HOSEA
The Heart of God
CHAPTERS ONE THRU THREE
I. Who was Hosea?
A. Hosea lived during the time of the divided kingdom (Israel to the North, Judah to the South)
1. Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah (Judah) reigned between 765 BC to 685 BC (2 Chron. 26-29)
2. Hosea was a prophet to Israel, the Northern Kingdom
3. The primary king of Israel during Hosea was Jeroboam II (II Kings 14:23-29) who "did evil in the eyes of the LORD . . . " This was the darkest part of Israel’s history.
4. II Kings 17:7-23 records the downfall and captivity of Israel into Assyria
5. Judah remained for a time, but was eventually taken into captivity by Babylon (2 Chron. 36:15-23)
B. Hosea’s domestic life in the shadow of his prophecy
1. Hosea married an adulterous woman, as God had commanded him (1:2-3)
a. Many debate the morality of God’s command.
b. Some say Hosea is referring to her as an adulterous as he looks back, that he did not see her that way at the time that he married her.
c. One may wonder if God knew what would happen, why he would command Hosea to marry a prostitute.
d. Gomer than leaves Hosea and he pursues after her, buying her back from adultery (3:1-2).
1. V. 3:2 Hosea pays 15 shekels, a homer and a lethek of barley.
2. The price of a slave was 30 shekels, a homer and lethek of barley were a day’s rations for a slave.
e. This part of Hosea’s life is tragic, but it is not uncommon.
f. But the story of a man pursuing a woman after she has lost all value and has purposefully run away from him is very uncommon.
2. Hosea’s Children
a. Jezreel - "Coming judgement" (1:4-5)
1. II Kings 10:1-17 the massacre of Ahab’s household including his 70 sons by Jehu
2. Jehu admitted to the people that he killed Ahab, but not his 70 sons.
3. Jehu carried out judgement on the house of Ahab, but also on the innocent officials, elders and guardians of Ahab’s children. (II Kings 10:1)
b. Lo-ruhamah - "People not loved" (1:6-7)
c. Lo-Ammi - "People rejected" (1:8-9)
2. Because of Hosea’s domestic life, and the experiences God brought him, nobody better understood the heart of God who suffered for His people Israel.
a. God reveals His heart to us through the experiences He brings our way.
b. Hosea’s broken heart reflected the broken heart of God.
c. It is at times in the midst of the tragedy that we discover the heart of God, ex. Joseph, M & M, Centurion
3. Consequently, nobody understood Hosea’s heart better than God did.
a. Hosea strongly illustrates the real nature of sin and the strength of Divine love.
b. Through Hosea’s anguish at his wife’s sin, we see the emotion of God at our sin.
c. When Hosea was told to go after and love Gomer again, he found the heart of God.
II. Restoration - "A door of Hope"
A. How Gomer was restored to Hosea
1. It was and is still today not uncommon to have unfaithfulness in marriage.
2. But it will always be very uncommon for a person to pursue another who has lost all value and become degraded.
3. Hosea was commanded in 3:1 to "Go, show your love to your wife again . . ."
a. Hosea was not told to restore her, but to love her.
b. God brings, conviction and repentance, we do not (II Tim. 2:23-26)
c. As believers, we are to "gently instruct" the lost, God brings the repentance.
4. V. 1:10-11 show that Israel will be restored, they will again be called His people
5. We too have been restored to God and called his children (I Pet. 2:9-10).
B. "I . . . will make the Valley of Achor a door of Hope."
1. God clearly spells out the punishment that will come upon Israel because of their sin.
(2:2-13)
a. Israel has been as an adulterous to God, chasing after other gods (2:2)
b. The people of Israel are as children born out of adultery (2:2-3)
c. The good things given to her by God, she says are from her lovers, not from God (2:5)
d. God will hedge her in so that she cannot find the way to her lovers (2:6-7)
e. Realizing her true condition, she will be driven back to God, the source of her life (2:7-8, picture of prodigal son (Luke 15:16-20)
f. God will punish her for her unfaithfulness (2:9-13)
2. God chases after Israel, restoring her to His side
a. He will bring her into a desert, and will allure her (2:14)
b. He will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope
1. Valley of Achor is the place where Achan was stoned (Josh. 7:24-26)
2. Means "Valley of Trouble", taken from Achan’s name
3. Achan compromised God’s law and brought trouble upon himself, his family, and the whole nation of Israel. Thirty-six men died and the army of Israel was chased off. (Josh. 7:2-12)
C. A door of hope in the valley of Achor - "Hope in the midst of trouble"
1. We always think of trouble destroying hope, stealing hope, being opposed to hope, polar opposite of hope.
2. Here, God is using trouble to usher in hope.
3. Trouble, as a result of sin is inevitable
a. "We do not break the laws of the universe, we break ourselves upon them."- Stanley Jones
4. Trouble will drive us to hope
a. Prodigal son was driven to father because of his trouble.
b. As witnesses, we are prodigal sons surrounded by other prodigal sons.
c. We have found the Father, they do not even know who the father is.
d. We witness to them the freedom that comes by knowing the Father.
5. Trouble leading to hope is a picture of the Law vs. Grace
a. Because the law cannot be kept, it will always bring death (Gal. 3:10-13)
b. Hope in the midst of trouble reveals God alone (Gal. 3:13)
c. Christ endured the "troubles" of every man that the door of hope would be swung wide for them all. The sorrow of God swings open the door of hope.
d. Hosea viewed Gomer as being very far from Hope, probably wanting to give up on her.
e. Hosea realizes that the Hope God will bring to her will be through himself.
6. A door of hope calls for responsibility
a. Gomer was given a door of hope, but she could still resist the love of Hosea.
b. Israel was given hope many times over, but the choice was still theirs (Deut. 30)
c. As we go through the door, our consciences are reinforced, we are required to repent.
d. The sinner cannot open the door on their own, only love can open the door.
III. Qualities of God revealed
A. God suffers when His people are unfaithful
1. Hosea’s suffering is a picture to him and to us today.
a. "in their distress, He too was distressed" Is. 63:9
2. Each of us bears only our own sorrows, God bears the total sorrows of all man.
3. When we lose a loved one, we have sorrow partly because they are gone
4. God’s sorrow is for the person’s suffering alone. Luke 23:27-31
B. God cannot tolerate sin
1. "Your eyes are too pure to look on evil" Hab. 1:13a
2. Sin destroys man, whom He loves
3. If our sin could be tolerated by Him, His love would be weak.
C. God still loves us, in spite of our sin
1. Hosea was commanded to go and show his love again (3:1)
2. "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.’" (2:23)
D. God seeks the sinner in order to restore
1. "Therefore I am now going to allure her . . . " (2:14)
2. "And if he finds it . . . he is happier about that one sheep than about the 99 that did not wander off." (Matt. 18:13)
3. ". . . if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently." (Gal. 6:1)
4. Hosea’s task was to love Gomer, God would restore her. We on our own cannot do this, God is needed.
5. Did Hosea go after Gomer because he loved her, or because God commanded him? When did his love for her return?
6. Motive for Christian service does not require love for the people you are serving as much as love for God. "Do you love Me? Feed My sheep." Jn. 21:15-18.
IV. Conclusion
A. The sinner cannot open the door of hope, only love can
1. We must reach down to the sinner
2. It requires no more than what we already have - love.
B. The sufferings of God opens the door for all of us
1. The door of salvation is open to all, we need to point the way.
2. We cannot make our own door of hope through our works
C. Those to whom God has given hope are called to give hope to others.
1. We are witnesses of the greatest love.
2. We are examples to the world of hope in the midst of trouble.
Reference: Hosea - The heart and Holiness of God. G. Campbell Morgan. Fleming H. Revell Co., 1907
