Hosea 1:1-2:1

Hosea 1:1-2:1

Exposed

I.                    God’s grace exposes our adulterous hearts, so we must seek to be faithful to Him and not ourselves (1:1-9)

a.       Hosea’s ministry spanned approximately fifty years from 760-710 B.C. It was marked by a time of great financial prosperity, internal and geopolitical peace, and religious dedication, but everything was not what it appeared to be on the surface. Israel enjoyed a false peace geographically and politically, and the nation’s religious dedication was replete with vain repetition, idolatry, and pagan cult practices. When Jeroboam II died, four of the next 6 kings were assassinated and within thirty-years the nation was crushed by the Assyrians. What was God’s message through His prophet Hosea in this tumultuous time? God calls Hosea to go find a prostitute, marry her, and have children as an example of the harlotry of His people. It’s shocking and difficult to conceive of God commanding one of His servants to marry a prostitute, but that’s exactly the point. Hosea’s life and family are to be a living object lesson and illustration to the people of their attitudes towards God and His attitudes towards them. It’s a picture of God’s absolutely amazing grace, which moves Him to love us sacrificially to save us while we’re still sinners. The people who God loved, only loved themselves. We do the same thing, we get so caught up in business, politics, and what we want church to be, that we begin to cheat on God with ourselves. God also communicates to His people through the names of Hosea’s three children. The first child is a boy, who God names Jezreel, or “God Scatters”. Jezreel refers to the town and valley in Israel where a great deal of the bloodshed in the nation’s history occurred. The house of Jehu, from which Jeroboam II ruled, had previously won a great battle for God in the valley of Jehu against wicked king Ahab, but they failed to learn the lesson God was teaching, committed the same apostasy, and would be held accountable by God, along with the whole nation. The next child is a daughter who God named Lo-Ruhamah, or “not pitied; not loved”. God’s love and forgiveness requires a response in repentant faith and obedience or it’s empty. God’s prophesied compassion for Judah in their deliverance, reminds Israel and us that we are completely dependent on God’s grace, and powerless to deliver ourselves from our real enemies of sin and death. Then two to three years later came a boy who God named Lo-Ammi, or “not My people”. Israel had chosen to be a child of their world and times instead of the covenant children of God. Their attitudes, actions, and even worship reflected hearts set on themselves and not God, so He considered their covenant null and void. Israel had chosen their own way and not what God way for them. In His great compassion and grace, He warned them repeatedly, but they didn’t learn. Are we learning the lessons God is teaching us, or are we also too distracted by our faithfulness to ourselves to be faithful to God? (Vv. 1:1-9; Exod. 6:7; 2 Kings 9:7; 15:8-12; Isa. 37:14-21, 35-37; 42:6-10; 46:8-11; 49:6; Jer. 7:34; 18:1-10; Zech. 4:6; Matt. 7:12-23; 23:37; 25:1-13; Rom. 5:6-10)

II.                 God’s grace exposes our adulterous hearts, so we must trust in God’s amazing grace and faithfulness (1:10-2:1)

a.       Israel’s faithlessness would change their lives dramatically, but it didn’t change who God is or His faithfulness to preserve His true children. God speaks of resurrecting His people, fulfilling His covenant promises, and joining them together under the leadership of the Davidic Messiah. God will reverse all the sanctions indicated by the names of Hosea’s children. Jezreel still means “God Scatters”, but in the sense of scattering seed so his children sprout and grow in numbers. “Lo-Ruhamah” is now “Ruhumah”, “My loved one”, and “Lo-Ammi” is “Ammi”, “My people”. God doesn’t change His actions here because the people suddenly became “good”. He doesn’t change His actions at all, because He’s always been good, and will always be good. God graciously sends trials and storms our way to teach us how desperately we need His grace to bring our dead hearts to life through repentant faith. Like Gomer, we all prostitute our faith and seek our own desires out of self-love, but like Israel, we’ll all discover that what we have and accomplish is ultimately worthless, and only God’s gifts of grace ultimately endure. The reality of God’s grace exposes our adulterous hearts. What is God teaching you about the condition of the foundation of your life in our current storm? We must trust God’s amazing grace and faithfulness to fruitfully weather the storms of life. He’ll never stop loving us, but we must learn from Him, repent, and turn to Him in trust. (Vv. 1:10-2:1; Gen. 22:17; Deut. 4:29-31; 27-28; 2 Chron. 7:13-14; Ps. 42:2; 84:2; 100:5; 103:13; Prov. 3:5-8; Isa. 61:1-11; 62:5; Ezek. 36:9-11; 37:18-25; Dan. 6:26-27; Matt. 7:24-27; Luke 15:21-24; John 11:47-53; Rom. 4:9-25; 9:22-26; Gal. 3:7-9; 5:19-23; 6:7-10; Eph. 2:11-22; 1 Pet. 2:9-12; Rev. 19:7-9; 21:1-2, 9-11; 22:16-17)