God's Unfailing Love

There is no love as persistent as the love of God. Even though Israel continued to rebel against God’s love, God still pursued ways of bringing His people back to Him. In the past few weeks, we’ve heard some stern words from Hosea by means of the Holy Spirit to God’s people, demanding that they return to God.

Now, we clearly see in the last four chapters of Hosea, the theme seems to focus on one thing; the love of God. Remember how the Lord started out Hosea’s ministry by bringing tragedy into his own home. Hosea was living out a personal object lesson for the nation of Israel. As a result, Hosea experienced wounded love and was able to more fully understand the deep, unfailing love of God, as he was able, and more than willing, to take back his wayward wife, Gomer.

We need to strive to show God-like love.

God Explains His Past Actions of Love. - 1-4

Hosea 11:1–4 NASB95

When Israel was a youth I loved him, And out of Egypt I called My son. The more they called them, The more they went from them; They kept sacrificing to the Baals And burning incense to idols. Yet it is I who taught Ephraim to walk, I took them in My arms; But they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of a man, with bonds of love, And I became to them as one who lifts the yoke from their jaws; And I bent down and fed them.

In the past, Israel had basically reciprocated God’s love with ungratefulness. When God showered them with His love in so many ways, Israel returned that love with ungratefulness and complete disdain. In these verses, God shares how His great love is what called Israel out of Egypt.

The word for called speaks of a relationship; an adoption. God had redeemed Israel out of Egypt. Yet, the people had ignored God’s prophets, choosing rather to sacrifice to Baal and burn incense and provide offerings to idols.

Lest we look down our noses at Israel, we should do a bit of reflection. How often do we ourselves ignore God? How many times do we ask for God’s great help in our weak moments? Then, when God has strengthened, rescued, and blessed us, we choose to ignore and neglect Him?

The famous pianist and composer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart shared this quote. Look at it with me. In verse 3, Hosea shows how tenderly and compassionately the Lord was as He taught and cared for Israel. You can practically picture a father helping his toddler to walk and keep moving forward. Even when the child falls, the father lifts him up, brushes him off, then keeps working on guiding those little footsteps. This is the picture of our Lord with Israel. Still, they were ungrateful. Moses makes a similar statement in Deuteronomy when he shares how Israel was carried through the wilderness as a father carries his son. The heavenly Father had gently led Israel, yet Israel rebelled.

We see this even more in verse 4. Hosea was showing quite a clear picture of the ox when it is working and feeding. Instead of using a tough, heavy rope normally used on large animals, it was a gentle hand and a band used with children to keep them from wandering off on their own. The farmer is then kind enough to adjust the yoke away from the animal so that he can feed after a long hard day of working. That is descriptive of our Lord’s loving-kindness shown to Israel. Still, they chose to ignore God.

God Experiences Their Present Attitude of Rebellion. - 5-7

Hosea 11:5–7 NASB95

They will not return to the land of Egypt; But Assyria—he will be their king Because they refused to return to Me. The sword will whirl against their cities, And will demolish their gate bars And consume them because of their counsels. So My people are bent on turning from Me. Though they call them to the One on high, None at all exalts Him.

Since Israel was so ungrateful, they were going to receive and were receiving punishment. Though they had received such fatherly care in the past, they could no longer count on this type of care at this time because of their ungratefulness.

It might be labeled today using the phrase coined by Dr. James Dobson as tough love. Since Israel had been rescued from Egypt and had rebelled against the love of the One Who had rescued her, she was going to go again into captivity. By rejecting her divine King, she had chosen a cruel tyrant, the king of Assyria.

Now we would figure that with this type of prophecy, the people would repent and turn away from their sin. However, that is not what happened. Verse 7 shows that the people were bent on turning away from God. The frustration that the Lord experiences is summed up in the word bent. It means impaled, addicted to, or hung. It seemed that the nation was addicted to sin and nobody was willing to exalt the Lord.

Warren Wiersbe has stated that sin is not only the breaking of God’s law; it is the breaking of God’s heart. We will see this in the next section.

God Expresses His Future Ambition of Restoration. - 8-11

Hosea 11:8–11 NASB95

How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I surrender you, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart is turned over within Me, All My compassions are kindled. I will not execute My fierce anger; I will not destroy Ephraim again. For I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst, And I will not come in wrath. They will walk after the Lord, He will roar like a lion; Indeed He will roar And His sons will come trembling from the west. They will come trembling like birds from Egypt And like doves from the land of Assyria; And I will settle them in their houses, declares the Lord.

Here we find such a wonderful message of hope. The compassion and love of the Father will bring restoration. These few verses actually seem to carry the main message of the entire book of Hosea—the expression of God’s undeserved love toward His covenant people. God’s holiness and justice has shown that this nation basically deserved total destruction. This is seen in the mention of 2 cities , Admah and Zeboiim, that were also destroyed alongside Sodom and Gomorrah. However, the very thought of destroying His covenant people causes the Father to comment, How can I give you up, Ephraim? The Bible shows God’s heart filled with such a great love that He saw something in some of His people that you and I would not be able to see. We see here the unfailing, undying love of the Father that forbids Him from giving up or surrendering the people He has loved and trained.

Ian Maclaren once stated that God is the chief sufferer in the universe. I believe we can see this throughout the Bible when God’s people rebel and He works to bring them back. God is not really so much in agony because Israel or we are wronging Him; rather because we and Israel wrong ourselves. No parent enjoys seeing their child live in such a way that they are causing harm to themselves.

God presents a solution which we too can rejoice in. He states that He will not execute His fierce anger . . . God shows that His covenant love will surpass the legal rules of the law, which would have demanded that He have His rebellious child stoned to death (cf. Deuteronomy 21:18-21). Here is a wonderful picture of judgment being executed with mercy. There will be punishment, but not total annihilation.

What is the reason for making this decision? He is God and not man.

Isaiah 63:9 says, In all their affliction He was afflicted. This is the same God, Who, because of His unfailing love, would send His only Son to stand in the place of sinners. You see, God can remain holy and still be compassionate and loving because He is God, and not man.

Hosea continues writing that Israel will walk after the Lord. The use of the word lion which is used right after this phrase, is used here to show the Lord’s strength in leading and defending His people.

Conclusion

Was there anything within Israel that caused God to want to restore them? Was there anything to cause Him to continue to love them? I simply cannot see it.

Is there anything within any of us that would cause God to want to give us another chance? I can’t see that, either. That is the amazing thing about God’s unfailing love. Because of Who God is, He sees me with promise, possibility and potential. This is in spite of whatever it is that I may have done. It is in spite of my backsliding. It is even in spite of my disobedience. It is in spite of the fact that I may have rebelled against His very love. Our Lord says, in essence, I cannot give you up; I will not give you up.

I believe there is one more truth that we can learn from seeing God’s unfailing love. We know from God’s Word that we are told to be holy as God is holy. We are to strive to live our lives in the example of Jesus Christ.

Yet, as I continue to be amazed at the unfailing love of God, I ask myself, Do I have that kind of love? I want to be God’s man that will share that same type of persistent, unconditional, unfailing love.

Let me share a quote from D.L. Moody: I took up that word love, and I do not know how many weeks I spent in studying the passages in which it occurs, till at last I could not help loving people. I had been feeding on love so long that I was anxious to do everybody good I came in contact with. I got full of it. It ran out my fingers. You take up the subject of love in the Bible! You will get so full of it that all you have to do is to open your lips, and a flood of the love of God flows out.

We need to strive to show God-like love.