the desires, carnal appetites, and lusts of their hearts and minds, so that their bodies might be rejected and set aside, dishonored and suffer shame. For they exchanged (metallasso - replaced, changed, converted, and transformed) the truth (aletheia - verifiable essence of reality as evidenced by the facts, that which is manifest and forms the basis of reason and acceptance) of God for a lie (pseudos - for myths, deceit, guile, error, and false deities). They religiously venerated and served the creation, diverse civilizations, and the creature rather than the Creator." (Romans 1:24-25)

The Greek word for "served" is latreuo, which means "to work on behalf of someone or something so as to receive a reward." It carries a religious connotation on its own, but here it follows sebazomai, meaning "religious worship and veneration," which makes it particularly devastating in this context. Yahuweh is telling us that religions have replaced verifiable truth with beguiling deceptions and that religious leaders have advanced the earth’s, man’s, and Satan’s agenda for their own personal benefit. What’s more, by using metallasso, God is saying that their modus-operandi is replacement theology, revisionist history, whitewashing and counterfeiting. The Devil’s words, rites, deceptions and ambitions are exchanged for Yahuweh’s. Halal’s Easter replaces Yahuweh’s Passover; Satan’s Sunday is exchanged for Yahuweh’s Sabbath, and Baal’s name, LORD, is substituted in place of Yahuweh. On and on it goes until man has replaced God with his own creation.

This is the most erudite and enlightened dissertation on the academic pontifications, political dogmas, religious doctrines, and societal morays of man. Paul is amplifying and explaining what we have and will continue to read in Hosea. Because he has succinctly iterated how mankind has created this deadly fog, and of what it is comprised, it is worth reading again. His words define America at the dawn of the 21^st century. This is where our secular humanist schools, politically correct media, beguiling politicians, and wayward clergy have taken us: "For even though they knew of (ginosko - learned about, came to have a knowledge of, perceived the existence of) God, they did not recognize or dignify Him as Yahuweh, or give thanks. Instead, they became worthless and destitute in their imaginative speculations, contradictory perceptions and unsubstantiated opinions (dialogismos -the thinking of  men who are deliberating with themselves, inward reasoning). Devoid of insight and understanding, unable to reason, their foolish (asunetos - unintelligent, without understanding, stupid) heart (kardia - the seat of all physical and spiritual life; the soul and mind, the fountain of thoughts, passions, desires, appetites, affections, impulses, purposes, and endeavors; the seat of understanding and intelligence; will and character) was darkened (skotizo - deprived of light). Professing themselves to be wise (sophos - skilled in letters, cultivated, and learned), they became fools (moraino - morons, foolish, dull, not acute, dimwitted; something that has lost the purpose for which it exists; not having a sound mind). They exchanged (allasso - changed one thing for another, transformed and corrupt, caused to decay) the glory (doxa - reputation, splendor; positive opinion and status resulting in praise, honor, and glory; magnificence, excellence, preeminence, dignity, grace, and majesty) of the incorruptible and immortal God for an image (eikon - likeness and resemblance) in the form of corruptible and perishing man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. [These are the religious symbols of pagan doctrines, Satanic dogmas, and Darwinist/Communist/Secular Humanist poligious systems.] For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions..receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error."

In Hosea’s Israel the degrading passion among the godless was bisexual temple prostitution. In Paul’s Rome the degrading passion continued to be bisexual temple prostitution but it was now blended with societal sanctioned homosexuality. In Islam, the reward for godless murderers is bisexual carnality in paradise. And today in the West, the godless have become like the Romans, making perversion pervasive and meritorious.

What I find particularly interesting, is that according to God, moral depravity is a symptom of, a consequence of, errant thinking and misguided religion. Moreover, we can use moral depravity as a barometer to measure spiritual ignorance. For example, the greater the incidence of pornography, fornication, homosexuality, adultery, incest, pedophilia, and rape, the more ignorant and deceived the society has become, and the further away from Yahuweh it has moved.

These acts are self destructive, which is to say they come with their own penalty. Furthermore, the destructive result is the same for socialist societies that through Darwinism and secular humanism replace God with man, and for religious societies which exchange an enlightened and personal relationship with Yahuweh for beguiling doctrines whose god is remade in an image that serves men.

What follows reads like the nightly news. It is an indictment of our culture and time. It is a direct result of man’s imaginative speculations, contradictory perceptions, and unsubstantiated opinions which in turn have caused us to be devoid of insight and understanding, unable to reason. Foolish, we have exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God with the reflections of corruptible man. This is the result: "And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge and associate with (dokimazo echo - test and examine, scrutinize to see whether something is genuine and worthy, discern distinguish, and approve so as to take hold of and possess continually, form a special relationship and connection with) God any longer, God surrendered them to (paradidomi - gave them over into the hands of another; delivered them for another to keep, use, and manage) their depraved (adokimos - unworthy, worthless, spurious, irrational and ignorant, abominable and abhorred, disapproved and reprobate, rejected and cast aside) minds (nous -intellect, thoughts, consciousness, mental perceptions, emotions, feelings, moral inclinations and opinions; the faculties of perceiving and understanding, of feeling, judging, determining, and reasoning)." (Romans 1:28) Because most men and women have chosen not to associate with Yahweh, God has released most human souls to the Adversary.

"So they do those things which are not becoming, right, or proper, causing them to be ill-prepared, ill-equipped, broken, and separated. They are filled with much injustice, pornography, fornication, depravity, hatred, spite, wickedness, fraud, extortion, covetousness, greed, materialism, moral depravity, poisonous notions, malice, envy, ill-will, jealousy, mass murder, contentiousness, quarrels, strife, wrangling, deceit, deception, trickery, guile, subtle craftiness, and mischievousness with depraved characters. They secretly, clandestinely, and conspiratorially make false and malicious statements designed to injure and defame reputations. They are gossips, slanderers, and backbiters. They are haters of God who see themselves as superior and thus are arrogant and authoritative, haughty and overbearing, commanding and domineering. Acting and appearing like they are above the masses, they despise, insult and injure others. They are audacious, rude and disrespectful braggarts, arrogant and boastful contrivers of depraved, worthless, harmful, and evil ideas. They are stubbornly perverse, rebellious, insulting, contemptuous and disobedient to parents. They are unintelligent, devoid of understanding, and foolish. Untrustworthy, they are treacherous when it comes to the Covenant relationship. They are cold-hearted, unloving and merciless, lacking real compassion." (Romans 1:28-31) This is a perfect description of the character of those who covet power and money - those who influence academia, politics, the media, and most religious institutions.

And once again, the byproduct of errant thinking is abhorrent behavior. Ignorance isn’t bliss; it is self destructive. To not know and understand God is to be damned and to damn. "And although they are acquainted with the statutes and decisions of God, those who repeatedly practice and habitually promote such infectious things and denote this kind of character deserve the sentence of misery, destruction, death, and perdition; they are worthy of being excluded from the presence and favor of God." (Romans 1:32) To be damned is to be excluded from the company of Yahweh, because "damned" means "separated." To be separated from the source of life is to be lifeless - to no longer exist. Therefore, according to Yahweh, those who repeatedly promote imaginative speculations, contradictory perceptions, and unsubstantiated opinions which are inconsistent with Scripture are leading a parade to annihilation.

Continuing to speak of those who are self-reliant and thus damned, self-righteous and thus deceived, and self-assured thus foolish, Yahuweh inspired Paul to write.."They not only band together acting as a baffling and backwards wind, they do the same individually (poieo autos - abiding and agreeing with one another, appointing and ordaining their doctrines, casting people out and executing them, transgressing the law). Moreover, they congregate with like minded individuals, approving and supporting those who repeatedly practice and habitually promote the same infectious things. Therefore, you are all without excuse as your position is indefensible. For each man among you who makes a personal evaluation which separates and pushes away (krino - who prefers division, punishment, and damnation), in the way you use your influence to divide and push apart (krino - choosing to separate and condemn) others, accordingly, you will be evaluated, separated, condemned, and punished (katakrino - be associated with the opposition and be cast down, pushed away, and set apart in judgment - determined guilty and sentenced to doom), for you repeatedly practice and habitually promote separation and division (krino - prefer  punishment and damnation)." (Romans 1:32-2:2) The hypocrites who act like as if they were God, will ultimately find themselves before God.

The primary and basic meaning of krino is "to separate, to push apart, to divide, and to put asunder." It is often translated "judge," because distinguishing and discriminating between right and wrong requires us to separate fact from fiction. It is a word which lies at the heart of choice, of relationship, and of rational and moral thought. And since separation leads to judgment, and to condemnation and damnation with regard to one’s relationship with God, krino is often rendered "to be sentenced, condemned and punished."

In this case, in this context, however, it is senseless to translate krino "judge" at least in the sense of judgment meaning "evaluating and condemning false teaching and bad behavior." And yet all too often, those who embody the traits Paul has just enumerated, cry foul when they are criticized by quoting the errantly translated "Judge not lest you be judged" out of context. By so doing, they are implying that those who are critically evaluating their pontifications are wrong for doing so. But that cannot possibly be what this passage means because the entire presentation is a critical and judgmental evaluation of false teaching and bad behavior.

God is making a very astute point. Life is about choice, about being set-apart unto Him as opposed to being separated from Him. And choice requires discernment, discrimination, and judgment. Implied and implicit in these words is that the choice to associate with Yahweh, to trust and rely on Him, renders us free of judgment, while the choice to lead people away from God, to separate mankind from Yahweh, leads to being judged, to being evaluated, to being associated with the Adversary, to being separated, condemned, cast down, and punished. "Separate, and you will be separated."

Incidentally, the deceivers and the deceived will not receive the same fate. That is why Yahweh included dispirit penalties in His list. The deceived, those who "denote the kind of character" delineated in Paul’s soliloquy, will "deserve the sentence of death and destruction," that is the dissipation of their souls. But "those who repeatedly practice and habitually promote separation from God," leading others astray, will "deserve the sentence of perdition and misery," that is perpetual anguish in the abyss. Both victim and perpetrator, however, "are worthy of being excluded from the presence and favor of God."

This passage is also an essay on hypocrisy. God knows that those who preach tolerance are only tolerant of those who agree with them. He recognizes that those who promote deceptions in religious institutions, from political rostrums, and inside classrooms are the most dangerous people on earth. They damn not only themselves but all who listen to them.

So what Yahuweh is revealing through Paul is the nature, means, symptoms, and consequence of men who contrive religious doctrines and political dogmas. These are manmade constructs which must be exposed and condemned when they counterfeit or contradict Scripture. But knowing character and methods of those who lead others astray, Yahweh has told us that these men are hypocrites and that He will judge them just as they condemn others for that which they themselves are guilty of doing.  

Those Those who preach lies, those who exchange the corruptions of man for the truth as revealed by God, will be hung by a rope they themselves wove. "The separation (krino) of man (anthropos) is in reasoned accordance with the truth (logizomai - logical and fair based upon the evidence, the accounting of debits and credits) and thus is consistent and fair with regard to those who practice (prassontas) such things (toioutos). Do you suppose that when you separate, condemn, punish, and damn others that you, yourself, will escape separation from (krino - the judgment, sentence, condemnation, and damnation of) God?" (Romans 2:3)

The religious clerics preaching in today’s churches, synagogues and mosques are, in many ways, indistinguishable from those Paul spoke against in Rome. Their whitewashed deceptions were similarly beguiling. As such, the religion of Lord/Ba’al, so abhorrent in Yahweh’s eyes, has been reborn wholesale in Roman Catholicism and Islam and then to diminishing degrees in Communism, Secular Humanism, and Protestantism. This makes every word Yahweh inspired Paul to write as pertinent to our time as they were relevant to the prophet’s and preacher’s original audiences.

The politicians parading in today’s world, as they pontificate in the media and statehouses, are remarkably similar to those Paul judged. Their caustic mix of half truths and lies has led to the place we are about to find ourselves. So by understanding Yahweh’s frustration with the political landscape of the Northern Kingdom circa 720 BCE and Paul’s Rome circa 50 CE, we can judge our political parties and politicians using God’s criterion. We can set the symptoms we are witnessing today along side the list this open letter has provided to determine how we are fairing as a society. If the match is near perfect, we’re in trouble. 

Equally consistent with yesteryear and today, is the peoples’ universal ignorance, immorality and unfaithfulness, especially as it is manifest in America, Europe, Israel, and throughout the Middle East. God was not, and is not, pleased. He has revealed as clearly as words allow: "My people are destroyed for lack of yada - knowing." Therefore, it is time we pause, listen, and thoughtfully consider what Yahuweh has to say.

Speaking through His prophet, a man named Salvation, Yahuweh used several different words to emphasize the importance of "listening" in the opening stanza of the fifth chapter of Hosea: "Hear this (shama - listen to and understand this, process the information, hear and be heard, receive the news, publish, report and proclaim it, summon the people and communicate this to them), priests! (kohen - clerics, religious officials, ministers, those who perform rites and rituals). Pay attention (qashab - be attentive, heed, accept this information as true and respond to it), people of Israel! Listen to this (azan - hear, perceive, ponder and consider carefully; listen to this message and focus on understanding it and then responding to it appropriately, weigh and test it, giving serious, logical and rational thought to this subject; hearken to this news and obey), political leaders (melek - kings, rulers, governmental heads of state, political leaders with social, military and/or religious authority)! For the judgment applies to you." (Hosea 5:1)

Yahuweh has divided society into three segments: clerics, people, and politicians. I believe that they are listed in this order for a reason. If preachers were to preach the truth - the whole truth and nothing but the truth - from Yahweh’s Scriptures, the people would be saved and the nation would get good government. If they don’t, the people will be destroyed for lack of knowledge and understanding. Aiding and abetting their destruction, they will choose leaders on the basis of the lesser of two evils. They will get the government they deserve - one in which bad leaders will beguile their ignorant nation to its doom.

Yahuweh’s list matches his commandments, the greatest of which is to love Yahweh our God with all our hearts, soul, and minds. The second is to love our neighbor as ourselves. The relationship with God comes first. When it’s right, everything else falls into place. The people no longer need to be governed because Yahweh is in charge. This is the underlying principle of New Covenant grace. The law transitions from indicting to instructing, from binding to benefiting.

Since He elected to use a different word for "listen" for ministers, for individuals and for politicos, let’s see if we can ascertain why. For the clerics, the priests and ministers, God choose shama. Its uniqueness is that after "listening and understanding," after "receiving the news," the clerics were told to "process the information" and then "publish, report and proclaim it." They were asked to "summon the people and communicate Yahuweh’s report to them." So it’s: hear the truth, understand the truth, preach the truth."

For the people, God selected qashab. He wants His people - Yahudim and Ekklesia - to: "Pay Attention!" If we prefer salvation to destruction we must: "be attentive, accept Yahuweh’s message as true, and respond appropriately to it." Not everyone is called to preach, but we are all called to pay attention to our relationship with God, to listen attentively to His Scripture, and respond correctly.

For the nation’s leaders, Yahuweh used azan. Rather than pontificate their agenda, God wanted politicians to: "perceive, ponder and consider carefully" His instructions. He asked the politicians to: "listen to His message, focus on understanding it, so that they could act properly." Today’s lawyers turned politicians would do well to: "weigh and test it, giving serious, logical and rational thought to the subject of Scripture." From God’s perspective, it is their duty to "hearken to His news and obey it." If politicians are to guide their nations responsibly, they must be keenly aware of God’s plan.

The opening salvo’s last line, however, tells us that the priests, people and politicians were in this mess together. No one had listened so "The judgment (mishpat - act of deciding a legal dispute or court case; this decision, verdict and sentence; this official proclamation, dispute and condition; this written command which is to be obeyed with penalties for non-compliance) applies to you."

"For you have been a snare (pach - a trap which ensnares, confines and controls others; a plot which is a source danger and calamity) at Mizpah (mitspeh - observatory or watchtower), and a net (resheth - mesh used for catching animals, a snare that captures and restrains it prey) spread out on Tabor. And the rebels (set - insurgents, ones who turn away in defiance from authority, those who swerve, revolt, and fall away) have gone deep (amaq - are in a profoundly difficult position based upon ignorance, are in a deep hole from which they cannot be seen or found, a place of mystery and secrecy) in depravity (shacitah - killing, slaughtering, sacrificing, and beating humans under the guise of religion), But I will chastise (muwcar - discipline, chastise, correct with a minor punishment to teaching, rebuke, inflict a judicial penalty based on a standard, warn by predicting future events so as to change current behavior) all of them." (Hosea 5:1-2)

This is the nature of politics and religion. They mislead and ensnare their prey. Those who succumb, do so out of ignorance. And once trapped, they quickly find themselves in a deep and dark hole from which there is no escape. As the 20^th century demonstrated vividly, the "poligious" doctrines of Nazism, Imperialism, and Communism caused over 100,000,000 people’s lives to be sacrificed to the schemes of men. But by the end of the second decade of the 21^st, century, that will look like child’s play. Islam, the poligious doctrine that made slaughtering humans a form of worship, will start a war that will claim 1.5 billion souls.

The two towns God referenced are telling. Mizpah’s gruesome tale begins in Judges 19:10 and runs through the end of the book. The Israelites were gathered together, including chiefs and clerics "to consider, take counsel, and speak up" about an immoral and criminal "wickedness that had taken place." A woman had been raped, murdered, and mutilated by a mob of Benjamites. "Then the sons of Israel said, ‘Who is there among all the tribes of Israel who did not come up to the assembly of Yahuweh?’ For they had taken a great oath concerning those who did not respond to Yahweh at Mizpah, saying, ‘He shall surely be put to death.’ One tribe is cut off from Israel today."

Tabor is cloaked in unfaithfulness. The account begins in chapter 4 of Judges. "Then the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of Yahuweh. ..They cried to Yahuweh because the Canaanites had 900 iron chariots, and had used them to severely oppress the Israelites for twenty years." Sadly, after all of the victories Yahuweh had given the Israelites against vastly superior forces, the Jews quivered in the site of Sisera, the Canaanite general. They were ensnared in the trap of self reliance. Then finally, a woman prophet named Deborah, held their hand and liberated their faith. Together they marched into battle based upon a promise she had received from God. The Jews were victorious.

The last line of the second verse is important because of Yahuweh’s choice of words. He chose muwcar to demonstrate that His response to Israel’s rebelliousness and depravity was parental love. The discipline was designed to correct their attitude and behavior. His chastisement was a judicial penalty based on a fair and known standard - the Torah. And, in essence, the whole book of Hosea is a warning to the Jews of the future that awaits them if they don’t get their act together.

"I know and understand (yada) Ephraim [used collectively for the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom], and Israel is not hidden (kachad - concealed, effaced, completely cut off) from Me. For now, Ephraim, you have been unfaithful, immoral, and unreliable, and Israel has defiled itself (tame - been unclean and impure; demonstrated improper spiritual, social and sexual behavior, has a well earned and well known bad reputation). Their deeds (maalal - acts, practices or habits, dealings and activities) will not allow healing (yatan -the removal of the disease or eternal life) for them to return to (shub - change, turn around, believe, recover and then be restored to) their God. For a spirit of illegitimacy (zenunim - unfaithfulness, immorality and untrustworthiness) is within them (qereb - in their inner parts, in their gut, womb, and corpse, in their midst and group, in close proximity, in their thoughts and emotions). And they do not know or understand (yada) Yahuweh." (Hosea 5:3-4)

God wants to make sure that we don’t misinterpret His judgment so He is explaining it Himself. The verse says that God is aware of our "improper spiritual, social and sexual behavior," and that it has "completely cut us off" from Him. Whereas "we are destroyed for lack of knowledge and understanding," we are separated for "improper behavior." It’s the one-two-three of Scripture. If we don’t know and understand Yahuweh’s nature and His Scripture we will act sinfully. The consequence of sin is judgment leading directly to separation from God. One leads to the other and then to the next. This is the one way road down hill to hell. While there are many lanes, each with their own names and scenery, there are no off ramps on this thoroughfare. And the toll will cost you your soul.

There is another one way road, albeit much narrower, that goes in the opposite direction. Hosea has told us, and will tell us again, that Yahuweh came to earth to pay our toll. That’s why the prophetic book and the prophesized Messiah were named Savior.

But there is a catch, one that Yahuweh has repeatedly revealed throughout Hosea. Once you start heading down the highway to hell there is no turning back. The verse says: "Their acts, practices and habits will not allow healing or eternal life for them, nor the opportunity to change, to turn around, believe, recover, return, and then be restored to God." And that is because.."a spirit of illegitimacy, unfaithfulness, immorality and untrustworthiness is within them, in their inner gut, womb, and corpse, in their midst and in their group, in close proximity to them, in their thoughts and emotions." Once a person gets going downhill with the wrong crowd it’s hard, if not impossible, to recover. It doesn’t take long before Halal’s spirit of "illegitimacy, unfaithfulness, immorality and untrustworthiness" permeates that person and every one around them. As Allah’s Islam has vividly demonstrated, the spirit of lies turns people into corpses and wombs into terrorist factories. The religion of Lord Baal, like Allah’s Islam, is a deadly and incurable disease. It turns emotions to rage and minds to mush. Islam, like Baalism, is "a snare for souls, a trap which controls others, a dangerous and calamitous plot." These religions, like all religions, are "a net used for catching and restraining unsuspecting prey" turning them into "rebels" against God, "insurgents, who turn away in defiance from His authority." It takes them down into a "deep hole of ignorance from which they cannot be saved." It causes them to be "depraved, slaughtering and sacrificing humans under the guise of religion."

Yahuweh cannot and will not tolerate any trace of such deception or depravity in His presence. Therefore, if you are religious, this judgment is for you: "And they do not know or understand (yada) Yahuweh."

Yada means more than "to know and understand," although, when associated with Yahuweh, to know Him and understand Him is sufficient. But since yada is the source of our healing and reconciliation, our eternal salvation, all possible renderings are worthy of our consideration. According to the New American Standard Hebrew Dictionary, "yada" is translated the following ways (and times) in Scripture: to acknowledge (6), to be acquainted with (6), to be aware of (6), to choose (2), to comprehend (1), to be concerned with (3), to consider and discern (6), to discover (3), to experience (5), to be a familiar and intimate friend (4), to find (6), to have knowledge of (13), to have relations with (10), to be informed about (5), to investigate (2), to know and to be known, knew and knows (700), to know for certain (8), to learn about (8), to make someone or something known (40), to notice and observe (6), to perceive and realize (10), to recognize and regard (4), to teach, instruct, and declare (17), to understand (12). Yada is used nearly 1000 times in Scripture, an impressive number until you come to know and understand that Yahuweh is rendered seven fold for every one. So it all comes down to who you know, how much you understand, and what you do about it.

"Moreover, the pride and arrogance of Israel testifies (anah - is a conspicuous announcement, a mistake that is shouted out) against him. Therefore, Israel and Ephraim stumble (kashal - stagger and fall as a result of being feeble and weak) in their iniquity (avon - perversity, depravity, evil, and guilt); Judah also has stumbled with them." (Hosea 5:5) Pride and arrogance form the foundation of self reliance. It is a condition that leads away from dependence upon God. And no matter how productive and powerful a nation might be, no matter how impervious its defenses appear or how stellar its collective intellect, societies that separate themselves from God quickly find that their productivity, power, and pride are a mirage.

"They will wander about (halak - come and go, walking through life) with their flocks to seek (baqash - desiring the presence of, to try to reestablish a relationship with, search for information about) Yahuweh, but they will not find (matsa - discover, locate, learn about, attain, meet up with, encounter, experience, or possess) Him; He has withdrawn (chalets - removed Himself, left, withdrawn, become disassociated) from them. They have been unfaithful with (bagad -deceitful, untrustworthy, unreliable, immoral, offensive; demonstrating spiritual treachery and betrayal toward) Yahuweh. For they have fathered and brought forth children who are strangers (zuwr - those who are estranged, separated, alienated, deserted, turned aside, abandoned)." (Hosea 5:6-7)

It is the nature of man, his societies, religions and cultures. The masses, surrounded by their possessions, wander aimlessly through life enshrouded by a milieu of lies and deceptions. The people want to know God, but thanks to the arrogant schemes of clerics and kings, Yahuweh cannot be found in the fog of religion, culture, and politics. Ignorant, the masses are easily deceived. Liars beget lies. And so it goes until most everyone is "deceitful, untrustworthy, unreliable, immoral and offensive toward Yahuweh" and amongst themselves. Men become "strangers, separated" from God, "alienated and abandoned."  It is not a good place to be, but it is where we find ourselves.

As a result, this will be our lot, our destiny, our just reward.."So then the crescent moon will devour (akal - consume, destroy, ruin, burn up causing devastation, plunder, wipe out that which is valuable, devour wealth,) them with their land." (Hosea 5:7) There are thousands of words Yahuweh could have chosen instead of hodes to illustrate the source of Israel’s, and by extension America’s, torment and doom. I include America because throughout Hosea, Yahuweh’s audience is "My people." Not only are there more Jews in America then there are in Israel, My People also includes the ekklesia of Gentiles, more of which call America home than any other nation on earth. The hodes, or new moon, is of course the symbol of Islam - the Satanic dogma conceived to "plunder and destroy" Christians and Jews. Muslims have attacked and will continue to attack and kill Americas and Israelis, coveting every speck of land upon which we trod. Celebrating Lord Baal’s holy months, and reveling in Halal’s cause, Muslims are incapable of creating anything, but they are perfectly suited to "devour the wealth" of other nations, "wiping out that which is valuable, burning, destroying, and causing devastation."

Islam wasn’t the first Satanic religion to slaughter God’s people under the sign of a crescent moon. The Hastings Encyclopedia of Religion says: "Allah is a pre-Islamic name corresponding to the Babylonian god known as Bel. Bel, like Baal, means ‘lord’ and is a title of reverence to the moon god Sin." So hodes was the prefect prophetic word. With it Yahuweh revealed what awaited His people around the next bend and much further down stream. Even the name of Hosea’s unfaithful wife "Gomer" fits this model. Ezekiel tells us that Gomer is a proud partner in the Magog alliance - the all Islamic war against Israel in the last days.   

"Blow the horn in Gibeah, The trumpet in Ramah. Sound an alarm at Bethaven: ‘Behind you, Benjamin!’  Ephraim will become a desolation (shammah - waste, horror, appalment) in the day of rebuke (towkechah - rebuke, correction, reproof, punishment, chastisement)." (Hosea 5:8-9)

Towqeim, the word translated "blow," also means to use "a nonverbal signal that a promise will be kept." It is a "handshake and a pledge." These concepts are particularly relevant in regard to prophecies predicting how self reliance and separation from God will lead to destruction at the hands of those who plunder under the banner of the crescent moon. The showphar, or horn, is the device Yahuweh selected to herald His announcements. The first of the three fall Festivals of Yahuweh is the Feast of Showphar, or Trumpets. It heralds Atonement and Tabernacles - symbolizing the forgiveness of sin which enables us to live eternally with God.

Gibeah is the place where religion and politics first collide in Scripture. A band of prophets met there to appoint Saul king. Evidently, as a tall, handsome and rich man, he fit their criterion perfectly. And it was at Gibeah that David recovered the Ark of the Covenant from Philistine captivity. While the root of Gibeah means hill, it can also be translated "turban," indicative of the head gear worn by Muslims.

Ramah was the place Isaiah had predicted the Assyrians would advance toward Jerusalem. The Hebrew root means "the height of idolatry." Ramah’s closest cognitive, rimah, is "maggot," the revolting creatures said to cover the fallen angel, Halal of the Sahar or Sunrise. Therefore it’s interesting that Baker and Carpenter’s Complete Word Study Dictionary says: "Alah is used with sahar to indicate sun rise." Moreover, sahar is the root of "saharon" in the Judges 8:21 reference to the "crescent moon" religious medallions worn by the camels of the Ishmaelites - the acclaimed forefathers of Muslims. This helps tie Ishmael and Islam, Alah and Halal, together by way of their chosen symbol, the crescent moon.   

Ru’a, the Hebrew word for "sound the alarm," means: "to publicly signal with a loud noise so as to warn the people about a future action, especially the start of a battle. And that’s foreboding because "Bethaven" means the "house of trouble, wickedness, affliction, distress, evil, falsehood, harm, idols, iniquity, misfortune, vanity, and sorrow." This foe sounds a lot like the poligious dogmas of men - the deadly brew of religion and politics that destroyed Israel and is destroying America.

"And after them, Benjamin," is how Hosea concludes his prophetic warning to the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom represented by Ephraim. With Benjamin next, only Judah was left to deliver future prophets and the Messiah.

"Ephraim shall be desolate (shamah - become something ugly and horrible, be terrorized and devastated) in the day of rebuke (towkechah - time of reckoning for guilt incurred). Among the tribes of Israel I know and declare (yada) what is sure (aman - confirmed, trustworthy, reliable, assured and established)." Yahuweh’s prophetic Scriptures aren’t a good guess; they are so reliable that they are assured.

Judah reminds me of America, circa 2005. Our people are better than our leaders. "The political leaders of Judah have become a faithless (sug -alienated, disloyal, untrustworthy and retreating) administration; On them I will pour out My wrath (ebrah - intense displeasure) like water." (Hosea 5:9-10)

Ephraim reminds me of what Europe currently is and what America is about to become. "Ephraim is defrauded (asaq - disadvantaged, deceived, extorted, cheated, and oppressed), harassed (ratsats - oppressed, troubled, tormented by an enemy, stricken and shattered by a foe, broken) in judgment, because he was determined (ya’al - willing and pleased) to follow man’s worthless dogmas (tsaw - garbage, filth, nonsense, mockery, futility, unclear commands and precepts; unsubstantial, worthless, fake gods; unjustified authority and meaningless plans and predictions)." (Hosea 5:11)

Asaq is concerned with the abuse of power and authority, trampling the rights of the people and unjustly burdening them. Asaq suggests that the people are tormented and abused. Ratsats and its derivatives suggest that the nation is broken into pieces and bruised as a result of rottenness and decay and/or crushing oppression. Ya’al speaks of individuals voluntarily accepting and following an encouraging invitation. Tsaw literally means "blah-blah." It is "a disparaging term for idols, the worthless nothings of gods." In this context, tsaw "signifies man’s willingness to follow human commands in contrast to God’s instructions." So collectively, this verse is focused on the abuse of power; it is about the consequence of politics and religion. The people who submit to man’s doctrines and regimes are "disadvantaged" because their clerics and kings are "deceiving and extorting them, cheating them." Weakened, the nation and its people become easy prey. They are "tormented, stricken, and shattered by their enemy and ultimately broken." The politicians, and the ministers who kowtow to them, profess "garbage, nonsense, and filth." Their words, plans, and prognostications are worthless. It almost seems as if Hosea were reading one of today’s newspapers.

Hosea was not alone. Zephaniah quoted Yahuweh condemning the religious establishment and their congregations: "I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place [Jerusalem], and the names of the idolatrous priests along with the temple priests, and those who bow down to the hosts of heaven [sun, moon, stars and planets], and those who bow down and swear to Yahuweh and yet swear by Molech [the name of a sun god; from malak, meaning to ascend to the throne so as to be set up as the supreme ruler], and those who have turned back from following Yahuweh, and those who have not sought Yahuweh or inquired of Him... I will punish the political rulers and all who clothe themselves with deception." (Zephaniah 1:4-8) We will cover Zephaniah’s prophecies regarding Yahuweh’s Messianic sacrifice, a remnant of Jews being called back into the land, the advent of the Tribulation, the fate of Israel’s Islamic enemies in Magog war, as well as the ultimate fate of Satan and his poligious allies when we arrive at this point in history.

In Lamentations 2:14, the same theme is repeated: "Your prophets have seen for you false, foolish and deceptive visions. They have not exposed your iniquity so as to restore you, bringing you back out of your captivity, but have envisioned for you false prophecies and delusions. And all who pass by clap their hand s in derision at you; they hiss and shake their heads..your enemies open their mouths wide against you, hissing and gnashing their teeth."

This next passage is indicative of America’s spiritual sickness causing its president to beg Saudi Arabia, the home of Islamic terror, to help the nation repulse Islamic terror following the wounding of 9/11. "When Ephraim saw and considered his sickness (chaliy - illness, disease, injury, affliction), and Judah his wound (mazwr - superficial sore, boil, ulcer, infection), Ephraim went to Assyria and pleaded with King Jareb. But he is unable to heal you (rapha - restore your heath, repair you), or to cure you (gaha - set you free from the guilt) of your wound." (Hosea 5:13) Ephraim was internally diseased with false religions and fraudulent politicians. The nation was beyond hope. Judah’s wounds, while nasty, were still superficial. While politicians and priests could not cure her, ultimately God could and would. What’s interesting is that Hosea’s Israel, like today’s America, didn’t want to acknowledge the cause of their infirmity. They wanted to blame external sources rather than accept responsibility for their disease. Their sickness, like ours, was within. Denial only accelerated the decline.

After telling the Jews that He will be like a large predator, a fierce lion, to them, ripping them apart, Yahuweh explains: "I will go away and return to My place until they acknowledge their guilt (asher asam - relate to and associate with their culpability, acknowledge their liability for wrongdoing) and seek My presence. In their affliction  (tsar - distress, oppression at the hand of their enemy, anguish by way of their adversary) they will earnestly seek to establish a relationship with Me." (Hosea 5:15) This is the intermission spoken of earlier. For eleven of the twelve tribes it would last 2,700 years, for Judah, precisely 2,000 years. When we connect the subtleties of tsar with Hosea’s next lines and the prophecies in Ezekiel and Revelation we discover that this reconciliation occurs during the Magog war. The Jews find themselves in a vice. On one side is their most oppressive enemy, Ishmael’s descendants, the Muslims, whose hand has been against them since the Covenant was initially established. Opposing them is Satan, the Adversary himself, in the guise of the Antichrist - an opponent who has anguished and bruised God’s people since time immemorial.

What happens next in this poligious milieu of God’s people is best explained by Paul in his letter to the Romans. He transitions from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant, from the law to grace, from azab to beriyth. He began quoting from the Psalms: "As it is written, ‘There is none righteous, not even one. There is none who understands. No one searches for God. All have turned away, together the people have become useless. There is none who does good; there is not even one.’ (Romans 3:10-12 from Psalms 14:1-3)

"‘Their mouth is an open grave. With their tongues they keep deceiving. The poison of serpents [demons] is under their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their paths. And the path of peace they have not known. There is no reverence for God in their presence.’ (Romans 3:13-18 from Psalms 5:9, 140:3, 10:7, 36:1, and Isaiah 59:7)

"Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, that every mouth may be closed [be without excuse], and all the world may become accountable to God. Because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets. The righteousness of God is received through faith in Messiah Yahushua for all those who believe; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified by way of His gift as a result of His grace through the redemption which is in Messiah Yahushua whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God, He passed over the sins previously committed. For by this demonstration, He might be just and be the justifier of the one who has faith in Yahushua." (Romans 3:19-26)

This is how Hosea predicted the demonstration would occur. "Come, let us return to (shuwb - turn around, change, restore, and reestablish our relationship with) Yahuweh. For He has torn us (taraph - expelled us, chased us away, and banished us), but He will heal us (rapha - promote restoration, cure our diseased and injured state, thoroughly mend and completely repair us, make us whole). He has stricken us (nakah - smitten and inflicted us, subjugated and chastised us, send judgment upon us to punish us), but He will wrap Himself around us (chabash - healing us and bandaging us, wrap clothing around us, bind us to Him and govern us, encourage us, speaking words which hearten and enliven our feelings and attitudes)." (Hosea 6:1)

The divorce is over; the relationship has been restored. Love and fellowship have replaced anguish and infidelity. But how is that possible? God’s people had been judged according to the Law and found guilty. They had been sentenced for their crimes. How could God remain just and yet justify them?

Yahuweh’s only remedy for the consequence of sin, His only means of restoring His relationship with men who had sinned, was blood atonement by way of a sacrificial lamb. But this was only a temporary fix which is why it had to be repeated annually during each of the seven Festivals of Yahuweh. But it only treated the symptoms; it did not cure the disease. Yet this verse says that the Jews who had been expelled and banished would be restored and cured - the relationship "thoroughly mended" and the injury "completely repaired." The Jews who had been chastised and punished as a result of abandoning the Covenant and violating the law, would now find God wrapping them in spiritual clothes, encouraging them, and restoring them to life and to fellowship. They would be saved and preserved - healed forever!

For God to justify this and still remain just would require a universal provision, the perfect and eternal Lamb, a Savior, the ultimate sacrifice, someone willing to take on the sins of the world and bear the punishment Himself. The only possible explanation, the only possible candidate is the one described by Hosea’s predecessor, the prophet named Yahuweh-Has-Saved: "Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried. Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our well being fell upon Him. And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way. But Yahuweh has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him..a Lamb led to the slaughter..for the transgression of My people to whom the stroke was due... He Himself bore the sins of many and interceded for the transgressors." (Isaiah 53)

The Messiah’s gift brought permanent healing and redemption. He would be, was, and is, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

While Yahuweh performed as promised, hanging on a cross on Passover in 33 A.D., the Jews preformed as before, putting their God there. So there would be another intermission from the time of the healing to the time of redemption. According to Yahuweh, it would take the Jews 2,000 years to accept His gift. Remember, "a day is like a thousand years to Yahuweh" So.."After two days He will revive us (chayah - restore us to life and keep us alive, save us, revive, spare, sustain, and preserve our lives, heal us so we can live forever). On the third day He will raise us up (quwm - arise; it will be accomplished, confirmed and fulfilled) and we shall live (chayah - be restored to life, our lives saved, sustained, and preserved, heal us so we can live forever) in His presence." (Hosea 6:2)

The Hebrew word translated "after" is min. It was chosen with great precision. It tells us that the Jews will be revived and restored after 2,000 years "from the marker of the source of an event." The event is described in the previous sentence: "the absolute cure for disease and injury, the thorough mending and completely repairing, the event of redemption and salvation, the healing that enabled eternal life." That means that 2,000 years from the marker of the Messiah’s sacrifice, Jews will be restored to fellowship. If Yahuweh’s dating is as precise as His word choice, we can expect the final return to beriyth to occur in 2033, 2,000 years after the crucifixion and resurrection.

And so that the Yahudim wouldn’t miss this marker, Yahuweh revealed the precise day the Messiah would walk into Jerusalem and perform as promised to the prophet Daniel, over 500 years in advance of the event. The timeline had been established from beginning to end. All that remained was the sum of individual choices that would march us toward our ultimate rendezvous with God.

Anytime we find a Hebrew word based upon hayah, as chayah most certainly is, we would be wise to examine it carefully as hayah is the verb Yahuweh said formed the basis of His name. So in this context, Yahweh could be saying: "After two days I Am." And this would make perfect sense based upon the prophecies we will examine later. According to Scripture, I Am returns in His Messianic manifestation, Yahushua, on the Day of Atonement in the seventh year of the Tribulation. Collectively, the remnant of Jews who survive till that time, universally and nationally, accept Him and His gift of eternal life. Yahuweh will clothe them in His Spirit and raise them up five days later - on the Feast of Tabernacles - which begins the Millennium. It is the first day of forever.  

Quwm means "to rise up from a prostrate position," thus it suggests "resurrection from the dead." Quwm is used to describe a person who arises and "ascends to the heights." Each quwm subtlety fits the Messiah and His ability to fulfill and confirm prophecy, save His people, and raise them from physical and spiritual death to everlasting life. Yahushua said, "It is finished" and quwm means "it is accomplished." The Messiah said, "I came to confirm the law," and quwm means "to confirm." Yahuweh told Moses the He would abide with men and quwm means "to abide."

Earlier in Hosea, and later in Revelation, Yahuweh said the He provided a doorway from this temporal life to immortality. This is consistent with quwm as well which means: "enter a portal which opens from one spatial position to another." Similarly it means: "to make good, to lift up, to rise up, and to reestablish." Even its root means "standing grain" - symbolic for the redemption and salvation of the saints depicted in the Firstfruits Harvest.

The third day is the Millennium, the thousand year Sabbath that follows the Tribulation. It begins on the Feast of Tabernacles because that is the Festival that celebrates God living in our presence. While this is the seventh day starting with the fall of man, it is the third day starting with the salvation of man.

There is another way of looking at this prophetic passage that Paul sees as complementary. In the fifteenth chapter of his letter to the Greeks in Corinth, Paul made reference to Isaiah 53, Psalm 22, and Hosea 6, when he said: "Now I make known to you, brethren, the good news which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, and by which you are saved if you hold fast to the word which I preached to you. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that the Messiah died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures." After two days Yahushua was restored and on the third day He arose.

One thousand years before the Messiah’s atoning sacrifice, David penned this Psalm, prophetically speaking of that day: "I will extol You, Yahuweh, for You have lifted me up and have not let my enemies rejoice over me. O Yahuweh, my God, I cried to You for help and You healed me. O Yahuweh, You have brought up my soul from Sheol. You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. Sing praise to Yahuweh His godly ones, and give thanks to His holy name, for His anguish is but for a moment; His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning."

While it’s hard to just move on in the presence of such a marvelous revelation, after such a wonderful prophetic gift from our God, there is much more to learn. Revived and restored.."Then we shall understand (yada); let us press on (radaph) to know (yada) Yahuweh. His act of reaching out and speaking (mowtsa) to us, His habits and patterns, His behavior and conduct (mowtsa), His journey from His special orientation to ours (mowtsa), His way out that He has prepared, fashioned and formed (kun), His portal exit (mowtsa) that He has developed and made ready (kun), is as established and certain (kun) as the dawn." (Hosea 6:3)

Radaph yada means: "to pursue knowing, to make a considerable and focused effort to strive after understanding." For to know Yahuweh is to live forever; to understand Yahuweh is to live joyously and productively. Mowtsa and kun obviously mean many things, all of which are important in this context of knowing Yahuweh and striving to understand His provision. Mowtsa is an active verb. It tells us that Deists are wrong. God not only created us, He is actively engaged in revealing Himself to us and restoring us into fellowship with Him. Mowtsa tells us that God has "gone out and spoken to us." He calls this Scripture. By using mowtsa God is telling us that He has "set the stage" in this drama of "man’s journey" from azab to beriyth. But also that He is "part of this journey, moving along" with us "revealing His nature and behavior, His character and conduct. Mowtsa was chosen because it tells us that Yahuweh will leave His "spatial orientation" - four dimensional spirit realm - to "travel to another place" - our temporal three dimensional realm. He will "go out and perform this act" to provide us with "an exit, a portal, or doorway" from azab to beriyth, from separation to relationship. As a verb and noun, mowtsa/motsa is both the "act of providing the egress and the source of the exit." As such, Mowtsa/motsa defines the Messiah’s mission and His nature. A motsa is a "word capable of exporting us through a gate." Remember, words are God’s symbols - they represent Him. Yahuweh is the Word; Yahushua is the Word in the flesh.     

 Mowtsa used in conjunction with kuwn helps us know Yahuweh and understand His plan. Kuwn tells that Yahweh personally "formed, fashioned, and developed" the portal. Yahweh "shaped" the Messiah, He "readied Himself, appointed and prepared Himself" to be our means of escape. From God’s perspective, to be appointed is to be anointed. Mowtsa kun means that He has "established Himself as our foundation." These words tell us that Yahuweh prepared this solution, this remedy, this healing, our salvation, and made it ready long before our time. Kuwh confirms that Yahuweh is "our support," and that "can be trusted" because He is "loyal and reliable." It tells us that His plan is "ordained, arranged, confirmed, secure, firm, durable, enduring, eternal, decided, and authentic." Kuwh means that He "prepared and established" His Word so that we would know and understand these things. It is little wonder that Yahweh chose words to represent Him. Used with the precision manifest by the universe’s Creator, they are more revealing than creation itself.

"He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain watering (yarah) the earth." Yarah is symbolic of the purpose of God’s Scripture. It "directs, teaches, and instructs" us. The rain that Hosea is predicting is explained in Joel. As this verse suggests, it will come in two waves - the sixth and seventh advent of Messiah - salvation and restoration. "Do not fear, rejoice and be glad, for Yahuweh has done great things...the wilderness has been turned green [azab separation is now beriyth relationship] and the tree has borne its fruit. The fig tree and the vine have yielded in full [bringing universal peace, prosperity, and salvation]. So rejoice O sons of Zion, be glad in Yahuweh your God, for He has given you the early rain for you vindication. [Being washed in the rain of the Messiah’s blood, His atoning sacrifice, vindicates us, making us right with God.] And He has poured down for you the rain, the early and the latter rain as before. [The latter rain is the Messiah as before, but this time, there is acceptance and thus reunion.] And the threshing floors will be full of grain, and the vats will overflow with the new wine and oil. [At the Messiah’s final return, many will be saved by the grace of the New Covenant and be anointed by His Spirit.]

"Then I will make up to you for the years that the swarming, creeping, stripping, and gnawing locusts, the great armies sent among you. [All of which terrorized God’s chosen people because they served Halal - known then as Lord Baal and today as Allah.] And you shall have plenty to eat and be satisfied, and praise the name of Yahuweh your God who has dealt wondrously with you. [At this reunion, Jews will become Yahudim again and praise Yahuweh by name.] Then My people will never again be put to shame. Thus you will know that I Am in the midst of Israel, and that I Am Yahuweh your God, and that there is no other. [To know Yahuweh and to understand that He alone is God, is to live. To not know Him and to not understand this is to die.]

"And it will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind. And your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams; your young men will see visions. And even on the savants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. [In the Millennium, everyone is immersed in Yahuweh’s Spirit and lives in His presence. The creation will know and understand their Creator just as their Creator knows and understands them.]

"And I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth. Blood, fire and columns of smoke. [This depicts the termination of the Magog and Armageddon wars.] The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and awesome day of Yahuweh comes. [Satan in the guise of the sun god Baal and the moon god Allah, and his followers will be separated and cast into the pit.] And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of Yahuweh will be delivered." (Joel 2) That has always been so, it is so, and will always be so. So, saying Yahuweh’s name, and relying upon Him, is the means to salvation.

We’ll review the final chapter of Joel when we arrive at this point in God’s chronology. But for now, it was important for you to know that all of Yahuweh’s prophets speak with one voice. Each augments and amplifies the other.

Yahuweh had prepared His provision. He knew that reconciliation would eventually occur. But He also knew that it would take a very long time. It would be 2,700 years before He would be able to hold His children in His arms. This grieved God. What follows is like a father anguishing over his wayward children. "What shall I do with you, Ephraim? What shall I do with you, Judah? For your love (checed - goodness, kindness, and faithfulness) is like a morning cloud, and like the dew which fades away early." (Hosea 6:4) Chesed is used twenty-six times in the 136^th Psalm to demonstrate that Yahuweh’s love and mercy are eternal and that His faithfulness and kindness serve as the foundation for His actions. Since we were made in His image, these are the characteristics that once exemplified our nature. But alas, we have fallen. As a result, most people manifest a different nature, one more in keeping with the spirit of their god. It is why Muslims are terrorists and why they celebrate murder and mutilation. It is why secular humanists are arrogant and delusional, having appointed themselves man’s legal guardian. 

"Therefore (ken - to be honest, to be truthful and do what is just, right and correct) I have divided them out (chatseb) by the prophets. I have slain them by the words of My mouth. The judgments on you are like the light that goes forth." (Hosea 6:5) This is God’s dilemma. He cannot be honest, truthful and just and capriciously forgive sin. Spiritual chaos would result. So people have to be divided into two groups: azab and beriyth. It is why the Messiah Yahushua, the only bridge between them, said, "I did not come to cast peace on the earth but to bring division..He who does not take his pole and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life shall lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake shall find it. He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me."

Chatseb literally means: "to carve and scoop out stones from a quarry or cistern." It is "to cut one object off from another and to separate the pieces." It’s closest cognitive, chatsab, means to use a bright light to kindle a fire causing things to be stirred up." It’s interesting that chaseb means "to be a stone mason" - the very job Yahushua had in his youth.

In this passage, we have confirmed what we have learned throughout Hosea: God judges people in accordance with His revelation. It is why Paul wrote: "For the gospel is the power of God for salvation to every one who believes, the Jew first and also to the Greek... That which is known about God is evident within them, for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood thorough what has been made, so that they are without excuse... But man became futile in his speculations, and his foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man. Therefore God gave them over to their lusts and impurity, that their flesh might be dishonored. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature [Satan] rather than the Creator."  God’s revelation - His creation, His Word, His Messianic manifestation, and His Spirit - are the dividing line. Halal is on one side; Yahuweh is on the other.

The Hebrew word translated "judgment" is mishpat. It means: "to decide a legal dispute or case fairly in court and provide a just verdict and appropriate sentence - an official proclamation." But mishpat can also be a: "prescription, a specification, or a spoken or written command which should be obeyed with penalties for non-compliance. A mishpat is: "a plan, a graphic or verbal description of how to achieve something." It also means "to share part of the whole." A mishpat establishes a custom, practice, or behavior which should be accepted as normal practice." And the arbiter of good behavior, the dispenser of prescriptions, the just Judge of justice, "is like the light that goes forth."

Light is owr. It is the "opposite of darkness." In addition to signifying God’s nature, owr is "associated with guidance, truth, enlightened judgment, life, protection from evil and danger," as well as "the source of prosperity and joy." In this context that’s important because owr is followed by ywtset, meaning: "to go out from one place to another." It is based on yatsa which means: "to appear, to become known, to be born, to bring forth, to carry away," all things the Light did in the form of Messiah Yahushua.

The problem with the Israelites wasn’t that they weren’t being religious - it was that they were being religious. They were busy praying in the Lord’s name, making sacrifices, and performing rituals. So religion isn’t the answer. Relationship is. It isn’t what you do but who you know. It not what you think, it’s who you trust. Religion is an insult to God. He finds it irritating and worse, it gives us a false and delusional sense of security. Listen.."For I delight in (chaphets - desire, am pleased with; take pleasure in, have a fondness and affection for) love (checed - goodness, kindness, faithfulness, and loyalty) rather than sacrifice, and in the understanding of (da’ath - perception, knowledge, and discernment of and relationship with) God rather than burnt offerings." (Hosea 6:6)

I’m sure you noticed in the Miqra review that all of the sacrifices to God are for atonement, and none are a bribe to God to illicit favorable weather, bountiful crops, or victory over an enemy. In other words, the sacrifices are for man, not for God. This is why the sacrifice is consumed by the people during the Feasts. They do nothing for Him and everything for us. He only arranged them to point prophetically toward their fulfillment in the Messiah so that together, we might chaphets checed - "desire and delight in goodness and faithfulness."

One of the benefits of studying Scripture is that we learn what pleases God. He desires that we know and understand Him because this facilitates a loving relationship. It is the only thing God covets. It is why we were created. The entire universe was fashioned for love. 

With that in mind, this next verse brings me to tears.."But like Adam they have transgressed (abar - departed from and disregarded, become separated and alienated from, gone away from) the covenant (beriyth). There they have been unfaithful to and betrayed (bagad - acted deceitfully, faithlessly, immorally, treacherously, and offensively against) Me." (Hosea 6:7) By using abar God was saying that like Adam we have all "run away from and been at crossed purposes to" the Covenant. Abar means that we have "passed over it in an intoxicated state of drunkenness." It suggests that we have "transferred the beriyth from one party to another" - from Yahuweh to Baal. Abar means that we have "repealed" the relationship and caused it to "cease." This is bagad - betrayal.

Having reviewed the status of His relationship with mankind in general, Yahuweh gets specific with Israel again. "Gilead is a city of wrongdoers (aven - evil, wicked, idolatrous, and immoral men; a place of iniquity, corruption, calamity, and deceit), tracked with bloody footprints (aqob dam - with detectable evidence of a visual trail of deceitfulness, slyness, and insidiousness causing bloodshed). As raiders and robbers (geduwd - a marauding, murdering and thieving gang of bandits and terrorists who harass for plunder) they wait in ambush to terrorize men; and as a band (cheber - a religious group who act like a gang of terrorists; an association, company, or society of spellbinders who rely on demonic spirits and illegitimate, immoral, dishonest, and criminal religious charms; enchanters who verbally beguile to invoke illicit incantations, chants, prayers, invocations, spells, and summons to encourage similar behavior) of priests, they condone murder by way of Shechem. Surely they have committed a crime (zimmah - devised an evil and immoral plan, purposed wickedness; encouraged behavior that is lewd and shameful, lustful, incestuous, licentious, and adulterous)." (Hosea 6:8-9)

Yahuweh is linking the nature of humans engaged in religious scams, their "evil, wicked, and immoral ways" to the consequence. Their societies become "places of iniquity, corruption, calamity, and deceit. The result is a trail of "bloody footprints." One flows from the other and to the next. For example, Muslims have an evil, wicked and immoral spirit residing in them so their nations are all full of iniquity, corruption, calamity and deception. They live in the most hellish places on earth. As a result, Muslims leave their bloody footprints all over the word. There is detectable evidence of a river of blood and deception that runs directly to Muhammad’s feet. That is why Muslims have a virtual monopoly on terror. It is why Jihadists are raiders, a marauding, murdering and thieving band of mercenaries who wait in ambush to terrorize infidels. Since their inception, they have harassed for plunder. Muslims have become a religious society of spellbinders whose clerics glorify murder and pay homage to demonic spirits. Using satanically inspired prayers, Qur’anic invocations and chants like Allah Akbar, Islamic imams summon Muslims to barbaric acts of butchery. And they do so by promising a lewd and lustful reward in Allah’s brothel. Since Islam was 1300 years away from its inception when this was written, it is further evidence that Baal was given a new name.

Gilead’s name shows that God has a sense of humor. After talking about carving stones from a quarry and dividing them, we discover that gilal means: "stones too heavy to carry." The town reminds me of today’s Mecca under the rule of the oil drenched Saudis. Due to the balm of black ooze, it is "a place of great abundance and wealth," one built on the pile of rocks known as the Ka’aba. It was erected to honor the religious cult of the large and heavy Black Stone known as Allah. The proverbial "balm of Gilead" expressed the Israeli’s city’s lust for self indulgence, hedonism and wealth. It would be the same with Muhammad’s Mecca. His balm was the religious scam of Islam which motivated his band of religious thugs to rape and plunder everyone within their grasp. So it appears that God may be telling us, that He is not interested in carrying the arrogant Muslim stone anywhere.

Jeremiah uses the Gileads to emphasize that neither a man’s hands, his doctrines, religions nor wealth can heal a broken soul: "Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is the health of my people not been restored?" (8:22) Then speaking of the false prescriptions of man, Jeremiah asks: "As for the balm of Gilead, in vain you have multiplied your remedies. There is no healing for you." (46:11)

Shechem is also telling, especially when directed at religious clerics who conspire to have their stooges do their dirty work. It means "to use men as beasts to shoulder the burden." It is indicative of Islamic imams who tell little boys that suicide bombings are their ticket to the virginal paradise but don’t take advantage themselves.

"In the house of Israel I have seen something horrible (sha’arur - shocking and defiling behavior which is an abomination; horrid and disgusting depravity). Ephraim's unfaithfulness, immorality, and idolatry is there. Israel has defiled itself.  Although for Judah, there is a harvest (qatsir - time for reaping and gathering) appointed (shiyth - set in place) for you, when I restore the fortunes of My people." (Hosea 6:10-11) This is a particularly bold pronouncement. Yahuweh has divorced Himself from eleven of the twelve clans of Israel due to their unfaithfulness. But Judah is the lone exception because through them there will be a gathering and reaping of souls as the result of the restoration of the fortunes of God’s people.

Shiyth, the word translated "appointed" explains precisely what God has in mind. It is first used in Genesis - in the very first prophecy: "Yahuweh said to the serpent: ‘Because you have done this, you are an abomination (arar - detestable, abhorrent, denounced, evil, and cursed) more than all the dumb beasts, and more than every living thing. On your belly you shall go, and you shall feed upon (akal - eat, devour, consume, and burn in) the rubbish (aogar - dust, mud, and ashes) all the days of your life. And I will appoint (shiyth - place and mark) hostility (eybah - enmity and hatred) between you and the woman, and between your sowing and her posterity. He shall overwhelm your position of influence (rosh - political power and shaky rank), and you shall bruise His heel print.’" (Genesis 3:14-15)

Only the Messiah has the power to overwhelm Satan’s position of influence. Only the Messiah can restore the fortunes of God’s people. Only the Messiah is appointed prophetically in Scripture. Only the Messiah can reap and gather souls in the harvest. And wouldn’t you know it; the Messiah is from the tribe of Judah.