The Love of God

Series: “God Speaks”

Text: Hosea 11:1-12

Introduction: (What?)

God’s love for His people goes beyond our expectations. Our tendency is to measure His love by ours which is largely conditional. Although sometimes God exercises “tough love”, He always loves. As the classic Bev Shea song repeats in the chorus; “O Love of God, how rich and pure. How measureless and strong. It shall forever more endure the saints’ and angels’ song.”

God’s overarching purpose is to build a family for Himself. Consequently, He loves people into His family. Paul wrote in Romans 5:8 “But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Dr. Franklin Kirksey, a pastor in Alabama,In a sermon on God’s love said, “Do you remember the popular song from the ‘60s “What the World Needs Now”? It includes this line “No, not just for some but for everyone.” God’s love for Israel reflects His love for everyone. That what Jesus meant in John 3:16 “For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

Examination: (Why?)

1. How God showed His Love for Israel. (11:1-4)

Hos 11:1-4 “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. Israel called to the Egyptians even as Israel was leaving them. They kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning offerings to idols. It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the hand, but they never knew that I healed them. 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.”

In v 1 we find a line that is repeated by Matt 2:15 “He stayed there until Herod’s death, so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled: Out of Egypt I called my Son.” referring to when Joseph, following the command of the angel in a dream, took his family to Egypt because Herod was killing all the male children ages 2 and under. After Herod died, Joseph responded to another angelic message and took his family back into Israel.

It could also relate to the Exodus because in Ex 4:22 “And you will say to Pharaoh: This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son.” In either case it was the love of God that prompted the events that are referenced in this phrase. God took them by the hand and led them out of bondage “with human cords, with ropes of love”. I think the human cords referred to Moses and Aaron in the Exodus and to Joseph when Jesus was a child. The “ropes of love” referred to God’s unwavering promise to Abraham in Gen 12:1-2 “The Lord said to Abram: Go from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.”

2. Israel’s Rebellion and God’s Response (vv5-7)

Hos 11:5-7 “Israel will not return to the land of Egypt and Assyria will be his king, because they refused to repent. A sword will whirl through his cities; it will destroy and devour the bars of his gates, because of their schemes. My people are bent on turning from me. Though they call to him on high, he will not exalt them at all.”

In the events of the Exodus, although God brought the Israelites out of Egypt, the Israelites brought Baalism with them, and reverted to the worship practices of the Egyptians. Even as the love of God was freeing them from bondage, they were rebelling; thus God must punish them (40 years of wandering in the desert until the rebellious generation died).

In Hosea’s book, although God will not send them back to Egypt, He will allow the king of Assyria to overrun them and become their king. Many will die and their cities will be destroyed. In the face of God’s tender care for them, Israel was ungrateful and rebellious and God had to punish them or renege on His promise to Abraham. As always, the purpose of God’s judgment is to provoke repentance.

In Paul’s day, and in ours we see the same scenario playing out in Romans 1 (read)

3. God’s Undying Love (vv8-12)

Hos 11:8-12 “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! 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. They will follow the Lord; he will roar like a lion. When he roars, his children will come trembling from the west. 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. Ephraim surrounds me with lies, the house of Israel, with deceit. Judah still wanders with God and is faithful to the holy ones.”

God seems to be musing to Himself in v 8. Perhaps He is remembering what He said to Jeremiah in Jer 31:20 “Isn’t Ephraim a precious son to me, a delightful child? Whenever I speak against him, I certainly still think about him. Therefore, my inner being yearns for him; I will truly have compassion on him. This is the Lord’s declaration.”

Also He may be recalling what He said to Israel through Isaiah in Is 49:15 ““Can a woman forget her nursing child, or lack compassion for the child of her womb? Even if these forget, yet I will not forget you.”

God admitted to being angry with them but, his compassion kicked in and He said, “I will not vent the full fury of My anger.” Had He vented His full anger on them they would have been like the sister cities of Admah and Zeboim who were destroyed along with Sodom and Gomorrah. It is God’s love that caused His anger to abate.

Application: (How should I respond to God’s Love?)

We, like Israel have a tendency to take for granted God’s amazing love for us. What we must remember is that although God may withhold His full anger because of His love for us, He will still practice “tough love” on us to bring us back in line. The writer of Hebrews noted in Heb 12:5-6 “And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: My son, do not take the Lord’s discipline lightly or lose heart when you are reproved by him, for the Lord disciplines the one he loves and punishes every son he receives.”

Respond to the conviction of the Holy Spirit and repent before God brings judgment.

Walk in obedience to God’s commands.