And we'll be continuing in Hosea chapter 13 this morning. Last week we left off in verse number 4, and we'll start with there and read through verse 8 this morning. Verse 4 says, Yes, I am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but Me, for there is no Savior beside Me. I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of the great drought. According to their pasture, so they were filled. They were filled, and their heart was exalted. Therefore have they forgotten Me. Therefore I will be unto them as a lion. As a leopard by the way will I observe them. I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rent the call of their heart. And there will I devour them like a lion. The wild beast shall tear them." And Lord, we just ask that you would bless your word this morning, give us insight into your truth. And we pray this in Jesus' name, Amen. Shouldn't you end your reading on a more positive note than that? That people are going to be ravaged by a wild beast and torn? Well, this is true. That is even all of humanity's state in sin. It's a reflection upon God's judgment on sin. And once again, I'm going to give you the ending the closing statement, that that tearing upon God's people in Israel was a tearing of judgment. And there would be a remnant that would be saved. And we'll look at the book of Amos in a few minutes to look at how that would work out. But the reality, think of this. Who was it that was torn? Who was it that was bruised? Who was it that took upon that wrath of God upon Himself? I gave it away by saying Himself, didn't I? It was none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. So, in actuality, it ends upon a negative note of God's judgment. But positively, God's judgment would be meted out through His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. So there's the ending, so now let's fill in the beginning from the end. Verse number 5 says, I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great drought. So, Hosea goes back, once again, to them coming out of Egypt, in verse 4, and God being their Savior, over and above Pharaoh and any other thing that exalted itself or himself as being equal or above God. There is no other Savior. God alone is the Savior. His Son, Jesus Christ alone, is the Messiah, the Anointed One of God. There is no other way. I think I said it last week. There is no other argument. There is no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died and Jesus died for me. And you can sing that one if you'd like to. His provision there in the wilderness was so incredible. When they were moaning and groaning, He provided water for them when they were thirsty. He provided food for them. He provided manna in the wilderness to nourish them for their hunger, but yet they weren't satisfied with that. They longed to go back to the meat and all the good foods that they had in Egypt. As a matter of fact, let's turn over to the book of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy chapter number 8. This is a good summary between Deuteronomy 8 and Deuteronomy chapter 32. We'll be bouncing back and forth between the two. Deuteronomy chapter 8, this is one of these instances where you say, well Lord, I just pray that somebody would get in the hearing of these verses and hear what it says and understand the great mercy that God had them and the rejection and they would hear it and be converted. Chapter number 8, verse number 1, says, all the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do that ye may live and multiply and go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers. Let me stop there for a second. And we cannot apply that to ourselves as being some way of possessing our mystical land. This is a promise for the children of Israel to keep their law and they go in and possess the literal land. And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments or no. I like the or no there, because we know what happened. Israel, being the original promise keepers, they didn't keep their promise. They said, whatever the Lord says, we'll do. We'll listen to Him. And immediately, they forsook Him. And that's what Hosea was saying, and Amos was saying. All the prophets attest to it. And He humbled thee, and He suffered thee to hunger. So He allowed them to to hunger. That was his purpose, was in humbling him, and fed thee with manna which thou knewest not. Neither did thy fathers know that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live." And we see that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of being that bread from heaven. being that Word from God, being a total fulfillment of all that happened in the wilderness. Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell these forty years. I'd love to claim that one for myself today, by the way. I'd love it that my shoes would not wear out. But this was for Israel, when they trusted in Him. Even when they didn't, He provided for them. Thou shalt also consider thine heart, that as a man chastiseth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee. We'll look at the book of Hebrews in a few minutes. Thou shalt also... I just read that one. Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God to walk in his ways and to fear him. For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley and vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of oil, olive, and honey. a land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack anything in it, a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills thou may digest raps. When thou hast eaten and am full, then thou shalt bless the Lord thy God for the good land which he has given thee." Now I'd love to stop right there, but I need to continue on because we have the opposite happening, of course. Verse number 11 says, beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God in not keeping His commandments and His judgments and His statutes, which I command thee this day. Lest when thou hast eaten, and are full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein, and when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied, then, Thine heart is lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness wherein were fiery serpents and scorpions and drought, where there was no water, who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint, who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee to do thee good at thy latter end. And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of my hand hath gotten me this wealth. But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God, For it is He that giveth thee power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day. And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the Lord thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day, that ye shall surely perish. As the nations which the Lord destroyed before your face, so shall ye perish, because you would not be obedient unto the voice of the Lord your God." See, that shows exactly what Hosea would be saying at a later time, does it not? Look at the parallelism there. When they got to their own When they were prosperous, they took credit for them, and they forgot God. They forgot about His mercies. They forgot about how He fed them, and led them through the wilderness. How He had given them water to drink, and they knew it not. So, in the wilderness, God gave them His provision. He guided them, protected them, and fed them. This is in contrast to the idols that they now worshiped. God was active. God supplied all their needs. This is where Philippians 4.19 comes. Paul was destitute, in prison, yet he knew his provision was from God. and that it was God's design for him to be there because his hope was set on a later time, on a future time when he would be with the Lord. So they forgot about God in contrast to the idols that they had who could do nothing. Those idols they worshipped were just dumb stone and wood that could not do anything at all. God's pursuit of them was endless. Notice we've seen from the beginning of the book of Hosea, God's desire for Israel to be saved. And the more He pursued them, the more they sinned and sinned and sinned. So now in Hosea chapter 13, we see it wrapped up with more wrath from God because they worship other gods even more and more. His chastening leads to repentance. We just read it in Deuteronomy 8.5. That He chastened them to humble them and to lead them to trust in Him. You know, often times, what would happen, as we see it here, is that they would trust in their own works. Look what we've done. They forgot about God. For the believer, we have to have a little contrast here. Israel would be led to national repentance so that they could have the promised land. And that is coming. It may be coming sooner than we think, but we don't know. But God will bring His people together and that promised land will be literally given and they will enter in to that land. For the believer, the chastisement of God leads us to more fellowship with the Lord. Did you ever notice, even with our own lives, when things are going good, we forget about God? When things are going bad, we tend to be foxhole Christians and, But the reality is God is in control of all those situations, and He hates other gods and other ways to God, besides the Lord Jesus Christ. We have the secure salvation that cannot be taken away. If you're a believer, you cannot lose that salvation. That's how much that God loves you, and it's all based on the faith in the Son of God. But yet, what happens with the believers, we tend to lose out on that fellowship with God. We lose out, we tend to lose that, what's the word I'm looking for? That oomph, that desire to know the Lord. But praise the Lord, He does bring situations and circumstances that cause us to even question Him. question the reality of Him, but He gives His answer through His Word. That's why I can't understand how so often in this world that we're in, this wicked world, how even Christians fall apart in looking at the state of things around them and fail to trust in what the Lord said. Even in the passages that we just saw, He will guide, He will lead. He will bring us to the end if we just trust in Him. Now the if is contingent. If you're saved, that's secured through the work of Christ. But our fellowship is important with the Lord. The believer, the chastisement leads to fellowship with the Lord because he's secure because Christ paid that penalty for them. See, when we look ahead in the next couple of verses, we see all of that pain and infliction, God being likened to a wild beast, inflicting their pain upon the people. But the Lord is the one who took that pain in reality. That's one of the doctrines that's under attack. in the church, the penal substitutionary death of Christ. Well, I believe that Jesus died, but God, God wouldn't put his son to death. People can be saved without that. Well, true in a sense. While Jesus was on earth, he forgave sins. But people had to look forward to the fact that he was going to die for them. We get to look back and see the cross as the place where God's wrath was meted out. So verse 5, He provided for them in the wilderness. He provides for His people. He provides for Christians through His Word. Some of the greatest things we have to look forward to is we get to trust in the work of God. He paid it all. We get to trust in the Word of God. The Word of God is in itself sufficient for all of our spiritual needs. Some people have questions about that. It's all about spiritual needs in the Bible, and there are areas where it leads us into how we live. I couldn't find any mechanical tips in the Bible, how to change an oil filter or a light bulb. That's not in the Bible. Those are held out. For everything that pertains to life and godliness, He's given through His Word. And a lot of people I'm getting ahead of myself, as usual. A lot of people will forsake the assembly together in the church, thinking they can go it alone. And I'll look at verses 7 and 8 further in a couple minutes, because that will deal with that there. Their forgetfulness. He had His provision, but in spite of His provision for them, they forgot Him. Now, let's go to Hosea chapter 13 again. According to their pasture, so they were filled. It was their works, their works in the field that filled them. They were filled and their heart was exalted. Therefore, have they forgotten me? This term forgotten, it's interesting. It means to be oblivious of. Look around you. How many people do you know personally are oblivious of the fact of God being the Creator? They don't understand things, but instead of just trusting the Lord, they trust on other scientific theories, etc. How many people are oblivious and just cast aside the reality of their sin? Oh, I'm not a sinner, I'm a good person. How often do we hear that? Well, how good are you? Well, I'm better than my person next to me. Oblivious of God's provision? Oblivious of His mercy? You realize that we got up this morning from our sleep because we have a merciful God? He has every right in the world to not allow us to live another day. But we ought to be thankful that He does. I want to go back to the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 32. Deuteronomy chapter 32, I just want to start with 17. By the way, if you read all of Deuteronomy 32, it's a tragic chapter. Verse 17 says, they sacrificed unto devils, not to God. to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up. How do you like that? Remember, they created whatever they devised in their hearts, in their minds, they could create a god out of it. They could do nothing. So they didn't even know what they were worshiping. You realize even today, people who worship idols don't think that they're worshiping idols. They're oblivious to it. It's just what they've done their entire life. Oh, I've had a statue of Buddha here. It's so pretty. It's an idol. Mary in a bathtub. How many of those are around? I saw one. There was one. I should have gotten a picture of it over the last few weeks. Mary was in a bathtub with a Clinton Cain sign next to it. How strange is that? A couple idols there. We'll get off of that one there for a second. They sacrificed unto devils, not to God, to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up. See the word new, new, new, new, new. Whom your fathers feared not. Oh, the Rock that begat thee, thou art unmindful. Look, my Bible has Rock capitalized. You can find in 1 Corinthians 10. That rock that followed the Israelites through the wilderness, who was struck to get water, that rock was Jesus. He was the living stone. The rock of offense. That was Him. Of the rock that begat thee, thou art mindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee. Have an idol try to bring life to a person. It was God that formed them. God that created them. What a miracle that they had forgotten. Verse number 19, I'm going to stop after verse 19, or after 20 rather. And when the Lord saw it, He abhorred them. He rejected them. because of the provoking of his sons and of his daughters, and he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be, for they are a very forward generation." I've got to keep going. "...children in whom is no faith. They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God. They have provoked me to anger with their vanities, and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people. That's a New Testament promise right there. We, in the book of Romans, we receive faith to provoke the Israelites to jealousy. Romans chapter 9. For a fire is kindled in my anger and shall burn unto the lowest hell and shall consume the earth with her increase and set on fire the foundations of the mountains. I'm going to stop right there just because of time save this morning. But God's wrath would be upon His people that substituted Him, the Rock, for new gods which could not deliver. And it is new gods each and every day. If you were to tally up the number of gods that are worshipped in the world, it's in the hundreds of thousands. I think that's why Islam has an appeal to an extent. is because they claimed to worship the one God, which was actually one out of 360 different gods, but Muhammad cast off all the other 359 of them and worshipped one idol. But all these gods being worshipped meant that God would bring his justice and his judgment upon the people. Let's go back to Hosea. According to their pastor, so were they filled. They were filled and their heart was exalted. Therefore have they forgotten me. Therefore, look at all the therefores. They were exalted, therefore they've forgotten. Therefore, I will be unto them as a lion. Now here's the Lord being as a lion. You saw back in Hosea chapter 4, He was as a lion too, coming to tear. Therefore I will be unto him as a lion, as a leopard. By the way, I will observe them. I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rent the call of their heart. And there I will devour them like a lion. The wild beasts shall tear them." Here, the people are shown By rejecting God, they would be open prey for the predators around them. We're most familiar with 1 Peter 5, verse 8, that Satan, the devil, he roams about through the world seeking whom he may devour. See, that's why it's important to remain trusting in the work of God, or the Word of God, and being in fellowship with not only God, but in fellowship with believers. Because the enemy, the enemy in this case with Israel was God Himself bringing judgment upon the people. But the enemy today seeks to devour us and get us to do exactly what they did, to trust other things besides the Living God. Let's go to Jeremiah chapter 5. Another one that I would love to read the whole thing, but we'll see if we can condense it somewhat. Jeremiah chapter 5. We'll start with verse number 1. Jeremiah is speaking of Judah and not Israel after the time of Israel's being brought into captivity, their judgment. He says, 1. Ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if you can find a man, if there be any that executh judgment, that seeketh the truth, and will pardon him. Look and see if there are any believers that will take the truth and pardon sin. See if one that stands up for the Lord's mercy. Verse 2 says, and though they say the Lord liveth, surely they swear falsely. O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? Thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved. Thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than a rock. They have refused to return." So in spite of all the judgments, in spite of Israel being taken away, the people still refuse to return to the Lord. Therefore I said, surely these are poor, they are foolish, for they know not the way of the Lord, nor the judgments of their God. I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them, for they have known the way of the Lord, and the judgment of their God, but these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds. is our parallel here, wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of the evening shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities, everyone that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces, because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased. How shall I pardon thee for this? Thy children have forsaken Me, and sworn by them that are not gods. When I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlot's houses. They were as fed horses in the morning, everyone neighed after his neighbor's wife. Shall I not visit for these things? Saith the Lord, and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?" Let me end there and look again at the parallel in Hosea. Therefore I will be unto them as a lion, as a leopard by the way will I observe them." So just like the leopard here in Jeremiah chapter 5 sits and waits. This is what this leopard, this creature would do. Of course he looks. For those that are by themselves, those that are weak, that are wounded, and how a leopard works is they pounce on that weak prey. The ones who have separated themselves from God. What a picture that is. And as that lion in the way as well. Tear them to pieces. This is what God's judgment would do. God would be like that lion, like that leopard, and look what else. I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her wells. Now, I've never met a bear, a she-bear, and tried to take one of their cubs. You would meet instant death. As a matter of fact, try even with women and their children. If somebody tries to mess with those kids, you're going to have the wrath of that woman in protecting that child. So that bear would be ruthless and going after its cubs and will rent the call of their heart. We read Ezekiel 36 last week. that God desires to change, that heart of stone. He doesn't want your heart now, He wants to tear it apart, break it up and give you a new heart of flesh. This is God's desire, God's plan. So He would take that heart, it would be rent. And there, while I devour them like a lion, the wild beast shall tear them. Oh, the judgment of God. We need to go to Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53, we know the verses. Praise the Lord, sinners have a substitute for them in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's just like read through all of the book of Isaiah or something. Verse 1, Who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground. He hath no form of comeliness. And when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him." Think of all of the Boyfriend Jesus books that are out there. Forget about those. Jesus is my mother. Look at Ann Voskamp sometime. Sarah Young. There's no form. There's no humbleness in Christ. He is an offense. He is totally despised by mankind. He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him. He was despised and we esteemed Him not. Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. Yes, God laid down the punishment for every single sin in the world on His Son, Jesus Christ. Don't let anyone tell you that a loving God wouldn't do that, because we have a loving and a just God, who was just to bring judgment upon every single person that's ever lived after Adam. But He didn't. He punished His Son, Jesus Christ. Smitten of God and afflicted, for He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His strife we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. Romans chapter 3 highlights this. We have turned everyone in his own way and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He openeth not His mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumbed, so He openeth not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the land of the living. For the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in death." Think of Joseph of Arimathea giving his tomb, and yet who would go down to the grave with him would be that thief on the cross. to opposing economic, social sectors, because he had done no violence. Neither was any deceit in his mouth. Remember Romans chapter 3 verse 10 says, for all men are liars, except for one, Jesus. No deceit in his mouth. Yet, it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall seed his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, those many or a multitude who would believe upon him, for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he hath poured out his soul unto death, and he was numbered with the transgressors, and he bare the sin of many." That many there is an innumerable multitude, or a myriad. It's not just many of the elect. It's the sins of the entire world. And He made intercession for the transgressors. Yes, even for the transgressors, Christ died for them. Even the ones who have not believed the Gospel, Christ died for them. It doesn't mean that they were saved, as some people would say, but He died for the sins of the entire world. That is the gospel message. That's not the popular gospel of you're going to get what you get today. As a matter of fact, one of the verses we read in Deuteronomy chapter 12, used by prosperity teachers all the time, That you're going to get everything you want in the land. I can't remember the verse, we just read it. Somebody will have to go back and do some homework and do it around 12. It's like verse 8. Now, let us turn to the book of Amos. Amos chapter 3. Amos chapter 3. Amos pretty much parallels Hosea. I want to just go to verse number 12. It says, thus saith the Lord, try to think in your mind what this is like and think of some of the horrors that still take place. Thus saith the Lord, as the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs or a piece of an ear. Do you get the idea of that? The shepherd, even while his sheep are being decimated by the animals, the lion, He still goes down and he goes in and tears out whatever he can of those sheep. This is a picture of the remnant of Israel. Some would be left, some would be devoured or thought they would be devoured by the lion, but yet there would be a remnant that would be kept. As the shepherd taketh out the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and Damascus in a couch. Hear ye, and testify in the house of Jacob, saith the Lord God, the God of hosts. That in the day that I shall visit the transgression of Israel upon him, I will also visit the altars of Bethel, and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground. And I will smite the winter house with the summer house, and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, saith the Lord. Hear the word ye kind of Bashan that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say in their masters, bring and let us drink. The Lord God hath sworn by His holiness that, lo, the day shall come upon you that He will take you away with hooks." That's literal, that's what the Assyrians took people away with hooks in their noses and dragged them off into captivity. and your posterity with fishhooks, and ye shall go out at the breeches every cow at that which is before her, and ye shall cast them into the palace, saith the Lord. Come to Bethel, and transgress at Gilgal, mighty transgression, and bring your sacrifice every morning, and your tithes after three years, and an offer of sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish the free offerings. For this liketh you, O children of Israel, saith the Lord God." So they were mocking God by giving offerings unto the idols, just like people would bring offerings unto the true God. And also, for this liketh you, O children of Israel, saith the Lord God, I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, or hunger, they wouldn't have any food, and want of bread in all your places, yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord. And also I have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest, and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city. One piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered. So two or three cities wandered unto one city to drink water, but they were not satisfied. Yet have you not returned unto me, saith the Lord. I have smitten you with blasting and mildew when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased. The palmy worm devoured them. Yet have ye not returned unto Me, saith the Lord. I have sent among you the pestilence after the manor of Egypt. Your young men have I slain with a sword and have taken away your horses, and have made the stink of your camps to come up into your nostrils. Yet have ye not returned unto Me, saith the Lord." And this is how the rest of the chapter Look at all that I have done. I've chastened you, I've brought you low, but you still don't come unto me. What a picture that is. But, we'll save that for another time as well. Let's, in sort of closing, let's turn to Psalm 46. Psalm 46. How is it Relevant for us. Psalm 46 is very relevant. It's a short psalm, so we'll just read through the whole thing. Let's think of God's justice and His judgment. Verse number 1, God is. There's another whole message right there. God is our refuge and strength. a very present help in time of trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah. A big, giant pause to think of that. Everything collapsing all around. But yet, we have a refuge. We have a rock. There is a river. The streams whereof shall make glad the city of God. The holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High. And by the way, before I go further here, There is a river, it's not a mystical, experiential river of the Holy Spirit as many teach. We'll go to that in a second. It's a real river, a real stream. Verse number 5, God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved. God shall help her, and that right early. The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved, he uttered his voice, the earth melted." I've heard a praise song about that, but it's not much to praise here. The Lord of Hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Another Selah. Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the ends of the earth. He breaketh the bow and cutteth the spear in sunder. He burneth the chariot in fire." What a mighty God! Be still and know that I am God. And while I'm at it, here's another verse so often taken out of context. that you can have some sort of mystical experience. If you just be still and empty your heart and mind, then you can hear the voice of God. Well, what does the context say? It says, be still among all the mighty judgments and the work of God. Be still! Modern English today would say, chill out! Chill out! Be still! God is in control! He's doing His thing! Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Say, why? I want to go back and look at verse 5 or verse 4. 5. There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High. God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved. God shall help her, and that right earlier, at the dawning of the day. Now let's go over to the book of Revelation. Let's go to the end of the story. I'm going to bypass Ezekiel 47 and give the condensed version of what's happening here. Be still, know that I am God, and look at this, Revelation 22, verse number 1. And He showed me a pure river of water of life, Clear as crystal proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. Yes, David knew the reality of this real living water. This real stream that would one day come. Yes, Jesus is the water of life. He is the bread of life. He's all these things, but it's all to be encompassed in the future. in the New Jerusalem, in the midst of the street of it, and of either side of the river was there the Tree of Life." Where do we start our fall from perfection? At the Tree of Life, in the garden. Now here we are again, at the Tree of Life, in the middle of the city, in the midst of the street of it, and of either side of the river was there the Tree of Life, which bear twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. And they shall see His face, and His name shall be in their foreheads. and there shall be no night there, and they need no candle, neither light of the sun, for the Lord God giveth them light, and they shall reign forever and ever." Now what the Greek says at the end there, forever and ever, actually says forever and ever and ever and ever and ever. Keep on going. It's eternal. What good news? Praise the Lord, that because of His judgment, upon His Son, taking His wrath upon Him. We have a literal tree of life to look forward to. Israel will be there, worshiping Him. All nations will come unto the light. Yeah, that tree of life with the leaves of healing for the nations. And then like the fact that there's 12. The tree of life which hath twelve manner of fruits." Twelve fruits! Different fruits for the healing of the nations. All a picture of Christ Jesus. Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord that through God's wrath, through His justice, ultimately it is fulfilled through His Son. Amen? So what do we do? We trust the Lord. We trust His work. We trust His Word. And praise the Lord, we have fellowship. Together. Where we can encourage one another into these things. Because it's going to get worse. I think it's bad now with people attacking Christians all over the world. They can come once again. But we have God's Word on it. He says, be still. and know that I am God. Amen? What joy! What joy we have! We get this privilege that we can partake in Him. Amen? As usual, I said it a couple of weeks ago, how many different ways do I have to, I just have to find different ways of saying, just trust the Lord. We have His provision, we have His power, and we have His people as well. Amen.