Intimacy

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I figured with this being Valentine’s week that this would be a good topic to talk about. Some of you are saying awe man any week but this week. I don’t want to hear about Intimacy this week as I am about to face a week with out this and here in church we have to hear about it. God has been stirring this in my heart for some time now and God in his wisdom has led us to this point today.
When we say the word intimacy, most people immediately think sex. Society has conditioned us to think that intimacy means sex. I would argue that intimacy is so much more than just sex and that sex is not necessary to experience intimacy.
I am also passionate about this topic because the world today has conditioned us to have sex without intimacy. Movies and tv shows have dumbed down sex to be just something that you do. If you are out on a date on Friday night it is something that might just take place and happen. It is assumed that teens are having sex and that they just get in to casual relationships and sex is the result.
A few weeks ago, I spoke about a close intimate relationship with our Lord. As I used those words, I thought I bet so many have a corrupt idea of what intimacy truly is. I would guess that many have a distorted view of intimacy because of this idea that intimacy is sex. For many, if you were honest, you would say if that is what intimacy is, then I really don’t want any part of it.
Intimacy: close familiarity or friendship; closeness.
"the intimacy between a husband and wife"
a private cozy atmosphere.
an intimate act, especially sexual intercourse.
closeness of observation or knowledge of a subject.
Those who did not want to hear about this today can take a deep breath because the intimacy we want to focus on is Intimacy with God.
What is Intimacy with God?
The definition that would be closest to what we are striving for today would be close familiarity or knowledge of a subject. To truly know God.
Hosea and Gomer
Hosea 1:2–11 HCSB
2 When the Lord first spoke to Hosea, He said this to him: Go and marry a promiscuous wife and have children of promiscuity, for the land is committing blatant acts of promiscuity by abandoning the Lord. 3 So he went and married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. 4 Then the Lord said to him: Name him Jezreel, for in a little while I will bring the bloodshed of Jezreel on the house of Jehu and put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. 5 On that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel. 6 She conceived again and gave birth to a daughter, and the Lord said to him: Name her No Compassion, for I will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel. I will certainly take them away. 7 But I will have compassion on the house of Judah, and I will deliver them by the Lord their God. I will not deliver them by bow, sword, or war, or by horses and cavalry. 8 After Gomer had weaned No Compassion, she conceived and gave birth to a son. 9 Then the Lord said: Name him Not My People, for you are not My people, and I will not be your God. 10 Yet the number of the Israelites will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or counted. And in the place where they were told: You are not My people, they will be called: Sons of the living God. 11 And the Judeans and the Israelites will be gathered together. They will appoint for themselves a single ruler and go up from the land. For the day of Jezreel will be great.
Hosea 2:1–13 HCSB
1 Call your brothers: My People and your sisters: Compassion. 2 Rebuke your mother; rebuke her. For she is not My wife and I am not her husband. Let her remove the promiscuous look from her face and her adultery from between her breasts. 3 Otherwise, I will strip her naked and expose her as she was on the day of her birth. I will make her like a desert and like a parched land, and I will let her die of thirst. 4 I will have no compassion on her children because they are the children of promiscuity. 5 Yes, their mother is promiscuous; she conceived them and acted shamefully. For she thought, “I will go after my lovers, the men who give me my food and water, my wool and flax, my oil and drink.” 6 Therefore, this is what I will do: I will block her way with thorns; I will enclose her with a wall, so that she cannot find her paths. 7 She will pursue her lovers but not catch them; she will seek them but not find them. Then she will think, “I will go back to my former husband, for then it was better for me than now.” 8 She does not recognize that it is I who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil. I lavished silver and gold on her, which they used for Baal. 9 Therefore, I will take back My grain in its time and My new wine in its season; I will take away My wool and linen, which were to cover her nakedness. 10 Now I will expose her shame in the sight of her lovers, and no one will rescue her from My hands. 11 I will put an end to all her celebrations: her feasts, New Moons, and Sabbaths— all her festivals. 12 I will devastate her vines and fig trees. She thinks that these are her wages that her lovers have given her. I will turn them into a thicket, and the wild animals will eat them. 13 And I will punish her for the days of the Baals when she burned incense to them, put on her rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers, but forgot Me. This is the Lord’s declaration.
This love story of God pursuing Israel and Israel constantly running after other Gods.
God delivers Israel from slavery but they constantly complain to God and desire to go back to slavery.
Hosea 2:14–23 HCSB
14 Therefore, I am going to persuade her, lead her to the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. 15 There I will give her vineyards back to her and make the Valley of Achor into a gateway of hope. There she will respond as she did in the days of her youth, as in the day she came out of the land of Egypt. 16 In that day— this is the Lord’s declaration— you will call Me, “My husband,” and no longer call Me, “My Baal.” 17 For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth; they will no longer be remembered by their names. 18 On that day I will make a covenant for them with the wild animals, the birds of the sky, and the creatures that crawl on the ground. I will shatter bow, sword, and weapons of war in the land and will enable the people to rest securely. 19 I will take you to be My wife forever. I will take you to be My wife in righteousness, justice, love, and compassion. 20 I will take you to be My wife in faithfulness, and you will know Yahweh. 21 On that day I will respond — this is the Lord’s declaration. I will respond to the sky, and it will respond to the earth. 22 The earth will respond to the grain, the new wine, and the oil, and they will respond to Jezreel. 23 I will sow her in the land for Myself, and I will have compassion on No Compassion; I will say to Not My People: You are My people, and he will say, “You are My God.”

“Righteousness” (ṣeḏeq̱) and “justice” (mišpāṭ) refer here to the maintenance of Israel’s just cause, which includes vindication through deliverance. “Love” (ḥeseḏ) is an unanswerving devotion which fulfills the responsibilities arising from a relationship. “Compassion” (raḥămîm, related to rāḥam, used in 1:6–7; 2:1, 4) is tender feeling which motivates one to gracious action. “Faithfulness” (’ěmûnâh) implies dependability and constant loyalty

v. 20 You will know Yahweh
This is intimacy to know God. To know His righteousness, justice, love and compassion
Hosea 3 HCSB
1 Then the Lord said to me, “Go again; show love to a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, just as the Lord loves the Israelites though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes.” 2 So I bought her for 15 shekels of silver and five bushels of barley. 3 I said to her, “You must live with me many days. Don’t be promiscuous or belong to any man, and I will act the same way toward you.” 4 For the Israelites must live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without ephod or household idols. 5 Afterward, the people of Israel will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They will come with awe to the Lord and to His goodness in the last days.
Hosea 4:1–4 HCSB
1 Hear the word of the Lord, people of Israel, for the Lord has a case against the inhabitants of the land: There is no truth, no faithful love, and no knowledge of God in the land! 2 Cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and adultery are rampant; one act of bloodshed follows another. 3 For this reason the land mourns, and everyone who lives in it languishes, along with the wild animals and the birds of the sky; even the fish of the sea disappear. 4 But let no one dispute; let no one argue, for My case is against you priests.

Intimacy takes work

We live in a day where we want intimacy without putting work in to get it. The lies I mentioned earlier have brought us to believe that sex equals intimacy and if we just go have sex then we can experience intimacy. The tv shows and movies tell us a lie that intimacy does not take work. We were designed for a relationship with God.
If We could probably design an app for our phones that would promise to have a relationship with God and not take work. It would probably be a highly downloaded app among church goers. Today we want to be on fire for God but we don’t want to take the time. We want to pray passionately but we don’t want to stop to pray. We want Jesus to remove all our anxieties quickly but we don’t want to take time to build trust in Him.
To know God takes work
Hosea 6:1–6 HCSB
1 Come, let us return to the Lord. For He has torn us, and He will heal us; He has wounded us, and He will bind up our wounds. 2 He will revive us after two days, and on the third day He will raise us up so we can live in His presence. 3 Let us strive to know the Lord. His appearance is as sure as the dawn. He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that water the land. 4 What am I going to do with you, Ephraim? What am I going to do with you, Judah? Your loyalty is like the morning mist and like the early dew that vanishes. 5 This is why I have used the prophets to cut them down; I have killed them with the words of My mouth. My judgment strikes like lightning. 6 For I desire loyalty and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
Intimacy takes work. It takes us spending time with Him. It takes us getting to know God.
Hosea 11:1–11 HCSB
1 When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son. 2 The more they called them, the more they departed from Me. They kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning offerings to idols. 3 It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them in My arms, but they never knew that I healed them. 4 I led them with human cords, with ropes of love. To them I was like one who eases the yoke from their jaws; I bent down to give them food. 5 Israel will not return to the land of Egypt and Assyria will be his king, because they refused to repent. 6 A sword will whirl through his cities; it will destroy and devour the bars of his gates, because of their schemes. 7 My people are bent on turning from Me. Though they call to Him on high, He will not exalt them at all. 8 How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I surrender you, Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? I have had a change of heart; My compassion is stirred! 9 I will not vent the full fury of My anger; I will not turn back to destroy Ephraim. For I am God and not man, the Holy One among you; I will not come in rage. 10 They will follow the Lord; He will roar like a lion. When He roars, His children will come trembling from the west. 11 They will be roused like birds from Egypt and like doves from the land of Assyria. Then I will settle them in their homes. This is the Lord’s declaration.
Hosea 14 HCSB
1 Israel, return to Yahweh your God, for you have stumbled in your sin. 2 Take words of repentance with you and return to the Lord. Say to Him: “Forgive all our sin and accept what is good, so that we may repay You with praise from our lips. 3 Assyria will not save us, we will not ride on horses, and we will no longer proclaim, ‘Our gods!’ to the work of our hands. For the fatherless receives compassion in You.” 4 I will heal their apostasy; I will freely love them, for My anger will have turned from him. 5 I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like the lily and take root like the cedars of Lebanon. 6 His new branches will spread, and his splendor will be like the olive tree, his fragrance, like the forest of Lebanon. 7 The people will return and live beneath his shade. They will grow grain and blossom like the vine. His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon. 8 Ephraim, why should I have anything more to do with idols? It is I who answer and watch over him. I am like a flourishing pine tree; your fruit comes from Me. 9 Let whoever is wise understand these things, and whoever is insightful recognize them. For the ways of the Lord are right, and the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.
John 14:21 HCSB
21 The one who has My commands and keeps them is the one who loves Me. And the one who loves Me will be loved by My Father. I also will love him and will reveal Myself to him.”
John 15:4 HCSB
4 Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me.
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