How Could He? - Hosea 1-3 -- reading Hosea 2:14-3:2

Introduction

Over the next 12 weeks, we’re going to take a journey through some territory that’s likely unfamiliar to many of us — the Minor Prophets. The minor prophets have difficult messages for Israel. They were sent by God to pronounce judgement upon Israel and Judah — remember there are two kingdom, each with their own prophets. But, as God always does, as the gospel insists, there is always mercy woven into the messages of judgement. So, we’ll be confronted, and we’ll be comforted if we hear these prophets rightly. That’s why I’ve titled this series “Now and Later.” For each of the prophets, there’s a situation, a sinfulness, a judgement that must be dealt with now, and for each of these prophets, there is a restoration, a redemption, an experience of mercy that is to come later. Their message is for both now and later.

In our day of self-esteem, life-coach Christianity, the Minor Prophets’ message is especially relevant if we’re to have a full-orbed view of the gospel. In fact, the message of the minor prophets is similar to the message of Jesus, speaking as a prophet in the Revelation to the Church at Ephesus. After commending them for some of their good qualities, Jesus says: Revelation 2:4 “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.” Ephesus was doing a lot of religious things and feeling good about themselves, but they didn’t love God. They had ‘abandoned’ the heart-captivating, mind-saturating, life-transforming love they had for Christ. So, Jesus tells them that if they do not return, if their love for him isn’t rekindled, that he would “come.....and remove (their) lampstand.”

God’s Word

Those are searching words for us, aren’t they? We can be busy with religious activity and impressive ritual while still having a heart that is infatuated with ourselves and this world. And, Jesus will not let it stand. That’s the message of the Minor Prophets, and that’s especially the message of Hosea. Hosea was a prophet for more than 50 years in the northern Kingdom, Israel/Ephraim, and he’s sent by God to call Israel back to her first love in the most dramatic way possible. And, we’ll see The Gospel in Hosea (headline):

God’s bride is “prone” to “wander.”

If Hosea would’ve taken a poll of Israel before he preached, the whole nation would’ve said that they loved God. If Jesus would’ve taken a poll of the Church at Ephesus in Revelation 2, the vote would’ve been unanimous that they loved God. And, it’s likely the case that if I took the same poll this morning that our vote would be the same. That’s why God sent Hosea to Israel, and why Jesus spoke as the great Prophet to Ephesus. And, that’s why we need the message of Hosea today. God’s people are prone to believe they love God even though they’re abandoning him.

So, It’s a major point of Hosea to teach the people of God what true love for God means. You see...

True love won’t “leave.”

Hosea 1:2 “When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.””

This book is meant to have a shock factor. It’s meant to cause you to sit up and say, “What in the world?” God instructs his prophet to do the unthinkable — to marry a harlot, an unfaithful woman, a prostitute. Hosea is instructed to commit himself to adore and love a woman who will not commit to him or love him back. It’s a living, breathing parable of God’s relationship with his people — and that includes us who have been grafted into Israel through Christ. The point is: God is a faithful husband, but his bride throws herself at every god she sees. And, that’s not love.

Now, we should ask how this comes about because there’s a clue here in verse 2 when it says “forsaking.” This word actually carries with it something that’s gradual and progressive, not sudden and at once. That is, God’s people don’t just decide to not love him. They gradually, slowly wander away. Many surgeries ago, I wanted to climb a 14er, a mountain that whose peak was about 14,000 feet. In my preparation, what I learned is that you have to go and live for a period of time at these higher altitudes gradually so that your body can adjust and climatize to the lack of oxygen. That is, your body has to adjust to a new normal, or it’ll make you very sick, even kill you. And, that’s how we leave our first love. Gradually, we climatize to a new normal. One movie at a time, one article at a time, one conversation at a time, one paycheck at a time, our priorities and passions begin to shift. What we once thought offense and unthinkable is now normal. And, a new normal leads to a new morality. A new set of values and ethics. A redefining of right and wrong. And, this new morality ultimately leads you to a new religion altogether, a figment of your imagination that can accommodate all of your opinions and experiences and desires for life. Israel went from denying other gods, to being tolerant, to being worshipers.

My experience tells me this is how adultery always happens. It starts as unthinkable, move to emotional attachment, and ends in unfaithfulness.

Hosea 2:5 “For their mother has played the whore; she who conceived them has acted shamefully. 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.’”

And, as adultery always is, the harlotry of God’s people is with a fantasy, something that’s not reality. Harlotry by definition is seeking temporary pleasure from a fantasy person — a stripper, a prostitute, a fling, or a screen. Verse 2:5 says that Israel was giving credit to Baal for the gifts that God had given them. They thought that by adding Baal to their lives they could add more pleasure, more success, a better life. But, that’s because they didn’t recognize reality.

And, that’s why our hearts wander from God. We think we need more than him to be happy and satisfied, and the gods around us — success, achievement, prominence, wealth, sex — can help. But, they’re a fantasy, and your willingness to pursue them betrays your love for God.

And, God won’t just stand pat because...

True love can’t “ignore.”

Hosea 1:3-9 “So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. And the Lord said to him, “Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.” She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the Lord said to him, “Call her name No Mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all. But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God. I will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.” When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son. And the Lord said, “Call his name Not My People, for you are not my people, and I am not your God.””

We must be careful to not flatten the character of God with a version of the gospel that moves so quickly from judgement, wrath, and discipline to mercy and forgiveness that we don’t understand the pain, sting, and costliness of rebelling against God. Faith without works is dead, and the Minor Prophets won’t allow us to miss that. Gomer has three kids, and they’re given the oddest names, names that really the rest of the book is unpacking. The first son is Hosea’s son too, and he’s named “Jezreel.” Jezreel is a place famous for massacres in the Bible, and this son’s name is a word from God that Israel will now be on the receiving end. Judgement is coming. The names continue, and they progress with each being more severe than the previous. The second child is a daughter, who may not be Hosea’s, and she’s given the name “No mercy.” That is, if they want to run after all the other gods and if they want to credit all of their blessings to those gods, then God will give them what they want in full. He will withdraw his mercy and love. Finally, Gomer bore one more son, and his name is “Not my people.” It could literally be translated, “I am not I AM to you.” He’s removing his name. If they love Baal, then He will give them over to Baal.

Israel forsook God, and now God would allow Israel to taste the sting of forsakenness. Because a faithful husband can’t abide an open marriage, and true love can’t just look the other way when the beloved is destroying themselves. You have to recognize, brothers and sisters, that the love of God will not allow him to turn his eyes away from spiritual adultery. He can’t let you continue believing you love him when you’re throwing yourself at every other god who happens by. Because He loves you, and that’s not love. God disciplines those whom He loves. He will let you taste the pain and bitterness of your decisions. He will let you taste the sting of the withdrawal of his close fellowship and protection and provision. You need to feel the weight of that. It should send a shudder down your spine.

God’s love will “pay” the “price.”

Can’t you imagine the talk around town as Hosea’s kids were introduced? How could a father name his little girl “No mercy/Not loved?” How could he name his son “Not my people,” announcing that his son was illegitimate to the whole world. HOW COULD HE? That’s what the names were meant to make them ask. Like Nathan telling David the parable of the man who stole someone’s baby lamb, Hosea’s message to Israel as the gossip spread was: “You are the forsaken daughter! You are the illegitimate son!” Such a hard message is difficult for our western sensibilities to carry forward that same question of Hosea’s day: “How could He? How could God be so harsh?”

And, perhaps surprisingly to us, Hosea helps us to understand that is, indeed, God’s love motivates the discipline of his people.

He will “open” our “eyes.”

Hosea 2:7 Then she shall say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband, for it was better for me then than now.’”

God is not the kind of Father who will sit idly by while his children destroy their lives. He is not the kind of husband that will remain passive while his wife is used and abused by fantasy lovers. God is not an enabler of self-destructive living. His love won’t allow it. He will allow you to reap what you’ve sown. If you keep chasing after Egypt, He will allow you to know the parched tongue of the desert. If you desire to live for the world’s treasure, God will let you taste the emptiness it brings. Why? Human beings are so naturally arrogant, so naturally proud that our inclination is always that we know best, and God loves you enough to use whatever means possible to open your eyes. To cause you to remember “It was better for me then than now.” Life with God was better than life my way.

That is, God’s discipline is for the purpose of saving you from yourself. You see, one of the marks of good parenting is that your children are thankful for their discipline once they understand. They recognize that it saved them from a greater fall. How many of us have a testimony of getting caught up in the world, at throwing ourselves at every god we saw, every party that came by, every relationship we could find, only to end up feeling empty, used, and abused. And, then life with God was better, and we think: “How could I have ever left him?” And, we’re so thankful for the painful means he used to open our eyes, aren’t we?

It gets sweeter yet. Not only will God open our eyes, but....

He will “win” our “hearts.”

Hosea 2:14-20 ““Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. And there I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt. “And in that day, declares the Lord, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’ For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more. And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety. And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord.”

Hosea 6:6 “For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”

Now, I want you to let this stir you. This is when we’re really getting to the “later” part of this message. This is how God will respond to his people when they’ve sobered up and bottomed out. See the picture. Here is God’s bride. She’s made herself a prostitute in the service Baal. She’s thrown herself at everything that moves. She’s chased money and sex and cultural acceptance, and God has — lovingly and justly — allowed her to crash. How does God respond? He “allures” her. He speaks “tenderly” to her. He turns the Valley of Achor — the first place that the gods of Canaan won over the hearts of his people — into a doorway of renewal. He recommits, “betroths” himself to her.

That is, God doesn’t just take her back. He romances her back. He woos her back. He doesn’t drag his unfaithful bride into his house and then punish her with verbal abuse and constant reminders of her failures. He takes her to dinner. He buys her gifts. He expresses his love. He cancels the debt. Oh, he isn’t just interested in you being in his house. He wants your heart. That’s what this has always been about. “He desires mercy, not sacrifice (Hosea 6:6).” Oh, he “knows” her!!! He “knows” her!!! This is a picture of deepest intimacy. To “know” in the OT is like Adam “knew” his wife. It’s complete access. No separation. Two becoming one. God doesn’t put his disciplined, broken down, unfaithful bride on a cot in the basement when she comes home. He brings her close. He gives her full access. He restores the relationship.

Oh, return to your first love today! Enough with the world! Enough with the wilderness! Enough! Come home!

He’s made it possible for you to come home! How?

He will “pay” our “price.”

Hosea 2:21-23 ““And in that day I will answer, declares the Lord, I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth, and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil, and they shall answer Jezreel, and I will sow her for myself in the land. And I will have mercy on No Mercy, and I will say to Not My People, ‘You are my people’; and he shall say, ‘You are my God.’ ””

Hosea 3:1-5 “And the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.” So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley. And I said to her, “You must dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you.” For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods. Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days.”

There’s a reversal that’s promised just as truly as the judgment is. His daughter, “No mercy”, will come to know is mercy. His son, “Not my people” will once again be his people. He will reverse their destiny. How will God accomplish this reversal? The same way Gomer was restored to Hosea. Gomer’s adultery left her in slavery. That’s what spiritual harlotry does. It enslaves you. So, Hosea scrapes together everything that he has. It takes all of his money and he has to add grain to it. The cost was high for him, and he buys her out to bring her home. Oh, that’s the gospel. God has reversed our destiny from “No mercy” to “mercy,” from “Not my people” to “my people” by paying our price, the high price of his very own Son.

And, just as Hosea had children named “No Mercy”, God had a Son who would be named “forsaken” on the cross. Those gathered around the feet would sneer and say, “How could he be God’s son on that cross? How could He forsake his true Son?” But then, in the resurrection, the Groom was raised to receive his Bride, and all who are truly his see the price that He paid for us, and now we think: “How could He? How could He still love me? How could He still welcome me home? How could He want me close?”

How will you respond to a love like this? Your answer reveals whether or not you know God.