As has been mentioned, we're thankful for all that have come
this morning, thankful for your presence and we hope and pray.
That we worship God this morning in spirit and truth.
And I hope what I have to say this morning will give us a
deeper knowledge for the most famous verse and all the Bible
that the world knows of. We can read it and we can
understand it. But I hope.
That we have a deeper understanding of what this
means, I want us to. Read the verses leading up to
John chapter John 16 in chapter 3 so we can understand the
context. It's not something that Jesus
kind of just all of a sudden blurted out.
There was an entire scene up to that point.
He was in the middle of a conversation with a very
religious man named Nicodemus and I want us to hear the
following. Of what is leads between, you
know, between one and 15 to that point, and then we'll get into.
Verse 16 So John chapter 3 beginning in verse one.
Says there there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus.
A ruler of the Jews, this man came to Jesus by night and said
to him, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for
no one can do this, these signs that you do, unless God is with
him. Jesus answered him, and said to
him most. Assuredly I say to you, unless
one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God, Nicodemus
said to him, How can a man be born when he is old?
Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?
Jesus answered most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born
of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born
of the. Spirit is spirit.
Do not marvel. That I said to you, You must be
born again. The wind.
Blows where it wishes, and you have heard the sounds of it, but
cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.
So is everyone who is born of the spirit.
Nicodemus answered and said to him, How can these these things
be? Jesus answered and said this to
him. Are you the teacher of Israel
and do not know these things most?
Assuredly I say to you, we speak what we know and.
Testify what we have seen and you do not.
Receive our witness. If I have told you worthy things
and you do not. How will you believe if I tell
you heavenly things? No one has ascended to heaven
but he who came down from heaven, that is the Son of man
who is in heaven. And Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness. Even so must the Son of Man be
lifted up, and whoever believes in him should not perish, but
have everlasting life. Here's verse 16 for God so loved
the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in him should not perish but have everlasting
life. So now what I want us to.
Focus on are the first few words for God, so love the world here
in John 316 and in order to understand.
Those few words I want to take a couple different angles.
I want us to think about really, who's?
Involved with this phrase and then I want us to realize kind
of the. Set up to the story that leads
up to this point. So we'll start with the first
part of who is involved. Basically there are two people
involved in this phrase for God, so love the world.
Number one is an infinitely infinitely.
Holy God, And Nicodemus knew this.
He understood that. He understood.
The laws of the Old Testament he under.
He was part of the the Pharisees.
He was a religious leader. He understood who God was and
and sometimes, you know, we give.
The Pharisees, a bad stereotype where these guys were actually.
Lovers of who God was, and they they were trying to.
Follow what God had prescribed for them.
They were very well, well respected, he knew.
All the laws. But they also tacked on some
laws of tradition that, of course, we know was frowned
upon. As we read further into the New
Testament, so we know that Nicodemus.
Was that he knew that God was infinitely holy.
But what Nicodemus didn't realize is basically the
ramifications of the second subject that we want to see
here. Of for God so love the world, we
have an infinitely holy God, and secondly we have a sinfully
rebellious. People, when we hear the words
for God, so love the world. We need to realize kind of the
context to the time frame that this was happening and where
John was writing. It's not necessarily when he
says love the world. The world was.
It's not a commentary on how. That's not what John was.
Describing here whenever we see the world.
The word world mentioned in God's in John's Gospel as well
as some of the other. Letters that he wrote later in
the New Testament he uses this word and this is a kind of a
dominant. Word A theme that he uses over
and over, and it's almost always in a negative light that John
uses this in John 319. He says the world loves darkness
in John 7/7. He talks about the world hating
Jesus and John 15. Says that the world hates
followers of Jesus and John. Chapter 14 talks about the world
hates not just Jesus. But also hates the spirit of
God, and we get to John 16 and it.
Talks about how the world rejoices when the people of God
are weeping and the world. Is the source of trouble.
John 17 says the world doesn't even know God.
And then when we get to the end of first John.
He basically says that the whole world is under the control of
the evil 1 and so when we hear for.
God, so love the world. It's not, it's not describing
how lovely the world was at that time.
It is more a commentary or description on the depth.
Of love that God had for an unlovely world.
Now we need to. I want us.
To try to put ourselves in the shoes of Nicodemus, to
understand when when Jesus was telling him these things, what
where Nicodemus was. And and Nicodemus understood
from Jewish background that. The the Israelites were God's
people, not everybody else God had set plans for.
For the Israelites to be free from, slave from the from.
They were God's people. And then when?
Jesus said for God so loved the world.
That's kind of a well, hang on a minute.
Jesus, what are you talking about here?
God loved only the Israelites, is kind of what Nicodemus was
thinking at that time. We need to understand that
background leading up to this point.
But there's a whole back story for Nicodemus.
There's an. Entire story of the Old
Testament that leads to this point.
So if you have. Your Bibles, please open them
up. I want us to go back into the
Old Testament. Into the book of Hosea, we find
Hosea and we're being kind of the 1st.
Few chapters of there if you don't know where he was a minor
prophet, If you don't know where Jose is at, if you want to use
your table of contents in the front of your Bible to find him.
Please do so. He was a prophet in the 8th
century and basically a prophet means that he was speaking for
God. God spoke to the prophets, and
the prophets then proclaimed. God's word to the people around
that they were around. And in that 8th century Hosea
was prophesying in the Northern Kingdom of Israel where sin was
very, very rampant. And we see that all the evidence
of immorality and rampant sin and Hosea and Hosea was.
This prophet of God speaking to his people and he would give
messages from God through himself.
Now Prophet's job when it's primarily.
Just God would speak to the prophet and the prophet would
then proclaim it to the to to those around.
Sometimes God would. Require that these prophets do
what they I don't know any other word for, but kind of like an
action sermon or an action they would have to perform certain
things physically. To teach what God was
proclaiming to these prophets. Isaiah for example, the things
Isaiah wrote and prophesied are pretty incredible.
Me. We don't realize sometimes that
God told Isaiah at one point that for three years he had to
walk around stripped and naked. Of his clothes and barefoot in
order to show a demonstration. Of what God was trying to teach
his people. The Ezekiel had to do all kinds
of things that were extremely painful in his own life that
affected him deeply and emotionally.
And we get to Jeremiah, who's walking around at one point with
a yoke around him. And then when we come to Hosea,
we've got a major, major action sermon if you want to.
Say that Hosea does for God and what God tells Hosea to do.
He says. Hosea, I want you in order to
for for me to demonstrate what I'm going to be speaking through
you. I want you to.
Go and marry a woman named Gomer and there was 2 problems with
that. The first was her name was
Gomer. God tells somebody Go marry
somebody Gomer. God go, go marry Lizzie.
Oh, yeah, That's good. Oh, Mary Lizzie Gomer.
Okay. Secondly, of course, more
importantly. She was a prostitute.
Gomer was a. Prostitute that God had told
Hosea to marry. And we don't know all of Gomer's
history before she married Hosea, how involved or not
involved in prostitution it was. But she we do know that that
once they were. Married, she was very much
involved in an adulterous. Life if you look at Hosea one
and verse two and three. This is what God tells Hosea to
do, he says, when the Lord began to speak to.
By Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea.
Go take yourself a wife of harlatree and.
Children of Harlatree, For the land has committed great
harlatree by departing from the Lord.
So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblium, and she
conceived and bore him a son. And so from the very beginning
of the book, we need to. Realize that there's kind of two
levels that we're getting taught at from this book.
We're getting of. Course this is.
This is God is talking, of course, about, you know, a man
and a woman being married, Jose and Gomer.
And on the another. Level God's talking about his
people of Israel and himself. It's a picture of that.
It's depicted all the Israelites, the people of God,
which is Hosea in our in our study this morning, and then the
children of Israel are actually. Depicted as Hosea's children,
the individual. It's a real story.
It's we need to understand there's a real marriage there
and. Also a spiritual picture that we
want to pick up on and I want to.
Try to hopefully explain and see kind of one of the most.
Most beautiful pictures of God's plan for.
Us that Hosea shows us in these scriptures that we're going to
read. Hosea 2 We want to look at
verses 2 and I want to I want to read a few verses starting in
chapter 2 verse. Two, these are kind of very
stunning words that are coming from the mouth of God sometimes.
They're almost uncomfortable to read it.
Sometimes. But this is God speaking to his
people, and I want us to realize he's on those two.
Levels that we just talked about Beginning of verse.
Two of chapter two of Hosea bring charges against your
mother. Bring charges.
For she is not my wife, nor am I her husband.
Let her put away her harlot trees from her sight and her
adulteries from between her. Breasts lest I strip her naked
and expose her as in the day she was born, and make her like a
wilderness and set. Her like a dry land and.
Slay her with thirst. I will not have mercy on her.
Children for They are the children of Harlot Tree for
their mother. Has played the harlot.
She who conceived them has behaved shamefully.
Or, she said. I will go after my lovers who
give me my bread and my water, my wool and my linen, my oil and
my drink. Therefore, behold, I will hedge
up your way with thorns, and wall her in, so that she cannot
find her paths. She will chase her lovers, but
not overtake them. Yes.
She will seek them but not find them.
Then she. Will say I will go and return to
my first husband. For then it was better for me
than for me than now. For she did not know that I gave
her grain, new wine and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold.
Which they prepared for bail. Therefore I will return and take
away my grain that in its time and my new wine in its season,
and will take back my wool and my linen given to cover her
nakedness. Now I will uncover her lewdness
in the. Side of her lovers, and no one
shall deliver her from my hand. I will also cause her mirth to
cease her feast. Her.
Her feast days, her new moons, her sabbaths, all her appointed
feasts, And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees of which
she has said, These are my wages that my lover has given me, so I
will make them a forest and the. Beasts of the field shall eat
them. I will punish her.
For the days of the of the Bales, to which she burned
incense. She decked herself with her
earrings and jewelry and went after her lovers but me.
She forgot, says the Lord. So we have two levels here.
Picture of a man relating. To his wife is a picture of God,
of the universe relating to his people, and much like we are
thinking about them in terms of two characters in the word of.
For God, so love the world. I want us to see two different
groups that work. In the story of Hosea, the 1st
is a story of the unfaithful people from the very beginning.
In verse five of Hosea 2 it says their mother has played the
harlot and when we realize when we get.
Verses 2 through 13, it's kind of a vivid picture of
unfaithfulness of God's people toward.
It starts off in the very beginning of Hosea.
To verse two it says bring charges against your mother.
Bring charges. It's repeated twice there for
emphasis. It's a legal accusation, Breed
charges against her because of her unfaithfulness, he says.
For she is not my wife, nor am I her husband.
These are kind of got to be some heavy things that we get into,
some some heavy scriptural things that we're going to talk.
About that also you know may be heavy on our.
Physical side as well. I want us to realize the depth
of the unfaithfulness that is here in God's people, that is
being. Talked about the different
themes and when he talks about Gomer, he's talking about his.
People and the number one thing, that one of the things that we
want to talk. About is that she was
adulterous, he says in verse 2. For she is not my wife, nor am I
her husband. Let her put away her harlot
trees from her site. We find out later in the book of
Hosea that there's not necessarily been a divorce or
separation or anything like that.
There's not been an official. You're not my wife anymore,
Gomer. That we don't read about that.
That hasn't happened. What it is is a picture though.
It's it's a practical severing of a relationship.
If you want to say in that Gomer leaving Jose and going after all
these other men and people of God, leaving God and going after
all the other things of the world.
That we could practically, you could practically never tell
that Gomer was even. Jose's wife at a certain point
you can never tell that the. People of God that the
Israelites were people of God were his people.
They've gone so far away from what he had prescribed for them
and it's. Pictured as adultery in this
reading that we have and we don't need to think hard.
To realize that God is using the pain of a wife leaving her
husband for other men. We don't need to think hard
about that to understand the the seriousness of sin, what that is
against. God, how serious that is.
That sin is spiritual adultery. It's leaving our Creator and
getting pleasures from the things of the world instead of
Him, and running after those things as lovers we would run
after. Lovers, as it says here, we need
to realize that sin this is, this is actually a personal
affront. To God, sin is a personal
affront to God, and sometimes I think we kind of lose.
Grasp of that concept. Obviously if a if a wife leaves,
her husband goes running around with all the other men, that's a
personal front to that husband. And the same goes with God too
when we sin against him. God has created every single one
of us for himself. And He is worthy as our Creator
of each of our worship. So to not give him that worship,
to not give him what is due to Him and give.
Others that worship, that's where the picture is showing
here she was adulterous not. Only was she adulterous, but she
was idolatrous. It's what we see through verses.
Through these verses we see bail or bails mentioned here and
whenever we. See bail.
It's referenced to foreign gods. There was the Canaanite rain God
they called Bail. And he wasn't just the the God
of Rain. He was.
They believed he provided crops. They believed he provided fruits
from the earth. A God who brings crops and
rains, that's who. They kind of.
Described Bail as he's the God of prosperity for your family
and my family. And so Israel and the people of
Israel were surrounded by all kinds of Pagan nations all
around them, and these Pagan nations worshipped all these
different gods, including Bail. And what happened is the
Israelites made, sometimes made, if you want to say, trade
agreements with these nations, they would go there and they
would get things that you would we.
Would see listed here in these verses, Wine and oil, food,
water, all these things Israelites.
Would go to these other Pagan nations and receive those
things. Trade for them and when they
would have these things, they would hear these nations kind of
talking about how. They have gotten these things
from Bail or from these other gods, and those other Pagan
nations worship those idols, and so the people of Israel then.
Started to worship these Pagan gods is what?
They started to worship bail. They were giving bail the credit
for the things that they were receiving.
Now they were attributing those things.
To other gods. So that's the picture of God and
his people. And if you want to imagine this
on Jose and Gomer's level, try to think kind of a scenario to.
To put together for this, but imagine God coming to Hosea and
saying Hosea your wife Gomer is living in a.
Very dirty part of the city. Very dangerous part of the city
right now and her needs are not being met.
Gomer says or Hosea says. I know and God says the Hosea,
Hosea. I want you to provide for her
anyway. I want you to go to the store
and get the food and the water that she needs and I want you to
take it to her. And I couldn't only imagine kind
of the struggles and pain that Jose would go through.
Saying okay, I know what God's asking me.
That's going to be tough to do, but I'm going to go ahead and do
that anyway. I'm going to go get that stuff
and Jose goes to that part of. Of that city and doesn't look up
Gomer, but instead looks up the man that she's living with and
goes and knocks on his door. And he opens the door and Josea
says, are you the one living with Gomer?
And he says, yeah, what's it to you?
And Josea says Gomer is my wife. Of course, that man takes a step
back. Doesn't know really what's going
to happen here and Josea pulls out the food and the goods and
the supplies that he brought for Gomer.
Provisions. And he says, I want you to make
sure that these needs are taken care of.
Will you give these to her? Will you give?
These to Gomer and the man says kind of thinks to himself, this
guy's a fool, What a foolish. And he takes them, slams the
door in Josea's face. And then this man turns around,
goes to Gomer and says look what I've got for you, look what I've
provided for you. And Gomer gives that man.
All the love and says thank you, thank you, thank you wraps her
arms around him and gives him the love that Hosea deserves.
That's the picture of what worshipping idols other gods
was. That is the essence of idolatry.
It's being what's talked about in verse eight, it says.
For she did not know that I gave her grain, new wine, and oiled.
Oil and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared
for bail. She used it to build idols to
bail. The things that she could have
that she used to worship other gods, so.
I don't want us to miss it. It was actually, they had a they
had completely left out God out of the picture, the Israelites.
Left him out of the picture, but he was still there.
God was still there. You get to verse. 11 of chapter
two of Hosea. It says I will also cause all
her mirth, which are celebrations I will also cause.
All her mirth to cease her feast days.
Her new moons, her Sabbath, all her appointed feasts.
She was hypocritical. I want us to understand what
that means. That that means that while the
people of God. Were living in spiritual
adultery to God. While they were worshipping
other gods and not giving. You know, giving God the glory
for what was being provided, They will start having their
festivals. They were still.
Having all their feast, they were still.
Doing all the things that prescribed all their all their
celebrations, all their sabbaths week after week they would go
to. And I don't want us to miss us.
The, the, the, Jose. At that time, the Israelites
were really. Really.
Engrossed in idolatry, they had mastic.
Masked that idolatry with spiritual devotion.
It was a tactic that. I think Satan used in that 8th
century and I'm almost convinced today that he uses it today.
That we can we can go to. Worship once or twice or
whenever it's prescribed. A week during the week, on the
Sundays we still. Go through the motions, but yet
we are so. Far spiritually in tune with
what God wants from us, that is a possibility.
And that is very, very frightening and dangerous that
we need to be make sure that we are not part of.
She was adulterous, idolatrous. She was hypocritical.
She was running around with the things of the world she had, but
she. Still had time to give God a
little bit of lip service. Not only was she those, but she
was also forgetful, being forgetful.
Okay, that's no big deal, right? I forget to.
Pull out meat in the morning sometimes for dinner, You know,
we forget to do things here and there.
We forget. That's not what's being talked
about here. Those simple things of
forgetfulness is not what's being talked about.
It's a much, much deeper and much more larger problem that
they had to get to the end of the verses we can read in.
Verse 13 God says I will punish her for the days of the bales to
which she. Burned incense.
She decked herself with her earrings and jewelry and went
after love her lovers. But me, she forgot.
It's not forgetting just something small here or there.
That's not what's being talked about.
Deuteronomy 8 and verses 11 and 19 and 20 years before this,
what happened? God said to his people.
Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God.
Failing to observe his commands, his laws, and his.
Decrees that I'm giving you this day, if you ever forget the Lord
your God and follow other gods and worship.
And bow down to them. I testify you today that you
will surely be destroyed like the.
Nations of the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be
destroyed. For not obeying the Lord your
God. You don't just forget God.
It's not easy to forget the one who created you in his own
image. That's something this is that is
a willful forgiveness willfully. We choose to engross ourselves
sometimes in this world instead of what?
God says, and God says I will punish her.
That's. Strong language from God, Very,
very strong language. And of course, the world.
And culture that we live in today, you know, it's all about
toleration you got to tolerate. What's being said?
You can't. You can't draw a line in the
sand. You got to tolerate what's?
Happening around you. And if God is a loving God, of
course we hear If God is so loving, why does he?
Why doesn't? He tolerate sin, then why?
So if God is loving He, you know why, If He loves us.
So much Why is he punishing sin? Why is he punishing it?
We hear people say I can't follow a God like that.
Who punishes for sin? That's not the God that I know.
But we know, I want to make sure we understand that God punishes
sin because sin hurts not only against us sometimes, but like
we mentioned before, it is a affront to God.
It hurts. God, when we sin, would a loving
God sit back and watch? Without doing anything when we
sin. Is it not the fact that because
that he loves us? So much is what causes him to
punish sin. All of us as parents, if we're a
parent, we understand that, you know.
If our kid, you know it's out of great love that we see if a kids
going. To be our child is going to be
doing something wrong. We say no, do not do that if you
do this. You will be punished because we
know what is good for them. It's the same concept.
It's a picture of his. Love and we need to praise God.
For his punishment of sin. Me.
She forgot it, says. They're in Jose at 213
Deuteronomy. You forget I'm going to go ahead
and destroy and that sounds severe.
And we got to. Realize in in the context of
Jose and in the. Even in the context.
Sometimes in our culture, not even in our our culture, but.
Parts of the Middle East. Today, when a woman commits
adultery in the Middle East, their punishment is death.
Of course, we know that's not right.
But that happens still today and it's not even they don't go to
trial. She gets caught and come in
adultery. The family goes ahead and takes
care of that punishment. For them, it's severe.
Death was punishment. For adultery.
Back in that time, and even if you weren't look going to go
that far, you know, even, let's say at least divorce or
separations, what's? What's needed there?
Major consequences. Now when we get to to the 14th
verse of chapter 2. The first word is going to be
there for. Whenever we see the word there
for in the. We know that it's about.
That you know whatever is going to be talked about is because of
something that was just talked about because of these things,
therefore. These things, that's what we
read through verses 2 through 13.
Give us a stinging indictment of adultery, adultery, hypocrisy,
and completely turning your back on God.
Therefore God says. In light of the fact that you
have run after the things of this world, don't even think
about me anymore. You're completely out of my
mind. In light of the fact that you
are. Bowing down and worshipping
other gods in light of the fact that you still.
Pretend like you're following me in light of the fact.
That you completely blocked me out and have love and affection
I've shown and and blocked that affection out that I tried to
show you in light of all that. Look at what it says.
Therefore, behold, I will allure her will.
Lead her into the wilderness and speak comfort to her that
defies. All human logic, this is the God
of the universe that has the basis for.
Infinite judgment on his people, using that as the base basis to
show. His infinite grace towards his
people. Defying all human logic, we know
what we would do if we had a spouse who was.
As bad as Gomer was, God said you.
Did all these things Israel to me.
You've done all these bad things to me.
Therefore, I'm going to allure you.
I'm going to pursue her with my love.
I am. I kind of think this is one of
very few verses that are. Very, very beautiful in the word
of God story of an unfaithful people.
And it's also a story of an. Unrelenting God defies logic,
defies reason that God would say these things.
And what's amazing is this is all his initiative.
This is God's initiative. There's not a verse here that
talks about. What Gomer does to come back to
God. It's all about him going to her,
he says over and over again. I will do this.
I'll do this.
That's what. God is saying to Gomer, this is
God. Speaking to an unfaithful people
and he says, first I will allure her, I will.
Allure her means basically woo her.
Is one of the definitions of that word there.
I want to attract her. One definition of the word in
the original language of the Old Testament is to.
Persuade her by means of attractive benefits.
It's not a forceful love. He's trying to attract her.
I'm not God's not wanting to force Gomer to love Jose back.
That's not what's going on there.
You know, we think about this, you know, when we were, you
know, dating. You know, I think about, you
know, when we were, I was dating Lizzie, you know, I wanted to
allure her. I wanted to get her attention.
I wanted to impress her. I was always thinking about okay
if I wear this. She going to like this and like
she even cared. She didn't care, but that's our
that's our thought. You know we want to allure our
spouse. How can we draw her?
To myself that was God was trying to do.
I will allure her also. I will lead her.
Into the wilderness. I will lead her into the
wilderness early in that chapter, that world.
I will that. That phrase lead her into the
wilderness. That was A that was a picture.
Of danger. We don't want to be in the
wilderness, but now God says I will lead her.
Into the wilderness so that it will just be.
And I get her out there by myself, get the Israelites out
there, the the people of Israel. By myself, so she can be
completely encapsulated by my advance towards her.
This is intimate language that we see here.
You know, we I would expect to see this.
Stuff maybe in the Song of Solomon.
Very romantic passages that we see.
I will lead her. Into the wilderness and speak
softly. Or speak comfort to her.
And that's a Hebrew idiom that we can read about.
Sometimes It literally means to speak to her heart.
It's a phrase that a guy when he was asking.
The girl to marry him that he would use in that day and that's
what God is using here. I will give to her verse 15.
I will give her her vineyards. From there and the Valley of a
core as the door of hope. The valley of a core.
Literally means valley of trouble back in Joshua 7,
earlier in the Old Testament, it was a place where.
Major sin had been committed in the valley of a core.
Against God that jeopardizes the Israelites from.
Going into the Promised land, they called it the Valley of
Trouble. What they called it from that
point, and God says I'm going to take the death of.
Israel's sin, and I'm going to turn it into a door of hope
here, it says. There is no one whose magnitude
of sin that God cannot turn into an open door for us.
There's not one person, no matter how deep or how bad or
how. How much we've dealt with sin in
our life that God cannot take the magnitude of that sin and
turn it into a door of hope. I will give to her.
I will restore her verse. 16 It says, And it shall be in that
day says the Lord that you will call.
Me, my husband, and no longer call me my master in the
beginning of this chapter. She is not my wife.
I'm not her husband. I'll bring her to this place to
that day. That you call me my husband and
you will no longer call me my master.
It's not us coming back to God and say okay God, I've messed
up. Sorry I've messed up.
What do I need to do now? The picture here is of a.
Wife coming back to her husband and and gazing into her
husband's eyes and saying you're my husband.
It's coming back to him as a husband, not as a master.
Next it says I will protect her. Verse 18 In that day I will make
an A covenant for them with the beasts of the field, with the
birds of the air, and with the. Creeping things at the ground,
bow and sword of battle I shall shadow from.
The earth to make them lie down safely.
Going to protect her, I will betro with her.
That's not a word, of course, that we.
Use nowadays, but this word betrothed means that it's more
than just an engagement. If you want to say it was a word
that's used to describe. How a man would betro the woman
he wanted to marry and it was almost like they were.
Already married at that point. It was.
It was going, it was happening. They were married, they were
betrothed. They would legally.
Be looked at as being married, he would pay a.
Price for that to happen, God says.
In verse 19 it says I will betroth.
You to me, and righteousness and justice, and loving kindness and
mercy for an unfaithful people I will betroth.
You to me and Faithfulness, Jose, at verse 220.
Beautiful. Picture the language here.
It's kind of like it's it's more of like a clean slate.
If you want to say Gomer wasn't going to going to go to Hosea
and say okay, I've I've done all these bad things.
I want to make it right. I want to do all these things to
get back in good graces with you and all that stuff.
That's not what's being talked about here.
This is a clean slate that God is offering to the.
Children of Israel, I will. Betray with her.
Next I will answer her. He repeats this word.
Over and over again. Versus 21 through 20 two, he
says. It shall come to pass in that
day that I will answer, says the Lord.
I will. Answer the heavens and they
shall answer. The earth viewer shall answer
with grain, with new wine, and with oil, and they shall answer
Jezreel. God says I'm going to go
directly to the skies and. They're going to go ahead and
bring you rain, not the king. And I got bail.
He's not going to do that. I'm going to do that.
I'm going to bring the rain. I'm going to go tell the Earth
to yield its fruit. To you so you can prosper
because of the way. I respond.
He literally says I'm going to move heaven and earth to provide
for you. I will answer her.
Additionally, I will establish her.
He uses that word Jesreel at. The end of verse 22, which is
I've read is another name for Israel, but but it's a word
that. Also means to plant, he says.
Says. Then I will sow for her myself
in the earth. In verse 23, I'm going to
establish her there. So God has said these nine
things. Incredible words from God, but
while he's. Saying all those things, Gomer
hasn't returned yet. She's still over there with all
these other. People and grossed in the things
that she was doing, all the worldly things, that being
adulterous and and Harley tree and all that other stuff.
She was still doing it. She had not come back.
And then when we get to chapter three of Hosea.
It's really, really an incredible chapter.
Look at what it says there, the Lord said.
To me, go again, love a woman who is loved by a lover and is
committing adultery just like the love of the.
Lord of the children of Israel who look to other.
Gods, and love the Raisin cakes of the pagans, so I bought her.
For myself for 15 shekels of silver.
And 1 1/2 homers of barley, and I said to her, You shall stay
with. Me many days you shall not play
the harlot, nor shall you have a man.
So too will I be. Toward you.
We don't know if Gomer was, you know, in the Old Testament.
Sometimes they had these temples where it was full.
Of prostitutions and these prostitutes would come out at
certain points of the day. We don't know if that's what she
was involved in. We don't know if she was just.
Running around on Hosea. We don't know all that stuff.
We don't know the details of it, but we.
Do know that in order to bring Gomer back to himself, to bring
him back to Hosea. It was going to cost Hosea.
We know earlier in if we read in Exodus that the price.
Of a female slave in that kind of setting was about 30 shekels,
and he didn't even have that much.
He says he has 15 shekels here. God.
Comes to Hosea and he says
Hosea, no matter what it costs, I want you to go and buy her.
Back so he goes to the man and he says I don't have enough
money but I have 15. Shekels of silver.
Plus, I have all these this food.
I just want my wife back. Is what he says, and that is.
The picture that God uses to talk about the way that he loves
his people. Yes, he will lure her.
Yes, he will lead her. He will speak to her.
He will give to her. He will restore her.
He will patrol with her. He will answer her, but in the
end, God. Says I will pay the price for
her. That is, the picture of God in
the Old Testament leads up. To the God that we read about in
John 316, listen to one man, one one man said about this when we
see this. Love at work?
Through the heart of Hosea we may wonder if God.
Is really like that, but everything in the word and an
experience shows us that he. Is he will give man?
The trees of the forest and the iron of the ground, then.
He will give to the man the brains to make an axe from the
iron to cut down a tree and fashion it into a cross.
He will give man the ability to make a hammer and nails and when
man has. Cross has the cross and the
hammer and the nails. The Lord will allow man to take
hold of him and bring him to that.
Cross, and in doing so, we'll take the sins of man upon
himself and make it possible. For those who have despised and
rejected him to come up unto him, and know the joy of sins
removed and forgiven, to know the assurance of pardon and
eternal life, and to enter into this.
Prospect of hope and glory with him.
That is our God, and there is no one like him.
Gomer's only hope was in a love that she never deserved.
Our hope is in a love that we do not.
Deserve for God so loved the world.
That he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in
him should. Not perish, but have everlasting
life. Are we spiritually faithfully
married to God? And if we cannot answer that
with a resounding. Yes.
Then we need to run to him. He is.
He wants. Us he wants.
Us to be have that relationship with him to love.
Him to forget all the things of this world and give all we have
to him. I want you to.
I want to invite any who needs. To have a clean slate from God,
we have of course made the opportunity to have an
invitation song to come forward. Of course, that's not the only
time that that's necessary, but we want to get those taken care
of. If you haven't been baptized for
the remission of your sins, we want to open the opportunity now
to offer that invitation to. Hear Believe, repent of our old
ways, confess the name of. Jesus and Be baptized.
We thank you for listening to our podcast put on by the Church
of Christ at 2215 Plans Rd. in Bakersfield.
If you would like any additional information or you would like to
receive a free Bible correspondence course by mail,
please e-mail us at info at churchofchristbakersfield.com.
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