Hosea 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.
2 Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty: he shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their
images.
3 For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the LORD; what then should a king do to
us?
4 They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant: thus judgment springeth up as hemlock
(venom, poison) in the furrows of the field.
5 The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of Bethaven: for the people thereof shall mourn
over it, and the priests thereof that rejoiced on it, for the glory thereof, because it is departed from it.
6 It shall be also carried unto Assyria for a present to king Jareb: Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel
shall be ashamed of his own counsel.
7 As for Samaria, her king is cut off as the foam upon the water.
8 The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up
on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.
9 O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah: there they stood: the battle in Gibeah against the
children of iniquity did not overtake them.
10 It is in my desire that I should chastise them; and the people shall be gathered against them, when they
shall bind themselves in their two furrows.
11 And Ephraim is as an heifer that is taught, and loveth to tread out the corn; but I passed over upon her fair
neck: I will make Ephraim to ride; Judah shall plow, and Jacob shall break his clods.
12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the
LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.

Jeremiah 4:3 For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow
ground, and sow not among thorns.

“This is what the Lord says to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem: ‘Break up your unplowed ground and do not
sow among thorns.’” Jeremiah 4:3 (niv)

18 And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, 19 And the cares of this
world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it
becometh unfruitful.Mark 4:18-19

Our spiritual harvest begins in the ground of our heart. An unplowed heart is not ready to receive
spiritual truth. The ground is hard, and unyielding; stubborn and independent. Unplowed ground never
spontaneously yields good crops. Unplowed ground is hospitable only to thorns and weeds. These weeds and
thorns are what is produced when we depend upon our own efforts and labor to please God.

17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of
the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy
sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou
taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. (Genesis 3:17-19 )

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance:…. (Gal. 5:22-23)

Plowing our hearts means allowing God’s truth to cut through our pride and self complacency; tearing up
hardened attitudes, and turning over clods of frozen apathy. What is underneath is turned over and exposed to
the light. Plowing our hearts means confessing our sins; our failures to receive good seed and to produce a
good crop of fruit pleasing to God.

Plowing also destroys weeds, ripping them up by the roots and turning them over to wither under the drying
sun.

39 And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word.
40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not
care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.
41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many
things:
42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from
her.
(Luke 10:39-42).

We prosper when we allow God to weed our hearts of all desires in conflict with our love for Him. He is the
gardener who plows, tends, and prunes. (John 15)

So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. Luke 12:21

When we yield to God’s plow, the broken ground of our heart will produce a good crop.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
(Psalm 51:17).

Praise 314 times - make merry, rejoice

Israel - 3478 laer'f.yI Yisra'el {yis-raw-ale'} • from 08280 and 0410;; n pr m • AV - Israel 2489,
Israelites 16; 2505 • Israel = "God prevails" 1) the second name for Jacob given to him by God after his
wrestling with the angel at Peniel 2) the name of the descendants and the nation of the descendants of Jacob
2a) the name of the nation until the death of Solomon and the split 2b) the name used and given to the
northern kingdom consisting of the 10 tribes under Jeroboam; the southern kingdom was known as Judah
2c) the name of the nation after the return from exile

Samaria - 8111 !Arm.vo Shom@rown {sho-mer-one'} • from the act part of 08104; TWOT - 2414d; n pr
loc • AV - Samaria 109; 109 • Samaria = "watch mountain" 1) the region of northern Palestine associated
with the northern kingdom of the 10 tribes of Israel which split from the kingdom after the death of Solomon
during the reign of his son Rehoboam and were ruled by Jeroboam 2) the capital city of the northern
kingdom of Israel located 30 miles (50 km) north of Jerusalem and 6 miles (10 km) northwest of Shechem

Bethaven - 1007 !w<a'ƒtyBe Beyth 'Aven {bayth aw'-ven} • from 01004 and 0205;; n pr loc • AV -
Bethaven 7; 7 • Beth-aven = "house of vanity" 1) a city east of Bethel, site unknown

Assyria - 0804 rWVa; 'Ashshuwr {ash-shoor'} or rVua 'Ashshur {ash-shoor'} • apparently from 0833
(in the sense of successful); TWOT - 176 • AV - Assyria 118, Assyrian 19, Asshur 8, Assyrian + 01121 5,
Assur 1; 151 • Asshur or Assyria = "a step" n pr m 1) the second son of Shem, eponymous ancestor of the
Assyrians 2) the people of Assyria n pr loc 3) the nation, Assyria 4) the land, Assyria or Asshur

Jareb - 3377 brey" Yareb {yaw-rabe'} • from 07378;; n m • AV - Jareb 2; 2 • Jareb = "contender" 1) an
epithet given to the king of Assyria

Ephraim - 0669 ~yIr;p.a, 'Ephrayim {ef-rah'-yim} • dual of 0672;; n pr m • AV - Ephraim 176,

Ephraimite 4; 180 • Ephraim = "double ash-heap: I shall be doubly fruitful" 1) second son of Joseph, blessed
by him and given preference over first son, Manasseh 2) the tribe, Ephraim 3) the mountain country of
Ephraim 4) sometimes used name for the northern kingdom (Hosea or Isaiah) 5) a city near Baal-hazor 6) a
chief gate of Jerusalem

Aven - 0206 !w<a' 'Aven {aw'-ven} • the same as 205;; n pr loc • AV - Aven 3; 3 • Aven = "vanity" 1) a
name used contemptuously for the following places of idolatrous worship 1a) a city in Egypt, possibly On
(Eze. 30:17) 1b) Bethel with its calf worship (Hos. 10:8) 1c) A town or region in Syria (Amos 1:5)

Gibeah - 1390 h['b.GI Gib`ah {ghib-aw'} • the same as 01389;; proper noun location • AV - Gibeah 44;
44 • Gibeah = "hill" 1) a city in the mountain district of Judah 2) a city of Benjamin, birthplace of king Saul 3)
a city in Kirjath-jearim of Ephraim

Judah - 3063 hd'Why> Y@huwdah {yeh-hoo-daw'} • from 03034; TWOT - 850c; n pr m • AV - Judah
809, Bethlehemjudah + 01035 10; 819 • Judah = "praised" 1) the son of Jacob by Leah 2) the tribe
descended from Judah the son of Jacob 3) the territory occupied by the tribe of Judah 4) the kingdom
comprised of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin which occupied the southern part of Canaan after the nation
split upon the death of Solomon 5) a Levite in Ezra's time 6) an overseer of Jerusalem in the time of
Nehemiah 7) a Levite musician in the time of Nehemiah 8) a priest in the time of Nehemiah

Jacob - 3290 bqo[]y: Ya`aqob {yah-ak-obe'} • from 06117;; n pr m • AV - Jacob 349; 349 • Jacob =
"heel holder" or "supplanter" 1) son of Isaac, grandson of Abraham, and father of the 12 patriarchs of the
tribes of Israel