A Degenerate Vine

Hos 10:1-2 Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself: according to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images. 2 Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty: he shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images.

Ps 80:8-15 Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it. 9 Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land. 10 The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars. 11 She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river. 12 Why hast thou then broken down her hedges, so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her? 13 The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it. 14 Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts: look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine; 15 And the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself.

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Chapter 10 of Hosea is the final chapter of the pronouncements of the judgments of God. The last four chapters are about God's love and mercy and quite different from all of the preceding messages. As you could expect, this last message from God is a powerful one that reaches through time and again touches our everyday lives today. Let's consider the lessons learned in this chapter, before we end our Hosea series with three messages about God's love.

The first verse of the chapter reads thus:

Hos 10:1 Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself: according to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images.

"Israel is an empty vine." Let's begin here by first noting that there is quite a bit of discussion and conjecture among various Bible scholars as to the meaning of the Hebrew word that is translated as "empty" in the King James Version. The word boqeq can mean several different things depending upon the context of how it's used. Here are the three possibilities:

1. It can mean "emptied" or "lifeless." As in it once was a great fruit producing vine but now it has died and stopped producing it's grapes. This is the interpretation of the KJV scholars, but one that I think is not accurate considering the context of the very next part of the verse says "he bringeth forth fruit."

2. It can mean "to cast away it's fruit." As in the vine is alive and produces grapes, but "casts them" or releases them to fall upon the ground before they are ripe and full. It's possible this is what God meant, but the third meaning fits perfectly the rest of the verse context.

3. It can mean "pouring itself out in growing prosperously." In other words, the plant has used it's resources to "pour out of itself" and grow and spread immensely and bring forth much fruit and to do so "luxuriantly." This better suits the context of the scriptures and is generally accepted as the true rendering today. The Jewish scholars who translated the Hebrew scriptures into Greek, chose this meaning in this verse in the Septuagint.

I wouldn't be spending this much time on this word if it was not important, so just to be sure that we have the correct meaning of the word, listen to some of the other English translations:

Hos 10:1a Israel empties his vine; He brings forth fruit for himself. NKJV

Hos 10:1a ISRAEL IS a luxuriant vine that puts forth its [material] fruit. AMP

Hos 10:1a The people of Israel were like a grapevine that was full of grapes. The more prosperous they were, the more altars they built. TEV

Hos 10:1a "How prosperous Israel is-a luxuriant vine all filled with fruit! TLB

The point of this is that at first this would seem a compliment and not a "slam" on Israel. Hosea is saying "you are a luxurious vine, a well-producing vine." "You are blessed of God and prosperous." When the message began, probably most of the hearers probably thought that it was a good thing that God was saying.

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You and I have a basic understanding of the concept of using a "vine" to denote God's people, but not in the depth of Israel's thinking. Hopefully you are somewhat familiar of Jesus' words to His disciples about His church:

John 15:5 I am the vine , ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

It's important to understand that when Jesus Christ uttered these words to His Jewish disciples, that He was not creating a new figure of speech but was using a very familiar one with which His disciples could readily understand.

The figure of speech of likening Israel to a vine began in David's time when one of his chief musicians, Asaph, wrote the 80th Psalm. We read part of it as our other text and let refresh you quickly on what it said. Asaph was praying to God when he said:

Ps 80:8-9 Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it. 9 Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land.

The analogy is clear, the vine represents Israel and when Israel was brought out of Egypt in Moses' day and taken to the Promised Land, it was likened to a vine being transported and planted in a fertile land and prospering. And, of course, Asaph's purpose in reminding God of this analogy was found in the latter verses of our text:

Ps 80:14-15 Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts: look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine; 15 And the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself.

"Visit this vine." Asaph was obviously going through a dry time and was saying "Lord that took us out of Egypt and planted as a strong vine here in this land, come back and visit us!" It was another way of saying "I need a fresh touch, a new anointing, new growth, etc..." The vine and it's fruit represented the spiritual and material blessings of Israel.

That is easy to see from the text, but what the scriptures don't tell you that Jewish history does is that from the writing of this Psalm and it's use in the temple worship, that the "vine" became the national symbol of Israel. If you would have been able to visit the temple of Jesus' day, you would have immediately noticed that upon the outer gate of the main entrance was emblazoned a golden vine. So when Jesus said "I am the vine" He used a symbol that had come to represent Israel as the chosen and blessed people of God. The vine was the symbol of national life in Israel, and now Jesus was claiming to be the center of the national life! They rejected that fact, but He was in fact the "life giver" and the "blessing provider" of not only Israel but of the entire universe!

Throughout Old Testament history, various prophets picked up on the theme of the vine and used it in their messages. Ezekiel used the analogy four or five times. Jeremiah, also after the time of Hosea, later on referred to Israel as a degenerate vine. Contemporary with Hosea, was the prophet Isaiah, who was also preaching the same basic message in the south while Hosea was thundering this message in the north. In chapter five of the book of Isaiah, the prophet compares Israel to a vineyard of the choicest vines that was planted in the Promised Land by God and tended by the finest preachers.

The point of all of this is, at first, when the people heard the words of Hosea, it seemed as if it were a compliment and in fact their ego may have begun to swell. Hosea thundered "thus saith the Lord God, "Israel is a luxuriant and blessed vine." And immediately their mind goes back to the song of Psalm 80 that they have memorized from singing it in "church" so much and think back to how much God has blessed them and helped them and how He brought them out of Egypt and in the Promised Land gave them houses that they did not build and land that they did not earn and how that God has given them His law and His temple, and His presence, and there was probably something that begins to rise and say "yes, I am chosen and blessed of God, I am a part of that luxuriant vine!"

But then Hosea went on, and we find that his message here is not a positive one at all, but a judgment pronouncement. He goes on to say:

Hos 10:1 Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself: according to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images.

Israel is a "luxuriant" vine, but then the scripture goes on to say "he bringeth forth fruit unto himself." That "he" is not capitalized in the English and the same is true in the Hebrew. The "he" of this verse is not talking about God, but about Israel. Israel was a blessed and fruitful vine, that was not the problem. The problem was that they were taking the blessings of God and using them as fruit "unto themselves." In other words, they were taking all of the blessings of God and their "fruit" and using it to create magnificent altars and "goodly" or "fancy and artistically designed" images. But these fancy altars were not centers of sacrifice and worship, but were centers of selfishness and fleshly pleasure. They had forgotten that God had brought them out of Egypt not just to be blessed, but that He had blessed them because they were supposed to be the people through whom the world learned about God. They were supposed to be the nation that would grow and be an example to the unbeliever of God's righteousness. The blessings were to be used to the purpose of God's kingdom, but instead the Israelites had used the blessings of God to build up a religion that made them feel good and feel special and that gloried in their blessings! They were bearing the fruit of God, but were using it for the wrong things.

This was the same conclusion that Isaiah reached in his sermon in chapter 5 of his book. God said:

Isa 5:3-4 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. 4 What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?

"What more could I do to my vineyard?," God asked! But instead of bringing forth the fruit that God had desired, they brought forth "wild grapes." Luckily Isaiah goes on to give us what was meant by the analogy:

Isa 5:7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.

Isaiah is saying basically the same thing that Hosea was preaching. God had given them the vineyard and God had provided the nutrients and blessings, but the people had taken the things that God had given them to produce fruit and used it for their own purposes. Therefore instead of righteousness, God found that Israel had produced a "cry," or "sin and suffering." That "cry" is the same word used in Genesis 18 when God said He heard the "cry" of Sodom and Gomorrah. It is the same word used in Exodus when it is said that God heard the "cry" of the oppressed people coming from Egypt. The word means "sin" or "suffering" and it denotes to a situation where God's perfect will is not being done or that conditions exist that are against His goodness and plan.

So to summarize all that we have learned, what started out as a compliment ended up being an indictment against Israel. Hosea and Isaiah were saying "you are the blessed vine that God brought forth out of bondage from Israel and planted in the Promised Land. God gave you His presence, and His blessings and His material gifts, and built a hedge around you and placed His name within your city, and protected you from the storms of life, and gave you all the nutrients to grow justice and righteousness and become a Godly land where His will was done, and yet despite all of this being put into you and provided for you, you are backslidden and have used all the blessings that He gave you to create a religion that pats you on the back but that does not change you, and you have built great buildings and such, but yet your morality is shot and your nation cries out to me with the voice of sin and suffering and you have increased your religiosity and lost your relationship and -- God says -- I consider it wild grapes, I consider it something that must be broken down and upon which I will bring judgment, because you have been fruitful but in the areas of personal gain and not in what I purposed for you to be!

The entire first verse of this chapter in The Living Bible reads thus:

Hos 10:1 "How prosperous Israel is-a luxuriant vine all filled with fruit! But the more wealth I give her, the more she pours it on the altars of her heathen gods; the richer the harvests I give her, the more beautiful the statues and idols she erects. TLB

God was saying "you have taken my blessings and used them for your purposes." Israel "bringeth forth fruit unto himself."

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Now let me preach the application today. This principle is the most serious issue and saddest commentary on the state of the sinner that chooses to live their life without God actively involved. It is sad because the sinner is taking the gifts of God that God has freely given them: the rising and setting sun to light their way, the breath of life and the strength in their body to move and act, the creative force of God which was placed into man so that he could be creative and solve problems and think rationally, and time -- which is the most precious of all gifts that God has given man. The sadness of the sinner's plight is that they take all of these gifts that God has given them freely and choose to use it to their own purpose and never bother to use it for God's purpose!

How sad it is that God gave them the breath of life and the ability to speak and yet some people never use that life and speech to praise the very God that gave it! How sad is it that God gave them the ability to think and yet days go by in some people's lives and they never even give the God of the universe a thought! Or even worse and sadder is when men use the creative genius that was placed in them by God for devious purposes and to devise sinful schemes and such. How many men and women that could have used their creative geniuses for preaching the gospel and teaching His word, yet waste their ability in Hollywood and in writing novels and in politics and such... They are taking the blessings of God that were freely given them, and they develop them and are fruitful, but yet to their own purposes and for their own selfish gain and agenda and do not use them for the kingdom of God. And so they are a luxuriant vine in a sense and yet have brought forth fruit unto themselves and not unto God! And so, despite having the blessings of God, they are a degenerate vine because they are bringing forth wild grapes.

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Cannot we see the same application to the major religions of today? They take the principles of God's Word and use them to make themselves rich and to build great edifices and buildings and yet do not use such resources to spread the whole gospel to the whole world? Because preaching the truth of all of God's Word might result in some smaller crowds and some having to choose between God and the world, they are content to not use their God-given energy to rightfully divide God's Word and expound and preach it, but instead focus their anointing on creating a religion that soothes and pats themselves on the back for being God's chosen people. If a church can have a beautiful sanctuary, and care groups for every walk of life, and young married fellowships, and recreational leagues, and a talented choir with the latest musical instruments, and social groups and organized fundraisers and fellowships and yet doesn't provide a place for the sinner to repent, and doesn't allow the washing away of those sins in the precious name of Jesus, and doesn't teach or encourage or believe in the necessity of receiving the Holy Spirit with the scriptural and Apostolic evidence of speaking in other tongues, then to use Jesus expression, they are giving a stone for the Spirit and a substitute society for Christianity, and a religion for a relationship. They have freely received anointing and blessings of God and are a fruitful vine, but the fruit has become "their fruit" created and consumed for their agenda. Simply put, they are "using God" rather than being "used of God."

I read the news reports of one of the speakers at the Democratic National Convention this year who, instead of delivering a normal speech, preached his message to the convention. The people responded with shouts and claps and the man said afterwards "that was awesome, it felt like church in there." Yes, the process works because God chose to give the gift of preaching and use it to reach others. The sad thing was that this man was using the gift of God for his political agenda to tear down our president and to push his political views. He used the anointing and ability that God gave him and used it for his own personal, and parties gain.

Yes, there are many people out there that "can preach" and that can "woo the crowds." But what is their agenda? What is their message? Some people are so wowed by someone using the fruit of God that they forget that it is possible to use that fruit for a selfish purpose! If the agenda of that talented speaker is his own personal gain, or his own ministry, then I'm afraid I'm not impressed or interested, because he is just another degenerate vine, who is taking the blessings of God and manipulating them into his personal gain and fame. His ability to turn on the charm for the camera does not translate into a true burden for souls. And his watered-down message which is heavy on finance and light on Jesus and holiness tells me all I need to know as to what he is using his spiritual fruit upon.

Maybe I belabor the point, but let me really drive it home. The Mormon church is building a magnificent, million-dollar temple in northern San Antonio. They are building it with money received from tithing from their church members. Tithing is a blessing concept from God's Word and it works because He created it. But in that temple, there will be all sort of rites and man made rituals performed and even baptisms for the dead all of which contradicts scripture. There will never be someone receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. There will never be someone baptized in the name of Jesus. There will never be a revelatory message of who Jesus Christ really is taught there. They have taken the fruits of God and His blessings and principles and used it to create a fantastic religion but it is wild grapes, because it is not devoted to the message of the Apostolic church founded by Jesus Christ. They are using the fruit for their own gain and their own purpose and therefore I am not impressed nor swayed nor changed by their great edifice.

We get that, but can I just be blunt? While we may not be swayed by the physical manifestation of wild grapes, too many of us are affected by the spiritual manifestation of wild grapes. The scripture teaches that the "gifts and callings of God are without repentance." God responds to true faith, no matter where it is. The story of Balaam tells us not to cause miracles and great preaching and the gifts of the Spirit to convince us of the truthfulness of the minister. In that story in Numbers, God speaks through a donkey, and then through the false prophet, himself. The message at the time, delivered by Balaam was correct, but his lifestyle was not and he died lost!

Let me be blunt: just because someone says the right phrases and speaks in tongues doesn't mean that they have truth or believe it! Just because someone does miracles and healings, doesn't mean that their doctrinal view on salvation and the Godhead will get you to heaven. In the last days, many will be deceived by the false prophet calling down fire from heaven and causing idols to speak, but his agenda will be to get people to worship the antichrist! Miracles are not a sign of truth. God does perform miracles, but what does the minister believe as far as salvation and doctrine? They speak in tongues and have great buildings but who do they say Jesus Christ is? How do they baptize? Does God call people in their church to a level of separation from the world, something that is called "holiness" and, without which, the scriptures say we will not be saved!? Too many of us are swayed and affected because of anointed ministries or healings or signs and wonders by people who don't believe truth. They are using God. They are taking the fruit of God's blessings and using it for their own agenda and to build their own kingdom and religions, and you'd better beware: their message will not save you because they are omitting crucial elements! God won't care how big your church building was, and how many fellowships you had and how many miracles you saw or even did, if your doctrine was not right and you did not develop a relationship with Him based upon truth, then you will not be saved! The words of Jesus in Matthew 7 ring loud and clear in my mind:

Matt 7:21-23 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Don't be fooled by those who confess Him as Lord and then don't live according to all of the Word of God. Don't even be fooled by people who prophesied in the name of Jesus or cast out devils or did miracles in that precious name. The question is "what do they believe?" Do they obey ALL of the Word of God? Do they have a relationship with Jesus? Do they know who He is? Do they preach the message of salvation that He commanded for the disciples to preach and proclaim? If not, Jesus, said that they are workers of "iniquity!" Why? Because they are a degenerate vine and are taking the blessing and anointing and fruit of God and are using them for their own purposes and to build their own altars and to make their own religion.

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I don't have time to expound on the wonderful principles found throughout this chapter, as we've only gotten to the first verse! But let me move toward a close with this:

As the Apostolic church that has been born of the water and of the Spirit, we can identify with Israel. We have come out of Egypt through the blood of the Passover Lamb! We have passed through the Red Sea of the waters of baptism and our sinful past has been drowned to chase us no more. We have become the temple of the Holy Ghost when we received His precious Spirit within our bodies and now that pillar of cloud and fire by night dwells within us. Many of us have continued on and entered into the blessed state of living for God everyday according to His principles, and because of it, we are a very blessed people! Some of the things that we once worried about are no more. If we get sick, we can call on the healer. If we are discouraged, we can remind ourselves of the promises of God and come worship in His presence until our emotions are settled. We have experienced the blessings of God and the Spirit of God and the understanding of God and the revelation of God and the anointing of God and the power of God and the joy that comes knowing that you can face death not wondering what happens next! Like Israel we are a blessed vine! We are a fruitful vine! We are overflowing with even more blessings than the ordinary man!

But there is a danger that comes with such blessings because with the fruit of the Spirit comes responsibility. When God gives you the fruit of understanding or the gift of the Holy Ghost or an anointing or revelation, then He does so with a particular purpose in mind. We are the chosen generation, the royal priesthood of today. We are to be the body of Christ in this world, reaching out to others, and spreading this great message of salvation and the mighty God in Christ! With the blessings comes a great responsibility to produce justice and righteousness, and these scripture in Hosea, and our everyday world proves to us that it is possible to have truth, have the revelation of who Jesus Christ is, and of the full plan of salvation and yet use it for our own gain or agenda! It is possible to have truth and anointing and purpose and be fruitful with blessings and yet be an degenerate vine that uses up the fruit for your own purpose and thus falls out of the favor with God!

And so I ask you tonight. If you're saved, that's great but to what purpose? And the telling question that we all ought to ask ourselves tonight is this: for what purpose is my fruit going?

Do I use the privilege of prayer for my own personal blessing only, or do I pray for others?

Do I use the privilege of worship for my own personal edification only, or am I concerned with creating a climate so that someone else can receive what they need?

Do I pat myself on the back and say "well, I'm different and at least I'm not like them" and yet justify sin in my life?

Do I daily pray about and think on "winning someone for God," or am I simply trying each day to "stay saved?"

When someone disagrees with me on religion, do I immediately get defensive and try to hammer them and hurt them, or do I realize it as an opportunity to reveal truth to them and try to win them?

Am I using the abilities that God has given me, no matter how small or how obscure, weekly for the kingdom of God, or is it just so that I can make a living?

Can people who are around me tell that I am different from other Christians because of my actions and speech an attitude toward others?

What am I doing with the fruit that God has given me? Is it for my purpose, or is it for His gain? I don't want to be a degenerate vine! I want to be fruitful for His purpose and His cause and His kingdom!