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Well, please turn with me in 
your Bibles to the prophet Hosea. He's the first of the minor prophets, 
so after Daniel, you'll find Hosea. We're continuing our summer 
series on looking at the grace of God in the Old Testament. 
The Lord willing, in a couple of weeks, we'll return to our 
exposition of Matthew's Gospel. Certainly, as we consider the 
grace of God in the Old Testament, it is good for us to concern 
ourselves with the first three chapters of the book of Hosea. I'll read all three chapters 
in their entirety. Together, it's not much longer 
than some of the other chapters that we read at times. So please 
give heed to the word of God as I begin reading in chapter 
one of the prophet Hosea, beginning in verse one. The word of the 
Lord that came to Hosea, the son of Beri, in the days of Uzziah, 
Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of 
Jeroboam, the son of Joash, king of Israel. When the Lord began 
to speak by Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, go, take yourself a 
wife of harlotry and children of harlotry, for the land has 
committed great harlotry by departing from the Lord. So he went and 
took Gomer, the daughter of Dibling, and she conceived and bore him 
a son. Then the Lord said to him, Call his name Jezreel, for 
in a little while I will avenge the bloodshed of Jezreel on the 
house of Jehu, and bring an end to the kingdom of the house of 
Israel. It shall come to pass in that day that I will break 
the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel. And she conceived 
again and bore a daughter. Then God said to him, Call her 
name Lo-Ruhamah, For I will no longer have mercy on the house 
of Israel, but I will utterly take them away. Yet I will have 
mercy on the house of Judah, will save them by the Lord their 
God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword or battle, 
by horses or horsemen. And when she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, 
she conceived and bore a son. Then God said, Call his name 
Lo-Ammi. For you are not my people, and 
I will not be your God. Yet, the number of the children 
of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured 
or numbered. And it shall come to pass in 
the place where it was said to them, you are not my people, 
there it shall be said to them, you are sons of the living God. 
Then the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall 
be gathered together and appoint for themselves one head. And 
they shall come up out of the land, for great will be the day 
of Jezreel. Say to your brethren, my people, 
and to your sisters, mercy is shown. Bring charges against 
your mother. Bring charges. For she is not 
my wife, nor am I her husband. Let her put away her harlotries 
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 harlotry. For their mother 
has played the harlot. She who conceived them has behaved 
shamefully. For 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 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 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 sight of her lovers, and no one shall deliver her from 
my hand. I will also cause all her mirth 
to cease, 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 lovers have 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 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. Therefore, behold, I will allure 
her, will bring her into the wilderness and speak comfort 
to her. I will give her her vineyards 
from there, and the Valley of Acre is a door of hope. She shall 
sing there as in the days of her youth, as in the day when 
she came up from the land of Egypt. And it shall be in that 
day, says the Lord, that you will call me my husband and no 
longer call me my master. For I will take from her mouth 
the names of the bales, and they shall be remembered by their 
name no more. In that day I will make a covenant 
for them with the beasts of the field, with the birds of the 
air, and with the creeping things of the ground. Bow and sword 
of battle I will shatter from the earth to make them lie down 
safely. I will betroth you to me forever. 
Yes, I will betroth you to me in righteousness and justice, 
in loving kindness and mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness, 
and you shall know the Lord. 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. The earth shall answer with grain, 
with new wine, and with oil. They shall answer Jezreel. Then 
I will sow her for myself in the earth, and I will have mercy 
on her who had not obtained mercy. Then I will say to those who 
are not my people, you are my people, and they shall say, you 
are my God. Then 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 for the children 
of Israel, who looked to other gods and love the raisin cakes 
of the pagans. So I bought her for myself for 
15 shekels of silver and one and one half 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. For the children of Israel shall 
abide many days without king or prince, without sacrifice 
or sacred pillar, without ephod or teraphim. Afterward, the children 
of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God and David 
their king. They shall fear the Lord and 
His goodness in the latter days. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our 
Father in heaven, we thank You for this, Your Word, and we pray 
now for the ministry of Your Spirit. At the outset, Lord God, 
we confess our sins and our iniquities. We know that it darkens our minds, 
it darkens our understanding, and we just pray that You would 
help us to understand this section of Scripture. Help us to see 
the glory, the grace of Almighty God displayed We ask as well, 
Father, for those who do not know you, that they would see 
hope and welcome and invitation in passages like these, and they 
would believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and know the joy of being 
found in him. And we thank you, God, for your 
written word, and we pray now that the Spirit would guide us 
in our studies, and we pray in and through the Lord Jesus Christ, 
amen. Well, the prophecy of Hosea can 
be broken down into three broad categories or sections. The first 
is here, chapters 1 to 3, where obviously the parallel between 
Hosea and Gomer parallels God the Father and Israel. And then 
in chapters 4 through 12, we see God indicting the people 
for their breach of his covenant. and then chapters 13 and 14 end 
the book with covenant renewal. In other words, chapters 4 to 
14 basically develop and amplify and explain all that is contained 
here in chapters 1 to 3 of the book of Hosea. Just at the outset, 
I want to read a quote from a man, a commentator named Thomas McComiskey. He says that the prophecy of 
Hosea is a tapestry of grace. The prophecy of Hosea is a tapestry 
of grace. He says, as the prophet loves 
a woman whose crudeness and brazenness must have hurt him deeply, so 
God's grace comes to his people in their unloveliness. Our spiritual 
condition is never so low that God cannot woo and receive us 
back to himself as Hosea received Gomer. Well, as we take up these 
first three chapters, we will do so under three considerations. The first is the prophet's marriage 
to Gomer in chapter 1, verse 1, to chapter 2, verse 1. Secondly, 
we'll look at the Lord's marriage to Israel, chapter 2, verses 
2 to 23. And then, thirdly, the unfaithful 
wives return. in chapter 3 verses 1 to 5. So that's a bit of a road map 
as to where we will go this morning. Let's look first at the prophet's 
marriage to Gomer. Notice the date. We are told 
in chapter 1, verse 1, when we are to understand that this took 
place. He lists the kings of Judah who 
reigned at his time, and then he lists Jeroboam. This would 
be Jeroboam II, the king of Israel. Now, Hosea's primary ministry 
was to the northern tribes. He does refer to Judah. He says 
in chapter 1 that Judah will be spared. But his primary target 
audience is on the unfaithfulness of the northern kingdom of Israel. And so he lived and he ministered, 
roughly speaking, about 750 BC to about 715 BC. So in the 8th century BC, this 
man worked specifically in the Northern Kingdom to tell Israel 
of their sin and to call them to repentance. Now the nation 
under Jeroboam II enjoyed economic prosperity. There were good things 
happening, to be sure, within the covenant community, but they 
were not faithful to the living and true God. And what was promised 
in Deuteronomy is coming upon them. In the book of Deuteronomy, 
God says when you go into the land, and you've eaten the good 
things, and you're not thankful, and you're not grateful, and 
you don't return praise to the Lord, the Lord God will bring 
judgment to bear upon you. And we see that manifested in 
a twofold way. They forget God, they bow to 
Baal. Now, never forget this reality. When you're bowing to Baal, you 
are rejecting God. When you are bowing to money, 
you are rejecting Christ. When you are bowing to sex, you 
are rejecting the Savior. When you are bowing to something 
else in religious worship and homage, you have forgotten the 
living and true God. And that is precisely the case 
here in Israel in the 8th century B.C. They were seeking after 
Baal, they were giving Baal credit for the bounty of the land, and 
in all of this they were rejecting Yahweh of Israel. Now notice, 
secondly, with reference to the prophet's marriage to Gomer, 
the marriage itself. There's three ways to approach 
this particular marriage. Three ways to try and explain 
what is going on here in Hosea chapters 1 to 3. The first explanation 
or the first interpretation of this marriage is what's called 
the symbolic view. That Hosea really didn't marry 
Gomer, but rather it was a vision, it was a teaching tool, it was 
designed simply to point to Israel concerning their sin. Now, a 
lot of the older commentators hold this particular position. 
This is the position of the Geneva Bible. John Calvin, John Gill, 
E.J. Young in the 20th century, they 
all adopt that symbolic view that the prophet really didn't 
marry a harlot. Now I understand what drives 
that particular view. The thought of Hosea marrying 
a harlot is offensive. It is scandalous, it is a bit 
shocking to be sure. They all suggest things like, 
who could listen to the prophet's ministry knowing that he was 
associated with a woman of such loose morals? A woman like her, 
how in the world could anybody ever give ear to this prophet 
and his message? So that's the symbolic view, 
it really didn't happen, but rather it was either visionary 
or just a symbol designed to teach the truth concerning the 
Lord's marriage to Israel. The second interpretation is 
what's called the proleptic. The proleptic. And that simply 
means that at the time Hosea married Gomer, she was chaste. At the time that Homer, I want 
to say Homer and Gosea, and that's going to keep haunting me. So 
if I do that, forgive me. Hosea and Gomer. Couldn't be 
Jack and Jill. Has to be Hosea and Gomer. But the proleptic view teaches 
that Hosea married Gomer when Gomer was chaste. And it was 
after they contracted the marriage that then Gomer became unfaithful. or engaged in infidelity. So that's the proleptic view. 
God knew, of course, that she would go astray. So this really 
kind of just masks the problem. God, knowing that she's going 
to go astray, nevertheless tells Hosea to marry her. I don't really 
think that gets God off the hook. Then there is what's called the 
literal view. That's the third position. This 
is the position that I take. Now, to be quite candid, the 
people that disagree on this subject will still sit with Jesus 
and Abraham and Isaac at the marriage supper of the Lamb. 
This is not soul damning if you take a different interpretation 
here. But I do believe that this actually happened according to 
chapter 1. And I have four reasons why I 
take this literal position. The first is that the narrative 
reads as straightforward history. Now, this is true in other parts 
and other places in the Bible where visions are given and it's 
recorded as straightforward history. But you have to note the particular 
text. He's given this command, and 
then he goes and he takes Gomer from Diblin, and he marries her. 
And then she conceives and bears him a son. And then it says, 
after that child is weaned, she bears him a daughter. And then 
after that child, she conceives again and has another one. So 
the narrative reads as straightforward history. A second consideration 
is that the children of Harlotry, I suggest, were the ones that 
she already had before she contracted marriage with Hosea. Notice in 
chapter 1, Verse 2, look at the command. When the Lord began 
to speak by Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, Go take yourself a 
wife of harlotry and children of harlotry. Now, as we read, 
after he marries Gomer, there is nothing in the text to suggest 
that these are not his children. In fact, everything in the text 
suggests that they are his children. I submit that these were the 
children that she had during her time as a harlot. When he 
marries her, he adopts them, and then these three children 
that we read of in chapter 1, are the spawn, are the offspring 
of Hosea and Gomer. Look specifically at verse 3. 
So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim and she conceived 
and bore him a son. It would be hard to figure out 
how these would be children of harlotry when they have married 
legally, when they have contracted and covenanted together. Now 
some postulate that while she's married to him, she goes out 
and commits adultery, and then they have these children. Nothing 
in the text suggests that. Nothing whatsoever. He says, 
take yourself a wife of harlotry and children of harlotry. Those 
children who were born to her in her time as a harlot. And 
then notice in chapter 1, or in chapter 2 verse 1, it's as 
if now Hosea is speaking to the children. Each of the three children 
born between Hosea and Gomer represent something. They're 
given names as messages to Israel. But notice in chapter 2 verse 
1, say to your brethren, my people. This would be legit if they only 
had the two sons and the one daughter together. But then notice, 
and to your sisters, plural. So when Hosea and Gomer have 
a daughter, she has sisters, probably the children of Harlotry 
that Hosea himself adopts. Thirdly, the woman he marries 
is a wife of Harlotry, according to chapter 1, verse 2, and she's 
guilty of adultery in chapter 3, verse 1. You can turn there 
for a moment. You think, why is he drawing 
this out? Why is he taking the time? This 
is a tapestry of grace. This magnifies God. This is about 
the Lord of Israel and his faithfulness to his people when they are wayward. It takes some time to develop 
the backdrop because the blackness and the darkness and the wretchedness 
of Hosea's marriage to Gomer magnifies the graciousness of 
His mercy to Gomer. And thus we are to appreciate 
the blackness and the darkness and the wretchedness of the Lord's 
relationship to Israel. When they return and He receives 
them, it magnifies His grace. It magnifies His mercy. Gomer 
is a woman of harlotry in 1.2. In 3.1, she's committing adultery. Some say he was commanded to 
marry two separate women. I don't believe the text supports 
that. I believe that Hosea married 
Gomer. They had three children together. 
And at some time subsequent, she became unfaithful again. 
She engaged in adultery. And it is to this that God responds 
in chapter 3 when he tells him to recover, to go after her, 
to find her, to buy her back, and to secure her for himself. This is what God does. This is 
how He operates. This is the way He functions 
with us. He sees us as committers of harlotry, and He brings us 
into blessed covenant with Him, and then we're still wayward, 
and we're still adulterous, and He nevertheless recovers us. 
And then the fourth reason why I take the literal interpretation 
is because the priests alone were prohibited, according to 
Leviticus 21, 7 and 14 and 15, from marrying harlots. The prophets 
never were. The law of God does not specify 
that the prophet of God cannot marry a harlot. Now sin, according 
to the Westminster Shorter Catechism, is any lack of conformity unto 
or transgression of the law of God. John defines sin in 1 John 
3, 4 as lawlessness. So where the law does not restrict, 
where the law does not prohibit, where the law does not call a 
man to cease, it is not unlawful for him to do it. So that is 
why, for reasons, I take the literal view with reference to 
this situation. Notice, he is told to marry this 
woman. Verse 2, when the Lord began 
to speak by Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, go take yourself a 
wife of harlotry and children of harlotry. Tells us something 
about Hosea the prophet, doesn't it? Tells us something of his 
devotion to the God of Israel, doesn't it? Lord, do you know 
what they're going to say? Do you know what the people will 
say? Do you know what they're going 
to think? Do you know how they're going 
to look at me? Do you know how they're going to murmur, and 
how they're going to gossip, and how they're going to question, 
and how they're going to talk behind my back, and how they're 
going to slander? Not one whit of that from Hosea. Not one breath of that from Hosea. Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry 
and children of harlotry. Now note the reason why. This activity wherein Hosea marries 
Gomer is an acted parable that describes God's relationship 
to Israel. Now notice, do this, Hosea, for, 
the end of verse 2, the land has committed great harlotry 
by departing from the Lord. You see, Hosea, I want you to 
act like me. You see, Hosea, I want you to 
take Gomer. It's like Israel. And I want 
you to communicate through the vehicle of your marriage, and 
through these three children that you have, a message to Israel, 
to the Northern Kingdom. McCombsky again says, the clause, 
because the land has committed great fornication, which has 
led them away from the Lord, states the reason for Hosea's 
marriage. You see, God isn't just willy-nilly 
calling him to marry this woman. He is doing it for a very specific 
purpose and a very specific reason. If you ask me the question, Pastor 
Butler, should I go marry a harlot? I am going to tell you, don't 
marry a harlot. I'm going to tell you, marry 
a woman that fears God, that believes the gospel. If she does 
that, repents from her harlotry and walks down the aisle and 
covenants before God, then may he be praised. But as a rule, 
Christians must marry people that are in the Lord. That is 
what the scripture specifies. This is a unique instance in 
redemptive history where God the Lord chooses Hosea the prophet 
as a vehicle to communicate to the nation of Israel. And the 
reason is because the land has committed great harlotry by departing 
from the Lord. This is spiritual fornication. 
This is idolatry. This is defection. This is leaving 
the God that we love. This is worshiping Baal rather 
than Jehovah. This is bowing to our money rather 
than to Christ. This is bowing to our lusts rather 
than to the Savior. That's what was going on in the 
Northern Kingdom at that time. So again, back to McConsky. He 
says, this states the reason for Hosea's marriage. It was 
because the people were guilty of spiritual fornication. They 
might have pointed the finger at Gomer and gossiped about the 
prophet who married her, but they were no better than she. 
This is the point. The marriage of Hosea and Gomer 
was an eloquent depiction of Yahweh's marriage to his errant 
people. This is what we're supposed to 
get. Now notice his children. Real quickly, these children, 
again, are given names determined by God to communicate specific 
truth to the northern kingdom. Jezreel. God says, I will end 
the northern kingdom. Verse 4. I will avenge the bloodshed 
of Jezreel on the house of Jehu and bring an end to the kingdom 
of the house of Israel. Now remember, the dating of the 
book. The reality was that the Northern 
Kingdom fell in 722 BC. You see, the people of the North 
had continued to violate the covenant with God. They had continued 
to reject it. They continued to engage in idolatry. And as a result, God sends Assyria, 
the world empire at the time, to destroy the North. So Jezreel 
signifies that. Notice the second child born. It's a daughter called Lo-Ruhamah, 
which means not pitied or no mercy. God says, when you break 
the covenant, when the curses fall upon you, it will be without 
mercy, it will be without pity. It's not to terrify any here 
this morning that are not in Christ, that are not believers 
on the Lord Jesus, that reject the overtures of God's grace 
as it comes through the gospel, through preaching, through parents, 
through friends, through witnesses, through testimony, through the 
radio or through the internet. When God brings judgment to bear 
upon the Northern Kingdom, it is without pity. It is without 
mercy. No one will be spared. You read 
the prophets and you read the historical books and the way 
that Assyria does this is that they come in and they decimate 
the Northern tribes. They kill, they plunder, they 
take everything. Then they take Assyrian peoples 
and they populate the Northern Kingdom with them. And then the 
people that do survive, the remaining people that are alive from the 
Northern Kingdom, they put fish hooks up through their noses 
and they put them together in a big line and they lead them 
back to Assyria to make slaves out of them. You see, when you're 
walking to Assyria, and you've got a fishhook in your nose, 
and you're being treated like a slave, you understand the name 
Lo-Ruhamah. You understand what not pitied 
means. You understand what no mercy 
means. And so says the Scripture concerning 
that day when men who have not fled to Christ, who have not 
believed the Gospel, who have not come to the Savior as He's 
been preached, they will receive no pity. There will be no mercy 
on that day. There will be judgment. There 
will be wrath. There will be fury. Another historical 
event wherein this is recorded for us is in the book of Revelation. Again, a judgment that I think 
happened in history, that happened in time, that happened upon the 
nation of Israel, interestingly enough, the scripture there says 
in Revelation chapter 6 that the strong men, the noble men, 
the powerful men, the leaders of the world will call upon the 
rocks and call upon the mountains to fall on them and to cover 
them and to hide them from the wrath of the Lamb. Why? Lo Ruhamah, there's no mercy, 
there's no pity. You see, right now as I preach, 
there's mercy to be had in and through the Lord Jesus. Right 
now as I preach, there is pity to be garnered through the saving 
work of Christ the Lord. You come to the Savior, you believe 
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will know nothing but mercy. 
You will know nothing but grace. You will see it overwhelm you 
and over flood you. as is the testimony of everyone 
here who is a believer. What did we learn when we came 
to the Savior? We learned of mercy. We learned 
of grace. We just sang of it. It was grace 
that taught my heart to fear. It's all about God the Lord and 
His saving purposes. You flee now. You believe the 
gospel now. You will meet a Savior full of 
mercy. But if you reject, You resist, you continue to despise, 
you continue to write it off as so many fairy tales, and you 
say, you know, that's just not important. My friends are important. My fun is important. My flesh 
is important. My whatever is important. On 
that day, you will meet Him. The Bible assures us. Every knee 
shall bow and every tongue will confess. Every single one. The believer will make that confession, 
the believer will state that statement, probably with tears 
flowing down his eyes. Because there's the Savior who 
redeemed me with his precious blood. But for those who are 
not saved, you will make the confession, and then he will 
say away with you. Depart. It's terrible. Loch Roamah 
is the reality of a future without Jesus. And then they have, well, 
there's a statement there concerning Judah in verse 7. Yet I will 
have mercy on the house of Judah, will save them by the Lord their 
God, and will not save them by bone nor by sword, or battle 
by horses or horsemen. Probably the idea is that when 
Assyria comes to decimate the northern tribes, the southern 
tribes will be spared. Now before you begin to think 
that the southern tribes can continue in rebellion and in 
rejection and in unfaithfulness to the Lord God, all you need 
to do is look at the prophets Jeremiah, You need to look at 
Isaiah, you need to look at Ezekiel, because what happens in the 6th 
century BC is that God sends Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians 
to decimate the southern kingdom of Israel. But in this instance, 
8th century BC, they're going to be spared. Now notice the 
birth of this third child. The third child is called Lo-emi. This means, not my people. I'm sure that as these three 
little ones were pushed around in their strollers throughout 
the villages, people despised seeing them. People despised 
the children of the prophet because each of those children conveyed 
a message against Israel. When they were playing frisbee 
or throwing the ball at the park in person and saw them, saw Jezreel, 
they were reminded that the northern kingdom is going to fall. When 
they saw Lo-Ruhamah, they realized they were not going to receive 
pity when that kingdom fell. And when they saw Lo-Ammi, not 
my people, that caught at the very heart of their covenantal 
relationship with God Most High. This is what it was about. This 
is what God said to Abraham, I will be your God and you shall 
be my people. This is reiterated in the book 
of Exodus in chapter 6. The nation of Israel will be 
my people and I will be their God. So herein, Loamy comes along 
and tells these people, the reverse of blessing is coming upon you. 
The reverse of the covenant itself. So we've seen his identification, 
we see his marriage, we see his children, but then notice his 
hope. Notice his hope in verses 10 and 11. There's a yet that 
begins the statement there. You see, it's just at this point, 
people look at these three little children and say, wait a minute, 
the God of Israel promised to pity us. The God of Israel promised 
to be our God and we his people. What is going to happen here? 
Well, the northern tribes will be cut off in their apostasy 
and in their defection and in their rebellion against the living 
God. But the promise to Abraham is 
not invalidated. The promise made concerning a 
great multitude, which no man can number, will be carried forth. What Hosea is doing here in verses 
10 and 11, and what he does in chapter 2, verses 14 to 23, is 
he preaches the gospel of Jesus to the people of his day. He 
is preaching new covenant realities. He is telling them there is going 
to be something in the future that is going to happen wherein 
both Israel and Judah will be reunified. This is the prophetic 
language for what God does in the church. Notice verse 10, 
Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand 
of the sea which cannot be measured or numbered. He does what Paul 
does. Notice that great chapter in Romans chapter 9, when Paul 
is highlighting sovereign grace. He's highlighting predestination. 
He's highlighting sovereign election. He has to counter this particular 
objection. What shall we say then? Is there 
unrighteousness with God? I mean, Paul, if what you're 
saying is true, that might mean or it might impinge upon the 
righteous character of God. He says, certainly not. Not all 
Israel is Israel. This is what Hosea is doing. 
There is coming an end to the northern kingdom, but there will 
come no end to the kingdom of Jesus Christ. There will come 
no end to the church of Jesus Christ, to God's redemptive plan 
in saving, notice as the text says, a great multitude. Yet the number of the children 
of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea." That's the Abrahamic 
promise, which cannot be measured or numbered. And it shall come 
to pass in the place where it was said to them, you are not 
my people, there it shall be said to them, you are the sons 
of the living God. You see these covenantal identifiers. You are not my people, you're 
now my people. You are not the sons of the living 
God, you are now the sons of the living God. Guess which two 
New Testament authors take these verses and apply them to the 
church? Paul in Romans 9, 25 and 26. Peter in 1 Peter 2 and verse 
10. Though the text isn't specifically 
referenced, I think the doctrine is in Ephesians 2, 11 to 22. See, these men interpreted the 
promise given by Hosea to Gentile inclusion into the covenant promises 
of God. Calvin read it this way. Then 
Hosea speaks, not here of the kingdom of Israel, but of the 
church, which was to be restored by a return composed of both 
Jews and Gentiles. Mark Devers says, Paul understood 
that Hosea's prophecy would not be fulfilled in some Middle Eastern 
nation state to come, But in the church, you see what the 
prophets do, and everybody listen, okay? Pay attention. I don't 
want you to get bogged down in a bunch of details. You need 
to get this, okay? Northern Kingdom is going to 
fall. God's promises don't. The Northern Kingdom is going 
to end. God's will does not. God has purpose to save a great 
multitude, which no man can number, from every tribe, every tongue, 
every people, and every nation. And that is what Hosea is preaching 
to these people. He brings the message of condemnation, 
but interspersed along the way, there's a message of hope. He 
deals with the broken relationship as it stands now, but he looks 
toward the restored relationship as it stands in the future. When 
we look at the parallel marriage, the Lord Himself into Israel, 
same thing. He outlines the broken relationship 
and points forward to the restored relationship. We live in the 
days of that restored relationship. Notice what the text says. Then 
the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered 
together and appoint for themselves one head. I think we are to consider 
that this is the same person spoken of in chapter 3, verse 
5. David the king! The scriptures 
tell us that's Jesus Christ, David's great son, yet David's 
lord. So you see, that's why his marriage 
to this particular woman. That's why these children born. To explain that in history, in 
the coming future, they will suffer decimation by the Assyrians. But God's plan of salvation marches 
on. God's plan of salvation conquers. God's plan of salvation cannot 
be sidetracked. It cannot be stopped. It cannot 
be thwarted. It cannot but succeed because 
the zeal of Yahweh of hosts shall perform this through His Son 
and for His glory. That's chapter one. Notice chapter 
two, the Lord's marriage to Israel. It's just like Hosea and Gomer. Look at what he says. their broken 
relationship. Verses 1 to 13. We'll move somewhat 
quickly through here. The indictment is brought, verse 
2, bring charges against your mother. Bring charges for she 
is not my wife nor am I her husband. Let her put away her harlotries 
from her sight and her adulteries from between her breasts. She 
has been loose. She has been crude. She has been 
lascivious. She has engaged in license. She 
has gone a whoring from me. That's what God says concerning 
the nation of Israel. Look over at chapter 4. You see 
this fleshed out. You see what it entailed, what 
it involved, how it looked in terms of the breach of God's 
holy commandment. Verse 1 of chapter 4. Hear the 
word of the Lord, you children of Israel, for the Lord brings 
a charge against the inhabitants of the land. There is no truth 
or mercy or knowledge of God in the land. And then we read 
verse 2, and we see all the sins that are rampant. Notice, by 
swearing, and lying, killing, and stealing, and committing 
adultery, they break all restraint with bloodshed upon bloodshed. Don't miss the connection there. 
We looked at Romans 1 several weeks ago in our evening service. What does Paul say? The wrath 
of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness 
of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. What's Paul's 
point? What we think about God affects 
the way that we live concerning God. Before Paul gets into this 
catalog of vices in Romans chapter 1, he says the crucial issue, 
the defining issue, the big problem with man is that although he 
knows God, he does not honor God as God, nor is he thankful. In other words, to reject the 
first and the second commandment leads to the breaking of all 
the rest. Look at what he says in verse 1. There is no truth 
or mercy or knowledge of God in the land. When men throw God 
out of their minds and their hearts, murder, bloodshed, adultery, 
abortion, homosexuality, all of the evils and the vices that 
we witness firsthand in our nation follow. But the big issue, the 
fount from which it flows, is they've rejected me, God says. 
You see the connection? Notice verse 6 of chapter 4. 
My people are destroyed for what? For abortion? For sodomy? For homosexuality? My people 
are destroyed for lack of knowledge! Why do you and Pastor Kim always 
scream about theology? Because theology, or a lack thereof, 
leads to this. Because you have rejected knowledge, 
I also will reject you from being priest for me. Because you have 
forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. 
Notice in verse 13 of chapter 2, But me she forgot, says the 
Lord. Chapter 5 verse 4, They do not 
direct their deeds toward turning to their God. for the spirit 
of harlotry is in their midst, and they do not know the Lord. 
Chapter 6, verse 6, For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice, and 
the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. Chapter 7, verse 
10, And the pride of Israel testifies to his face, but they do not 
return to the Lord their God, nor seek him for all this. Chapter 8, verse 14, For Israel 
has forgotten his Maker." Chapter 13 and verse 6. We are seeing 
the pattern here. When they had pasture, they were 
filled. They were filled and their heart was exalted. Therefore, 
they forgot me. Now, if you're here this morning 
and you're not a Christian, your problem isn't that you're on 
Facebook too much. Your problem isn't that you're 
smoking pot. Now, those are problems, but 
I'm going to bring it to a particular point. Your problem isn't necessarily 
drunkenness in the first place. Again, these are all problems. 
Don't leave here saying, he said it's OK to smoke pot. No, I didn't 
say that. Do not say that I said that, 
because I didn't say that. You are here this morning, and 
you are not a believer. Your problem isn't, first and 
foremost, fornication or sodomy. or cross-dressing, or whatever 
it is that is in vogue today. Your problem is that you don't 
know God. That is the fundamental issue 
with the sinner. It isn't this, this, this, this. It's a rejection of Him. When 
you throw out the first and the second commandments, everything 
else follows. You need Christ. You need Jesus. You need forgiveness. You need 
redemption through his blood. You need the only one who ever 
obeyed the law of God and who died as a sacrifice, as an atonement 
on the cross to satisfy divine justice. So it's beautiful about 
that word atonement. The idea of satisfaction is there. God, the Holy One, must be satisfied. His law is pure, it's perfect, 
it's good, it's holy. It needs to be conducted. That's what Jesus did in His 
life. Jesus needs to satisfy the wrath and the fury and the 
anger of God for His people. And that's what He does at the 
cross. The fundamental problem with mankind is idolatry. It is a rejection of God. It 
is a bowing to Baal. In bowing to Baal, you are rejecting 
the living and the true God. That's your problem here today. And the only means, the only 
hope, the only help for you is to come to the Lord Jesus Christ. 
This is how you learn of God. This is how you learn of the 
Father. This is how you learn of the one who made this world 
and everything in it, who has made laws, who has made decrees, 
who has commanded you. to such and such activity. You've 
broken that law and you need a son to come and to redeem you. That's the indictment, spiritual 
harlotry. Notice the judgment, verses 3 
to 6, humiliation and ejection from the land. This idea of stripping 
her naked and exposing her. Punishment involved for the harlot. 
Punishment involved for the adulteress. Humiliation for her crimes. The 
scarlet letter, she had to wear that A. Everybody knew, everybody 
identified what her particular crime was. God said, there will 
be no mercy, verse 4. It says, I will have no mercy 
on her. I will have no mercy on her children, 
for they are the children of harlotry. Before you start to 
say, wait a minute, this is a sermon that is seeking to illustrate 
the tapestry of God's grace You're talking about God being a merciful 
and a gracious Lord, and yet, all the while, you're saying 
there's a low Ruhamah involved? You see, the mercy of God, the 
grace of God, the kindness of God, the goodness of God do not 
cancel out as justice. They do not cancel out as righteousness. They do not cancel out as wrath. 
They do not cancel out as judgment against sin. Sinners. All of 
God does all that God does. We do not dissect Him. We do 
not put Him under a microscope. We don't only appeal to those 
attributes that we like, but we resist those ones that we 
don't. God comes to us on the pages 
of Scripture as infinite, eternal. He comes to us in the pages of 
Scripture as the one who is just, who is holy, who is good, who 
is gracious, who is loving, and who is kind. Do not think for 
a moment that these things are at odds with each other. He says 
they will continue to pursue their harlotries. Notice in verse 
5, their mother has played the harlot. She who conceived them 
has behaved shamefully, for 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. You see, these were people living 
in a land where Baal worship was going on. Now, Baal was the 
god who supposedly reigned on the fields. The way that you 
got Baal to reign on the fields appealed to fleshly, carnal people. You see, when you came to Baal 
worship, you didn't sit in pews. You didn't try to restrain yourself 
from falling asleep. You didn't sing two hymns and 
a psalm, have a scripture reading, and then have an hour's sermon. I'll try to keep it there. You 
see, the way that the worshiper tried to get Baal to bless was 
through copulation, through fornication, through sexual sin. You see, 
the idea is that if we engage in this activity, then Baal and 
his consorts will do the same. And then in his kindness and 
his goodness, he'll fertilize our fields. And you know, it 
probably started off innocuous at the beginning, not that any 
idolatry is that, but the people of Israel are living in the land 
and they see the Canaanite next to them put a little bale out 
and say a little prayer and ask for bale to send rain. So the 
next day, the Israelite watching sees that rain came. He says, 
wait a minute, maybe I'll get myself a little bale. Maybe I'll 
put that little bale out front and I'll say a little prayer 
to bale, because after all, bale delivers the goods. You see, 
what happens? In bowing to Baal, they reject 
God. In bowing to Baal, they forget 
God. In bowing to Baal, they begin 
to ascribe blessing to Baal. Well, money got me this happiness, 
so maybe I should worship money. Fame got me this happiness, so 
maybe I should worship fame. It's utilitarian. Whatever works 
is where we'll go. Whatever delivers is what we'll 
do. And interestingly enough, that's how they supposedly return 
to God according to verses 7 to 9. Look at what it says. Therefore behold, verse 6, I 
will hedge up your way with thorns and wall her in so that she cannot 
find her paths. It's an interesting statement. 
God says, I'm going to prevent you from going after these bales. 
I always liken it to a man whose wife has been unfaithful. The 
man chooses to forgive, the man chooses to go on, and the man 
says, give me your cell phone, give me your credit card, give 
me your car. I am not going to give you the 
tools for you to go back out and to do those things against 
me. Well, maybe he didn't forgive. He forgave, but he's hedging 
his bets. That's what God says. I'm going 
to wall you in. You're going to act like little 
babies. I'm going to treat you like babies. I'm going to put 
you in a crib. I'm going to put big, big sides on that crib so 
that you cannot go a whoring from me. God means business about 
his people. Notice in verse 7, she will chase 
her lovers. 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. That sounds noble, doesn't it? 
I'm going to go back to Yahweh. I'm going to go back to the God 
of Israel. I'm going to go back to the Lord. 
But look what He says. I will go and return to my first 
husband, for then it was better for me than now. It's not repentance. It's not a change of heart. That's 
utilitarian. That's sham. That speaks to you 
here. Well, I think I'll go back to 
the Lord because He can provide these things for me. That's not 
repentance. That's not return unto me, says 
the Lord. That's using the Lord for what 
you want. And God will have none of that. 
When will we learn that God is not a domestic pet? God isn't 
the cat in our house. God isn't the lap dog that we 
stroke, and we subdue, and we put a leash on, and we make him 
do what we want. That's not the God of the Bible. 
I don't know what your inklings are with reference to the God 
of the Bible, but you don't box Him. You don't tame Him. You 
don't restrain Him. You certainly don't domesticate 
Him and make Him your bellboy, or your butler, or your maid, 
or your servant to do your bidding. I'll come to God because He'll 
give me riches. It's one of the wretchedness 
of the health, wealth, prosperity, no gospel. I'll come to God so 
he'll give me a better job. I'll come to God so he'll give 
me a better husband. I'll come to God because he'll 
give me an attractive wife. That is to use the Lord God most 
high, and he won't have it. And he sees right through it. 
He sees what they're doing. He understands the motive of 
their heart. And then notice what he says 
in verse 8. For she did not know that I gave 
her grain, I gave her new wine, I gave her oil, I multiplied 
her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal. Is that the 
way of sin? God gives us all these things 
and what do we do? We use them to engage in idolatry. 
God gives you breath this morning. God gives you life. God gives 
you food. God gives you drink. God causes 
your heart to pump and the blood to flow. And what do you do? 
You leave this place and you chase your idols. It's disgusting, 
isn't it? It's terrible. Absolutely horrible. That's why when God's grace breaks 
in, it's shocking. You see, maybe the literal view 
is right. Maybe we are supposed to be shocked 
about the fact that Hosea married a harlot. And maybe the shock 
of that ought to promote shock with reference to the fact that 
God marries Israel. I mean, we've looked at several 
places in the Old Testament in the last few weeks We looked 
at God's grace come to a rebellious king, not of the Hivites, not 
of the Hittites, but of the Israelites. We see David fueled by lust. We see David fueled by subterfuge, 
by covering up, by hiding. And then we see God dispatch 
the prophet Nathan to deliver that message that would crush 
him. And then God says, I have atoned for your sin." We stopped 
in Jericho. What do we note there? We saw 
another harlot, this time of Jericho. She was the shady lady 
of Jericho. And what happens? God, the Lord, 
says, spare her. We see that gracious invitation 
in the prophet Isaiah 55, 1 to 13. What does the Lord God say? 
Oh, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters and drink. You 
go on to the New Testament and you look at a man like the apostle 
Paul. Where do we find Paul in Acts 
chapter 7 and 8? Do we find him bowing before 
Jesus? Do we find him confessing the 
good faith? Do we see him preaching the gospel 
of free and sovereign grace? No, we see him standing there, 
nodding in approval and consenting, while Stephen, God's martyr, 
is being stoned to death. And then when we look at our 
own hearts, and we look at our own lives, and we realize that 
I knew God existed, and I rejected Him every step of the way. I 
knew God was there, but I ran as far from Him as I possibly 
could. I knew God was there, and I knew 
gospel was being preached, and I knew I should have fled to 
Jesus, and I rejected, I resisted until one day. God smashed my 
heart. God humbled me under his hand. 
God showed me my sin. He showed me the Savior. Isn't 
that grace shocking? You see, our problem is not with 
Hosea and Gomer and the strange marriage that they were involved 
with. The big problem is that God the 
sovereign Lord of the universe marries sinners like you and 
I. That ought to shock. That ought 
to astound. That ought to amaze. That ought 
to move us to worship and to praise and to adoration and to 
glorifying his most holy name. I don't want to rush through 
the remainder of the sermon, and I don't want to keep you 
here for another half hour. So God willing, we'll take up the 
rest of the section this evening. If you've been intrigued, and 
you've been interested, and you want to see how the story ends, then 
I invite you to come back tonight at 5, or you can tune in. Thanks 
to Jonathan, whose birthday is today, by the way. We are online 
at freegrace.ca. But when we leave at this particular 
point, let us stop. Let us admire, let us marvel 
at Hosea and Gomer. You know, how many of us would 
have been those who said, did you hear what Hosea is doing? 
Did you hear who Hosea is marrying? Did you see who Hosea is walking 
down the street with? Doesn't he know what kind of 
woman she is? Sounds just like the Pharisees 
in Luke 7, when Jesus is at the home of Simon, and that woman, 
which was a sinner, comes in and falls at his feet, and starts 
weeping over them, and takes her hair and wipes the feet. 
What's the report from those sitting around him? If this man 
were a prophet, he would know what manner of woman this is. And that's when Jesus tells the 
story. There's two men who owed some 
money. One owed a great deal, the other 
not so much. If they were both forgiven of 
that debt, who would love more? Even a Pharisee could get that 
one right. Well, the one who was forgiven much. Jesus said, 
I came into your house and you didn't wash my feet. I came in 
your house and you didn't afford me the common courtesies that 
are decent in this time frame. You didn't show any kindness, 
you didn't show any compassion, you didn't show any mercy whatsoever. But this woman, She has not ceased, 
she has not stopped from weeping over and cleaning my feet. I 
tell you, she loves much because she's been forgiven much. So 
when we look at Hosea and Gomer, we ought to restrain the desire 
to say, did you hear about Hosea? Did you see who he's marrying? 
Interesting, when we come to this prophet, we look at the 
players, and we say, well, certainly Hosea's like God, and we see 
that Gomer is like Israel, and then we try to piece ourselves 
into the stories. You know, I'm a noble fellow 
like Hosea, I'm merciful, and I'm kind. Do you realize that 
each and every one of us are Gomer? Every single one sitting 
in this room is a Gomer. We are harlots, we are adulteresses, 
we are idolaters, we have rejected God in our words, our thoughts, 
our deeds. Before we start to condemn Hosea 
for marrying Gomer, we ought to see ourselves rightly as the 
Gomer who stands in need of Hosea. And Hosea typifies, points forward 
to, and even suggests in chapter 3, the way in which our Lord 
Jesus will do it. After she commits adultery, what 
does he do to get her back? He buys her back! I don't think 
we can develop a full-born theology of Christ's atonement, but certainly 
there's a hint at it. He comes to redeem Gomer. He 
pays the price for Gomer. He is her champion. He is her 
victor. He is the one that delivers her. So before we condemn Hosea, or 
before we scoff at Hosea for marrying Gomer, let us see ourselves 
rightly as the Gomer who stands in need of Hosea. which interestingly 
is a form of Joshua, which is Yahweh is salvation and the name 
born by our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, that in a 
sketch is the tapestry of God's grace in the 8th century BC. The Northern Kingdom, yes, they 
would suffer historical sanction, but God's promise would not stop. God's promise would conquer, 
God's promise would be applied in the church of the New Testament, 
the church that Paul writes of in Romans 9 and Peter speaks 
of in 1 Peter 2, verse 10. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ 
and you, by God's grace, will be saved by this better than 
Hosea, even the Lord of glory. Well, let us pray. Our Father 
in heaven, we thank you so much for your word and we thank you 
so much for your grace. Certainly it is shocking when 
we consider it on the pages of a book like Hosea. Father, I 
pray that you would speak to our hearts. I pray for those 
who are outside of Christ, that they would know conviction of 
sin, that they would know the forgiveness of sin in and through 
the Lord Jesus Christ. For those of us, God, that you 
found out in our harlotry, and those of us who are in relationship 
with you now, those of us who are prone to wander and prone 
to leave the God we love, Continue to show mercy upon us, Lord. 
Please continue to forgive us. Truly be like Hosea to Gomer. Be this way for us, we pray. For God certainly, we are always 
constantly dependent upon your grace and upon your mercy and 
upon the blood and the righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ. And 
it's in his most blessed name that we pray. Amen.