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A Story of Redeeming Love (Hosea 3)
30 Plays2 years ago
Sunday Message recorded 05 November 2023
by Associate Pastor Josh Shell
First Baptist Church -- Columbus TX
1700 Milam St.
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Hosea Series
00:00:11
Speaker
Good. I'm doing great. Thanks, Steve. I'm doing great. I am bringing my tea up here. I hope that's OK with everybody. I promise I won't spill it. If I do, just forgive me. But I am excited to be with you guys this morning as we continue our series through the book of Hosea. So if you have your Bibles, go ahead and get those out and open up
Relevance of Hosea for Christians
00:00:29
Speaker
to Hosea chapter 3. Hosea chapter 3, that's where we're going to be today. We're going to be covering the whole chapter.
00:00:29
Speaker
Well, good morning, everyone. How are we doing?
00:00:38
Speaker
You guys immediately thought, oh, no. It's only five verses, guys. Come on. It's only five verses. So you can't go that long, can you?
00:00:51
Speaker
That was a joke. So anyway, I am excited though to be covering this chapter because this has been an incredible book so far. I don't want to say that about every series that we've done here recently, whether it was Colossians and Ephesians and now Hosea. But this letter, this prophecy that was given is a timely letter. It's a timely message even for us today in the New Testament covenant.
00:01:15
Speaker
Remember, this letter was written in the Old Testament covenant and it was directed to a nation. It was directed to the nation of Israel. Whereas now we live in the New Testament covenant and we are now the spiritual family of Israel as believers in Jesus.
00:01:31
Speaker
But as we walk through this letter though, we can't just overlook it. We have to look at the heart of it and understand that though this was written to a specific group of people, the Israelites, this still applies to us greatly today. Because many of us, as we've already walked through in the first two chapters, can probably resonate or we can go or we can follow along with what's going on between Hosea and Gomer and how it reflects
Wrangler Days and Bonnie the Horse
00:02:01
Speaker
the relationship between Israel and God. And so I am excited for us to continue this series together. But before we jump into the text, though, I'd love to share with you guys an illustration. I know I've used this illustration once before, so if it seems repetitive, I apologize, but I'm going to use it again anyway, so bear with me. But many of you guys know that before I came here to First Baptist, I was a Wrangler.
00:02:23
Speaker
at Pine Cove, just off 71. I went out there, I worked with horses, I was out there for seven years, and this is my horse Bonnie. I still have her today, she's actually out at Ron and Donna Dishman's house, living the high life, the retired life kind of. But she is, she was my partner in crime while I was out there at Pine Cove, at least that's how it finished my career.
00:02:49
Speaker
When I first started Pine Cove, I had no horse experience whatsoever. I'm from Georgia, right? When you're from Georgia, you're not country as in like Texas, right? You're country as in Redneck, okay? So I didn't ride horses growing up. I was actually a skater kid, like I mentioned before.
00:03:06
Speaker
So to come out to work for Pine Cove on summer staff and to get thrown into a Wrangler position that I had never worked with before was quite the adventure. And then to come on full-time to work with these animals was even a greater adventure. Because again, all my experience before stepping into this role was the five weeks that I was a Wrangler on summer staff at Pine Cove. And by the way, I missed training week. So I had to learn everything the first week as a Wrangler my time there on summer staff.
00:03:35
Speaker
All I had to say is by God's divine plan that I was out at Pine Cove working with horses. But again, so Bonnie here was given to me. I did not own Bonnie before coming to Pine Cove. I came on in January 2013, the head wrangler at the time, Bodhi Dawson, many of you guys probably know him. He acquired this horse from another friend because Bonnie had a reputation.
00:03:58
Speaker
She was not rideable. So, she lives up to the buckskin name, right? Because she's a buckskin. So, when I came on though, Bonnie had just had a cult, so she wasn't rideable because she had a cult on her. And so, but when the time came, Bodhi looked at me, he was like, hey man, you want a
Trust and Training Bonnie
00:04:18
Speaker
horse one day? And I was like, yeah, one day man.
00:04:20
Speaker
you know, thinking a few years down the road after I get acquainted with horses a little more, and he was like, you know what, I got the perfect horse for you, man. She's a project horse. She'll do just what, she'll do exactly what you need. I was like, okay, cool. And he was like, you want to go see her? I was like, sure. Because in my mind, I was thinking like, this is like a reject horse, you know, like, I wanted a pretty horse if I wanted a horse, right?
00:04:40
Speaker
Well, Bonnie's pretty. That's about the only thing she's got going for her, okay? Well, at least at that time. So we went out, we looked at her, he was like, that's her right there. And I was like, oh man. I was like, can I ride her? He's like, nah, you gotta wait about six months to wait for that colt to wean off her, things like that. So jump ahead, we finally start, you know, the colt gets weaned off, we start riding her.
00:05:03
Speaker
And at the time, she was doing good. She would curl hop every now and then, which is kind of a buck, but not really. But the process early on was going good. I was riding her in the round pin. I was riding her in the arena. No issues. Well, one day, Bodhi's like, hey, man, let's take her out to pasture. I'll ride with you. Let's go out together.
00:05:25
Speaker
Okay, you know, again, this is like, I'm fresh, like far and fresh cowboy, okay? I'm still learning. And so we go out to the pasture, we're riding along. She kind of acts a little goosey every now and then when I'm even silly. But overall, she did great. The ride out there was good. We were on our way back. And then it happened.
00:05:47
Speaker
We were on our way back, and something spooked her. As we were coming back to the barn, and there was this tree, I saw it, like I was riding back to the barn, there was this big, low-lying tree limb right here. Something spooked her from behind, she just breaks in half, like just starts bucking. I'm just like, whoa! You know, like, buddy! You know, like, what do I do? He's like, sit back, hang on, kick her, kick her! And I was like, kick her, what? Anyway, so she finally settles down, okay? And I'm just like,
00:06:16
Speaker
I'm alive. And he's like, dude, kick her again. You got to drive her through it. And I was like, okay. And so I kicked her again and she broke in half again, right? It starts bucking and she B lines it straight to the tree land, right? And so I'm just.
00:06:32
Speaker
all happening within three seconds. Like, okay, I'm about to die. So I, she starts running to this tree limb. I fall off. Thankfully there's a bed of sand right there. I think the Lord provided that for that reason. And I landed, was totally fine, and she just took off back to the barn. And I woke up, I was just like, what did I get myself into, man? She's pretty, but man, she's crazy, right? And so,
00:06:59
Speaker
All I had to say is when I first got her, I was like, man, I'm so excited. This is my first horse. She's a project horse. We'll get this great chemistry together. I'll build this trust. We'll ride into the sunset together. Well, she did. Just not with me.
00:07:17
Speaker
And so later on though, this is just the beginning of this relationship. This took me about three and a half, almost four years for me to fully break Bonnie. And I would even say that she's fully broke today. I wouldn't let anybody just get on Bonnie. You have to know what you're doing to get on her, because she's got that personality, right? And there was another time where
00:07:42
Speaker
I got braved by myself and Bodhi was out in the pasture, he was working cows, he was like, hey man, come out and help me. So I said, okay. So I was riding Bonnie, I was training her, I was working with her, she was doing great. Like I was riding around the barn, no issues, nothing.
00:07:57
Speaker
I was like, all right, man, I'll be out there. I'm on Bonnie. He said, oh, boy. All right, see you in a minute. And so I take off out there. And there were some horses loose in the paddock or in the pasture that I was riding through. And one of them was her companion horse or buddy horse. And so she wanted to go over to him. And me, as this young cowboy, I was like, oh, no. And I had spurs on, by the way.
00:08:22
Speaker
not a good idea for a young novice rider, okay? And so she starts beeline to this horse, and I said, oh no! I picked up my rein, put my right spur in her hip and her ribcage, and she broke in half again. And I mean, broke in half. And this time I didn't land on anything soft, okay? I fell down, landed on my hip, it hurt real bad. And then me being the proud cowboy that I was,
00:08:49
Speaker
That was anonymous, by the way. So I went and grabbed her, hopped back on her, and I couldn't get my leg over her, she broke in half again, right? And then, so you think I was on my lesson? No, I went and got her again, I said, you're not gonna win this battle. You're not gonna do this to me. So I went and caught her, hopped back on her, I sat down on her, I said, now you're gonna behave. And she had another idea in her mind. So another tree was there.
00:09:16
Speaker
You think I would learn my lesson about trees. And so I started riding her. And you know, we're walking, and I'm like, I cluck at her, get her to start trotting. And she breaks in half again. Because at this time, see, I lose my range. So I'm riding with one range because I was using split rates.
00:09:33
Speaker
Bad idea. And so I lost my range. She turned around and again, she saw that tree layman went, see ya. And again, I fell off again. And that was it. That was the straw that broke the camel's back for me. I was like, I'm done. I'm taking her back. Well, she actually ran back to the barn. So I had to walk, I had to walk a shame back to the barn. And all the summer staff wranglers were looking at me like I was crazy because I was all beat red and just.
00:10:00
Speaker
And so we finally get back to the barn. And that was probably the beginning of what I thought was the end with Bonnie. I was like, I can't do this. I'm not experienced enough. I don't have the skill set. I don't have the patience for her. She doesn't obviously trust me. So I was like, I'm done. I'm done. I kicked her out to the pasture, and I put her on the market to sell. And a couple people looked at her.
00:10:25
Speaker
you know, given her history, they weren't so excited about it. But all I have to say is I sent her out to the pasture, and I was like, I'm done with her. I'm not going to ride her. I'm not going to use her anymore. And the next summer, so this is about a 10-month span that I didn't even touch her. I kicked her out. I said, you're done. Like, I don't want you anymore, right? The next summer, my wranglers show up, and they're like, hey, all these horses are good. Like, we want a bucking horse.
00:10:55
Speaker
And I was like, oh, I got one for you.
00:10:57
Speaker
So I went and picked her up, and I was telling all these stories I just told you about how she was crazy, how she would buck, how she wouldn't even give you this time of day to even look at her, you know, like, and they were like, oh man, this is awesome, he's gonna get bucked off, you know. So I went and picked her up, put her in the round pen, styled her up, she kinda acted goosey, but again, I hadn't touched her in like 10 months, okay. And then she, I got on her in the round pen, sat down on her, nothing.
00:11:27
Speaker
Walked her forward, dropped her head, walked, nothing. Squeezed her a little bit, started trotting her around the round pin, just dropped her head, started trotting, nothing. And I was like, you gotta be kidding me. And so I blew a kiss at her, because that's what we did, and got her into a lope. The darndest thing, dropped her head and smoked around the round pin, nothing. I've literally tried to get that horse to buck, and she would not buck.
00:11:57
Speaker
And so all the rangers were like, well, this is a disappointment. You know, Josh talked the source up and she's great. We want to ride her. And I was like, no, don't know. But from that moment on, Bonnie and I had an understanding. At least I had a better understanding of Bonnie, right?
00:12:16
Speaker
And so, but from that point on, she and I had a great relationship and I was able to use her the way I needed to. But the key thing there is that apparently she just needed time. Like I apparently was forcing it on her and she just needed time,
Parallels: Bonnie and Hosea & Gomer
00:12:30
Speaker
right? Well, I share all this because this relationship between Bonnie and I, as I was reading through the first three chapters of Hosea, it kind of reminds me of the relationship between Hosea and Gomer.
00:12:43
Speaker
Because what we see here in chapter one is that God called Hosea to go and to take for himself a wife of Fordham and to have the children afford him for the lancubest great adultry or great hortom by forsaking the Lord, right? So God calls Hosea to go and he does. He goes and finds Gomer. He marries her. He has a child or he has several children. We don't know if all of them are his, but he goes and he has this relationship. He falls madly in love with her.
00:13:11
Speaker
This is kind of what we suspect, right? And then in chapter two, we see that she goes away from him. She goes and commits adultery. And we see the judgment, the discipline that's gonna be coming upon Gomer as an example to the nation of Israel and how they have had an adulterous relationship with God.
00:13:34
Speaker
But over time, what we're gonna see in chapter three is that one thing that was needed for Jose and Gomer to get on the page was time. They had to get on the same page. They had to understand one another better, right? And that's exactly how God's relationship was with Israel. There was this adulterous relationship happened and God brought judgment on him and he separated himself.
00:14:02
Speaker
from the nation of Israel, all the way up until even today. And that's exactly what we're gonna see from this chapter. So we're gonna read through chapter three, but real quick, let me back up. So overall with the illustration with Bonnie, right, going back to that real quick. It didn't matter how much I tried to force my trust on her, it ultimately took time to develop that trust.
00:14:24
Speaker
It wasn't just all about me. It was about Bonnie also trusting me and Bonnie understanding what her purpose is as a horse. So from my perspective, if I showed faithful dedication to her, no matter how many times she rejected me, eventually she would learn to trust me. That would be the idea. But in Bonnie's eyes,
00:14:47
Speaker
It didn't matter how much faithful dedication I showed her, she was never gonna trust me and why is that? Well, it's because she's a horse. Her natural instinct is to run away from a predator. They don't naturally let people rattle. That's a learned behavior. She had to learn to trust me. She had to learn to work with me and understand me. And it's the same thing very much with the human nature. We have to learn to trust one another.
00:15:12
Speaker
We have to learn to be patient with one another and to engage with one another to have that companionship. And so that's exactly what we're gonna see today
God's Command to Love Gomer Again
00:15:20
Speaker
in chapter three though. So if you guys wanna stay with me, we're gonna read these verses together and we're gonna jump into it. So Hosea chapter three, it says this, and the Lord said to me, go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress.
00:15:40
Speaker
Even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins. So I bought her for 15 shekels of silver and a homer in the lethic of barley. And I said to her, you must dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore or belong to another man. So I will also be to you.
00:16:01
Speaker
For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without a king or prince, or without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods. Afterward, the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the Lord into his goodness in the latter days." Will you pray with me?
00:16:26
Speaker
Lord God, we just thank you so much for your word, for this letter in particular that and how it illustrates to us an adulterous behavior by which we as many of us in this current age still live by. And Lord, I pray that as we continue to process through and to read through this letter that we will seek understanding that we'll have a listening ear and that we'll learn from it.
00:16:50
Speaker
and how to draw back to you and how to press into you as our Lord and as our King. But Lord, I pray though that there's anyone here, Father, who is in a situation where they are acting like Gomer. Lord, that this timely message will intervene on their behalf and that they will seek to seek restoration and reconciliation.
00:17:12
Speaker
But Lord, if there's anyone in this room who's like Hosea, who has been hurt, who has a broken relationship with somebody in this room, I pray, Father, that you will intercede on their behalf as well and that they will learn how to forgive and to love unconditionally as you have unconditionally loved us. But God, just lead us during this time, may it be your words that we hear, not mine. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you, you guys may be seated.
00:17:38
Speaker
So we're just gonna take this verse by verse
Unconditional Love and Trust
00:17:40
Speaker
here. So the first verse here, chapter three says, and the Lord said to me, so again, we're coming back to Hosea. This is the last time we'll hear the words from Hosea himself in regards to this interaction. He says, and the Lord said to me, go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulterous. Now it is important, I want us to stop here to recognize that it took God's intervention again to call Hosea back to Gomer.
00:18:09
Speaker
It took God to call Hosea again because, you got to remember, trust has been broken. Hosea put his heart out there for her. He loved her, and she mistreated him, and she broke his heart. She went and had an adulterous relationship. And so for Hosea processing through this, you can only imagine what was going through his mind, through his heart, throughout this time, especially when God did call him back to go. I don't know about you guys. Many of us in this room are probably looking at God and be like, nope.
00:18:39
Speaker
I offer trust once, and that's it. And sadly, that's how many relationships are today. If someone breaks your trust once, that's it. But that's not what we're called to. We're called to show unconditional love toward everyone, whether it's our neighbor, our spouse, our friends, whoever. We are called to show unconditional love in every situation.
00:19:05
Speaker
So God called Hosea back to go and to get Gomer. And so Hosea was putting into action, this is what I want you to see here as well, that he was putting into action the very nature and character of God towards his chosen people, Israel.
00:19:24
Speaker
So Hosea, by going to get Gomer, is demonstrating to us the very nature and character of God and how he desired to have reconciliation and restoration with his people despite their broken adulterous relationship. And again, so with that said, Gomer's actions put in full display the very nature and character of Israel towards God.
00:19:47
Speaker
And I pray that we will stop and process this, that we'll self-analyze and see where we are as people, as God's people. Are we the Hosea or are we the Gomer? Then it goes on here in the second half of verse one, it says, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, talking about how Gomer or how Hosea was to go and to receive back Gomer,
00:20:15
Speaker
though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins, right? So just as Gomer went and had adulterous relationships, we don't know how many men that she went and had these relationships with, we just know that she was an adulterous woman, right? And so just as the nation of Israel turned away from God, sought after false gods or bales as they're called, and they would reject God. They didn't want God. They wanted, either if they wanted God, they wanted him with something else, or they really just wanted this.
00:20:45
Speaker
Right and the illustration here of cakes of raisins demonstrates that so what of these cakes of raisins? Well cakes of raisins were often used for special occasions and we see this back in second Samuel 619 when the Ark of the Covenant was brought back to the nation of Israel and David was king as a as a
00:21:07
Speaker
moment of celebration, they had these cakes of raisins in celebration of the ark coming back. It was just a supplementary dietary theme that they looked forward to because it was only on special occasions that they had these things. However, these cakes of raisins were also used for idol worship.
00:21:33
Speaker
You would find these in the different temples and the different places of idol worship because it was a form of purchasing yourself or purchasing something for that idol, of selling yourself for that idol. So these cakes of raisins, they sought out these cakes of raisins rather than to remain faithful to the provisions of the Lord, which symbolizes the rejection of the one true God for other gods.
00:21:58
Speaker
It's crazy how little things like that have so much significance when you actually look into it, right? So they turned away from God.
Gomer's Actions and Israel's Decline
00:22:07
Speaker
They saw after other gods, and these cakes of raisins, but yet God was still willing to come and find them as Hosea was willing to go and get Gomer. The second thing I want to see here in verse two is the cost of immorality. It says this in verse two. It says, so I bought her for 15 shekels of silver and a homer and a lathic of barley.
00:22:26
Speaker
This is very important for us because as we see what Hosea is doing in going and purchasing back Gomer, the cost that was given to buy her back was half the original cost even of an Israelite slave.
00:22:44
Speaker
Back in, I think it was Deuteronomy, or let me check here, sorry, Exodus 21, forgive me, Exodus 21, verse 32, it says this, if the ox goes or gores a slave, a male or female, the owner shall give their master 30 shekels of silver. So to buy an Israelite slave would only cost 30 shekels.
00:23:05
Speaker
So for Hosea to go into buyback Gomer only for only 15, that shows how much her character and her behavior has cheapened her value.
00:23:17
Speaker
And it didn't stop there. So he gave him 15 shekels of silver, but he also gave him a Homer and a lathic of barley. And barley at that time was considered food for animals or for the poor. It wasn't a hot commodity. It had little value whatsoever. So for him to go and to pay 15 shekels in this Homer and a lathic of barley, again, it reinforces this idea of how much she has diminished her value as a result of her actions.
00:23:52
Speaker
And this is in the same manner though that God sees the nation of Israel as a result of their behavior. They're diminishing their value.
00:24:00
Speaker
But the beautiful picture here is this, is that when God purchased back the nation of Israel, he didn't just scrape up 15 shekels of silver and barley. He didn't just purchase them back at half price. He paid the highest and the fullest price for the nation of Israel, his one and only son, Jesus. That is his great love for us. That he loved us so much that he sent his one and only begot son,
00:24:30
Speaker
to die on our behalf, to purchase us, to redeem us, to reconcile us back to Him. It's a very beautiful picture there. God didn't hold back the value, the monetary value. He didn't hold back the value of things on this earth. He gave everything to purchase us back.
00:24:55
Speaker
So again, the price that Hosea paid for Gomer shows how much she cheapened herself as a result of her sins. It reminds me of Proverbs 26, 11, where it says, like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly. Gomer was in that situation. She lost sight of her value.
00:25:18
Speaker
And it goes back to, I mean, to go back to the illustration with me and Bonnie, right? In my eyes, Bonnie was valuable. In her eyes, I mean, of course, she's a horse, but she was like, man, I don't care what you think. I want to live my life. I want to do my own actions. It's the same thing with Gomer.
00:25:34
Speaker
She says, I don't care that you can't even stop me. I don't care that we have children together. I want what I want. And I loved how Marcia brought that up. And how we live in a culture today where it's all about us. It's all about what's best for the individual. Your truth is your truth, my truth is my truth. My body, my way, my decision. That's not it. There's only one truth and that's God's truth and your body is a temple of the holy living God.
00:26:02
Speaker
So we were to honor that, we were to respect that, to live in dignity with that. And did not mistreat it. But as I said, when it came to the price that God paid for his people, it was tremendous. He paid with the ultimate price of his son, Jesus. Absolutely incredible.
00:26:23
Speaker
It goes on in verse three though, after Jose goes and buys back Gomer, we see this transition here in verse three where he now sets the new terms of their relationship. He's like, hey, you broke my trust once. I gave you my love. We had children, whatever. I mean, this is speculating what Jose is saying, okay? So don't put, don't say I'm quoting Jose, okay? But all that is saying is that he's saying, I gave you all this and you broke my trust.
00:26:51
Speaker
I love you, but some commentators say that he went from an endearing love to a friendship love because of how heartbroken he was over her actions. But it says this in verse three, as he goes and purchases her back, it says, and I said to her, you must dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore or belong to another man. So will I also be to you.
00:27:22
Speaker
So he is addressing the very identity that Gomer had now created for herself.
00:27:29
Speaker
He says, hey, you have become this, you have dwelled in this very nature in this time to separate that. It's time to reconcile it. It's time to restore it. If you're gonna come back to me, I mean, she had no choice, so she purchased them, right? And the other thing I was gonna mention to you about the value about which Jose had purchased her back, the fact that the man who had Jose, or had Gomer,
00:27:56
Speaker
received that payment, showed that he had little value for Gomer. Does that make sense? So Gomer had really put herself in a very unfortunate position. She had to administer value so greatly that not even these other men who she was seeking after wanted her, right? But Jose, when he purchased her back, he said, hey, it's time to restore all this. It's time to fix this.
00:28:17
Speaker
So this is the deal. When you come back, you're gonna dwell as mine for many days, you're no longer to play the whore, you're no longer to belong to any other man. And just as you do that, so will I also be to you. In other words, he says, I'm gonna put time and space between us. So that way, I won't be your fallback, as some of these kids will say today.
00:28:45
Speaker
So he's addressing the very nature that an identity that has now been wrapped up in Gomer. She has become this adulterous, infidelious woman. I don't know if infidelious is a word, but I made it up. But she's become this woman with a negative identity. And he says, my desire is to fix that because of my love for you.
00:29:11
Speaker
So you are no longer to be with any other man. You're no longer to have sexual relationship with any other man. And we're going to have time separated from one another until we're able to come back together on a unified, holistic, and pure front. Then we will come back together. And that's the same for God and his nation of Israel today. This illustrates it beautifully. And that's what we're going to see here in verse 4.
00:29:40
Speaker
within the current situation of today. It says this in verse four, it says, for the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods. So in the same manner of Hosea removing the very thing that Gomer longed for, this identity, this purpose in her relationships with men, he took that away from her so that way she had to draw back to her true identity and find her true value.
00:30:08
Speaker
God did the same thing with the nation of Israel, and it's still that way to today. The very things in which they longed for, God took away from them, whether it was a king, whether it was the temple worship, or even their idols.
00:30:24
Speaker
I say king because in 586 BC, as Nebuchadnezzar came in into southern Judah, he took Zedekiah from power. We see that in 2 Kings 25. And ever since that day, there's never been a monarchy or king that's been instituted or placed back over Israel. They've lost their king. In the same manner, they've also been without a sacrificial system or a temple after the destruction of the temple in AD 70.
00:30:52
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Now they have blueprints and they have plans to build a third temple, but they still don't have that sacrificial temple today.
00:31:01
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And thirdly, they've also been set free from all the religious idols that they've often been taken captive to. And that's the illustration here that we see here in verse four, where it says, so the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, and without ephod or household gods. Because the ephod and the household gods, they represent those idols that they had in their life.
00:31:28
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The things that distracted them from the one true relationship that was significantly important to them, that was with God. So God said, as a result of your adulterous behavior, I'm going to separate myself from you for an extended time. But all hope is not lost for the nation of Israel. Because one day, God's coming back.
00:31:53
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Jesus is coming back. And that's exactly what we see here in the fifth and final verse, the coming restoration of Israel.
Future Restoration and Christ's Return
00:32:04
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What a beautiful picture.
00:32:16
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In the same manner as Hosea will also come back to Gomer after an extended time, after things have been rekindled or reconciled, God is also going to do the same thing with his nation of Israel. It just takes time for us, unfortunately as humans, to understand that we have a sin problem.
00:32:42
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We had a sin problem. And until we recognize that, we will never be in right relationship with God. We'll never have that reconciliation. Praise God that we are still living in a time of grace, a period of grace.
00:32:57
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God has given us opportunity after opportunity for thousands of years to address this issue of sin, to repent of it, to confess our faith, hope, and love back into the triune God so that we can have this relationship. And as believers in the New Testament church today, we have found that. Praise God.
00:33:21
Speaker
As a result of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, we have now been reconciled for all of those who have believed and confessed in Jesus as Lord and Savior of their life. So we as this New Testament church, as the spiritual Israel, I would like to call it, we are now living in reconciliation with the Father as a result of the sacrifice that he gave with Jesus. But for the nation of Israel, God's chosen people is still awaiting.
00:33:49
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And believe it or not, it's crazy that we're actually seeing now more than ever, in my New Testament class we're talking about this, how many Jews are coming back to the faith. Which is a beautiful picture and it's a sign that the time is coming for the return of Christ.
00:34:07
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I'm not saying it's gonna be today or tomorrow, but there's still a lot of work to be done. And as we as the New Testament church, that is our job to go and to share the good news. We are not called to go fix problems. We are called to go and share the cure for the problem. Not as the gospel. The gospel.
00:34:30
Speaker
But as I said in verse five, there will be a day when God's reconciliation, restoration will happen with the nation of Israel. They will wake up and they will understand that they have fallen short, that they have turned away from their God, and that they need to draw back in repent.
00:34:49
Speaker
and confess that God is Lord, that Jesus is Lord. Without that mind of repentance and confession, there is no reconciliation. I'm going to repeat that. Without a heart of repentance and confession, there is no reconciliation or restoration. You may be in this room today, and you feel like that you're in a right standing with the Lord.
00:35:17
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that you have it, that you're good, but you've never truly confessed a repentant of your sins. And I challenge you today that you will do that. Because in order to have right relationship with God, you have to repent of your sins and confess that Jesus is Lord.
00:35:40
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That is the only way that you can receive salvation and have eternal life and have a reconciled relationship with God.
Call to Repentance and Reconciliation
00:35:53
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So this probationary period of Israel serves as a purpose, that being to draw God's people back into repentance and rifle fear of the Lord.
00:36:01
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These verses, this verse specifically speaks to the future day when Israel will recognize their sin in adulterous ways that were a pen, designed to come back into fellowship with the one true God forevermore. What a powerful set of verses here.
00:36:18
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This illustration from Hosea going to seeking Gomer after she had committed adultery against him and how God desires to do the same thing with his people. And he has done that for many of us by sending Jesus. Some of you in this room today, this passage hits close to home. This book hits close to home. Some of you in here,
00:36:46
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You find yourself sitting in a very similar position as Gomer. Maybe you're not in an adulterous relationship, but you're not faithful in other ways. Whether it's to your physical spouse or to your Heavenly Father.
00:37:02
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There's things in your life that you have not confessed and repented of. There's things in your life that you still have moved forward in pursuing thinking that's gonna find your identity and your purpose in that rather than the ones who God had created you intricately and wonderfully. And I pray that if that is you today that you will allow God to pierce your heart
00:37:27
Speaker
and to understand that He desires a personal, loving, reconciled relationship with you. And it's only through Jesus. For as it says in 1 John 1.9, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. It doesn't matter what you've done in this life up to this day, nothing is too great that God can undo, that God can forgive.
00:37:57
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He is faithful and just to forgive us of all in righteousness. Whereas some of you in the room may feel like you are like Hosea, where you have a relationship in your life or a situation in your life that you just can't seem to forgive. You can't seem to go and want to desire reconciliation with. And that is a heavy place to be.
00:38:27
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To have bitterness or anger or remorse or whatever the case may be on your shoulders, that is heavy. There is no way to live a life in this world when there is such a way out of it through Jesus.
00:38:48
Speaker
In the same way that God desires reconciliation with Israel, the same way that God reconciled his relationship with us through loving forgiveness, we can do the same thing with our neighbors and with those who have hurt us. After all, that's one of the greatest commandments, right? Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength into what? Love your neighbor as yourself.
00:39:16
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So think of it this way, if you're in this room today and you have a hard time forgiving somebody, or it'd be a hard time loving somebody because of something that they did towards you, when by refusing to love or forgive them back, you're refusing to love and to forgive yourself. It's pretty powerful, huh?
00:39:37
Speaker
But then again, some of you in this room, you feel like you're in a situation where, man, that's too far gone, like my identity's created, I can't overcome it. People know me as this or that, I can't seem to shake it. But not all hope is lost, okay? Because to the restoration, reconciliation of Jesus, your old identity is thrown away, and behold, the new identity has come.
00:40:03
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You're no longer bound to what the world may think of you, but you're bound by what God sees you as, a valuable and loving child of the king. As it says in 1 Peter 2, 9 and 10, it says, but you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who's called you out of darkness into his marvelous life.
00:40:29
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Once you are not a people, but now you are God's people. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. These verses sound familiar to you, by the way. They're very much echoed in Hosea. So this is not only a verse that speaks to the nation of Israel, but it speaks to every single one of us in this room today.
00:40:51
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So I challenge you as you go into this time of imitation, that if you have something to work on, if you need to confess and repent to something, if you need to lay it down before the throne of grace, before the throne of God, you can either do it here, the front altar here, you can do it in your pew, the pew, whatever. Or if you need to come talk to me or Pastor Victor or whoever, I pray that's exactly what you'll do. Yeah, musicians, y'all can go ahead and come on up. I pray that's exactly what you will do.
00:41:20
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Our world today, we have a tendency of thinking that we have all the time in the world to make reconciliation with things that we have done. The reality is, though, is that time is short. Jesus is coming soon. Now, that word soon is relative. We don't know when it will be. But we cannot let another day go by knowing that if Jesus were to come back today, I will have to answer for my sin.
00:41:50
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my lack of forgiveness, my lack of love, when we have every opportunity before us this morning to fix that, to reconcile that, to restore that. So that's my challenge to you.
00:42:04
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If you need to come talk to me, come talk to me. If you need to talk to Victor, come talk to Victor. But I pray that you'll get that fixed today.
Living Forgiveness and Redeeming Love
00:42:10
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That we, as the church, will be a living example of Hosea to Gomer. That we will be a living example of God to his nation, Israel. That we'll be a forgiving people. Of great redeeming love. Will you pray with me?
00:42:30
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God, we thank you for your word, and we thank you for this message, and we just pray, God, that you will just continue to speak in our hearts. Lord, that you'll continue to shape us and mold us into the men and women that you desire us to be here in this life, in this world. Because, Lord, it's dark, it's dying. Sin is ever-present. But, God, your grace abounds all the more with your sin. And there's a lot of people out there who need the grace of Jesus, who need the grace of God.
00:42:59
Speaker
So I pray that we will feel the weight of the calling as believers in Jesus to go and therefore make disciples of every nation, to go and to share this good news, to cure to the sin by which we live by. God, I thank you for this morning. I thank you for this opportunity to deliver your word. I just pray that it will be a blessing to all those who hear it. So in Jesus' name, amen.
00:43:27
Speaker
This is a ministry of First Baptist Church, located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.