Breaking God's Heart

When We Break God’s Heart Hosea 1–3 and 11:1–9

1. Rejection: It was almost 1 AM when the phone rang. Dr. Leo Winters, the highly acclaimed Chicago surgeon, was abruptly awakened. There had been an accident, and he was needed for immediate surgery. The quickest route happened to be through a rather tough area, but with time being a critical factor, it was worth the risk.

At one of the stoplights, his door was yanked open by a man with a gray hat and a dirty flannel shirt. “I got to have your car!” the man screamed, pulling him from his seat. Winters tried to explain the gravity of the situation, but the man did not care to listen.

When the doctor was finally able to get a taxi to the hospital, over an hour had elapsed, and it was too late, as the patient had passed away. The nurse told him that the father of the victim had gone to the chapel, wondering why the doctor had never come. Dr. Winters walked hurriedly to the chapel, and when he entered, he saw the father… he was wearing a gray hat and a dirty flannel shirt. Tragically, he had pushed from his life the one who could save his son.

Every day, people push from their lives the very One who can save them from the penalty and the power of their sin.

2. Think of the person who means the most to you. It could be a spouse, child, or best friend. You give them everything — your time, your trust, your heart — and they walk away. Do you feel the pain of the knife in your heart? That is a faint echo of what God feels when His people turn from Him. We see it in the outcry of the crowds, the betrayal of Judas, the denials of Peter, and the scattering of the disciples. We know Jesus knows what it is like to be rejected by those closest to Him. [John 1:11 (NKJV), “11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.”

3. For years, I struggled under an improper view of God as vindictive and judgmental rather than loving and compassionate. M. Lucado: If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be hanging on the door.

4. Satan knows he can hurt God by hurting us. He uses rejection and betrayal as weapons to remove us from God.

5. Hosea is a story of betrayal and love reflecting God’s feelings toward His people through the prophet’s experience. Hosea 11:8 (NIV), “How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused.”

I. God’s Covenant of Marriage with an Unholy People (Hosea 1:2–3)

“Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry… for the land commits great harlotry by forsaking the Lord.”

• Hosea’s marriage to Gomer is not just a story — it’s a living parable of God’s love for His people.

• Gomer was a prostitute, as was Israel, as is America.

• God’s relationship with Israel (and with us) is not contractual — it’s covenantal, bound by love and faithfulness.

• Sin, therefore, is not just breaking rules — it’s breaking a relationship.

Illustration: Marriage vows. When one spouse betrays the other, it’s not just a violation of law — it’s the wounding of love. Ketubah

II. God’s Heart Is Wounded by Our Sin (Hosea 2:5, 8, 13)

“She said, ‘I will go after my lovers…’ She did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil.”

• Every sin is a rejection of God.

• The pain He feels is not because His power is threatened but because His love is rejected.

• He is a God of feeling, not a cold sovereign — Hosea shows His anguish:

“How can I give you up, O Ephraim? … My heart recoils within me; My compassion grows warm and tender.” (Hosea 11:8)

Application: When we sin, do not imagine a judge slamming a gavel — but a Father with tears in His eyes.

III. God’s Grace Is Greater Than Our Rebellion (Hosea 3:1–3)

“Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress… so I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver.”

• This is not going through the shallow motions of an external marriage like AOC and her brother.

o Tendency to formalize our connection to God – 5 steps or salvation/5acts of worship

o No relationship, a business contract – owed salvation/blessings – Romans 4:4, “Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due.”

• Hosea buys back Gomer — symbolizing emotion and redemption.