Unfaithful Bride. Unfailing God.

Tonight we’re kicking off something brand new, and honestly, something I’m really excited about. We’re starting a series that’s going to carry us for about a year, maybe a little more. We’re going to walk through every one of the Minor Prophets—line by line, word by word.

Now, let’s be real—most Christians don’t spend a whole lot of time in the Minor Prophets. Even in my Old Testament class, we barely get to scratch the surface of each one. They’re tucked in the back of the Old Testament, and because they’re called minor, people assume they’re less important. But here’s the truth: the only thing minor about them is their length. Their message is major. These books are packed with the holiness of God, the seriousness of sin, the weight of judgment, and the beauty of grace.

The Lord has pressed it on my heart for us, as a church, to slow down and walk through each one. Some of these prophets you’ll be more familiar with—Jonah getting swallowed by the fish, Hosea marrying Gomer—but others may feel like brand-new territory. And that’s good. Because together, we’re going to see how every single one of these books points us forward to Jesus and how the same God who spoke through them is still speaking to us today.

And we are going to start with Hoseas. It you have your Bibles go ahead and make your way to Hosea.

Hosea was one of four prophets God raised up in the eighth century B.C. Isaiah and Micah were speaking down south to Judah, while Amos and Hosea were preaching up north to Israel. Jonah also lived and preached during this time, though outside of the book that bears his name and one verse in 2 Kings 14:25, we don’t know much about his ministry. Some even place Joel in this century, though his date is debated.

What we do know is that the prophets of this period paint a clear picture: God’s people had wandered far from Him. They were unfaithful to His covenant, and their lives were marked by drunkenness, sexual sin, dishonesty in business, empty religion, and outright idolatry. Archaeology shows the monarchy was tightening its grip on the economy—bigger royal herds, more land seized—and the result was the powerful exploiting the poor.

On top of that, the religious leaders blended true worship with the Baal cult of the Canaanites. Hosea stood against it, denouncing Baalism and calling it what it was: spiritual adultery against the one true God. To drive the point home, he described Israel as God’s wife and God’s child—unfaithful and rebellious, yet still belonging to Him.

Hosea preached in dark days. Judgment was right around the corner with Israel’s fall. And yet, he stood as a light in the darkness, declaring God’s truth to a people who didn’t want to hear it. The same is true for us today—we’re living in spiritually dark times. But Hosea reminds us: God’s Word still shines bright in the middle of the darkness.

I’ll never forget when God called me into ministry. Blair was pregnant with Judah and fighting cancer at the same time. It felt like the weight of the world was pressing in on us, but right there in the middle of the storm, God got ahold of me. It changed everything. I couldn’t shake the question: “Lord, how are You going to use me?”

Now, Hosea doesn’t tell us the story of his call like Isaiah or Jeremiah do.

I’ll never forget when God called me into ministry. Blair was pregnant with Judah and fighting cancer at the same time. It felt like the weight of the world was pressing in on us, but right there in the middle of the storm, God got ahold of me. It changed everything.

But at some point, Hosea must have surrendered fully to God’s call. Why else would he obey when God gave him this assignment? “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 1:2, ESV). That’s not the kind of command you follow unless you’ve already said to God, “Whatever You ask, wherever You lead, I’ll follow.”

The language is strong and even offensive—words like whoredom and promiscuity. But sin is offensive. What Gomer did against Hosea was heartbreaking, and what Israel was doing against God was far worse. Later Hosea writes, “They shall eat, but not be satisfied; they shall play the whore, but not multiply, because they have forsaken the LORD to cherish” (Hosea 4:10, ESV). Again in Hosea 3:1–2 (ESV), the LORD says, “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. So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley.” Hosea’s obedience to marry and even redeem Gomer paints a vivid picture: the seriousness of God’s call and the depth of God’s love.

Israel’s sin wasn’t just adultery—it was repeated, paid-for, spiritual prostitution. “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’” (Hosea 2:5, ESV). Yet in all of this, God uses Hosea’s painful obedience to preach a bigger truth: His grace runs deeper than our rebellion.

Hosea 1:1–2:1 “The word of the Lord that came to Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel. 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.” So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. And the Lord said to him, “Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.” She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the Lord said to him, “Call her name No Mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all. But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God. I will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.” When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son. And the Lord said, “Call his name Not My People, for you are not my people, and I am not your God.” Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “Children of the living God.” And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head. And they shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel. Say to your brothers, “You are my people,” and to your sisters, “You have received mercy.””

Sometimes God Calls His People to a Painful Task Hosea 1:2

God told Hosea to do something no man in his right mind would ever volunteer for—He told him to marry a prostitute. Let’s be honest: who wants to sign up for that job? Who wants to knowingly stand at the altar with a woman who sells herself for money, who you know will not be faithful, who you know will not keep her vows? Yet that’s exactly what God calls His prophet to do.

And think about it—Hosea didn’t get to argue. He didn’t get to say, “Lord, could You call me to something else? Maybe send me to Nineveh like Jonah? I’d rather go preach to savages who might kill me than live with a woman who keeps walking out on me.” But God said, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom” (Hosea 1:2, ESV). Painful, humiliating, heartbreaking obedience—that was Hosea’s assignment.

This was costly obedience. It sounds strange coming from a holy God, the same God who had given Israel such a clear standard for purity. And because of that, people have wrestled with this passage for centuries.

Some have said Hosea’s marriage was only a parable, a story he told to make a spiritual point about Israel’s unfaithfulness. Others have argued it was just a vision, not something that happened in real life. Still others suggest Gomer wasn’t really a wife but more of a concubine. But none of those explanations really solve the problem.

The most straightforward reading is the one the text gives us: God told His prophet to marry a woman who would be unfaithful to him. “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom” (Hosea 1:2, ESV). Maybe Gomer wasn’t yet promiscuous when Hosea married her—we don’t know. But what we do know is that she became unfaithful. She gave herself to other men. Some even suggest she may have been a cult prostitute in the fertility worship of Baal.

Whatever the case, Hosea obeyed. And in doing so, his marriage became a living illustration of God’s broken heart over His people’s unfaithfulness.

Let’s not miss the big point here. God told Hosea to marry a woman who sold herself for money. Maybe it was for a season, maybe it was her whole life, but either way—think about what that meant for Hosea. He was God’s prophet, the man called to deliver God’s Word, and he was married to a prostitute.

Imagine the humiliation. If Hosea lived today, he’d have to walk into a deacons’ meeting and say, “Brothers, I need you to pray for me. I was downtown last night, not for business, but because I was looking for my wife. She’s been working the streets again.” You can bet his preaching invitations would dry up quick. You can almost see the headlines: “The Preacher and the Prostitute,” or “A Man of God and a Woman of the Night.” Ministerially it was humiliating. Personally, it was devastating. Picture Hosea looking at Gomer and saying, “Where were you last night? I love you, but when you do this—and I know you do—it feels like a knife in my chest.”

And yet—God called Hosea to that. “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom” (Hosea 1:2, ESV). Sometimes God calls His people to something hard. Noah knew that call. “Noah, build a massive ark in the middle of dry land, and live blameless in a world where every thought of man’s heart is only evil all the time” (Gen. 6:5). Abraham knew that call. “Abraham, leave your family, leave your country, and follow Me into the unknown.” Sometimes God calls His people to a painful task.

God’s plan for my life has been simple compared to Hosea, Noah, or Abraham. But I can tell you, there have been seasons where God led me to hard places. And I’ll be honest—I didn’t always handle it well. More than once I found myself saying, “Lord, I must have misunderstood You. Surely You didn’t call me here. Surely You wouldn’t do this to someone who just wants to serve You.” But the truth is—sometimes God does call His people to a painful task.

And the same is true today. There are still hard things God asks us to do. There are still hard places God calls us to go. So here’s the question you and I have to wrestle with: if God calls you to do something hard, in a hard place, will you say yes? Will you trust Him enough to walk that road?

God Calls His People to Share His Word

HOSEA 1:1

Right out of the gate, the book of Hosea opens with this line: “The word of the LORD that came to Hosea” (Hosea 1:1, ESV). Don’t miss it—that may be the most important statement in the whole book. What follows isn’t Hosea’s ideas, opinions, or best advice. It’s the Word of the Lord.

And here’s the good news—even in the dark, rebellious days Hosea lived in, God didn’t leave Himself without a witness. He spoke. He gave His Word. And the same is true right now. We’re living in morally and spiritually dark days too, but God hasn’t gone silent. He still speaks through His Word, and He calls His people—you and me, His church—to be His witnesses, to declare His truth in a world that desperately needs to hear it.

“The word of the LORD”—that’s what God’s people are called to share with the world. Now, we’re not prophets in the same way Hosea was, but over and over again in the New Testament, followers of Jesus are commanded to proclaim and to share God’s Word. Not our opinions. Not our spin. God’s Word.

And let’s be real—our culture is drowning in opinions. Social media exists so people can instantly tell the world what they think about anything and everything. But at the end of the day, when everybody’s shouted into the void and argued back and forth, what eternal difference has been made? Has anyone been saved? Has anyone been made holy?

Wouldn’t it be far more helpful if Christians spent less time scrolling through social media and more time saturating their hearts and minds in Scripture? Imagine God’s people so immersed in book after book of the Bible that they can’t encounter an idea in this world without immediately asking, “What does God’s Word say about this?” Only then will we be ready to step into the noise of social media—not with our words, but with God’s.

That’s what this world desperately needs. Not hot takes. Not human philosophies. Not temporary fixes. The world needs the word of the LORD. It came to Hosea, and through the Scriptures it comes to us. Our calling is simple but weighty: don’t give them our commentary—give them His Word.

God Calls All People to a Covenant Relationship Hosea 1:3

God called Hosea to deliver His Word in some of the hardest circumstances imaginable. And if God calls us to something, it’s never random—He always has a good purpose. For Hosea, that purpose was to illustrate through his own marriage that God is calling all people into a covenant relationship with Himself.

A covenant isn’t casual. It’s not a handshake deal. A covenant is built on faithful, steadfast love. Think about it: God made a covenant with Abraham and his descendants in Genesis 12, promising to bless “all the families of the earth” through him (Gen. 12:3). God made a covenant with Moses and Israel at Mount Sinai, calling them to be “a kingdom of priests” (Exod. 19:6)—a whole nation living in covenant with God, showing the world what that relationship looks like. Later, God made a covenant with David, promising that one of his descendants would reign forever.

And then came Jesus. At the Last Supper, He lifted the cup and said, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood” (Luke 22:20). That’s the covenant we celebrate every time we take the Lord’s Supper together. Through Jesus, God calls people from every nation into a covenant relationship with Him—a relationship marked not by our faithfulness, but by His steadfast love.

From Abraham to Moses to David to Jesus, the story has always been the same: God desires a covenant relationship with His people. And His plan has always been global—that all nations would know His love through the covenant He has made and fulfilled in Christ.

God used Hosea’s marriage as a living picture of His covenant relationship with His people. Hosea was the first to receive that revelation, but he wasn’t the last. Later, Jeremiah and Ezekiel would use the very same comparison. Why? Because marriage is one of the clearest and most profound illustrations of our relationship with God.

Marriage is personal—it’s between a man and a woman. In the same way, a covenant with God is personal—it’s between God and an individual. Marriage is a commitment—for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health. A covenant relationship with God carries that same weight. It’s not casual. It’s not convenient. It’s a binding commitment to God Himself, made possible only because of His grace and His salvation.

But here’s the problem: Gomer didn’t see it that way. She distorted marriage into something selfish, something cheap—and in doing so, she mirrored Israel’s distorted view of their covenant with God. Instead of faithful love, she ran after other lovers. Instead of covenant commitment, she chose sin. Hosea 2:5 says it this way:

“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.’” (ESV)

Instead of walking in covenant love with her husband, Gomer chased other men for what she thought they could give her. That was her view of marriage. And that was Israel’s view of God. They traded the faithful love of the covenant for the cheap thrill of idolatry.

God Sends His Judgment against Sin Hosea 1:4–9

Israel had been unfaithful to their covenant with God, just like Gomer was unfaithful to Hosea. They were prostituting themselves to other gods. So how did God respond? He didn’t shrug it off. He didn’t say, “Well, that’s just the way it is.” No—through Hosea, God made it clear that judgment was coming.

In chapter 1, God announced His judgment in a powerful way—through the names of Hosea’s children. In those days, names carried deep meaning, and every name Hosea was told to give his kids was a prophetic warning.

The first child was named Jezreel. That name carried a dark shadow. Jezreel was the site of bloody massacres. God said,

“Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.” (Hosea 1:4, ESV)

Every time Hosea called out his son’s name, it was a reminder that God’s judgment for sin was certain.

The second announcement of judgment is even heavier than the first. It was devastating enough to hear that Jezreel—the place of bloodshed—would be a sign of Israel’s downfall. But this next word? It’s worse. God was announcing that His mercy was being withdrawn.

Israel wasn’t just dabbling in sin; they were entrenched in it. They weren’t seeking forgiveness, and God said, “Enough.” He would no longer bless a people who had hardened their hearts against Him. And when God removed His mercy, it exposed Israel’s covenant unfaithfulness to the nations around them. Everyone knew Yahweh was Israel’s God. So their sin not only broke the covenant, it dragged His name through the mud.

So God said to Hosea, “Name your daughter Lo-ruhama”—No Compassion—“for I will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel.” Can you imagine carrying that name? Every time her name was spoken, it was a reminder: God’s mercy has been lifted.

And then came the third child. “Call his name Lo-ammi,” God said. That means Not My People. Now, that’s a strange name. Picture the scene: you meet Hosea and his boy, and you ask, “What’s your son’s name?” Hosea says, “This is Not-My-People.” You’d probably blink twice and say, “Okay… whose kid is he then?” Hosea would answer, “No, that’s literally his name—Not My People.” And you’d shake his hand and awkwardly say, “Well… nice to meet you, Not-My-People,” all while thinking, These folks need counseling.

But that was the point. These names were meant to shock. To sting. To wake people up to the reality of God’s judgment. Jezreel: judgment is coming. Lo-ruhama: no compassion. Lo-ammi: not My people.

God had a reason for giving Hosea’s third child such a jarring name. “Call his name Lo-ammi, for you are not my people, and I am not your God” (Hosea 1:9, ESV). Every one of Hosea’s children was a sermon, but this one hit the hardest: “You are not My people, and I am not your God.”

Feel the weight of that. Back at the burning bush, when Moses asked who he should say sent him, God declared, “I AM WHO I AM” (Exod. 3:14, ESV). That name was God’s covenant marker—His pledge to be present with His people. But now, through Hosea, God says, “I’m not ‘I AM’ to you anymore. You’ve abandoned Me, so you no longer get to claim My name.”

Lo-ammi became a living, breathing reminder of Israel’s rebellion. Every time someone called his name—“Not My People!”—it was like a dagger to the heart. God was saying, “Your sin has cut you off. You’ve traded covenant blessing for covenant-breaking. You may have Abraham’s blood in your veins, but you don’t have covenant faithfulness in your life.”

And yet—even here—God’s covenant itself wasn’t broken. His promises still stood. But that generation was forfeiting the blessings of His covenant because of their unfaithfulness.

God’s Plan Is Restoration Hosea 1:10–2:1

Verse 9 ends with the crushing words: “You are not my people, and I am not your God.” Then, without warning, verse 10 opens with a totally different tone—God promising blessing and restoration. And if that feels like whiplash, welcome to the book of Hosea. This is how Hosea works: judgment and mercy, wrath and grace, back-to-back with no warning.

So what does God promise in verse 10? Multiplication. “The number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered” (Hosea 1:10, ESV). That should sound familiar. It’s the exact promise God gave Abraham. In Genesis 15:5, God took Abraham outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them… so shall your offspring be.” And in Genesis 22:17 He added, “I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore.” Abraham couldn’t count them all—and that was the point. His descendants would be countless.

Now God is reminding Israel through Hosea of that very promise. Even after all the unfaithfulness, even after all the judgment, God’s plan has always been restoration.

That was the promise God spoke through Hosea at a time when Israel was so deep in sin that He could look at them and say, “You are not my people.” And yet right there in the middle of that judgment comes one of the clearest pictures of God’s grace.

Israel had abandoned God. They had shattered the covenant. They were worshiping idols and rebelling against His Word. By all accounts, they were not God’s people. And God’s judgment was certain—they would lose the blessings of the covenant, and as a nation they would cease to exist. But here’s the thing: God’s covenant with Abraham was—and still is—eternal. Even in those dark days, God had a plan to restore His people.

History proves it. After Judah was conquered and sent into exile, God preserved a remnant. That remnant came back to the land. That remnant clung to Him. That remnant worshiped Him. God’s promises didn’t fail.

And listen to what He says in Hosea 1:10: “And in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ it shall be said to them, ‘Children of the living God.’” The very ones who heard, “You’re not Mine,” would one day hear, “You are My sons and daughters.”

Then in verse 11, God goes even further—He promises that Judah and Israel, the divided kingdoms, will be reunited, and the valley of Jezreel, once a place of bloodshed, will become a place of blessing and fruitfulness.

Even in judgment, God’s plan was always restoration.

In the Messianic Age we live in now, God has created a people for Himself through faith in Jesus Christ. Everyone who puts their trust in the gospel becomes part of God’s people. Paul actually quotes Hosea 1:10 in Romans 9 when he says,

“Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’ And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’” (Rom. 9:25–26, ESV)

Peter echoes the same truth in 1 Peter 2:10: “Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

That’s who we are as the church—the people God has called into a covenant relationship with Himself through Christ. That’s the story of Scripture and the story of history: God calling people to Himself. In Hosea’s day, God kept calling Israel, but they hardened their hearts and went their own way. Their time to repent was running out, and judgment was about to fall.

The rest of Hosea’s prophecy carries that tension—God pleading with His people to repent, promising mercy if they would turn, but also warning of judgment if they refused. And that same choice still stands today. Either we turn to God, believe His Word, and receive His mercy—or we turn away and face His judgment.

And here’s the good news: God pursues sinners with relentless grace. Even when we wander. Even when we’re full of shame and regret. Even when we’ve broken covenant again and again. He keeps coming after us. His love is radical, not because we deserve it, but because His mercy is infinite.

God called Hosea to a painful task. But God called Jesus to an even greater one. On the cross, Jesus bore our sin and God’s wrath in our place. He became the sacrifice to reconcile us to the Father. And three days later He rose, proving He has the power to give life—life abundant and eternal—to all who believe. That’s the gospel.

So let Hosea’s message do its work in us: may we tremble at the reality of judgment, may we be amazed at the depth of God’s grace, and may we run to the One who pursues us before it’s too late. Praise His name!