Sermon Tone Analysis

We are looking at the book of Hosea today as we begin a journey through a few of what are known as the Minor Prophets.

The Minor Prophets are called such not because of their perceived importance or significance, but because of their length compared to those like Isaiah, Ezekiel, or Jeremiah.

Hosea is a prophet of God who prophesies in a tumultuous time in Israel’s history.

Beginning with the reign of Saul, Israel was a single united nation.

They entered into a sort of golden age under the reign of Solomon, but suffered a split when his sons were rival kings.

Remember that the nation’s territory was divided by tribe, of which there were twelve.

For the sake of comparison, imagine if the US had twelve states instead of fifty.

Ten of those tribes banded together under Jeroboam and retained the name Israel, while the other two made up the southern kingdom taking on the name Judah.

The capital of Israel became Samaria and the capital of Judah was Jerusalem.

There was much conflict between these two nations as well as between them and their enemies.

But at the time Hosea began his prophetic ministry, Israel has entered into a sort of second golden age as they have experienced a reprieve from their enemies.

The economy is doing well and people are at least outwardly religious, but the leadership is wicked.

As goes the leadership, so goes the nation.

Verse one establishes for the reader a context for what is taking place in the life of both nations by informing us of the kings who reigned during Hosea’s ministry.

We can use this information to pinpoint when Hosea lived and worked, and what issues he faced.

This places Hosea in the 8th century B.C. from 782 - 722 B.C., the year Israel fell into captivity by the Assyrians.

God calls upon the prophet Hosea to bring charges against his people.

He uses strong language and it can be difficult to understand, but it almost feels like a courtroom drama unfolding before us but God chooses to illustrate all of this through a peculiar command.

God commands his prophet to go and marry a woman of harlotry, which is the word for prostitute.

Now, it is debated as to whether God was commanding Hosea to go marry a woman who was already a prostitute or one who would later cheat on him by becoming one.

In either case, it is made clear that once Hosea is married, he will have children with her, but she will be unfaithful.

This command is peculiar because it would seem a holy God is setting up his prophet for a miserable marriage and we want to know why he would do such a thing.

It should be pointed out though that Hosea is not commanded to do anything immoral, but to intentionally place himself in a situation where he is going to feel the consequences of marital unfaithfulness and abandonment.

It is the wife who will be committing wrongs against her husband.

But the why for this is also presented in the same verse.

God says, “for the land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking the Lord.”

We understand from the outset that Hosea’s real marriage will provide a picture of God’s relationship with His people.

He’s effectively saying, “What your wife will do to you, My people are doing to Me.” Hosea follows in obedience to the Lord’s command followed by some interesting choices for names:

In Hebrew, names usually carry powerful meaning.

The name Hosea means salvation.

The name Gomer means “complete” or “whole.”His

first-born son is named Jezreel, named after the Jezreel valley and the town of Jezreel located in that valley.

The name itself means “the Lord sows,” like sowing seed, or you reap what you sow.

Through the naming of this child, God brings the charge He has against Israel.

His charge against Israel is for the bloodshed of Jezreel committed by the house of Jehu.

Jehu was a king of Israel whom God used to bring punishment against the sons of Ahab, one of Israel’s most wicked kings.

In 2 Kings 9-10, we read of God’s judgment against Ahab and his family for murdering His prophets.

So Jehu serves as God’s instrument of His justice for all the wrongs committed by Ahab and his family, but in chapter ten, he also attacks and kills members of Ahaziah’s family, the king of Judah, which was not the Lord’s command.

We also see that Jehu did not depart from the same pattern of sin as his predecessors.

Jehu eliminated an evil family, but his reign was no better than the one he replaced.

For this reason, God is enacting judgment against the house of Jehu, which Jeroboam II is the head in Hosea’s time.

God’s judgment against Israel is that he will break their bow in the Jezreel valley, that is total military defeat.

Hosea’s wife has a daughter named Lo-ruhamah, which means “no compassion” or “no mercy.”

The Hebrew word translated as forgive here comes from a root word meaning to carry, lift up, or maintain.

God is no longer going to allow the house of Israel to stand, and that is seen in the coming exile by the Assyrians.

The house of Jehu will never reign over Israel again.

He will have compassion on Judah, the southern kingdom.

While they have issues of their own, they had not yet fallen to the depths of depravity Israel had fallen to.

Then Hosea has a second son, baby #3, named Lo-ruhamah, which means, “not My people.”

The charges brought against Israel result in a complete withdrawal on His part from His people.

God is abandoning Israel, the northern kingdom, and allowing them to succumb to the consequences of breaking their covenant relationship.

In God’s covenant with Israel, He promised blessings and protection as long as they were faithful to Him in every way.

This is not what Israel did.

They broke every single one of the ten commandments.

They worshipped other gods, they created idols for themselves, lied, stole, committed adultery, murdered, and so on.

God warned them that if they did not follow His commands, He would remove His protection and blessings from them.

The book of Hosea, along with many of the other prophetic books, shows us what happens when the People of God abandon Him.

However, this is not a complete abandonment, for the nullification of of the Mosaic covenant is not the nullification of the Abrahamic covenant.

God made a covenant with Abraham that is binding to this very day.

God intends to keep that covenant because the conditions for that covenant were placed solely on His shoulders.

Let’s take a look at the last two verses.

A careful reading of these verses shows us that restoration of the people of Israel is in view.

While God may have abandoned them to their desires, removed His protection from them, and allowed them to face exile, He also intends to restore the broken relationship.

Israel is divided.

The north is about to be exiled.

But there will come a day when God reconciles the two and they return to the land as one nation.

There are two things we learn at the outset of the book of Hosea.

God’s justice is never absent of His mercy.

Mercy is not giving someone what they justly deserve.

Mercy is going easy on someone when you have the right to enact far greater punishment.

God’s standard for entering His presence is perfection.

All rebellious acts against God are punishable by death.

Israel had a rap sheet that ran for miles.

God could have cut them off at any time.

Yet he was gracious and merciful to them.

He gave them numerous opportunities to turn back to Him.

Israel had done wrong and God was going to let them suffer the consequences of their actions, but He did not abandon them completely.

And He does not do the same for you or I.

When we are at our absolute worst, God’ love for us never ceases.

The story of Hosea and his unfaithful wife illustrates the relationship between man and God.

It really hits home when we come to the realization that we are the Gomer in this story.

God is represented by Hosea, which means we are represented by Gomer.

We are the ones who commit flagrant adultery.

When our relationship with God is understood in the marriage metaphor, we are the ones who go out and cheat on God by giving ourselves to pleasures of every kind.

Yet God continues to pursue us and take the steps necessary to buy us back so we can have a relationship with Him.

We are the ones who Jesus came to redeem by purchasing our pardon with His own blood.

Without this sacrifice, it should be us hanging from a cross, not Him.

Crime deserves punishment, but Jesus took the punishment for us.

But it is because of us that He was put on a cross in the first place.

He wasn’t forced to do this, He chose to because God was demonstrating His own love toward us.

When we are at our absolute worst, God’s love for us never ceases.

This is what Hosea’s marriage to Gomer illustrates.

There is a song called You Love Me Anyway by the Sidewalk Prophets.

The bridge of the song reads:

I am the thorn in Your crown

But You love me anyway