Book of Hosea Chapter 6 Vs. 6

 Israel and Judah Are Unrepentant

For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. Hos. 6:6

I desired mercy,... I desire acts of mercy on your part rather than sacrifices. If your religion makes you exalted and self-righteous and you consider yourself to be defiled by associating with sinners, your sacrifices are in vain.

For real love have I desired, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt-offerings.

the knowledge of... Hearty, affectionate knowledge of God, which fills the mind with reverence of his majesty, fear of his goodness, love of his holiness, trust in his promise, and submission to his will; knowledge of God’s law, the rule of our obedience, of his favor, the reward of our obedience.

than burnt offerings...And knowledge of his omniscience, discerning and judging it, with those excellent effects, proper fruits hereof; are more than all sacrifice, as though they were burnt-sacrifices, which of all other were entirely given to God. But truth is, who knows God correctly, and doth keep his heart for God, gives God more than he that brings whole burnt-offerings; for these are but ceremonies and signs, empty and insipid to God, without the heart.

In short, these people acted all so contrary to this temper of their God, gave him so much of that he valued not, and so little of that he did most value, that he could not be too severe against them, nor is it any wonder he was so displeased with their sacrifices.

God desired to be merciful to them. He saw their inability to live their way into heaven. He provided the perfect sacrifice in Jesus Christ, to take away the sin of the world. Jesus became each individual's substitute on the cross. He paid the price in full for our sins. The sacrifice that God wants from the believers in Christ is praise.

Heb. 13:15 "By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of [our] lips giving thanks to his name."

The reason for such severe discipline is reiterated: God’s people had failed to understand His true desire. He longed for devotion (ḥeseḏ, mercy) and loyalty (acknowledgment of God; cf. Hos. 2:20; 4:1, 4:6) expressed through allegiance to the covenant demands. Unless offered in the context of obedience, sacrifices were meaningless and even offensive (cf. 1Sam. 15:22; Isa. 1:11-20; Amos 5:21-24; Mic. 6:6-8).

Gospel of Matthew Chapter 24 Vs. 23

 The Abomination of Desolation

Matthew 24:23 “Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here [is] Christ, or there; believe [it] not.”

Then if any... Then—during the great tribulation days of Mat. 24:15-21. Either at the time when the siege shall have begun, and the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place; or during the days of tribulation, while the siege lasts. Or after those days were shortened, and the city destroyed, and the Roman army was gone with their captives. Or when some that was in the country; would insinuate to their countrymen, that the Messiah was in such a place.

lo! here is... For both during the time of the siege, there were such that sprung up, and pretended to be Messiahs, and deliverers of them from the Roman power, and had their several accomplishes.

One would say he was in such place and another that he was in such a place; and so they stirred up the people not to leave, nor to deliver up the city; after the city was taken and destroyed.

So far we have found the leading ideas to be simple and practical, and all connected with the destruction of Jerusalem.

(1) Do not expect that event too early; for you must pass through many trials and do much work before it.

(2) As soon as you shall see the sign I give you, expect it immediately, and lose no time in making your escape from the horrors of these awful days.

(3) Even then, however, do not expect the personal advent of the Son of man; for though it is a day of judgment, it is only one of those partial judgments which are necessary on the principle that wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together. The personal advent of Christ and the day of final judgment are only foreshadowed by, not realized in, the destruction of Jerusalem and the close of the old dispensation.

The elect of this Church Age will have already been raptured before the Tribulation. Much misinformation will be disseminated then for false Christs will be all around.

Book of Hosea Chapter 6 Vs. 5

 Israel and Judah Are Unrepentant

Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth. Hos. 6:5

hewed them by... God’s measures to bring His disloyal people to repentance had been extreme (cf. Amos 4:6-11). His words of judgment, spoken through the prophets, had brought sudden death and destruction on many people (cf. Jer. 1:10; 5:14). I have severely, continually, and not tiring by the prophets reproved, warned, and threatened. Your hearts have been like knotty trees, or hardest stones: I have made my prophets like laborers, and, my words like axes or hammers to cut off the knots, and to hew off the roughness which make unfit for use. But all to no purpose, the desired effect hath not been attained.

by the prophets... Some that was before Hosea. Jeroboam I was by a prophet reproved and threatened for this idolatry, in which Israel persisted, and to which Judah did too often fall. And through the space of two hundred years, from Jeroboam I to Hosea’s time, many other prophets were sent, whose names, and some memoirs of them, we have. Such as Ahijah, Jehu, Hanani, Elijah, and Elisha, these and such like were the prophets that did hew crooked and knotty Israel.

I have slain... Some say the false prophets are the persons meant here, whom God did slay for their sin, seducing Israel to, and confirming them in, idolatry. Indeed, Elijah’s sincere zeal did cut off so many (1Kgs. 18:22, 40), and Jehu’s counterfeit zeal cut off so many (2Kgs. 10:21, 25), that it could never be forgotten among that people. So the thing is true, many false prophets were slain for this sin; yet the persons in our text were not these false prophets, but they were the people of Israel and Judah, the idolatrous, refractory hypocrites among them, whom God threatened with death and that by the sword of enemies.

thy judgments are... Meaning the punishments threatened, the miseries foretold, which fell upon this people, did so fully answer the prediction, that everyone might see them clear as the light, and as constantly executed as the morning (See Zeph. 3:5).

These arrogant people of God had tried to stand against the God that made them. The prophets cut them down with warnings from God, if they did not repent. God spoke judgment against them, and they were punished for their sins. The Light does away with darkness. The Light of God was applied to get rid of sin in their lives.

God’s measures to bring His disloyal people to repentance had been extreme (cf. Amos 4:6-11). His words of judgment, spoken through the prophets, had brought sudden death and destruction on many people (cf. Jer. 1:10; 5:14).

Gospel of Matthew Chapter 24 Vs. 22

 The Abomination of Desolation

Matthew 24:22 “And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.”

These elect had been praying for Jerusalem and her people, and God heard their prayers and answered. God will not allow total annihilation; He will always save a remnant.

Notice that, though the elect may be powerfully tempted, they will repudiate and resist the attack and still remain loyal to their Lord.

the elect’s sake... Jews, not the Church because:

1. Jesus is answering a Jewish question (Mat. 24:3; 25:31-46; Acts 1:6)

2. False Messiahs primarily concern Israel (Mat. 24:5, 24:23-26)

3. Anti-semitism proves it (Mat. 24:9)

4. The travail of Israel (see, Mat. 24:8)

5. The abomination of desolation concerns Israel only (see, Mat. 24:15)

6. The Jewish temple (see, Mat. 24:15)

7. Flight of Israel (see, Mat. 24:16)

8. The sabbath is Jewish (see, Mat. 24:20)

9. The great tribulation (note, Mat. 24:21)

10. Jews are the only people to be gathered (see, Mat. 24:31)

11. The coming of Christ is to deliver Israel (Mat. 24:29-31; 25:31-46; Zec. 14:1-21)

12. Judgment of the nations is based on treatment of Israel (Mat. 25:31-46)

13. The eagles eating carcasses was predicted to be at the time of Israel’s deliverance (Mat. 24:28; Eze. 39:17-22; Luke 17:34-37; Rev. 19:17-21)

14. The church will be raptured before the above events.

Those days shall... If the afflictions of this time were to continue, “no life would have been saved,” i.e., no one would survive. But “for the sake of the elect” (so that redeemed people do not suffer more than they can bear), the time is “cut short”, i.e., held short of total destruction. Both (Dan. 7:25 and Rev. 12:14), suggest that the actual length of time the Beast will be permitted to terrorize the world is fixed at 3-1/2 years.

shall be shortened... Curtailed. The persecution itself will be cut short, not the 1260 days themselves (Rev. 11:1-3; 12:6, 12:14; 13:5; Dan. 12:7).

Should be shortened (ἐκολοβώθησαν)

Rev., had been shortened. A very picturesque word. The verb is, literally, to dock, to cut off, leaving a stump, as a limb. Wyc., abridged. As a fact, various causes did combine to shorten the siege. Herod Agrippa was stopped in his work of strengthening the walls by orders from the emperor; the Jews, absorbed in their party strife's, had totally neglected preparations to stand a siege; the magazines of corn and provisions were burnt before the arrival of Titus. Titus arrived suddenly, and the Jews voluntarily abandoned parts of the fortification. Titus himself confessed that God was against the Jews, since otherwise neither his armies nor his engines would have availed against their defenses.

There was an encouraging note, however, for the Lord declared that those days would be cut short (Mat. 24:22). This meant there will be a termination of this period of time, not that the days will be fewer than 24 hours. If it were to go on indefinitely, no one would survive. But the period will come to an end for the sake of the elect, those who will be redeemed in the Tribulation and who will enter the kingdom. The elect of this Church Age will have already been raptured before the Tribulation.

Book of Hosea Chapter 6 Vs. 4

 Israel and Judah Are Unrepentant

O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away. Hos. 6:4

O Ephraim, what... Here ends the supposed language of the penitents. If it were genuine, and accompanied by a deep sense of sin, it would not be in vain. But the prophet utters the heartrending response and expostulation of Jehovah, who bewails the transitory nature of their repentance.

what shall I... Questions 1-2. Next, Hos. 8:5.

for your goodness... Your goodness flees away as a morning cloud, and as the early dew which quickly goes away when the sun comes up; it is short-lived and transient. Your goodness is of a short continuance, and gives way to every temptation, like as the cloud of the morning, and the dew, are dispersed at the first approach of the sun.

Ephraim, Judah, and in fact, all of mankind have no goodness of their very own. We all deserve to die, because of the sins we have committed. It is only by the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, that any of us are saved. God is merciful.

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

God provided the way for us, that we could not provide for ourselves. We may act good for a moment, but our goodness goes away like the dew. Our righteousness is in Jesus Christ. He puts us who will believe in right standing with God.

The Lord’s case against Israel expanded

The Lord’s case against Israel is greatly expanded in these chapters. Emphasis is placed on the nation’s guilt, especially for her ingratitude. As in the preceding section (cf. 5:15-6:3), judgment changes to restoration by the end of the unit (cf. Hos. 11:8-11). Each of the sub-units is marked out formally by an introductory direct address (cf. Hos. 6:4; 9:1; 11:8). Both of the judgment cycles (6:4-8:14; 9:1-11:7) refer to a return to Egypt (cf. Hos. 8:13; 11:5) in their conclusions, while the brief salvation passage (Hos. 11:8-11) pictures God’s people returning from that land (cf. Hos. 11:11).

Israel’s Guilt and Punishment

This first judgment cycle contains two parts (6:4-7:16; Hos. 8:1-14). Both refer to a breach of covenant in their opening verses (Hos. 6:7; 8:1) and mention Egypt near the end (Hos. 7:16; 8:13).

Israel’s ingratitude punished

These verses are primarily accusatory, though judgment is announced formally in the closing passage (cf. Hos. 7:12-13, 7:16). The Lord’s attempts to restore His people contrast with their rebellion. The references to the Lord’s gracious disposition toward the nation introduce the sub-units of the section (cf. Hos. 6:4-11; 6:11b-7:12; Hos. 7:13-16).

The first sub-unit

The Lord’s argument here begins with a rhetorical question addressed both to Ephraim and Judah. The mood is one of despair and frustration. God’s people had rejected all His attempts to bring them to their senses. Their love (ḥeseḏ; cf. Hos. 2:19; 4:1) for the Lord was at best transitory (Hos. 6:4). Like the early morning fog or dew, any expression of loyalty quickly evaporated.

Gospel of Matthew Chapter 24 Vs. 21

 The Abomination of Desolation

Matthew 24:21 “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.”

For then shall... For then—the great tribulation of the last 3 1/2 years of this age will begin (Dan. 9:27; 11:40-45; 12:1, 12:7, 12:11; Jer. 30:4-7; Rev. 7:14; 11:1-19:21).

be great tribulation... The words such as was not since the beginning and nor ever shall be along with the description that follows. Identify this as the yet-future time in which God’s wrath shall be poured out upon the earth. Jesus’ descriptions for the cataclysms that follow closely resemble the outpouring of divine wrath described in the bowl judgments of (Rev. 16), and His subsequent appearing in (Rev. 19).

In no other period of history (past or future), of the world will there be so much suffering and universal destruction as during the seven years called the Great Tribulation. These years are fraught with wrath (Eze. 7:19), judgment (Rev. 14:7; 15:4; 16:5, 7), darkness (Joel 2:2; Amos 5:18, 20), indignation (Isa. 26:20-21; 34:1-3), and sorrow.

The scriptural representations of the Great Tribulation are wholly negative with no attempt to minimize the severity of human suffering in that time. During the Great Tribulation, God will pour out His wrath on mankind and will judge all of creation, just before the peace of the Millennium is ushered in.

If Christians do not realize that they will be taken out of the world before the Great Tribulation begins, they could become very discouraged looking forward to those years. The realization of what awaits the unsaved following the Rapture ought to motivate every believer to win souls before it is too late.

In this verse, you can easily see why the rush to get out. If this was the siege that took place when Jerusalem fell to the Romans, then close to a million were estimated to die. I tend to believe that this Scripture was not only for that terrible time, but is also speaking of another terrible time that will come when the antichrist begins his rule in the Tribulation period.

The personal advent of Christ and the day of final judgment are only foreshadowed by, not realized in, the destruction of Jerusalem and the close of the old dispensation.

Book of Hosea Chapter 6 Vs. 3

 Israel and Judah Are Unrepentant

Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth. Hos. 6:3

Then shall we... Then (after the three days of national mourning and repentance, and after being raised up to live in His sight) we will know (continue to know), if we follow on to know (if we walk in the light, Hos. 6:2).

his going forth... This refers to the definite preparation and time of the second coming of Christ in the plan of God. His coming is fixed as surely as the morning is eternally fixed to come at a certain time daily (Gen. 1:14-19; 8:22). His coming to save and bless Israel will be like refreshing rains after a long dry season—even as the latter and former rain upon the earth.

He shall come... God will no longer deal with Israel like a moth and rottenness (5:12). Instead, He will deal with them like life-giving and refreshing rain.

and former rain... The former rain fell in October at the seed time; the latter or spring rain fell in March and April to cause the grain to mature and ripen. One came at the beginning and the other at the end (or harvest time) of good things; so in the spiritual realm, God would come down upon Israel to make a complete harvest of the nation (Zec. 10:1; Zec. 12:10-13:1; Rom. 1:25-29). The former and the latter rain are speaking of a time when the Spirit of God falls on the people of the earth like rain.

Acts 2:17 "And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:"

Jas. 5:7 "Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain."

Col. 1:28 "Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:”

Col.1:9 " For this cause we also, since the day we heard [it], do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;"

Joel 2:23 "Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first [month]."

This is a call to the study of God and His Word. The way to know the LORD is to diligently study His Word.

Let us know, let us follow up to know, Jehovah:

As soon as we seek Him, we shall find Him

And He shall come to us like the winter-rain,

Like the spring-rain, pouring on the land!

The Lord will surely respond favorably to such loyalty. His emergence from His hiding place (cf. Hos. 5:6, 5:15) will be as certain as the sunrise. He will pour out His blessings on His people, as the winter and spring rains… water the earth and assure agricultural prosperity. The latter comparison was especially well chosen since the regularity of these rains was a sign of the Lord’s favor (cf. Deut. 11:13-15).