Verse by verse teaching - Hosea 9:8 "The Watchman and the Fowler"

Hosea chapter 9 verse 8, "The watchman of Ephraim. " Now lest we forget, we need to remind ourselves that Ephraim was the predominant tribe of Israel that was in the northern kingdom at that time. This is after the nation divided and split into two kingdoms. So when God is referring to Ephraim, it's like when God sometimes refers to Israel. Israel was a man who when God would refer to the man Israel, he would refer to the nation of Israel, his offspring. When God is referring to Ephraim here, he's speaking to the entire northern kingdom of Israel who had forsaken God's word and had corrupted his religion and had gone after false gods as well. For so many years, God had loved these people. God wanted to bless them. God wanted to save them from their enemies. And because God loved them so much, he gave them someone very special to watch over them. Was that their guardian angel, Brother Richard? No. In a way it was, but no, we're not talking about a spirit here. We're not talking about an angel in heaven. We're talking about a man. We're talking about a watchman, a watchman. Now, civilly speaking, a watchman is a man that keeps watch over a city's civil enemies. And back then in that day, I'm not going to do a lot of walking around. I'm going to have to refrain from that since the people are watching me on here. But back during that day, the watchman would be set on the wall of the city in an elevated place, maybe in a tower. And he would watch, he would keep a lookout to see if the enemy was coming. And if the enemy was coming, then he would sound a trumpet that would alert the people that the enemy is on their way so they could prepare themselves for battle. A watchman back in those days was a very important person. And today, countries keep watchmen as well, don't they? That we have to watch over enemies by land, by sea, by air. And we even watch over enemies by spying on them in their own territory, don't we? We are always watching for enemies. We not only watch them at home but abroad. But the Bible tells us that our real enemies are not flesh and blood. They're not the foreigners in other lands. They're not the Chinese. They're not the Democrats. They're not the Republicans. They're not rhinos. They're not terrorists. They're not Hamas. That's not our real enemies. They're not flesh and blood. The Bible says we wrestle or we struggle not against flesh and blood as children of God. Have you ever stopped to think about what's behind all the conflict that goes on in our world? People can't get along with each other. Nations are battling against each other. Everyone's always out to try to get somebody else. And what's driving all of this conflict is our enemy, the devil. The devil seeks to destroy the people that God created. Listen, he doesn't just want to destroy you physically. He wants to destroy you spiritually, internally, and eternally. He wants to steal, kill, and destroy what God has created. Satan wants to keep you from having the relationship with your loving creator that you were meant to have. So he's not just seeking to destroy your city, but he's seeking to destroy your soul. First Peter, chapter 5, verse 8 says, "Be sober. Be vigilant. " That means keep a lookout because you're adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. "Be sober. Be vigilant. " What's he saying? Keep a lookout. "Be a watchman," so to speak, even over your own soul, because your adversary, the devil, is walking about seeking whom he may devour. Here's the kingdom truth for you this morning. Our spiritual adversaries are the driving force behind our civil adversaries. Our spiritual adversaries are the driving force behind our civil adversaries. To have civil rest, therefore, a nation must have spiritual victory. Repeat that all together. Our spiritual adversaries are the driving force behind our civil adversaries. So to have civil rest, a nation must have spiritual victory. For this reason, God not only gave Israel watchmen for their cities, but he gave them watchmen for their souls. He gave them watchmen to look out for their spiritual enemies, enemies that will destroy a nation from within by driving them away from their God. That is the reason that they try to drive God out of the schools. That's the reason that they're trying to push Christianity out of our nation. I saw the White House the other day putting out on the White House Facebook page how they were celebrating their Christmas decor at the White House. It had Christmas trees, letter to Santa Claus. It had snowmen and all kinds of fuzzy, warm, festive things, and not a thing about Jesus Christ. Not a thing. Why? Because your adversary, the devil, is seeking to destroy this nation from within, to devour our souls. When Hosea is speaking about the watchman of Ephraim this morning, he's not talking about the man standing on the wall physically looking out for the flesh and blood enemies. He's talking about the man of God who sees the enemy coming and warns God's people about the enemy of sin that's on its way to destroy them. When God sent a prophet to warn the people that the enemy was going to destroy their land, that prophet would preach, that prophet would say, "Turn ye! Turn ye! For while will you die, O house of Israel? " That prophet would try to turn people from their sins and warn them of the judgment to come. It was just like he was standing on the city wall. But instead of blowing a trumpet, his voice was the trumpet sounding, warning the people of the spiritual danger that was on their way. Because God loved Israel, he gave them a watchman. He gave them Ezekiel. He gave them Daniel. Because God loved Israel, he gave them Elijah. He gave them Elisha. He gave them prophets. And because God loved America, he gave us watchmen as well. Because God loves you. He's giving you a watchman today who's standing before you right now. He gave you a watchman this morning if you were here in Sunday school, teaching God's Word, sounding the trumpet and warning of the enemies to come. I enjoy listening to Brother Shepherd's Sunday School teaching. I love that firm, no-nonsense kind of teaching that tells God's Word like it is and just applies it. Do you know why? Do you know we are fallen creatures. We are prone to error. We are prone to sin. Like sheep, we're just prone to go astray. And you know what it takes for us to live a successful, God-centered life in this world? It takes two constant things. Correction and instruction. Correction and instruction. Instruction this way into town. Correction, do not enter, wrong way. Correction and instruction. It is the pastor's job to look out for the enemy and blow the trumpet to warn the people of God that danger lies ahead. And it is the people's job, it's your job, to take heed to the watchman's warning and avoid the danger. Listen to how God put it through the prophet Ezekiel. Ezekiel chapter 33, verse 2 through 6. I'm glad we have those up. Ezekiel chapter 33, verse 2 through 6. Listen to this now. "Son of man," this is God speaking to Ezekiel, "Son of man, speak to the children of thy people and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land," that means punishment. "When I bring the sword upon the land, if the people of the land take a man of their coast and set him for their watchman," let me pause right there. "If the people take a man of their coast and set him for a watchman," do you know what this church did when they called me to pastor here? How long has it been now? Brother Shepherd, it will be 12 years in March. 13 in March? Oh, that's wonderful. Almost 13 years ago, do you know what this church did when they called me to pastor? They set me for a watchman. That's what they did. When we called Brother Shepherd here, we set him for a watchman. After all, I can't stay on the city wall 24 hours. I've got to come down sometime. "When they set him for their watchman," verse 3, "if when he," that is, "when the watchman seeth the sword, come upon the land," that is, he sees the enemy coming, he sees their swords, he sees the army coming. "When he sees the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet and warn the people. Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning, if the sword come and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. " In other words, you've got a pastor, you set him up on the wall, he saw the danger coming, the prophet was trying to teach you different, he warned you of the danger. But when he warned you of the danger, you wouldn't take heed to what the prophet said. You wouldn't listen to what the pastor said. You wouldn't listen to what the priests in the Old Testament were warning you, and the people of God and your judges were telling you. And if you get swept away and you get killed by that sword, the blood's going to be on your own head. It's your fault. I warned you, you didn't take heed to the warning. Verse 5, "He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning, his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul. " Isn't that wonderful? God has given us pastors that have given us an understanding of the Scriptures that can stand before the people, look at the situation in the nation, look at the situation in the church, look at the situation in the individual life, take God's Word and apply it and sound that trumpet out so the people can take warning and flee from the wrath to come, to take shelter in the cross of Jesus Christ, to repent of their sins and turn from their ungodly ways, and experience the grace and mercy of God. But if they won't come to church to listen, it's all the same. It's having a watchman that you set on the wall, and then you shut the window to your house so you can't hear the trumpet sound, and you turn the music up inside to drown it out because all of that trumpeting, it's really stressful to your nerves. It interrupts your daily plan. Verse 6, here's the other side of it. "But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned, if the sword come and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand. " Pay close attention to this. If that watchman's on the wall, he sees the sword coming, but he doesn't blow the trumpet to warn the people, here's what's going to happen. The people will be taken away in their iniquity. In other words, they'll be judged for their sin because they deserved it. They were sinners, and they were in need of judgment. But I'm going to require their blood at that watchman's hand. In other words, if I'm here and I see you living contrary to God's will, I see the people not following God's word, and I know it, I see it, but I fail to warn. I fail to blow the trumpet. I fail to stand against sin and point the people of God in the right direction. God's still going to hold you accountable for your sin, but he's going to hold me accountable for it too. I am going to have to stand before him and give an account as to why I didn't warn the people. His blood will I require at the watchman's hand. What good is it for a city to make someone a watchman if they're not going to take heed to him when he blows the trumpet? In what good is it for a man to become or a woman to become a watchman if they're not going to warn the people? Last night we went to a Christmas concert. My wife loves orchestras. I found an orchestra doing a Christmas concert at the Methodist Church in Athens. I knew that it was a Methodist church, but I always went there for the music and the orchestra and all that good stuff. It was very good music. There are some things I didn't care for, but the orchestra was great. It was pretty. It was pretty. Free. It was free. I'm sorry. Brother, the chef, Peter, and all that, he would come on down. No, because he didn't have to pay for gas to get down here. He would want me to live stream it. But during the concert, this woman pastor comes out to the front and tells people that she wants them to come to know God. And it was pathetic. If you would have intended the entire event, including listening to the pastor's pre-written speech that she was reading off the screen on the wall, as she was supposedly giving her personal testimony, if you would have come trying to find out how you could have become a Christian and how you could know God, the message was never given. I left and Tammy and I were talking about it afterward. I was thinking about them even this morning. I doubt the pastor even knows how to know God. If you did know, why wouldn't you say? Why would you just give touchy feely? You can touch him. You can feel him. You can know him. It's touchy feely and it's mushy and it's no substance at all. No gospel at all. Never once did that woman get up and mention how Jesus died for those people's sins and how they need to repent of their sin and put their faith in what he's done for them. Not one time. It's a very community centered place. Troy Johnstone, a man I know in Canada, he posted a picture of the church there in Canada in his town. He was at the Christmas parade last night. And as the parade was coming through town, the community church had their float. It had candy canes, snowmen and trees and it had absolutely nothing about Jesus. That's their light that their lighting shine before men. It's just shining neon lights of snowmen. Do you know what that is? That's a watchman without a trumpet. It's a worthless watchman standing on the wall playing the violin and putting people to sleep as the enemy marches on. Can you imagine a watchman on the city wall seeing the enemy forces marching toward the city and the watchman blows his trumpet? Someone told me this morning. I've heard this many, many times. Someone told me this morning as well as you teach, I can understand why this church isn't packed full. And I said, people don't want to hear it. Watchman standing on the wall blowing the trumpet and warning of the pending attack. But the people rally themselves together against the watchman and they say, all this man ever does is blow the trumpet. That hurts my ears. That's all he ever does is warn the city, warn the city. We've never been attacked before. He needs to calm down. So the city bands together and they think, well, we need to, we need to get a watchman with a little less pep in him. I mean, a watchman that can not divide the city and run us into a panic, but that can unite the city and bring peace to us. That's the kind of watchman we need. We were doing fine until the watchman came along. Church, don't get upset when your pastor blows the trumpet. Get upset when they don't. Get upset when they don't. A sounding trumpet is sent from a loving God. Don't ever forget that. In Hosea's time, the watchman was no longer blowing and the people were no longer listening. Hosea said the watchman of Ephraim, look back in your text, was with my God. Was with my God. You may have a different translation that does not say was, may say is. A true watchman is with God. In this case, the true watchman was with God. There was a time when Ephraim had a watchman that watched over their souls. There was a time when Ephraim had prophets who were faithfully serving God and faithfully blowing the trumpet to warn the people of their sin. The watchman of Ephraim was with my God. Prophets in days gone by had faithfully corrected the people by God's Spirit and warned them to turn from their sins and to turn back to God. Look back in your text, but the prophet is a snare of a fowler. That time's over with. The watchman was with my God, but not today. Today in Israel's time, Hosea said, the prophet is a snare of the fowler. What's a fowler? Well, when a man catches a fish to eat, he's a fisher. When a man catches a bird to eat, he's a fowler. See? That's simple. You see what Hosea is saying? There was a time when the prophets blew trumpets in Israel, but now they were setting snares. They were warning people. Now they're catching them. Here's a kingdom truth. Reject a watchman and you will receive a fowler. Reject a watchman and you will receive a fowler. Reject a trumpet that warns you and you will receive a violin that puts you to sleep. Not too many years ago, America had watchmen. We had people getting on television. You can watch some of those old black and white preaching, and they were warning people of their sin. They were preaching against sin. They were standing for righteousness. They were rebuking wrong, and crowds were flocking to hear what they had to say. The media was giving them media attention, inviting them on talk shows at night to interview them. People grew wary of hearing the trumpet. That trumpet was getting in their lives plans. They grew wary of the trumpet, so they received a violin. They got tired of the watchman. They rejected the watchman, and they received a fowler instead. Do you know the difference between a pastor and a fowler? A pastor feeds the people. A fowler eats them. That's the difference. The Bible says the devil seeks whom he may what? Devour. Devour. They'll eat you up. Hosea said the prophet is a snare of the fowler. Look back in your text. In all his ways, in all his ways, his motives are so he can devour you, so he can consume you, so he can live off you. It's all about that to the fowler. The watchman's purpose is one reason. I got to warn these people and keep them safe. I've got to keep the community's well-being intact. The fowler, on the other hand, he sees the people as a commodity that he can consume. That's the difference. He's a snare of the fowler in all his ways. Israel's prophets had turned into mush. All they cared about was what they could get from the people. They didn't care about their souls. False teachers don't care about people's souls. God said they are snares of the fowler. They're instruments of the devil. Look back in your text. In hatred. Now that word hatred means enmity. Does that ring a bell to you? Does that take you back to a scripture in Genesis, Brother Doug? God said, "He told the devil. He told Satan, 'I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. '" The reason the world is against God's people today is because of enmity. The reason the entire United Nations, with the exception of, thank God, America, voted for Israel to have a ceasefire with Hamas is because of enmity between the devil and God's people. That's why. God says, "That's the snare of the fowler. That's the prophet today. They are hatred. They are enmity. They are the enemy. They are against my people. " He's saying these lying, sugarcoating preachers weren't sent to you by the love of God, but by the hatred of the devil. They may smile. I tell you, that Methodist woman last night, she was a sweet looking little thing. She would smile when she sang and just so bouncy and happy when she talked to the people. But you know what? The enemy is marching toward those people, and there's no trumpet blowing. That's not God's spirit speaking through that woman. That's enmity. Where are these God-hating snares found? Hosea said, "That hateful snare of the fowler is found. " Look back in your text. Where? In the house of his God. In the churches. Not outside the church with a bullhorn saying, "Burn the church down. " No, sir. This time in Hosea's time, the fowler wasn't on the outside of the church. The fowler was on the inside of the church. The fowler had made it into the priesthood. The fowler had made it into the center of religious life. Have you ever noticed? Have you ever looked at some of the people in charge of our nation right now? Everything they do, the decisions they make, you can look and say, "Okay, would this be good for America? Would this be good for the people? " If so, you can expect them to do the opposite. Have you ever looked at the people in charge of America and think, "These people hate our country. " It's because they do. They do hate our country. They've as much as told us so. They hate how it came about. They hate what it once stood for. They hate most especially the Christian, God-fearing history that it was founded upon. Is this country perfect? Absolutely not. If we made mistakes, we're still making them. But they hate the Christian history it's founded upon. That's why there is no Jesus in the White House Christmas celebration. That's why the pagan religions get more notice than anything else. So they occupy because they hate the institution. They occupy the institution for the purpose of tearing it down. That's what we're seeing right now. Well, in the same way, Satan hates the church. He hates the church. He hates our God. He hates our mission. He hates our Savior. He hates our glorious gospel message that sets people free. He hates our Bible. So through his false pastors, he occupies the institution for the purpose of tearing it down. A snare of the fowlers in all his ways and hatred in the house of his God. Man, Hosea is hitting it right on the nose here. You want to know why we're in such a mess? You want to know why the churches are in such a mess right now in America? It's because we've done what Israel's done. We have fired the loving watchmen and we have hired the hateful fowlers. Jeremiah chapter six, we'll close with this. Jeremiah chapter six, verses 17 through 19. God told Israel, "Also I set watchmen over you, saying, 'Harken to the sound of the trumpet. ' But they said, 'We will not hearken, therefore hear, ye nations. '" Oh no, stop there now. Watch this now. Where's my little pointer? Next verse, they said, "We will not hearken. " Oh, going off. Look at your text. If it doesn't come back up, that's fine. Just listen to me. "Therefore hear ye nations. " He didn't say, "Therefore hear Israel. " He said, "Therefore hear ye nations. " That means the Gentile nations. He said, "I set watchmen," oops, sorry, sorry folks, I came out. "I set watchmen over the people. " And they said, "We're not going to listen to those watchmen. We're not going to hear those watchmen. We're not going to listen to the trumpet they blow. We're not going to listen to them when they warn us about following God. " So God says, "Therefore hear ye nations. " Now God's charging us. God's now speaking to us. We got it? No? That's verse 19. Just stay in 19. That's fine. We'll be there in a moment. It's verse 18. "Therefore hear ye nations. " Listen to America. Listen to Australia. Listen to Africa. Listen to United Kingdom. Listen to all ye nations. Listen to all ye different people groups. Listen up. In no old congregation, what is among them? Hear, oh earth, there we are in 19. Listen to everybody in the earth. I've got something to say. God says, "Behold, I will bring evil upon this people. " Why? Why is God going to bring evil upon Israel? Why is God telling all the world to watch and see how he brings evil upon the Israelites? Because they wouldn't listen to their prophets. Right now, through Jeremiah, God's telling us today, "Watch my people. Look at the Israelites over there. Do you see the conflict they have? Do you see the trouble they have? Do you see the evil they have? It's because they would not listen to the watchman I sent. It's because they rejected the messages of the prophets I sent them. Even when Jesus came, they killed John the Baptist, one of the greatest prophets who ever lived. He warned them to repent and flee from their wrath to come. They cut his head off. They put him in prison. Jesus Christ himself came. God in the flesh performed miracles among the people. Proved that he was God. They crucified him because he testified against their sins. We will not hearken to the watchman. And now you look at the evil, you look at the trouble they are constantly in. It's because they have rejected their God, the watchman he sent, in their own scriptures that I just read. Tell the world, watch, here's what's happening to them and here's why. And you would think that they would pick up their own scriptures and read them and say, "So that's why all of this is happening to us. " But instead, they deny them. And most of them reject God. Many of them are atheists today. He said, "Hear, O earth, behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruits of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it. " Today, to the prophet Jeremiah, God told and is telling the nations to hear and watch what he does to Israel. And why? He says, "Let that be a warning to you. " Because if God's going to judge his people Israel, you better believe the rest of us are not going to be exempt. God willing, we'll close there and take back up where we left off, Lord willing, next Sunday. Are you glad you have a Bible? Aren't you glad God's given us watchmen? I tell you what, I love it when people, I usually don't get to see the comments that are made on Facebook while I'm preaching. I love to see some popping up, "A man. " Yep, exclamation point. Do you know what that is? That's someone basically saying, "I sure love the sound of the trumpet. " Keep on the trumpet. Father, we thank you so much for your precious word. We do not want to be like the Israelites. We're no better than the Israelites. We're prone to sin just like them. But, Father, we don't want to be like the Israelites. We want to hearken to the voice of the trumpet. We want to listen and take heed to your words, because that's all the trumpet blows is your words. If it blows something else, it's not your watchmen. And, Father, I pray that you will correct us and instruct us according to your word and help us to take heed according thereunto. Be with these precious people. Keep us from sin and give us rest in the peace and grace of our God. In His name we pray. Amen.