Hosea: God's Scandalous Love

HOSEA: THE SCANDAL OF GOD’S LOVE

Introduction:

You came to church to get challenged, didn’t you?

1. I’M ABOUT TO LOSE SOME CREDIBILITY HERE, I hope by the end of the sermon I can get it back:

I logged onto the Jerry Springer web site to check out the kind of SCANDALOUS topics he had been wallowing in lately. Some of the program titles read like this one:

2. “Shocking Confessions! —Cindy broke up with her fiancé because she wanted to date his sister!”

3. “Prostitution Sex Scandals — Lisa has secretly been working as an escort to help pay for her wedding. She likes her new job and she’s here today to tell her fiancé all about it!”

4. 12/23/2003 “It’s Payback Time!”

Renee couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw her boyfriend, Rashaad, holding hands with a transsexual and she plans to confront them both on today’s show! But she never expected that Rashaad would dump her cold for his other lover.

5. get the idea.Scandalous stories of love and betrayal, lies and deceit.

6. Surprised paralleled the story of Hosea.

SCANDALOUS book

7. SERMON TITLE: THE SCANDAL OF Hosea’s LOVE

8. BACKGROUND, The book of Hosea written to a fallen nation- Israel

a. You recall the history of Israel…Promise to Abraham…1500 BC during the time of Moses, the family is recognized as a nation…Joshua lead the conquest of the Promised Land, 400 years of Judges. Saul 1st king 1095 BC… 500 years of kings.

b. David, his son Solomon

Solomon dies in 933 BC.

c. Rheoboam,

d. The people of Israel were crying out to the leaders to lighten the burden of taxes…Rheoboam ask the old men for advice.

e. “If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants.”

f. The young advisers to Rheoboam said: Tell the people: You think Solomon was tough, My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist, my father made it heavy, I will make it heavier, my father scourged you with whips, I will scourge you with scorpions.

g. Israel responded, “What share do we have in David, What part in Jesse’s son? To your tents O Israel, look after your own house O David. 1Kings 12

h. Jeroboam, Son of Nebat, Egypt and made king of Israel, Rheoboam was left with 2 tribes…Judah and Benjamin…10 tribes North, 2 South.

i. Jeroboam instituted a national religion… 2 golden calves…1 in the North in Dan …1 South I Bethel…1 mile from Jerusalem. Smart guy.

j. 19 Kings followed Jeroboam, son of Nebat, not a good one among them. 33 times, “He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, walking in the ways of Jeroboam and his sin which he had caused Israel to commit.”

k. Another Jeroboam arose later in Israel, Jeroboam II, son of Jehoahash. He extended the borders of Israel and recovered all the land that had been lost…

l. While in Judah, king Uzziah restores the land from the Dead Sea to Egypt. God gave Israel back the Promised Land.

m. They dwelt in Abraham’s promised land, but they weren’t Abraham’s children, they didn’t have the faith of Abraham.

n. Jeroboam II rules an ungodly nation…You wouldn’t have known it by visiting… temple, they sang loud and long…prayed loud and long, they seemed sacrificial, BIG PROBLEM:

NO LONGER LOVED GOD…

and so Hosea IS called to preach.

YOU CAME TO CHURCH TO GET CHALLENGED DIDN’T YOU:

NOW LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT HOSEA… THE PREACHER AND HIS SCANDALOUS LOVE FOR A PROSTITUTE …

(Take your notes write Hosea, now close your Bible, put down your pen, and pad) go home and read tonight. Message

Because Israel was such an ungodly party nation, Hosea had probably decided not to marry…. No godly woman…Hosea was commanded to marry a girl named Gomer… I feel sure he loved her…

GOMER DID NOT LOVE JEHOVAH, NOR DID SHE LOVE GOD’ S WORD… And although Hosea brought to that relationship the un-squandered treasure of a pure and noble heart and the zeal of a prophet…it was not enough to overcome the adulterous passions that beat in this prostitutes heart.

ISRAEL WAS A PARTY STATE, BAAL WORSHIP WAS THE RAGE OF THE NATION…The worship of Baal was ended with the act of fornication,,, male prostitutes for women, female prostitutes for the men…CHURCH ATTENDANCE WAS WAY UP AT THE FIRST BAAL BAPTIST, GODLINESS WAS WAY DOWN.

SO… WHILE HOSEA WAS PREACHING THE DOOM AND DESTRUCTION OF ISRAEL EVERY DAY, HE WAS COMING BACK HOME TO A WIFE WHO WAS COMPLAINING AND GRIPING ABOUT NOT SEEING HER OLD FRIENDS… NOT GETTING TO GO TO THE TEMPLE ANYMORE…, NOT BEING ABLE TO DO WHAT THE NEIGHBORS WERE DOING. YOU’RE TOO COMMITED TO THIS YAHWEH.