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.
BUT THEN ONE DAY, THE ANGEL OF SUFFERING VISITS HOSEA’S HOUSE AND A SON IS BORN TO HIM…God says call him ”Jezreel”… and perhaps Hosea thought of the valley of Jezreel where Israel had gone to fight their battles again and again and though greatly out numbered, had always been victorious. And so he thought VICTORY…This child will take Gomer’s hand and Hosea’s hand and unite them as they had never been united before…
BUT BY DEFINITION JEZREEL MEANS “JEHOVAH SCATTERS”…THE TRUTH WAS THIS CHILD WOULD DRIVE THEM FARTHER APART.
HOSEA WENT ON PREACHING…GOMER WENT ON GRIPING AND COMPLAINING, SPITTING AND CUSSING.
TWO MORE CHILDREN ARE BORN… A daughter …God said “call her Lo Ruhammah…UNPITIED, UNLOVED
UNLOVED…THAT’S HOW IT IS IN HOSEA’S HOUSE… A SON IS BORN… Call him Lo Ammi…NOT/ MY /SON…So the perplexing doubt becomes a terrible certainty, as he knows the cries from the nursery are from another man’s child…. Gomer has gone back to BAAL AND THE PAGAN PARTIES.
1. HERES THE SCANDALOUS HEADLINE IN THE NEWSPAPER, “ISRAEL TODAY”: THE PROPHET AND HIS PROSTITUTE
Gomer would have fit right in to the Jerry Springer setting. The show could have been called: “THE PREACHER MARRIES A Prostitute.” The byline would go something like this: “Clergyman’s wife Becomes a Prostitute.” HE’S PREACHING AND SHE’S PRAYING HE WON’T COME HOME UNTIL THIS TRICK PAYS HER.”
PEOPLE ARE LAUGHING AT THE PROPHET…The prophet’s a fool, he doesn’t even know what’s going on in his OWN bedroom, how’s he supposed to tell us what’s happening in Israel…
THEN ONE DAY HE COMES HOME… HE SMELLS NO FOOD, hears no activity, he hears Jezreel, Lo Ruhammah, and Lo Ammi whimpering in the nursery…ON THE TABLE HE FINDS A NOTE…
”Dear Hosea, I’m leaving you. I don’t love you, I don’t love the children, I don’t like your work, I don’t like your God, I don’t like your friends.
Sincerely But No Longer Yours, Gomer
THAT NIGHT, HOSEA PUTS HIS CHILDREN TO BED TO QUESTIONS OF, “When’s Mommy coming home? Where’s Mommy?…Where’s Mommy?”
AND HOSEA WALKS OUT AND LOOKS AT A STARLESS NIGHT AND A SUNLESS DAY… STARLESS NIGHT AND A SUNLESS DAY… He lies on a tear soaked pillow night after night as it dawns on him that she’s not coming back. She’s not coming home.
NOW HERE’S THE KICKER,
HIS REAL PROBLEM……
HE STILL LOVES HER…
IF ONLY HE COULD STOP LOVING HER, MAYBE THE PAIN WOULD STOP…IF ONLY HE COULD FORGE AHEAD WITHOUT HER AND GO ON WITH HIS LIFE…BUT HE CAN’T…HE STILL LOVES HER.
STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP
LOOKING BACK ON THAT EXPERIENCE, HOSEA SAW DEEPER INTO THE HEART OF GOD THAN ANYONE HAD EVER SEEN BEFORE CALVARY…
and from chapter 4 to the end of the book he makes three points over and over and over again..
1. THE REAL NATURE OF SIN
We count sin as a TRIFLE…Hosea JUDGED it as a TRAGEDY.
WE CONSIDER SIN A NUISANCE , HOSEA SAW IT AS A NIGHTMARE
WE SEE SIN AS AN INCONVENIENCE, HOSEA SAW SIN AS A CATASROPHE.
Stop and think about the three worst sins…gossip, greed, selfish ambition.
HOSEA FOUND OUT HOW GOD FELT ABOUT SIN…16 TIMES…SIN=WHOREDOM…THE SINNER IS A WHORE. A
WHORE…MAKES YOUR FLESH CRAWL…UNPLEASANT…OFFENSIVE…
WHORE… THAT’S YOU AND ME WHEN WE WALK INTO SIN WITH OUR EYES WIDE OPEN…
At work …dirty joke, yuk it up with fellas…whore
…At home …hop on the internet…pornography….whore
…At church...GOSSIP, SLANDER TOWARD A SISTER/SILENT/WHOREDOM.
…SEE A NEED, A NEED GOD HAS PLACED IN YOUR LIFE, greed RATHER than gratitude …love your money more than God…Whore
2:5- THEIR MOTHER HAS PLAYED THE HARLOT…SHE SAID, ‘I WILL GO AFTER MY LOVERS WHO GIVE ME MY BREAD AND MY WATER, MY WOOL AND MY FLAX, MY OIL AND DRINK.
MATERIAL GREED RULED THE HEART AND LEAD THEM FORGET GOD.
HOSEA SAW SIN AS WHOREDOM AND THE SINNER A WHORE, HE SAW SIN THE WAY GOD SEES IT. SIN IS AGAINST THE LOVE OF GOD, AND HIS COVENANT OF LOVE. IT’S NOT BREAKING A COMMANDMENT, ITS BREAKING A COVENANT OF LOVE. IT’S BETRAYING A TRUSTED FRIEND. THAT’S WHY THE WHOLE LAW CAN BE SUMMED UP LIKE THIS: LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD…
SIN IS WHOREDOM BECAUSE IT MEANS YOU HAVE CHOSEN ANOTHER LOVER.
THE SECOND THING HOSEA LEARNED
II. SIN MAKES GOD SUFFER
…I knew that…you know Calvary…
HINDU RELIGION…5-10 million gods…How many suffer? NONE…we don’t have any weak gods like your Jesus.
HOSEA SAW GOD SUFFER…HOW DID HOSEA KNOW GOD SUFFERED? Your experience with Gomer is parallel with my experience with Israel…
HOSEA’S PREACHING ONE DAY AND HE LOOKS ACROSS THE STREET AND SEES THE MAYOR WITH GOMER ON HIS ARM… AND HE HURTS.
ANOTHER DAY HE’S PREACHING… and he sees Gomer with one of the temple priests…AND HE HURTS DEEPLY
THE NEXT DAY …he sees her with one of his friends who had left God … and HIS HEART IS GRIEVED …
BECAUSE HERE’S HIS PAIN…
HE STILL LOVES HER… IF ONLY HE COULD STOP LOVING HER…
THEN HE REASONS… IF A FINITE CREATURE LIKE MYSELF FEELS THIS MUCH PAIN AT THE LOSS OF FAITHFULNESS, THEN HOW DOES AN INFINITE GOD OF LOVE FEEL WHEN HIS PEOPLE ARE UNFAITHFUL?
IT’S ONLY A SMALL SIN DOUG...EVERY WIFE DISREPECTS THEIR HUSBAND…WHOREDOM….
IT’S NOT A BIG DEAL IF I HAVE BITTERNESS TOWARD A BROTHER OR SISTER…WHOREDOM
WHAT’S WRONG WITH ME LOOKING AT PORNOGRAPHY ON THE INTERNET OR FLIRTING, IT DOESN’T HURT ANYBODY… WHOREDOM.
GOD SUFFERS LIKE YOU’D SUFFER IF YOUR WIFE OR HUSBAND BROUGHT A LOVER TO CHURCH WITH THEM TODAY.
IT’S A BIOLOGICAL FACT THAT YOU CAN GRADE THE LEVEL OF AN ANIMALS EXISTENCE BY IT’S ABILITY TO FEEL PAIN…
1. Crabs are so low on the pain scale that one crab can enjoy eating a second while he is being eaten by a third. Crabs just don’t feel much
2.Dogs are higher on the pain scale…10th grade…QUEENIE, BLUE TICK COON DOG, COLD WINTERS IN Kentucky…fire…the mother had covered the pups to protect them from the fire… Dogs are higher on the pain scale THAN CRABS.
3. Talk to our friends in Dallas…their young son died in a drowning accident…They will always feel pain…
4. Does that dog feel more than that crab? Is that mother higher than that dog? Is that mother higher than that crab? God suffers infinitely more than that dog and infinitely more than any parent. His capacity for pain and sorrow is so much greater.
5. GOD SUFFRS INFINITE PAIN OVER YOUR SIN AND MINE…
6. WHY DO WE GO ON HURTING GOD? WHAT’S WRONG WITH US? stop
7. MY DAD, CHESTER REEFUS VANCE, 91, I GREW UP FEARING MY FATHER’S BELT… I’ve grown to fear his frown more. I don’t love and respect my dad anymore because I fear his punishment, I love and respect him because I want to please him and make him happy. He loves hats, I buy him hats,…He has arthritis in his knees, I love to rub his knees.
THE GREATEST PLEASURE THAT WE CAN GIVE GOD IS TO LOVE HIM AND BE FAITHFUL…
THE GOD WHO CREATED US WANTS AN INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP WITH US. HOW INTIMATE?
THE MOST INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP ON EARTH IS MARRIAGE- GOD WANTS YOU TO KNOW HIS DESIRE TO BE MARRIED TO YOU FOR ETERNITY…
2 CORINTHIANS 11:2 “I PROMISED YOU TO ONE HUSBAND, TO CHRIST.
YOU ARE MARRIED TO CHRIST. THE DAY YOU WERE BAPTIZED WAS YOUR WEDDING DAY. ON THAT DAY YOU MADE A COVENANT WITH CHRIST AND VOWED TO BE FAITHFUL TO HIM AND HIM ALONE. IT WAS HE WHO DRESSED YOU IN WHITE WEDDING CLOTHES AND SAID, “THIS ONE IS MINE.”
1. WHEN YOU CLING TO SIN, YOU SAY TO JESUS CHRIST, I DON’T LOVE YOU, I LOVE THIS THING MORE.
2. LEAVE YOUR LIFE OF SIN…SECRET SIN…CONFESS IT…RENOUNCE IT.
HOSEA 6:6 GOD’S DESIRE FROM YOU:
FOR I DESIRE STEDFAST LOVE AND NOT SACRIFICE, THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD, RATHER THAN BURNT OFFERINGS.
STILL WANT TO GET CHALLENGED????
3. THE THIRD THING HOSEA LEARNED… GOD IS EAGER TO FORGIVE.
HOSEA PREACHED ‘SIN IS WHOREDOM’
HE PREACHED ‘SIN MAKES GOD SUFFER’
HOSEA PREACHED ‘GOD IS EAGER TO FORGIVE’
ONE DAY HE’S PREACHING…and he sees his wife walking on the other side of the street…stay here…he runs across the street and stands in front of her and her lover…he pleads with her, honey, I love you… the children still cry themselves to sleep at night, they ask, “when is mommy coming home?” What should I tell them?
DIDN’T YOU READ THE NOTE, LOSER? I DON’T LOVE YOU AND I DON’T LOVE YOUR KIDS! BUT we love you so much, we miss you so much. She turns and walks away.
(Hosea cups his hands),Honey remember you can come home anytime…
WITH THE PLEA OF A LOVING HUSBAND RINGING IN HER EARS, SHE WALKS AWAY INTO HER HELLISH WHORISH LIFE.
MORE SADNESS TO COME…the years pass, the prostitute grows old. New York … old prostitutes competing with young-sad, sad sight.
ONE DAY HOSEA’S PREACHING, somebody comes in, “Your wife’s selling herself at the marketplace…
MAN, HOW SHE HATES HIM AND THE KIDS, SHE’D RATHER SELL HERSELF INTO SLAVERY THAN SAY I’M SORRY…
SHE’S NOT LIKE US, WE REPENT SO QUICKLY, WE’RE SO QUICK TO APOLOGIZE TO OUR SPOUSE OR FRIENDS WHEN WE’VE HURT THEM…BUT SHE IS SO PROUD.
HOSEA COULD HAVE SAID, FINE, I’M THROUGH…But instead he runs to his house and gets his money…hears the auctioneer…what’s my bid for this woman, I know she’s not pretty, she’s old and ugly…she can dress your kids and watch them while you go to your parties…she can sweep your floors…CLEAN YOUR TOILETS, what’s my bid? Somebody bid three pieces of silver and Hosea raised it to five. Somebody else upped it to eight and Hosea bid ten. Somebody went to eleven…HOSEA RUNS UP, I BID 15 SHEKELS OF SILVER AND A HOMER AND A HALF OF BARLEY… THE GAVEL COMES DOWN…SOLD…GET THAT STINKIN WHORE OUTTA HERE.
STOPSTOP STOP STOP STOP STOP STOPSTOP STOP STOP
HOSEA HAS HIS WIFE BACK. TAKES HER HOME AND SAYS, “You are to live with me many days, you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any other man, and I will live with you.
THE SCANDAL OF HOSEA’S LOVE IS THE SCANDAL OF GOD’S LOVE
We would choose to love someone who loved us. YOU AND I would look for someone we thought would be faithful to us. But God chose the cast of the Jerry Springer show.
THIS CAN’T BE GOOD FOR JEHOVAH’S REPUTATION IN THE RELIGIOUS COMMUNTIY.
We keep thinking that God only loves good people, but God loves sinners. He pursues them like he asked Hosea to pursue Gomer. In his pain he goes looking for them. He is betrayed but he longs for them. When they become enslaved by their sins, he buys them back. The Bible describes our predicament: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one” (Romans 3:10-12). But in spite of that, God did something completely irrational — he loved us and sought for a way to buy us out of our slavery to sin. The Bible says, “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect” (1 Peter 1:18-19). “You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
15 SHEKELS OF SILVER AND A HOMER AND HALF OF BARLEY.
HOSEA HAS HIS WIFE BACK. TAKES HER HOME.
THE STORY’S OVER…The curtain falls…what happened…I don’t know…I don’t know…I’d like to believe what you would… that Hosea’s love conquered all, but I can’t, GOMER’S STORY PARALLELS ISRAEL AND ISRAEL NEVER REPENTED. ISRAEL NEVER STOPPED HER WHORING WAYS. ISAIAH 65:2- “ALL DAY LONG I HAVE STRETCHED OUT MY HANDS TO A DISOBEDIENT AND OBSTINATE PEOPLE.” ISN’T IT SCANDALOUS FOR GOD TO STAND ALL DAY LONG AND PLEAD FOR HIS UNFAITHFUL WIFE TO COME BACK HOME?
STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP
SOME OF YOUR HEARTS ARE HARDER THAN THEY WERE WHEN YOU FIRST BECAME DISCIPLES…
YOUR MORAL STANDARDS, YOUR DATING STANDARDS AREN’T AS HIGH. THE RULES ARE GONE. NOBODY’S MAKING YOU DO SOMETHING. BUT MANY ARE SITTING DOWN AT THE TABLE OF COMPROMISE AND NEGOTIATING WITH SATAN IN YOUR HEART…YOU’RE NOT HONORING GOD IN YOUR DATING RELATIONSHIP. YOUR STANDARD IS NOT A LAW, IT’S A LOVE FOR GOD. IT’S A HIGHER STANDARD.
FOR SOME, YOUR LOVE FOR JESUS DOES NOT BURN AS BRIGHT AS IT ONCE DID.
You put off reading your Bible and you find no pleasure in praying or worshipping God. You don’t want to come to church because you don’t love the kingdom any more.
Giving is a burden, you have no faith that God will take care of you when you give sacrificially.
SOME OF YOU HAVE LOST THE HEART TO ATTEMPT GREAT THINGS FOR GOD. TO DREAM GREAT DREAMS. SOME OF YOU NEED TO PLAN A MISSION PLANTING. SOME OF YOU HAVE BEEN CALLED BY GOD FOR FULL TIME MISSIONARYS.
FOR SOME, YOUR GOALS AND DREAMS AREN’T AS HIGH AS THEY ONCE WERE. YOU NO LONGER DREAM OF GREAT THINGS FOR GOD. YOU’VE STOPPED SHARING YOUR FAITH, THERE IS NO LOVE FOR THE LOST SOULS OF YOUR CITY.
YOU CAME TO CHURCH TO GET CHALLENGED, RIGHT?
CHALLENGE: GO BACK TO YOUR CITY, your town, your home WITH A RENEWED HEART OF COMPASSION FOR THOSE WHO ARE ON SATAN’S SLAVE BLOCK. MAKE A LIST OF TEN PEOPLE YOU WANT TO SEE SAVED. PRAY FOR THEM EVERY DAY…PRAY GOD TO CHANGE YOUR HEART. GO BECAUSE YOU LOVE GOD, GO BECAUSE GOD HAS MARRIED YOU AND GIVEN YOU A MISSION.
SOME OF YOU HERE NEED TO IMPACT THE WORLD BY ADOPTING A CHILD FROM ANOTHER COUNTRY. IF YOU CAN’T GO, BRING THE COUNTRY TO YOUR HOUSE.
SOME ARE VISITING TODAY, YOU KNOW THAT YOU’VE HURT GOD DEEPLY, YOU KNOW YOU NEED TO STUDY THE BIBLE AND FIND OUT WHAT IT MEANS TO BE MARRIED TO GOD. WHY WON’T YOU START HEADING HOME, ASK SOMEONE TO HELP YOU…
SOME HAVE BEEN STUDYING…YOU ARE HESITATING WITH YOUR DECISION TO MARRY YOUR MAKER, YOUR HESITATING TO DECLARE TO GOD AND THE WORLD THAT YOU’RE SICK AND TIRED OF BEING A SLAVE TO SATAN AND HIS ABUSE.
WHY WON’T YOU FLEE TO ARMS OF A LOVING GOD WHO WANTS TO FORGIVE?
SOME OF YOU HAVE BECOME DISCIPLES, . You’re being unfaithful to God with secret sin, NOBODY KNOWS, GOD KNOWS, GOD IS THE ONE YOU ARE HURTING…WON’T YOU DECIDE TODAY TO STOP HURTING GOD?
HOSEA TELLS US THAT OUR GOD FINDS US IRRESISTABLE; OUR GOD HAS A SCANDALOUS ATTRACTION TO YOU. IT’S SHAMEFUL, YOU DON’T DESERVE A HUSBAND LIKE HIM. IT’S EMBARASSING FOR ANY SELF RESPECTING GOD BRING HOME AN UNFAITHFUL WIFE. IT’S APPALLING, IT’S NOT A POLITE LOVE.
TODAY, YOU AND I NEED TO TAKE ANOTHER LOOK AT OUR HUSBAND….
He is altogether pure and hates sin.
He hurts deeply over YOUR sin MINE.
He is a husband who is eager to forgive.
TODAY IS THE DAY…
RENEW YOUR WEDDING VOWS TO GOD…
RENEW YOUR COVENANT WITH YOUR GOD…
TALK TO SOMEONE TODAY, DON’T LEAVE TODAY WITHOUT MAKING DECISIONS.
PLEDGE TO HIM A PURE HEART OF DEVOTION…
PLEDGE TO HIM A LOYALTY THAT REFUSES TO COMPROMISE WITH SATAN AND SIN.
(CUP YOUR HANDS): YOU CAN COME HOME ANYTIME….
WOULD YOU BOW YOUR HEADS AND PRAY YOUR PRAYER AND TELL GOD YOU HOW YOU WANT TO COME HOME TODAY.
