 What kind of a man would marry and stay with a woman who is Adultress who is cheating as a matter of fact who is constantly cheating who you're having to constantly go after and Bring her back. What kind of a man would do that? What kind of man would marry someone like that? Is this some sort of weak man? Well, the question has to be asked in how much does he love her? He must love her an awful lot. Well, the fact of matter is that's the wrong question because in this regard in this story The question isn't how much does he love her the question is how much does he love him meaning God? How much does Hosea love God? And then what kind of a woman is Gomer? What kind of woman would see that kind of love and would see that kind of honor and devotion that someone would Lavish her and take care of her and still turn her back on him and go after other men men who are clearly Below the husband that she has what kind of woman would do that? Well, I'll tell you who Israel but not just Israel we the same way when we read the book of Hosea We're not gonna read all of it We're gonna kind of move around with this really two or three chapters I want to focus in on really three chapters and we're gonna see a lot of what God is trying to Because Hosea in marrying Gomer and taking her is doing what God wants to do now You might say like many of us would say Lord could you use somebody else could someone else be the example? But he chose chose a man who loves him and who honors God and is willing to be used by God And so in Hosea 1 1 the word of the Lord came to Hosea son of Mary in those days During the days of Uzziah Jotham Ahaz has a Kai king of Judah in those days So to get a little bit of a time frame we see over here where we look at where the prophets are Hosea is prophesying to the northern kingdom and so you're gonna see in this you're gonna hear him talk about Who lives in Israel you've got Israel to the north and you've got Judah to the south And we're gonna notice something that we won't really talk about here But we might bring up some other point in time regarding Ephraim who's also in the north with Israel But that being a set aside Let's go to verse 2 and continuing when the Lord first spoke through Hosea The Lord said to Hosea go take for yourself a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry a couple of things one We don't know if this is the way she was Prior to marrying Hosea the Bible is not really all that clear. I would like to think I would kind of think that she probably is But if someone were to say that no she became that way afterwards That's fine I wouldn't argue that point because the main point the most important point is that that's what she was Afterwards and so he says also go and take for yourself a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry Wait a minute the wife being one thing But also the children as well that can be hard because he's still a man and The fact that his wife is going to be this way and that his children are gonna be that way Also, that's a problem at least it would be for the rest of us He says so he went and took Gomer the daughter of de Blaine And she conceived and bore him a son and the Lord said to him name him Jezreel for yet a little while and I will punish the house of Jehu for the bloodshed of Jezreel And I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel Then she conceived and bore and gave birth to a daughter and the Lord said to him name her low Ruhama for I will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel that I would ever forgive them now This point is that he would never ever ever forgive them that he won't continually just forgive them Just because just always forgive them because he's going to punish Israel But I will have compassion on the house of Judah and deliver them by the Lord their guide and will not deliver them by the bow sword Battle horse or horsemen now they are getting ready to be sold in the captive They're going they're getting ready to be taken over and so this is this is kind of preceding that verse 8 When she when she had weaned her Low Ruhama she conceived and gave birth to a son and the Lord said name him low I'm me for you are not my people and I am not your God yet the number of the sons of Israel Will be like the sand of the sea which cannot be measured or numbered There's a reason for him saying that even though what he's going to do to them He still says yet the number of the sons of Israel will be like the sands of the sea So they're still going to continue. He's not going to utterly destroy them But they are going to be punished now as we read we're going to begin to see how God is going to start using What's happening with Gomer and with Hosea to signify what's going to happen with God and the children of Israel So continue in verse 10 he says and in the place where it is said you are not my people I it will be said to them you are the sons of the living God So he's going to at some point time bring them back and the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel will be gathered together So right now again We see this dividing between the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom between Israel and Judah at some point in time He is going to bring them back together again And they will point for themselves one leader and they will go from the land for great will be the day of Jezreel Chapter 2 verse 1 say to your brothers. I me and your sister Ruhama Contend with your brother contend for she is not my wife And I am not her husband and let her put away her harlotry from the face and her adultery from between her breasts Or I will strip her naked and expose her as on the day when she was born I will also make her a wilderness make her like a desert land and slay her with thirst now He's not speaking really about Gomer. He's speaking about Israel here What is he going to do with Israel all of these things that he's saying? He is going to do and deal harshly with Israel then he says also I will have no compassion on her children because they are children of harlotry for their mother has played the harlot She who conceived them has acted chain-free for she said I will go after my lovers Who give me my bread and my water my wool and my flax my oil in my drink? Therefore behold I will hedge up her way with thorns and I will build a wall against her so that she cannot find her path So this is what God is going to do with Israel We've seen how that has happened how he dealt harshly with them Which when there are times where we want to apply certain passages to certain people or make them apply to us Even when the Bible will say something like there's no weapon that's formed against it So proper prosper there's going to come a point in time when that's going to be the case But right now what God is doing with him? He is going to hurt Israel He is going to punish Israel now. He's already stated. He's going to bring them back He's going to deal with him and this has always been the case, but we're seeing kind of a picture between Homer I mean between gomer and Hosea But we're seeing kind of this But we're seeing in this picture between hosea and gomer the same picture between god and the children of israel But not just the children of israel because he's going to introduce someone else Some of these promises that we see in the bible are not just for israel in the old testament God still does bring up the promises that he's going to have with us as Gentiles Sometimes we miss that and so what might happen tendency of doing is to put themselves in the middle of the story We call that sometimes nars of jesus where we see ourselves in the story And we kind of conflate israel in the church israel in the church or israel the gentiles are not the same They understand however though god has made plans and promises for israel He's made plans and promises to say people who are not his people and we're going to see that first seven She will pursue her lovers But she will not overtake them and she will seek them but will not find them Then she will say i will go back to my first husband for it was better for me Then then now so we're going to kind of see her kind of being fallen And having to go back to her first love He says verse eight for she does not know that it that it was i who gave her the grain the new wine the oil And lavish her lavish on her silver and gold which they use for bail Therefore i will take back my grain at harvest time and my new wine in its season I will also take away my wool and my flax given to cover her nakedness Then i will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers This is what god is going to do. I'm sorry has done with israel for all the nations And no one will rescue her out of my hand And so with anyone coming to the aid of israel at that time It would be futile because this is what god is doing no matter what plan you come up with what sort of Ingenious uh plans you have Nothing is going to prosper He says and i will put it end to all of her gaiety Her feast her new moons her sabbaths all her festivals all the sabbaths So when someone wants to keep the sabbaths with these these different festivals and so forth I'm not at it. I have nothing to do with you because you had nothing to do with me However, this won't last forever. He says i will destroy her vines and fig trees Of which she said these are my wages which my lover has given me and i will make them a forest And the and the beast of the field will devour them I will punish her for the days of the babes when she used to offer sacrifice of them and adorn herself with her earrings and jewelry And follow her lover so that she forgot me declares the lord Now notice what he's getting ready to say though And this is where it becomes really really interesting to see what god is going to do with him God's plan is now After going through all that god is not interested in just punishing for punishment sake now when you go through something There's two reasons one the reason why there's punishment is for two reasons to either kill Or to correct well in this case he is using this though some are going to be killed But he's also overall as a nation going to correct that nation and bring that nation back Look, he says in verse 14 therefore behold I will allure her Bring her into the wilderness and speak kindly to her the same israel the same people he's going to deal Harshly with and break them. He's going to deal kindly with him and bring him back Then I will forgive her then I will give her her venues from there and the valley of acre as a door of hope And she will sing there as in the days of her youth As in the day when she came out of the land of Egypt So we know we're talking about the nation of israel It will come about in that day declares the lord that you will call me Is she the word is she the word ish is where we get the word male or man or husband and the e The suffix is for my so my husband my lord my master That's what she's going to call them. Remember god makes a statement that I was a husband Husband to you, but then when you forgot me you divorced me And I will no long and will no longer call me bali, which is my lord And this is kind of focusing on The bales or the false gods For I will remove the names of the bales from her mouth so that she will So she will be mentioned by their names no more and in that day I will also make a covenant for them With the beast of the field the birds of the sky the creeping things of the ground At this point in time there is going to be peace no more fighting no more nothing says I will abolish the bow The sword and war from the land I will make them lie down in safety and I will betroth you to me forever Yes, I will betroth you to me in righteousness and justice in loving kind and compassion Now who's he speaking of israel? So this is what he's going to do with israel and I will betroth you to me in faithfulness Then you will know the lord now the issue is or the question is Why would god do that? Well, god is making a picture to show how he is going to deal with with treacherous israel as well as adulterous and treacherous treacherous juda as well But now he's going to introduce someone else that he's also going to show his loving kindness on Namely the gentiles if we drop down to verse 23 He says I will so her for myself in the land Look what he says I will also come have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion And I will say to those who are not my people you are my people and they will say you are my god Who's he speaking of? Well, he's not just speaking of just israel just the jews He's also speaking of the gentiles now before we continue in chapter 3 verse 1 I want to bring up what he just said and show how he's speaking of not just israel But also the gentiles in romans 9 Paul is speaking about how it's bothering him how Gentiles are placing their faith in christ, but jews, but israel has not and so in chapter 9 He speaks about he would have this Does I wish that he could even be cut off from christ himself if that meant for his people israel of the flesh natural physical israel not spiritual israel as someone might what to say No, this is physical israel and notice what he what he brings up in chapter 9 verse 25 Matter of fact i start with 24 He said even us whom he also called not from among the jews only But also from among the gentiles as he says in hosea So let's quote what hosea just read I will call those who are not my people my people and her who were who were not beloved Beloved and it shall be that in the place where it was said to them you are not my people there They shall be called sons of the living god and so he's speaking of israel And the gentiles also having salvation now this issue of salvation shows up But let's go and see how he goes about doing it and see if you can see the picture of what god did For us as well as the jews but mainly for the jews But this also applies us see if you can see what he what he brings up In hosea 3 how he brings them back and see if this doesn't remind you of something that we all have in common Chapter 3 verse 1 says then the lord said to me go again Love a woman who is loved by her husband yet an adulteress Even as the lord loves the sons of israel though they turn to other guys and love raisin cakes So I bought her for myself for 15 shekels of silver and a homer and a half of barley Imagine having a wife and having to go and buy her back because she has decided to become a prostitute She has decided to become a harlot and so now she's a possession of others And you have to go and buy her back notice that term though to buy her back This is what homer. This is what gomer has to be To hosea he has to buy her back, but He's not the only one that's buying someone back Then I said to her you shall stay with me for many days You shall not play the harlot nor shall you have a man So I will also be towards you for the sons of israel will remain for many days without king or prince Without sacrifice or a sacred pillar and without a fight or household Afterwards the sons of israel will return and seek the lord their god And david their king and they will come trembling to the lord and to his goodness in the last days But what's he speaking of speaking about having to buy her back the same thing is used about his people After the cross the cross is what he uses to buy back israel not all of israel Obviously and not even all of the gentiles, but that is the mechanism That is the currency that he decides to use to buy us back not 15 shekels But his blood now the question is why would he do that? Why would he not just let them go? Well, ezekiel brings us up in 1660. He says nevertheless first 60 I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth And I will establish an everlasting covenant Then you remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your sisters Both your older and your younger and I will give them to you as daughters But not because of your covenant Thus I will establish my covenant with you and you shall know that I am the lord And so what is he going to do even though you have violated the covenant even though you have Broken the covenant even though you have acted dishonorably and forgotten about me says god I will still come back and make an everlasting covenant with you that you will never break that you will never forget You will never leave and so we see him Using hosea and gomer kind of in that picture But again, not just with israel because even in israel's Disobedience and their adulterous ways what does god decide to do not only pay for purchase them back israel But also make plans to call other people who are not his people Now he didn't fully explain this in hosea, but in other passages like in deuteronomy as well as in romans He says the point of doing that is to make them jealous So he's going to make israel jealous Interestingly enough who is playing the adulterous with other people causing her to be jealous And so what is he going to do? He's going to purchase both of those people Purchase the gentiles and the jews those who place their faith in christ He is going to purchase them with his blood getting out of 15 shekels But with a better price with a better currency And so why does he have hosea to mary gomer to show a picture of what he is going to do For the nation of israel as well as for those gentiles who place their faith in christ amen