Boundless (Hosea)
August 16, 2020
Hosea 1:2--3 (ESV) --- 2 When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.” 3 So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
Imagine being called to be a prophet, and the first words you hear from God tell you to take as wife a promiscuous woman. Why would God ever tell one of his prophets to do such a horrible thing? He tells us it is because "the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord." What kind of message does this send us about Israel's idolatry?
Tonight, we are going to study the book of Hosea to understand God's feelings toward Israel's rebellion. Hosea was a prophet who prophesied in Israel during the days of Jeroboam II. He was a contemporary of Isaiah, but he preached primarily to the northern tribes while Isaiah was in the south. This book is divided into three sections. In Chapters 1-3, we are told about Hosea and his sign. Then we read about the reason behind God's judgment of Israel in Chapters 4-10. Finally, we read about God's plan to reverse the judgments afterward and once again show love to Israel. The first three chapters also contain these three sections.
Through The Eyes of a Prophet (1-3)
In the first chapter, God tells Hosea to marry a woman who would be untrustworthy.
Naming The Children (1:1-2:1)
Then, he tells him to name his first child Jezreel, meaning "God will scatter." This could have a negative or positive connotation, but he calls him this because God is planning to punish Jehu's house for the blood of Jezreel. Jehu was the man who killed all the house of Ahab, but he also went after Ahab's chiefs and friends. He killed everybody.
The second child he names "No Mercy" because God would no longer have mercy on Israel. Imagine how terrifying this name would be. The third child would be called "Not My People." Wouldn't you wonder what God is implying by giving Hosea's child this name? Imagine telling people that your child's name is Not Mine.
What a statement God is making! After calling the third child, "Not My People," he says, "For you are not my people, and I am not your God." This is hugely important. The foundation of Israel is God's promise to Abraham that he would be a God to Abraham's descendants and that they would be his people. This covenantal idea rings through much of the New Testament. God says it repeatedly. But now he says they are not his people and he is not their God. WOW!
Hosea 1:10--2:1 (ESV) --- 10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “Children of the living God.” 11 And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head. And they shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel. 1 Say to your brothers, “You are my people,” and to your sisters, “You have received mercy.”
After that, he tells them that there is coming a day when he will restore the promises made to Abraham. The children of God will be more abundant in number than the sand of the sea. He will call them his people, and he will be their God. Instead of being scattered, he will gather them. Instead of showing them no mercy, he will show them perfect mercy.
Her Prostitution (2:2-13)
In Chapter 2, God shows how he tried to plead with Israel to stop going after other gods. Hosea asks his children to plead with their mother before their father takes away all of the blessings.
Hosea 2:5--10 (ESV) --- 5 For their mother has played the whore; she who conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.’ 6 Therefore I will hedge up her way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her, so that she cannot find her paths. 7 She shall pursue her lovers but not overtake them, and she shall seek them but shall not find them. Then she shall say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband, for it was better for me then than now.’ 8 And she did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil, and who lavished on her silver and gold, which they used for Baal. 9 Therefore I will take back my grain in its time, and my wine in its season, and I will take away my wool and my flax, which were to cover her nakedness. 10 Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one shall rescue her out of my hand.
God reveals that Israel has attributed all of her riches to the foreign gods, like Gomer believes that she received everything she needs from her lovers. In response, God keeps her from going to her lovers. Then, she returns to her husband, thinking it's better to be with him than without anyone. She has no clue that he gave her everything she enjoyed. Now, God will take all of those blessings away from her to show her how empty those lovers were. But he won't leave her desolate.
Steadfast Love (2:14-3:5)
Hosea 2:14--16 (ESV) --- 14 “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. 15 And there I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt. 16 “And in that day, declares the Lord, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’
We see God alluring Israel back to him and transforming the relationship from Israel calling God, "My Baal" (meaning "My Master") to "My Husband." God is going to betroth Israel to himself forever
These are such encouraging words. God's love is staggering.
Hosea is told to exemplify this by telling Hosea to love his unfaithful wife. Then, in verse 2, Hosea goes to this auction block and buys her. Apparently, she has been enslaved. He tells her that she must stop playing the whore and be faithful. Hosea, also, will be loyal to her.
Hosea 3:4--5 (ESV) --- 4 For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods. 5 Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days.
The Word of The Lord (4-10)
In the next section of the book, God goes on in detail about his people's failure to be faithful and know God.
No Knowledge (4)
He places the blame squarely on the shoulders of the priests and prophets. They are the ones responsible for letting everyone know God's will, but they have failed miserably. Verse 8 says, "They feed on the sin of my people." The priests ate the sin offerings, so it was beneficial for them if the people get worse. They can just offer a sin offering to make up for their sins. All people love to worship at the idols' temples because they find prostitutes there and get their fill of wine. God is not pleased.
Wounds of Love (5)
In Chapter 5, God promises to discipline the people. He will wound them in a way that the nations cannot heal. They will turn to the Lord with sacrifices, and they won't find him. God waits for Israel to realize what they have done and turn to him.
Empty Words and Sacrifices Do Nothing (6-7)
In Chapter 6, they do turn to God.
Hosea 6:1--3 (ESV) --- 1 “Come, let us return to the Lord; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. 2 After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. 3 Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.”
But God is not still not happy with them.
Hosea 6:4--6 (ESV) --- 4 What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away. 5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light. 6 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
Why isn't God happy? They came back to him. They said, "Let us know the Lord." They remembered how faithful God had been to them. They even gave him sacrifices, but God says that he doesn't want their sacrifices. He desires steadfast love instead. God wants Israel to be utterly faithful to him. He wants them to love him with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength. They are returning to God to find relief, but their heart is not entirely devoted.
Hosea 6:11--7:1 (ESV) --- 11 For you also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed. When I restore the fortunes of my people, 1 when I would heal Israel, the iniquity of Ephraim is revealed, and the evil deeds of Samaria, for they deal falsely; the thief breaks in, and the bandits raid outside.
Hosea 7:13--16 (ESV) --- 13 Woe to them, for they have strayed from me! Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against me! I would redeem them, but they speak lies against me. 14 They do not cry to me from the heart, but they wail upon their beds; for grain and wine they gash themselves; they rebel against me. 15 Although I trained and strengthened their arms, yet they devise evil against me. 16 They return, but not upward; they are like a treacherous bow; their princes shall fall by the sword because of the insolence of their tongue. This shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.
They are returning to God, but not with their heart. They are returning to God with external obedience. God wants their heart!
Continual Sin (8)
In Chapter 8, he says that they are crying to him and acting as if they know him, but they refuse to stop sinning. They rely on their political leaders whom they have set up to give them what they want. They still rely on their idols. All of their work has nothing to do with the law of God. It has everything to do with their human wisdom.
Hosea 8:11--13 (ESV) --- 11 Because Ephraim has multiplied altars for sinning, they have become to him altars for sinning. 12 Were I to write for him my laws by the ten thousands, they would be regarded as a strange thing. 13 As for my sacrificial offerings, they sacrifice meat and eat it, but the Lord does not accept them. Now he will remember their iniquity and punish their sins; they shall return to Egypt.
They believe that God will be pleased if they just sacrifice more or in a different way.
Mere Words (9-10)
In Chapter 9, God tells them to stop rejoicing and feasting. He will bring them to an end. But the people are still so rich that they refuse to believe it. They mock and scoff Hosea. They call him a crazy fool. So God compares them to the men of Gibeah, who raped a Bethlehemite woman nearly to death. He also compares them to the rebellious generation in Numbers, who failed to enter the promised land. God overwhelmingly wants to make the point that they aren't listening to him, and God will judge them for that.
Chapter 10 concludes this section by telling the people that the more prosperous they are, the more rebellious they become. They act like they are faithful, but they really aren't.
Hosea 10:3--4 (ESV) --- 3 For now they will say: “We have no king, for we do not fear the Lord; and a king---what could he do for us?” 4 They utter mere words; with empty oaths they make covenants; so judgment springs up like poisonous weeds in the furrows of the field.
He tells them that a harsh judgment is coming for all of their evil because they trusted their own ways and a vast army.
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,
The Reversal (11-14)
Chapter 11 starts with fond remembrance, but then immediately points out how far they have run away from God.
Hosea 11:1--2 (ESV) --- 1 When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. 2 The more they were called, the more they went away; they kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning offerings to idols.
Hosea 11:7 (ESV) --- 7 My people are bent on turning away from me, and though they call out to the Most High, he shall not raise them up at all.
They are bent on doing wrong even as they call out to God for help. But notice how God feels about this in verses 8-9
Hosea 11:8--9 (ESV) --- 8 How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender. 9 I will not execute my burning anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath.
God wants to have compassion. He will not utterly destroy them even though they have been worse than any nation before them. He will repurchase them as Hosea did at the beginning of the book.
In Chapters 12 and 13, he tells them to remember the suffering their sin caused and learn from their mistakes. They looked to their prosperity, forgot about God, and stubbornly refused to be what God made them to become. Their nation was destroyed, so they effectively died! God had to ransom them from death and bring them back to life.
The final chapter is a call for Israel to repent of their sins, return to the Lord, and find mercy. After the people genuinely repent of their idolatrous hearts, God will be just as faithful as always. He will heal them and make them more fruitful than ever.
Hosea 14:8--9 (ESV) --- 8 O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and look after you. I am like an evergreen cypress; from me comes your fruit. 9 Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them; for the ways of the Lord are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them.
The last two verses show that God is always producing something. Those who are wise will understand that God is still good and righteous as he lets his people suffer.
What Is The Message?
As we look at Hosea's prophesy as a whole, we see that this is a book about God's love for Israel and Israel's adultery. God wants to explain what spiritual adultery looks like before he judges them for it. Surprisingly, it looks like offering all kinds of sacrifices and believing that you know God when you don't. The priests and prophets have led the people astray from God. Now everyone is going to other gods and other nations, thinking that they will provide them with everything they need. But they don't know God is giving them what they need. They trust in their riches and their army to keep them prosperous, but God will take those riches and that army away from them. He will remove all of their blessings to help them see that they need God, not stuff.
God wants to be a loving husband to Israel. He wants to provide them with everything they need, and he wants them to acknowledge him and follow his commands. In Chapter 11, we see God determine to do that. He is going to redeem Israel like Hosea redeemed Gomer. They will then live together and be faithful to one another.
This is what God has done for us through Jesus. Jesus paid the redemption price for our sins. We are Gomer. We are Israel.
Application
How many people around us believe that going to church appeases God while pursuing their idols? Do we see that as spiritual adultery? That's a pretty strong accusation. Isn't it? God considers this double-mindedness to be unfaithful. James wrote a whole book about acting this way. He knows we are pursuing prosperity in our hearts instead of pursuing God.
Prosperity creates generations that become obsessed with the stuff. Instead of caring about God, all we care about is our stuff. We want more stuff. We think the stuff is ours, and that we earned it. We have multiple generations now that do not genuinely care about God as they pursue idolatry. We are selfish and self-seeking. We speak all the right words, but our hearts are far from God.
What should we do? We are surrounded by this environment today. Hosea's message is so relevant to us. Notice that God's solution is to take everything away to help them understand their sin. But then, he was determined to allure her back to him. We must let God allure us back to him. God does not want to force us into this relationship. He wants to be a husband to us, and he wants us to love him more than anything else. All of this money and prosperity is empty. It does not satisfy. God is the source of it all. Enjoy it, but recognize where it came from and pursue God with all your heart!