For a while now, the book of Hosea and so I figured, no,
since I'm I've been studying it and I just want to share what
the Lord has been showing me in that book.
The book of Hosea have so much, there's so much you can get from
that book, so much information. And it's a book that shows God's
love and compassion for his children and and you know, and
how much God is willing to go getting the attention of those
that he loves. So tonight I'd like to preach a
message entitled Ayo Gomer. And I also would like to just
focus on this chapter, this first chapter, chapter 1, mainly
because let's see, get my stuff order.
All right, yeah, because I didn't, I didn't want to just
try to, you know, do the whole book, but I want to but I but I
just want to just investigate the first chapter with you
tonight. So let's turn to chapter 1 of
book of the book of Hosea, chapter 1
and Hosea chapter 1. The order of Lord came to came
on to Hosea, the son of Barry and the days of Hosea, Jotham.
It has Hezekiah king of Judah, in the days of Jeroboam, the son
of Jorah, king of his will, the beginning of the word of the
Lord by Hosea. And the Lord said to Hosea, Go
take unto thee a wife of hodoms and children of Hodoms.
For the land had committed great hodoms, departing from the Lord.
So he went and told Gomer, the daughter of Dilem, which
conceived, and bear him a son. Let's pray, Father, we thank you
and praise you Lord, for this time where we can come, Lord,
nice and special time where we get to hear from you, Lord, not
from me, but from you, because we all need you, Lord, and we
thank you so much for this book. I pray that as we talk about it,
that you would open our minds and our heart.
It will show us what you would want us to see.
First of all, about you, how good you are, how gracious you
are, and also about us, how needy we are, how unworthy we
are of your love. We pray for that you please be
with us, be with me as I speak of your word, Lord, and give me
the words to say. Speak through me and Lord use me
tonight. I pray, I do pray for Pastor and
Miss Becker that you would be with them.
I know Pastor have a busy schedule ahead next week.
I pray that you would just empower him with the Holy Spirit
to speak what you have to say and that he would be be able to
minister and be a blessing to the folks over there.
Lord, we pray that you'll be with us tonight in Jewish name,
Amen. OK, so the book of Hosea was
written through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit by Hosea, the
son of Bury. So far all we know, all we know
is that Hosea has been chosen by God, a prophet to the children
of Israel, the northern Kingdom. The Bible doesn't says that.
He's only said that he is the son of Bury.
There's not much the God doesn't say many much about Bury.
We don't know who any you know any anything about Bury or we
know that he is Hosea's father. So Hosea his his ministry
started his ministry started around the around the time, the
era of where Jehovah was was the ruler of Israel and the northern
Kingdom. And then as you say here, how
you say, as it says here in chapter and verse, one says the
word of the Lord came unto Hosea, the son of Bury in the
days of Hosiah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
But Hosea was the citizen of the northern Kingdom.
So the Lord sent him to the children of Israel.
Because this children of Israel were doing things that were not
pleasing unto the Lord, they have turned away from God and
into idols. And because they have turned
away to a away to God from God and to idols, God has God.
God has sent Hosea to proclaim judgment upon that that that
that side of the the tribe of Israel.
And so we see here in chapter and I would say in chapter 1,
God told Hosea to go to the children of Israel and proclaim
to them that God was grieve that was grieve with what they were
doing. God was not happy with what they
were doing. If you look at verse verse 2, it
says the beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea and the
Lord said to Hosea, go take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and
children of whoredoms. Now I think I better come take
me, stick with me real quick. We, we might be saying, you
know, why would God ask a prophet to go marry a
prostitute? You know, and it's like it just
doesn't make sense to us, right? That guy would ask a man of God
to go and marry a prostitute. But let's let's make no mistake
here. God is trying to paint a picture
for us here and the picture that God is trying to to to paint for
us here is that is that is that the children of Israel the
children of Israel, they are in the state where they are
becoming spiritual decay and God here Hosea is is is God and as
God being the husband of Israel, OK, so, so therefore Hosea when
God when God sent Hosea and say go married a woman of of of
whoredom and which obey your children of whoredom.
God is saying God is been a picture to us with the the
condition of what sinful men is and and because of sinful men
condition. God has to send Hosea with this
with with this, with this message to the tune of Israel
showing us that hey, we need to wake up.
We need to turn from our adult, our idols turn from from our
wicked ways, turn from ourselves and and to God.
So the name of Hosea means salvation.
It comes from the same Hebrew roots Yeshua as the name of
Joshua and Jesus. So this books was written to to
to illustrate God's love for his sinful people.
The original audience is that exactly was as we just see in
verse one edition of Israel from the northern Kingdom and you
know Hosea's ministry began around 770 BC to 725 BC See on
those days the northern Kingdom was prosper.
There were real prosper, there were prosperous politically and
materially so. However, there were there were
in a time of spiritual decay. The people were greedy and had
adapted the immoral behavior and idolatrous religion of the
surrounding Canaanites. So there were these people.
God has saved them from Egypt. God has given given them laws.
God has given instruction that they are not to intermingle with
the with the surrounding nation. They are not to go and and do
what they do worship like they worship serve as they serve.
However they were they did not listen and we can see what
happened is Gerald Burum, which was, I believe, where is where
the the Kingdom split because when, when will Burum, the son
of Solomon, when the people came to him and say, Hey, you know,
your father has made her life miserable.
All right, we're serving. We were serving under our
father. He make our life miserable.
Now we come to you asking you to make our business lighter and to
you know, to to to take care of us.
But instead we were born. He did not listen to the to the
wise counsel that has been a mentor to his father Solomon.
Instead he listens to the young man, his own peers, and and then
he gave the people a very bad report, which they did not like.
So now Jeroboam came to the NTPTR and God had already
prophesied that he was going to give 10 tribes to Jeroboam and
one tribe, Judah to Wilburn, to Wilburn.
And so we have Israel, the northern Kingdom in the north
and we have Judah in the South. So Hosea, his role was to warn
the northern Kingdom about the unfaithfulness to God and how
they they have left God the husband and provider and had
married themselves to Bell and the God of Canaanites.
So and look if you look at verse verse verse 3 God said God, God
told Hosea, go, I'm sorry, verse 2 the beginning of the Lord of
the Lord, the word of the Lord to Hosea and the Lord said to
Hosea, go and take unto thee wife of the wife of Hodom and
the children of Hodom, for the land had committed great Hodom
depart from the Lord. Verse 3 So Hosea went he went
and told Gomer the daughter of the Iblam, which conceived and
bear him a son. Please turn to Second Kings.
I'm sorry. First Kings 21 verse 19 to 22.
You see, King Ahab from the Kingdom of the North had
committed a lawful, an awful sin against God by introducing
better worship, worshipping in Israel.
So he committed murder so that the so so that the pleases the
Lord. He committed.
He committed by by killing one of his citizens.
So God sent Elijah to him and and saying Kings here in first
Kings chapter 21, it says that God says to him, go unto unto
Ahab and proclaim a message to Ahab.
And this is what God says, thou said the Lord, Hast thou killed,
and also taken possession? And thou shalt, and thou shalt
speak unto him, saying, Thou said, Thou said the Lord, and
the place where dogs lick the blood of neighbor, shalt thou
lick thy blood even thine. And a have said to Elijah, Hast
thou found me or my enemy? And he answered, I have found
thee, because that has sold thyself to an evilness out of
the Lord. Behold, I will bring evil upon
thee, and will take thy pastority, and will cut off from
Ahab him that peace pisseth against the wall, and him that
is shot up and left in Israel, and and will make thy house like
the House of Jeroboam the son of neighbor, and and like and like
the House of Bishop the son of Ahijah.
And for the provocation where is that has provoked me to anger
and made Israel to sin. So you see Jeroboam had
instituted bare worshipping and is and and when the northern
king of Israel and have and displeases God and not only that
he was he committed murder on top of that and God was wanted
to judge the House of Jeroboam because of that.
If turn with me to 2nd Kings chapter 10, verse 10:50.
We'll be reading that and the Bible says know now that there
shall be, there shall be, for there shall fall unto the earth
nothing of the word of the Lord which the which the Lord spake
concerning the House of Ahab. For the Lord had done that which
is spake by his servant Elijah. Therefore, God uses Jehu to
fulfill that task and so and if you look at verse 11 of this of
this chapter chapter, chapter, no second king says so Jehu slew
all that remain in the House of Ahab and Jezreel and all his
great men and his kings folk and his priests until he left none
to remain. However, Scripture said that
Jehu went too far. He went too far and came out
God's command so and so, and Hosea chapter 1 back to judge,
chapter chapter one, verse four and five.
God is now pronouncing judgment upon Jehu's household.
And the Lord said unto him, Call his name Jezebel, for yet a
little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jehu upon the House
of Jehu, and will cause to seize the Kingdom of the House of
Israel. And it shall come to pass at
that day that I will bring the bow of Israel and the value of
Jezwel. So this child that Gomer had for
for for with, with Gomer, God says to call his name Jezwel,
not Jezwel the the, the name judgment God saw.
So God was saying, listen, buddy, it's time you weep what
you saw. And God was saying God was
black. God was God was very was very
upset with the dynasty of Jehu because of the way he handled
things. You know, sometimes it's very,
it's very important that when God give us something to do,
give us a mission that we make sure we do it exactly the way he
want us to do it. We can't add to it.
We can't take out of it. We have to exactly the way God
wants to do it. This will happen, you see, with
Jehu, with Jehu here. Jehu thought that he was doing
God a favor by going overboard of then what God has told him to
do so let me just well, Jezzville means go God so so
Hosea first born to be he was to be a reminder that God will
judge the House of Jehu for their bloodshed and Jezzville.
So when the Kingdom was wrested from Ahab to and Jezebel.
So Jehu, you know, because of what he did, God not pronouncing
judgment on on him. Now we're going to see, we're
going to see how, you know, God contention, the contention that
has built up between the Kingdom of the North, the Israelite and
God will the contention between Gomer and Hosea, because Hosea
being married to a prostitute and Gomer had a problem and she
was not she, she was, she was a woman that was not, that was
discontent. And, and based on, on, on, on
scripture, she was discontent and it was, it was
discontentment that caused her to go and, and follow and, and
continue to, to, to live in idolatry.
And so there's a contention there.
So when Hosea with his sacrificial love married Gomer,
she was, she was given the opportunity to trade, to trade
her sinful past for a future. That's exactly what happened.
And a lot of time, God, you know, God gave us chances after
chances. He gave us the ability to we
move away from our past from give up our past sense and give
us a fearful future, give us something to look forward to.
And and this is actually what the picture that this is, is
illustrating here. So Israel had this a shameful
past. The last 6 kings were especially
wicked. They promote heavy taxes,
oppression, oppression of the poor, idols, worship and and and
total disregard for God. So the people of Israel has
sinned against God as an adulterous woman sinned against
her husband. So here we see the Israelites.
They, because they were so consumed with their wealth,
they're so consumed with their, with, with, with their
well-being, the things that they had, the stuff that they have
and the idols, they, they totally lost the respect for
God, the love for God. And because of that, they, they,
they forfeit all the blessing that God has for them.
All right, all the blessing that God has for them.
God was given them a chance to to, to get rid of all that and
look forward to a, to a fulfilled future, to a faithful
future. But yeah, instead they disregard
that warning. And John 316, the Bible says
that, you know, God so loved the world that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not
perish but have everlasting life.
Yeah, but you know, but sometimes we tend, we have the
tendency of looking back, you know, Christ had done so much
for us. He has given himself a winsome
so that we could be safe from our sins, so that we could have
a fruitful future. But sometimes we tend to look
back at our past and that become a hindrance and it handles us
from moving forward to be the question that God wants us to
be. And sometimes we suffer the
relationship that we have with God by and by breaking our
commitment to Him. And we see that in the life of
Gomer, Hosea was a faith, was a, was a faithful husband to Gomer.
But Gomer could not see that Gomer, Gomer kept going far to
the left as Hosea was trying to give her all the attention and
the passion and the love that she that she doesn't even
deserve. And a lot of time, God does that
for us. He gave us the, the passion.
He gave us the, the, the, I'm sorry, the compassion and the
love and the attention that we need, but we don't even deserve
it. And yet every day that provided
means every day he give us the attention that we need.
Every day that he show us compassion and mercy.
And here we see here in Hosea, that's exactly what Hosea was to
Gomer. However, Gomer missed the goal.
He she missed, she missed that completely.
And she she even thought that that other stuff that she was
having that she have was within her own strength or within
herself. Isn't that she thinks she
deserved these things. She was entitled to these
things. The apostle Paul said in Romans
chapter 6 verse 21. What fruit had ye done in those
things whereof you are now ashamed for the end of those
things is death. You know, as today and I and if
I can apply that in our life today, you know, we all here
sitting here in this in this in this establishment.
We had a pass before we met the Lord.
We were sent we were lost in the sin in trespasses.
So we had a shameful, shameful pass which if our to if we were
to sit and with us talk about our past, nobody would want to
do that because we would be ashamed to tell people or tell
each other about our past. You know, because we are this is
what this is what he's saying here.
And Gomer? She should have been.
A shame of our past, a shame of our activities and what she's
doing, but she was not. And because of that, it grieves
God. It grieves the heart of God.
And the children of Israel, they, they were a nation.
That's the God. God, God called him a stiff
necked people because they would not be, they would not listen to
God's prophet. They would not listen to God's
messages. They would not humble themselves
in the sight of God. And then they were doing all the
things that they wanted to do. You know, they wanted to worship
their idols. You know, sometimes we think we
think the blessings that God has given to us and we glorify idols
with it. Now listen to listen to this.
Sometimes we think the blessing that God has given us and we
worship idols with those things instead of using those blessings
that God gave us to glorify his name, to honor him with him.
Instead, we take those blessings and we ratify idols with it.
Let me explain. For example, here we see and and
the go with me to chapter chapter 2 of the book and
and chapter 2. Look at verse 7.
Verse 7 says and she shall follow after her lovers.
She shall follow after her lovers.
Why and verse and verse and chapter and verse 5.
Look what it says. For their mother had played the
harlot. She that conceived them had done
shamefully. For she said I will, I will go
after my lovers that give me my bread, my water, my wool, my
flags, my oil and my drinks. Now think about this.
God was God, it was Hosea that was providing her with these
things. It wasn't her lovers, it wasn't
the idols. It was Hosea that provided with
these things. But instead she was, she took
these things and give them and give the, the, the glory that
belongs to God to her lovers instead.
And therefore This is why God was very upset with the children
of Israel because they were taking the glory that belongs to
God and give it to the and give it to idols.
All the praise was given to idols as opposed to God.
Now this is a nation that God has chosen for himself from the
very beginning, that has chosen the children of Israel for
themselves to be a special people, to be a people that God
can use to reach the entire world, to be a people that God
can, can, can use to, to, to bless the world.
And God has done that. You know what though?
The children of Israel behave the way I behave.
And here on Hosea, God still move forward and being faithful
and keeping the covenant that he made.
And we can see that here in verse and verse and verse 7 and
chapter 1. God says what I will have mercy
upon the House of Judah and will save them by the Lord their God
and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by
horses, nor by horsemen. Now in verse a says now when she
had win Loama, she conceived and bear a son.
And so in verse 9 then God said God God God said call his name
lo Ami, which means you are my people not my people, and I will
not be your your God. Now this don't misunderstand,
God does not that does not change the the covenant God made
with Abraham God, God doesn't change God we made we made the
same no matter what. But I believe what God is saying
here. I believe as I was with as I was
studying this, this is what I get out of it is that God is
saying that you said you know my people.
You say I'm not your God, you know and so we look at here.
It says that this is that yet the number of but look, look
what God says in verse 10. Yet the number of the children
of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be
numbered, which not we cannot be measured nor numbered.
And it's how it come to pass that in the place where it was
said unto them, you are not my people there it shall be said
unto them, you are the sons of the living God.
See, God does not change. We change the truth of Israel
and the book of Hosea. They change.
They took, they took the love of God, the, the, the, the, the,
the, the, the, the compassion of God as Goma here has done to to
Hosea. They took the love of God, the
compassion of God and for granted.
And they used that instead of worshipping God instead of
instead of being being faithful to God, they are more faithful
to the idols and their wealth. And so therefore they miss they,
they missed the boat. They, they, they, they really
grieve God by committing committing such act.
Let's turn to look with me on verse chapter 2, verse 8 through
verse 8 says for she did not know that I have given her corn
and and wine and oil and multiply her silver and gold,
which they prepare for bell. God was the one doing the
blessing. You know, sometime we, we, we,
we achieve something in our lives and we think, oh, well, we
can give out. We can puff ourselves out or, or
we can call so and so and say, let's say someone this on for we
can we can just pop somebody out.
It's easy for us to pop somebody out because why we can see that
person, you see, But we need to be careful that when God blesses
that we give him the glory that we, we, we, we are sure to make
sure that God get the glory. God get the, the, the praise for
the things that we achieve. Because it is God that gave us
our corn, our oil, our, you know, our, our, our, everything
that we need. We we, we cannot take the the
blessing of God and give it to us and you know, and use it to
worship and praise idols. And lastly
and now back to chapter 1 chapter verse 11 says, then
shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be
gathered together and appoint themselves one head and they
shall come up out of the land for great shall be of the day of
Jezreel. So now God is is is is is is is
is saying is saying, Hey, I am willing, willing to forgive your
sins. Just turn to them.
Just turn away from them. Come to me.
I have God is showing compassion here.
That is showing. Listen, I will, I will not only
he says he will and verse and verse and verse 7 and he says
that he would multiply it and he would protect them.
He would he would, you know, love them.
But look what he says here in verse 11.
He says the children of Judah shall be there shall be a known
1. So God was going to bring God
bring the God's going to bring the, the Israelites.
It's kind of the north and the and Judah, the kind of the South
together under one head. And that day is coming.
And I believe this is spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ when he
reigned. Not only that Judah and Israel
will be one, but we also will be there.
We also will be the the child of God and the Kingdom worshipping
God together. I believe when as I as I with
the Bible, I see the there's a mystery.
I'm sure all of you probably see that there's a mystery that God
is trying to show us. And it's from the very beginning
that God, although God has chosen the children, Israel to
be this one nation, it wasn't because God favors them over
everyone else. It was because God has a plan.
And this plan was that through them He wished, he wished the
entire world. But even though they fell, even
though they they did not achieve what God has updated for them to
achieve, God still went by way of Christ and achieved that for
us. You know, one day we are going
to be one of the one, we are going to be the children of God
sitting, sitting before the throne of God, worshipping God
because of what? Because this is what this is the
mystery. The mystery is that one day
Israelites and Gentiles would be 1 body in Christ.
And this is what I get from that verse.
Anybody don't think so, just come to me, let me know.
But this is what I got from that, from that verse that that
the Lord Jesus Christ will will, will bring all nation to himself
and we will all be 1 and, and the one leader on one, one King,
one God worshipping together. You know, it's, it's it's
amazing how God uses something as marriage to to describe the
disobedience of disobedience of of the sure of Israel or, or or
the unfaithfulness of Gomer to to Hosea.
You know, marriage is the first institution that God has has
created and we all know that is it is a sacred thing for God and
God respect marriage God, God interested marriage for a
reason. And God marriage is a picture of
of our relationship with God. That's what it is.
It is a picture of our relationship of God's children,
relationship with God. And This is why it's important
that Mary should be kept secret. And we see Gomer here when she
went out and, and commit adultery and she and she, she,
she did not acknowledge the fact that Jose was the husband, that
that was given her all the stuff that she needed that was keeping
her satisfied and, and giving her all the attention that she
needed. But she felt that she had to
when she had to when I was tired of that to satisfy ourself that
grieves God because marriage is a sacred vow.
When you take a sacred vow before God.
We need to keep it all right, let's pray.
Father, we want to thank you and praise your Lord for tonight up
the Lord that you would use what is being said and in our hearts
and that you would help us to see exactly Lord, what you you
have like you said to us Lord, and maybe put this into
practice. Lord.
I do pray, Father, that you would help us to be committed to
you Lord, and not to anything else because that you are the
guy that loves us and has given us life and have Lord saved us
from us from our sins. And Lord, we need to be
committed to you and be faithful to you.
Help us to just to do just that. We love you in just name, Amen.