This is the Banner of Truth broadcast, a program sponsored by the Free Reformed Churches of North America. Pastor Cornelius Sprung speaking. For the next few weeks we will study the book of Hosea, one of the twelve so-called minor prophets. They are called minor because of the size of their books and not because of their contents. the minor prophets all dealt with the same major issues that Isaiah and the other major prophets spoke about of the man Hosea we don't know very much only that his father's name was Be'erai and that his ministry spanned the reigns of four kings of Judah and one king of Israel as the contents of his book shows Hosea prophesied mainly to the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of Jeroboam II. He was a contemporary of Amos, who also prophesied to the ten-tribe nation, and of Isaiah and Micah, prophets to Judah. Hosea's ministry thus extended for over half a century. Hosea, whose name means salvation, prophesied at a time when Israel enjoyed great prosperity. Under Jeroboam II, the nation's boundaries were extended farther than ever before. It was an age of material well-being, apparent religious devotion, and activity. Yet it was also a very bad period from the moral and spiritual point of view. The hearts of the people were empty, religion was shallow, and corruption was rampant everywhere. Hosea's mission was to cry out against these evils, but he did so in his own way, that is, in harmony with his character and experience. Whereas Amos sees Israel's sin as basically injustice, Hosea characterizes his nation's sin as unfaithfulness. There is no contradiction here. These two prophets simply viewed sin from different perspectives. This meant that they also related Israel's sins to different divine attributes. Amos accuses the nation of violating God's justice while Hosea charges the people with despising God's love a very interesting aspect of Hosea's prophesying is that he did not just deliver his message verbally but that he also acted it out we read in chapter 1 verse 2 that when the Lord first called Hosea to be his prophet he commanded him to marry Gomer who was wife of whoredoms end of quote or a prostitute was this a real marriage something that actually took place or should we think of it as an allegory something that Hosea saw in a vision or dream like Bunyan in Pilgrim's Progress many favor the latter interpretation God would never ask anyone to marry an immoral woman they feel but a careful examination of this passage will show that what we have here is very real God did command Hosea to marry a harlot although it is not necessary to conclude from this that she was already that kind of woman before Hosea married her we should think of it this way toward the end of his life Hosea or someone close to him wrote down the main points of the message he had delivered to Israel in manuscript form and he introduces his book by saying in effect at the beginning of my ministry the Lord commanded me to marry Gomer the daughter of Deblayim in other words Hosea probably did not know at the time that she was a prostitute although he may have been aware that she was flirtatious and inclined to the ways of the world so Hosea here describes Gomer in light of what she later became after they were married Of course, God knew all along what kind of a woman Gomer was, and that she would soon reveal her true character. Why did God want Hosea to marry this woman? To teach Israel in this graphic way what her sin was, namely spiritual adultery. Go, take yourself a wife of whoredoms, he told his servant, and children of whoredoms, for the land has committed great whoredoms, departing from the The Lord knew that his people by this time were so far gone in the ways of sin that the preached word made little or no impression on them anymore. Therefore Hosea must act out or demonstrate the Lord's message so that the people will get the point. God wanted Hosea to marry this woman knowing that she would be unfaithful to him to illustrate what had happened to the relationship between himself and his people just as Hosea would feel the pain of his wife's unfaithfulness so the Lord experienced the agony of a broken heart when he saw Israel going after other gods we may assume that when Hosea married Gomer things were quite normal at first their union is soon blessed by the birth of a child verse 3 tells us that Gomer conceived and bore him a son Hosea is instructed by the Lord to call his son Jezreel which means scattered this implies judgment by giving the boy this name God indicated that he was going to scatter or disperse Israel throughout the world for her unfaithfulness verses 4 and 5 explain just what this scattering involves and who will be the subjects of it first God would punish the house of Jehu for the excessive zeal displayed by him when he wiped out the entire family and servants of King Ahab at Jezreel but this scattering of the house of Jehu would just be a sample and preview of what was to happen to the entire nation of Israel when God would judge her for her sins verse 6 tells us that Gomer had another baby this time we do not read that she bore a child to Hosea it simply says she conceived again and bore a daughter this suggests that by this time Gomer had already become unfaithful to Hosea so that the daughter was not his child but someone else's Lo-Ruhamah he calls this child again at God's direction the name means not pitied or not loved what God meant to say with his name was that Israel's sins would cause him to have no pity on her any longer a third child is born to Gomer and again we are left with the suggestion that it was not Hosea's this time the prophet must call the boy Lo-Ammi which means not my people for says the Lord you are not my people and I will be I will not be your God." verses 8 and 9 how sad all this is three children and each bearing a name which speaks of judgment and rejection what grief this must have brought Hosea not only was his wife having affairs with other men on the side in secret but after the birth of her third child she ran away thus making public what had been so far a private matter that she indeed left Hosea we learn from chapter 3 where we read that Hosea goes after Gomer to get her back yes that is the most amazing thing here the Lord commands Hosea to take her back and to love her despite her unfaithfulness and apparently Hosea does not just obey because he has to but he actually loves this sinful woman enough to want to take her back he tenderly woos her and does not rest until she has come home again Can you imagine the pain, the hurt and the disappointment Hosea must have felt during this time of rejection and deception? But remember, the real purpose of this sad story was to illustrate the pain God was feeling because of what Israel was doing to him. Jehovah was Israel's husband and she was his wife. He had married her at Sinai, in the wilderness, following her deliverance from Egypt. at first it was wonderful there was a relationship of love not only from his side but also from hers Israel returned Jehovah's love and gave expression to this love by walking in his ways and serving only him but it wasn't long where she started to cast further glances at other Baals or Lords from one thing came another and to make a long story short by Hosea's time Israel had left her first husband and was living with other lovers this caused tremendous pain to the Lord and its pain is reflected in Hosea's experience God used Hosea and what he went through to illustrate to us what he went through Hosea's broken heart is but a picture of God's broken heart but God is not only sad He is also angry and His anger is terrible because Israel has spurned His love Therefore the Lord will punish Israel for her sin of unfaithfulness, hence the names Jezreel, Lo-Ruhamah, and Lo-Ammi. Scattered she will be to the four corners of the earth, not loved, not pitied, because no longer God's people. Yet it will not be a final and total scattering. the rejection will only be temporary God will not give up His sinful people He cannot let Israel go for He has loved her with an everlasting love and He will love her forever even though she has sinned so grievously against her Lord this is the meaning of verses 10 and 11 and also verse 1 of chapter 2 Israel shall be gathered again the Lord shall look upon her with pity once more and call her His people again Let me close with a word of application. What we read here of Israel's unfaithfulness is also true of God's people today. As such, this story serves as a warning to the Church of the New Testament as well. What we should realize is that a nation, a people, and an individual cannot sin with impunity. When believers wander away from the Lord, this can only mean trouble, trouble for them and grief for the Lord. Christian friends, have we not often been guilty of this terrible sin of spiritual adultery? If not in its worst form, then certainly in more subtle ways. The equivalent of flirting, perhaps. How attractive the world can be, even to a Christian. The pursuit of material things can so easily take us away from following the Lord. and this can only bring darkness upon our souls and a sense of being forsaken by God yet the Lord for all that does not reject us He still loves us as the rest of the book of Hosea shows the Lord goes out of His way to win back His people's affection not that He has to He is under no obligation whatsoever, yet he does it because he is gracious and merciful, and above all, because he is faithful to his covenant. But how can God possibly love people like Israel, who are bent on serving other gods? Yet the Bible says He does. When God created Adam and Eve, there was a perfect fellowship of love between Him and our first parents. Sin changed all that. The fall of man resulted in Adam and Eve and all of us being scattered, not pitied, and not God's people anymore. That's how we should look at ourselves, dead in trespasses and sins, children of wrath, having no hope, and without God in the world. Yet to such sinners God sent His Son. He so loved this sinful world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Apostle Peter, I'm sure, was thinking of Hosea 1, when he wrote to the saints scattered throughout Asia Minor, Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. That is the story of all who are saved, scattered, not pitied, not God's people, because of sin, but by grace, through faith, they are gathered, pitied, received in mercy, embraced in love, adopted as His children and people in Christ Jesus. May this also be true of you, dear listener. If it isn't, seek the Lord while He may be found and call upon Him while He is near. He is calling you right now through this message to forsake all other lovers and to let yourself be loved by Him. Amen.