AGENDA
Hosea 1:1-2:1
Hosea was a prophet who lived and prophesied just before the destruction of Israel in 722 BC. He preached to the Northern Kingdom. This book is a love story--the story of a broken marriage and of the heartache which unfaithfulness brings into a life. It is also the story of God fulfilling His promises when it was not deserved.
Philippians 1:6
The Problem
Hosea 1:1
Hosea prophesied during the reign of seven kings. Of these seven kings, five of them are listed here in our passage. A couple of the ones that followed Jeroboam didn’t reign very long, so that may be why they are left out. Five of these seven kings are said to have continued in the sin of Jeroboam. What was this sin that Jeroboam committed? After the death of Solomon, the nation divided. Rehoboam was the king of Judah in the South and Jeroboam was the king Israel in the North. Jeroboam was afraid that if the people were allowed to go back to Jerusalem to worship God then he would lose his power. Jeroboam was afraid that God would unite both Kingdoms and he would be out of a job. Jeroboam came up with a plan to stop the restoration of Israel as one nation.
1 Kings 12:26-29
Jeroboam created a new god for the Israelites and that god was golden calves. The sin of Jeroboam was starting national idol worship in Israel and this sin is rooted in the fact that Jeroboam wanted to achieve his own personal agenda. He put what he wanted before God’s will and did whatever he had to make sure he got his way.
When we are living our lives according to God’s direction these sorts of things don’t happen, but when we allow Satan a foot-hold in our lives we begin to promote our own wills instead of God’s. Sin is completely based upon selfishness. If Jeroboam had really been worshipping God, he would have seen God’s glory and his own sinfulness and wanted to do God’s will, even if that meant reuniting the kingdom. By the way, Hosea 1:11 shows that was God’s will. So Jeroboam never really experienced God’s presence during his required temple worship times. He didn’t have a relationship with God, and to keep the rest of the nation from having a relationship with God he set up idol worship. Jeroboam wanted the power for himself and to make things worse, he took the whole nation down with him. This first verse of Hosea is not only there to show us the time frame in which we are looking, but more importantly to show us the spiritual climate in which Hosea was ministering.
The Picture
Hosea 1:2-3
Here in this text, we find God asking His prophet to do a very difficult thing. Hosea was commanded to take a wife who would become a prostitute as an example of God’s relationship with Israel. God is painting a picture of this problem for us and is doing it through Hosea’s life. Hosea was to show God’s patience and love while his wife was being unfaithful.
What does this have to do with us living in the New Testament era? As we study this book, we must see the fact that God must always come first in our lives and when He doesn’t, it will affect our relationship with God and also affect our relationships with those around us. So simply speaking, are we faithful or unfaithful to God?
What Do You Think?
Many scholars have debated whether Gomer was already a prostitute when they got married or if she became unfaithful later. Those who say that she was not a prostitute when they married, say that because they think that it presents a moral dilemma. Would God really command his prophet to marry someone that, according to Deuteronomy 22:20 was supposed to be stoned?
On the other hand, some scholars believe that Gomer was already a prostitute when Hosea married her in order for God to show us how He chose the Nation of Israel and later to redeem us through Jesus Christ’s blood although we were prostitutes to sin.
Although none of this really matters, what do you think?
Hosea 1:4-5
The word Jezreel means “God scatters.” This name is an indication of the fact that God was going to punish and scatter the nation for its sinfulness. God says He is going to punish the house of Jehu for what he did at the valley of Jezreel. What did Jehu do? You can read this story in 1 and 2 Kings. God told Jehu to destroy Ahab’s family. Ahab was the husband of Jezebel and they promoted Baal worship in Israel. Now, Jehu did do what God told him to do, but he added something to it; he also killed Joram (2 Kings 9:24), Ahaziah, king of Judah (2 Kings 9:27-28), 42 of Ahaziah’s relatives (2 Kings 10:12-14), and several functionaries of the Baal cult (2 Kings 10:18-28). Though the execution of Baal’s servants was in obedience with the Lord’s will, Jehu’s attack on the house of David went too far. Notice 2 Kings 10:31 shows us that Jehu continued in the sins of Jeroboam. Not only did he kill the sons of Ahab, he killed all possible competition to the throne and claimed God’s permission for doing it. 2 Kings 10:28-29 shows that Jehu kept the golden calf worship. Why? Probably for the same reason as Jeroboam.
Again, we find the problem of having our own agenda. Are our own agendas more important than God? For example, why do you go to church? For some people church is just a social club, for some it is a place to make business contacts, for some it may be to maintain a certain reputation. Many people are guilty of “playing church”, are you?
Just A Thought
What hidden agendas do you have that are more important than God?
Many of us are busy trying to make God fit our agendas. Jeroboam knew that if the people had worshipped God then they would have done what God wanted and re-united the kingdom.
Jeroboam and the Jews changed God into a calf so that He was no longer a Holy God, but just some object that allowed them to do what they wanted. We have a tendency to pursue our own agendas by changing God into something that we think will help us meet our goals. Maybe we don’t turn God into a golden calf, but we have other images of God that do the same thing. Do any of these fit your life?
Some people think of God as a higher power. Star Wars made it popular by calling it “the Force.” The New Age movement just refers to it as a higher power, but what is significant is that God has been changed into this higher power which is just there to help people achieve their own goals. All you have to do is “tap into that higher power” to do whatever you want. Just visualize it and it will happen.
Or maybe our concept of God is not so obviously wrong. Instead we make God into the grandfather image. What do I mean by the grandfather image? God is seen as the kind, loving grandfather, sitting in heaven and not really concerned with what his grandchildren are doing. You know that typically it is the grandparents who spoil the children and let them do what they want and it is the parents who have to discipline them. We want a grandfather God who will indulge and spoil us and not make us obey the rules.
Maybe we have a genie image of God. This is one that makes God into someone who we can pray to for things we want. Can you think of other images of God? What kind of a God do you have?
Hosea 1:6-7
Lo-ruhamah means “no compassion.” This name of Hosea’s second child was to remind Israel that God was not going to have compassion upon them any more. The Message Bible translates Lo-ruhamah as “No Mercy”. Now God would have compassion on Judah. Notice that verse 7 says they would not be saved by bow, sword, etc…; meaning that they would not be the ones to save themselves, but that God would rescue them. After the Assyrians defeated the Northern Kingdom of Israel, they turned on the Southern Kingdom of Judah. The Assyrians conquered almost every little town in the Southern Kingdom, but the night before they were to attack Jerusalem, 185,000 Assyrian soldiers mysteriously died in their sleep. The next morning the army fled home. God is faithful to His promises!
This passage of Scripture is a good example to us for allowing God to deal with those people that wrong us. Let God take care of it!
Deuteronomy 32:35-38
This passage of Scripture is also an indication to us that God only puts up with our “garbage” for so long. Now as Christians, we cannot and will not lose our salvation; but when we are being unfaithful to God and following something or someone else, we should expect God’s discipline and God will do whatever is necessary to get our attention.
What Do You Think?
If you are a Christian, do you believe that God disciplines you? If so, in what ways has He done so? Hebrews 12:4-11
If you are a Christian that did not believe that God disciplines His children, then I pray that this last passage of Scripture has opened your eyes to the truth.
Hosea 1:8-9
Lo-ammi means “not my people”. God is again showing Israel that He is “fed up” with their “junk”. The Message Bible translates Lo-ammi as “Nobody”. Now many Christians would try to use this verse showing that we could lose our salvation, but we must look at this as New Testament believers. John 3:16 tells us that Jesus died for the sins of the entire world, therefore making salvation available for all who will accept. This also means that salvation is an individual choice, where as in the Old Testament the sacrifices were made for the Nation of Israel which included all individuals that were Israelites.
Jewish people believed that God owed them His presence because they were Jews. How does this apply to us today? The Bible tells us that God will never leave or forsake His children, but not everyone who says they are a Christian is a Christian. Don’t think that just because your family or friends are good Christians means that you can ride into Heaven on their “coat-tails” because you will be unpleasantly surprised. You also cannot work your way into Heaven. There is only one way to salvation and that way is Jesus Christ.
Matthew 7:21-23
Are you a child of God? To answer that question yes means that at some point in your life you realized that you were a sinner and that you needed to be saved from eternal death. At that point you believed in your heart and confessed with your mouth that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who died on a cross for your sins and arose from the dead on the third day. If you have never made Jesus your personal Savior then you are not saved. It is simple to do, but it is the only way!
The Promise
Hosea 1:10-2:1
Despite God’s discipline, God tells Hosea that He will eventually restore the nation in the following ways: Numerical growth (1:10a), Spiritual restoration (1:10b), National unification (1:11a), Administrative centralization (1:11b), Territorial occupation (1:11c), and Divine blessing (2:1). Have these promises been fulfilled yet? No.
We must notice Hosea 2:1. God has not forgotten His promise to the Nation of Israel and He will bring them back together, but there is also something very important here for us to see as Christians. Those who are unsaved are walking around in the dark without the mercy of God upon their lives living as a nobody as far as God is concerned; but when they are “born again” they experience the mercy and grace of God. They are no longer scattered about searching for direction, but now live in the light. Christians automatically go from being a “Nobody” to being a “Somebody” in the Kingdom of God. Are you a “Nobody” in God’s eyes or a “Somebody”?
Although the following Scripture is very lengthy, I believe it will give you much to think about concerning God not forgetting the Nation of Israel and how Gentile believers fit into all of this.
Romans 11:1-32
Wednesday Evening Bible Study
Series: Faithful Or Unfaithful (Study In Hosea) #1
May 14, 2003
Bel Aire Baptist Church
Pastor Shawn Drake
