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I invite you to turn, if you
have your Bibles there in front of you, to the book of Hosea. The book of Hosea. So find the
three big prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel. Turn one book over to
Daniel, and you still haven't gotten far enough, but just one
more to Hosea. To Hosea. And it's exciting tonight because
we start sort of the last portion of the Old Testament, and I was
mapping this out, I think I said it last time, but if we stay
on track to the end of the summer, we could be in the New Testament
by the fall, so exciting. But with Hosea, As we come to Hosea, we find
ourselves, as I said, in the final portion of the Old Testament
because Hosea begins a section of Scripture that has traditionally
been bundled together as one volume called the Minor Prophets
or the Book of the Twelve as the Jews traditionally spoke
of. only later in the canon where
they separated and they weren't always found in the order that
we have them in our Bibles, but for the most part, Hosea has
almost always let off the lineup of the twelve, probably because
it's the longest of the twelve minor prophets and one of the
earliest, along with Amos, Micah, and Isaiah. Hosea is an eighth
century prophet. In fact, if you look briefly
at Hosea chapter 1 verse 1, hopefully you're there and you were with
us in our study of Isaiah, you'll notice some striking similarities
between Hosea 1-1 and Isaiah 1-1. You see the exact same list
of kings of Judah during which they both ministered, Uzziah,
Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. So, Hosea and Isaiah were contemporaries,
but with the exception that Hosea includes, as you'll notice here,
Jeroboam, the son of Joash. Jeroboam II, the only king in
this list of the northern kingdom of Israel. And that's because
Hosea's prophecy, unlike Isaiah, is primarily to the northern
ten tribes, the northern ten tribes of the nation of Israel. You can read the historical background
of this time period of Israel's history under these particular
kings in 2 Kings 14 through about 18 if you're taking notes there.
But if you do, basically what you'll find is that Hosea was
called to preach to the northern kingdom of Israel in its final
days before Assyrian destruction and deportation in 722 BC. So Hosea speaks, his prophecy
speaks directly into the last approximately 30 or so years
of Israel's history as the northern kingdom. And really, it was a
quick 30 years decline from Jeroboam II to deportation and destruction
into Babylon, or into Assyria, rather. However quickly Israel's
demise seemed to come towards the end, though, we know that
this was a decline that was a long time coming. And we also know,
and when we read the Scriptures, that this was the decline that
had really much more to do with idolatry than it did with Israel's
foreign policy. In fact, stretching back to the
very beginning after Solomon and the dividing of the kingdom
into Israel to the north and Judah to the south, from almost
day one, if you remember, just to review, Israel's history from
almost day one, the northern kingdom of Israel was founded
in rebellion against the house of David and in idolatry against
their God. Remember 1 Kings 12? 1 Kings
12, if you're taking notes again, you can read verses 25 through
33. In order to keep the people from
going back to Jerusalem to worship in the temple, the first Jeroboam,
not the Jeroboam that Hosea served his ministry under, but the first
Jeroboam, the Jeroboam right after Solomon, almost immediately
in 1 Kings 12, violates the covenant that God made with his people
and makes two golden calves, saying to Israel, it is too much
for you to go up to Jerusalem. Behold your gods, O Israel, that
brought you up from the land of Egypt. And the text says,
he set one in Bethel and the other he put in Dan. He made
houses on high places and he made priests from among all the
people who are not the sons of Levi, clearly against the covenant. He even instituted feasts to
these calves in the month which the text says he had devised
in his own heart. You see, the nation, the northern
kingdom had begun in idolatry. Really, this is how the northern
kingdom began. Not a good start if you were to ask Moses or Joshua. And so it was no wonder that
you find at the end here, these thirty years, their doom was
inevitable. It was inevitable from the beginning.
And for the rest of Israel's history, as the rebellious nation
that split from the Davidic line, Israel Israel seemed doomed from
the beginning and could never shake the idolatry that the first
Jeroboam had introduced. And so fast forward, by the time
Hosea begins his ministry under Jeroboam II, Israel was beginning
to unravel about as quickly as a nation could unravel. Just
listen to a summary of these 30 years that he served One writer
says, as soon as Jeroboam II's strong hands no longer held the
reins, a period of political unrest, rebellion, and anarchy
followed. Jeroboam's son, Zechariah, was
murdered after a reign of half a year by Shalom, who in turn,
after one month, was slain by Menahem, ruler for eight or ten
years. Pecahia, his son, ruled two years
and was murdered by Pecah, who was killed by Hoshea, the last
king over Israel. And in the year 727, Shalmaneser,
the fourth king of Assyria, overran the northern kingdom. Hoshea
sought aid from Egypt, was summoned to appear before Shalmaneser.
He was imprisoned and henceforth the king of Israel disappears
from our view as a bubble upon the face of the waters, Hosea
chapter 10 verse 7. Samaria was destroyed after a
siege lasting three years in 722 and the people were deported
into Assyria. That is the period in which Hosea
ministers a quick decline, chaos, anarchy. and idolatry. So what was God's message to
this people in such a turbulent time as this? Well, Hosea's name
literally means salvation. It is of the same Hebrew root
as Joshua, Isaiah, and even Jesus. And while salvation was part
of Hosea's message, as we will see, so was judgment for sin,
and that would have to come first. But even beyond those two typical
themes of judgment and salvation, as was common among the prophets,
What is unique about Hosea's contribution to the rest of the
prophets is perhaps what you are most familiar with about
Hosea, that is his emphasis on the unfathomable love of God
for a faithless people. You could say if Isaiah stresses
the holiness of God and Ezekiel, as Danny said, stresses the glory
of God, then Hosea, you could say, is the prophet of the love
of God, the love of God. As a mentor of mine once titled
his commentary on Hosea, this is love beyond degree. And in many ways, this is, as
we read this, this is love beyond our comprehension, God's love
for His people. Hosea's message and ministry,
if you're familiar with it, is arguably the most heart-wrenching
expression of God's love for a people who have forsaken Him. And this is primarily depicted
and found in his prophecy in two predominant analogies that
hit all too close to home for some of us in our human experience.
Number one, a faithful husband's love for an adulterous wife. And second, a faithful parent's
love for a rebellious child. Derek Hidner writes this, Hosea
introduces us to a family which is a miniature of our world. But it is a problem, family,
and God compares the situation not to that of an autocrat whose
orders nobody dares question, nor of a father who rejoices
in an adoring wife and children, but to that of a husband whose
wife has left him, and a father whose children are life strangers
in His own house and are fast destroying themselves." You see,
while this is so sadly relatable to many of us, we must be quick
to listen to Todd Murray's sage advice for reading
this book. Listen to what he writes. For
those who know the deep betrayal within their marriage, for grieving
parents who weep for a wayward child, for all those who've felt
the unsettling diminishment of a once intimate relationship
now unexpectedly strained, certainly the Lord's example in Hosea of
long-suffering love will do much to make their hearts resolve
to continue loving others in spite of the cost. However, and
this is where we need to pay attention And this is so helpful as we
approach the book, to read Hosea and primarily identify yourself
with Hosea or God as the rejected lover would be to miss the book's
weightier, more convicting theme. I think that's right. He says,
the primary message that Hosea proclaimed, both in the pageant
of his marriage and the passion of his prophecies, was not how
Israel ought to demonstrate God-like love toward people who sin against
them, but rather how Israel and Judah were guilty of committing
gross relational atrocities against God. He goes on to say, as you study
this portion of Scripture, if you fail to perceive, confess,
and repent of your own spiritual infidelity toward God, you will
miss the real surgery the book is intended to do to your heart. Beloved, as we look more carefully
then at this book, may you and I come to realize that though
we may be able to relate to Hosea in our own life circumstances
at points, the primary point of Hosea is not that we are Hosea. The primary point is that we
are Gomer. We are faithless. God is faithful. So, may we walk away from this
study tonight more astonished at the extent of God's love for
sinners. May we grieve more at the thought
of the idolatry that so often rears its head in our own hearts,
and may we thank God more for His faithfulness in light of
our faithlessness. This is the thrust of Hosea.
So, let's examine it together. So, what about an outline Well,
basically, the outline we're gonna be working off is gonna
be pretty simple. Hosea's prophecy is, on a whole, notoriously difficult
to break up and outline in any kind of specificity. It lacks
a lot of the typical formulaic statements that you often find
at the beginning and end of different sections of prophetic oracles,
and there's no intricate poetic structure built into the composition
like the acrostic that we saw in Lamentations, but on a whole,
Most, if not all, commentators and scholars at least agree that
it is fairly easy to see a distinction between chapters 1-3 as one section,
so chapters 1-3, and then the rest of the book, chapters 4-14. And primarily because the first
three chapters are, you could say, framed by two narratives
of Hosea's personal life that then become this familiar analogy
for God's relationship to Israel. while the rest of the book, chapters
4 through 14, is essentially what we're gonna call an anthology,
as Todd Murray calls it, or a collection of messages that God gave to
Israel through Hosea. So that's gonna be our outline
for tonight, Hosea 1 through 3. If you're taking notes, we'll
just call Hosea's personal analogy, Hosea's personal analogy, And
Hosea 4-14, we'll just label Hosea's prophetic anthology. So, personal analogy 1-3, prophetic
anthology. Let's begin by looking at Hosea's
personal analogy. And full disclosure, we'll probably
spend quite a bit of time here and read much of the texts. So,
if you have your Bible, open to Hosea 1-3 here, and really
because Because this section sets up the rest of Hosea's ministry. And to understand the rest of
what Hosea writes, we have to understand the narrative and
the analogy that God calls him to live out. So Hosea 1-3, Hosea's
personal analogy. Notice first what God tells Hosea
to do. Hosea 1 verse 2, when the Lord
first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, Go, take
to yourself a wife of harlotry, and have children of harlotry,
for the land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking the Lord. Like all of the Old Testament
prophets, the prophet Hosea, being a mouthpiece for God, you
could say, came at significant personal cost. His prophetic
career was to begin, not by delivering a verbal message, but first by
performing a pointed prophetic action. God's prophets were often
told to act out their prophecies in scripture. We can read about
some pretty bizarre ways they did that. Jeremiah was told to
smash jars in front of the people. That's not as weird, but Isaiah
was told to walk around naked for three years. That would have
been a little awkward. Ezekiel, To get even more strange,
made bread over a pile of human excrement and also literally
ingested a scroll that God commanded him to. Here, Hosea is told to
do the unthinkable, to marry an adulterous prostitute and
start a family with her. That was his act. This was to be the ultimate object
lesson, if you can imagine, a powerful but tragic illustration and living
analogy of God's relationship to His own people, Israel. So notice verse 3 of the text
tells us, so he went, verse 3, and took Gomer, the daughter
of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. And as if
his own marriage wasn't enough of an illustration, you can imagine
Not just his wife, but also his children would serve as part
of God's message. Notice verses four and following.
The Lord said to him, name him the son of yours, Jezreel, for
yet a little while, and I will punish the house of Jehu for
the bloodshed of Jezreel. Then I will put an end to the
kingdom of the house of Israel. On that day, I will break the
bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel. As many of you know, my wife
and I are about to have a fourth child, third little boy. And I can tell you that it was
much harder to pick out yet another boy name after already exhausting
our options for the first two. And Melissa and I have had this
kind of ongoing debate with each child about whether the meaning
of our kids' names really matter, as if they would maybe grow up
to be like whatever their name means. I personally don't believe
that. I'm personally of the opinion,
and I've told her many times that what the name and its etymology
actually means is really less, to me, important than how it
sounds and who they're named after. But can you imagine what it was
like for Hosea's children? Maybe on the playground at school,
somebody asks, hey, hey, how did your mom and dad name you,
Jezreel? And perhaps Jezreel would answer, well, because God
told my dad that Jezreel is where he's going to punish the house
of our king and destroy our nation. And it wasn't just this first
child. Notice verse 6, then she conceived
again and gave birth to a daughter. And the Lord said to him, name
her Loruchema. Which literally, by the way,
literally in the Hebrew, it would be like naming your child something
like no mercy or not pitied. For I will, here's the reason,
no longer have compassion on the house of Israel that I would
ever forgive them. And again, perhaps the worst
one yet, and notice the last two children, as some writers
have pointed out, are not specified to be from Hosea. And then maybe the worst one
yet, verse eight, when she had weaned Lo-Ruhemah, she conceived
and gave birth to a son, and the Lord said, name him Lo-Ami. It's translated to the Hebrew,
Hebrew literally means not my people. And the reason, for you
are not my people and I am not your God. I mean shocking statements
and what's shocking perhaps as you read this, as Israel would
have seen this. What's shocking about these pronouncements
lived out in Hosea's life as an analogy between God and His
people is that God Himself had previously declared in Exodus
34 and the like that He was a God of mercy and compassion. And yet, now He would say, no
mercy. And in Exodus chapter six verse
seven, he had said to Israel in the past, I will take you
for my people and I will be your God. And you shall know that
I am the Lord your God who brought you out from under the burdens
of the Egyptians. Same Leviticus chapter 26 verse
12, I will also walk among you and be your God and you shall
be my people. That is a refrain throughout the Old Testament.
And the hope of God's people that they would be his people,
he would be their God. And yet with these pointed object
lessons through Hosea's family dynamic, God was speaking a powerful
message to Israel. And then by way of analogy, he
was pointing to the spiritual reality of a severed relationship
and a broken covenant, not on his end, but on theirs. And chapter
two really makes this clear. If you flip over to chapter two,
God begins then to fill out this analogy. Israel, we find out
in chapter two, is like Gomer, a wife and mother who has, verse
five, played the harlot, a common Old Testament idiom
for spiritual adultery. Israel is like Gomer, an adulterous
wife who is followed after other lovers, so she, verse 13, forgot
her true husband, the Lord God. And as you read chapter 2, even
the goodness that she received at first from the Lord, she imagines
she receives from her adulterous lovers. And it is shocking. Notice
verse 5 again, for she said, I will go after my lovers who
give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and
my drink. But verse eight, she does not
know, God says, that it was I who gave her the grain, the new wine,
and the oil, and lavished on her silver and gold, which they
used for Baal. I mean, can you just imagine?
Being the one to provide and to care and to nurture and to
give and to love. And instead of that in return, the
utter callousness of Gomer of Israel to attribute
all that she was provided, all that she benefited from in her
marriage to someone else who was just using her when in reality
it was given to her by the Lord, when it was God Himself who cared
for His people this whole time from Egypt until now. What grief,
what pain this would have caused Hosea, This is precisely, though, a
picture of idolatry, isn't it? I mean, think about it. To say,
like Jeroboam did in 1 Kings 12 that we read earlier, that
a couple of golden calves delivered Israel from the hand of Pharaoh
when it was Yahweh who brought them out This is the picture of idolatry. This is spiritual adultery. In the New Testament language
of Romans chapter one, verse 21, this is even though they
knew God, they didn't honor him as God or give thanks. But there is no greater grief.
Just think about, think of the indignation you would have to
do something kind for someone that you love, And not only do
they turn around and scorn you, but act as if your goodness that
you poured out on them was done to them by an enemy that they
praise, that they run to, that they love instead of you. So notice verse 9 of chapter
2, God's response, God says, therefore,
I will take back my grain at harvest time and my new wine
in its season. I will also take away my wool
and my flax given to cover her nakedness. Verse 12, I will destroy
her vines and fig trees of which she said, these are my wages
which my lovers have given me. Verses 6 and 7, chapter 2. Therefore, behold, I will hedge
up her way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her so that
she cannot find her paths. She will pursue her lovers, but
she will not overtake them, and she will seek them, but will
not find them. Then she will say, notice, I
will go back to my first husband, for it was better for me then,
then, than now. You see, along with God's mercy
and His compassion, Exodus 34 verse 14 also tells us that God
is a jealous God. He will not let His people go
this way. Specifically, Israel was told
in the Mosaic Covenant over and over again, Deuteronomy 5 verses
8 and 9, you shall not make for yourself an idol, you shall not
worship them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous
God. And so, what's perhaps even more
remarkable than God asking Hosea to marry a prostitute in chapter
3 now. To complete the analogy, God
tells Hosea to love Gomer still as an adulteress and even buy
her back from her lovers, pursue her, though he is legitimately
her husband. Notice Hosea chapter 3 verse
1, "'Then the Lord said to me, "'Go again. "'Love a woman who is loved by
her husband, "'yet an adulteress. "'Even as the Lord loves the
sons of Israel, "'though they turn to other gods and love raisin
cakes.'" Did you notice that God tells
Hosea not just to get her back or to drag her back, but to love
her back? The verses 2 and 3, so I bought
her for myself for 15 shekels of silver and an omer and half
of barley. Then I said to her, you shall
stay with me. For many days you shall not play the harlot, nor
shall you have a man, so I will also be towards you. David Allen Hubbard writes, Hosea's
response in verse 2 shows both how costly love can be and how
degraded Gomer's condition had become. Note that the response
to go love is not, so he went and loved, but I bought. Love in action, it is love that
bears all that is necessary to accomplish the divine purpose. Derek Kidner says even more pointedly,
listen, I love this, there was no glossing over the unpleasant
truth. The again, just imagine the situation,
put yourself in Hosea's shoes. The again, in God's command,
faced the fact that old wounds would have to be reopened, that
what had happened once might happen yet again. Also, the adultery,
God reminded him, was still in progress. It had been no isolated lapse
but a desertion which added continuing insult to the injury. The love
that was asked of him, that is Hosea, would be heroic. But that was the point, for it
was to be God's love in miniature. Dear Christian, this is the God
we serve. This is what His love is like.
His love is otherworldly. His love is willing to pay the
cost. His love is heroic. It is condescending. Back up
to chapter 2 and notice how God then says He will win back His
wayward people again, much like He called Hosea to go love by
her back. Hosea 2 verse 14, therefore,
behold. I will allure her, bring her
back into the wilderness." That is language, that is an allusion
to a second Exodus-like salvation, and speak kindly to her. Then
I will give her her vineyards from there in the valley of Achor
as a door of hope, and she will sing there as in the days of
her youth, the day when she came up from the land of Egypt. God
says, I'd be willing to do it again. I would buy her back." And that
just blows our minds. Our love is not like this, if
we're honest. And in the future, God says through
Hosea, Notice here, his relationship with his people then as a result
of his pursuing them, as a result of winning them back, buying
them back, alluring her, as a result of this second exodus, His relationship
with his people would be radically changed. Notice specifically
it would be changed in four ways. Verse 16, their attitude towards
him would be changed. Hosea 2, 16, it will come about
in that day declares the Lord that you will call me Ishii,
which means my husband, and will no longer call me Baali, my master. Their attitude will be one of
affection, intimacy. Not only will their attitude
be changed, notice verse 18, their covenant with Him will
be changed. In that day, I will also make
a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, the birds
of the sky, and the creepy things of the ground, and I will abolish
the bow, the sword, and the war from the land. and will make
them lie down in safety. I will, listen to this language,
I will betroth you to me forever. A new covenant, a new marriage,
an everlasting covenant. Yes, I will betroth you to me
in righteousness and in justice, in loving kindness and in compassion. Their attitude towards him would
be different. Their covenant with him would be different.
Notice, their knowledge of him would be different. Verse 20,
and I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. Then you will
know the Lord. Then you will know. All throughout
the book of Hosea, by the way, the knowledge of God is a prominent
theme. And in that day, God says, they
will truly know me. And therefore, his response,
notice verse 21 through 23, to them will change. You remember
the three names, the kids that Hosea had? Listen to the reversal
here. Hosea 2, 21, it will come about
in that day that I will respond. I will respond to the heavens,
and they will respond to the earth, and to the earth will
respond to the grain, to the new wine, to the oil, and they will
respond to Jezreel. I will sow her for myself in
the land. I will also have compassion on
her who had not obtained compassion. That is mercy on the one who
had no mercy. And I will say to those who are
not my people, You are my people. And they will say, you are my
God. I mean, what a dramatic reversal. And perhaps you noticed earlier,
I had intentionally skipped Hosea chapter 1 verses 10 and 11, but
look at it now. On the heels of God declaring
in verse 9, you are not My people and I am not your God, He says
in verse 10, yet the number of the sons of Israel will be like
the sand of the sea. which cannot be measured or numbered,
an obvious reference to the fulfillment of God's covenant with Abraham.
And in the place where it is said to them, you are not my
people, it will be said to them, you are the sons of the living
God." What a change in relationship as a result of God pursuing,
as a result of God's love. Furthermore, I want you to notice
in verse 11 here, chapter 1, that part of this future change
in relationship between God and His people includes what Hosea
depicts as a reuniting of the northern and southern kingdoms
of Israel and Judah. Notice verse 11, and the sons
of Judah and the sons of Israel, that is the south and the north,
will be gathered together. and they will appoint for themselves
one leader, and they will go up from the land, for great will
be the day of Jezreel." But before this happens, now
flip back to chapter 3. Before this happens, notice chapter
3 verses 4 and 5. I know we're all over the place,
but I need you to see these connections. Before this uniting again of
the North and the South as one people being wooed back to God,
before this happens, Hosea even prophesies in chapter 3 that
there will be a lengthy period of time during which Israel will
be stripped of everything that she was prone to turn to, after
which they will finally repent as a nation. and listen to this
language, to seek their God, and not just their God, but also
their Davidic king. Hosea 3 verses 4 and 5, for the
sons of Israel will remain for many days without king or prince,
without sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without ephod or household
idols. There's the lengthy period of time, the discipline of the
Lord, and afterwards, the sons of Israel will return and seek
the Lord their God, and listen, and David, the king, their king,
and they will come trembling to the Lord and to his goodness
in the last days. I love that. Perhaps you don't
realize it, Beloved, I believe we are living
in that lengthy period of time right now. There is yet coming
a day when God will literally bring His nation back to tremble
at His goodness and restore them to Himself. A day when Israel
will seek, the nation of Israel will seek both their God and
their Messiah, their Davidic King. And what a day that will
be. You say, well, what does that
have to do with me? I'm not a Jew, I'm a Gentile. It sounds great
for them, but what does that matter to me? Well, listen to
Paul in Romans chapter 11 verse 15. For if there, that is Israel's
rejection, is the reconciliation of the world, that the gospel
went forth because Israel rejected their king, what will their acceptance
be but life from the dead? What will that day be like? God's
glory and His love will be on full display. Beloved, if you're a Christian
today in the church, you and I belong to God as His people, and He
is our God too, in part, listen, because of this very plan to
woo Israel back to Himself. That is just mind-boggling. That is amazing. That's why Paul quotes Hosea
1 verse 10 in Romans chapter 9 verses 22. through 26, saying,
listen to this, what if God, although willing to demonstrate
His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience,
vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and He did so to
make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy,
which He prepared beforehand for glory. Listen, even us, whom
He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among
Gentiles, As He says also in Hosea, I will call those who
were not My people, My people. and he who is not beloved, beloved. And it shall be that in that
place where it was said to them, you are not my people, there
they shall be called sons of the living God." Quote of Hosea
1.10 that we just read. Like the wisdom of God, the love
of God is beyond degree. I wanted to take that time just
to walk you thoroughly through the first three chapters because
for the rest of the ten chapters of Hosea, Hosea simply rehearses
then the different elements that are already found in these first
three chapters. His message does not change throughout
his ministry. And like I said, this second
part is really just an anthology or collection of his oracles,
They're hard to organize neatly. They enhance the details of what
is already covered and illustrated by his own family analogy. So,
we won't look at all of it, but I do want to highlight some more
significant portions before we go to a few implications. So,
the second part, Hosea 4-14, Hosea's prophetic anthology. Look at chapter 4 for a moment. opens then with God's direct
confrontation now with His people in chapters 4 and 5. Notice the
beginning of chapter 4 verse 1, listen to the Word of the
Lord. those sons of Israel, for the
Lord has a case against the inhabitants of the land. And likewise, chapter
5, verse 1, hear this, O priest, give heed, O house of Israel,
listen, O house of the king, for the judgment applies to you,
from the religious leaders to the political leaders to all
the people. God now lays out his accusation. His accusation of Israel's unfaithfulness,
and it is thorough, and it takes the form of a court trial. Here's the indicting evidence,
just to name a few. Chapter 4 verse 1, there's no
faithfulness or kindness or knowledge of God of the land. Chapter 4
verse 2, they're swearing deception, murder, stealing, and adultery.
They employ violence so that bloodshed follows bloodshed.
Chapter 4 verse 12, my people consult their wooden idol and
their diviner's wand informs them. Chapter 4 verse 13, they
offer sacrifices on the tops of the mountains and burn incense
on the hills under oak, poplar, and terebeth. Verse 14 of chapter
four, they offer sacrifices with temple prostitutes, systematically
breaking God's covenant at almost every point. Their political
leaders, chapter five, verse 10, are corrupt, and turn to
other nations for help, like Assyria, chapter five, verse
13. Chapter four, verse six, their religious leaders forget
the law of God. They lead the people astray.
That is the indicting evidence of this court case, the accusations. There is a divine consequence
laid out in this section as well. God withdraws His blessing. Chapter
5, verse 6, notice, they will go with their flocks and herds
to seek the Lord, but they will not find Him. He is withdrawn
from them. God will become like a moth to
Ephraim, chapter 5 verse 12, like rottenness to Judah and
consume them in His wrath. Worse, chapter 5 verse 14, the
imagery is right here. He will become like a savage
lion. to Israel. I, chapter 5 verse
14, even I, he says, will tear to pieces and go away. I will carry away and there will
be none to deliver. The indicting evidence, the divine
consequence, there's a gracious purpose here though. There's
a gracious purpose here though. Notice chapter 5 verse 15. I will go away and return to
my place until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face. In their affliction, they will
eagerly seek me." And on the heels of that, almost
immediately following God's pronouncement of judgment, notice chapter six,
verse one, we encounter what I'll just call a disingenuous
response. You have the evidence, you have
the consequences, you have the purpose, and now Israel's response. And on the surface, what looks
like repentance, notice chapter six, verses one through three,
has been rightly criticized by many to be just shy of genuine
repentance for a number of reasons. For one, notice as we read this,
in contrast, in contrast to the words of true repentance that
God will command of Israel in the final chapter, chapter 14
verses 1 through 3, this confession, this confession lacks any specific
acknowledgment of sin. Notice chapter 6 verse 1, in
light of God's judgment, Israel says, But let us return to the
Lord, for He has torn us, but He will heal us. He has wounded
us, but He will bandage us. He will revive us after two days.
He will raise us up on the third day that we may live before Him. I mean, just flip back to chapter
14 for a moment, and just how different that is from Hosea
14, verses two and three, where the prophet would say, say to
God, take away all iniquity and receive us graciously that we
may present the fruit of our lips. Notice the confession here. Assyria will not save us. We
will not ride on horses, nor will we say again, our God, to
the work of our hands, for in you the orphan finds mercy. Listen, that is vastly different
than what you read in chapter 6 verses 1 and 2. There, in chapter
14, is self-indictment and a concern for God's glory. Here, that's glaringly absent. Notice
also how quick this confession is to presume on God's forgiveness. In other words, there is no real
expectation of prolonged judgment or discipline or chastening here,
even though earlier we already saw in chapter 3 verse 4 that
there would be a lengthy period of discipline that Gomer slash
Israel would have to go through. And third, third reason why this
is probably not genuine repentance. Probably the most glaring difference
between here and chapter 14, this confession receives an almost
harsh and incredulous response from God. Notice, whereas in
chapter 14, God immediately says in verse four, I will heal their
apostasy. I will love them freely for my
anger has turned away from them. That is very different than how
he responds here. Notice chapter six, verses four
through six. His response here to this confession,
what shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah?
For your loyalty, listen, is like a morning cloud and like
the dew which goes away early, it lasts for just but a moment. Therefore I have hewn them in
pieces by the prophets, I have slain them by the words of my
mouth, and the judgments on you are like the light that goes
forth, for I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, and in
the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings." Why are you
just going through the motions? So how do we understand what's
going on here? The Bible is very clear, there is such thing as
godly sorrow and worldly sorrow. There is such a thing as Esau's
tears. There is such a thing as grief
that does not lead to genuine repentance, but is only troubled
by one's consequences. And I think that's what we have
here. Did you notice in the immediately
preceding context Chapter 5 verse 15, it is their affliction that
first prompts them to seek God. God made their life uncomfortable. And so, of course, they come
to him to get comfortable again. This is consistent with the previous
section in Hosea's life analogy in chapter 2 verses 6 and 7 where
Israel is like Gomer who returns to Hosea, you remember, only
because she cannot find her other lovers and her circumstances
have taken a turn for the worse. But that's not genuine repentance.
And just notice what God says in the following chapter, chapter
7, verses 14 through 16. Here is His evaluation of their
so-called confession of repentance. And they did not cry to Me from
their heart when they wail on their beds. For the sake of grain
and new wine they assemble themselves, and yet they turn away from Me.
Although I trained and strengthened their arms, yet they devise evil
against Me. They turn? but not upward." They are like
a deceitful bow. Their princes will fall by the
sword because of the insolence of their tongue. This will be
their derision in the land of Egypt. And in chapter 10, verse
four, God declares, they speak mere words with worthless oaths
that they make covenants. Listen, God loves, don't get
me wrong, don't misunderstand this, God loves to forgive. He
loves to show mercy. He is slow to anger, abounding
in loving kindness, but he also is not to be fooled. God knows
the heart. And He knows when repentance
is feigned. He knows when there's a different
motive, a motive of self-preservation.
And so, the book of Hosea doesn't end after chapter 6 verse 3.
There are several more chapters God lets Israel have it. He traces
specifics about their history of infidelity, He gives them
specifics about his coming judgment with Assyria. But before we finish
here, I want you to turn with me then. Last chapter we're going
to just look at closely. In chapter 11, I know we're skipping
a lot, but just look at chapter 11 for just
a moment. Chapter 11 is perhaps the most
important chapter in this whole second part. It begins in verses
1-4 by drawing back upon the analogy of God as a loving parent
to his son Israel, which is frankly found everywhere in the Old Testament,
not just here in Hosea. Notice verses 1 through 4, when
Israel was a youth, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my
son. The more they called them, the more they went from them.
They kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning incense to
idols. Yet it is I who taught Ephraim
to walk. I took them in my arms, but they
did not know that I healed them. I led them with the cords of
a man with bonds of love, and I became to them as one who lifts
the yoke from their jaws, and I bent down and fed them such
condescension. But notice, because of their
consistent rebellion, verses 5 through 7, give then God's
immediate judgment. Verse 5, they will not return
to the land of Egypt. Listen, this time their bondage
will be in Assyria. He will be their king because
they refused to return to me. God had plucked them out of slavery
once from Egypt. They were going back into slavery
now because of their idolatry and adultery, this time not in
Egypt, but in Assyria. Verse 7, they call on God, but
they do not exalt him. And by the time you get to verse
8, this is where you must spend your time studying. You study
the book of Hosea. By the time you get to chapter
11 verse 8, we may perhaps be ready to write Israel off. But
it is precisely at this point that we read one of the most
profound expressions of God's love for His own people found
in the Scriptures. Notice Hosea 11 verse 8. How
can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I surrender you, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah?
How can I treat you like Zeboiim? Two cities that were destroyed
alongside Sodom and Gomorrah. I mean, four questions of deep
anguish and turmoil. And think about it, to us, it
may seem easy to answer these questions with a rather understandable
human question from human love or our own and say, God, how
can you not give them up? How could you not treat them
like these other cities and just destroy them? But this is precisely where we
see the heart of God's love on display. The second half of verse
eight, my heart, he says, is turned over within me. All my
compassions are kindled. I will not execute my fierce
anger. I will not destroy Ephraim. Again,
and notice the stunning reason in verse nine. For I am God and
not man. the Holy One in your midst, and
I will not come in wrath." She beloved, God is a God of
unmatched, incomprehensible love. God is a God of love, and what
we learn here is that God is a God of love, unlike our love,
because He is holy. Did you notice that? He is not
like us. He is not like man who would
have given up on faithless Israel ages ago. It reminds us of Malachi chapter
3 verse 6, "'For I, the Lord, do not change, therefore you,
O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.'" Think about this. Rather, God's
holiness, His otherness, is the basis for the greatness of His
love. And it is indeed a love beyond
degree. So notice the change in relationship
that God's compassion and kindness and love affects. Verse 10, chapter
11, they will walk after the Lord He will roar like a lion,
indeed he will roar and his sons will come trembling from the
west. Notice God changes from a lion
who tears to a lion who protects. They will come trembling," same
word as before, chapter 3 verse 5, where Israel is said to tremble
at His goodness, they will come trembling like birds from Egypt
and like doves from the land of Assyria, and I will settle
them in their houses, declares the Lord. Do you see the picture that Hosea
is painting now? Once again, the image is of a
restoration like that of a second Exodus, a restoration that will
culminate one day in the radical change in relationship to His
nation that we read about earlier, all because of His love. God's
love is faithful. It is a faithful love to a faithless
people. What an encouragement. Christian,
you may say, hey, that is Israel, right? You know, God has made promises
to you and I as well. Nothing can separate us from
the love of God. Do you believe that? Hosea, should
convince us of that reality. Well, let me just wrap up here.
Just to give you, I know we left a lot of chapters untouched,
but let me just give you three areas of theology that you would
grow in by studying this book. Three areas of theology that
Hosea teaches us about. These will be quick. Hosea teaches
us about the grotesque nature of idolatry, the grotesque nature
of idolatry. Beloved, we oftentimes think
of idolatry as that which is out there, and yet the Bible
teaches that idolatry is in here. And idolatry, what we learn from
Hosea, is really spiritual adultery. Idolatry imagines that our idols
have effectively provided for us what we need when in fact
it was God who gives us everything. Hosea teaches us about the grotesque
nature of what it is like to be unfaithful to our God, to
bow down and serve other things. We should learn from Hosea about
the grotesque nature of idolatry. Secondly, Hosea teaches us about
the nature of God's love. We already saw this, but God
defines His holiness. Think about this. He defines
His holiness even by His love. He is holy because he loves like
no other God loves, like no other loves. His love is not like ours. His
love is faithful. His love is not like ours. It's
not fickle. It's not prone to the ups and
downs of our situation, of the loveliness of the object. When
you study Hosea, you see that. May we pray with Paul. In Ephesians
3, 18 and 19, we may be able to comprehend with all the saints
what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know
the love of Christ surpasses knowledge. And one more, lastly, thirdly,
Hosea teaches us not just about the grotesque nature of idolatry,
not just about the nature of God's love. Hosea teaches us
about the gospel. Hosea teaches us about the gospel,
you say, how? And I wish I had more time to
develop this, but there is a very confusing and sometimes controversial
New Testament quotation of a verse that is a New Testament quote
of Hosea's prophecy that I'm convinced is frequently misunderstood. But it shouldn't be when you
understand the whole of Hosea's message in his own context and
especially the critical function of chapter 11. Matthew chapter two, you can
just write this down for further study. Matthew chapter two verse
15 quotes what we read in Hosea chapter 11 verse one, out of
Egypt I called my son. Matthew quotes it in reference
to when Joseph was warned by an angel to take Jesus and hide
from Herod because Herod was searching for Christ to kill
him. You remember that story? Listen to what Matthew was saying. Think about this, as the most
Jewish gospel. Just two chapters in from the
Minor Prophets is that with the arrival of Jesus, God was fulfilling
His covenant promise of love to Israel, that He was about
to implement the second exodus, that He loved His people so that
He would call them back again out of bondage. out of Egypt,
which was really Assyria. And what of the coming of Jesus? Matthew chapter 2, the preservation
and protection of the Messiah from Herod's antichrist attack
on God's Redeemer. Think about this. What Matthew
is saying is, Israel, look, He is here. God is in the wilderness
again. He is wooing His people back
to Himself. This would be the beginning of
the second Exodus. Jesus, the Son of God, come to
set His people free, to change idolatrous hearts, to mend their
relationship with their God. Hosea teaches us about the love
of God in the gospel. Let's pray together. Father, what a tremendous book,
Lord, and in Your wisdom, in Your great wisdom, Your love
is on display in ways that we can hardly fathom.
Lord, we are grateful, we are humbled that You would love us. Sinners, spiritual idolaters
who turned from You, may we…may You make us more faithful. Make us more faithful to Yourself.
Help us to fathom more this love that you have shed abroad in
our hearts by faith. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.
Bible Survey of Hosea, "The Holy Love of God"
Series Bible Survey
Hosea teaches us of God's holy love for a spiritually adulterous people.
| Sermon ID | 6122090523675 |
| Duration | 1:06:24 |
| Date | |
| Category | Midweek Service |
| Bible Text | Hosea 1:1 |
| Language | English |
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