Hosea
Notes
Transcript
If you have your Bible this morning… and I hope that you do, turn with me to the book of Hosea. We’re going to continue our series through the Minor Prophets after taking a week break last week. Did y’all enjoy Bro Gene Proffer last week? Holy cow. 94 years old and the man is still fiery! Of course… I was telling Bro Garry… imagine him 40 years ago. That’s the preaching I grew up under. But what an honor it was to have him in our pulpit… but today… it’s back to hearing me… and back to the Minor Prophets… specifically Hosea this morning.
Hopefully you were able to read through Hosea this week. Although Hosea is a Minor Prophet… which basically means the book is smaller… has nothing to do with importance… there’s just so much to cover… so we’ll be pretty selective in what verses we read this morning… so hopefully, you got a chance to read it this week… which should help fill in the gaps that we won’t cover.
We don’t really know much about Hosea personally. We learn some generalities about his family… we know when he gave his prophecy… but really, all we know about Hosea personally is found in the 1stverse of Hosea… look at it with me.
The word of the Lord that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the reign of Jeroboam son of Jehoash king of Israel:
That’s it. We know that his name is Hosea and he was the son of Beeri. Praise the Lord… that’ll preach! Right?! But, actually, names meant A LOT as we think about the Old Testament. Names meant something back then… and Hosea’s name, right off the bat, actually gives us a clue as to what his prophetic word is about.
Hosea is a variation of the name Joshua. Joshua… Hosea… they’re forms of the same name… and that name means… to save… to deliver… to redeem. And so, right away, the name Hosea clues us in that this is a narrative of redemption.
So… Verse 1…
The word of the Lord that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the reign of Jeroboam son of Jehoash king of Israel:
So when we look at the names of those kings, we see the division of the northern and the southern kingdom… the northern kingdom called Israel, and the southern kingdom called Judah. Basically, this tells us that the book of Hosea covers about a 40 year span… around the years 755 to 715 BC. So let’s catch up to speed of the historical background real quickly.
There’s David, perhaps the most famous king of Israel… and then his son, Solomon, succeeded David as king Israel… but after Solomon, Israel split into a northern kingdom and a southern kingdom. The northern kingdom took the name Israel and had Samaria as it’s capital city… and the southern kingdom, known as Judah, which had the capital city of Jerusalem. Judah is where Jesus’ lineage was… and honestly, Judah gets most of the attention from the prophets. In fact, Hosea is one of the few that is actually written to the northern kingdom.
So Hosea is active in ministry during the reign of Jeroboam the 2nd… to the northern kingdom of Israel. The northern kingdom of Israel, really, is most often associated with King Ahab and his wicked queen of a wife, Jezebel. If you remember that story… King Ahab saw a picturesque piece of property… and he became jealous. So Jezebel had the owner of this property, this vineyard killed to give it to her husband. That beautiful land became known as the Jezreel Valley.
It’s in this land… the land of Jezreel… that Hosea is ministering. Now stay with me… I know I’m sharing a lot of details, but this is going to become very important to us in just a moment. Hosea is ministering in Jezreel… but through kings such as Ahab, and the succeeding kings… Jezreel had become overrun with idolatry and worship to false gods. False prophets were running rampant… immorality was rampant. All of this was happening among the people that God had entered into covenant with… the people that God called his own.
So this is the situation that Hosea finds himself in when the word of the Lord comes to him in the days of Jeroboam the 2nd. So let’s read and see the story of Hosea. I think you’ll see pretty quickly how the narrative of Hosea’s life is symbolism. Let’s begin in verse 2…
When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.”
Alright… I gotta stop. Like… already… we know there’s a problem here. Right? Go marry a promiscuous woman? Holy cow! But we’ve got to know something here… a lot gets lost in translation here with this word promiscuous. God’s NOT telling Hosea to go marry a prostitute… he’s not telling Hosea to go marry a woman that is just sleeping around with every guy she can find. What God is saying is… this woman that you marry… will BECOME promiscuous after you marry her. She WILL BECOME unfaithful to you AFTER you marry her. Understand? Let’s keep reading…
So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
Verse 4 here is where knowing some of that background that we covered is going to come in really handy. Verse 4…
Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. In that day I will break Israel’s bow in the Valley of Jezreel.”
Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call her Lo-Ruhamah (which means “not loved”), for I will no longer show love to Israel, that I should at all forgive them. Yet I will show love to Judah; and I will save them—not by bow, sword or battle, or by horses and horsemen, but I, the Lord their God, will save them.”
After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, Gomer had another son. Then the Lord said, “Call him Lo-Ammi (which means “not my people”), for you are not my people, and I am not your God.
So the word of the Lord comes to Hosea and tells him… I want you to marry this woman named Gomer… but he’s told that she’s going to become unfaithful to him… and then… we learn about 3 children that are born to Hosea and Gomer. Jezreel… which is symbolic of this land of false prophets and idolatry that they’re living in. Lo-Ruhamah… which means not loved… or no mercy. Which is symbolic of God removing his loving mercy from this northern kingdom. And then Lo-Ammi… which means not my people… which is symbolic of God saying… you’ve broken covenant with me. You are living as though you were not my people… you have removed yourself from our covenant. You’re no longer to be called my people.
In chapter 2… we see that exactly what God said would happen… happens. Gomer becomes unfaithful to Hosea… REALLY unfaithful. And take a guess how Hosea responds… he responds basically the same way any of us would if our spouses were unfaithful. He’s ticked! Verse 2…
“Rebuke your mother, rebuke her,
for she is not my wife,
and I am not her husband.
Let her remove the adulterous look from her face
and the unfaithfulness from between her breasts.
Therefore I will block her path with thornbushes;
I will wall her in so that she cannot find her way.
So now I will expose her lewdness
before the eyes of her lovers;
no one will take her out of my hands.
I will ruin her vines and her fig trees,
which she said were her pay from her lovers;
I will make them a thicket,
and wild animals will devour them.
I will punish her for the days
she burned incense to the Baals;
she decked herself with rings and jewelry,
and went after her lovers,
but me she forgot,”
declares the Lord.
Those are strong feelings… those are strong emotions… those are strong statements that are being made. But did you catch something at the end of verse 13? I said earlier that Hosea’s life was symbolism. Don’t misunderstand me… all of this really happened… there really was a prophet named Hosea… he really did Marry Gomer… they really did have these 3 children… and she really was unfaithful to him. But, the narrative of his life is symbolism. Hosea’s prophetic word flowed out of the life of his family.
If you caught it… chapter 2, verse 13… there are 3 little words that are so meaningful… I didn’t read them earlier… but I want to make sure and point them out now.
I will punish her for the days
she burned incense to the Baals;
she decked herself with rings and jewelry,
and went after her lovers,
but me she forgot,”
declares the Lord.
Declares the Lord. You see… this really happened to Hosea… and that’s how his prophetic message was given… through his family life. All of this is symbolic of God’s relationship with this northern kingdom of Israel. This is God saying… You were supposed to be my bride. You were supposed to be my people. But you have been unfaithful. You have taken the covenant that I made with you and you’ve committed adultery against me. And because you have removed yourself from my covenant… I will rebuke you… I will expose you… I will block your path… I will take away how I’ve blessed you… I will bring about punishment.
Let’s make something perfectly clear. GOD HATES SIN. I know there is a movement out there that tries to normalize sin like it’s really no big deal. Oh God understands. Everybody makes mistakes. We all have some kind of sin. LISTEN… There is no normalizing sin. God hates it! Psalm 5:4 tells us that God takes no pleasure in wickedness. Isaiah 1 says that sin is like putrefying sores and a scarlet stain. Jesus describes sin in Matthew 6 as a debt that we owe to God… and Paul tells us that sin is defiling filth in our lives.
Isaiah 59 tells us the result of being sinners… (Isaiah 59:2)… That sin brings about a relational separation between us and God… That God cannot be in fellowship with sin. Micah 3 tells us that God will not answer those who live in sin… and James 1 tells us that sin leads to death… and as Revelation 20 tells us… eternal separation from God.
Are you getting the picture? God absolutely hates sin… and so sin is a big deal. And since Hosea’s family life is symbolic of his prophetic word… We learn through his life how God will deal with those who live in sin. I will rebuke you… I will expose you… I will block your path… I will take away how I’ve blessed you… I will bring about punishment. What were Hosea’s kid’s names? No lovingkindness or No mercy… and… Not My People.
Well folks… We have a major problem then… because Romans chapter 3 tells us that ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Are you included in ALL? You betcha. Well yea… but Pastor Joshua… if ALL have sinned, that would mean that God would have to punish ALL. Surely God’s not going to punish everyone! Actually… that is exactly the truth.
Well this is a bummer of a sermon… isn’t it?! We’re going to move on to chapter 3… but before we do… I hope you’ve got the picture thus far. Sin is a big deal. God hates sin. Sin will destroy your life… it will destroy you. I don’t care how well you’ve hidden your sin from everyone else… Numbers 32 tells each and every single one of us that sin will catch up to us sooner or later. Before we get to chapter 3… You’ve got to know how big of a deal sin is.
Actually… just to drive this point home a little further… how many of you have lost someone that you love? Someone you love has passed away. As you were standing next to their casket… did you hate death? Did you hate the fact that death took away someone that you loved so dearly? Of course you did.
Listen… What did James 1 tell us earlier? What brings about death? Sin! Now I’m not saying that your loved one died because they got drunk once. What I’m saying is that death is a result of sin being in the world. There was no death before Adam & Eve sinned. Sin leads to death. We are supposed to hate death because death teaches us that sin is a really big deal.
Now to chapter 3. I know I’ve just spent the last 10 minutes really bumming you out… but stick with me. Let’s read chapter 3 together.
The Lord said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.”
So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley. Then I told her, “You are to live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will behave the same way toward you.”
It doesn’t come out and say it explicitly, but in the details, we see that Gomer, Hosea’s wife… who has been unfaithful… through her unfaithfulness has found herself under some sort of debt-slavery with another man. This new man that she is living with, for all intents and purposes, owns her.
God comes to Hosea and says… Go and love your wife the way God loves the Israelites. So what does Hosea do? He goes to the man that his wife is a debt slave to… the man that she is living with… the man that she is sharing a bed with… and he pays for her freedom. The law stated that if you cause someone to lose a debt-slave, this is the amount of money that you owe them. Hosea goes to that man and gives him the money… effectively purchasing his wife.
That purchase… that transaction that took place… is called redemption. Hosea redeemed his wife from the life she was living in. Hosea became his wife’s redeemer. Do you see the prophetic word here? Let’s go back to chapter 1… let me show you.
Hosea 1… They have 3 children… Jezreel… symbolic of the judgment that is coming because of the people’s sin. Lo-Ruhamah… Not loved… or No mercy… Symbolic of God removing his lovingkindness from the people because they are not living in covenant with God. And Lo-Ammi… or Not My People… symbolic of God saying… you are not my people. What’s the message there? Sin is a big deal?
But let’s read verses 10 and 11… We didn’t read those earlier…
“Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘children of the living God.’ The people of Judah and the people of Israel will come together; they will appoint one leader and will come up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel.
Did you see it? Sin is a big deal… and it brings about this punishment… but… in the place where it was said… you are not my people… they will be called the children of God. A great leader of Israel is coming, and that will be a great day for Jezreel. Jezreel… that place of judgment… will be blessed.
Go back to chapter 2. Remember everything we saw in chapter 2? Rebuke. I will block her. I will take away my blessing… I will expose her… I will ruin her… I will punish her… Do you remember all that? Well… we didn’t finish the chapter. Look at verse 14…
“Therefore I am now going to allure her;
I will lead her into the wilderness
and speak tenderly to her.
There I will give her back her vineyards,
and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.
There she will respond as in the days of her youth,
as in the day she came up out of Egypt.
“In that day,” declares the Lord,
“you will call me ‘my husband’;
you will no longer call me ‘my master.’
Skip down to verse 19…
I will betroth you to me forever;
I will betroth you in righteousness and justice,
in love and compassion.
I will betroth you in faithfulness,
and you will acknowledge the Lord.
Let’s finish off with verse 23…
I will plant her for myself in the land;
I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.’
I will say to those called ‘Not my people,’ ‘You are my people’;
and they will say, ‘You are my God.’ ”
Sin is a big deal… Sin brings about punishment… sin brings about death… but to those that I called… not my loved one… I will love. To those called not my people… will be my people.
Overwhelmingly… the message of Hosea is Sin is a big deal… we talked about that a couple of weeks ago… how the overwhelming message of the 1st 3 prophets are about sin… it’s destruction in our lives. But as destructive as sin is… it cannot compare the grace of God.
You see… Just as Hosea redeemed Gomer… Just as Hosea purchased Gomer’s freedom from her debt… Your sin debt has been purchased. You have a redeemer. His name is Jesus. Do you remember what Hosea’s name means? Remember… the name Hosea comes from the name Joshua… and those names mean to save… to deliver… to redeem. Do you know what other name comes from Joshua? Yeshua. Translate Yeshua into English… that’s the name Jesus. Yeshua is Jesus’ Hebrew name. Yeshua… Jesus… is our redeemer.
He is the great leader that blesses Jezreel that chapter 1 speaks about. He is the one that brings mercy and love to the ones who are Lo-Ruhamah… not loved… no mercy. He is the one who takes Lo-Ammi… or not my people… and causes them to be the people of God.
At the Cross of Calvary, Jesus redeemed you… He purchased your freedom with His own blood. The punishment that you deserve for your sin… because if you remember… God MUST punish sin… He MUST punish sinners. That punishment that I deserve for my sin… was taken on the cross by Jesus Christ. The debt that I owe to God for my sin was paid in full by Jesus on the cross.
If you’re listening to me today… I want you to know this. There is redemption for you through Yeshua… through Jesus. It doesn’t matter how grave your sinfulness is… it doesn’t matter how unfaithful you have been… The blood of Jesus on the cross pays for it all. No matter what you’ve done… there is hope through Jesus.
I want you to pay attention to one more thing though. I want to speak specifically to Christians at this point… and some of you may not like what I have to say here. Listen… if you think for a second that because you prayed prayer along with someone at church camp 25 years ago… that you’re good… you’ve been redeemed, so sin is no longer a big deal… think again. Hebrews 10:26 says…
If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left,
Deliberately walking in a lifestyle of habitual sin after coming to Christ is like saying, “I recognize what You did for me, but I don’t care because I want what I want instead of what You want for me.” God says… if the cross meant nothing to you… then it does nothing for you.
Look at what Hosea says to his wife after he redeems her. Chapter 3, verse 3…
Then I told her, “You are to live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will behave the same way toward you.”
Hosea says… Now that I have redeemed you… here’s how you are to live. Stop prostituting yourself… stop sleeping with other men… you are to be my wife for the rest of your days… you are to live in covenant with me. And I will be in covenant with you.
In John chapter 8, we read of a woman who is was caught in the act of sleeping with a man who was not her husband… she was dragged outside, and the people were getting ready to stone her to death. Sin brings about death and destruction. Then Jesus shows up on the scene and saves her.
After Jesus saves this woman from the death that she deserved… she had been caught… she was guilty… she was about to get the punishment that the law required… but Jesus saves her… and then He says these words to her…
“No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
Jesus was not speaking of sinless perfection here… none of us can achieve that on this side of life. Jesus was warning against a return to her sinful lifestyle. His words both extended mercy to this woman… but also demanded holiness from her. You see… with redemption comes the expectation that we will not continue in the same path of rebelliousness.
Christian… Have you been making light of sin in your life? Is there something ungodly that, if you’re honest, you love and you don’t want to give up? We must learn to hate the sin that we once loved. We must learn to hate that which God hates. We must learn to hate the very thing that brings about destruction in this world.
My prayer for today is whether you’ve never believed in Jesus before… or you believed in Him years ago… that we… all of us would be convicted of sin. That sin that is weighing you down… that sin that will bring destruction to your life… And that we would confess our sin before God…
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Bring your sin to your Redeemer… Jesus Christ… Who has paid your debt. Bring your sin to Jesus and find freedom for your soul today.
Let’s pray…