You see, Peter had asked the Lord this same question: “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? He was pastor of Emmanuel Faith Community Church in Escondido, CA from 1972 to 1993 when the Lord called him home. Most likely, Gomer was a chaste woman when Hosea married her. 1. Summary: James Montgomery Boice calls the enacted parable of Hosea and Gomer "the second greatest story in the Bible," a depiction of God's embracing, pardoning grace. Over and over, the Lord emphasizes His love for His people, everything He did for them, and the heartbreak of seeing them chose false idols over Him. Hosea's Powerful Sermons Chapters 4-14. Featuring a sermon puts it on the front page of the site and is the most effective way to bring this sermon to the attention of thousands including all mobile platforms + newsletter. Bassett, Rev. Even in the Old Testament, God was merciful and patient with Israel, just as He is with people today. He longed for her to come home. How Hosea’s heart must have swelled with joy. 6:1; 14:1). The first child of Hosea and Gomer was named Jezreel as a sign of judgment. Hosea & Gomer. When they were born, their names were sad, symbolizing the turning away of the nation, and the tragedy that would befall the people. 18:21, 22). He loved her deeply and grieved for her as though she had been taken in death. 11:8). Big wounds sometimes take longer to heal. It’s true. But his heart said “No.” He could not give her up. That might require some extended counseling; it might demand an honest reappraisal of our personalities or habit patterns; it might mean a change in our life-style or a relocation. 5:25), and Hosea is an outstanding biblical example of that kind of love. Again the name was symbolic of Israel’s wandering from God’s love and the discipline she would soon experience. Hosea was a prophet, obedient to His Lord, but still he suffered. Hosea, after the manner of God, was to show Gomer that a relationship was still possible, not on the terms of her character, but on the terms of his commitment. The unique thing about God using Gomer certainly knew how her affairs were tearing at Hosea’s heart. One of the most significant examples was before the Flood. She is like the lily of the valley that spreads its fragrance across the fields or like the lush, abundant grapes that make men glad. Like Gomer, Israel did not perceive what God was doing, and gave credit to the false gods with which they had committed spiritual adultery (Hosea 10:1). Six hundred years have gone by since Israel was married to God. Jeroboam II was on the throne of the northern kingdom of Israel, and his military exploits had extended Israel’s borders farther than they had been since the days of Solomon’s glorious kingdom. 5. We wonder how anyone could love her now. No sooner had little Loruhamah been weaned than Gomer conceived again. Say to your brethren, “My people,” and to your sisters, “Mercy is shown”: the restoration will be complete. 4:1b-2. God’s love and forgiveness pervade Hosea’s entire prophecy. For the number of the days that you lie on it, you shall bear their punishment. This reconciliation foretold the future return to God the nation of Israel would make, and His forgiveness. The phrase “a … In either case, it is obvious that she was a woman who had been deeply affected by the moral laxity of her society, and God intended to use the prophet’s personal relationship with her as a penetrating object lesson of His own relationship with His unfaithful people, Israel. What interests do you both share in common? Since the Lord viewed Israel as His wife, He viewed her worship of other gods as spiritual adultery. | 2,504 views. Upon deeper and further investigation we discover that Hosea represents God; and Gomer represents and depicts the people of God who have a wicked tendency and hellish proclivity to stray and are unfaithful to Him and reject His love. Hosea and Gomer's story is the story of God and Israel. Both are stories of covenant relationships which get violated and then restored. God sometimes called on his prophets to live symbolically and sacrificially in order to communicate to the people. She looked Hosea in the face. He lay awake at night and wrestled with his fears. “I led them with cords of a man, with bonds of love” (Hos. Gomer She was always good company-a little heavy with the lipstick maybe, a little less than choosy about men and booze, a little loud, but great on a party and always good for a laugh. But Gomer is not faithful; she loves to run around. God tells us how much our sin grieves Him. 1:4, 5). Certainly now Hosea would forget her. Contributed by Troy Luttrell on Apr 22, 2014. The events prophesied in the Book of Hosea happened centuries ago, but that does not mean there is nothing there for the contemporary Christian to take away. While we do not find anything else in Scripture about their relationship with each other, we assume that God used Hosea’s supreme act of forgiving love to melt her heart and change her life. Then the prophet Hosea came along wearing a sandwich board that read "The End is at Hand" on one side and "Watch Out" on the other. The Lord tells Hosea in vs 2 to marry the adulterous woman Gomer. When we found ourselves stuck in chains we never intended—chains of insecurity, discontentment or fear—God freed us. It is also a lesson of obedience to God, because sometimes believers are called to do hard tasks or make big sacrifices. He does not want His children to behave badly, to wallow unchanging in spiritual immaturity and sin. Maybe she had responded to the Spirit-filled ministry of Hosea himself, and he found his heart drawn to her in deep and unselfish love. Gomer does leave Hosea and commit adultery, but eventually her husband retrieves her, taking her back into his home and forgiving her. But her repentance would be short-lived and soon she would be off again with another new lover. God directed him to take her as his wife, and so it was that Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, became the unlikely wife of the budding young preacher. Listen to the response of the Lord Jesus. The answer was right there in God’s instructions to Hosea, “even as the Lord loves.” Only one who knows the love and forgiveness of God can ever love this perfectly. The children of Israel will also experience a period characterized by a lack of intimacy. In the same way, Gomer would never have had the power to break that same cycle in her own life, so God used Hosea to mirror his love for her—the kind of love that comes back for her over and over again, even when she turns her back on him. “What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? Husbands and wives need to do things together and take an interest in each other’s activities. God is calling Israel to return to the God who loves and Husband who is committed. Book of the Prophet Hosea Literally Translated with Introduction and Notes Critical and Explanatory. She didn't appreciate his stand or values or ideals. There is the story of Hosea, Gomer, and their children, and there is the story of God and Israel. How to Obtain Help from Jesus (Matthew 15:21-28), Living in Love: Secrets from Bible Marriages. Who would have ever suspected that this woman who was now a wife and mother had once been a mistress of the… Read about it in Hosea 1:2. Finally, there is a reminder of God’s love and forgiveness. There is no way to avoid it. 31:16; Judg. Jeremiah had to wear linen shorts. God must be the One to cover our sin. Did you mean it?! Please enter your email address associated with your Salem All-Pass account, then click Continue. Just as Hosea was angry with his wife’s continued unfaithfulness, so God was angry with Israel’s continued unfaithfulness (Hosea 2:9-13). But even that spiritual message could not soothe the prophet’s troubled soul. The former herdsman of Tekoa thundered God’s warning of imminent judgment, but the nation paid little attention. He actually paid for her, brought her home, and eventually restored her to her position as his wife. He went on preaching, encouraging the wayward nation to turn from its sin and trust God for deliverance from the threat of surrounding nations. Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Katarzyna Bialasiewicz. Twelve Prophets Volume 1: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, and Jonah. You shall not play the harlot, nor shall you have a man; so I will also be toward you” (Hos. Sermon Highlights!! What else could you do together to strengthen your bond of oneness? Hosea was not the only prophet whose life reflected the state of the relationship between God and His people. His heart ached that she should choose a life that would surely bring her to ruin. It does not discuss how he felt, only that he obeyed. Introduction: It is impossible for us to fully … I’ll never come back again.” How Hosea must have suffered! And his suspicions were confirmed when Gomer got pregnant again. It is absolutely filled While few Christians are called to take a spouse or a live in the streets to symbolically communicate things today, both require trust and obedience. By living a life of suffering personal injury and embarrassment at the hands of someone close to him, Hosea obeyed the Lord knowing these hardships would come, and also found the strength to forgive his wife. And in order for Hosea to cover Gomer’s shame, he must first place the winning bid. That brings us, secondly, to his unrelieved agony. It was another boy. 11:1). Article Images Copyright © 2021 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. Forgiveness does mean, however, that we will pay for the other person’s offenses. No one would believe how far she had traveled to become a respectable woman. Love her and marry her. Husbands and wives are not always aware of each other’s love. Forgiveness does not necessarily mean that we must suffer in silence. 11:4). The application is clear: Hosea is called to love this adulterous woman in the same way that God loves his wandering-eyed people. He threatened to disinherit her (2:3). Hosea, a young preacher, is led by God to meet and woo and win a young woman by the name of Gomer. Please do not misunderstand it. God can use that forgiving love to melt hardened hearts and change callused lives quicker than anything else in this whole wide world. This, remember, is prophecy. The more they were called, the more they went away; they kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning offerings to idols” (Hosea 11:1-2). Then he said to her, “You shall stay with me for many days. 4:12, 13; 13:2). What is the greater plan? And God blessed their union with a son. Yet, each time she comes home, Hosea reconciles with her and welcomes her back. And said, "Hosea, man of grace, Dark harlotry was in my blood, Until your love became a flood. This period of marital celibacy, like everything else in Hosea’s marriage, is used by God to illustrate His relationship with the children of Israel. And because He never stopped loving them, He never stopped pleading with them: “Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity” (Hos. They each have their own set of friends, and there is little communication to bring their two worlds together. He’s a real guy with a real wife who lived a long time ago, but his life was supposed to be an example of what Jesus and his people are like. Ezekiel, a prophet in Judah, was called by God to act out his life in such a way that it foretold the siege of Jerusalem in 587 BC: “Then lie on your left side, and place the punishment of the house of Israel upon it. All rights reserved. No One Cares For A Tabloid God Series. After All, God Greatly Blessed Him, And Made Him The Father Of The Nation Israel. And he found her, ragged, torn, sick, dirty, disheveled, destitute, chained to an auction block in a filthy slave market, a repulsive shadow of the woman she once was. In fact, Christ was simply saying in a captivating way that there is no end to forgiveness. She maintains a faith and lifestyle blog graceandgrowing.com, where she muses about the Lord, life, culture, and ministry. Gomer was part of a soft, easy going life of her time, but Hosea brought much to this marriage. Neither does forgiveness necessarily mean we cannot take positive steps to guard against the sin recurring. Moreover, God used Hosea’s own life as a symbol for this relationship through the prophet’s marriage to Gomer, who would be unfaithful to him. An amount equal to 30 pieces of silver – half in silver, 15 shekels, and half in barley. Hosea and Gomer—A Sermon About the Love of God Bible Study Hosea Ministry Old Testament Preaching Sermon Manuscript Jun 19 When my friends and I used to sit around and talk about women (and the chasing of them), I used to say that I was looking for somebody with three "G"s. Theologians generally pinpoint this event as the reason that polytheism became more widely practiced in Israel. And one who has experienced His loving forgiveness cannot help but love and forgive others. It was after the birth of Jezreel that Hosea seems to have noticed a change in Gomer. And here in the Book of Hosea, God commissions his prophet to show Israel that she had been consistently disloyal to him, even though he had been faithful to them. "And children," Gomer said with tears, "Mark this, the miracle of years." But looking back on the complete canon of Scripture, with the Trinity in view, we can make another comparison: Hosea and Gomer represent Christ and the church. Sermon Hosea 11:1-11 The Repentant God By Dr. Randy L. Hyde If you are a parent who has gone through the particularly difficult tragedy of having a wayward and rebellious child, Hosea is not your favorite book in the Bible. But God promises a restoration so complete that Jezreel will once again be a name of greatness, not judgment. 2. One of the biggest questions that arises from the life of Hosea is why God would orchestrate his obedient prophet’s life in such a manner that Hosea would suffer so much. 1:2). John had to eat grasshoppers. After King David’s death, his son Solomon married hundreds of women from cultures all over the region, who worshipped many false gods. Have you ever realized that God used the love story of Hosea and Gomer to compare to His relationship with us? The minor prophets is a collection of books in the Old Testament which give insight into who God is, how He works, and the history of Israel and Judah; they are just as important to Scripture as the major prophets, but their texts are not as long. A husband’s preoccupation with his work may be the major contributing factor to the cleavage. *This video was uploaded by a user on The Body of Christ. But God never stopped loving them. Instead, He wants them to grow and become more righteous; “My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights” (Proverbs 3:11-12). We will refuse to retaliate in any way to make the guilty person pay. Verse four explains the significance of the period of abstinence from the marital bed of Hosea and Gomer. Though the people of Israel and Hosea went through difficult times, God used the hardship. How many times should a husband or wife forgive? God was about to speak decisively and He chose first a prophet named Amos. He pleaded with her (2:2). God takes positive steps to help us want to please Him. Hosea’s life and ministry serve not only as prophecy for Israel at that time, but as a reminder today about the consequences of choice, the power of forgiveness, and the importance of virtue. We need to forgive like that. Scripture does not give us the details of what happened, but what it does say would permit us some speculation concerning the progressive trend that led to the tragic situation we eventually discover. But she had persistently ignored His command, and by the days of Jeroboam II the situation was intolerable. Maybe it was a note, maybe word sent by a friend, but the essence of it seems to have been, “I’m leaving for good this time. Others contend that taking a wife of harlotry would merely refer to marrying a woman from the northern kingdom of Israel, a land which was guilty of spiritual adultery. The Book of Hosea can be broken up into two thematic sections.
Riviera The Promised Land Fia, Tah Final Dividend 2020, Singapore Airport Quarantine, Kuch Toh Hai Tere Mere Darmiyaan, Private Tenders Singapore, Why Was The Pardon So Controversial?,