Hosea 3: “A Loving Return”

Intro:

Review from last week:

Hosea as a whole: Salvation and steadfast love without rival! The beginning of the end

Chapters 1-3 is a microcasm of the book as a whole

Chapter 1: A Challenging Illustration: Prosperity, challenging Marriage, controversial children

Chapter 2: A Doorway of Hope in the Valley of Trouble

Chapter 3 has merely 81 words in Hebrew

Outline:

A Loving Return: “Cakes, Shekels, and Goodness” (vs. 1-5)

Summary of the Chapter: A Call to return, seek, and fear the LORD and His goodness.

When you hear the term “goodness” of God, what comes to your mind?

Illustration:

Prayer:

A Loving Return: “Cakes, Shekels, and Goodness ” (vs. 1-5)

Return from “Cakes of Raisins” (what went wrong?) (v. 1)

And the LORD said to me- Hosea, first “fold” of the story, this is 1st person

Go again

love a woman who is loved by another man- one night stand that didn’t mean much or a real relationship

and is an adutlress- Hosea is instructed to love her knowing that she will commit adultery and after she has committed adultery. From here, God moves from “Panel #1” of this story to “Panel #2”.

We have no idea how long this went on for.

Even as the LORD loves the children of Israel- the second “fold” of the story

though they turn to other gods

and love cakes of raisins- What, really, this is their temptation? Yes, and mine is no difference! It is hard to think that the Israelites would give up the LORD for false gods, let alone a common dessert. But this really showcases the shallow nature of the human heart and the deception of our desires.

Jeremiah 7:18 “The children gather wood, the fathers kindle fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven. And they pour out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke me to anger.”

Jeremiah 44:19 “And the women said, “When we made offerings to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, was it without our husbands’ approval that we made cakes for her bearing her image and poured out drink offerings to her?””

Adam and Eve- fruit from the tree

Esau and Jacob- selling birthright for a bowl of stew

Children of Israel complain in the wilderness because in Egypt they had cucumbers and fish Numbers 11:5 “We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic.”

our physical appitites are often the gateway to the cravings of our soul.

Lest we think we are far removed from this:

Money- printed paper made from trees that you and I did not plant, given worth by a government that we do not control…

Pornography- pictures or videos of a person that you will never meet, doesn’t even know you exist, will never experience life with you and yet you pay to keep the interactions continuing…

What are your “cakes with raisins”

Seek with “Shekels”( How is it made right?) (vs. 2-3)

So I bought her- obedience in “fold” one!

for fifteen shekels of sliver- “shekel”= 2/5 ounce or 11 grams

and a homer- about 6 bushels or 220 liters 7.7 cubic feet) think of a hot tub

and a lethech of barley- 3 bushels or 110 liters

the homer and lethek of barley (food for animals) was valued at about 15 shekels

So, in total we are talking 30 shekels of silver, the price of a slave (Ex. 21:32) the bride price was 50 shekels of silver.

Matthew 26:15 “and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver.”

“Nothing so undoes man altogether and ruins him completely as defection from the Lord” (Feinberg, The Minor Prophets, 25).

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

What an illustration of progressive sanctification! God has purchased us with the most expensive, and precious comodity- His Son’s blood. But that was not done so that we would stay the same, desiring the same, thinking the same, doing the same! Change is a part of the purchase price!

Come in Fear to His goodness (vs. 4-5)

For the children of Israel

shall dwell many days without king or prince- the loss of national sovereignty

without sacrifice or pillar (sacred stones)- the cessation of formal religious activity

Jacob’s stone in (Gen. 28:18, 22; 31:13)

without ephod or household gods

Ephod- an object of dinvination, not the one worn by a priest but a cult object

afterward

the children of Israel shall return- which will ultimately happen under Ezra and Nehemiah

and seek

the LORD their God

and David their king- obedience in “fold” #2

and they shall come in fear to the LORD- hard to define, but easy to describe.

and to his goodness in the later days

Depending on what side of the issue you are on at any given time you may only be hearing your side

sinner- see you have to accept me back without shame or consequence

Sufferer-Am I suppposed to just act like it never happened, sure, I have some things that need to change to but they are the one that sinned and caused this huge issue. How do I move forward?

Application/Implications:

Renew the Mind (the Scriptures):

What caught your attention in this section?

Which verses or words would you like to study a little more this week?

Engage the Heart (humility vs. pride):

Cakes with raisins

Enlist the Body (faith steps):

Transitional phrase:

Summary of the Chapter:

Memory verse of the Chapter

Discussion Starters:

What do I need to return from?

What might it look/sound like for me to seek the LORD this week?

How has the LORD’s goodness drawn me back to Him?

Song:

Next Week’s Sermon:

Benediction/Looking ahead: INVITE PEOPLE TO THE CAFE