Will you please turn to the Minor Prophets, Hosea?
The word of the Lord that came unto 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.
When the Lord spake at the first by Hosea, the Lord said unto Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredom and children of whoredom; for the land committeth great whoredom, departing from the Lord.
So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; and she conceived, and bare him a son.
And the Lord said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will visit the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause the kingdom of the house of Israel to cease.
And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.
O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.
Take with you words, and return unto the Lord: say unto Him, Take away all iniquity, and accept that which is good; so will we render as bullocks the offering of our lips.
Assyria shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods; for in Thee the fatherless findeth mercy.
I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely; for Mine anger is turned away from him.
I will be as the dew unto Israel; he shall blossom as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.
His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive-tree, and his smell as Lebanon.
They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the grain, and blossom as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.
Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have answered, and will regard him: I am like a green fir-tree; from Me is thy fruit found.
Who is wise, that he may understand these things? Prudent, that he may know them? For the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them; but transgressors shall fall therein.
Shall we pray?
Dear Heavenly Father, we do thank Thee for Thy beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who so loved us and died for us. We do praise and thank Thee for Thy precious Word that Thou hast given to us, that through Thy Word we may know Thee.
We ask that Thy Holy Spirit will once again breathe upon Thy written Word and make Thy Word speak to each one of us. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.
We have shared briefly on the four major prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. And, God willing, we will now begin to share on the twelve minor prophets.
Now, these twelve are called minor, or lesser, prophets, not because their messages and prophecies are less important, but because of the smaller compass of their prophecies.
As a matter of fact, these twelve are the organs of very important prophecies—prophecies concerning the nation of Israel, the nation of Judah, the nations around them, and prophecies concerning the coming Messiah.
The major prophets probably—I say probably because I think they do—quote the minor prophets. For instance, in Isaiah, you can see the sayings of Micah and the prophecy of Joel. Jeremiah uses Joel—I mean, Obadiah. And Ezekiel expands on the prophecy of Joel.
Of the twelve prophets, probably some are even ahead of the major prophets. And we know that prophecy in the Old Testament is actually concluded by these twelve minor prophets.
You know, it is very interesting to see that from the time of Samuel to Elijah, the prophets did not leave any written things for us, except maybe a few words in the Book of Kings.
So, as a matter of fact, you will find that these minor prophets, especially the early ones, actually follow or link up with the written prophetic points of David, Solomon, Asaph, and the sons of Korah. They continue on to conclude the prophecies in the Old Testament.
Among Jewish circles and Christian circles, it is commonly accepted that these twelve are a unit. So we call them “the Twelve,” like the twelve apostles in the New Testament.
Chronologically speaking, from Hosea to Nahum, they prophesied during the period of the pre-Assyrian and Assyrian times.
Then we have Habakkuk and Zephaniah. They prophesied during the period of the Chaldean time.
And finally, we have Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. They are the prophets of the post-exilic period.
Hosea probably is not, timewise, the first of the twelve. But Hosea is put at the head of the list of the twelve because of the greater compass of his prophecies.
Just like the Book of Romans in the New Testament is not the first epistle written, it is put at the head of the epistles because it is the most comprehensive epistle.
Hosea—that name, in the Scripture, you will find, has the same derivative as Joshua in the Old Testament and Jesus in the New Testament. It means salvation, or deliverance.
He prophesied in the eighth century before Christ, in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, king of Israel. Now, this Jeroboam is the second one, Jeroboam II, not the first one.
As you read this Book of Hosea, you find that his language and style are a little difficult and abrupt. You find that he changes so swiftly from one thing to another, and sometimes you will find it difficult to catch on.
And yet, you find his prophecies are considered great prophecies in the Bible.
It is very easy to classify the book. Roughly, it is divided into two parts:
He was a prophet raised by God to the nation of Israel—that is, the northern kingdom.
And he is the first prophet whose personal life is used by God as a sign to his fellow men.
His own personal life is a miniature picture of the national life of Israel.
You will find his unfaithful wife is a mirror image of the unfaithfulness of the nation of Israel to God. And you will find a faithful husband—that is, Hosea—is a picture of the faithfulness of our God to us.
In a sense, the personal history of the prophet Hosea is very tragic.
You know, a prophet is a holy man of God who speaks for God. And yet, strangely, you find God commanded Hosea to go and marry a woman of whoredom.
Now, what do you mean by whoredom in the Scripture? It means that one is pursuing or seeking after many objects of sinful love.
Just think of that: a holy man of God, and yet God ordered him to marry an unholy woman. Human dignity, personal honor—we are deeply hurt.
And yet, in obedience to God, he married that woman. Why? Because this was an extraordinary time, and God used the most extraordinary means to speak to His people.
God not only reveals Himself to us by visions. God not only speaks to us by His words. Sometimes He uses acts, actions, to arrest our attention.
And in the prophet Hosea, God uses his personal life to speak to His rebellious and unfaithful people.
In obedience to God, Hosea went and took a woman of whoredom, by the name of Gomer, to himself.
Now, Gomer means perfection. But what kind of perfection was she? She was the daughter of Diblaim, and Diblaim in Hebrew means a double lump of figs. It means sweetness.
So, you know, the word Gomer represents the sweetness of the pleasure of sin. You know, there is a certain sweetness or pleasure in sin, but it is the parent of destruction.
The prophet was there not only to obey the command of God in doing something against human dignity, but we find that he really loved this woman.
Out of that union came forth the first son. And God said the name of their son should be Jezreel. And Jezreel means, “He will scatter.”
God was warning His people.
Then another daughter was born, and God said, “Her name shall be Lo-ruhamah.” Lo-ruhamah means no mercy. There will be no mercy.
And again, another son was born, and God said the name of the son shall be Lo-ammi. It means, “Not My people.”
Because of the unfaithfulness of God’s people, God said He would scatter them. They would not obtain mercy from Him, and He would deny that they were His people.
But this woman, Gomer, even after she was married to this holy man and had borne children, her evil nature and habit were still there. So, when you come to Hosea 3, you find that she left her husband.
She went for another man, and she had degenerated to such an extent that she literally sold herself as a slave.
Now, what would the prophet do with such an unfaithful wife?
Strangely, God said, “Go and take her back.”
He got her back. So the prophet was there: he paid a price, the price of a slave, and brought her back to himself.
He loved her with such a love. So he covenanted with this woman and said, “Do not do anything wrong for many days. Keep yourself pure for many days, and I will do the same, until the time comes when we can be united again.”
And that was the story of the prophet Hosea, a most unusual story. It is against all human reasoning, beyond human affection. But Hosea did as God commanded him, and did it in a way with such love.
Now, the personal history of the prophet Hosea speaks to the nation of Israel.
Here you find this northern kingdom of Israel. The northern kingdom of Israel represents a backsliding nation.
You know, in the beginning, God raised up a nation, the nation of Israel, and gave to them a king, David.
The nation of Israel, with the house of David on the throne, represents the kingdom of God on earth.
But then, after Solomon died, the nation split into two. The southern nation—two tribes—belonged to the house of David, but the ten tribes split themselves off under Jeroboam I.
So the northern nation is called the nation of Israel, and the southern nation is called the nation of Judah.
So, in typology, the northern nation of Israel represents a backsliding nation. Why? Because they split from the original kingdom of God. They were not under the legitimate rule of the house of David.
Now, if you go back to history, in 1 Kings 12, you will find that Jeroboam became king of the northern nation of Israel.
At that time, even though the nation was split into two, the people still went to Jerusalem, to the temple, to worship God.
So Jeroboam looked at the situation. He thought that if the people continued to go back to Jerusalem to worship God, sooner or later they would return to the house of David.
So, out of political expediency, he had to improvise a religious measure.
He built two golden calves. And, of course, that was nothing new, because you remember after the children of Israel left Egypt, in the wilderness, when Moses was at the mount receiving the Ten Commandments, the children of Israel came to Aaron and said, “Make us a god.” And Aaron built them a golden calf, and they worshiped that golden calf.
So here you find Jeroboam went back to their history, pulled out a part of that history, and built two golden calves. He put one in Dan and the other in Bethel, and said, “Now, this is your god. This is your God.”
“You do not need to go to Jerusalem to worship God. You can worship God in Bethel. You can worship God in Dan. This is your god, the god that led you out of Egypt.”
At the same time, he also arranged a religious system to back up that worship. He tried to imitate everything that God had ordered in Jerusalem.
So he had his priests. The priests were not Levites, but anyone who wanted to be a priest could offer himself to be a priest. He also made all the arrangements of worship just like the worship in Jerusalem, and yet it was a counterfeit.
So you have a counterfeit religion there. Outwardly, the people were still worshiping God, the Lord, but actually they were worshiping the calves.
In other words, instead of worshiping the Creator, they were worshiping the creature—the works of man’s hands.
It became a nature worship. The nation of Israel backslid into nature worship.
As you go on with the history, you will find that during the time of Ahab, he married a heathen wife, Jezebel. Through Jezebel, foreign idols and foreign gods were introduced to the northern kingdom of Israel.
He introduced to the kingdom of Israel the worship of Baal. Now, Baal means master or lord. Baal worship is everywhere among the heathen nations.
Instead of worshiping God, who is our Father, they began to worship Baal, the master—a cruel, hard, and thirsty god. And actually, Baal worship is nature worship.
So you find the whole nation had gone away from God into worshiping idols. They became a backsliding nation.
Wherever there is false religion, there will be corrupt behavior and manner. So you find in the time of Hosea, not only were they worshiping the golden calves and the Baals, but the whole nation was corrupted.
Lying, cheating, shedding of blood, violence, drinking, debauchery of all kinds—from the kings to the priests, to the prophets, to the people.
As God looked upon this backslidden nation, it hurt Him so much because He loved them dearly. So He sent His prophets to them to warn them, to judge them, and to try to restore them.
But in spite of what God did to them, the people refused to repent.
If you read the Book of Hosea, you will find that the heart of God was so hurt. He said, “Israel, what can I do to you?”
He loved them so much. He gave them everything they had, and yet they turned their back to Him and went after idols.
God had to chastise them and send rottenness to them. God even sometimes acted like a lion to them, to tear them apart, but they would not repent.
They went after Assyria for help. They went after Egypt for help. They did not return to God for help—the only One who could help them.
So finally, God said, “You are not My people.” God gave them up. His glory departed, and they were taken into Assyrian captivity.
If you read 2 Kings 15-17, you will find that eventually the northern nation of Israel was destroyed by Assyria.
But does it mean that God gave them up altogether? Does it mean that God did not love them anymore? No.
Just like God commanded Hosea to go back and redeem his estranged, adulterous wife, God still loved His unfaithful people.
You know, the greatest thing in the world is the thing of infidelity to love. And here you find the children of Israel committed that sin against God. But God still loved them.
The nation was destroyed, but during this long period—“not My people”—during this long period of being set aside by God, and it was a long period because they are still in that period even today, there was no king, no priest, no sacrifice, no altar.
But even during this long period, God had not forsaken them. God was purifying them. God was still working on them, trying to bring sense into them.
And one day, His love will restore them to Himself. That is the love of God.
So the message of Hosea is the love of God. God draws them with cords of love. That cord may be long, and yet it cannot be broken. He loved them with an everlasting love.
Now, brothers and sisters, we know that what was written is for our admonition. So here you find the personal history of the prophet Hosea taught an important lesson to the nation of Israel.
But at the same time, you will find that both the personal history of Hosea and the national history of Israel teach us very important lessons. And that is something we need to consider before the Lord.
The northern nation of Israel is a type of the backsliding church.
You know, Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it.
Whether you look at it individually or corporately, we were all sinners. God created us with a noble purpose. He created us according to His own image. We were His masterpiece.
We were created with the capacity of knowing God, of communing with God, of even having God dwelling in us. We were created with such a noble purpose.
And yet, as we look back into human history, we find from our forefather Adam unto us how we have rebelled against God, how we have sinned.
We have the spirit of whoredom in us. We went after many objects of sinful love.
And yet God still loves us. He loves us to such a degree that He sent the only begotten Son to us, to be a man, to be like one of us.
The holy God desires to be united with people so unholy as we are.
We cannot explain it. We cannot explain such love.
You know, for a holy man of God, Hosea, to marry such a woman of whoredom is something beyond our understanding. No one would choose to do that. Even if you are forced to do that, you will not do it.
And yet, you think of God—the holiness of God. Brothers and sisters, God is holy, holy, holy, God Almighty.
And yet, for such a holy God to condescend Himself to seek after sinners such as we are, it is an unfathomable love. We cannot measure it.
But that is what God is. He is love. He loves us. He loves us to such a degree that He gave us His only begotten Son.
His Son is willing to become a man, to be one of us, but without sin, in order that He might redeem us from our sins.
God brought us to Himself by His love.
That is what the church is. The church is to be the bride of Christ, the beloved Son of God.
On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon the one hundred and twenty, filled them, and dwelt in them.
The Holy Spirit is God. God Himself came in the Holy Spirit to dwell in the church. That is love.
Who reads church history will find that we who are redeemed, we who were saved from such debauchery and such things, and we who are called to be united with Christ, in whom the Spirit of God dwells—we did not change our habit.
It seems as if, very soon, very quickly, we rebel against the One who loves us. We went off seeking for others, other things. The church backslid.
Instead of worshiping God, we worship the work of our own hands.
We make Christianity a religion instead of a living faith.
We create a thing called Christianity which is a counterfeit of the true worship of God.
How goodly it is in the name of God, but actually it is the work of our own hands.
We become adulterous. We love other things more than God. We have lost our first love.
Again and again in church history, you will find God sends His messengers to call His church back. And there were revivals from time to time.
But unfortunately, these revivals are just surface. They are not deep enough, and very soon you will find the church went back to its backsliding state.
As to the nation of Israel, God sent rottenness to them, moths to them. And, brothers and sisters, when you look at Christianity today, what do you find?
Everything is mildewed, eaten by moths, rotten. The testimony of Jesus is eaten up, is weak, is corrupted.
Sometimes God has to act like a lion to us, to break us up.
And you know, when the church is under persecution, it seems that there is some returning. But once the pressure is gone, then the old thing returns.
Is there any hope for this backslidden church? Has God given up His church?
Well, thank God, even in that kind of state, as in the northern nation of Israel, God still has a few who are faithful to Him.
Because if you read the Book of Hosea, you will find that there are still people like the prophet. They say, “Let us return. Let us seek Him.”
There were still some few who desired to follow after God. And in these few, the testimony of God continued.
For so far as the mass is concerned, it seems to be a hopeless case. Apostasy is upon us.
You know, in 2 Thessalonians, it is prophesied that before the coming of the Lord, there will be a general falling away, apostasy, preparing the way for the antichrist.
And, dear brothers and sisters, apostasy is already upon us.
And yet, the love of God is still there.
In this Book of Hosea, we see two things. One is the ways of God, and the other is the love of God.
Of course, the ways of God are governed by His love.
The ways of God are the ways that God treats His people. As God treated His people Israel in the old days, in the same way God is treating His people today, His church.
He is calling us back to repentance. And if we do not repent and return to first love, He has to judge us because He is a righteous God. He has to chastise us because He is our Father.
He has to deal with us by drastic means. But remember, even so, it is love.
You know, it is God who first loved us, not we who first loved God. It is God who originated the whole process. His love is active towards us.
And His love suffers long. You know, in 1 Corinthians 13, the first quality of love is that love suffers long—the longsuffering of God.
Even today, you find the world exists under the longsuffering of God. Otherwise, the world would have been destroyed long ago.
The reason why our Lord has not come back yet for His church is because of His longsuffering toward His church. He gives us opportunities to repent and to return.
But how much it must have hurt Him, just like how much it must have hurt Hosea when his wife left him.
But how forgiving is our God? It is as if, no matter what we do against Him, He does not mind—not that He does not suffer, but it seems like He does not mind.
He endures. Love endures. And His love never changes. It is everlasting.
But the ways of God—He has to deal with us according to His righteousness and according to His love.
And that is the reason why you find today, in Christianity, our situation is just like the nation of Israel: no king, no prince, no altar, no sacrifice, no ephod, no teraphim, no conception.
That is the situation of Christianity today.
But even that is love. God is using such a situation to bring us back to Himself.
So, when you come to the last chapter of Hosea, which actually gives us the theme of the book, he concludes:
Who is wise, that he may understand these things?
Prudent, that he may know them?
For the ways of the Lord are right,
and the just shall walk in them;
but transgressors shall fall therein.
The ways of God are right. They are right because they are motivated by love.
But what will be our reaction? If we are righteous, we will walk in them. If we are the just, we will walk in them.
In other words, we will accept the ways of God. We will justify the ways of God. We will repent. We will accept His judgment, repent, and return to Him—be purified, that we may be united with Him forever.
But if we continue on, the transgressors shall fall therein. In other words, there will be judgment.
So, dear brothers and sisters, if the prophecy, the Book of Amos, speaks of the severity of God, then the prophecy, the Book of Hosea, tells us of the goodness of God.
Shall we pray?
Dear Heavenly Father, we do praise and thank Thee for Thy everlasting love, that Thou hast loved us with an everlasting love.
Lord, we do confess that we have been unfaithful, but Thou art faithful, for Thou canst not deny Thyself.
We do praise and thank Thee that Thou hast drawn us with a cord of love. Thou wilt not let us go, but Thou wilt continue to love us until Thy love overcomes us and brings us to Thyself.
Lord, we do pray that we may have our eyes opened and not fight against Thy love, but yield to Thy love and walk in Thy ways. We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.