Hosea — Hosea 11-14

0:01 Where I? Give me a minute. Okay. So what we're going to consider today is really the character of God, the character of God. We're we're we're thinking about life lessons.

0:15 So the life lesson, I tell you, I give it to you ahead of time is to appreciate God's character. And and if you were to study Hosea in detail, we would really need a a month to to really dig into the book. So we're going to kind of just do like an overview and I'm going to give you kind of like the the the meat of what he's talking about without going into a lot of details. But you're going to appreciate God's character as we consider Hosea briefly today. Now he prophesied to the Northern Kingdom of Israel and he prophesied until Assyria defeated Samaria.

0:50 That is in seven twenty two BC, Samaria fell to the Assyrians. In 732, Damascus fell to them, and ten years later, they conquered Israel to the north. And after that, they tried to come down to Jerusalem, you know. And they were not able to defeat Jerusalem. God destroyed them there.

1:16 And they were returned to Assyria defeated. So Isaiah prophesied at the same time and Micah as did Hosea. So Isaiah, prophet Isaiah, Micah, and Hosea were all prophesying at the same time. He prophesied about thirty years, about thirty years, and this prophecy is dripping with the gospel. It's it's all over the place as you read it.

1:44 So let me just start out something out of subject, but chapter 11 and verse one. Just turn there quickly. Just to give you a couple of facts here. When Israel was a youth, I loved him, and out of Egypt, I called my son. Now, this is one of those verses that we call a double fulfillment if you will verse because it's true historically as you look back from when when he was writing it, you look back and and it was true.

2:18 God called eat Israel out of Egypt and brought them to the promised land. So when Israel was a youth, I loved him. Notice, I loved him and out of Egypt, I called my son to give him the land that he had promised to give them. Now, at the same time, here Israel refers to Christ because Matthew two fifteen tells us directly that this was speaking about Christ who by contrast always did that which pleased god. So, this is one of those verses that has a double fulfillment.

2:56 With Israel, he called them out of Egypt and brought them to the land. With Jesus, you remember Herod tried to kill him. So, the parents took him to Egypt when the threat was over. God says, now leave Egypt and come and they moved to Nazareth. So, that's what that means.

3:12 So, that's a double fulfillment. Tremendous verse. In in the case of Israel, they were unfaithful. In the case of Christ, he pleased God in every way. So what is the theme?

3:23 What is the theme Hosea? The faithful, loyal love of God. You you can't miss it as you read the prophecy. God continued to love them in spite of the fact that they were constantly and continually unfaithful to the Lord. But the conclusion of the prophecy ends with this statement.

3:44 Now, before I read that statement, if you read the book over and over again, he says, you are unfaithful. You have done me wrong. You you... And and constantly is, you're going to be punished because of it. You're going to be condemned.

3:58 And as you read it, you're like getting hot. Almost like, Lord, condemn them. They deserve it. But this is what he says in eleven eight. After he shows all of their sin and everything they've done wrong, how can I give you up, O Ephraim?

4:14 How can I surrender you, O Israel? My heart is turned within me, and all my compassions are kindled. Eleven:eight. Wow. God had every reason to put them away.

4:29 Every reason to give up on them because they constantly continually were sinning against them and turning to other gods. And to hear this statement has to blow you away because We're looking at the character of God. How can I give you up? And he doesn't give up on those who are his. Now, God also in this prophecy uses the life and experience of Hosea and says that he feels the same pain and hurt that has come as a result of Gomer, Hosea's wife, being unfaithful.

5:04 His people were unfaithful to him on a continual basis year after year. Henry Gieham, Gieman or something, I can't pronounce his name correctly, but this is what he says. Hosea presents the exhaustless mercy of God which no sin of man can bar or wear out. The main thought of Hosea's message is that God's mighty and indistinguishable love for Israel would not rest satisfied until it has brought all of Israel into harmony with itself. Alright.

5:54 Now, remember, the life lesson above all is god's character and we already said part of that is that his unfaithful, relentless love of us in spite of everything that we do, in spite of everything that Israel did, he never gave up on him And God wants you to know him. So in in Hosea four six, my people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. Now the most important thing about you is what you think about God. Because life is unfair. Hello?

6:27 How many times you say, God, that's not fair. I don't know. That's not right. I don't know. God, life is unfair.

6:33 Write that down. Put it in your in your memory and in your heart. Life is unfair. Life is never going to be fair until Jesus comes and makes it right. So somebody done you wrong?

6:45 Welcome to the party. Because everybody, somebody's done you wrong. Something's gone wrong with you. Life is unfair. It would do you wrong and unless you understand the loving, merciful, unfailing commitment god has told you, you might bail.

7:02 You might walk away. In fact, I've heard that the last couple of months. Yeah. I used to follow god, but I gave up on him. He let me down.

7:11 God says these people are are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. Yes. Because you don't know me. I didn't let you down. I didn't let you down, but you think I did.

7:24 These people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. I want you to know me. And the reason you're walking away from me is because you don't know me. You're blaming me for the unfairness of life. And in four twelve, he says, my people consult their wooden idols and their diviners one informs them.

7:45 A spirit of holotry has led them astray. They have played the harlot, spiritual harlot that is, departing from their god. And then in six six, we read this, for I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice and in the knowledge of god rather than burnt offerings. Here's another thing that that I want you to understand is that I want you to love me with all your heart and might and soul with all of you because I I I want you to to understand in the knowledge of god. Understand me that I I don't want your religious stuff, burnt offerings, but I want your heart.

8:25 I want your loyalty. Understand this because that's what you have for me. Now go to chapter 11. Go to chapter 11 and look at again verse one. When Israel was a youth, I loved him.

8:41 That's a reality. And out of Egypt, I called my son out of slavery. I called him. The more they called them, that's a prophet. So more they called, the more they went from them.

8:53 They kept sacrificing to the bales and burning incense to idols. Now watch, yet it is I who taught Ephraim to walk. I took them in my arms and they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of a man with bonds of love, and I became to them as one who lifts the yoke from their jaws and I bent down and fed them. So you can see the the tender love of God in the midst of all of their idolatry of them looking anywhere but god for for their to for their worship and for their help.

9:31 They're going everywhere but and god is saying, in the midst of all of your rebellion, all of your idolatry, you were a harlot, spiritual harlot, and and all of that, I'm the one that was taking care of you. So, in other words, I'm looking for anywhere but god. And god said, but you know what? Here's your food anyway. I'm an atheist.

9:51 Well, you wake up and guess what? I gave you health and I gave you life. I didn't condemn you. Here's your food. God did me wrong.

9:59 Here's your food. I don't need god. There's your food. There's your blessing. There's your job.

10:03 There's your car. There's your home. God said, they didn't even realize in out of the rebellion that I'm the one that was giving them their food. I was holding them. I was caring for them.

10:14 I bent down to them because that's the way God is. See, that's the character of God. And so whether you know it or not or acknowledge it or not, God is the one who provides for you daily. He cares for you, and he loves you, and he wants you to draw near to him. James chapter four, draw near to God and he will draw near to you.

10:39 It's never God that pulls away, it's we who pull away from God. So God is... What else? God wants you to know him, but God also wants you to know that he's the holy one who is faithful. Eleven twelve, the last verse.

10:55 God had every reason to abandon Israel again forever, but he said... Watch what he says in eleven eight. How can I give you up, oh Ephraim? How can I surrender you, oh Israel? My heart is turned over within me and all my compassions are kindled.

11:12 Listen, he's talking to people who are rebellious, who are sacrificing to other idols, who don't want to acknowledge him or doing their own thing, and listen to the compassion. Listen to his heart. My heart is turned over within me. All my compassions are kindled towards you. In eleven nine, eleven nine, I will not execute my fierce anger.

11:33 I will not destroy Ephraim again for I am God and not man, the holy one in your midst. Now, God did bring holy discipline. Consequently, Israel right now, even now, are under the discipline of God until the time of the Gentiles is over. Romans 11. So right now, they're they're under discipline.

11:54 That's why they're going through a lot of the suffering they're going through until the day when he returns and they look up when they see him coming from heaven and Israel as a nation will say, oh, wow. Jesus was the Messiah. So, right now, they're under discipline. God temporarily set aside his plan for Israel and he's working through the church right now but when that happens and he raptures the church up, he's going to start his program again with Israel. So he he he doesn't give up.

12:24 He doesn't give up on you. He doesn't give up on Israel because when he makes a commitment to you, you cannot pluck yourself from his hands. Nothing can separate us from a love of god. It says in Romans eight. And to further illustrate this, go to chapter three and and notice verse one.

13:08 Now now the interesting thing about it is that she had the propensity to become unfaithful. Now, there's big debates on whether she was already a prostitute or not. I'm of the opinion of many of the commentators that she was not. That they married, had a normal relationship, then she turned unfaithful. But you can take another angle at that.

13:32 That's alright. You you do your own investigation. So that's my take on it. So he marries her, and they have a son, then they have a daughter, and then they and then have another son. So they had three children together.

13:47 And suddenly, because it was it was in her, she's one of those never satisfied. There's gotta be something else. I got married. I had my kids, but what am I missing out on? And she goes looking for something else.

14:00 And so next thing you know, she's committing adultery. Now, having said that, this is where we enter into three in one. Notice, then after she committed adultery, abandoned the family, he was all alone, She's just living wild like. She is... Has made such a mess of herself that she ends out in a slave market being sold as a slave.

14:31 And so you can imagine Hosea. Right? Man, this girl did me wrong. She really hurt me. I'm done.

14:40 You know, you you you're you're an adulterer. You're with another man right now. Look at the text. Then the Lord said to me, go again, love a woman who is loved by her husband. So he still had that deep rooted love inside for her in spite of her action, yet an adulteress.

15:00 So in other words, if you were to study the context, at that very moment she was doing adultery. Go again and love a woman who is loved by her husband yet an adulteress even as the Lord loves the sons of Israel though they turn to other gods and they love raising cakes. So in other words, Hosea. I wanna illustrate through your life, through your pain, having experienced the the deepest kind of pain there is, having a spouse being unfaithful, and right now, making such a mess of herself that that she's out in a slave market. And and and all of that pain that you feel, Hosea, all of that disappointment and the children alone with you and you having to to deal with them and all of that that goes with it, that's exactly how I feel because my own people who I loved and called out of Egypt right now that instead of acknowledging me, they're baking, raising cakes, then they go and they take it to this false idol and they say, here you are.

16:05 We acknowledge you as the one who gives us our our blessings. This very moment, Hosea, all of the people, not just one. All of the people are doing this. They're they're they're worshiping other gods. They're unfaithful to me.

16:22 I'm the one who loved them and called them and I'm committed to them and that that you know how you feel pain right now? You know how disappointed you are? How broken you are? How do you think I feel? All the people right now are offering raisin cakes to their gods.

16:41 And so Gomer is the prodigal of the Old Testament. So Luke 15 is a New Testament prodigal. Hosea three one is Gomer is the Old Testament prodigal. Now as I was explaining this, one day we were teaching this in Houston, my brother-in-law happened to be in the class and here's what he said. She deserves to die.

17:08 And I said, Roger, I said that was his name. Why do you say that? Well because my mom was unfaithful. She was a prostitute when I was growing up. She would take me with me.

17:18 She would take me with her to the bars and I would watch it with other men. And it damaged him so bad he couldn't recover. In fact, he was full of anger, deep rooted anger, had to get counseling. So that's why he reacted that way. She deserves to die.

17:38 And I said, you know what? So do we. So do we. But we are condemned because of our sin and God cannot be near us. And unless you see how sinful we are and how lost we are, you're never going to cry out to God for the salvation of your soul.

17:54 Because you know, today's life you're not that bad. I mean, you didn't murder anybody. You're you're not a thief. You you know, you don't do all those bad stuff. You're pretty good.

18:04 And and and that's exactly the lie from the enemy that you're not that bad. But until you see your sin, you're not gonna cry out to Jesus Christ and say, oh lord, save me. So notice the text then. Verse two, Hosea, that woman who hurt you, who right now is in adultery, who made a mess of her life, guess where she's at right now? She's in a slave market.

19:00 Wow. Wow. So it cost him, in other words. It cost him. It cost him money to free her and to bring her home.

19:15 And in the same way, Jesus had to sacrifice and he had to come and he had to pay to redeem us, but he didn't pay 30 shekels and some hot barley. That's some kind of farm product. He paid with his life to redeem us from sin. So it wasn't like he had to give up $30 or whatever that is today. He had to give his whole life.

19:39 He had to completely sacrifice us and shed that blood to cleanse us and to make us him. So that's why I said that that Hosea is is dripping with the gospel and and this is Christ coming down to save us when we were lost in sin and totally rebellious against god. No one seeks God, not even one says the Bible. So it cost him his life. By the way, we are Gomer, if you haven't figured that out yet.

20:06 We are Gomer. And so we we see in 02/23, and I will say to those who are not my people, you are my people. And they will say, you are my God. That's quoted in in Peter. People like you and I who were Gomer, totally lost in sin and rebellious, who were bought by the blood of Jesus will say now, he is my god.

20:30 He's my god. He loves me and he gave himself for me and so those people who were not my people, now they say, you're my god and everyone who knows Christ can say that, amen? You are my god and not only that but in chapter 13 and verse 14, I will ransom you from the power of shield that is death. I will redeem you. I will redeem them from death.

20:52 Oh death, where are your thorns? Oh shield, where is your sting? Now, that's quoted in first Corinthians fifteen and fifty five. Where he's talking about the resurrection of Christ and so, not only did he come in chapter three and and redeem us from sin, giving us life but in in chapter what was that 12? Where where where he quotes that from?

21:15 At 13, 13 and verse 14 and in first Corinthians a search that says, you know what that was talking about? Hosea thirteen forty was talking about the resurrection of Christ where he conquered death. And so those who are Christ can say, hey, where's your your stingled death? Because I I I'm gonna die but I'm not gonna remain there because when I die, I'm gonna be with Christ. What a beautiful passage in first Corinthians 15, and it comes from Hosea.

21:45 Now Hosea did not give up or abandon her. He had every reason to give up, to walk away, because she had hurt him so bad and abandoned a family and neglected the children. Alright, so let's do some some life lessons from Hosea. Alright, number one. He obeyed.

22:11 He obeyed. Go and marry a woman who has a propensity to become an adulteress, and she did. Go and love her again, and he did. Go and get her out of the slave market. He did.

22:30 He paid. And then he brought her home. He forgave her. So here's the lesson. Don't give up on that person who has hurt you or walked away from you or the Lord.

22:45 Because we give up, don't we? We give up. I'm done. What you did to me, it's too much. I'm done.

22:54 I'm out. I know you wanna quit, but don't. God can restore you and make you like new. Okay. Now, that's Hosea.

23:38 My niece committed many atrocities, and she was dying as a result of an embarrassing lifestyle. So I went to visit her, And I said, get it right with God. She tells me I was saved when I was young. I know I'm saved. But here's what she said.

23:56 Now listen, I went too far. And I said that's exactly what Satan wants you to believe, that you went too far. There's people walking the streets today everywhere. I went too far and why go back to church and I blew it. They won't receive me.

24:19 They won't bring me back into fellowship because I went too far. And I said, that is not true. That is the lie. You did not go too far because when god saves you by his grace, he never lets you go. So, he knows what you're doing.

24:37 So, listen, when god saved you, he saved you with all of your baggage because it was on the basis of grace. God saves you warts and all. Knowing what you were going to do and with all of your baggage, if you repent and turn to him, he will cleanse you and restore you and heal you and use your life as a testimony as to how god will use you and how god treats us. Jesus paid it all. He paid for all our sins and he brings us home as we sang in the Lord's Supper this morning.

25:10 What a what a beautiful passage. What a beautiful message of Hosea. And this is what he says. Now, just listen. I'm going to read the verses to you.

25:20 Chapter six and verse one, come, let us return to the lord for he has torn us but he will heal us. Wait, he has torn us means that he brings divine punishment. He brings discipline in order to draw you back to him. But he will heal us. He has wounded us, but he will bandage us.

25:42 Chapter 12 and verse six, therefore, return to your god. Chapter 14 and verse one, return oh Israel to the lord your god for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. Take words with you and return to the lord and this is what you're going to say. Take away our all iniquity and receive us graciously that we may present the food to our lips. You see the invitation of God?

26:09 Have you blown it? Hey, listen, I have too. Have you gone too far? No, you cannot go too far that you're out of the reach of the grace of God. Because he saves you based on grace, not based on your behavior.

26:23 He saves you in spite of what you are and in spite of what you've done. He's not ignorant. He knows everything you've done. All that does is embarrassing you that you have done. He knows it.

26:33 So take away our iniquity and receive us graciously and he does. That we may present the food oil. In other words, because you do this, we're gonna worship you. We're gonna present the food of our lips and we come with a heart full of gratitude because of the character of God, you see. We come to worship him.

26:54 Look at the response of God. Fourteen four, I will heal their apostasy. I will love them freely for my anger has turned away from them. Can you believe it? God never gives up on you, and he wants to save you through Christ if you're not saved.

27:10 And then he keeps restoring you through confession When you are saved. He is a tender god and he's full of compassion. Father, what can we say? Let's pray. What can we say about this beautiful story of how you continue to love rebellious people?

27:37 You continue to love those who are yours, and you're so ready to forgive and to restore when we repent and turn to you. Cause you're so full of grace and so full of mercy and nothing the people of Israel could do could stop you from loving them. That just blows us away. Only you, oh God, could do that. We thank you that the prophet Hosea was willing to forgive Gomer, and he brought her back home.

28:06 Oh, please help us to be like this, Lord. We pray in Christ's name. Amen.