HOSEA 1: PURSUING ONES WHO HAVE
ABANDONED: GOD’S AMAZING STORY OF REDEMPTION
It can be very easy to minimize God’s
amazing redemption in our lives through our day to day activities and routines.
This amazing story, however, must always be the focal point of the gospel. The
fact that God has redeemed those who were indeed unredeemable is amazing in and
of itself, but what is more amazing is that the one we abandoned for the lure
of sin was the very one who redeemed us.
Hosea is a picture of God’s faithfulness
to his children, in spite of the fact that we abandoned him. The prophet,
Hosea, a minor prophet to the northern kingdom of Israel, presented this very
vivid picture of abandonment and forgiveness through his marriage and love of
one who was to be considered a whore, one who most would consider unlovable. This
picture and amazing story of redemption should not be only associated with
Israel but also with us as God’s children.
Hosea 1
English Standard Version (ESV)
1 The word of the Lord
that came to Hosea, the son of Beeri, 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.
Hosea's Wife and Children
2 When
the Lord first spoke through
Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea,
“Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the
land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.”
3 So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she
conceived and bore him a son.
4 And
the Lord said to him, “Call his
name Jezreel, for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for
the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of
Israel. 5 And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the
Valley of Jezreel.”
6 She
conceived again and bore a daughter. And the Lord
said to him, “Call her name No Mercy,[a] for I will
no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all. 7 But
I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God. I will not save them by
bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.”
8 When
she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son. 9 And
the Lord said, “Call his name Not
My People,[b] for you are
not my people, and I am not your God.”[c]
10 [d] Yet the
number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which
cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them,
“You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “Children[e] of the
living God.” 11 And the children of Judah and the children of
Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one
head. And they shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of
Jezreel.
How this Applies to Us
There
are some clear points on how this passage applies to us.
We
Abandoned God (vv. 1-9)
There
are varying interpretations on this passage and the implications of Hosea
pursuing a whore. Did he actually pursue a woman who was already a whore before
he knew her? One interpretation, which makes the most sense, is that he rather
pursued the woman he was already married to and who was unfaithful to him. This
would paint the clearest picture of God’s pursuit of people who were unfaithful
to him. The fact is that this passage applies to us because we were the ones
who abandoned God. He, in no way, abandoned us; nor will he ever. We were the
ones who went astray; we were the ones who lived in hatred of him; and indeed
we were the ones in need of his mercy. We, in essence, can be seen as the whore
pursued by Hosea, the ones who abandoned our first love.
God
Still Forgave and Blessed Us (vv. 10-11)
Despite
the fact that we abandoned God, he still forgave and blessed us. It is obvious
that we did not deserve his forgiveness and blessing; yet he gave it anyway. Hosea
did not have to pursue his unfaithful wife (if God had not commanded him to do
so), and God did not have to pursue us. He did though. This is the amazing
mystery of the gospel. How could God pursue us? Relating this whore to Israel,
graphic language is used. When Gomer bore a daughter in verse 6, her name was
the Hebrew word, Lo-ruhama, which
literally means “she has not received mercy.” She then conceived a son with the
Hebrew name, Lo-ammi, which means “not
my people.” The theme presented here is that God was dishonoring the people who
he chose as his own. This is our story. We were once people who abandoned God,
radically depraved, and God-hating. Yet he loved us and forgave us. This is the
amazing story of redemption.
Conclusions on What God Did for Us
Because
of this vivid picture of what God has done for us, there are some conclusions
we can draw.
God
Pursued Us When We Did Not Pursue Him
We
must always keep in mind that we did not pursue God, but rather he pursued us.
We were radically depraved and in need of mercy, and he gave it despite the
fact that we did not deserve it.
God
Disciplines His People
Although
God’s children ultimately received mercy, they did not get away with their
abandonment. Instead God disciplined them. This was the point of Hosea’s
message to the people. A brief time of God’s discipline was certain. The same
is true with us. God disciplines those he loves.
God
Ultimately Loves and Blesses His People
Ultimately
God blesses his people. The brief time of discipline will come because of our
great sin, but God’s ultimate plan is blessing, the blessing of his mercy and
love.
Conclusion
We
must see this picture painted vividly by Hosea as our story of redemption. God
pursued us when we did not deserve it. He loved us and had mercy upon us, the
ones who abandoned him. The whore in the story represents us. This is the
amazing story of God’s redemption in our lives.
