Our Faithful God
Notes
Transcript
Texts: Hosea 2:2–3, 9–20; James 4:8; Hebrews 10:19–22
Big Idea of the Message:
Despite Israel’s unfaithfulness to God’s covenant, God remained faithful in his commitment for his people to intimately know him.
Application Point: To know God with an ever-deepening intimacy requires us to draw near to him each day.
When marriages go well, it’s a beautiful thing.
When marriage doesn’t go well…it can be devastating to everyone involved.
Continual unfaithfulness in the covenant of marriage almost always results in complete destruction of the relationships.
God will use Hosea’s life to demonstrate this very thing…but showing how God is different than mere men when it comes to faithfulness.
Hosea is one of our minor prophets…When you compare them with the books written by Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, the Minor Prophets are “minor” only in size.
But when it comes to their messages, what they wrote is of major importance…if you slow down and open a good study Bible while you’re reading them, their messages can fill us with wonder!
(Wiersbe writes)
We should be amazed as Hosea describes God’s jealous love! Too many sleepy saints have lost their sense of wonder. The Minor Prophets shout at us to awaken us and invite us to open our eyes and be amazed at what God is doing in this world.
HOSEA BOOK OVERVIEW:
The book of Hosea is about judgment and hope.
Each of the three major sections of the book begins with the threat of divine judgment of Israel and ends with the promise of divine restoration:
the story of Hosea’s marriage illustrates the sins of Israel and the consequent judgment, 1:2–2:13, while the account of the reconciliation of Hosea and his wife in response to Yahweh’s promise to restore Israel, his own bride, exemplifies the hope that Yahweh, as loving husband, offers beyond the judgment, 2:14–3:5;
the oracles of judgment—sparked by corrupt worship, savage politics and foolish foreign alliances—spell Israel’s doom, 4:1–10:15, while the divine complaint raised by Yahweh, as the offended parent of a delinquent child, culminates in an offer of forgiveness and a call to return, 11:1–11;
the closing speeches of judgment continue to sound the alarm for Israel’s fate, as they depict God’s wrath in virtually unparalleled terms of ferocity, 12:1–13:16, while the prophecy reaches its climax in a love-song in which God’s husbandly love triumphs over all of Israel’s unfaithfulness, 14:1–9.
TIMELINE / HISTORY
Hosea ministered in the Northern Kingdom from about 760 to 720 B.C.
Israel was enjoying great prosperity, but Hosea could see that the nation was rotten to the core.
Honest government, pure religion, godly homes, and personal integrity had vanished from the land.
Judgment was inevitable.
Hosea faithfully preached the Word, but the nation refused to repent and #SpoilerAlert would be swallowed up by Assyria.
1. THE COVENANT WORTH KEEPING
1. THE COVENANT WORTH KEEPING
Hosea 1, Genesis 2:24-25; 12; Ex 19:4-6; Hosea 2:16
GOD CREATED THE HEAVENS & THE EARTH
GOD CREATED MAN FOR RELATIONSHIPS
Man & Woman - Covenant before the fall.
There was such poetry as Adam beheld Eve.
23 Then the man said,
“This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of Man.”
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
Man & God - Unbroken in the garden until sin.
8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”
It was normal for God to walk and talk with them.
But that all changed…
Both broken by sin.
10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”
GOD ESTABLISHED A COVENANT WITH A PEOPLE TO DISPLAY HIS GLORY TO THE NATIONS
2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Love the Lord their God
Walk in His statutes
ISRAEL WAS UNFAITHFUL TIME AFTER TIME.
So God had prophets consistently warn Israel of the cost of their unfaithfulness. He sent prophets.
Sometimes he called the prophets to be living parables to demonstrate the very message that He was conveying to them.
Prophets sometimes do strange things.
For three years, Isaiah embarrassed people by walking the streets dressed like a prisoner of war.
For several months, Jeremiah carried a yoke on his shoulders.
The prophet Ezekiel acted like a little boy and “played war,” and once he used a haircut as a theological object lesson. When his wife suddenly died, Ezekiel even turned that painful experience into a sermon.
Why did these men do these peculiar things? “These peculiar things” were really acts of mercy
The precarious marriage of Hosea and Gomer is used to picture the broken covenant between Yahweh and Israel.
The scandal is in the unbelievable lengths to which the metaphor is pushed.
this woman will break Hosea’s heart
Gomer is unfaithful to him at every turn…even abandoning him
the children are practically abandoned
Listen to these names
Jezreel (1:4-5) war is coming
Lo-ruhama (1:6-7) no mercy
Lo-ammi (1:8-9) not loved
Unfaithfulness always scars the children involved
This opening of the book reveals God portrayed like a betrayed husband.
He wants to punish his unfaithful wife—but he still loves her and desires to take her back.
Something about the feelings of a betrayed husband communicates God’s heart toward his people - that’s Israel at this time.
2. THE CONSEQUENCES OF UNFAITHFULNESS
2. THE CONSEQUENCES OF UNFAITHFULNESS
Gomer’s terrible treatment of Hosea is hard to ignore.
No prophet preached a more painful “action sermon” than Hosea.
He was instructed to marry an unfaithful woman.
She had three children, who may or may not be fathered by him.
Then Gomer leaves him for another man.
Hosea has the humiliating responsibility of buying back his own wife.
What was this all about?
It was a vivid picture of what the people of Israel had done to their God by cheating on God with idols and trying to look like other nations.
UNFAITHFULNESS grieves GOD.
Hosea 2:2-7 (SKIM)
This describes the devastation that God will bring on Israel.
Hosea 2:9-13 (SKIM)
Describes the fact that Israel will be exposed and completely devastated to all the people that “she” tries to have a good time with
It’s like rebelling against the LORD with your friends…
…loosing everything
…so that even your godless friends that don’t care anything God - notice that you should stop doing all this nonsense and carrying on.
(Jonah / Prodigal Son)
that’s how badly it goes for Gomer…for Israel
Notice the tender note inserted though in verse 8
8 And she did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil, and who lavished on her silver and gold, which they used for Baal.
On the one hand…God is still faithfully supplying His people with what they need…
…on the other hand; everything they’re doing to live AS IF GOD IS NOT THEIR GOD…AS IF HE’S NOT A GOD AT ALL - They’re using His gifts to do terrible things with.
18 You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.
There are costs to compromise…which leads to unfaithfulness
In the Old Testament, King Solomon, known for his wisdom, made many compromises that ultimately led to his downfall.
He allowed the worship of foreign gods, which was contrary to God's commands. Solomon's decisions brought shame not only on himself but on the entire nation of Israel, leading them away from the God they once followed devotedly.
It’s a grave reminder that unfaithfulness to God…that compromising our values can lead to significant consequences for ourselves and those around us…even if we started INCREDIBLY!
TRANSITION
There is much more to Hosea than that, however. If one wants to read an OT book that shows the heart of God, this is the book.
God has an everlasting covenant with His people…regardless of how they feel or act; it is WORTH KEEPING - so He keeps it.
God’s people always suffer when they choose to go against God’s way. When we choose to be unfaithful to this incredible God - we suffer and so do those around us.
3. THE COMFORT OF OUR FAITHFUL/MERCIFUL GOD
3. THE COMFORT OF OUR FAITHFUL/MERCIFUL GOD
Look what GOD is going to do…
14 “Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
and bring her into the wilderness,
and speak tenderly to her.
15 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.
16 “And in that day, declares the Lord, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’ 17 For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more. 18 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. 19 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. 20 I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord.
21 “And in that day I will answer, declares the Lord,
I will answer the heavens,
and they shall answer the earth,
22 and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and they shall answer Jezreel,
23 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 did NOT love Gomer because of her loveliness…
He loved her because he was commanded to by God. He knew this was bigger than him…bigger than this dysfunctional family…bigger than Israel.
God did not love Israel because of her loveliness.
She had been guilty of spiritual adultery - cheating on God; even her mother had played the harlot (v. 5). “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us.” Even “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
God loved them so much, even though they deserved the names he gave them in Chapter 1 “not my people” “you have not received mercy”; His heart shows up big in Chapter 2 as he says, go call them “MY PEOPLE” and “YOU HAVE RECEIVED MERCY”
YOU AND I WERE IN THE SAME BOAT:
We were by nature children of wrath
God does not love you because of your loveliness or faithfulness…
19 We love because he first loved us.
13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.
Just in this first slice of Hosea…
We see the UNfaithful, wandering, idolatrous heart and mind of Israel…and the FAITHFUL, UNFAILING, FOCUSED HEART OF GOD!
This is reflected in His love here for His people.
It’s reflected all throughout Scripture as God sends prophet after prophet to point Israel back to Himself.
Then…after years of silence from the Heavens; an angel appears to Mary - a virgin and tells her that she shall conceive a son, and they shall call His name JESUS for He shall save His people from their sins.
A new covenant is born and fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
Hosea’s faithfulness is breathtaking - but it is in direct response to the command of GOD - since he was a prophet for the nation.
God’s response to Israel in the OT is embodied so beautifully in His name that is revealed…
15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
I have loved you with an everlasting love;
therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.
What a faithful God!
But God’s response and plan for all of humanity is mind-blowing…
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
God’s relentless pursuit of us…that HE might be with us and we might be with HIM!
…that we might KNOW HIM!
After Saul was radically transformed (into Paul) by the power of GOD…
7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
WHAT’S OUR RESPONSE?
LET US DRAW NEAR…NOT DRIFT AWAY…that we might KNOW THIS FAITHFUL GOD!
Whenever we draw near to God, he promises that he will draw near to us (James 4:8).
Just like in any relationship,
the closer we are to God and the more time we spend in his presence;
the more we learn about his character and know his heart.
God’s heart loves us unconditionally, has our best interests in mind, desires to bless us, and longs for us to love him and love other people too.
If we desire to know God with an ever-deepening intimacy, we must be intentional to draw near to him each day.
19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
He paid the price for our nearness…that we MIGHT KNOW THIS FAITHFUL GOD!
He gave us new hearts to long for nearness.
Draw Near THE ONLY FAITHFUL GOD in worship.
Draw Near THE ONLY FAITHFUL GOD in prayer.
Draw Near THE ONLY FAITHFUL GOD in Fellowship with His family.
Draw Near THE ONLY FAITHFUL GOD in the WORD!
Draw Near THE ONLY FAITHFUL GOD in serving others selflessly.
Like my friend, Pastor Jeremy says, “fight the drift!”
Recognize the temptation for UNFAITHFULNESS to this FAITHFUL, MERCIFUL GOD
unfaithful in our disciplines (for sure)
what about unfaithful in the way we treat those closest to us?
…in the way we speak ABOUT others
in the way we THINK ABOUT OURSELVES
“Prone to wander, Lord I feel it
Prone to leave the God I love
Here’s my heart, Lord take and seal it
Seal it for thy courts above.”
