An Unfaithful People in the Hands of a Faithful God

Introduction

Introduce series - Hosea

where in history

generations after the kingdom has split

Kingdom split after Solomon

Israel to the North, Judah to the South

1st king of the North, Israel was Jeroboam

fearful that the people would go back to Jerusalem and worship there for the feasts like passover, stay, or return and kill him, he made two golden calves, put them in different parts of the nation and told the people come and worship the God who brought them out of Egypt.

The sin that caused people of Israel to turn from God and violate the first three commandments

love the Lord and have no other gods before him

do not make idols

do not take the Lord’s name in vain

If you want to know how bad that sin is, how much the Lord hates the sin of Jeroboam, every king after was compared

over and over again in the book of 2nd kings when talking about the North, he followed in the sin of Jeroboam

during the reign of Jeroboam II, fourth generation after Jehu

there were nine kings between Jeroboam and Jeroboam II

Jehu was Jeroboam II’s great great grandfather

important to understand that Jehu was the King that killed Jezebel and was told that only three more generations after him and that would be the end of his family line

what kingdom - Hosea is in the Northern Kingdom, Israel

what is situation

Israel is doing ok in worldly ways, but are far away from God

still loving Baal, following or even chasing after other gods

Hosea 1:1–2:1 CSB

1 The word of the Lord that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and of Jeroboam son of Jehoash, king of Israel. 2 When the Lord first spoke to Hosea, he said this to him: Go and marry a woman of promiscuity, and have children of promiscuity, for the land is committing blatant acts of promiscuity by abandoning the Lord. 3 So he went and married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. 4 Then the Lord said to him: Name him Jezreel, for in a little while I will bring the bloodshed of Jezreel on the house of Jehu and put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. 5 On that day I will break the bow of Israel in Jezreel Valley. 6 She conceived again and gave birth to a daughter, and the Lord said to him: Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel. I will certainly take them away. 7 But I will have compassion on the house of Judah, and I will deliver them by the Lord their God. I will not deliver them by bow, sword, or war, or by horses and cavalry. 8 After Gomer had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived and gave birth to a son. 9 Then the Lord said: Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not my people, and I will not be your God. 10 Yet the number of the Israelites will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or counted. And in the place where they were told: You are not my people, they will be called: Sons of the living God. 11 And the Judeans and the Israelites will be gathered together. They will appoint for themselves a single ruler and go up from the land. For the day of Jezreel will be great. 1 Call your brothers: My People and your sisters: Compassion.

PRAY!

There will be judgment for those who flirt with the Lord and lustfully chase after the world.

A Tough Call to Obey

Were you one of those kids that found it really hard to obey

We often think of kids when we talk of obedience

we might think of our own kids and which ones obeyed verses the one the didn’t

most likely you think of other people’s kids because we always think that they’re kids are much worse than ours.

I think that I find it harder to obey now than when I was a kid

what I mean is that the older that I get the more I want to do things my way, of course I want them done my way too. If somebody tells me that I cannot do something, I am more apt to want to, “What do you mean I cannot do that, I am a grown man, I can do what I want to do.”

I am the same when people tell me I have to do something. “Who are you to tell me what I have to do…”

Why is it so hard to obey God… let that question float for a minute

Hosea 1:1–3 CSB

1 The word of the Lord that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and of Jeroboam son of Jehoash, king of Israel. 2 When the Lord first spoke to Hosea, he said this to him: Go and marry a woman of promiscuity, and have children of promiscuity, for the land is committing blatant acts of promiscuity by abandoning the Lord. 3 So he went and married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

Go and marry a woman of promiscuity

lifelong commitment to this calling - this is not a complete this task and move on to the next type of thing. Sure, he goes and he marries, but then he has to live in this obedience for the rest of his life. Hosea must get up and obey this command and love a woman who is destined to promiscuity

a relationship bound for heartache

promiscuity = Whoredom in the KJV

there are some that think this is allegorical because it would be immoral for a prophet to be married to a woman like that

there are some that believe Gomer was a prostitute before they got married

think that through with me, Pastor comes into the Elders meeting. Last night I went to the street known for prostitution. I picked up a girl and I got married. Meet the new Pastor’s wife.

we may or chuckle at such a thought but this is a prophet of God

others believe that it was told to the prophet before the marriage about what kind of marriage he was going to have

as we go through the book, I will let you decide

Hosea obeyed… he married Gomer and they had Jezreel

our commitment comes with a lot of conditions

If God is asking us to do, go, obey we want the assurance that everything is going to go well for us

like Gideon throwing down the fleece, I even hear people saying like, Gideon I am throwing down this fleece. I have yet to respond, “So you do not trust God and require him to prove something to you…” maybe I should

but think through this with me… Go and have a lifetime of heartache with the person that you are to be the most intimate with

here I am send me, Lord

Have children of promiscuity

not just a relationship with spouse

heartache for the entire family unit

everyone will know

the third child is named, “Not Mine”

Obedience to tough calls do not make sense in our western christian culture

we hear stories of hard things in hard places

places where it is illegal to share the gospel, come to faith, where people who convert from Islam face removal from their family, persecution by their community or simply death

with all of that possible, the Lord says, come and follow me, it is up to each person to count the costs of following Christ

I fear that we have counted and we choose the path with the least resistance

we want to follow the Lord and gain the world

A Promiscuous People

The hard question

Do I take advantage of God’s grace

In Paul’s letter to the Romans he said that our sin reveals God’s grace. In a question he assumes the reader would ask after hearing that, he says, “Should we keep on sinning so that grace may abound? Absolutely not!”

I think that most of us would agree that we should not sin or be okay with sin just so that God could give us grace, yet many people will sin, do something they know is against God, resting on the grace of God.

We can come up with all kinds of noble reasons why would do such a thing, but the truth of the matter is that we love the world. There are things that we want, we desire more than we love and desire God. We make decisions to indulge, participate, but only on certain days, for a certain amount of time. I will still go to church and pray before meals.

To this James would say, “You adulteress people. Don’t you know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?”

The Israelites had been led down this path by their rulers of trusting kings and nations over the God who gave them the land they were in. they trusted and worshipped false gods out of convenience, rather than worshipping where and how God had instructed them.

Hosea 1:4–9 CSB

4 Then the Lord said to him: Name him Jezreel, for in a little while I will bring the bloodshed of Jezreel on the house of Jehu and put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. 5 On that day I will break the bow of Israel in Jezreel Valley. 6 She conceived again and gave birth to a daughter, and the Lord said to him: Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel. I will certainly take them away. 7 But I will have compassion on the house of Judah, and I will deliver them by the Lord their God. I will not deliver them by bow, sword, or war, or by horses and cavalry. 8 After Gomer had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived and gave birth to a son. 9 Then the Lord said: Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not my people, and I will not be your God.

The three kids

Jezreel

Background on Jezreel and why judgment is coming to Israel

Jezreel might not cause you to think judgment, but it should. I have been to Jezreel and the valley that this is talking about. It is a beautiful place. As you stand where Ahab and Jezebel’s palace once was down and to the right is a small vineyard. Now I do not know that this was the same vineyard that Naboth owned and Ahab desired, but it is fitting. Jezebel had Naboth killed because he would not give the vineyard to the king.

the same valley is where Gideon and his three hundred came and battled the Midionites, at the top of a mountain seen from there is where King Saul and his son Jonathan were hung after their death and their bodies were displayed. It is also believed that this is the valley of armageddon where Jesus will return for the final battle with Satan.

Jezreel is where Jeroboam II’s great, great grandfather Jehu had the family of Ahab killed and the dogs ate Jezebel.

a kingdom is coming to an end

We must see that God is telling the people that judgment is coming. That the blood that has been spilled in Jezreel is simply an outward sign of the evil that is in the hearts of the Israelites. That the line of Jehu is coming to an end, but so is the entire kingdom. They are going to be exiled out of the land.

Lo-Ruhamah - No Compassion

The Lord is not going to have compassion on the people of Israel

We have seen God over and over, even when the his people have worshipped Baal and trusted other kingdoms, save his people from destruction.

It has always been for his names sake. So that the world would know that there is a God in Israel. But not this time. The second child is named, no compassion, meaning God is not going to show compassion to these people.

compassion = love in action

God is not going to stop the nation that is coming to overthrow them and lead the to exile. Why? Because these are not his people.

Lo - Ammi - Not my People

What sad names for children. No compassion and not my people. But if you notice in the text, in verse three Gomer gave him (Hosea) a son, the next two children it simply says that she conceived and had these two kids. leading many to believe that these were not Hosea’s kids.

but this also what God is trying to show the people of Israel. You are people of whoredom, and you are producing people of whoredom. You are chasing after the world and teaching your kids to do that same.

Why won’t God show compassion

their heart is far from him

they worship Idols

they believe they have their needs met by other means than God

they are not his people

We are not different than Israel in this case

All of us at some point in our lives have chased after the things of this world and asked God to bless it. We have chased after everything but God. Maybe you are doing that now. To that, I say, “Woe to you!” Understand what you are doing. Understand what you are teaching your kids.

Repent and turn to God today. He is waiting for you. Where he will not have compassion on those who do not repent, for those that do he waits with open arms! Longing for your return.

A Faithful God

The warning of a coming judgment also comes with a renewed promise.

Does this mean that God is not going to keep his word that he is speaking through the prophet?

No, it actually means that he is going to keep his promise that he has made all along. This promise predates all of the people living in Israel at the time of the prophecy. This promise predates the law that the Israelites said the would live by, but have left.

Hosea 1:10–2:1 CSB

10 Yet the number of the Israelites will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or counted. And in the place where they were told: You are not my people, they will be called: Sons of the living God.

We taught the kids at TeamKID that God promised Abraham 3 basic things; Blessings, a family that would be to numerous to count, and a place to put them.

now he reminds of that promise as a look to the promise that is to come. There will be a day when all of God’s people will be gathered together!

Hosea 1:10–2:1 CSB

11 And the Judeans and the Israelites will be gathered together. They will appoint for themselves a single ruler and go up from the land. For the day of Jezreel will be great. 1 Call your brothers: My People and your sisters: Compassion.

God will rescue, but not by weapons of war

he will deliver them

God is going to bring all his people together and they will appoint, choose one leader over both of them. He is talking about the God’s people being reunited under the banner of one king, King Jesus! This is not done by force or military might, but by going to the cross.

Hosea 1:7 “7 But I will have compassion on the house of Judah, and I will deliver them by the Lord their God. I will not deliver them by bow, sword, or war, or by horses and cavalry.”

We can have all the protests in the nation that they want, but there is a king, there is a throne. He does not sit in the white house, but at the right hand of the father interceding for his people.

Through the covenant with Abraham

We are also Children of God

not because we earn it by following God better that the Israelites of Hosea’s day. Not because of anything we have or have not done. As his children, we are a part of that promise.

Abraham was saved, not by the law, which had not come yet, but by faith

Galatians 3:6–7 CSB

6 just like Abraham who believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness? 7 You know, then, that those who have faith, these are Abraham’s sons.

by faith we are Abraham’s sons - and Paul writes to the Romans that we, Gentiles, have been grafted into the family of God.

meaning we are a part of the covenant

1 Peter 2:9–10 CSB

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

As such Peter tells us that we are God’s people, people he has shown mercy (compassion)

SO THAT YOU MAY PROCLAIM HIS PRAISES!

Discussion Questions

What does the naming of Hosea's children signify in relation to God's relationship with Israel?

How can we identify and address the 'promiscuity' within our own spiritual lives today?

In what ways can we demonstrate our commitment to God amidst societal pressures and heartaches?

What is the significance of God's compassion on the house of Judah as mentioned in Hosea?

What lessons can we learn from Hosea's difficult calling in terms of obedience to God?

What modern-day 'idols' may distract us from being God's people?

What does it mean to be called 'Sons of the Living God' in the present context?