hosea prophesied in the 8th century bc and the books named after him are among the oldest in the bible hosea was instructed to marry a prostitute which was as shocking then as it is now especially for someone god intended to be a spokesman they had three children at least one of whom did not belong to hosea however to understand this story we must first understand the social conditions of the time it was a prosperous and peaceful time assyria was a dominant power at the time but jonah's visit to nineveh effectively delayed their threat to israel
for a while because that generation of assyrians had repented of their evil war mongering the threat of an assyrian invasion had passed for the time being as a result israel is now enjoying a period of great prosperity particularly under king jeroboam ii whose rule stabilized the nation for a time its economy benefited from its location on trade roads between europe and arabia and many merchants and bankers became extremely wealthy despite rising living standards society became divided into halves and have-nots many people enjoyed the consumer society's luxury goods the height of fashion was to have a
second home a summer house to which you would go in the heat of summer usually up in the hills the get rich quick boys formed a new aristocracy however housing became a problem as the rich became richer and the poor became poorer the wealthy had second homes but many ordinary people did not morally the consequences of all this wealth were obvious there were financial swindles bribery and corruption and even the judiciary was tainted there was no justice in the courts unless the judges were bribed they soon began trading seven days a week because it allowed
them to make more money avarice led to injustice while wealth led to permissiveness sexual laxity was the norm and alcohol consumption skyrocketed despite the fact that this occurred 2700 years ago parallels with modern western culture are all too obvious religious life was also thriving but it was not israel's religion rather the people had developed an interest in the face of other nations particularly those of canaanite indigenous peoples this included the faiths of the east and west brought by traveling merchants as well as the canaanite people's cult of mother nature indeed worshipers had sex with male
and female prostitutes in the temples of bethel and samaria believing that this would persuade god to bless their crops they even erected a golden calf at bethel in direct violation of god's prohibition on graven images so god's holy people who were supposed to be a royal priesthood and a holy nation had to come in the same way as everyone else god would have been justified in washing his hands of them and starting over with a different people god on the other hand is not like that he was married to the people of israel and he
hates divorce he was determined to keep the covenant he had made with them he couldn't however turn a blind eye to their behavior when moses gave the law he promised that if his people were disobedient he would be forced to curse them and the book of hosea describes how he disciplined his people because the people were embracing fertility cults it was only natural for god to demonstrate that their sexual promiscuity had no positive effect on the harvest instead several harvests failed wake up god was saying you rely on me not on the fertility goddesses but
as with the others the refrain followed this disaster yet you did not return to me despite the food shortage they continued their pagan rituals following that god sent a scarcity of fresh drinking water which was of course a major disaster in the land that was reliant on regular rain mildew and locust attacks destroyed the crops resulting in food shortages for the animals it may appear obvious that a people in covenant with god would turn to him to ask what had gone wrong but israel refused to do so crops and livestock had already suffered god now
sent plagues upon the people and enemy raids robbed them of their livestock each discipline was more severe than the previous one as we can see people were now directly affected nonetheless they did not return to god storms caused fires god also allowed lightning to struck some of their cities destroying vast areas of housing however none of this had any effect they didn't mind as long as they could keep their money and enjoy their vacation homes on top of god's warnings two more disasters occurred it was as if god wanted to get their attention a natural
disaster this was more than a minor earth drummer as a result hosea was the last chance prophet sent to israel warning them of what god would be forced to do if they did not repent and return to him hosea was tender hosea arrived with an impassioned plea to return to the lord hosea spoke directly to their hearts hosea emphasized god's mercy hosea also expressed god's emotions although there is some overlap between the two prophets these broad characteristics are evident in their messages hosea arrived on the scene 10 years after amos had preached in bethel he
was to be god's final prophet to israel's northern ten tribes we've already mentioned how hosea's ministry stood in stark contrast to amos's this time instead of accusation it's wooing rather than warning tender rather than tough mercy rather than justice it is god's final request before the ten tribes vanish a single word unlocks the entire prophecy it is a hebrew word kizid there is no direct english equivalent it's essentially a covenant word used to describe those with whom you've made a covenant it does mean love but it also contains a lot of the word loyalty true
love does not exist unless it is loyal the entire relationship between god and israel is a covenant love and thus a kesad or stick to it love indeed the book of hosea portrays god's covenant love for his bride israel god promised to watch over them protect them and provide for them he had rescued them from egypt and offered them the opportunity to become his people at sinai which they had accepted he desired glad eager obedience a bride who desired to live the way he desired her to live israel was to joyfully respond to god's demands
knowing that they would be a delight to obey because they were given for their good david's psalms express his delight in god's law the longest psalm in the bible number 119 is entirely about the law's benefits however the people of god as a whole did not obey and by the time of hosea their failure was most pronounced what happened to our marriage god had to ask through hosea's messages he assured them of his steadfast love but he was certain that he was receiving very little in return god took hosea through an extraordinary experience in order
for him to understand god's feelings god frequently prepares a prophet through his relationships or lack thereof god told jeremiah not to marry because he would have to tell judah that god too was now a bachelor jeremiah discovered how god felt without israel through the loneliness of not having a wife ezekiel was told that his wife would die but that he should not cry for her in order to show judah that god too had suffered the loss of his wife similarly hosea learned how god felt by following some unusual instructions regarding his marriage situation hosea was
told to marry a prostitute which was as shocking back then as it is now especially for someone god intended to be a spokesman they had three children at least one of whom did not belong to hosea then his wife went back to her old job hosea found her brought her home and disciplined her even though he didn't know her as a wife he then quartered her and began his life with her as his wife all over again the children's names convey their own message the first was a boy named jezreel which translates as god sows
it he was a defiant unruly child who needed to be disciplined loruhama which means not pitied was the second child this was a neglected child who had never known love from her mother lo am i which means not my people was the third child he was the child hosea did not father so he was disowned so far we've been disciplined deprived and disowned the children summarize how god dealt with his people the israelites the names of the children were significant to the message despite the fact that i've never met any christian parents who used any
of those three names the marriage of the prophet hosea serves as a backdrop for god to demonstrate his incredible love for his people god loves us unconditionally hosea lived a sad life with gloomy days and sleepless nights because his wife gomer had been unfaithful to him and she intended to return to her previous way of life jose spoke to his children pleading with them to intervene with her mother he was suggesting that she had already broken her marriage vows the relationship had become unreal talk to your mother kids and see if you can convince her
otherwise hosea chapter 2 verses 1 and 2 say of your brothers my people and of your sisters my beloved one rebuke your mother rebuke her for she is not my wife and i am not her husband let her remove the adulterous look from her face and the unfaithfulness from between her breasts when people decide to abandon the lord life isn't as easy as they think it will be many people believe that straying from the lord isn't a big deal however as we read the story of what happened to gomer after she left hosea's home we
will see that life would be far more difficult for her than she could have imagined talk to your mother children hosea urged see if you can convince her to stay with me and devote herself to me isaiah chapter 2 verse 5 otherwise i will strip her naked and make her as bare as on the day she was born i will make her like a desert turn her into a parched land and slay her with thirst i will not show my love to her children because they are the children of adultery their mother has been unfaithful
and has conceived them in disgrace she said i will go after my lovers who give me my food and my water my wool and my linen my olive oil and my drink we should remember gomer's heartbreaking exit she said i will go after my lovers who give me my food and my water my wool and my linen my olive oil and my drink she had no idea where her benefits came from most people who reject the lord do so because they want some of their most basic needs and desires met and they believe they can
find that pleasure in the world the devil is astute he will persuade people that they will find happiness if they live for him and go it into the world the unfortunate reality is that if you abandon the lord you will be unhappy there is no genuine happiness in the world isaiah chapter 2 verse 6 therefore i will block her path with thorn bushes i will wall her in so that she could not find her way gomer's problems started when she returned to her sinful life everything appeared to be going swimmingly however as we will see
she was pointing downward every step of the way hosea fought gomer at every turn god fights for his straying children hosea chapter 2 verse 7. she will chase her lovers but not overtake them yes she will seek them but not find them then she will say i will go and return to my first husband for then it was better for me than now that is she would be unable to find what she was looking for gomer made the decision to return to her first husband as her life continued to deteriorate i'll return to hosea she
said i was happier when i was with him jose chapter 2 verse 8 for she did not know that i gave her grain new wine and oil and multiplied her silver in gold which they prepared for bail take note of the following phrase she had no idea i had given her grain new wine and oil she assumed that everything came from her lovers her blessings however were indeed from god as channeled through hosea keep in mind that the lord is the source of all good in your life isaiah chapter 2 verses 9 to 13 therefore
i will return and take away my grain in its time and my new wine in its season and i will take back my wool and my linen given to cover her nakedness now i will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers and no one shall deliver her from my hand i will also call all her mirth to cease her feast days her new moons her sabbaths all her appointed feasts and i will destroy her vines and her fig trees of which she has said these are my wages that my lovers have given me
so i will make them a forest and the beasts of the field shall eat them i will punish her for the days of the bales to which she burned incense she decked herself with her earrings and jewelry and went after her lovers but me she forgot says the lord we see god who had given everything to gomer take it all away the necessities had crumbled the festivities were over there was regret that is what happened when a god's child betrays him and commits adultery against him what is the nature of your relationship with god the
christian life is fundamentally a love relationship with the lord jesus christ how long has it been since you said to the lord my jesus i love you and i renounce all of my sin for you is your relationship with jesus on track what is it that stands between you and jesus nothing should stand between you and your savior it's interesting to note that god's final words in hosea are a very tender emotional plea hoping that israel will repent and allow him to delay the judgment he must carry out israel was to respond joyfully to god's
demands knowing that they would be a joy to obey because they were given for their good however the people of god as a whole did not obey and their failure was most pronounced by the time of hosea what became of our marriage god had to inquire via hosea's messages he assured them of his unwavering love but he knew he was getting very little in return but god says but not all of you only the sinners in israel will perish there will be a sliver i will rebuild david's tabernacle and bring in gentiles to take your
place in god's people as a result a remnant who remain true to god will survive and become part of god's enlarged people which will include gentiles indeed these prophecies were quoted 800 years later in acts chapter 15 when the council of jerusalem met to discuss the grounds for admitting gentiles into the church the leader of the jerusalem church reminded the council of amos's prophecy in which god promised to restore the tabernacle of david and bring in the gentiles to begin we must acknowledge that hosea did not succeed in reconciling israel to god their messages were
ignored and god was forced to judge the people as he had promised assyria defeated them and exiled them in 721 bc never to return next we must recognize that our situation differs significantly from that to which amos and hosea spoke and prophesied there was a theocratic government in israel the church and the state were one and the same however in the new testament church and stayed are clearly distinguished the new testament situation is summed up by jesus words render to caesar what is caesar's and a god what is god's as a result christians today live
in two kingdoms according to your passport you may be a british citizen but you are also a citizen of god's kingdom as a result we must exercise caution when applying old testament prophecies to our current situation we can apply old testament prophecies but keep in mind that the two situations are not directly comparable so we cannot take hosea's message and apply it to the nation in the way that god expected israel to obey however where the prophecy is directed to people outside of israel a valid application can be made god's accusations against the other nations
were based on conscience not on god's law similarly a secular nation will be judged on whether it lived according to what it intuitively knew to be right as a result some of the sins condemned by hosea and non-israelite nations do apply this includes inhumanity disregard for human rights and legislation that enriches the rich while making the poor poorer these are valid areas of application this is not to say that the rest of the prophecies to israel are meaningless they do convey an important message to the church today for the church all too often behave similarly
to the people of israel there are numerous new testament passages that reinforce hosea and nemus's messages we too must return to god or face as judgment so when we read these prophecies we must first apply them to god's people and only then can we tell society what god says about the way they are living [Music] you
