Journey Through Hosea
There is no trouble like family trouble. When families have problems, it is one of the hardest earthly things to deal with. The book we have come to in our series is the Old Testament book of family trouble. It is the book of Hosea.
Listen: Journeying through Hosea
Overview of Hosea
Hosea is the first of the Minor Prophets. They are not minor in message; they are only minor in size. There are twelve of them, and they are, for the most part, smaller than the five major prophets. But their message is big, and as great and grand and glorious as the love of God.
Hosea is the perfect example of this, because it is a very brief book about one family, yet it is bigger than that. It is about the entire nation of Israel and a great God who loved them with everlasting love.
Hosea has been called the prophet of persevering love. In previous journeys through Scripture, we have already studied the romance in Ruth. We have studied how marriage is a picture of our union with Christ in the Song of Solomon. So when we come to the book of Hosea, we see God is using the story of one family as an object lesson of His relationship with the nation of Israel.
The Marriage of Hosea and Gomer
The message is given in a symbol in chapters one through three and then in a sermon in chapters four through fourteen. The personal marriage that Hosea had with his wife is an illustration of a bigger national message.
Let us examine the story of Hosea. God tells Hosea to marry a woman by the name of Gomer. He loves her with all of his heart, but she is unfaithful to him. She leaves him and runs off to other lovers. She is an immoral, adulterous woman. It breaks Hosea’s heart. Like Jeremiah before him, Hosea has also been called the prophet of the broken heart, and his brokenness hit very close to home because he is going through the breakup of his marriage.
They have two children. God commands that those two children be named, specific names; and their names mean “not my people” and “unloved.” That is pretty rough, isn’t it? Now they have a third child, which means “God shows.” You see, God was working in the lives of Hosea and Gomer and their three children to show a great truth. And by the way, God is going to turn all this around. So, before you say, “Well, this is a depressing story, I don’t need this today,” let me tell you, there is hope. It leads us back to the Lord.
The Wife, the Children, and the Husband
The sins of Israel were reflected in the wife. Israel had been adulterous and unfaithful to God. The children reflect certain signs. They were not part of the family. They were not being able to receive the love they deserved because of the sin that had entered in.
But salvation is reflected in the husband. You see, Hosea’s name means salvation. Isn’t that beautiful? Much like the Old Testament name Joshua, and much like the New Testament name Yeshua, Jesus. This is salvation coming. This is true love being demonstrated.
Hosea prophesied for 40 years during a period known as Israel’s Zero Hour. Her last lap of iniquity, the final voice before captivity. And so, God raises up Hosea, allows certain things to take place in Hosea’s own experience, so that out of that, Hosea can give this message to the nation of Israel.
Key Verse of Hosea
Hosea 14:9, the last verse of the book, says, “Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.”
When you come to the bottom line, when you come to the last verse of the book, God says, “I want you to know, there is hope.” And if you are wise and understanding, if you are prudent and willing to know the truth, then this story can make a difference in your own spiritual experience.
God’s way is always right. You have got to choose whether you are going to walk in His way or choose your own way. And that is basically what the entire message of the book of Hosea is all about. It is about an unfaithful wife and her faithful husband. It is about an unfaithful Israel and her faithful God. And yes, it is about unfaithful people today, like me and you, who so often wander off on our own and fall in love with things other than God and righteousness. But it is the story of a faithful God who pursues us, who loves us, who comes after us, who refuses to let us go. And so brings us back into the family.
Hosea Reconciled with Gomer
The rest of the story is that Hosea and Gomer are reconciled. Not only are they reconciled, God says, “Go back now to those two children that were named, ‘unloved’ and ‘not my people,’ and change their name.”And guess what? He changed them to “Love” and “My People.”
Thank God for a faithful Savior, the One who takes us from a wandering stranger and says, “You are part of the family.” He takes us from being on the outside and brings us in. He restores fellowship. Remember, “Charity never faileth.” (1 Corinthians 13:8) It is a beautiful reminder of God’s unfailing love for us.
Key Word of Hosea
The keyword of the book is a word of responsibility, a word of response. It is the word return. It is used 15 times in 14 chapters. You see, this is the cure for wandering, the cure for sin, the cure for backsliding. Simply return to the God who loves you. He never stopped loving you; He did not love you any less because of what you did. He loves you today, and all you must do is simply return to Him. Return to the God of salvation. And out of that, the Lord will restore you.
A Prescription for Revival
My favorite chapter of the book is the last chapter. As a matter of fact, I would like to challenge you today to sit down somewhere and read Hosea 14. In fact, do not sit. Kneel. Read it on your knees, because Hosea 14 is a cure for backsliding. It is a path from emptiness to fruitfulness.
Hosea 14 is a prescription for real revival. Recently, in a special meeting where I was speaking, I preached every message the entire week out of that one chapter, Hosea 14. (Listen to these messages by clicking each part here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4). I found it to be a deep mine full of so much truth, not only for Israel, but for me and for you, because what it does is it causes us to return to the Lord, to see ourselves as God sees us. But more than that, to see Him as He truly is.
You see, your human sin hurts divine love. Every sin is a sin against love. Someone would say there are few sins worse than the sin against love. Well, that is true. That is true not only in marriage. That is true in life. Would you think today of how your sin has grieved the heart of a God who loved you so much? He gave his own Son for you.
Hosea Redeemed Gomer
What does Hosea do? Hosea, who suffered over the sin of another, never quit loving her and actually found her in a slave market. She had gone so low that she was in the slave market. She was being sold, her flesh being sold to the highest bidder. And guess what Hosea did? He bought her.
Doesn’t that sound familiar? Our Lord Jesus Christ loved us and gave Himself for us. Shed His own precious blood to redeem us, to buy us out of the slave market of sin, to remove us from a life of debauchery and fleshliness. Why did He do that? Not to make us simply slaves again, but to make us sons, to make us restored family members, to bring us back into fellowship.
Hosea is the book that reminds us that God never gives up. No matter how far you’ve gone. Friends, that is not a minor message; that is a major message. And I hope today, as you journey through Hosea, that through this beautiful love story, you will get a glimpse of God’s unfailing love for you.
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