I remember sitting in the room with my heart racing, telling myself that it’s not real. In fact, it had just been a scene in a movie. And it wasn’t a scene of murder or some other terribly frightening scene. In fact, it was just a little girl crying. But it left a mark on my heart that is deeper perhaps than any other scene I’ve ever seen on film. In the scene, the husband and wife have gotten a divorce, and the husband is coming to the house just to drop off something or something like that. Honestly, I can’t remember why he was coming by. That detail was eclipsed in my mind by what took place next.

The couple’s little girl sees her daddy pull up, knows he is going away, and hurriedly grabs her suitcase and starts throwing stuff in it so that she can get ready to go with him when he leaves. And by the time the dad has dropped off whatever it is he is leaving at the house, the girl has finally gotten it all ready, and she runs out the front door, toward her dad, telling him she is ready. And everyone knows what’s coming next. The dad kneels down, tells her she can’t go with him, and eventually they have to restrain the little girl and then comfort her as she yells and cries, as her daddy drives off into the distance.

And as I said, once the scene was over, I sat there saying to myself, “It’s just a movie. That little girl heard cut only a second or two after that scene and smiled, heard the crew clapping, and knew she’d done a great job acting.” But the reason it was a powerfully gripping scene that I can still picture in my mind today (now eleven years after I first saw it) is because though that particular little girl was acting, that scene occurs for real every day, and though we say to ourselves things like, “Our sins cause others to suffer,” that statement alone is less powerful than seeing the pain played out on someone’s face and through her tears.

There’s just something about seeing things happen in real life that make then affect us at an emotional level more deeply than hearing a statement like, “Divorce is hard on the kids” or “Children of abuse have a hard time learning to trust.” Seeing those realities and that suffering right in front of you is hard to forget. And that’s probably a good thing because the Lord intends for those truths to stick in our minds, affect how we live, and affect how we minister to others.

That was no doubt part of the Lord’s intention in the ministry of Hosea. Hosea was a prophet that ministered to the northern kingdom of Israel in the years leading up to the time when Israel was conquered by Assyria. Thus, his message was one of proclaiming Israel’s sin, coming judgment, and hope if they would repent. However, Hosea’s ministry involved more than what he said. He actually pictured the message he proclaimed in his life. And in this book that is unusually long for a minor prophet – spanning fourteen chapters – it is in these first three chapters that we find out about Hosea’s life. And it is the life that Hosea lives that serves as a picture of the message he proclaims. Therefore, this morning, let’s look at what these first three chapters of Hosea picture for us. First, . . .

Hosea gives us a clear picture of the nature of sin and judgment (1:1-9; 2:2-13)

What God calls Hosea to do is mentioned in 1:2, where God says to him, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.” And commentators are a bit divided as to what this means. Some suggest that this means that Hosea was to take a wife who the Lord knew would eventually be unfaithful to him, though she hadn’t pursued immorality to the point in her life when Hosea married her. However, I think Derek Kidner is probably right when he says that God was calling Hosea to give “His love to a partner with a history and a roving eye.”¹ That is, he knew he was marrying a woman who was likely to be unfaithful and in fact was unfaithful when they got married. And the reason he was marrying a woman who would live a life of whoredom though she is married is because that’s what God’s people Israel had done to him.

But the message doesn’t just involve Hosea’s whoring wife, Gomer. It also is shown in the children. In verses 3-5, “So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. And the LORD said to him, ‘Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.”

So, Hosea and Gomer marry, and they have a son whom they name Jezreel. Now, it wasn’t the name itself that would have been odd. I’m not certain, but it seems that Jezreel might have been an acceptable name in the society at that time. The issue was that the name meant something. You see, years earlier Jehu had carried out the Lord’s command in destroying Ahab’s family. Ahab was a wicked king with a wicked wife, and he contaminated the land of Israel. So, God called Jehu to kill Ahab’s family, and he did, shedding their blood at a place named Jezreel. But what should have then symbolized honor in the life of Jehu ultimately symbolized dishonor because Jehu eventually showed that he was not driven in this act to honor the Lord. Instead, he went on to make sure that the sins carried out by Ahab and in his kingdom were also carried out by Jehu and in his kingdom. So, God’s first message, which would have been proclaimed every time Hosea introduced his son, Jezreel, to his Israelite neighbors would be, “I’ve seen the sin done under Jehu’s line, and punishment is coming.”

But the text continues, as we read in 6-9, “She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the LORD said to him, “Call her name No Mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all. But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the LORD their God. I will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.” When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son. And the LORD said, “Call his name Not My People, for you are not my people, and I am not your God.”

Now, what’s interesting about these verses is that when Jezreel was born, the text noted specifically that Gomer had born Hosea a son. Now, we simply read that she conceived again and bore a daughter and conceived and bore a son. Does this mean that Hosea wasn’t the dad? Possibly. The reality is, Hosea might not have even known. How could he with a wife that is consistently unfaithful, pursuing other men. And Hosea’s other children are named “No mercy” and “Not my people,” because the Lord wants the people to know that they will not see mercy, for they are not God’s people. They may call themselves God’s people, but they have devoted themselves to foreign gods and served them. Thus, Hosea’s children remind Israel that God knows their sin and will punish it without mercy for they are not his people and he is not their God. Therefore, Hosea’s children, in their names, carry about God’s message.

But perhaps the most painful picture of our sin is seen as the Lord tells Hosea to speak to Israel as if children pleading with their mother to stop her unfaithfulness to her husband. Now, this is a heartbreaking scene. We’ve read the verses already, but listen to a few of them in 2:2-13. The text begins, “Plead with your mother; plead . . . that she put away her whoring from her face” (v. 2). Then in verse 5, the Lord says, “For their mother has played the whore; she who conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.’”

You see, many of the Canaanite gods were thought to be gods of fertility so that their blessing was the produce of the land. If you wanted oil, bread, wool, flax, etc., you would worship them. And Israel did, and they were getting many of these crops. But the Lord says in verse 8, “And she did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil, and who lavished on her silver and gold, which they used for Baal.” Not only was God the one still providing for his people when they thought it was the false gods, but they were using God’s blessings and lavishing them upon their false gods.

So, the Lord tells them that they’ll be shown for what they are and punished. In verses 10 and 13 we read, “I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one shall rescue her out of my hand. . . . And I will punish her for the feast days of the Baals when she burned offerings to them and adorned herself with her ring and jewelry, and went after her lovers and forgot me, declares the Lord.” And eventually God came through on this threat as the Assyrians invaded the northern kingdom and crushed them, as an instrument of God’s judgment.

Now, let’s stop for a second and allow ourselves to see our own sin. In that movie scene I was describing, I’m certain we’re not to assume that the dad got into her car and drove away thinking of his little girl screaming and crying. Rather, he no doubt tried to forget that scene, put it out of his mind. That is the way we work with our sin. We don’t try to see it as it is with all the horrible effects and pain it brings on us and others. We try to see it for better than it is.

So, let’s allow ourselves to see it for what it is. When we choose to pursue our lusts, or gossip about others, or pursue our own glory and fame, or whatever other sin we pursue, we are doing just what Gomer did. We are pursuing pleasures in the very things our faithful God has forbidden. He offers us blessing, joy, peace, and faithfulness, and we seek pleasures that only he can give in the very things he forbids. That is what sin is. It is whoredom. When you or I choose to pursue our lust this week, we will be very much like that dad driving away, trying to close his ears to our screaming and crying little girl. We are like a woman walking away from our faithful husband because there is another man waiting to meet us at the end of the driveway.

This is how God wanted his people to understand their sin 2700 years ago, and it’s how we need to see it today. We must stop messing around with sin and see it for what it is. Because if we don’t stop, God will punish us, and ultimately if we don’t repent, we should fear his punishment in hell.

And yet, in the prophets, warnings of judgment are always warnings meant to lead the people to repentance and hope. For . . .

Hosea also shows us that God is faithful even though we are unfaithful (1:10-2:1)

I ended our first section at 1:9 and picked up at 2:2, but in 1:10-2:1, we have a message of hope. And that message is that God is faithful even though we are unfaithful. Listen to what the Lord says to his people in these verses, “Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “Children of the living God.” And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head. And they shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel.
Say to your brothers, “You are my people,” and to your sisters, “You have received mercy.”

Do you see what’s going on here? God had promised Abraham that he would have descendants as numerous as the sand of the sea, and here God says, “I haven’t forgotten my promise. I will be faithful.” And one way that God raised up descendants of Abraham to be his children is when he saved people like us, for the Bible tells us that if any of us have faith in Christ, then we are considered descendants of Abraham, heirs of the promises of God.”

And all the children’s names are going to be changed. Not my people is renamed, Children of the living God, No mercy is renamed You have received mercy, and Jezreel’s name comes to symbolize something else. Where it once stood for a place that marked Israel’s atrocities, now (since the name means “God will sow”) it will mark the time that God will sow his people again in his land. God is reversing everything.

There were no doubt times in Gomer’s mind where she thought to herself, I’ve gone too far. It’s no use going back to Hosea, who would receive a woman back who’s done this much? And we can feel the same way too.

Perhaps recently, even last night, you indulged in sin once again, and you came in this morning thinking, “God must not want anything to do with me. I’ve shown myself unfaithful.” Well, the reality is that he will gladly receive you back because he is faithful, and although you have proven unfaithful, he’s committed to you. You don’t have to think he’ll refuse you. He is faithful and just to cleanse you from all your unrighteousness.

And yet that’s not all.

Hosea shows us that God is actually longing for you to turn to him (2:14-23)

Hosea 2:14-23 is almost hard to believe. God is like a faithful husband, and Israel is like a wife who is giving herself to every man available. And we know that God is willing to accept her back, but surely, we must think, he is doing it while keeping her at arm’s distance. That is, surely he’s saying, “Okay, I’ll take you back, but the warmth of our relationship is over. We can’t go back to how things were right away.”

But listen to what God actually says, “Therefore, behold I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. And there I will give her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt. And in that day, declares the LORD, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’ For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more. And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety. And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the LORD. “And in that day I will answer, declares the LORD, I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth, and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil, and they shall answer Jezreel, and I will sow her for myself in the land. And I will have mercy on No Mercy, and I will say to Not My People, ‘You are my people’; and he shall say, ‘You are my God’” (2:14-23).

The Lord is actually here wooing his whoring wife back to himself. He is wanting to make a new start, as if she is a pure bride to whom he is about to get married forever. He’s going to bless her with gifts.

You see, there’s no turning to God while he continues to hold you at a distance. You may have sought out sin again for the umpteenth time and thought, “He wants nothing to do with me. It can’t be like it once was. Now I’ve really ruined it.” You might be thinking that the Lord this morning is saying, “How dare you come to worship me.” But the reality is that he is wooing you to himself, saying, “Repent,” and I’ll forgive you, cleanse you, and we’ll start over again as a husband with his new bride.”

But it isn’t free.

Hosea reminds us that our redemption had great cost (3:1-5)

We might say, “All I have to do is repent and turn to him in faith?” Yes. It’s free to us, but it wasn’t free to our Lord. In Hosea 3:1-5, Hosea is commanded to go get his unfaithful wife. And as he goes to get her, she’s become (so it seems) some kind of slave to her lover so that Hosea not only goes to get her but has to pay to get her back. And because we are told he paid silver and barley, it probably meant he didn’t have enough silver alone. He was giving up much in order to bring her to himself. And yet God commanded it.

But why? I mean, after all Hosea had to live through, why would God command this humiliating action? It’s because Hosea was showing the people what God would do to get them back. Ultimately, their forgiveness and restoring rested in him paying for their redemption. And the Lord sent more than silver or barley, but he sent his own Son to shed his blood so that we might be redeemed and reconciled to him.

So, if we ask, “Why will he so warmly receive me back?” it’s not because we deserve it or have good in ourselves. It’s because Christ died for us, and that payment is more than we could ever offer ourselves.

Therefore, this morning, let’s let this be a time where we repent of our sin, refuse to try to do enough to merit forgiveness, recognize that Christ has done all that we need for forgiveness by dying and rising for us, and let’s turn to our Lord who will gladly and warmly delight in receiving us. In fact, he is wooing us to him now. And as we turn to him, delighting in our forgiveness, let’s declare our repentance and desire for faithfulness before the one whose love will not let us go. Amen.