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.