Judgment for a Promiscuous Bride

Introduction

Recap of Hosea

God told Hosea to go and take a bride of promiscuity

a painful calling, not only in the moment, but for the duration of their marriage

Hosea marries Gomer and they have a son named Jezreel, to show of the judgment that is to come

Gomer has two more kids

Lo Ruhamah - no compassion

Lo Ammi - Not my people

But God reminds them of the covenant that God had made with his people

Today - Judgment for a Promiscuous Bride

Watching talent shows like America’s got talent, American Idol

lose interest once the good singers are chosen

it is the bad singers that were fun to watch, and you wonder, “Who told them that they were good?”

truth is we all fear judgment like that, yet live in ignorance to the reality of the judgment of God

Israel has chased after and loved false gods.

the prophet is sharing how God is bringing this out, exposing their sin

Hosea 2:2–13 CSB

2 Rebuke your mother; rebuke her. For she is not my wife and I am not her husband. Let her remove the promiscuous look from her face and her adultery from between her breasts. 3 Otherwise, I will strip her naked and expose her as she was on the day of her birth. I will make her like a desert and like a parched land, and I will let her die of thirst. 4 I will have no compassion on her children because they are the children of promiscuity. 5 Yes, their mother is promiscuous; she conceived them and acted shamefully. For she thought, “I will follow my lovers, the men who give me my food and water, my wool and flax, my oil and drink.” 6 Therefore, this is what I will do: I will block her way with thorns; I will enclose her with a wall, so that she cannot find her paths. 7 She will pursue her lovers but not catch them; she will look for them but not find them. Then she will think, “I will go back to my former husband, for then it was better for me than now.” 8 She does not recognize that it is I who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the fresh oil. I lavished silver and gold on her, which they used for Baal. 9 Therefore, I will take back my grain in its time and my new wine in its season; I will take away my wool and linen, which were to cover her nakedness. 10 Now I will expose her shame in the sight of her lovers, and no one will rescue her from my power. 11 I will put an end to all her celebrations: her feasts, New Moons, and Sabbaths— all her festivals. 12 I will devastate her vines and fig trees. She thinks that these are her wages that her lovers have given her. I will turn them into a thicket, and the wild animals will eat them. 13 And I will punish her for the days of the Baals, to which she burned incense. She put on her rings and her jewelry and followed her lovers, but she forgot me. This is the Lord’s declaration.

PRAY!

The Father exposes our sin to draw us to repentance and into the right relationship with him.

God Pursues Sinful People

We like the idea of being pursued by God

we look at it as something about us, that God is like, I am chasing ofter that one

we love the sayings, he left the 99 to find the one and I am the one

as if there is something in us that God sees something in us that he can use

in our weakness he is made strong

our brokenness restored is what brings him honor

Hosea 2:2–4 CSB

2 Rebuke your mother; rebuke her. For she is not my wife and I am not her husband. Let her remove the promiscuous look from her face and her adultery from between her breasts. 3 Otherwise, I will strip her naked and expose her as she was on the day of her birth. I will make her like a desert and like a parched land, and I will let her die of thirst. 4 I will have no compassion on her children because they are the children of promiscuity.

Rebuke = a legal term designating an accusation or grievance, but includes the exhortation to reverse the case of the grievance

this idea of reversing, that is what repentance is, to turn around

this is a heart breaking read, rebuke her, She is not my wife and I am not her husband

Is this bride / groom or Israel / God YES!

yes! and us and God

Hosea and Gomer

we looked last week at the language of the three kids that Gomer had

She conceived and bore him (Hosea) a son and named him Jezreel

She conceived and had a daughter (not bore him, not they had) and he named her, La-Ruhamah, no compassion

She conceived again and had a son (same language as Lo-Ruhamah) and he named him Lo-Ammi; Not my people

Hosea is telling the children to rebuke your mother, speak into her sin with hopes, or a point that she returns to her groom

Israel and the Lord

God had made a covenant with Israel, goes back to Genesis 12:2-3 and the covenant with Abraham

as he gives the law, he tells them if they will obey, he will be their people

over and over the people of Israel have chased after other gods

the OT can almost be read in a circular pattern

the people are with God living in his blessing

the people fall away from God

God punished his people

the people repent

here, the people who are supposed to have an intimate relationship with God, are chasing and pursuing other gods to be intimate with

as if you could be

so is this Hosea calling out for his bride to be rebuked and return to him… yes

or is this God calling out to Israel to be rebuked and return to him… also yes

Us and the Lord

this is also a warning to us and understanding for us

we the church are the bride of Christ, and he is jealous for his bride

yet we step out on him, chase after other lovers to satisfy us

in the same way as Gomer breaking the covenantal bond we have with Him

like Israel, running to created things and longing and worshipping them as if it will satisfy our souls

but they always leave us feeling unsatisfied, broken and unloved

that is why James calls us adulterous people

God pursues us by pointing out our broken relationship

we don’t even want to acknowledge that we are adulterers

maybe things that I struggle with, but…

vs no intimacy

Notice that she doesn’t even pretend

her kids have the names they do, you would think that bring shame

how is she dressed, for promiscuity, this is an intention that she has

Like Gomer, we are not chasing after other things by accident

James 1:13–15 CSB

13 No one undergoing a trial should say, “I am being tempted by God,” since God is not tempted by evil, and he himself doesn’t tempt anyone. 14 But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desire. 15 Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death.

God Exposes Sinful People

Debate on parenting styles; positive verses negative reinforcement

positive reinforcement

When you do well I will reward you

Negative reinforcement

I will remove a hard thing when you do good, like a chore or something

You decide what is best for you and your family

I only caution you on how you phrase things

Kaitlynn telling Jimmy, “Stop or dad will beat us,” while waiting in line at the store

A cause and effect of her promiscuity (v5-6; 7-9)

Hosea 2:5–6 CSB

5 Yes, their mother is promiscuous; she conceived them and acted shamefully. For she thought, “I will follow my lovers, the men who give me my food and water, my wool and flax, my oil and drink.” 6 Therefore, this is what I will do: I will block her way with thorns; I will enclose her with a wall, so that she cannot find her paths.

She acts shamefully because she thinks it will give her worldly gain

these men are providing for her needs and so she will keep running back to them to have those needs fulfilled

we do the same thing… and make excuses

I have heard them, If this was wrong, if God hated it why would I be successful

as if prosperity only comes from the Lord

Remember how Jesus was tempted, Satan tells him, bow to me and all of this will be yours

in this case, she is chasing after lovers she only perceives as providing for her

but God is going to make her way difficult

do we see this in our own life, when we are chasing after the world, thinking it is the world providing what we need and life gets more a more difficult

I know it does, and we will cry out with to God saying, “I am doing all I can!”

Hosea 2:7–10 CSB

7 She will pursue her lovers but not catch them; she will look for them but not find them. Then she will think, “I will go back to my former husband, for then it was better for me than now.” 8 She does not recognize that it is I who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the fresh oil. I lavished silver and gold on her, which they used for Baal. 9 Therefore, I will take back my grain in its time and my new wine in its season; I will take away my wool and linen, which were to cover her nakedness. 10 Now I will expose her shame in the sight of her lovers, and no one will rescue her from my power.

Because she is bent on adultery he will make her path hard

Pursue - chase, run after with an emotion, word is also translated persecute

so not a hatred, but an emotional pursuit of these lovers

He is blocking things that destroy their relationship so that she will come back to him

the making the path hard, the inability to find the love she is looking for in anything but God, she returns to her husband

this sounds like the prodigal son, who left the Father to find something he thought he was missing only to realize that he had everything with the father

Why do we doubt the love that God has for us

is it because of the pain that we have in this life

believing that if God was for us, loved us than this life we would be free of pain, hardships

then we take the blessings we do receive from God and use them in worship of other things

that is what is happening here. He begins to talk about Israel, then things he has provided, they are using to worship the false god Baal

The adulterer will be stripped down and their shame revealed

The blessings will be removed

why? because she has used these blessings to chase and serve her lovers

the sin will be exposed

this is a complete exposure, nothing will be hidden

we a couple weeks ago about the blotch book that the kids went through at camp

when sin happens it pops up, when it was just a mark, the kids were okay with it, all have those marks

but when it was written or able to see what the sin was, we want to hide

here, there is no hiding, everything is exposed, naked before all

the false lovers will be shown as powerless, unloving, never able to provide for her like the Lord

God Punishes Sinful People

I think that we forget how much God hates sin

we take his grace and his patience for granted

how much sin can God take before his acts… with Israel, he has had enough

in the last few verses of our passage he uses words like end, devastate, punish

Hosea 2:11–13 CSB

11 I will put an end to all her celebrations: her feasts, New Moons, and Sabbaths— all her festivals.

all of the celebrations that you have with your lovers, I am ending

Hosea 2:11–13 CSB

12 I will devastate her vines and fig trees. She thinks that these are her wages that her lovers have given her. I will turn them into a thicket, and the wild animals will eat them.

devastate = to destroy or make desolate

the very land that he has given them that they worship others gods in is about to become desolate, the exile is coming

Hosea 2:11–13 CSB

13 And I will punish her for the days of the Baals, to which she burned incense. She put on her rings and her jewelry and followed her lovers, but she forgot me. This is the Lord’s declaration.

What had God done for these people

out of Egypt

into the promise land

yet they not just walk away from God, but run to chase after other gods

Those in their sin will be exposed and pay for their sin

they will have to stand before the throne and give an account for all the wrong they have done

a book opened that has recorded every sin

not giving a number of times you have committed sin, but completely exposing the sin that you had in your life

and receiving the punishment accordingly

Those who trust in Christ their sins were put on Christ and he took that punishment on himself

they have no sins to list, to account for, to expose, they have been put on Christ

they stand righteous before the Lord

All sin will be punished, for those in Christ, it has been laid upon him, for those not, they will stand on their own

but as you sit here today, God is pursuing your heart, trying to draw you into a relationship with him. We will look at that more next week.

Discussion Questions

In what ways can we recognize our own tendencies to pursue things that distract us from God?

What practical steps can we take to strengthen our relationship with God and avoid spiritual promiscuity?

How can we ensure that we are seeking fulfillment in God rather than in temporary pleasures or distractions?

Reflect on the question, 'What are some 'false gods' that people chase after today? How can we identify and confront them in our lives?'

What does the phrase 'blocking her way with thorns' signify in the context of God’s pursuit of His people?

What does the name 'Lo Ruhamah' signify in terms of God's feelings toward Israel?

How can we better respond to God's pursuit of our hearts amidst distractions?

In what areas of our lives might we be risking a 'promiscuous' relationship with God?

What is the significance of God highlighting wrong relationships in the context of His love for His people?