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Hosea 1:1 The word of the LORD that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the reign of Jeroboam son of Jehoash king of Israel:
2 When the LORD began to speak through Hosea, the LORD said to him, "Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness, because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the LORD."
3 So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim…
5 …and she conceived and bore him a son.
4 Then the LORD said to Hosea, "Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel.
6 Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the LORD said to Hosea, "Call her Lo-Ruhamah, for I will no longer show love to the house of Israel, that I should at all forgive them…”
8 After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, Gomer had another son.
9 Then the LORD said, "Call him Lo-Ammi, for you are not my people, and I am not your God.
Last week, we discussed that this story is not just about Hosea and Gomer, it’s about you and me…
We have been unfaithful – so how does God treat those who have wandered from Him?
God was brokenhearted about their unfaithfulness:
Hosea 11:1 "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.
2 But the more I called Israel, the further they went from me. They sacrificed to the Baals and they burned incense to images.
3 It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms; but they did not realize it was I who healed them.
4 I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love; I lifted the yoke from their neck and bent down to feed them…
7 My people are determined to turn from me. Even if they call to the Most High, he will by no means exalt them.
8 "How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel?
But last week, he promised a return, a restoration of all that sin had broken:
10 "Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' they will be called 'sons of the living God.'
11 The people of Judah and the people of Israel will be reunited, and they will appoint one leader and will come up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel.
“Jezreel” can mean “God scatters” – like broken pieces.
Or it can mean “God sows” – scattered, not like broken pieces but like seed.
The day of God’s sowing. He’s going to take the seeds, and bring about a harvest of blessing. He knows where every piece has fallen.
But how is he going to do that?
1. God draws us with kindness.
Hosea 2:14 "Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her.
Prevenient grace – grace before grace.
“God’s kindness leads you toward repentance.” Romans 2:14
Joseph & Mary – she appeared to have been unfaithful. His options:
Public disgrace & stoning
Private divorce “because he was a just man, He planned to put here away privately”
But God in his wisdom, comes with a messenger of a 3rd option – “do not be afraid to take her.”
In the same way, when
2. God blesses us with good things.
15 There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt.
God has blessed you.
Even many of the things he has taken from you, justly, he has given back.
Don’t miss this – don’t think that it’s your wisdom, and things are “just turning around.”
3. God speaks good over us.
16 "In that day," declares the LORD, "you will call me 'my husband'; you will no longer call me 'my master. '
17 I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips; no longer will their names be invoked…
19 I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion.
20 I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the LORD…
23 I will plant her for myself in the land; I will show my love to the one I called 'Not my loved one. 'I will say to those called 'Not my people, ''You are my people'; and they will say, 'You are my God.'"
Our part:
Hosea 6:1 "Come, let us return to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds.
2 After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence.
3 Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth."
3 Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth."
Hosea & Gomer’s story:
Hosea 3:1 The LORD said to me, "Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes."
Gomer was horrified. Her “lover” turned cruel.
She never thought she would be here.
Her stomach growled, the chains on her wrists bit into them, but she barely noticed, because of the numbness in her heart.
What a fool I was – why didn’t I see what I had? He tried to tell me. Others tried to tell me.
Oh, Hosea… if only I had heard. He was good to me. I remember sitting by the fire with him at night. I remember how I felt the first time he came and showed me attention. If he could only see me now. He’d probably just laugh, and say it’s what I deserve.
A tear streaked through the dirt on her cheek. She wiped it off with her shoulder. Then another.
Here I stand – in line with other hopeless women, with empty eyes, waiting my turn to stand on the slave auction block.
I’m next. I wonder how much I’ll bring.
The auctioneer smiles and pulls me up onto the stand. His hands are a little too free. I shudder and pull away from his touch.
“Gentlemen, a fine
I see several faces in this crowd who know me… who know what I am. Men run their eyes up and down me, wondering how much is left.
2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley.
3 Then I told her, "You are to live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will live with you."
We’ve all been slaves of sin. “I am fleshly, sold under sin.” Romans 7
But then, Jesus came!
He paid the price.
Jesus and the Bird Cage
Paul Harvey
Boston preacher Dr. S.D. Gordon, placed a beat up, bent, rusted old bird cage beside his pulpit when he told this story.
An unkempt, unwashed, little lad about 10 years old was coming up the alley swinging this old caved in bird cage with several tiny birds shivering on the floor of it.
The compassionate Dr. Gordon asked the boy where he got the birds.
He said he trapped them.
Dr. Gordon asked what he was going to do with them.
The boy said he was going to play with them and have fun with them.
The preacher said, “Sooner or later you’ll get tired of them. Then what are you going to do with them?”
The lad said, “I have some cats at home. They like birds. I’ll feed them to my cats.”
Dr. Gordon said, “Son, how much do you want for the birds?”
The boy, surprised, hesitated and said, “Mister, you don’t want these birds. There just plain old field birds. They can’t even sing. They’re ugly.”
The preacher said, “Just tell me. How much do you want?”
The grubby little lad thought about it. He squinted up one eye. He calculated and hesitated and said, “Two dollars?”
To his surprise Dr. Gordon reached into his pocket and handed the boy two, one dollar bills.
The preacher took the cage.
The boy, in a wink, hurried up the alley.
In a sheltered crevice between buildings, Dr. Gordon opened the door of the cage and tapping on the rusty exterior he encouraged the little birds, one at a time, to find their way out through the narrow door and fly away.
Thus having accounted for the empty cage beside his pulpit, the preacher went on to tell what seemed, at first, like a separate story.
About how once upon a time, Jesus and the Devil had engaged in a negotiation.
Satan had boasted how he’d baited a trap in Eden’s garden and caught himself a world full of people.
“What are you going to do with all those people in your cage” Jesus wanted to know.
The Devil said, “I’m going to play with em’, tease em’. Make them marry and divorce and fight and kill one another. I’m going to teach them to throw bombs on one another. I’m going to have fun with them!”
Jesus said, “You can’t have fun with them forever. When you get tired of playing, what are you going to do with them?”
Satan said, “Damn them! They’re no good anyway! Damn them! Kill them!”
Jesus said, “How much do you want for them?”
Satan said, “You can’t be serious! If I sell them to you, they’ll just spit on you. They’ll hate you. They’ll hit you and beat you. They’ll hammer nails into you! They’re no good.”
Jesus said, “How much?”
Satan said, “All of your tears and all of your blood. That’s the price.”
Jesus took the cage, and paid the price, and opened the door.
____________________________________________________________
Hosea 1:1 The word of the LORD that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the reign of Jeroboam son of Jehoash king of Israel:
2 When the LORD began to speak through Hosea, the LORD said to him, "Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness, because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the LORD."
3 So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim…
5 …and she conceived and bore him a son.
4 Then the LORD said to Hosea, "Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel.
6 Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the LORD said to Hosea, "Call her Lo-Ruhamah, for I will no longer show love to the house of Israel, that I should at all forgive them…”
8 After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, Gomer had another son.
9 Then the LORD said, "Call him Lo-Ammi, for you are not my people, and I am not your God.
God was brokenhearted about their unfaithfulness:
Hosea 11:1 "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.
2 But the more I called Israel, the further they went from me. They sacrificed to the Baals and they burned incense to images.
3 It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms; but they did not realize it was I who healed them…
8 "How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel?
But God promised a return, a restoration of all that sin had broken:
10 "Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' they will be called 'sons of the living God.'
11 The people of Judah and the people of Israel will be reunited, and they will appoint one leader and will come up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel.
How does God treat those who wander from him?
1. God draws us with _______________________.
Hosea 2:14 "Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her.
“God’s kindness leads you toward repentance.” Romans 2:14
2. God blesses us with _________________________.
15 There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt.
3. God speaks ____________________ over us.
16 "In that day," declares the LORD, "you will call me 'my husband'; you will no longer call me 'my master. '
17 I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips; no longer will their names be invoked…
19 I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion.
20 I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the LORD…
23 I will plant her for myself in the land; I will show my love to the one I called 'Not my loved one. 'I will say to those called 'Not my people, ''You are my people'; and they will say, 'You are my God.'"
Our part:
Hosea 6:1 "Come, let us return to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds.
2 After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence.
3 Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth."
Hosea & Gomer’s story:
Hosea 3:1 The LORD said to me, "Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes."
2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley.
3 Then I told her, "You are to live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will live w
