“Forgiven and Restored”

“Forgiven and Restored”

Series: “God Speaks”

Text: Hosea 2:14-3:5

Introduction: (What?)

There are some married couples that boggle the mind in the way they treat each other and talk about each other. Sometimes they separate or even get divorced, but then return again to what seemed to be a toxic relationship. That describes Israel in her relationship with God. At times there was great love, but then there was betrayal and disloyalty that threatened to terminally end the relationship. God called Hosea to be an illustration of His on and off relationship with Israel.

Examination: (Why?)

1. A strange response (vv 14-17)

Hosea 2:14-17 “Therefore, I am going to persuade her, lead her to the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. 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. In that day— this is the Lord’s declaration— you will call me, “My husband,” and no longer call me, “My Baal.” For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth; they will no longer be remembered by their names.”

God takes the initiative to restore Israel to Himself. He does this by persuasion, speaking tenderly and getting alone with her. Some translations call this “wooing” her as in the relationship of a man and woman. I think this is what Jesus had in mind when He said in John 6:44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

After God wooed and persuaded Israel to return to Him, He then gave back all the gifts and blessings that He had bestowed on her at the beginning. He even changed the meaning of the Valley of Achor (valley of trouble) to “a gateway of hope”. The Israelites knew well the history of the Valley of Achor. This was the spot where Achan and his family were judged for their disobedience in Jos 7:24-25 “Then Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the cloak, and the bar of gold, his sons and daughters, his ox, donkey, and sheep, his tent, and all that he had, and brought them up to the Valley of Achor. Joshua said, “Why have you brought us trouble? Today the Lord will bring you trouble!” So all Israel stoned them to death. They burned their bodies, threw stones on them,”

For God to change what had been a place of horror to a gateway of hope was a really big deal. Then Israel knew that her time of discipline was drawing to a close. And when that happens, the relationship between Israel and God changed radically. Calling God “my husband” denotes affection and intimacy. The expression “my Baal” speaks of rulership. While both terms refer to “master”, one is a benevolent, loving master and one is a strict task master. This change is an indication of Israel moving away from pagan (Baal) worship to true worship of the one true God.

2. Restored Relationship (vv 18-23)

“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 the bow, sword and weapons of war in the land and will enable the people to rest securely.”

The restored relationship between God and Israel also restored the order of things that had existed in Eden. God’s people were once again subject to Him and God’s creation once again became subject to them. This is a picture of the millennial Kingdom. God will put an end to war giving meaning to the Spiritual song, “Ain’t Gonna Study War no More”.

When a person does not have a relationship with God through faith in Jesus, they are constantly at war. There is strife in all directions; family, business and the world in general.

“I will take you to be My wife forever. I will take you to be my wife in righteousness, justice, love and compassion. I will take you to be my wife in faithfulness, and you will know the LORD.”

This is almost like a marriage vow. God expresses His unending commitment to His Bride. Righteousness, justice, love, compassion and faithfulness are the things that God brings to the table through His Son, Jesus, when the relationship is restored. For those who once have surrendered their lives to Christ, but have “forgotten their first love”, this is good news. God offers to renew the relationship and forget your sins when you repent and return to Him. Not only that, but...

“On that day I will respond---this is the LORD’s declaration, I will respond to the sky, and I will respond to the earth. The earth will respond to the grain, the new wine and the fresh oil, and they will respond to Jezreel. I will sow her in the land for Myself, and I will have compassion on Lo-ruhamah; I will say to Lo-ammi ‘You are my people’, and he will say, ‘You are my God.”

Remember the new meaning for Jezreel is “God sows”. Also recall that Lo-ruhamah means “no compassion” and Lo-ammi means “not my people”. God reverses the curse of sin when a person (or a nation) repents and returns to Him. THIS IS REVIVAL!!! We are the initiators of revival. When we respond to God’s invitation for a restored relationship with Him through repentance and and return to Him then He revives us again.

3. The Living Illustration (3:1-5)

To illustrate what God said in chapter 2, He calls on Hosea to demonstrate what He has said.

“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 love the Israelites though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes.”

God commanded Hosea to pursue his estranged wife just as He pursued Israel even though she pursued other lovers and participated in pagan worship (eating raisin cakes was a part of pagan worship). Hosea obeyed God’s command.

“So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and five bushels of barley. I said to her, ‘You are to live with me many days. You must not be promiscuous or belong to any man, and I will act the same way toward you.’”

Hosea could have bought his estranged wife at a slave auction, or this could have been the asking price of a prostitute. The five bushels of barley probably hearkened back to a scripture in Nu 5:15 Whenever a man suspected his wife of being unfaithful he was given these instructions; “then the man is to bring his wife to the priest. He is also to bring an offering for her of two quarts of barley flour. He is not to pour oil over it or put frankincense on it because it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering for remembrance to draw attention to guilt.”

After Hosea “bought” Gomer, they would live together without conjugal relations for a period of time. This describes the time between Israel’s return to God and the establishment of the Millennial Kingdom. Everything is not restored until then. It also describes the time between when a sinful, straying Christian repents and returns to God and the time when their love for God is fully rekindled. Some might expect an immediate return to the complete relationship at the moment of repentance. However, it takes time for the fulness of the relationship to be restored. It is kind of like the faithful spouse saying to the unfaithful one, “You can move back in, but you’ll have to sleep on the couch for a while.”

“For the Israelites must live many days without a king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without ephod or household idols. Afterward the people of Israel will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They will come in awe to the LORD and to His goodness in the last days.”

Sacrifice, sacred pillars, ephods and household idols are all part of idol worship. Here God is saying through Hosea, “Israel, you will have to be weaned off those things that you’ve been used to. The time will come though when your appetite for those things will fade and you will desire true worship of the One True God and His Son (the son of David) Jesus, the Messiah.”

Application: (How this applies to me)

Do you desire revival in your life, your church and your nation?

Are you willing to take the first step by repenting of your idolatry and returning to God?

What stands in the way of your renewed relationship with God?

What should you do today to respond to God’s wooing?