The Heavenly Father's Amazing Love

A Father’s Love

Father’s Day is a great day where we can come together to reflect on what our father’s mean to us. But of course, Father’s Day can also be a tough day. For many of you, there is the sadness knowing that your Dad is no longer with us. For some, this will also be the first father’s day without your Dad around, and this can be particularly hard.

For others, it might be hard for a different reason. You see, the reality is, while many of you will be able to (on the whole) respect your father for all that he did, and possibly still does, but for others, you might struggle to find that respect for him. Perhaps on days like today, you prefer to focus on other father figures in your life.

But regardless of whether you have a huge amount of respect for your father, or you struggle to reconcile some of the things your father has done, none of our fathers are perfect, that is to say, assuming I’m restricting the statement to a purely earthly perspective.

Now a truth that I think must be pretty close to being universally true, is that despite how good or bad our father was or is, we all have that yearning for a father’s love.

At it’s best, the father’s love is something truly amazing. A father’s love makes you feel secure. There’s a steadiness about it - something that you can always depend on.

We crave this love.

But despite this craving, something else happens within us.

Now I want you to cast your mind back to when you were a teenager. Hopefully you still respected your Dad at this point. Quite possibly, you might have been too scared to put a foot out of line.

But yet, almost as universal as the truth that we all crave a father’s love, is the fact that a teenager wants to test the boundaries. Actually, it’s not just teenagers, at any age we can be prone to pushing boundaries to see how far we can go with something.

But let’s just stay with the memory of you as a teenager for a moment. Did you ever think - I wish these boundaries could be a bit looser? What would it be like to try this or that? I suspect many of you probably did push through some of those boundaries, whether you got caught or not might be another matter.

It’s a bit like the idea that the grass is always greener on the other side. The problem of course is that it’s greener because it’s fake turf. It might look enticing, but it’s nothing like the real thing.

For some of you, perhaps you did more than just push at the boundaries a little. Perhaps you went full force through them and found yourself in a bad bad place.

And so we get this juxtaposition. On the one hand, the craving of the father’s love, and on the other, a craving for the exciting, exhilarating thrills. But one is not like the other.

Intro to series

This morning we may be celebrating Father’s Day, but I’m also starting a new series. It just so happens that the first in this series is looking at a book that looks at the most astounding love of our heavenly father - but more on that as we go.

Over the next few months, I’ll be spending one week on each of the so-called twelve minor prophets, with the exception of Jonah, and that’s only because back in May I did a four week series looking at that one.

I’m going to be going in the order in which they appear in our Bible, even though, as we’ll see, they aren’t in chronological order.

Now at this point, let me just make a really quick point about why they are called the minor prophets. We often refer to the major prophets being Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and Jeremiah’s smaller book called Lamentations. They are not major in that they are better prophets or that their message is more important. It actually has a lot more to do with the length of their prophetic writing.

Historical background

Okay, so before we get too much further into this, let me just set a really basic historical framework which I’ll keep coming back to in the series to help remember where we are.

So, up on the screen, you’ll see a basic timeline which over the course of this series, I’ll put each prophet on.

The timeline starts with united kingdom of Israel under the kingship of David and then Solomon. This was quite the high point in the unfolding plan of God. Things are going well for this chosen people of God.

But those good times were not to last.

After Solomon’s reign, the kingdom divides into a northern and southern kingdom. In the North, we find them sometimes referred to as Ephraim, which was the most dominant tribe in that area, but also sometimes referred to as simply Israel, which to be honest, can be confusing because sometimes Israel can refer to all of Israel, and sometimes to just the northern kingdom.

The southern kingdom is often referred to as Judah.

Okay, well, I’m not going to have time to do a detailed history lesson here, so let me just highlight a few very significant moments which I have written on the screen.

First, is the time when the Northern kingdom goes into exile at the hands of the Assyrians. The final blow for the northerners came in the year 722 BC. Even though there was a time of relative prosperity not long before this, it all came crashing down quite quickly.

So this effectively ends the line for the northern kingdom.

The southerners, however, managed to keep going for another century and a half. But things didn’t last for them either. Their final blow came in the year 586 BC, this time at the hands of the Babylonians. Actually, their defeat had actually started earlier than this, with the Babylonians taking just some exiles, but by 586 BC it was all but comprehensive.

These southerners stayed in exile in Babylon for some 70 odd years before they were allowed to return, which brings me to the final moment I want to highlight - the return from exile.

So keep these key moments in mind, because as we go through the series, we’ll see each of the prophets essentially filling out much of the detail as to how they all came about.

Hosea

So what about our first book? Where does Hosea fit into this whole scheme?

Okay, so we find Hosea mostly speaking to the Northern kingdom, perhaps some twenty of thirty years before their exile.

If you look at Hosea 1:1, it lists various kings of Judah, but tells us that Jeroboam was king of Israel at the time Hosea’s prophetic ministry was happening.

So if we cross reference this with 2 Kings 14, we find that under Jeroboam, the boundaries of Israel were restored to a size essentially the same as when there was a united kingdom - so in other words, things were going pretty good.

But all was not as it might have seemed on the surface of it. And this is what Hosea is about to expose for us.

You see, on the surface, there was perhaps some allegiance shown towards the one true God, but in reality, they were exploring the field. And things are about to turn bad… very bad!

Hosea’s marriage

Now there is something very fascinating about the book of Hosea. In many of the other prophets, where going to see them just stating things the way they are. And this is all very good - sometimes we need to just hear things clearly. But in the case of Hosea, we essentially get a real life parable which really gives the message a certain level of kick to the whole thing.

So let’s look at this now before we see how the whole thing relates to what is happening in Israel at the time.

The request God gives to Hosea, to be honest, if nothing short of scandalous. Hosea is told to go and marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her.

Now what’s going on here? Surely some prophet who’s hearing directly from God should be getting a good girl to marry… shouldn’t he?

But it’s to serve an important message. And so Hosea marries Gomer.

Children’s names

Hosea then has a child.

Now if you’ve ever had a struggle trying to come up with a name for a child, there are lots of different places you can turn to think of some good names - but can I suggest that the names we are about to hear are perhaps names you might do well to avoid.

The first might not seem that bad at first - it’s Jezreel - except that we then learn that it’s a name of a massacre that God wants them to remember.

The next name is perhaps the worst. It’s Lo-Ruhamah, and the NIV helpfully translates it for us so we can see how shocking it is. This name means, “not loved”.

The third name then is not much better. It is Lo-Ammi, which means “not my people”.

I think if someone tried to name their child this today, well… there could be problems.

So what’s going on? Well, I think the shock value of this name is deliberate. It’s jarring in its unexpectedness.

For those hearing Hosea’s words - knowing that this was Yahweh, the Lord Almighty who is telling Hosea to call his children this - well the implication is clear. This is not God playing a practical joke on Hosea, and those reading this prophecy wouldn’t have taken it that way. It is clear, even at this point in the prophecy that God has in mind the people of Israel.

And God has always been clear that he loves his people. And his people are his people. So to say the words, “not loved”, and “not my people” - this is hard to hear.

But let me keep going with the analogy because we’ll see soon enough why these names are given.

The punishment

Okay, so let’s move to chapter 2. Because in this real life parable, Hosea gathers his children - but it’s clear that it is more than just his children, that’s because Gomer being a promiscuous woman, has had children with other men as well. And so Hosea ask for all of Gomer’s children to be gathered.

But let’s say the original message is not pretty. It’s not pretty because Gomer is about to get a rebuke.

Now if we were to look up to verse 13, Hosea describes how he will expose Gomer for what she’s done, and some of the consequences that are going to occur as a result.

If this message was to end at verse 13, you would have to conclude that Hosea is actually just in what he has done. She has deserved this because she hasn’t been faithful.

Bringing her back

But… this real life parable doesn’t end there. Though Gomer doesn’t deserve to be returned, starting at verse 14, we see something beautiful. She will be spoken to tenderly. There will be a door of hope.

There is going to be a restoration, even though it is not deserved.

And in verse 23 - we see the reversal of the name. The “Not loved” will be loved. Those called “not my people” will be called “you are my people”.

In chapter 3, we see that this is going to cost Hosea something - he has to buy her back.

And this is part of the remarkable thing about this whole story. It’s not just a matter of, “well, okay, if you promise to be good I’ll have you back”, rather, he forks out fifteen shekens of silver and a homer and a lethek of barley (which if you look at the NIV footnote is about 195 kg so no small amount!). Hosea is paying, even though Gomer is not worthy of it.

Why does he do this? Well, this is the foretaste of the Gospel message that we get in this, the first of the minor prophets.

Israel’s story

Well, the first three chapters are essentially the story of this real life parable, although even in these first three chapters, you don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to realise that the story of Hosea and Gomer is the story of God and the nation of Israel. The language at times flipped between the personal story and the bigger story.

But while the first three chapters give us the analogy (or parable if you will), from chapters 4 to the end of the book, Hosea’s message becomes firmly pointed at the people of Israel.

Unfaithfulness

Gomer’s unfaithfulness is very much mirrored in Israel’s unfaithfulness to God.

One of the things which Hosea is keen to highlight in all of this is that when we talk of Israel’s unfaithfulness, he’s not just talking about your every day person in the street (although there is guilt there as well). But he points the finger squarely at the priests.

Now this is a very important aspect of this for us to remember.

You see, as we start to apply this to our own situation, one of the things that is very easy to do is to look at all the wickedness of society around us. We’re all very quick to point out how much society has turned their back on God. How they don’t respect the sanctity of life. How they disregard God’s good design for sex. And it’s true, much of society have turned their back in this way.

But the rebuke of the priest in many ways is a rebuke of us sitting here in the church.

Just look at the start of chapter 5. “Hear this, you priests! Pay attention, you Israelites! Listen, royal house! This judgement is against you”

You see, we can sit here and point the finger all we like. And perhaps we’re right because we haven’t been so obvious in our turning. But how much are we caught up in a consumeristic culture which is all about ourselves?

How often do we play easy with the rules to get our own way?

It’s like what I said before about our own families. Perhaps you might not have got too out of line as a child, but I strongly suspect that there was that desire and at times, you did more than likely push those boundaries. We do that today.

We want people to think that we’re not pushing the boundaries too much. But we see those bright gaudy lights, and there is an attraction to them.

Hosea should not be a reminder of a world gone bad - it should be a reminder that we are the ones who have gone bad, and we deserve to be exposed for all we’ve done.

Our redemption

There is obviously a lot in all of this, and you would do well to read the whole prophecy in your own time, but let me jump to chapter 11, because here we’re again going to find something truly beautiful.

This being Father’s day, this chapter 11 becomes very fitting.

It starts with the words: “When Israel was a child, I love him, and out of Egypt I called my son”.

We have a very clear allusion here to the exodus story when Israel came out of Egypt.

In verse 3: “It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms”

These words express that tenderness that God has for his people.

But despite all that God did for them, they turned their back.

Yet, we see truly what a Father’s great love really looks like.

Verse 8 says: “How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel?… My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused.”

If you’re a father, or even a mother for that matter, this sort of sentiment is quite likely something you can relate to. This idea that no matter how much your child has gone the wrong way, you’re still going to love them/

But here’s the thing. Even though this love is something which we see deep reflections of in many families today, there is something even greater in God.

Verse 9 says: “For I am God, and not a man - the Holy One among you”

When God loves - it is as a lion that roars - and when he roars his children come and allowed to settle.

The Gospel

Hosea was writing some eight centuries before Jesus - and yet this is very much the message of Jesus. That while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

We are Gomer. We have gone astray. And Jesus paid the greatest price to bring us back. He paid the price of his own body on a cross.

He didn’t wait to we had it all together.

You see, the power of the story of Hosea and Gomer, is that Hosea really shouldn’t have married Gomer in the first place. It’s the same with us. there was nothing we did in the first place to deserve God’s love. And just like Gomer, even after we were afforded this most amazing gift, we go and squander it. We’re God’s people, yet the temptation to live it up is constantly present.

But even in this, Jesus is still reaching out and saying - you may deserve to be called “not my people”, but you are loved and you are my people. Come back.

And so in all of this is a call for us to be faithful to God. Not to be faithful so that God keeps us - but to be faithful because in our unfaithfulness, God always keeps bringing us back.

Conclusion

You are loved. You have experienced the love of the Heavenly Father.

Today is Father’s Day and Father’s throughout the country are going to be honoured for their love. This love is a reflection of the love of God, but it is only limited. If you want to see what love is really like, then look at the love of God who pays the greatest price for the people who least deserve it.

Let me pray...