True Love
Notes
Transcript
This morning we are beginning a new series entitled “Boundless.” And specifically we are going to be looking at the boundless love that God has for his people.
Let me ask you a question this morning. If I asked you how would you define the word love. Some of you might think of a person, or an event, or an emotion perhaps. Merriam-Webster has listed nine different possible definitions for what Love is. You may have heard pastors speak on the numerous different words that both the Greeks and the Jews had for our singular word Love. And how each of these expresses a slightly different form or concept of what love is. The idea of love is actually very complex and so there is no simple means by which we might define this word. For some to sit and discuss the idea of what love is is an amazing exercise. For others if I were to ask what the word means to you would draw a blank at first perhaps.
Every day we see the results of an unloving and unlovely society.
Everyone preaches love and unity but so many live lives of division and in fact I would say hatred. We need to seek a better way. We need to turn to God to heal our hearts, minds, and souls. So that we might begin to love rightly. To love our spouses, our children, and our friends in the ways that God has ordained and set for each of those relationships. Because when we do this we will become like Jesus before this world. And he will use us as instruments of grace in the hands of our redeemer as a means to show love to this loveless world.
Over the next several weeks we are going to look at God’s love for Israel as it is put on full display before Israel in the person and marriage of Hosea. God is going to ask Hosea to express his love for his wife in some very important ways that are symbolic of God’s love for His people. My hope is that over the next several weeks we can begin to not only see ourselves in Hosea’s wife because that is the part that we all play every day. But, that we then begin to see God’s great love towards each one of us. And through this we begin to see what healthy love looks like.
Read our Passage
The word of the Lord that came to Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.
When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.” So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
And the Lord said to him, “Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.”
She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the Lord said to him, “Call her name No Mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all. But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God. I will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.”
When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son. And the Lord said, “Call his name Not My People, for you are not my people, and I am not your God.”
Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “Children of the living God.” And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head. And they shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel.
Say to your brothers, “You are my people,” and to your sisters, “You have received mercy.”
First let’s discuss some important background information to our story.
The people of Israel had become what is called synchronistic in their worship. What that means is that they had synthesized worship of Yahew the God of Israel with what at the time was called Baal worship. So the Jewish people had incorporated worship of Baal with their worship of God. Baal was predominately seen as a god who provided bountiful crops. He was a god of fertility. The primary means by which Baal worship was conducted was that the Farmer, seeking a good harvest from his crops, would go to the temple of Baal and visit the temple prostitutes and he would pay for the opportunity to deposit his seed within the fertile grounds. Aright so, hopefully, You get the picture that was being presented and this had become a form of worship to Baal. This is an important picture to see because God is going to use this picture as a pronouncement against Israel’s sinful ways.
And so God is going to use this idea as the foundation between Hosea’s relationship with his wife Gomer and thus by extension the relationship between God and His people. There are going to be essentially three stages of this relationship expressed in the first three chapters. First, we will see how this sinful adulterous relationship between Gomer and Hosea destroys what is meant to be a covenantal relationship, and again by extension the same must be true of the relationship between God and Israel. Second, in chapter two God is going to chastise Israel and begin the work of redemption. Finally, in chapter three we will see the betrayal of Israel towards God, and an unwillingness to simply allow the relationship to continue without change by God, and then the surprising underserved mercy of God’s love.
We should see in Gomers representation as a prostitute the serious nature of our own sinfulness towards God. And then the glorious greatness of God’s love for us. There is this picture presented in this family and the naming of the children. There are two possible options essentially. we are either faithful to our covenantal commitments to God and a part of His family or we are simply not a part of His family. It is presented in this very stark black and white manner. What we will see in this story is that every time we break our commitment to God he will by his very nature extend towards us His loving mercy. This love and mercy is completely underserved, but God will always extend it towards his children and towards those with whom He has entered into a covenant relationship with. The question for us to answer in these moments is: How will we respond to his gracious gift of love?
The word of the Lord that came to Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.
Verse one is given so that we can look back and understand the times in which Hosea was called to be a prophet among the people of God. Verse one reads, “The word of the Lord that came to Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.” So what we know is that this was during a period in which Israel had split into two Kingdoms the southern kingdom of Judah and the northern kingdom of Israel.
Divided Kingdom
We also know that this time period was quite prosperous for Israel. So, this is relatively speaking from a governmental perspective at least a good time in Israel’s history. From a religious perspective however it was one of the darkest periods in Israels history.
This leads us to verse two where we read, “When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.”
When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.”
I always find it interesting in that I have spoken with several young men over my time as a pastor who have said that they desire to be used by God as a prophet among the people. I always look at them sideways, like you haven’t read the prophets have you. Their stories are not pleasant ones for the prophet typically. I’m Just saying. And well, Hosea is no different. So, first off God tells Hosea to take a prostitute for a wife. I believe that the ESV uses the word whoredom to really jar our minds. Because, our minds should be in shock at what God just asked Hosea to do. God tells Hosea to take to himself a woman who receives money from men for sex and to make that woman his wife. Yep, that’s right. Oh, and let’s not stop there. Hosea raise the children that she will have from her profession as your own. That’s right two of these children spoken of not his children. Why does God ask Hosea to do this? God says, “because the land (being the nation of Israel, the people of God) commit great whoredom ( they have sold their souls and their seeds to the temple prostitutes in worship of some false idol called Baal) and by doing so they have forsaken their covenantal relationship with the one true God, Yahweh. And so God is going to use this marriage between Hosea and Gomer to represent that relationship. So hey what’s a guy to do when God commands it? Well, Hosea is going to do exactly what his mother and his father always dreamt of for their wonderful God fearing son. Oh the wife that the Lord will bless their son with one day for his obedience… Well…. I can not imagine.
In verse three we read, “So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.”
So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
The idea that God would require an obedient servant committed to serve Him to marry a prostitute is really difficult to wrap our minds around. In fact for many they try to explain this away and they want to say that this isn’t really what happened or that Gomer never really existed it is simply a spiritualized story of allegory meant to scare us straight so to speak. But, the language is plain and it is clear. There is nothing that hints at anything other than a real marriage, and a real relationship between Hosea and Gomer. And Gomer is a prostitute. Gomer actively seeks to make an income by selling her body sexually to men other than her husband. That was her occupation prior to marriage and it appears that she chose to continue in this occupation after marriage as well. We need to remember that Gomer is meant to symbolize the sinful realities of the people of God during this time and their adulterous relationship with the religion of Baalism. This is God’s desire and design for the relationship between Hosea and Gomer.
I know it is really hard to look past the surface realities of this relationship that are presented. But, In deciding obedience, Hosea has allowed himself to taste and know the bitterness of the pain that God feels. As well as the desire to love a person or a people who do not deserve that love and mercy. I do believe that Hosea loves Gomer deeply. And I can not imagine the pain that he experiences every time she leaves the house. The nation of Israel by their unfaithful worship of Baal and participation in the sexual activities in this fertility cult, have defiled themselves and rejected the love of God. No different than Gomer in relation to Hosea. We should see the seriousness with which God sees this problem. Every time that we allow something to draw us away from worship to God and into worship of it we need to see ourselves as Gomer. The difficulty is that we don’t often times see ourselves as worshippers of things around us. But we are. It can be work, or a relationship, or money, or anything that draws us from the love of God. When this happens we have in essence placed ourselves in this story as Gomer the prostitute.
The next several verses are going to discuss the naming of three children that Gomer is going to have. The first one is the child of Hosea and we read in verses four and five, “And the Lord said to him, “Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.”
And the Lord said to him, “Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.”
By naming Hoseas first son Jezreel the people of Israel are reminded of the innocent bloodshed that Jehu had brought in overthrowing Jezreel. And what this prophecy that the Lord speaks implies is - that just as Jehu’s reign began in bloodshed so shall the house of Jehu end. King Jeroboam the second is a descendent of Jehu he has a son who will come to reign upon Jeroboams death. This son, Zechariah reigns for six short months and is assassinated. Zechariah is the last descendant of Jehu to sit upon the throne of Israel. And in this way God brings punishment upon the house of Jehu. Then thirty years later the “bow” or the army of Israel is defeated and Israel is taken into exile by Assyria. Thus bringing an end to the kingdom of Israel. Israel from the fall to Assyria until today will not have a king sit upon a throne in her midst. Bringing all of the prophecy stated here to reality. And so, Hosea is commanded to name his first child in a way that will continually remind Israel of their coming demise.
Gomer then is said to have a second child in verses six and seven where we read, “She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the Lord said to him, “Call her name No Mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all. But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God. I will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.”
She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the Lord said to him, “Call her name No Mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all. But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God. I will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.”
This second child is a daughter and it is not stated to be the child of Hosea. And so most consider this child and the next to be the children of whoredom that the Lord spoke of initially to Hosea. And here just as previously God chooses to name this child, but this time he chooses the name “No Mercy.” Can you imagine deciding to name your child “No Mercy.” And yet Hosea is obedient and he follows the command of the Lord. And he names his first daughter whom I have no doubt he loved dearly even though he is not truly her father, “No Mercy.” Many translations leave her name untranslated from the Hebrew Lo-Ruhamah. However, the ESV decides to translate her name into English so that we do not miss the significance of her name as she walked in the midst of the people of Israel. Her name announces to all those around her that God the Father has chosen to show “no compassion and no love.” And so when they will desperately desire his compassion and his love as their beloved country, as their beloved children are taken away into captivity by Assyria. He will not move into action on their behalf. When their time of need and trouble comes, God the Father will not extend his compassionate mercy and rescue them. But towards Judah God will show mercy and compassion. To Judah he will extend grace. God does not abandon his people. God has and will always maintain what is often times in the Bible called a remnant. God will not abandon those who are faithful to His covenantal relationship with Him. This prophecy here that God will deliver Judah but not by any form of military might is a reference to his saving Judah when in a single night 185,000 Assyrian troops are struck dead in Isaiah chapters 36 and 37. Specifically Isaiah chapter thirty-seven verses thirty-six and thirty-seven.
I do believe that one of the things that God is doing here is showing Israel that if they turn from their sinful ways he will save them like he will do for Judah. However, if the people do not repent and return to the Lord from their vilest prostitutions there can be no hope.
Gomer then gives birth to a third child. I think at this point I would be afraid more children might come. and we read in verses eight and nine, “When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son. And the Lord said, “Call his name Not My People, for you are not my people, and I am not your God.”
When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son. And the Lord said, “Call his name Not My People, for you are not my people, and I am not your God.”
This naming of a child finally brings to a climax God’s position concerning the unfaithfulness of the nation of Israel. The adulterous nature of the people will lead to the breakup, if you will, of the covenantal relationship between God and Israel. They will no longer be the children of God. It is as though they have chosen another lover.
But God…
God’s love and mercy are immeasurable. His grace and forgiveness know no end. His love is boundless. And so in chapter one verse ten through chapter two verse one we see His great mercy come into play. We see the extent God chooses to love those who choose to love at times everything but him. We read,
Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “Children of the living God.” And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head. And they shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel.
Say to your brothers, “You are my people,” and to your sisters, “You have received mercy.”
Suddenly there is a great surprise and a dramatic reversal of the meaning of the children’s names. In one sentence God is rejecting his people and then in the very next he is seen drawing them back to himself. There is no intercession, no repentance, no change of heart of the people. There is only acceptance of an unlovely people by their perfectly loving Father who is in heaven. The transition from one to the other is so jarring that we are naturally forced to ask ourselves, “What on earth can lead a people from only destitution and despair to acceptance and hope for a future?” It is only through the miraculous power of the love of God that an unlovely, vile, and rejected people might know acceptance and love. Our minds are completely incapable of understanding the depth of God’s love for us his children. God has declared through the prophet Isaiah, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” It is so easy to get caught up in a discussion as to whether or not God ever truly has changed his mind or reversed his actions so dramatically. We must resist these fruitless discussion though and humbly bow before the unfathomable love of God revealed before us.
We just read in Hoseas prophecy promises that God made to both Abraham and Jacob that he will multiply the people of Israel like the sand of the sea. And so God may bring judgment upon Israel for their prostitution before Baal but he will see his promises through. It is the “living God” that will renew his covenant relationship with his children and more to the original Hebrew they are called specifically the sons of the living God. And I believe this distinction is important to see. Not that this is for men and not women. But that sons were eligible to receive inheritance from the father during this time. Those who were not my people are not not only his people but they are now called to be sons of the living God. God now acknowledges the relationship between himself and his people that has New Covenant implications that can and will be fulfilled in Christ alone. The love of God expressed in this passage is now pointing to the coming of Jesus.
Another promise given here relates to the unification in verse eleven of Judah and Israel as one nation. The two divided peoples will be joined together as one people and more importantly they will come together under one appointed leader. We will gain greater clarity on this prophecy when we get to Hosea chapter three. What is important at this point in our prophecy is that all of the conflict and rivalry that has existed for so long will be made right.
It is only through the miraculous intervention of God the Father that those who are not His people might be made His people and that those who deserve no mercy might experience the mercy of God. We should see a tender connection between God the Father and those whom he will call his children. For it is only those called by his name that will truly know His great mercy, grace, and love.
So What?
It is really easy in the midst of the prophecy and everything being revealed about the people of God, being revealed about God Himself, and about the relationship between God and His people, to miss the family that is being used to symbolically represent all of this. We should see in this passage just how important it is that God takes marriage. The marriage covenant between a man and a woman is one of the most powerful analogies that can be used to compare God’s covenant relationship with his people. This is why couples need to take so seriously the vows that they make. These vows are the foundation upon which the covenant that they enter into are based. Unfortunately, today so many come up with their own trite meaningless vows that unfortunately, actually reflect very well the state of marriage today in America and the low view that so many have of marriage now. We, the church, need to elevate marriage to the place it is meant to hold before God as a holy relationship set apart for his glory.
Also, Hosea presents to us this comparison between sin and adultery in order to show the destructive nature of sin to a persons relationship with God. Sin is not some oops or just a mistake that we give a wink and a nod to and just move on from. Sin should be seen as a devastating force to the exclusive love commitment that we make to our God. Sin, like adultery in marriage, is an abandonment of oneness, of loyalty to one person.
The results of this sin is reflected in the names of these three children. In Jezreel we should see that sin ultimately results in death. We see this in Romans chapter six verse twenty-three where we read, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
God will not bless those who forsake the free gift that is found in Christ and Christ alone however. The implication of this is that God’s curse extends to everyone that choose to reject His one and only son. We have seen this recently when we looked at John chapter three verse eighteen where we read, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
And those who believe in Jesus will become his people for He has already “predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the riches of his grace.” Ephesians chapter one verse five.
he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,
Because we have now been adopted as sons of God we can with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Because we are now sons of the living gods, His people of mercy.
One of the things that is often times missed that we need to walk away from this passage is our need for obedience to God. The experience of Hosea shows us the importance of obeying God’s will even when it may seem odd or contrary to what might seem wise. God called Hosea to marry a woman with a less then reputable past. And we should expect that she is going to only bring stress, anxiety, sorrow, and embarrassment to Hosea. She is going to be unfaithful to both him and their children. I would imagine that when God first called Hosea to obedience Hosea was filled with fear and uncertainty of what the future held for him. The problem is that our fears tend to focus on what might not work out. Where God’s bold plans accomplish far beyond our imagination because they require us to risk everything in faith in Him.
Through this Hosea knew the purpose that God had for his little family in relation to Israel. People would learn of their own relationship with God by looking at Hoseas family. People still today learn about God’s transforming power by seeing what God has done in people’s lives. Hosea’s obedience to the perhaps strange circumstances God planned for him and his family should challenge each of us to walk in obedience to God’s call upon our lives. So that then this world will see God and not us.
We also need to see that God still looks upon sin as being no different than prostitution. We should see our sin as a serious break in our love relationship with our God. Our society has and will always downplay the significance of sin in their lives. It is exactly what a sinful people must do. We have a similar tendency in the church but it works in opposite to denying the significance of sin. What we do is elevate the significance of other churchy things, such as good deeds, church membership, baptism, or taking communion. These things all being well and good are not a guarantee of a positive relationship with God. Hosea should cause all of us to pause and ensure we are not resting on our good works rather than the grace and mercy of God. We need to see sin as the destructive power that it is. It is a deadly force that seeks to destroy our relationship with God. We need to always remember that our sin is seen like prostitution by our God.
This first chapter of Hosea reveals a God who loves without measure. We are no different than the Israelites in our story Paul writes in Romans chapter three verse twenty-three that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Our sin carries consequences with it no different than it did for the Israelites. We read of those consequences in Romans chapter six verse twenty-three, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The consequence of sin is that we all now look towards our eventual death. But God. In His great love and mercy He has extended grace. He has offered to us a free gift in Christ Jesus. But there was a price to be paid for the gift to be given. We read in Romans chapter five verse eight, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
God’s greatest act of Love is seen when he offered up on our behalf His only begotten Son, our savior Jesus Christ upon the cross that we might receive forgiveness for our sin, for our prostitution. Now we must place our faith in the works of Jesus on the cross as we see in Romans chapter ten verses nine and ten. “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”
because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
The moment we believe in our hearts that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and was raised from the dead three days later we are saved from our sin and our prostitution. We can then and only then call upon the name of Jesus for salvation and freedom from sin. “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Only a truly loving God would every extend such great mercy and love to an undeserving people.
Let us pray.
Father God we are so thankful for your great love. You extend your love towards us while we reject you and chase after other lovers. Jesus in your greatest show of grace and mercy you chose the cross even while we declared ourselves as your enemies and spat upon you. You chose to die for us for those who despised you most. No greater love has anyone ever seen. We thank you that your love goes beyond any that we could ever imagine. Holy Spirit fill us today with your presence that we might know you and the love of our God. Bless us today with your love so that we might then be a blessing to others and that we might then express your love through us as we bless them.
Know that you are loved deeply by God and He wants more than anything to bless you through His son Jesus.
Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever.
Amen.
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