The purpose of this lesson: To emphasize, in His enormous love for His people, God will at times adopt radical methods to gain the attention and thinking of His people.
There have been times when God did (by human standards) radical things to penetrate human attention and thought. Gods love for His people is enormous! In His enormous love, at times He has to shock us to get our attention. His love does not mean we can take Him for granted!
Too often, Gods enormous love for His people is not properly emphasized enough. Consider Romans 8:31-39 and 1 John 1:9, 10.
If you are a parent and have reared a child or children past the age of eighteen, the chances are good that your enormous love for your child has resulted in unusual behavior. Gods love for His children surpasses our love for our children. In His great love for His children, He sometimes does drastic things to get His childrens attention.
Great love (which commonly characterizes the love of a parent for a child) will express itself in any means necessary rather than give up and abandon. The last option of a parent that loves a child is to give up and abandon ones child when the child is in need.
The nation of Israel was the product of Gods promise. Centuries before Hosea was born, God promised a childless Abraham that through him would come a blessing that would touch all families of the earth (Genesis 12:3) through descendants that would be as uncountable as the stars that Abraham saw (Genesis 15:5, 6).
Israelites were special to God because (a) of Abrahams great faith, and (b) they were a part of Gods objective to send the Messiah or Christ to the world. God had enormous love for Abrahams descendants even when their wickedness broke Gods heart.
Hosea prophesied to the ten tribes of Israelites who broke away from the kingdom of Judah. From the time of their breakaway until the time of their terminal captivity in Assyria, these people were principally idolatrous. In Canaan they were governed by some notoriously wicked kings. Generation after generation, the rulers and people turned to gods that existed only in human thought as they neglected the living God. The God they neglected had delivered them from Egyptian slavery and gave them Canaan. Though God had done incredible things for them, they refused to listen to Him or give consideration to anything He said.
These Israelites were in the ten tribes that broke away from Judah because of Solomons sins and Rehoboams harshness. Read 1 Kings 11 and 12.
Hosea and his family became a living parable to the wayward people of Israel. What Hosea did at Gods instructions shocked the sensibilities of our society decades ago. However, what he did seems less and less unusual today. Even in our society, sexual involvement without marriage has gone from the unpardonable sin of a few decades ago to the ho-hum expected of today. Rapidly, in our society of today, sexual activity out of marriage is becoming an expected part of dating.
God did something unusual to seek these Israelites attention and make them think.
In Hoseas time, the predominant religion in Israel was Baal worship. Among other emphases, Baal often focused on fertility rites. Since Israel was principally an agricultural society, this form of idolatry had great appeal in both its objective and its low moral expectations. It was not unusual for Baal to be worshipped through human sexual rites. What Christians would call acts of adultery and fornication, Baal devotees would consider acts of worship.
Baal worship was popular and easily accepted because (a) it promised financial gain in agricultural societies by promising increased fertility in everything (from humans, to crops, to livestock), and (b) it had a self-centered form of morality that allowed its worshippers to indulge their principal physical desire.
Godly people regard the covenant of marriage to be an exclusive, permanent relationship in every aspect. However, Hosea (a godly man) selected for his wife a prostitute. That meant (a) she was accustomed to being used, (b) she was addicted to that lifestyle, or (c) both. Regardless of what that meant to her, (a) she did not know how to commit, (b) she lacked the ability to know when she was loved, and (c) the security of being loved meant little (maybe nothing) to her. By Hosea, she had three children. The first was named Jezreel, a symbolic name which would mean in our language something like the consequences are here; the end has come. The second child was named Lo-ruhamah which meant compassion has ended. The third was named Lo-ammi which meant You are not my people, and I am not your God.
Godly men seek to marry godly women (and vice versa) to form godly marriages because godly perspectives can be reinforced and encouraged through the relationship in the marriage. For a godly person to marry an ungodly person usually produces grave difficulties in the marriage. God used the pain in Hoseas marriage to emphasize His pain in His relationship with these Israelites.
When God first gave the Ten Commandments to Israel, He made it quite plain to the Israelites that He, and He alone, was God (Exodus 20:11-6). Long before Hosea, it was common for people to acknowledge and worship more than one god. The situation of worshipping more than one god might be true outside of Israel among people who did not know God, but it was never to be true in Israel.
Israelites were never (under any circumstance) to worship idols (representations of other gods).
However, among the Israelites to whom Hosea prophesied, it likely was unthinkable that one God would be upset because another god was worshipped. Then, to be monotheistic (worship only one god) was weird, undesirable, and offensive to existing gods. To be polytheistic (to worship multiple gods) was acceptable and common.
The worship of more than one god was commonplace, expected, and quite acceptable then. There were numerous justifications for this practice. For an example, consider 1 Kings 20:23.
Hosea suffered many things because he loved and was committed to his wife, Gomer. God suffered many things because He was married to, committed to, and loved Israel. Read about the distress these people caused God in Hosea 11. See how they tore Gods heart. See how He did not wish to punish them, but they gave Him no choice.
The message of the book is based on the spiritual unfaithfulness of these Israelites in their relationship with God. God was committed to them, but they were not committed to God. God was like a loving husband. They were like an adulterous wife.
Would God have to do something radical to gain your attention and enter your thoughts?
How would you respond to an unexpected act of God? Do you love God as much as God loves you?
For Discussion and Thought
1. At times God did what? Why?
At times God did something radical. God did so to cause humans to think and to attract their attention.
2. The nation of unified Israel, and even these breakaway Israelites, were what?
They were a product of Gods promise to Abraham.
3. To whom did Hosea prophesy? Who were these people?
Hosea prophesied to the ten tribes of Israel who broke away from the kingdom of Judah.
They were Israelites who worshipped idols.
4. Hosea and his family became what? To whom?
They became a living parable to the 10 tribes who broke away from Judah and deserted God.
5. In Hoseas time, the predominant religion among these Israelites was what? What was appeal of this religion to people?
The predominant religion was Baal worship. In an agricultural society, it promised financial success and low sexual moral expectations.
6. At Gods direction, Hosea selected a prostitute to be his wife. What did that mean about her?
(a) She was accustomed to being used.
(b) Or, she was addicted to that lifestyle.
(c) Or, both.
7. Discuss the effects of prostitution on her.
(a) She did not know how to commit.
(b) She did not know how to be loved.
(c) The security of being loved meant little to her.
8. What did God make clear to Israelites in the Ten Commandments?
God made it quite plain that He alone was to be the Israelites God.
9. Hosea suffered many things in his marriage. What was the message about God in His relationship with these Israelites?
The message was that God had suffered many things as a result of His relationship with these Israelites.
Link to Student Guide
Lesson 4