“The Farmer’s Almanac of Heaven”

Hosea 10: 12

August 23. 2009

Pastor Steve N. Wagers

New Beginnings Baptist Church of Jacksonville

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“The Farmer’s Almanac of Heaven”Hosea 10: 12Pastor Steve N. WagersAugust 23. 2009

Sermon Outline1. A Tragedy to be Feared!A) A Prevalent TragedyB) A Personal Tragedy2. A Truth to be Followed!A) IntentlyB) Immediately3. A Treasure to be Found!A) A Personal VisitationB) A Precious Revelation

The Farmers’ Almanac was founded in Morristown, New Jersey, and has been a nationwide publication since 1818. It is famous for its long-range weather predictions and astronomical data, as well as its trademark blend of humor, trivia, and advice on gardening, cooking, fishing, and human-interest crusades.

The book of Hosea is what James Montgomery Boice calls, “The second greatest story in the Bible.” It is a story which depicts the nation of Israel as an adulteress. She has played the part of the harlot, but God, in His mercy, is willing to buy her back, and restore her into fellowship.

Both Hosea and Amos were contemporaries who preached in the Northern Kingdom to a nation, described in verse 1 as an “empty vine.” They have watched this great nation plummet into degradation.

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But, in Hosea 10:12, the prophet delivers a message that is just as powerful, pertinent and practical to Israel as it is to the church today. What the farmer’s almanac is to the farmer, Hosea’s word could be the farmer’s almanac of Heaven. It outlines how to prepare the soil and plant the seed in order to receive the rain from Heaven and reap the harvest.

1. A TRAGEDY to be FEARED!

“Break up your fallow ground.”

It’s interesting to note that the prophet gives devoted attention to this tragedy.

A) A PREVALENT Tragedy

[2] “Heart is divided.”

The word “divided” is the Hebrew word chalaq, and was often used in reference to a person’s speech. Whenever someone spoke with “divided,” or chalaq speech, the idea was that they were double-tongued or smooth talker.

The idea is that the people were going through the motions of saying one thing and doing another. Their hearts were divided between the Word and the world.

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Boice comments, “She was coming to the shrines of Jehovah pretending to worship Him. She would have said that Jehovah was god, but while she was saying this, she was multiplying false altars and dedicating “sacred stones.” She would have said that these were for God, but God had not commanded them; hence, God would not accept them.” [1]This is a prevalent condition today. Few would dare to deny the reality of a holy God, but many only come to church to go through the motions of religiosity, not to have an encounter with a holy God. In other words, many honor Him with their lips, but their hearts are far from Him.

By the time we come to verse 10, we find that the hearts that were once divided have now become “fallow ground.” The word “fallow” refers to ground that is untillable.

Fallow ground is not ‘virgin’ soil, but ground that lain idle and has become full of weeds. It is hard ground. It is stony ground. It is unprofitable ground. It is unproductive ground. It is unusable ground. It is “fallow” ground.

The Jewish farmer knew what it meant to have “fallow” ground. Thus, Hoses uses the word to describe the tragic condition of their hearts. Their hearts had gone from being divided to destitute, from being stubborn to stony, from being faulty to fallow.

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“Fallow ground” describes our hearts whenever they become hard, indifferent, callous, unconcerned, and unproductive. It describes a heart that can sit through a wonderful time of worship, yet walk away without experiencing a deep work of God in the heart.

According to the Bible, a heart like fallow ground is UNRECEPTIVE. The seed of the Word is sown, but it only falls on ground that is so hard that it takes no root. Thus, after a while, the wind may blow the seed away, or the birds come to snatch it up.

A heart like fallow ground is also UNPRODUCTIVE. In other words, since the seed cannot plant into roots within fallow ground, there can be no growth, there can be no fruit, and there can be no maturity.

We are living in a day where a person can find a church on just about every corner, and find a Christian on just about every street, but things continue to get worse and worse.

We have more churches today than ever before. We have more programs today than ever before. We have more resources today than ever before. Yet, we seem to be making less of an impact than ever before.

Could it be that we are missing the most imperative ingredient? Could it be that we are trying to do it minus the fulness of the Holy Ghost?

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Moody said, “You might as well try to hear without ears, or breathe without lungs, or see without eyes, or walk without legs as to try to live a Christian life without the Spirit of God.”

John Bunyan wrote from his cell in Bedford Jail, “Oh God, keep me back from being like a painted fire that has no warmth, or a painted flower that has no fragrance, or a painted tree that bears no fruit.”

F. B. Meyer describes it as, “Fallow ground in our hearts is that which has borne no crops of righteousness. Weeds have covered the unfruitful acres with their rank growth, and have scattered their thistle down into other lots. The rain has fallen and the man has shone in vain. The life is a blank, so far as religious usefulness is concerned. God gets no revenue from these barren fallow tracts.” [2]

Perhaps there is this type of ground present in this service today. You are saved, and have been saved for years but your life is unfruitful and unproductive. Your Christian existence could be summed up in one word: STALE!

Finally, hearts that are like fallow ground are not only unreceptive, and unproductive, but they are UNRESPONSIVE. Fallow ground is asleep through the seasons.

In the spring, it’s just fallow ground. In the summer, it’s just fallow ground. In the fall it’s just

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fallow ground. In the winter it’s just fallow ground. It just lies there totally unresponsive to the seasons.

A person whose heart is like fallow ground is unresponsive to the seasons of the will of God, the work of God, and the Word of God. The wind blows, the sun shines, the rain falls, but they sit in their seats asleep, and unresponsive to what God is doing around them.

The Word of God is sown week after week, service after service, Sunday after Sunday, but they are totally unaffected by the seed of the Word. The power of the Holy Ghost begins to move in, but it just passes by them.

In fact, a person whose heart is like fallow ground is someone who thinks that the problem is with everyone else. Why? It is because they are alert to the condition of others, but they are asleep to their own condition.

Jesus described this type of person in Matthew 13: 14-15 as those who,

“Hear, and shall not understand; and, seeing…yet shall not perceive. [15] This

people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have

closed.”

By the way, a heart that is like fallow ground, that is present this morning, will scarcely be touched by

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this message. The heart that is like “fallow” ground thinks that everything is fine just the way it is.

The heart that is like fallow ground will think that all of this talk about worship, about revival, and about spiritual awakening is foolish. The tragedy is that the heart has become unreceptive, unproductive and unresponsive.

B) A PERSONAL Tragedy[12] “Sow to YOURSELVES in righteousness… break up YOUR fallow ground…till he come

and rain righteousness upon YOU.”

Hosea looked and saw a sensual people, a selfish people, and a sinful people. The context of this verse is not focused upon the pagan nations, such as Babylon, Medo-Persia, Rome, or Assyria. He is speaking directly to God’s people, the nation of Israel, who had allowed their hearts to become like fallow ground.

The fault did not lie with the pagan reprobates, because they did not know the one, true, and living God. The fault lied with the people of God, who knew God, but had forsaken and forgotten God.

It’s as if he says, “Don’t dare lay the blame on anyone else. It is not their fault that your ground has become fallow. There is no one else to blame but yourselves.”

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Yet, the same is true for any believer whose heart has become like fallow ground. It is no one else’s fault. We must quit shifting the blame to a preacher that let you down; or church that hurt you; or what someone said that offended you; a message that didn’t suit you; a relationship that ended badly; or, a friend who betrayed your trust.

None of those things are to blame. WE ARE TO BLAME. None of the above happens quickly; but, rather slowly, gradually and progressively until the heart becomes careless, callous and cold.

As a result, what the reprobate is to the unsaved, the heart like fallow ground is to everyone in this room: just one step away from the judgment of God. It is a tragedy to be feared.

2. A TRUTH to be FOLLOWED!

The tragic condition is described as “fallow ground.” Hearts have become hard; thus, unreceptive, unproductive, and unresponsive. Hence, worship is a mechanical act of the head, rather than a meaningful attitude of the heart.

You see there are many things you can do with a heart like “fallow ground;” but, worshipping God is not one of those things. If we are to avoid the tragedy to be feared then we must heed the truth to be followed. What is that truth?

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The prophet says that we must, “Break up your fallow ground: for it is time to

seek the Lord.”

A) INTENTLY

Again, the prophet is not speaking to the pagan, idolatrous nations of the world. He is speaking to the people of God saying,

“Break up YOUR fallow ground.”

If the “fallow ground” is to be broken up, then it can only, and must only be done intently. It requires a decision of your will. It requires an exercise of your volition. With great intent you decide, “I’m going to break up the fallow ground of my heart.”

Notice that he does not say that he will break up their “fallow ground;” nor, does he say that God will break up their “fallow ground.” No, he says, “You break up your fallow ground.”

What does that mean? The word “break” is the interesting Hebrew word nir. The word is translated “lamp” 35 times, “candle” 9 times, and “light” 4 times. Thus, it literally means, “to glisten, or shine.”

In other words, we must give God permission to pull His John Deere out of Heaven’s barn, and allow the deep plow of the Holy Spirit to dig as deep as He will.

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It means that we allow God’s backhoe to dredge deep within the recesses of our heart to pull up everything that is there, and bring it to the surface.

It means that we are willing to come clean before God, confess any known, or unknown sin of commission or omission; and, allow God to bring it to the surface so that it can placed under the blood of the Cross of Calvary.

When that happens that the light of the glory of God can “break” through, glisten, and

shine through us.

How we talk, what we think, what it takes to get us irritated, what our motives are, what our ambitions are, what we’re doing with our money, what you did in that hotel room, or thought about doing. It is lying just beneath the surface.

I understand that not everyone will see the need to break up their “fallow” ground. This is only for those who are utterly desperate to experience a deep work of God in their lives, in their homes, and in their church.

This is only for those who can honestly say with the Psalmist,

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts. See if there be any wicked way in me: and lead me in the

way everlasting.” [Psalm 139:23-24]

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This is only for those who desire that the,“Words of my mouth, and the meditations of

my heart to be acceptable in Thy sight, O God.” [Psalm 19:14]

This is a matter that cannot be done for us; it can only be done in us and by us. We must intently seek to “break up our fallow ground.” However, it must not only be done intently, it must be done:

B) IMMEDIATELY

Do you sense the urgency in the prophet’s tone? Do you sense the immediacy in the prophet’s words? Do you sense the fact that he is speaking of something that can’t wait any longer; because, in fact, it has gone on long enough.

As I read Hosea 10: 12, it’s as if God’s Holy Spirit says to me,

“Sow to yourselves NOW in righteousness, reap NOW in mercy; break up NOW your

fallow ground: for NOW it is time to seek the Lord.”

The prophet Isaiah shared the same urgency in Isaiah 55: 6, “Seek the Lord WHILE he may be found, call

upon Him WHILE he is near.”

The indication is that God will not always be found, and will not always be near. Thus, while He can be found, we must seek Him. While He is near, we

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must call upon Him. God doesn’t come to us on our terms; we must come to God on His terms.

Vance Havner said, "We sit in church, we listen, but we are not overwhelmed with urgency and emergency. The whole matter is one we can take or leave. We are leaning on other things; we have not reached extremity. So we do not touch Him, and consequently, His power does not go out into our lives and we go away empty; while some poor, wretched soul, driven to desperation, simply touches the hem of His garment and is made whole."

Desperation brings us to God and brings God to us. God responds when His people are desperate for Him. But, we must do it intently, and we must do immediately. There were many people who reached for Jesus, but ONLY ONE DESPERATE WOMAN TOUCHED HIM.

We cannot change the past and we cannot control the future. However, if we allow the past to change us and the future to control us, our hearts will become like “fallow” ground. We cannot wait any longer. TODAY is the day. NOW is the time!

But, if you are not willing to intently and immediately allow the plow of the Holy Spirit to break up the “fallow ground” of your heart; then, YOUR BEST DAYS OF SERVICE TO GOD ARE OVER!

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But, if down on the inside of you “deep calleth unto deep,” and you desire to experience the fulness of God like never before, then “IT IS TIME” to “break up your fallow ground” and “seek the Lord.”

3. A TREASURE to be FOUND!

What happens when we “break up the fallow ground” of our hearts and begin to “seek the Lord.” My dad used to say, “God does business with honest people.”

If that is true, and I believe it is, then business is about to pick up, because of:

A) A PERSONAL VISITATION

When we are willing to allow the plow of God’s Spirit to dig deep, and break up the “fallow ground” of our heart; and, we begin to “seek the Lord,” in confession and repentance something glorious happens. It is revealed in the words,

“Till he come.”

In other words, when He comes, the natural is replaced with the supernatural; the dull is replaced with the dynamic; the fruitlessness is replaced with fruitfulness; the tradition of men is replaced with the truth of God; repentance is replaced with refreshing; and the gloom is replaced with glory.

I think of the song:

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When Jesus passed by,When Jesus passed by;Oh what a difference, When Jesus passed by.

I can’t explain it,And I cannot tell you why,But, oh what a differenceWhen Jesus passed by.

Notice that we are to “break up the fallow ground” and “seek the Lord” UNTIL “He come.” The idea is of being persistent and consistent. We don’t know when He may come; we are only promised that He will come.

And when He comes through a personal visitation there will be:

B) A POWERFUL REVELATION

The farmer’s almanac of Heaven indicates that those who will “break up the fallow ground” and “seek the Lord” will enjoy a time when He will

“Come and rain righteousness upon you.”

In other words, that hard, stony, untilled, “fallow ground,” where once the rain fell without any results; now, suddenly, becomes ground that will absorb, and soak up the rain of God’s righteousness, and begin to produce a bountiful harvest.

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Through the printed page I have developed a deep respect for a great man of faith named George Mueller. Mueller was an Englishman who fed thousands of orphans without ever soliciting for funds, and was particularly known for his faith in answered prayer. Mueller even made a habit of praying for his personal daily needs and the needs of his orphans. He also prayed every day for more than fifty years for the salvation of two friends by name.

“Why don’t you give up?” another friend suggested. “If God wanted to do it, He would have done it by now.” Mueller simply turned to Galatians 6:9, "Let us not be weary in well-doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." George Mueller said, “It’s God’s job to reap harvest; it’s my job to get the ground ready.” Stanley William McKenna Walker was the son of a wealthy British shipbuilder. At age 50, he was the heir to a $4 million estate in England. But, this man had become a wino on Chicago's skid row. For many years, he barely survived by eating left-over garbage and sleeping in two-bit hotels.

When his millionaire father died, the authorities searched throughout the saloons and flop houses of Chicago, trying to find him so they could inform him of his new inheritance. When they finally located him, they discovered that he had just died the night before in the doorway of a Chicago rescue mission. Mr. Walker was the heir to a fortune, but lived like a pauper.

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So it is with any Christian who does not break up the “fallow” ground of their heart. They will choose to live beneath their privilege as an “heir of God” and a “joint heir of Jesus Christ.”

Do you want to experience a deep work of God in your life? If so, “break up your fallow ground” and get clean before God. Be willing to confess, and put under the blood, any sin, secret or otherwise.

Be willing to shut the door on a past problem, predicament or person that you have allowed to affect your relationship with the Lord Jesus. If you will, the farmer’s almanac of Heaven not only predicts, but promises that the fulness of God will be yours.Endnotes1) Minor Prophets, Vol. 1, James Montgomery Boice, pg. 80.2) “Our Daily Homily,” F. B. Meyer3) “The Divine Conquest,” A. W. Tozer, pg. 90.

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