Hosea: An Illustration of God's Redemptive Love

SCRIPTURE

Hosea 1:1–11 NKJV

1 The word of the Lord that came to Hosea the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel. 2 When the Lord began to speak by Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea: “Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry And children of harlotry, For the land has committed great harlotry By departing from the Lord.” 3 So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. 4 Then the Lord said to him: “Call his name Jezreel, For in a little while I will avenge the bloodshed of Jezreel on the house of Jehu, And bring an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. 5 It shall come to pass in that day That I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.” 6 And she conceived again and bore a daughter. Then God said to him: “Call her name Lo-Ruhamah, For I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, But I will utterly take them away. 7 Yet I will have mercy on the house of Judah, Will save them by the Lord their God, And will not save them by bow, Nor by sword or battle, By horses or horsemen.” 8 Now when she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, she conceived and bore a son. 9 Then God said: “Call his name Lo-Ammi, For you are not My people, And I will not be your God. 10 “Yet the number of the children of Israel Shall be as the sand of the sea, Which cannot be measured or numbered. And it shall come to pass In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ There it shall be said to them, ‘You are sons of the living God.’ 11 Then the children of Judah and the children of Israel Shall be gathered together, And appoint for themselves one head; And they shall come up out of the land, For great will be the day of Jezreel!

MESSAGE

History and Background

Hosea = Salvation (same root word as Joshua and Jesus/Yeshua)

Prophesied to Israel (Northern Kingdom)

Prophesied for the 30 years or so leading up to the fall of the Northern Kingdom to the Assyrians in 722 B.C.

During this time period, Israel was experiencing a temporary period of economic prosperity.

However, they were morally bankrupt.

A Living Parable

God tells Hosea to marry a harlot.

Their relationship is a living illustration of the relationship between God and the nation of Israel at the time.

Hosea marries Gomer. (She was nice, real nice!…Gomer on the Andy Griffith Show)

She was probably not a harlot when they got married.

The relationship probably started out well and they were in love, much like Israel started out loving God and obeying His commandments.

However, during the relationship, she began to have relations with men other than Hosea, much like Israel had turned their back on God and were worshipping other idol gods.

Meaning of the Children’s Names

Jezreel (boy)

Means “God scatters.”

God would destroy and scatter Israel because of their sin.

Perhaps this represents how Gomer began to scatter herself with other men.

Lo-Rohamah (girl)

Means “No Mercy” or “No Love.”

God was condemning Israel for not loving Him and therefore, He would show them no mercy at the hands of their enemy Assyria.

Perhaps this was also an indictment on Gomer for not truly loving Hosea and giving herself to other men.

Lo-Ammi (boy)

Means “Not Mine” or “Not My People.”

God was saying that because Israel had rejected Him, He would in turn reject them.

Perhaps Hosea realized that this child was not his.

Gomer leaves and lives the life of a harlot and Hosea is left to raise the kids and take care of the home.

An Illustration of God’s Redemptive Love

After a period of time, God told Hosea to go buy back Gomer and love her again.

Hosea 3:1–5 NKJV

1 Then the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by a lover and is committing adultery, just like the love of the Lord for the children of Israel, who look to other gods and love the raisin cakes of the pagans.” 2 So I bought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver, and one and one-half homers of barley. 3 And I said to her, “You shall stay with me many days; you shall not play the harlot, nor shall you have a man—so, too, will I be toward you.” 4 For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod or teraphim. 5 Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the latter days.

Imagine this story:

Hosea still loves Gomer, but the relationship has been broken.

She cheated on him…she played the harlot…she gave herself to other men.

But now God tells Hosea to go find Gomer and to take her back to be his wife.

Hosea searches for her.

He shows up one day to the slave auction that is going on in the center of town.

The strong men have already been bought.

The young maidens have already been bought.

But at the end of the day, the last one to stand on the auction block is an old woman.

Her hair is matted…her face bears the marks of hard living.

But suddenly Hosea recognizes her…it is Gomer!

He probably could have paid a much lower price for her, but Hosea pays the full price to redeem her out of slavery.

Isn’t That Just Like the Redeeming Love of God!

We were all like Gomer.

We were far from God.

We were playing the harlot with idols.

We were slaves to sin.

But Jesus came looking for us.

He paid the price of His own blood to secure our redemption.

“Oh the overwhelming, never ending, reckless love of God!”

Nothing can separate us from the love of God!

Romans 8:38–39 NKJV

38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

CLOSING