Redeeming Wife and Nation (3)

Introduction:

In our continuing study of Hosea, we have seen that the work of Yahweh for his unfaithful bride Israel, has been both judgment on sin and love for the sinner. We are viewing His work from within the framework of a living parable of the prophet Hosea and his unfaithful bride Gomer. We have seen how God commanded Hosea to marry Gomer, even though she was a prostitute and have children whose names were analogous with Yahweh’s future judgment on His bride Israel.

However, last week we saw how, though the marriage covenant with Israel was broken because of her unfaithfulness, Yahweh would woo His bride back to Himself and demonstrate his steadfast love (hesed) that would bring about a renewed covenant with her. This morning, we will see how deep Yahweh's hesed love truly is, as will be demonstrated by Hosea’s redemption of Gomer, as a living type of Yahweh’s redemption of Israel as we look at this morning’s message called Redeeming Wife and Nation in Chapter 3, verses, 1-5.

Text: Hosea 3:1-5

Hosea 3:1–5 ESV

1 And the Lord said to me, “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.” 2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley. 3 And I said to her, “You must dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you.” 4 For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods. 5 Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days.

Main Idea: As a result of Yahweh’s Steadfast Love, we His bride will respond by returning and seeking him exclusively.

It is important to note that even though God’s steadfast (hesed) love pursues and brings the sinner to himself, the sin of the sinner must always be dealt with. God can not and will not wink at sin and allow it to pass by without payment.

Thus redemption is the only way by which God can be both lover and judge. It is the only way he can be God with all his attributes of righteousness, justice, holiness, and love, mercy, and grace. Sin has its price, and that price must be paid!

I. Redemption of the Unfaithful Bride (1-2)

A. Redemption was undeserved (1)

(1) And the Lord said to me, “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.

And the Lord said to me, - notice that Hosea once again switches back to the first person, similar to chapter 1, as the Lord speaks to him and has him do something that seems unreasonable.

Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress -

Go again, points back to chapter one, referencing God’s original request to marry Gomer, a prostitute, and as a result, the emphasis is that Gomer, his unfaithful wife, is undeserving in herself of this act of love.

love … even as (preposition - in the same way as) the Lord loves. Yahweh’s apparent unreasonable request is patterned after His own loyal, protective, and bountiful love for undeserving Israel.

though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins - again this love was poured out on an undeserving Israel who chased diligently after idols and pursued all that would bring stimulation towards evil.

We must never forget that all that are loved by, and pursued by God, are done so without merit on their part. The scriptures very clearly give an ominous view of man’s goodness:

Psalm 14:1–3 ESV

1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good. 2 The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. 3 They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.

B. Redemption was paid in full (2)

(2) So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley.

bought. Christ similarly fulfilled this picture of love in action when He redeemed His saints from the slave market of sin.

fifteen shekels. The payment, roughly half in silver and half in produce, amounted to about thirty shekels and approximated the price of a slave in Ex. 21:32. This amount paid is not great, and it shows the desperate condition into which Gomer had fallen.

Similarly, The New Testament teaches that the actual cost of redemption was Christ’s blood (1 Pet. 1:18-19 ).

1 Peter 1:18–19 ESV

18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

II. Constraint of the Redeemed Bride (3-4)

A. Constrained to no longer act unfaithful (3)

(3) And I said to her, “You must dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you.”

You must dwell as mine has the force of a command. The segregation of Gomer/Israel will lead to her purification, rededication, and renewal

The Lord’s purging, far from being incompatible with his love, is a major aspect of it. During this time the phrase so will I also be to you (Hos. 3:3) is reassuring and resonates covenant promises and divine support. The Lord God firmly persists with his people during these trying times. But Israel must not play the whore (v. 3). The lesson having been learned, Israel will be restored beyond all expectation (Deut. 30:5). Romans 11:23 expresses a like sentiment (“they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in”).

B. Constrained from wrongful distractions (4)

(4) For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods.

This segregation will be an extensive, though undefined, time of the absence of those things that constituted Israel’s apostasy, namely, king and prince (v. 4), who failed in keeping Israel faithful to the Lord (cf. 1:4; 8:4); sacrifice, which they offered to the Baals (cf. 11:2; 13:1–2); the cult pillar (cf. 10:2), popular in Canaanite religion; the ephod, which degenerated into a tool for magical rites; and household gods, idols prohibited from Israel’s religion (Judg. 17:5; 18:14; 2 Kings 23:24; Zech. 10:2).

The Lord was going to use the Assyrians to carry out this act of removing these distractions.

III. Renewal of the Constrained Bride (5)

A. Renewed by redirected affection (5a)

(5a) Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king,

To call David their king is significant for the northern kingdom, which has been in revolt against the house of David for two centuries. They must return in order to be full participants in God’s covenant—in other words, God intends to honor the covenant with David (2 Sam. 7:8–16).

B. Renewed by learned intimacy (5b)

(5b) and they shall come in fear to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days.

they shall come in fear - in the end, all the work of God will bring about a learned intimacy through the combined work of Yahweh of both disciplined judgment, and loyal hesed love.

It is from the house of David that the ultimate king for God’s people will come, as indicated in the term the latter days (see Isa. 2:2). God has a glorious future in store for his people.

Isaiah 2:2 ESV

2 It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it,

Revelation 21:1–4 ESV

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

So What?

Do we understand that we have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, and that this redemption was neither earned nor deserved?

Do we understand that as those of us who have been redeemed by Christ, have been segregated from the world, as the eklesia, or “called out” ones?

Do we understand, that we the “called out” ones are responsible to live holy lives, in the fear of the Lord, obeying him and seeking him exclusively?