Sermon Tone Analysis

*                                                                     God and Country                         *10~/19~/08  a.m.

*                                                                 Ho 8:1-4*

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*Seek God*

* *

*Ho 8:1-4*

*“/Set/ the trumpet to your mouth!

*/– sound the warning/

*/He shall come/*  like an eagle *against the house of the Lord*, - /God’s judgment/ / /     Because they have *transgressed My covenant*

     And *rebelled against My law*.

2     Israel will *cry to Me,*

     *‘My God,  we know You!’ */–they plead with God for help/

3     Israel has *rejected the good;*

     The enemy will pursue him.

4     *“They  set up kings, but not by Me; - */Appointed rulers without consulting God/

*     They made princes, but I did not acknowledge /them/*/./

/– God’s rejection of leaders/

 

*kings … not by me*—not with My sanction

the appointment of *kings *and other leaders *without *consulting the Lord.

Their conduct was not guided by

Divine direction,

nor in obedience to the Divine will,

nor with the Divine sanction.

·        In their civil affairs.

They set /up kings without God,/ and in contempt of him,

·        they didn’t aim for His glory,

·        nor consulted his word,

·        nor went to him by prayer for direction,

·        nor had any regard to his providence,

·        but were led by their own desires and their own passions.

·        they did not ask /counsel of God,/ whether they might lawfully do it or whether it would be best for them to do it,

 

*Ps 66:7   *7     He rules by His power forever;

     *His eyes observe the **nations; *

     Do not let the rebellious exalt themselves.

* *

*Prudent people act with knowledge*

*Pr 13:16*   16     Every prudent /man/ acts with knowledge,

* *

*God’s decree*

*Things to consider in choosing a leader;*

*Pr 14:34*  4     Righteousness exalts a nation,  But sin /is/ a reproach /(shame or disgrace)/ to /any/ people.



*God’s decree*

*Innocent blood pollutes the land and God requires payment for it*

* *

*Nu 35:33*    33 So *you shall not pollute the land where you /are/*/;/ for *blood  defiles the land*, and no atonement can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed on it, except  by the blood of him who shed it.



 

*Ge 9:5*   Surely *for your lifeblood I will demand /a reckoning/*/;/  from the hand of every beast I will require it, and  from the hand of man.

From the hand of every  man’s brother I will require the life of man.

* *

*God’s decree*

*National leaders are to follow the Lord or face His judgment*

* *

*1 Sa 12:6-15*   14 If you  fear the Lord and serve Him and obey His voice, and do not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then *both you and the king who reigns over you *will continue following the Lord your God.

15 However, *if you do  not obey the voice of the Lord, but  rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you, as /it was/ against your fathers.

*



* God’s decree*

*Judges are to remember that they judge for the Lord*

* *

*2 Ch 19:5-7*   Then he set *judges* in the land throughout all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city, 6 and *said to the judges, “Take heed to what you are doing, for  you do not judge for man but for the Lord,*  who /is/ with you 2in the judgment/ ( in the matter of the judgment)t/.

7 Now therefore, *let the fear of the Lord be upon you*; take care and do /it,/ for /there is/ no iniquity with the Lord our God, no  partiality, nor taking of bribes.”

* *

*God’s decree*

*To join the wicked & those that hate the Lord brings God’s wrath on a nation*

*2 Chr.

19:2 *“Should you help the wicked and  *love those who hate the Lord?

Therefore the wrath of the Lord /is/ upon you.

*

 

 

*God’s choice of leaders*

* *

*Leaders must be just ruling in the fear of God*

*2 Sa 23:3*   The *God of Israel said*,  The Rock of Israel spoke to me:

     ‘*He who rules over men /must be/ just,  Ruling  in the fear of God.

*

* *

*The hypocritical leader will lead the people into a trap*

*Job 34:30*   That the hypocrite should not reign,  Lest the people be ensnared.

* *

*If a leader’s words don’t agree with scriptural teaching he lacks knowledge*

*Is 8:19-20*    19 And when they say to you,  “Seek those who are mediums and wizards,  who whisper and mutter,” *should not a people seek their God?* /Should they/ /seek/ the dead on behalf of the living?

20  *To the law and to the testimony!

If they do not speak according to this word, /it is/ because  /there/ /is/ no light in them.*

* *

*Why would the Lord give such guide lines and make such predictions about leaders?*

* *

*Because a leaders influence in every sphere bears directly on the /moral/ and /social/, and often also upon the /religious/, good of the people.*

* *

*|  *His Conduct*con |

|   His values |

|   His thinking   |

|   His beliefs  |

*

*His beliefs determine his thinking; *

*These determine his values, *

*Which determine his conduct, *

*Which affect the whole nation.

*

* *

* *

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* *

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*The effects of a Godly leader*

*2 Ch 12:12*      When he humbled himself, the wrath of the Lord turned from him, so as not to destroy /him/ completely; and *things also went well in Judah.*

*Pr 29:2*         When the righteous are in authority, *the  people rejoice*;

     But when a wicked /man/ rules,  the people groan.

* *

*Pr 28:12*      When the righteous rejoice, */there is/ great  glory;*

     But when the wicked arise, men hide themselves.

* *

*Pr 28:2*    *   … by a man of understanding /and/ knowledge *

*     Right will be prolonged.

*

 

*The effects of an ungodly leader*

* *

*God, Country, King, and Moral Decline*

 

*2 Chr.

28:19 *19 For *the Lord brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of  Israel*, for he had  *encouraged moral decline in Judah* and had been continually unfaithful to the Lord.



 

*2 Ch 12:2*    And it happened in the fifth year of *King Rehoboam* /that/ Shishak king of *Egypt came up against Jerusalem*, because they had transgressed against the Lord,

* *

*2 Sa 21:1-2*       Now there was *a famine in the days of David* for three years, year after year; and David  inquired of the Lord.

And the Lord answered, “/It is/ *because of Saul* *and /his/ bloodthirsty house*, because he killed the Gibeonites.”

2 So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them.

Now the Gibeonites /were/ not of the children of Israel, but  of the remnant of the Amorites; the children of Israel had sworn protection to them, but Saul had sought to kill them  in his zeal for the children of Israel and Judah.

* *

*2 Ki 17:21*    Then *Jeroboam drove Israel from following the Lord*, and made them commit a great sin.

* *

*1 Ki 15:30*     30  because of *the sins of Jeroboam*, which he had sinned *and by which he had made Israel sin*, because of his provocation with which he had *provoked the Lord* God of Israel *to anger*.



 

*1 Ki 14:16*     16 And *He will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam*,  *who sinned and who made Israel sin.” *

* *

*1 Ki 15:25-26*     Now  *Nadab the son of Jeroboam* became king over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years.

26 And he *did evil in the sight of the Lord,* and walked in the way of his father, and in  his sin by which he had *made Israel sin.*



*1 Ki 15:33-34*     In the third year of Asa king of Judah, *Baasha *the son of Ahijah became *king over all Israel* in Tirzah, and /reigned/ twenty-four years.

34 He *did evil in the sight of the Lord,* and walked in  the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin by which he had *made Israel sin.*

 

*1 Ki 16:25-26*   *Omri did evil in the eyes of the Lord*, and did worse than all who /were/ before him.