Hosea - Time to Seek the Lord

Intro

Today we start a new Series: Major Lessons from Minor Prophets.

In the Bible the books are arrainged and organised by the type of book they are: History, poetry etc.

We also have all the books written by God’s prophets grouped. But the prophetic books are divided into sub catogories whos name are not the best: Major prophets and Minor prophets.

This naming is unfortinute because it gives the wrong impression. Look at problems for example: A mojor problem requires a lot of attention and is verty important, but a minor problem is trivial and you dont need to give it much thought or time.

And some people have appled the same logic to the prophets - The major books like Isiah are very important but the minor books like Zephaniah bearly get a look.

The name Major and minor were given to the books.

The catagory mojor and minor has NOTHING to do the content or message of each book. The major and minor refer ONLY to the length of the books.

Long books like Jeremiah are called major just because they are long and short books like Jonah are called minor only because they are short in length.

But what we are going to see is that these minor prophets have some pretty major messages for us!

and we begin with the prophet Hosea

Book overview

During the time of Hosea Israel was in a terrible spiritual state.

Time and time again Israel had forsaken God and worshipped forign idols given them worship and devotion.

God then calls Hosea not only to speak out against this but live it as well. He tells Hosea to marry a prostitute name Gomer and love her. He does but Gomer betrays Hosea again and again, just like Israel do with God.

Yet dispite her unfaithfulness Hosea contines to love her, just as God continues to love Israel and be patient with her.

Perhaps more than any other book in the OT Hosea shows just how much God loves us inspite of our sin.

Application:

So at the start we must realise and confront our own unfaithfulness to God.

Our idol is sin and dispite the fact that we should be holy, we have continued to fall back into sin again and again.

Sin of comission where we have done things whiuch we should not to do.

Sins of Omission where we have not that which we shold do.

and even just living our lives in our own strength is a sin.

Romans 14:23 ESV

23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

Living is fear is a sin. Not given unto Ceaser what is his is a sin.

2021 was a turbulent year, physically, economically and spiritually.

Between the lockdown and the riots we had people do things they never would do.

Law abiding citazins who have never even so much as ilegally parked broke the law to provide for their families. Gentle people who catch and release spiders in the house, took up firearms, knives and clubs to beat and even kill to protect the homes, all because the goveremtn failed to protect its innocent.

For many christians 2021 was a year they wish they couyld forget.

But forgetting is not the answer. If you did or said things which you know to be wrong, Hosea has the better answer from God.

If 2021 was a time of unfaithfulness, then God has a message for you for this new year.

Message:

Hosea 10:12 ESV

12 Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.

This is God’s call to all who wants the rain of God’s blessings to rain upon them.

1: Sow for youselves Righteousness

The word of God has a rule for life:

Galatians 6:7 ESV

7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.

You will always reap what you have sown. If you sow applke seeds you will get apple tress, you will never get bananna trees.

Last year you may have sown some bad seeds and you reraped the reward. Look at what Hosea says in the next verse:

Hosea 10:13 ESV

13 You have plowed iniquity; you have reaped injustice; you have eaten the fruit of lies. Because you have trusted in your own way and in the multitude of your warriors,

Because you plowed and sows iniquity, all you have to eat was the fruit of lies. Satan is the father of lies so all you had to nourish you was Satan poison.

But look what God says: Stop sowing iniquity and start sowing righteousness. Start doing to things than are right and holy and godly.

Yes it may take a bit of time to the only seeds to run their course, but as you continuye the harvest will begin to change, Satans poison will be replaced by a harvest of what?

Hosea 10:12 ESV

12 Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.

God’s unchanging love.

2: Break Up the Fallow Ground

What else does God say:

Hosea 10:12 ESV

12 Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.

What is fallow ground?

Here is a picture:

This ground, in this state cannot produce a harvest.

Seeds swon here will be blown away or eatn by the birds. Water will simple run off or be evaporated.

This is what happens to a persons heart when they serve other God’s or neglect their relationship with Jesus.

The first thing that has to be done is this fallow ground must be broken up.

How do we break fallow ground?

Spiritual discaplines: Daily prayer, daily bible reading, study and meditation and fasting.

Hosea is not the only prophet to say this, Jeremiah said the same thing:

Jeremiah 4:3–4 ESV

3 For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: “Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. 4 Circumcise yourselves to the Lord; remove the foreskin of your hearts, O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds.”

Circumcise your hearts.

Romans tells us more:

Romans 2:29 ESV

29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.

As you pray, as you raed, as you fast, the Holy Spirit moves to prepare our hearts for the rains.

3: Its Time to Seek the Lord

Hosea 10:12 ESV

12 Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.

God tells us thats its time to seek Him, to set our heart towards Him.

When God says its time you must always pay attention.

Jesus told us a very important parable about time:

Luke 13:6–9 ESV

6 And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7 And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ 8 And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. 9 Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’ ”

The owner of the fig tree waited poatiently for the tree to produce fruit. 3 years. Eventually he got tired of waiting and commanded to vindresser to cut it down.

But the vinedresser pleaded with the master to give the tree 1 more year, after that, if it had no frut it could be cut down.

From that momnet the tree was living on borrowed time.

My firends i 100% beleave that right now we are all living on borrowed time.

The conditions for Christ’s return were met years ago, the wickedness of the times of Noah has returned.

And when God says “Now is the time” you better believe that the time is shorter than you think!

The Result:

Hosea 10:12 ESV

12 Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.

When the right kind of seeds have been sown, when the fallow ground has been broken up, when we have done the complete work of trhe sower, then we wait upon God to bring the harvest by sending the rain.

The sower can plough and sow perfectly, but at some point his power endfs and he has to wait upon God to send the rain.

But whats wonderful here is that we have a promise that God WILL send the rain. When we have done our part God will shower us with rain of righteousness.

An outpouring of God’s goodness, grace, blessings, riches and glory will supernaturally manifest the seeds of righteousness which we have sown in the fallow ground we have broken up.

Loo at how Hosea ends his prophecy:

Hosea 14:4–7 ESV

4 I will heal their apostasy; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them. 5 I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall blossom like the lily; he shall take root like the trees of Lebanon; 6 his shoots shall spread out; his beauty shall be like the olive, and his fragrance like Lebanon. 7 They shall return and dwell beneath my shadow; they shall flourish like the grain; they shall blossom like the vine; their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

We shll blossen like the lilly, our roots will go deep and make us strong. Our shoots shall spread out and we shall increase, shame will be exchanged for beauty and we shall dwell in the shadow of the almighty!

Conclusion:

Its time to identify the Idols, its time to stop being a Gomer.