Redeeming Love
Hosea • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 7 viewsThe love of God is a redeeming, pursuing love that is undeserved in every way by His people.
Notes
Transcript
TITLE: Redeeming Love
TEXT: Hosea 3.
Introduction:
Hosea 1.
When we started this book a couple weeks ago, the author wasted no time getting to the point. Though Israel had been experiencing an almost unparalleled time of peace and prosperity, it was a people falling into moral decay.
They had cast aside the one and only Holy God for idols, mere creations from the minds of evil men. Israel had rejected the word of the Lord, adopting the gods of the surrounding nations (specifically Baal, the supreme god of the Canaanites).
2 When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.”
Hosea was commanded to take for himself a wife who would prove herself to be unfaithful, just like Israel. Even so, Hosea’s words of coming judgment were not without hope.
Hosea 2.
Last week we walked through Hosea 2 together, and we saw the themes of this great book continue to develop: Marriage, Unfaithfulness, Faithfulness, Love, Judgment.
Like Gomer, Israel continued to pursue after her lovers. Through Hosea, God promised to confront their idolatry and rebellion by disciplining them. For His discipline of Israel is certainly just, but also from a place of love.
6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.”
This chapter that promises punishment for Israel’s unfaithfulness ends with great hope. For God will go after his bride and win her back. He will remain faithful to the covenant he made with them, even in their rebellion.
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.
Illustration: When you think about relentless pursuit, what comes to mind?
Initially, my mind went back to high school and a game called ‘Red Rover’.
Quick Rules
I’m not entirely sure why we were playing this game, since it definitely is a game you play in elementary school, but I was sure of one thing: We were losing.
This was not okay. The only acceptable outcome was victory. My time came. My name was called, and I ran hard to win us back a team member.
The only problem was, other people were not quite as committed as I was to the game. I expected some resistance when trying to run through their arms, but the only resistance I met was my face against the wall behind them.
For some reason, I was committed to winning this game. Nothing was going to keep me and my team from victory.
Main Idea:
The love of God for His people is a relentless, pursuing, redeeming love that is undeserved by sinners such as us.
Outline:
God is lovingly pursuing those that do not love Him (v.1)
God has graciously paid the price of our redemption (v.2)
God is surely zealous for our affection and devotion (v.3)
God is perfectly reconciling all things to himself in Christ (v.4-5)
PRAYER
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.
God is lovingly pursuing those that do not love Him (v.1)
God is lovingly pursuing those that do not love Him (v.1)
Hosea 3:1 “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.””
The author has spent the last 1.5 chapters dealing with the relationship between God and Israel, but this chapter brings us back to the relations between Hosea and Gomer.
Immediately at the beginning of this chapter, we see that something is wrong. The Lord spoke to Hosea saying “Go again…”
Based on this command, most believe that this was now an estranged relationship, that Gomer had left Hosea after the birth of their third child.
“Go again…” was the Lord’s command. You see, Hosea had already done this once. By the Lord’s command, he took Gomer as his wife knowing she would prove herself to be unfaithful in their relationship.
Gomer is described here as a woman loved by another man. She was an adulteress, living in open sin with another man that was not her husband. She had abandoned her family, her husband and children, seeking fulfillment in what the world could offer her.
5 For their mother has played the whore;
she who conceived them has acted shamefully.
For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers,
who give me my bread and my water,
my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.’
Even so, the Lord’s command to Hosea was “Go again…”.
It seems that Hosea’s love for his bride was not going to be limited or stifled by how it was recieved. Regardless if his love was reciprocated or not, Hosea was going to pursue his wife.
Illustration: Unreciprocated Affection
Most of us know exactly how this feels. Expressing how you feel about someone else and then not receiving that in return.
It can be embarrassing, humiliating at times depending on the situation.
Consider here how Hosea must have felt. Functioning as a single father of three while his wife was in someone else’s arms. He must have felt betrayed, even abandoned by the one who vowed to love him only.
God’s Love for Israel
This is exactly how our Lord felt. Disregarded and abandoned by the people who He chose as His own. Nevertheless, He chose to love them.
Just like His command to Hosea, God was choosing to love a people who had turned to other gods and loved “cakes of raisins”. These were eaten on special occasions, one of which we saw previously in community groups.
19 and distributed among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, a cake of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins to each one. Then all the people departed, each to his house.
It is believed that these were also used in idolatrous practices and worship.
APPLICATION:
Just like Hosea with Gomer, just Like God with Israel,…… God pursues us, a people who do not love Him.
Our lack of love for God finds its roots in our sinful nature, our human nature. Like the psalmist David said, we were brought forth in iniquity and we were conceived in sin (Psalm 51). From our beginning, sin was natural to us.
Sin separates and alienates us from God.
12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
In our sin and alienation from Him, we are His enemies. We stand opposed to Him in rejection of His love towards us. How do we know He loves us, a people that hate Him in our nature?
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. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.
The Greek word used for love here is ‘agape’ which is used specifically to describe the love of God. A love that is perfectly displayed through Christ, His sacrificial death for sinners.
ILLUSTRATION: Meet me half way?
God’s loving pursuit of sinners, to save them from there sin and the wrath of God, is not a “meet me half way” kind of thing.
When it comes to making a deal, we are often seeking a point of compromise. One side will only come so far, and the other side needs to meet them there in order to make a deal.
The love of God is perfectly displayed in the fact that he came all the way to us, sinners that did not love Him, when we could not even take one step towards Him.
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.
Praise God that he does not give up on us, but He pursues us and pours out his love on us, a people who ran from Him continually…until one day when our eyes are opened to the fact that the satisfaction, the joy, the purpose we sought out in the pleasures and idols of this world were found in Him all along.
God has graciously paid the price of our redemption (v.2)
God has graciously paid the price of our redemption (v.2)
Hosea 3:2 “2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley.”
“So…”
I think we can quickly blow right past the first word of verse 2 as if it carries no significance in this chapter. I think we can quickly miss small things like this in Scripture if we do not approach the text carefully, seeking to digest all the knowledge and wisdom it has in store for us.
Put simply: The Lord Commanded…and Hosea obeyed.
I think simple things like this slip past us as believers for a couple different reasons.
Firstly, we are too comfortable with our own excuses.
I am convinced that every follower of Christ is thankful for their salvation. It would seem ridiculous to not be thankful for something so glorious.
I am convinced that the majority of followers of Christ are thankful for His Word. We know that many Christians throughout history gave their lives so that we can hold the complete revelation of God in our hands today.
But when it comes to obeying our Lord’s commands… our excuses rise to the surface really quick. This is the battle of the flesh that remains in us with the Spirit of God that dwells in us.
When it comes to faithful living, I think our excuses often bring us back to a place of comfort and control… because we know that obedience will challenge us, make us vulnerable, and require us to give up more control in our lives.
46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? 47 Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: 48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. 49 But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”
In keeping His commands, we are actually sure and stable. Our confidence in Him as our foundation, and not ourselves, is what we need.
Secondly, I think we are uncomfortable with what obedience will cost.
If you have studied the narratives of Scripture at any length, then you know the great heroes of the faith did not have easy lives.
Ease… Like no other time in history, “ease” is being marketed everywhere. I am not saying making things easier is a bad thing. I love Walmart grocery pickup just as much as the next person.
What I mean is this: We fool ourselves from time to time thinking either that 1. the Christian life will come with ease and comfort even when that was never promised to us, or 2. That certain commands of our Lord do not apply to us.
I think we are smart people, and we know what being radical in our obedience to our Lord will cost us - Everything. Listen… I get it. I am human just like you are, and having everything on the table and fully trusting the Lord is uncomfortable.
But… Are we actually giving up anything?
Jesus Speak to the Pharisees
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
Jesus Speaks to Martha About Lazarus
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,
So being in Christ, we have life abundantly now and forever. What are we so hesitant about???
We we have Him… when we seek Him… when we obey Him… we are not missing out on anything. We have everything we could ever want or need.
8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
9 Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints,
for those who fear him have no lack!
10 The young lions suffer want and hunger;
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
Now…back to Hosea.
God has graciously paid the price of our redemption.
Hosea receives the Word of the Lord and obeys. He says that he went and “bought her”. The context here does not suggest this was a belated bridal price, meaning a payment of money or goods by the groom to the bride’s family, as was a common practice.
Others speculate that this price was actually paid to Gomer as a bridal gift. This also is questionable since the price paid was not luxurious but modest at best.
What do we know about Hosea’s payment then?
15 shekels of silver
A homer and a lethech (laythek) of barley
Together this would equal 30 shekels of silver
A Slave Prive
32 If the ox gores a slave, male or female, the owner shall give to their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.
The priced paid to buy Gomer back was the price of a common slave.
Because of this context from the OT Law, the language used in verse 1 saying Gomer was “loved by another man” seems to suggest she might have even been owned by another man, as a slave.
We may be wondering why Hosea did not just give 30 shekels of silver then. Well…If the previous context was not enough, we See in Numbers 5 that BARLEY was required offering of one accused of adultery.
Gomer had cast aside the love and care of her husband and now found herself not only enslaved by her desires but possibly even physically enslaved herself. Instead returning the love of her husband, she gave herself to things of the world that only brought her shame and dishonor.
Even so… Hosea paid the price to redeem her.
APPLICATION:
I hope the theme here is sounding familiar to us this morning, but in case its not…let me repeat Joe’s words from two weeks ago.
“We are not the Hosea of this story.”
It is natural in us to identify as the good guy in most everything we read or watch. We see ourselves in a good light, doing good deeds, defeating the bad guys of the narrative, etc.
While it may be innocent in some instances, viewing Scripture through the same lens is unwise.
Exodus 20… we are not the Moses of the story. No, we are Israel who stood far off in terror of the lightning and smoke that covered Mount Sinai, in need of a faithful representative to stand before us and God
1 Samuel 17… We are not the David of the story, slaying our giants. No, we are the Israelites, cowering in fear, in need of someone to fight an insurmountable enemy for us.
Matthew 27… we are not a innocent bystander to what was unfolding in Jerusalem as Pilate asked the crowd what should be done with the one called Jesus, the Christ. No… we are among the crowd calling for the promotion of evil and the crucifixion of good.
Redemption - The Goal of The Gospel
to deliver, to set free, to liberate
In a display of great love, Hosea redeemed his wife Gomer, bought her for a price, and once again she was his own.
Thus it is with us - In Need of Redemption
Like Gomer, from the moment we drew breath on this earth the intention of our hearts has been evil. From our thoughts to our words to our actions and everything in between… we have rejected Him as the one and only God.
Romans 1… God has clearly revealed Himself in His creation of all things, but in rejecting this we exchanged the truth about God for a lie… and like Israel… we worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator.
Like Gomer… we are in no position nor do we have the capability of freeing ourselves from this captivity.
16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?
You see the bad news of the true Gospel is supposed to sit heavy like this. We are supposed to feel the weight of our sinfulness before a Holy God…because when we do… the reality of the good news becomes that much sweeter.
In his Redemption, there is no condemnation!
22 The Lord redeems the life of his servants;
none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.
In his Redemption, we are made new!
1 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
3 who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5 who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
If you are in Christ, you were bought with price, and the price was his blood. He humbled himself and gave everything for us… so that we could have life abundantly and everything we could ever want or need in Him.
11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
Trust not in yourself today… you cannot redeem yourself before a Holy God. But repent of your sin and call out in faith to the One who has shown His Redeeming Love for you at the cross, where he bore your sin and punishment so that you might be made new.
God is surely zealous for our affection and devotion (v.3)
God is surely zealous for our affection and devotion (v.3)
Hosea 3:3 “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.””
Hosea redeems his wife, buys her back, and brings her home where she belongs with her husband and children. And because he loves her, he gives her some instruction on how things will go from then on.
“You must dwell as mine for many days.”
Firstly, Hosea is tell his wife that this is where she belongs. This is their home and she is welcome here regardless of what has happened in the past. She would live with Hosea, her husband. She would live with and take care of her children.
“Many days” here is intended as an indefinite period of time, meaning that Hosea intended their renewed relationship to be lasting indefinitely. This was not a “Let’s give it another shot and see what happens” kind of mindset. The focus was renewed, permanent commitment.
“You shall not play the whore or belong to another man”
Hosea loved his wife enough to keep her from things that she wanted, things that destroyed their relationship and only led to suffering for everyone involved.
Gomer had been given hope! Her husband had come searching for her, an unfaithful bride, and he restored her back to a right standing in their home. And no longer would she live as a promiscuous woman or belong to anyone else but her loving husband.
Her adulterous lifestyle would be put to death. It would define her no longer.
ILLUSTRATION: What does true love for someone look like?
It is a modern day deception that being “loving” means affirming and supporting what a person wants no matter the circumstances.
While this sounds good on the surface and will likely make a person feel good, it is a distorted understanding of love.
True love is never lacking truth.
As a husband and father, I love my wife and children deeply. Therefore, I seek to be honest with them in everything. I don’t think any rational person would say it is best for our relationships for me to be dishonest. By no means! It is for the good of our family in every way that we do not compromise truth in our home.
As a pastor, I love this church family. Therefore, my goal is to be honest and truthful in everything I teach and in every way I help lead this church.
Because of Hosea’s great love for His bride, he would be honest with her and keep her from the very things that were worse for her, even if she wanted them.
“...so will I also be to you.”
Some take this final statement to mean that Hosea would abstain from relations with Gomer for a period of time since this was intimately connected with her idolatrous, adulterous lifestyle.
But understood in a more broad context, this is likely just a confirmation to Gomer that Hosea’s intention was the same devotion that he was calling Gomer to.
In Summary:
Hosea was zealous for the affection of His bride. He desired for her to show the same devotion he was willing to give her!
So it was with God and His people Israel. He was zealous, even jealous for their worship.
God Renews his Covenant
11 “Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 12 Take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a snare in your midst. 13 You shall tear down their altars and break their pillars and cut down their Asherim 14 (for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God),
Being a God zealous for the worship of His name alone is not a bad thing. It is another way of saying that He will share His glory with no one else.
As the Creator of all humanity in His image, as the One who redeemed this people from the grips of slavery in Egypt, as the One guided them by a pillar of cloud during the day and fire at night, as the One who provided food and water for them in their wandering, as the One who gave them countless victories over superior surrounding nations....He would not tolerate their worship of anything but Himself. For He was already worthy before providing these things.
He desired their affection and love above all things!
APPLICATION:
As sinners redeemed from the pit, the Founder and Finisher of our faith is zealous for our worship. He has not redeemed us, justified us, given us new life for us to run back to the idolatrous altars of our past.
He is zealous for our affection and devotion above all things. For example, consider the teaching of our Lord to the crowds that surrounded him in Luke 14.
26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
Such teaching does not exactly boost weekly church attendance.
The emphasis here is not on how much would should hate the people in our lives. Jesus wants our love for Him to greatly surpass our affection and devotion to anyone or anything else.
Is our affection and devotion to Him alone evident in how we spend our days? As sinners redeemed by His grace, we are His. We belong to no other. Shouldn’t such realities be evident to those around us?
God is perfectly reconciling all things to himself in Christ (v.4-5)
God is perfectly reconciling all things to himself in Christ (v.4-5)
Hosea 3:4–5 “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.”
These last two verses can be interpreted in different ways depending on what your eschatology viewpoint (meaning your view point of the “latter days” or “last things”), more commonly called the end times.
While that does come into play here, a hyper focus on this can actually take away from a straightforward reading of the verses.
Put simply: “Gomer’s lengthy period of isolation was designed to portray Israel’s exile.” - BKC
Context Reminder
Hosea’s message focused on Israel’s moral waywardness, breaking their covenant with the Lord, and his teachings proclaimed much condemnation to come.
Yes, the beautiful theme of this book is God’s loyal love for his covenant people in spite of their idolatry. That being said, God would allow Israel to experience the consequence of their decisions.
Israel would be sieged by the Assyrians in 701BC and exiled.
In exile, Israel would be separated from its idolatrous practices.
“without king or prince”
This shows Israel’s loss of national sovereignty in their exile. Israel would no longer be ruled by a Israeli king, but they would be under the control of a foreign nation.
“without sacrifice or pillar”
This would begin a period of time where Israel would be separated from a formal carrying out of the Law. The sacrifices commanded by the Lord would no longer be performed at sacred pillars, which were stone or wooden monuments erected as a place of worship.
“without ephod or house-hold gods”
Here, the ephod dopes not mean the garment worn by a priest, but an object of worship, just like the house-hold false gods that were found across the people of Israel at this time.
The God of Israel would put all of this to an end in their exile in Assyria.
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.
Fear not… God’s steadfast love will not fail Israel. Hosea says after their exile would be a day where Israel shall return to seek the Lord. All of this shall happen in the latter days.
You may have noticed… but at Christ’s first advent Israel did not exactly embrace Him as their long awaited Messiah.
ILLUSTRATION: The Wailing Wall
You may have never heard of this, but the Wailing Wall is a location in Jerusalem where a wall from Herod’s temple still stands in part. Logan actually visited the wall during her trip to Israel back in college.
People come here daily, faithfully praying for the long awaited Messiah that has already come. As Jesus wept over Jerusalem, the city the kills the prophets sent to it, so people in modern day Israel weep and cry out for a Messiah to save them.
This is still happening because of a “partial hardening” (quantitatively not temporarily) has come upon Israel.
The Mystery of Israel’s Salvation
25 Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,
“The Deliverer will come from Zion,
he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”;
27 “and this will be my covenant with them
when I take away their sins.”
A day is coming where the Gospel will finally reach all the peoples of this earth, including the peoples of Israel, and we all will come to fear Him and stand in awe of his great name.
God is perfectly reconciling all things to himself, and there is nothing that can stop it. What a glorious day it will be when our Savior returns and every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
And on that day, we will no longer be plagued by these sinful, fallen bodies. No… we will stand before Him, fully redeemed and glorified in our heavenly bodies. Death will be no more and sin will be vanquished forever. We will see His face and we will dwell with Him forever.
51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55 “O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Main Idea:
The love of God for His people is a relentless, pursuing, redeeming love that is undeserved by sinners such as us.
