¶ Lessons From the Book of Hosea
Well , here we are again for Hosea 4 . As you can see , my voice is still a little off . I'm still struggling with flu , pneumonia , all the stuff that's hit me this month , but I'm still here to let's talk about Hosea and let's bring the book of Hosea all together .
Hosea 14 , 1 through 2 , says O Israel , return to the Lord , your God , for you have stumbled because of your iniquity . Take words with you and return to the Lord . I will heal their backsliding . I will love them freely . The Lord , I will heal their backsliding . I will love them freely , for my anger has turned away from him .
You know , god calls the Israels to repent and promise to heal and restore them , and that's the way he is with all of us . He desires a relationship with us and he invites us to return to him when we've fallen away . What exactly did Hosea teach about ?
Well , one of the things he taught about was repentance and the fact that God is always willing to forgive and restore those to him who have fallen away . It assures us that , no matter our past , we can always come back and , through prayer , reading his word , worship and obedience , that we can stay faithful to God .
Some other scriptures that tell us that is , joel 2 , 12 through 13 . Now , therefore , says the Lord turn to me with all your heart , with fasting , with weeping and with mourning . So rent your heart and not your garments . Return to the Lord , your God , for he is gracious and merciful . John 4 , 8 says draw near to God and he will draw near to you .
Jeremiah 29 , 11 8 says draw near to God and he will draw near to you . Jeremiah 29 , 11 through 12 says for I know the thoughts that I think towards you , says the Lord thoughts of peace , not of evil , to give you future and a hope . Then you will call upon me and go and pray to me and I will listen to you . So God is faithful .
God will restore us . But let's look at what else we may have learned from Hosea . Have you ever had someone that you loved , who you really loved , who let you down and hurt you ? Imagine loving them so much that , no matter what they did , you could not stop caring about them . The story of Hosea shows a love like that , one that never gives up .
It represents how God loves humanity , even when we fail or turn away from him . Hosea's marriage to Gomer , a woman unfaithful to him , serves as a metaphor for God's relationship with Israel . Despite Israel's spiritual unfaithfulness through idolatry and sin , god remained faithful and continued to love his people .
God's love is steadfast and unconditional , even when we fail . This should encourage us to trust in his grace and strive for faithfulness in our relationship with him . Hosea 3.1 says the Lord said to me go show your love to your wife again , though she is loved by another man and isn't adulterous .
Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites , though they turn to other gods , and love the sacred raisin cakes . And love the sacred raisin cakes . Hosea 2 , 19-20 said I will betroth you to me forever . I will betroth you in righteousness , in justice , in love , in compassion . I will betroth you in faithfulness and you will acknowledge the Lord .
And of course there's Romans 8 , 38 that says For I am convinced that neither death nor life , neither angels nor demons , neither present nor future nor any powers will be able to separate us from the love of God , who is in Jesus Christ , our Lord . You know , hosea also shows the pain of betrayal and the depth of forgiveness .
Have you ever been betrayed by someone close to you ? I know I was Felt absolutely horrible and though I've forgiven them and we've talked it out and I understand all the sides to it to this day . Every once in a while there will just be this ache in my heart because of what happened .
Hosea experienced his wife's betrayal because she was unfaithful , but despite his pain , he chose to forgive and restore her . This is a picture of God's forgiveness no matter how far we've fallen , there is always , always redemption . Forgiveness , even though it's really hard , reflects the character of God . We are called to forgive others , as God has forgiven us .
Hosea 1.2 says when the Lord began to speak through Hosea , the Lord said to him Go and marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her , for , like an adulterous wife , this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord . And when he went back to get her , he had to pay 15 shackles of silver and about a homer of barley for her .
Matthew 18 , 21 through 22, . I really like this question . It's when Peter came to Jesus and said Lord , how many times shall I give my brother or sister who sins against me ? Up to seven times . Jesus answered I tell you , not seven times , but 77 times , but 77 times .
Ephesians 4.32 says Be kind and compassionate to one another , forgiving each other , just as in Christ . God forgave you . But then again in Hosea , we learn the consequences of sin . You ever made a bad decision and the outcome was like oh , I don't even want to talk about it . Well , the Bible calls these bad decisions sin .
In Hosea , the people , unfaithfulness led to painful consequences , but the story shows that that change is possible when we turn back to what is right . Our actions have consequences and that's funny .
I'm talking about this because I had lunch with my granddaughter and her boyfriend and we were talking about kids and raising kids and I said you know , they talk about all this gentle parenting and all this other stuff , but what we're not doing is showing our kids that their actions have consequences .
One of the examples we used was a child brings you a bunch of flowers and you look at him and say , oh , those were so beautiful , thank you so much , that was so nice . Then the child purposely breaks something in the house . Well , now , gentle parenting would have you say , oh , now , that's okay . I understand you were having emotions .
No , it's not okay , you broke something and there are consequences . And that's what God does does with us . There are consequences to our actions and we need to recognize the seriousness of sin and that should motivate us to repent and turn back to God . Hosea 4 , 1 through 2 says there is no faithfulness , no love , no acknowledgement of God in the land .
There's only cursing , lying , murdering , stealing and adultery . They will break all bounds and bloodshed follows bloodshed . That is the consequences of your action . Hosea 8.7 says they sow the wind and reap the whirlwind . The stalk has no head , it produced no flower . The stalk has no head , it produced no flower .
And Romans 6.23 says speak of consequences , For the wages of sin is death , but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus , our Lord . And you know , we have to pay attention to what we do and we pay attention to our consequences . Proverbs 14 , 12 says there is a way that appears to be right , but in the end it leads to death .
And these are the things that we learned from Hosea . Seems funny that there was so much to learn in this one little book . In the Bible we also learned the importance of repentance . Repentance involves a change of heart and a change in behavior . You need to seek God's forgiveness and restoration . Hosea 6 1 says come , let us return to the Lord .
He has torn us to pieces , but he will heal us . He has injured us , but he will bind up our wounds . Hosea 14 , 1 and 2 says return Israel to the Lord . Your sins have been your downfall , take words with you and return to the Lord . So the other thing that we learned is God's desire over intimacy .
One of the problems that the Israelites had is they started in all these rituals , is they started in all these rituals and they were just so involved in their rituals , which were not of God . God desires intimacy , not rituals . He wants the love , he wants the repentance of us . But Israel was not doing that . But along with that was the power of redemption .
And just like Hosea purchased Gomer back , though she was unfaithful , he purchased her back . Just as Jesus Christ purchased us back Even though we were unfaithful , even though we didn't live the way he wants us to , he loved us and he redeemed us . What Hosea is is a call to faithfulness , loyalty , trust .
These are important in a relationship I was telling my granddaughter and her boyfriend today . This weekend they came to help take care of me while I've been sick and I thank them so much .
And I'm going to stop right here and thank you all for your prayers and everything that you have sent for me and held up for me uh , while I have been sick this last um 20 days and it's still going but I was telling them that jim , my husband , who's away , no matter what we sent to each other if it was a card , if it was a letter , if it was a
gift , whatever , it was on the very corner of the page T-R Love , trust and respect . We felt that if we had that in our marriage then we would always make it , and that's what God wants . He wants us to be faithful . Faithfulness to God should be a priority in our lives .
We should be influencing others by our choices , by the way we live , the way we look at the hope and the restoration that Jesus Christ offers us .
¶ Love and Forgiveness in Hosea
You know the Israelites didn't pay a lot of attention to Hosea's life and what went on . This was a story for future people . At some point the Israelites did finally come back to God . But this story of Hosea to me is so rich in love , in forgiveness , in repentance , in faithfulness and in restoration . All of that is found in the story of Hosea .
All of that is found in the story of Hosea . The story of Hosea is ultimately about love , forgiveness and hope the things that we all need . It shows that even when life gets messy , there's a way back , and that way is through God's unconditional love and grace . Whether or not you believe in God , these things are for all humanity . God is there .
God's willing to take you in , no matter where you fall into , no matter where you've come from . No-transcript .