Hosea: Wife and Nation

Introductions

Open to Hosea 1, that’s Hosea Chapter 1: and we will look at verses 2 - 11

I want to make this clear for those who may hear this sermon without the rest of the series. You are not hearing a server picked for this time by a human.

Hosea was in the time of Isaiah

The righteous man Daniel shows that God is with his people in exile

As we get into Hosea, it is important to note that some, even giants of the faith, like Calvin, believed that Hosea’s marrying of the prostitute Gomer was only a prophetic vision. Calvin said, “We now then understand the true meaning of this verse to be, that the Prophet did not marry a harlot, but only exhibited her before the eyes of the people as though she were corruption, born of putrified masses of figs.” [1]

It does really matter, and I believe Calvin is wrong here, God did tell Hosea to marry a prostitute.

You need to ask yourself if you find that repulsive? And should you find it repulsive?

Today over sexualized culture

Coffee, sex sells, ETC.

It was important to think about this first considering our text today,

Let’s Read

Hosea 1:2–11 ESV

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.” 3 So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. 4 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. 5 And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.” 6 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. 7 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.” 8 When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son. 9 And the Lord said, “Call his name Not My People, for you are not my people, and I am not your God.” 10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “Children of the living God.” 11 And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head. And they shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

May God Bless the Reading of His Holy, Inflatable, and Sufficient Word

Let’s Pray

Transition

We have three really clear sections here.

The Marrying of Gomer

The Names of the Children

The definition of Israel

The first section is in verse 1-3.

Body

Wife of Whoredom

Hosea 1:2–3 ESV

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.” 3 So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

Like we said before, it matters a lot if you think God actually instructed to Hosea to marry with woman or not.

Calvin pointed out that Gomer’s name means “born of putrified masses of figs.”

“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.” (Ho 3:1, ESV)

Again, the planets reading of the text is that this is a real woman and Hosea is really married to he, just like Ezekiel’s wife died (Ezekiel 24:15-25) and he was forbidden to morn, and Isiah walked naked for 3 years.

Hyper Charismatics, and the word now,

no one gets to come and say, God told me to marry a prostitute.

no the laws for the people of God have not changes, we are only to marry within the covenant people of God.

We only marry believers, that may have been a prostitute at one time, but she is a new creation in Christ now are you man have no business with her.

Now for the important part in this text, the word translated “whoredom” in the ESV text you will see appears three time.

The word actually appears 4 times in the text. Notice the “forsaking the LORD” that come from the same root word.

Do you think the Lord may have wanted to make a point there.

We will tie this in more later.

Interesting that they are not all the same word though they are all the same root word.

The first two could be translated harlotry,

The Third and forth word could be translated To act unfaithfully.

Two emphatics back to back creating a major emphatic.

harlotry harlotry unfaithful unfaithful

Transition

Verse 4 -9 are a description of the children produced by this unfaithfulness and verse 4 gives us incite into what the LORD means by unfaithfulness.

Jezreel, No Mercy, and Not May People

Hosea 1:4–9 ESV

4 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. 5 And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.” 6 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. 7 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.” 8 When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son. 9 And the Lord said, “Call his name Not My People, for you are not my people, and I am not your God.”

punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel

“So Jehu struck down all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, all his great men and his close friends and his priests, until he left him none remaining.” (2 Ki 10:11, ESV)

With I know that story Jehu was serving hte Lord, the Lord told him to kill all of Ahab’s descend why is the Lord now punishing him for it?

Because of hypocrisy, he was no righteous judge.

It is not enough to half worship God.

Lets talk about in the terms of Marriage since that is what we have in Hosea.

What would you say of a wife the half faithful to her husband?

Half faithful is no faithfulness at all.

It is not enough to read your bible and go to church,

You are, if you indeed are his, the one and only bride of Christ and you are to love him and be faithful to him. Not half faithful, not mostly faithful, totally faithful to him.

If we are not to be Jehu hypocrites then we will be force with Paul to call ourselves the chiefest of sinners and fin our only hope in, you guessed it, Jesus and he atoning work.

Every text, every word, bring us by to Christ and we will see later in Chapter 11.

Verse 6 “No Mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all.”

Verse 9 “all his name Not My People, for you are not my people, and I am not your God”

Transition

Does got really mean it? Does God really it when he says no my people? A lot of people will say, well no God didn’t really mean that and I know that because, insert verse or historical event, taken out of context. One of the verse might be the very next verse. Look at verse 10-11.

May People Will Multiply

Hosea 1:10–11 ESV

10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “Children of the living God.” 11 And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head. And they shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

Verse 10, some would say look right there, God didn't really mean they were not his people because he is going to bless them. Or verse 7.

Is God speaking double mindely here?

Or are there some of Israel that are not of Israel. Are there some that are God’s poeple whom He will save and some in the very same people group that are not hios people.

We need to stop and think about who is he blessing. I have already many times in the past taken you to Galatians, but what about John 1:12

John 1:12 ESV

12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,

Anyone that calls someone a child of God or God’s people out side of Christ is blaspheming.

But Jesus did say

John 10:16 ESV

16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.

Now Brothers and sisters, I emphatically believe that before the final return of Christ there will be a great awaking among the genetic descendants of Abraham. I think this is the the best interpretation of Romans 11.

Is they way God ordained the establishment of the nation called Israel we see today?

Maybe or maybe its for judgement

News clip about them spiting on Christians.

Is that a blasphemy? Yes, will their be judgement for that, yes, either Christ will bare that sin on the cross or they will bare it in hell forever.

There is not Jew or Greek there is not slave or free there are those in Christ and those out of Christ. That is it. That is all that eternally matters and that is what the scripture tell us to be concerned with.

We are to say, your are a Jew, great you need Jesus. Oh your a Muslim? You need Jesus. Without him no mater if you are a Jew or a Muslim you are under the wrath of God (John 2:36).

But wait there is more, the people of God are those the Believe in Christ and what is it to believe in Christ but to bow to him as Lord.

Verse 11 says “and the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head.”

Cross ref John 10:16

John 10:16 ESV

16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.

So many people are arguing about Israel and whats going on in the world and where the second coming is that they have forgotten.

The people of God have one head

Brothers and sisters, remember that, God will say to those that do not have Christ as Lord, you are not my people.

How many people will say but I was a Christian.

Calvin makes great application here. “So the Papists think; for except they see the splendour of great pomp, they conclude that no Church remains in the world. But God at one time so diminishes the Church, that it seems to be almost reduced to nothing; at another time, he increases and multiplies it beyond all hope, after having raised it, as it were, from death. [2]

Conclusion

The Lord is your Lord or you are not his people and his apply to all people all time no mater if they are genetic despondence of Abraham or not. And this is a warning for us Brother and sisters not to grow hoty, we are kept by God grace alone. Period. Fenito. There is not title name or genetic line that can save other than the name of Jesus Christ.

Benediction

Numbers 6:24–26 ESV

24 The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

References

[1] John Calvin and John Owen, Commentaries on the Twelve Minor Prophets, vol. 1 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 48.

[2] Ibid, 65.

Bibliography

Calvin, John, and John Owen. Commentaries on the Twelve Minor Prophets. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010.