Journey Through the Prophets

Hosea 3:1–5

We have been going through the seven major sections of the Bible.

We started with the Pentateuch

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

We went to the History Books:Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther.

We then Looked at the Wisdom Books:Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon.

Today we look at the Prophets.

These are typically divided into two sections, The Major Prophets and the Minor Prophets.

This is not because some are more important than others…it just deals with the size of the book.

The Books of the Prophets are:

Major Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel)

Minor Prophets (Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi).

The Prophets had the job of delivering a lot of bad news.

But most of us can handle bad news better than we can handle being ignored.

A warning or a correction from someone may sting, but silence feels like you’ve been written off.

There came a time in Israel’s history that God was silent.

But before that time came he spent hundreds of years warning them what would happen if they didn’t repent.

God sends prophets.

God gave them the truth.

God confronted sin.

God called His people to Himself, to repentance.

Hosea pictures this process beautifully.

It is one of the clearest, most heart-grabbing places to see that.

Hosea is a book where God uses a man’s life as a living illustration.

God called a man named Hosea to marry a woman named Gomer.

Gomer was unfaithful and ran after other lovers.

She became a prostitute in their home village.

God wanted to use this situation as a picture of Israel and their unfaithfulness to God.

Hosea’s home life became painful, confusing, and socially embarrassing.

But then God told Hosea to do something, that seems unbelievable, He wanted him to go get her and bring her back.

Hosea did not do that because Gomer deserved it.

Hosea did it because God wanted Israel to feel what Israel had done to the Lord.

But he also wanted to show Israel that God would bring them home.

Israel had been unfaithful to God by chasing idols.

They were trusting others to be their saviors when they got into trouble.

They were giving their love to the things that could not satisfy.

So God used Hosea to preach with more than words.

God used him to show what His love looks like even when His people stray.

This is the story we see in Hosea 3:1–5.

God uses the message of the Prophets to grab the attention of His people, confront sin, and call them to repentance and restoration.

So let’s start by trying to…

I. Understand Why God Sends Prophets

God’s people do not drift into holiness.

God knows we need warnings, calls back, and reminders of both His goodness and His chastisement.

So God raises voices that do more than inform.

But to really understand the purpose of the prophets, we need to first…

A. Remember The Season

Remember the season of time the prophets spoke.

The prophets speak during days of spiritual compromise, They were mixing their worship with the world, and they had hardened their hearts.

They speak when people still use God’s name (We are God’s chosen people—I am a Christian) but they refuse God’s ways.

2 Kings 17:13 says the LORD testified against Israel and Judah

2 Kings 17:13 KJV

13 Yet the Lord testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.

God will send warnings into our lives…

A Sermon

A passage

A troubled spirit

unrest in the home

unrest at work

When God warns you, He is not trying to ruin you.

He is trying to rescue you before sin costs you more than you ever planned to pay.

If you can see the season, If you can see where you are, you can understand the urgency.

B. Recognize The Assignment

When someone comes into our lives to warn us we need to recognize their assignment…their role as this prophet.

A prophet is a messenger who delivers God’s Word to God’s people.

In the Old Testament, prophets sometimes spoke about future events, but their main work was right-now truth.

They exposed sin.

They called for repentance.

They pointed people back to covenant faithfulness.

In Jeremiah 1:7 God told Jeremiah…

Jeremiah 1:7 KJV

7 But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.

Their job was to say what God laid on their hearts to say.

God’s Word is not adjustable to our preferences.

The safest life you can have is a life of submission, not a position of negotiation.

Our job is to listen and obey, not hear and argue or negotiate.

And this leads to an important clarification for our day.

C. Receive The Principle For Today

God still gives men a kind of prophetic ministry in the sense of proclaiming God’s Word with piercing clarity.

This is not new revelation - I am going to tell you what is going to happen

That is not predicting the future - You will meet a man today that will change your life

That is not adding to Scripture - The Bible says this and this means to you…and proceed to take verses out of context.

No the Bible is complete.

We have the full revelation of God in our hands.

Revelation 22:18–19 warns against adding to the words of God’s revelation.

Revelation 22:18–19 KJV

18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

2 Timothy 3:16–17 says Scripture fully furnishes the man of God for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:16–17 KJV

16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

It is the Word of God that will do the work…not a new piece of information.

So we are not looking for fresh revelation.

We are listening for a faithful proclamation.

1 Corinthians 14:3 describes prophecy as…

1 Corinthians 14:3 KJV

3 But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.

When a preacher or a teacher opens the Bible and the Spirit presses your heart, God is not giving you a new Bible.

God is bringing the Bible you already have to bear on the life you are living right now.

Sometimes it is a blaring — in your face confrontation and interruption to the way we are living our lives.

A smoke alarm is loud on purpose.

It is not trying to irritate you.

It is trying to save you before the fire spreads.

When God’s Word alarms you, don’t silence it… Find what is burning and deal with it.

And once we understand why God sends prophets, we are ready to feel the picture God chose in Hosea.

II. Feel The Picture God Uses In Hosea

God could have written Israel a lecture.

He could have just sent preacher’s and proclaimers like He did in the past.

But God chose to give Israel a living portrait.

When something like this happens in your life…

A. Hear The Hard Command

Hosea 3:1 begins with,

1 Then said the Lord unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress…

God tells Hosea to choose to love her again after the betrayal.

God is showing that love is not a reaction.

Godly love is be an obedient choice.

Matthew 5:44 says,

Matthew 5:44 KJV

44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

There are times in some marriages that it feels like choosing to obey this verse.

If your love only lasts while you feel appreciated, it will not last long.

God can call you to do right even when your emotions are lagging behind your obedience.

In other words sometimes we have to obey before we feel it.

That hard command is not random.

It is aimed at a message.

B. See The Clear Comparison

Pay attention to why God is telling Hosea this.

Understand in this culture and under this dispensation, God had made a way for divorce for just this cause.

But God had a purpose for this ask…

Hosea 3:1 says this is “according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel.”.

Gomer’s unfaithfulness is going to be a picture of Israel’s spiritual adultery.

Israel “look[s] to other gods.”.

They trusted idols for their security.

They chased sin for their satisfaction.

They treated the Lord like He was a backup plan.

Idolatry is not just bowing to a statue.

Idolatry is trusting anything more than God, loving anything above God, or obeying anything instead of God.

And God is not only exposing the sin of idolatry in their hearts.

God is revealing His heart to them.

C. Watch The Costly Rescue

Church, don’t miss what Hosea had to do.

Hosea 3:2 says, “So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley.”.

That means bringing Gomer home was not just emotional.

It was costly.

monetarily

socially

emotionally

Sin always leaves a bill behind, and somebody ends up paying it.

And God is letting us feel that weight, because Israel’s unfaithfulness cost more than they ever admitted.

But it also shows us something beautiful.

Love that restores does not pretend sin is cheap, but it is willing to pay a price to bring someone back.

That is the picture God wants Israel to see.

Sin always costs.

Unfaithfulness always wounds.

And yet Hosea’s love keeps moving toward restoration.

Romans 6:23 reminds us of the cost of sin,

Romans 6:23 KJV

23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Sin is never harmless.

If you flirt with it, it will take more than you meant to give.

This is also a faint shadow of the gospel.

We were not bought with silver and barley.

We were bought with blood.

1 Peter 1:18–19 KJV

18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

The cross tells you two things at the same time.

Your sin is serious.

God’s love is stronger.

And now that God has grabbed our hearts with the picture, He presses us toward a response.

III. Hear The Call To Repentance And Restoration

Hosea is not only a story about pain.

Hosea is a call to come home.

A. Understand Real Repentance

Hosea 3:3 speaks of a sober change

3 And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man: so will I also be for thee.

It is the idea of turning from unfaithfulness and learning faithfulness again.

Proverbs 28:13 says,

Proverbs 28:13 KJV

13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: But whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.

Confession without change of mind is not repentance.

Yes we may falter again, but true repentance shows in our lives in some way!

Ask God for a changed heart, not just a tender summer camp moment.

But the picture God gave us in Hosea’s life also teaches us that some restoration takes time.

So we are going to need to…

B. Accept The Healing Process

Hosea 3:3 points to a season, “Thou shalt abide for me many days…”

Israels return will be after many days…

4 For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim:

God sometimes restores quickly.

God sometimes restores slowly.

But remember God’s promise in our theme verse for 2026…

Isaiah 40:31 says,

Isaiah 40:31 KJV

31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings as eagles; They shall run, and not be weary; And they shall walk, and not faint.

Waiting on God is not wasted time.

Stay faithful in the slow work of rebuilding faith teh work of rebuilding habits.

If you have ever rebuilt something that mattered, you know you do not fix it with one emotional speech.

You fix it with steady steps.

You show up.

You tell the truth.

You keep your word.

You replace old patterns with new ones.

That is often what repentance looks like in real life.

And God does not restore just to make life comfortable.

God restores for worship.

C. Remember The Goal Of Restoration

Hosea 3:5 says,

5 Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God…

God’s goal in restoration is not merely to stop the consequences.

God’s goal is to restore fear of the Lord and love for the Lord.

Joel 2:13 gives a great picture of repentance, not an outward show…but a heart change…

Joel 2:13 KJV

13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, And turn unto the Lord your God: For he is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness, And repenteth him of the evil.

God is not impressed by religious performance.

God is after a sincere heart that truly wants Him.

And if that is God’s call, then the final question is how do we respond to that call personally.

IV. Respond Like God’s People Should Respond

The prophets are meant to produce more than thoughts and pondering…

They are meant to produce a turning.

So what steps can we take to turn back to God?

A. Soften Your Heart

Psalm 95:7–8 says,

Psalm 95:7–8 KJV

7 For he is our God; And we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice, 8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, And as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:

“as in the provocation” is from a Hebrews word used to speak of the place near Rephidim where there was no drinking water for Israel.

The people began to verbally attack Moses, and he struck a rock, at the Lord’s command, to bring forth water (Ex. 17:7).

He is telling Israel don’t harden your heart like you did at the rock!

Change Now!!!

Delayed obedience is one of the quickest ways to grow dull.

Respond while God is speaking.

B. Turn From Rival Loves

Israel’s adultery was running to other gods for what only God can give.

Colossians 3:5 calls covetousness “idolatry.”.

Colossians 3:5 KJV

5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:

God does not want to compete for your love.

Hosea didn’t want to compete for Gomer’s love…

no marriage would…

So why are we living in that same adulterous lifestyle spiritually with our betrothed?

We as the Church of God are the Bride of Christ…do not go to other loves.

Whatever competes with God for your trust will eventually compete with God for your obedience

So name the rival.

Confess it.

Cut off the supply line.

C. Take A Specific Step Home

James 4:8 says,

James 4:8 KJV

8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

Drawing near is not vague.

Drawing near is repentance, prayer, it is obedience.

If you need to return, decide what you will stop doing.

Decide what you will start doing.

Decide who will help you stay accountable.

Charles Spurgeon said, “Discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong, but the difference between right and almost right.”.

A lot of spiritual ruin begins with “almost right,” so ask God for a tender conscience and a steady walk.

Conclusion

Hosea shows us a God who pursues.

Hosea shows us a God who speaks.

Hosea shows us a God who restores.

Some of us need to admit we have been drifting.

Some of us need to confess that we have been loyal in appearance but not in heart.

Some of us need to stop managing sin and start turning from it.

And some of us need to come to the Lord for the first time.

Romans 5:8 says,

Romans 5:8 KJV

8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

If Christ loved you at your worst, you can come to Him today without pretending.

So here is the decision.

Will you harden, or will you humble.

Will you drift, or will you draw near.

Will you keep excusing what God is confronting, or will you come home.

And if you will come home, make a specific decision…right now… before you leave.

Name what you must turn from.

Name what you must rebuild.

Name the obedience you have been delaying.

And trust the Lord for strength for the journey, because those who wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength.