WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.759 >> We'll jump in together. 00:00:05.759 --> 00:00:12.960 Jimmy covered Hosea one last week, so we're continuing on in this book, this minor prophet together. 00:00:12.960 --> 00:00:13.960 Let's pray. 00:00:13.960 --> 00:00:17.519 Lord, thank you for another day of life. 00:00:17.519 --> 00:00:21.000 Thank you for your kindness and your mercy toward us in Christ. 00:00:21.000 --> 00:00:25.480 Lord, we are truly weak. 00:00:25.480 --> 00:00:32.479 Lord, our very breath depends upon you. 00:00:32.479 --> 00:00:38.640 Lord, you have ordered all things. 00:00:38.640 --> 00:00:48.840 Lord, from the farthest star to the grass outside is all a part of your order and your plan. 00:00:48.840 --> 00:00:53.799 And, Lord, you've ordered that we would have many good gifts and blessings. 00:00:53.799 --> 00:00:55.880 Lord, we thank you for those now. 00:00:55.880 --> 00:01:02.640 And Lord, one of the greatest blessings that we have is your word preserved for us in written form. 00:01:02.640 --> 00:01:05.120 Thank you, Lord. 00:01:05.120 --> 00:01:13.680 And Lord, even with that, we ask for help because we are weak, our minds are feeble, they tend to wander. 00:01:13.680 --> 00:01:18.159 Lord, when we get up early to read, it's difficult. 00:01:18.159 --> 00:01:19.840 We want to stay in bed longer. 00:01:19.840 --> 00:01:24.340 We want to do other things, Lord. 00:01:24.340 --> 00:01:29.659 The worries of the day crowd in and your word gets pushed out. 00:01:29.659 --> 00:01:31.579 So Lord, help us to treasure your word. 00:01:31.579 --> 00:01:36.439 And this morning as we study this chapter in Hosea, Lord, I pray that you would help us to focus. 00:01:36.439 --> 00:01:43.379 Bless us, God, help us to understand the truth that's found there and may be applied to our lives and help us to obey. 00:01:43.379 --> 00:01:45.099 In Christ's name we pray, amen. 00:01:47.180 --> 00:01:50.819 Okay, let's start with a bit of historical context. 00:01:50.819 --> 00:02:02.219 That was, Jimmy did a good job with that last week, but I think it's good to return to it a bit, just to situate ourselves in the context of what's happening here in Hosea. 00:02:02.219 --> 00:02:18.379 That's especially helpful when we deal with Old Testament texts, because, I don't know if it's true for you, but for me, sometimes I don't really remember when Jonah took his trip to Nineveh. 00:02:18.379 --> 00:02:22.099 Where does that take place in the big story of the Old Testament? 00:02:22.099 --> 00:02:30.620 And that's important because the way that God deals with his people during those times is affected by what's happening in the wider context. 00:02:30.620 --> 00:02:35.979 When we understand the wider context, it gives us a better understanding of the actual meaning of the text, is what I'm trying to say. 00:02:35.979 --> 00:02:40.280 So let's return to that, back up a little bit and kind of get a big picture. 00:02:40.280 --> 00:02:44.780 And I need a little audience participation here. 00:02:44.780 --> 00:02:45.620 I'm gonna test you. 00:02:45.620 --> 00:02:48.039 Now I know it's early, but let me test you a little bit. 00:02:48.039 --> 00:02:50.800 Who's considered the last of the judges? 00:02:50.800 --> 00:02:54.659 Sort of the bridge between the judges and the kings. 00:02:54.659 --> 00:02:56.219 Samuel, excellent. 00:02:56.219 --> 00:03:02.460 Samuel, and Samuel anointed the first king, and the first king's name was? 00:03:02.460 --> 00:03:03.780 Saul, excellent. 00:03:03.780 --> 00:03:14.919 And when Saul was being recognized, here's a bonus question, when he was being recognized and presented as the king of Israel, he was not to be found because he was hiding among the what? 00:03:14.919 --> 00:03:15.960 Baggage. 00:03:15.960 --> 00:03:18.039 What a courageous king. 00:03:18.039 --> 00:03:20.879 Didn't go so well with Saul. 00:03:20.879 --> 00:03:38.000 Saul was removed from his position as king and instead a young boy was chosen who was shepherding sheep, the youngest of his brothers whose father's name was Jesse and this boy's name was what? 00:03:38.000 --> 00:03:41.080 David, excellent. 00:03:41.919 --> 00:03:51.819 though not perfect, not a perfect king he is, held up as the ideal king, as the exemplary king of Israel. 00:03:51.819 --> 00:03:57.099 He had a son by Bathsheba, what was that son's name? 00:03:57.099 --> 00:04:00.080 The one that eventually became the next king. 00:04:00.080 --> 00:04:02.620 Solomon, good. 00:04:02.620 --> 00:04:05.639 Was Solomon a good king or a bad king? 00:04:05.639 --> 00:04:10.419 Yes, someone said yes, I like that answer. 00:04:10.419 --> 00:04:20.579 Yeah, he started out well when the Lord asked him what he would like to receive from the Lord as a blessing. 00:04:20.579 --> 00:04:21.980 What did he say? 00:04:21.980 --> 00:04:25.740 Wisdom, so that he might rule the people well. 00:04:25.740 --> 00:04:27.819 The Lord commended him for that. 00:04:27.819 --> 00:04:43.579 Now in Deuteronomy we're given some instructions of what the king should do and what he should not do Deuteronomy 17 and it says that the king should not amass horses, wives, or gold. 00:04:43.579 --> 00:04:47.759 And we look at the end of Solomon's life, that's, he did all three of those. 00:04:47.759 --> 00:04:50.240 He amassed all three of those things. 00:04:50.240 --> 00:04:53.939 He ended his life poorly. 00:04:53.939 --> 00:04:57.939 And we see the results of that in the, in what happens next. 00:04:57.939 --> 00:04:59.220 And what does happen next? 00:04:59.220 --> 00:05:12.220 [inaudible] Well, not exactly. What happens to... something does happen to the kingdom. What happens to it? 00:05:12.220 --> 00:05:16.220 Splits. The kingdom splits into the northern and southern kingdom. 00:05:16.220 --> 00:05:20.220 Rehoboam and Jeroboam, the conflict there, it divides. 00:05:20.220 --> 00:05:25.220 And you see the result of sin upon sin upon sin. 00:05:25.220 --> 00:05:33.899 This period of the split kingdom is characterized by unfaithfulness and apostasy. 00:05:33.899 --> 00:05:36.939 A little bit like the time of judges. 00:05:36.939 --> 00:05:45.740 But instead of God raising up judge after judge to deliver his people, instead during this time he raises up what? 00:05:45.740 --> 00:05:47.500 Prophets. 00:05:47.500 --> 00:05:54.620 Prophet after prophet to warn his people and call them to repentance. 00:05:54.620 --> 00:05:56.019 and along comes Hosea. 00:05:56.019 --> 00:06:10.959 Hosea was raised up by God to call God's people to return to their Lord, to their creator, to their husband. 00:06:10.959 --> 00:07:27.980 Now, one thing you need to realize, and you might already know this, but during this time, the kingdoms or the people of God headed full speed along headlong into what what's the next big event that takes place in the history of Israel after the split of the kingdom there's a there's a monumental thing that takes place captivity captivity God sends prophet after prophet warning them there is judgment coming return to the Lord judgment is is is imminent return to your maker and they do not and judgment does come in the form of Babylon and the kingdom is overthrown the people of God are taken into captivity but let's return to before that Hosea is on the scene and he is warning his people now Now the book of Hosea uses basically a long allegory or illustration to help Israel see their great need and the seriousness of their sin. 00:07:27.980 --> 00:07:36.420 Now what we'll see in Hosea, and we saw it a bit in the first chapter and we'll see it in this chapter mentioned several times, is the word Baal. 00:07:36.420 --> 00:07:39.660 B-A-A-L. 00:07:39.660 --> 00:07:42.660 Now that shows up throughout the Old Testament. 00:07:42.660 --> 00:07:46.540 That word shows up and it's an idol. 00:07:46.540 --> 00:07:54.139 It's a God that was held in reverence by the neighbors of Israel for a long time. 00:07:54.139 --> 00:08:03.740 And that's what this unfaithfulness and apostasy, specifically that Hosea is speaking about, has to do with. 00:08:03.740 --> 00:08:07.300 It is that the people of Israel have turned to the worship of bells. 00:08:07.300 --> 00:08:13.579 They've turned from the worship of the true and living God, and now they're worshiping bell or bells. 00:08:13.579 --> 00:08:17.300 There's multiple names that you'll see associated with bell. 00:08:17.300 --> 00:08:22.540 So you could say it's one, you could say it's one demon, you could say it's many demons. We don't know. 00:08:22.540 --> 00:08:26.339 But the point is that they're being unfaithful to God. 00:08:26.339 --> 00:08:31.660 Now this was, as I mentioned, a God of the people living near the Israelites. 00:08:32.440 --> 00:08:40.679 When the kingdom split and began to downgrade, it was to Baal they turned. 00:08:40.679 --> 00:08:41.720 Now think about that. 00:08:41.720 --> 00:08:56.000 The kingdom is downgrading, it's becoming more and more sinful, the prophets come and say return to the Lord your God and they say, well what about Baal? 00:09:01.639 --> 00:09:06.600 Do you remember the famous battle between Elijah and the prophets on Mount Carmel? 00:09:06.600 --> 00:09:08.000 Remember that? 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:11.659 That was against the prophets of Baal. 00:09:11.659 --> 00:09:19.360 You might remember when Gideon went and smashed his father's altar at night, that was an altar to Baal. 00:09:19.360 --> 00:09:24.659 And it's easy to see why Baal would be readily adopted by the Israelites. 00:09:24.659 --> 00:09:28.360 You see, Baal was the god of prosperity. 00:09:28.360 --> 00:09:38.539 Specifically, Bell promised to deliver prosperity in terms of agriculture, their crops, their harvests, and also to make a prosperous womb. 00:09:38.539 --> 00:09:44.279 Bell was the god of agriculture and human reproduction. 00:09:44.279 --> 00:10:02.700 So it's also easy to see why Bailism put a special emphasis on human sexuality and often included sexual activity in worship rituals at the altar itself, cultic prostitution was an integral part of Baalism. 00:10:02.700 --> 00:10:15.340 So take note of that and realize that when we talk about the worship of other gods, we're not talking about some innocuous, benign, neutral thing. 00:10:15.340 --> 00:10:17.419 Well, you know, they're singing praises to their God. 00:10:17.419 --> 00:10:28.159 No, we're talking about profound evil and blasphemy against the one true and living God. 00:10:28.159 --> 00:10:33.940 So, Baal worship was both spiritual and sensual. 00:10:33.940 --> 00:10:43.200 It became both what the Israelites put their hope in for prosperity in their lives, and also it became what their flesh craved. 00:10:43.200 --> 00:10:48.779 Let me pause and make some application here. 00:10:48.779 --> 00:11:06.000 One of Satan's subtle snares is to slowly but surely help us to shift our hope from the promises of scripture to the promises of this world. 00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:08.139 And that's what happened with Israel. 00:11:08.139 --> 00:11:17.500 They at first put their hope in the promises of Yahweh, the one true and living God, and over time they shifted toward Baal. 00:11:17.500 --> 00:11:19.779 Well, that happens today. 00:11:19.779 --> 00:11:34.240 And it's not just more often than not, It's not to a god, quote, unquote, not an idol, a bail, but to something else that the West tends to cling to. 00:11:34.240 --> 00:11:44.779 It could be a bank account, it could be a career, it could be a sports team, it could be a person, could be some other possession, it could be a position. 00:11:44.779 --> 00:11:50.759 A couple of questions to ask yourself to do a bit of examination. 00:11:50.759 --> 00:11:55.759 What am I leaning upon to make everything okay? 00:11:55.759 --> 00:12:00.960 In other words, as long as I have this, everything is okay. 00:12:00.960 --> 00:12:06.179 Or when things get difficult in my life, what gives me peace and comfort? 00:12:06.179 --> 00:12:14.559 When things get difficult, what do I automatically turn to, to be comforted? 00:12:14.559 --> 00:12:20.600 What is it in my life that I can't imagine losing? 00:12:20.600 --> 00:12:27.320 Just the thought of losing this thing is almost more than I can bear. 00:12:27.320 --> 00:12:34.799 The answers to those questions will help you see if you may be going to the altar of a bale. 00:12:34.799 --> 00:12:37.159 Here's another application. 00:12:37.159 --> 00:12:45.320 We see another one of Satan's age-old and present-day strategies. 00:12:45.320 --> 00:12:53.639 Our enemy delights in appealing to the human sex drive to achieve his ultimate goals. 00:12:53.639 --> 00:13:02.200 You see it isn't that Satan simply wants you to commit sexual immorality, he is aiming to destroy your marriage. 00:13:02.200 --> 00:13:07.539 He plans to capture it, use it to capture your children. 00:13:07.539 --> 00:13:10.220 He will use it to disgrace the name of Christ. 00:13:10.220 --> 00:13:15.220 You see, it's a tool to reach his ultimate ends. 00:13:15.220 --> 00:13:22.620 It's a means to reach his goals, which is to steal, kill, and destroy. 00:13:22.620 --> 00:13:29.559 So brothers and sisters, flee from sexual immorality, flee from the use of pornography. 00:13:29.559 --> 00:13:44.019 Covenanteyes.com reports that 64% of Christian men and 15% of Christian women say they view pornography at least once a month. 00:13:44.019 --> 00:13:53.980 If you are trapped in a porn addiction, seek help from fellow brothers in Christ. 00:13:53.980 --> 00:13:56.320 Seek help from the elders. 00:13:56.320 --> 00:14:05.779 There are excellent resources from sound authors and teachers that can aid you. 00:14:05.779 --> 00:14:08.580 One, for example, is a book by Heath Lambert. 00:14:08.580 --> 00:14:22.019 It's called "Finally Free, Fighting for Purity with the Power of Grace." Heath Lambert, finally free, fighting for purity with the power of grace. 00:14:22.019 --> 00:14:28.500 Do not go another day trapped in that snare. 00:14:28.500 --> 00:14:30.580 Now let's look at the chapter together. 00:14:30.580 --> 00:14:32.460 You'll see that there are two main sections here. 00:14:32.460 --> 00:14:36.879 The first section, one through 13 describes the unfaithfulness of Israel. 00:14:36.879 --> 00:14:42.519 The second describes the grace and mercy of God toward unfaithful Israel. 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:45.379 Let's start in verse two. 00:14:45.379 --> 00:14:47.100 Verse one actually connects to the end. 00:14:47.100 --> 00:14:48.500 Let's start in verse two together. 00:14:48.500 --> 00:15:02.059 It says, "Plead with your mother, plead,"for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband,"that she put away her whoring from her face"and her adultery from between her breasts. 00:15:02.059 --> 00:15:12.679 "lest I strip her naked and make her as in the day"she was born and make her like a wilderness"and make her like a parched land and kill her with thirst. 00:15:12.679 --> 00:15:26.659 "Upon her children also I will have no mercy"because they are children of Hordom." You might remember the offspring of the harlot in chapter one that their names indicated that. 00:15:26.659 --> 00:15:28.940 One of their children's name was No Mercy. 00:15:28.940 --> 00:15:31.340 That's a reference back to that. 00:15:31.340 --> 00:15:36.720 Here's a principle we see in these first three verses that I just read, verses two through four. 00:15:36.720 --> 00:15:41.720 God's justice demands punishment for unfaithfulness. 00:15:41.720 --> 00:15:56.440 Zechariah 7, 12 says this,"They made their hearts diamond hard, lest they should hear the law of the words, the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent by his spirit through the former prophets. 00:15:56.440 --> 00:16:06.740 Therefore, great anger came from the Lord of hosts." That therefore is important. 00:16:06.740 --> 00:16:10.039 It indicates a cause and effect. 00:16:10.039 --> 00:16:18.360 And the effect of sin is always righteous judgment from the Lord. 00:16:18.360 --> 00:16:22.840 God is righteous and just. 00:16:22.840 --> 00:16:29.080 She does what is right 100% of the time, and righteousness demands punishment for sin. 00:16:29.080 --> 00:16:32.360 Here's another principle from those three verses. 00:16:32.360 --> 00:16:42.440 God's relationship to his people is much more intimate than we often realize or imagine. 00:16:42.440 --> 00:16:47.399 In fact, this whole book is an indicator of that. 00:16:47.399 --> 00:16:51.679 It's not some distant judge. 00:16:51.679 --> 00:17:03.320 This is why the Bible often uses such tender language when it refers to God's relationship to us, our Father who is in heaven. 00:17:03.320 --> 00:17:09.539 Or Isaiah 40, 11 says this, "He will tend His flock like a shepherd. 00:17:09.539 --> 00:17:13.440 He will gather the lambs in His arms. 00:17:13.440 --> 00:17:47.240 He will carry them in His bosom and gently lead those that are with young." Verse five, "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." Now we're seeing a description of exactly what Israel was doing, what sort of attitudes they had, what was their posture during this time. 00:17:47.240 --> 00:17:55.400 Now, note that she is the one, Israel is the one who goes after her lovers. 00:17:55.400 --> 00:18:01.359 Israel initiated this unfaithfulness. 00:18:01.359 --> 00:18:10.859 It wasn't as if the bail lights had entered into Israel passing out tracks evangelizing, trying to win converts. 00:18:10.859 --> 00:18:14.900 No, Israel went looking for another God. 00:18:16.119 --> 00:18:17.220 Can you imagine? 00:18:17.220 --> 00:18:20.519 But it gets even worse. 00:18:20.519 --> 00:18:29.700 Notice that she credits her lovers with God's kindnesses. 00:18:29.700 --> 00:18:39.559 "I will go after my lovers who give me my bread"and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink. 00:18:39.559 --> 00:18:55.940 "My goodness, God had blessed Israel and now Israel is lifting songs of thanksgiving to Baal for them. 00:18:55.940 --> 00:19:05.299 This is like a man who works his fingers to the bone in a coal mine to provide a home and nice things for his wife. 00:19:05.299 --> 00:19:14.779 And while he's at work, his wife goes after another man, telling him how well he takes care of her. 00:19:14.779 --> 00:19:24.339 Verse six, "Therefore I will hedge up her way with thorns and will build a wall against her so that she cannot find her paths. 00:19:24.339 --> 00:19:27.740 She shall pursue her lovers but not overtake them. 00:19:27.740 --> 00:19:34.220 She shall seek them, she shall seek them but shall not find them. 00:19:34.220 --> 00:19:59.480 Then she shall say, I will go and return to my first husband for it was better for me then than now." Hebrews 12, six says, "For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son whom he receives." God's discipline toward his children is for our spiritual good. 00:19:59.480 --> 00:20:05.460 Are you being disciplined by the Lord in some way right now? 00:20:05.460 --> 00:20:09.460 Has the Lord taken something away from you? 00:20:09.460 --> 00:20:24.160 And though maybe you don't fully recognize it or you don't want to fully recognize it, you know deep down that it is the Lord's discipline, and in that discipline, his kindness and his love for you. 00:20:24.160 --> 00:20:29.160 Is there a way that the Lord is disciplining you now? 00:20:29.160 --> 00:20:39.819 If there is, let me encourage you, humble yourself under the mighty hand of the Lord, receive his discipline with humility and thanksgiving. 00:20:42.200 --> 00:20:45.119 I like what John Durant says about this idea. 00:20:45.119 --> 00:20:55.619 He says, "It is true if you wander,"his crook," meaning his shepherd's staff, the crook and his shepherd's staff,"his crook shall gather you. 00:20:55.619 --> 00:21:13.339 "And it may be his dog that harasses you,"but still he is sweet,"for he does it because he will not lose you." The Lord disciplines you because He will not lose you. 00:21:13.339 --> 00:21:17.359 What a good God we have. 00:21:17.359 --> 00:21:39.180 And let me make a further application, especially, well, as we deal with Christian friends or family members, work hard to do spiritual good for them and not simply to keep them happy, if you know what I mean. 00:21:39.180 --> 00:22:06.539 especially in the sweet tea southern south, we have an aversion to saying anything that might be perceived as offensive or hurt someone's feelings and that's that's a good thing in a lot of ways but whenever we withhold the truth from someone that will do them spiritual good because we don't want to hurt their feelings and it's not a good thing and we're not exercising true Christian love. 00:22:06.539 --> 00:22:08.539 Look at verse 8. 00:22:08.539 --> 00:22:19.539 "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 bale. 00:22:19.539 --> 00:22:35.539 Therefore I will take back my grain and its time and my wine and its season, and I will take away my wool and my flax, which were to cover her nakedness." When the blessings of God are used for evil, they are often taken away. 00:22:35.539 --> 00:22:36.779 Look at verse 10. 00:22:36.779 --> 00:22:43.500 Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers and no one shall rescue her out of my hand. 00:22:43.500 --> 00:22:50.779 And I will put an end to all her mirth, her feasts, her new moons, her sabbaths, and all her appointed feasts. 00:22:50.779 --> 00:22:58.240 And I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees of which she said, these are my wages, which my lovers have given me. 00:22:58.240 --> 00:23:03.400 I will make them a forest and the beasts of the field shall devour them. 00:23:03.400 --> 00:23:26.259 and I will punish her for the feast days of the bales 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." Now this gets us to the end of the first section and let me make one application there before we turn. 00:23:30.519 --> 00:23:34.880 Our sin, sooner or later, will be exposed. 00:23:34.880 --> 00:23:37.900 This is true for Christians and non-Christians alike. 00:23:37.900 --> 00:23:42.240 And that should cause us to tremble. 00:23:42.240 --> 00:24:01.599 And if any one of us is ensnared in a sin, and we're hiding a secret sin, and it may be that you're not brazen, you're not wanting, you feel trapped, but you think, okay, this will be the last time, I won't do it again, I'll whip this thing, yet next week it happens again. 00:24:01.599 --> 00:24:05.400 I want to warn you, it will be exposed. 00:24:05.400 --> 00:24:08.480 It will be made known. 00:24:08.480 --> 00:24:11.559 So what should we do? 00:24:11.559 --> 00:24:21.200 Well, realize this, that that exposure for you, if you are a Christian, is for your good and for restoration. 00:24:21.200 --> 00:24:31.700 If you are not a Christian and you refuse to place your faith in Christ for salvation, then that exposure will be unto your condemnation. 00:24:31.700 --> 00:24:35.160 But Christians, I want to ask you a question. 00:24:35.160 --> 00:24:41.119 Which is better, for a person to be caught in their sin, that they're hiding? 00:24:41.119 --> 00:24:49.039 Or for a person to confess their sin, repent and seek help? 00:24:49.039 --> 00:24:53.039 Let me encourage you. 00:24:53.039 --> 00:25:03.700 If you are caught in some sin,"Repent, confess to those to whom it is appropriate to confess. 00:25:03.700 --> 00:25:07.220 Do not continue to hide. 00:25:07.220 --> 00:25:11.500 You who repent early of your sinful courses, this is your privilege. 00:25:11.500 --> 00:25:13.940 You will have the less to answer for. 00:25:13.940 --> 00:25:19.140 Indeed, let me tell you, you will have nothing to answer for. 00:25:19.140 --> 00:25:21.740 Christ will answer for you. 00:25:21.740 --> 00:25:24.839 Your judge will be your advocate. 00:25:24.839 --> 00:25:32.359 Father, Christ will say, here is the one who has been the great sinner, yet a brokenhearted sinner. 00:25:32.359 --> 00:25:37.359 If he owes anything to your justice, set it on my score. 00:25:37.359 --> 00:25:58.779 And that's the turn we see here in verse 14, because it goes from describing Israel's unfaithfulness to this unbelievable shift to expressing God's steadfast love toward unfaithful. 00:25:58.779 --> 00:26:03.980 In fact, it almost seems like, are we missing a part here? 00:26:03.980 --> 00:26:06.299 The contrast is so great. 00:26:06.299 --> 00:26:07.519 Look at verse 14. 00:26:07.519 --> 00:26:19.140 Therefore, behold, I will allure her, bring her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her. 00:26:19.140 --> 00:26:27.700 Is that not what the Lord did for you when you were dead in your sins and your trespasses? 00:26:27.700 --> 00:26:35.140 And there I will give her vineyards and make her the valley of a core, a door of hope. 00:26:35.140 --> 00:26:40.819 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. 00:26:40.819 --> 00:26:49.460 And in that day declares the Lord, You will call me my husband and no longer you call me my bell. 00:26:49.460 --> 00:26:57.539 For I will remove the names of the bells from her mouth and they shall be remembered by name no more. 00:26:57.539 --> 00:27:06.339 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. 00:27:06.339 --> 00:27:15.640 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. 00:27:15.640 --> 00:27:21.480 I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. 00:27:21.480 --> 00:27:28.940 I will betroth you to me in faithfulness and you shall know the Lord. 00:27:28.940 --> 00:27:36.279 And in that day I will answer, declares the Lord, I will answer the heavens and they shall answer the earth. 00:27:36.279 --> 00:27:49.240 "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. 00:27:49.240 --> 00:28:04.079 "And I will say to not my people, you are my people,"and he shall say, you are my God." Brothers and sisters, this is an expression of the gospel of Jesus Christ, right here in the Old Testament. 00:28:04.079 --> 00:28:33.720 picture of what God does for us because as deep, as profound as Israel's unfaithfulness was to her God, we are right. We were right there with them, weren't we? Our unfaithfulness to God deserved all of the punishments that that were threatened to Israel. 00:28:33.720 --> 00:28:39.119 They were just as grievous, just as profound. 00:28:39.119 --> 00:28:52.480 But God has allured us, He has wooed us, He has made provision for our sins that we might come to Him as righteous in Christ. 00:28:52.480 --> 00:28:55.000 So what do we do? 00:28:55.000 --> 00:29:00.000 Here's the application to finish our time in Hosea 2. 00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:10.960 to remember his mercy, cling to his mercy, rejoice in his mercy. 00:29:10.960 --> 00:29:22.920 Brothers and sisters, if you are in Christ, you have been shown mercy by the one true and living God when you did not deserve it for Christ's sake. 00:29:22.920 --> 00:29:30.039 The Lord may take anything from you, but He will not take His mercy from you. 00:29:30.039 --> 00:29:38.680 You can endure anything on this earth, any trial, any affliction, if you have God's mercy. 00:29:38.680 --> 00:29:44.160 And the Scriptures say that those who are in Christ will be kept. 00:29:44.160 --> 00:29:48.859 His mercy is yours. 00:29:48.859 --> 00:30:15.579 it, cling to it, and rejoice in it. Let's pray. Oh Lord, we thank you for the mercy that we have been shown because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross on our behalf. Oh Lord, we were just as lost, depraved, as broken, as sinful as Israel was during the time of Hosea. 00:30:15.579 --> 00:30:22.519 We had shaken our fists in your face, O God. 00:30:22.519 --> 00:30:33.420 The many blessings that you gave to us we used for evil purposes and we attributed them to ourselves or other people. 00:30:33.420 --> 00:30:40.160 We refused to acknowledge your goodness, your power, your authority, your law. 00:30:40.160 --> 00:30:45.920 yet you revealed yourself to us. 00:30:45.920 --> 00:30:47.680 You gave us a new heart. 00:30:47.680 --> 00:30:53.880 Though we were not your people, you made us your people. 00:30:53.880 --> 00:30:59.319 And though we had no mercy, you showered your mercy and your grace upon us. 00:30:59.319 --> 00:31:01.319 Thank you, oh Lord. 00:31:01.319 --> 00:31:07.200 Help us today to remember to cling to and to rejoice in your mercy. 00:31:07.200 --> 00:31:08.920 In Christ's name, amen.