SERMON: Hosea (Knowing God)
TEXT: Hosea 6 (ESV)
SPEAKER: Josh Hanson
DATE: 2-29/3-1-20
It’s a joy to be back with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. I loved having the opportunity to visit our North Main and Bowling Green campuses the past two weeks. I was able to meet some new faces and see some old faces who we sent out to these campuses. And I’ve missed being able to tell all of you — no matter which campus you’re at — I’ve missed being able to tell you that God loves you and I love you too.
And as we begin a new series today — here’s what the sermons are going to be like. I’m going to introduce you to a book of the Bible that may or may not be familiar to you. I’ll give you an overview of the book. And then we’ll focus on one section of the book. And then each week — and this is what I think will be most helpful — each week I’ll show you how to find Jesus. I’ll show you how to find the one story the whole Bible is telling — the story of Jesus. Because the whole Bible is pointing us to him.
And in this iteration of our Finding Jesus series — we’re going to look at the first six of the books known as the Minor Prophets and — today — we’ll be looking at the book of Hosea. So if you have your Bible, please turn with me to Hosea chapter 6.
This week we’re looking at the book of Hosea and in the coming weeks we’ll look at Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, and Micah. And I hope you’ll grow to know and love these books of the Bible and spend time in them — finding Jesus — and the joy that’s found only in him.
Now two things. First, this year we’re only looking at six of the Minor Prophets. There’s a total of 12 — we’ll look at the other six next year.
And — second — I want to say something about the name that’s been given to these books — the Minor Prophets. They’re called the Minor Prophets — not because their material is less important than the books known as the Major Prophets — they’re called the Minor Prophets because of their size. The Minor Prophets — generally speaking — are much shorter than the Major Prophets. And even though I’ve just said that their content isn’t any less significant — truth be told — the Minor Prophets — except for maybe Jonah — are probably the least familiar part of the Bible for most of us. But hopefully that won’t be the cast after this series.
Alright — with that out of the way — let’s get our bearings and — I hope — you’ll see that Hosea is a book you’ll want to go read for yourself.
First, what do we know about Hosea? Well Hosea was a prophet — meaning he spoke on behalf of God — and he lived during the 8th century BC. Some of the other prophets — that we’ll look at in this series — overlap with Hosea’s ministry. Amos and Jonah overlap with the beginning of Hosea’s ministry and Micah overlaps with the end of his ministry. And the prophet Isaiah — he’s one of the Major Prophets — also overlaps with Hosea.
Hosea’s name comes from the same word group as “Joshua” and “Jesus” — so Hosea — like the names Joshua and Jesus — means “to save or deliver.” (ESV Study Bible note.) And one last thing about Hosea. We know that he was married and we’ll look at his marriage in a moment.
Now to give you an idea of what’s going on in history — the Jewish people are divided into two nations. You may be familiar with the fact that there were twelve tribes of Israel — each tribe descending from a son of Jacob — who was also named Israel. And these tribes eventually ask for a king. The first king is Saul — but he didn’t turn out to be the man for the job. Next came David — you’ve probably heard of him. Then David’s son — Solomon — was king.
After Solomon, there’s conflict over who should be king and the nation ends up dividing over the matter. Ten tribes join together and keep the name Israel — they’re in the north — this is where Hosea lives — and two tribes join together and are named Judah — they’re in the south. And this division took place roughly 200 years before Hosea’s lifetime.
Now for a while, neither Israel or Judah experience external conflict — meaning war with other nations — but man do they have some internal junk. Evil kings. Moral corruption. The people abandon God. Things are a big mess — which you can read about in the books 1st and 2nd Kings.
Now the people of both Israel and Judah falsely assume that the lack of external conflict — the fact they’re not at war with other nations — is because God approves of the way they’re living. But — remember — they’ve abandoned God. Yet they think God approves of their behavior. That is — until the Assyrians show up.
The Assyrians come from the north — invade and conquer Israel — commit — what we’d call — genocide — and displace many of the remaining Israelites — sending most of them to go live in foreign lands. And this has been described as a “turbulent and trying time in the history of Israel” (ESV Study Bible note.) — and this is the time period in which Hosea was a prophet.
In the south — in Judah — which — you may remember — is where the prophet Isaiah lived — things were a little better than in Israel — but not much. And though Hosea primarily focuses on Israel — you’ll notice that — in our chapter — he does sound the alarm for Judah as well.
Finally, the book of Hosea can be divided into two sections. Chapters 1-3 focus on his marriage to Gomer and chapters 4-14 are focused on various warnings to the nation of Israel. But in the midst of these warnings — two chapters — chapters 11 and 14 — stick out as they offer glimpses of hope.
Now if you’ve never read the book before — well get ready to be shocked — as Hosea’s marriage is a pretty disturbing story. The first three chapters focus on the prophet’s marriage to Gomer. Here’s what happens. God tells Hosea to marry Gomer — but God warns Hosea that Gomer’s going to be unfaithful to him — and this warning comes before he marries her! Yup, God tells Hosea to marry a woman — where — going into the marriage — Hosea’s warned that she’s going to be unfaithful to him — AND — God tells him, “But you, Hosea, are to remain faithful and stay married to her.” Like I said...shocking!
But don’t take my word for it. Hosea chapter 1 — beginning in verse 2. “When the Lord first began speaking to Israel through Hosea, he said to him, “Go and marry a prostitute, so that some of her children will be conceived in prostitution. This will illustrate how Israel has acted like a prostitute by turning against the Lord and worshiping other gods.” 3 So Hosea married Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she became pregnant and gave Hosea a son. 4 And the Lord said, “Name the child Jezreel, for I am about to punish King Jehu’s dynasty to avenge the murders he committed at Jezreel. In fact, I will bring an end to Israel’s independence. 5 I will break its military power in the Jezreel Valley.” 6 Soon Gomer became pregnant again and gave birth to a daughter. And the Lord said to Hosea, “Name your daughter Lo-ruhamah — ‘Not loved’ — for I will no longer show love to the people of Israel or forgive them. 7 But I will show love to the people of Judah. I will free them from their enemies — not with weapons and armies or horses and charioteers, but by my power as the Lord their God.” 8 After Gomer had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she again became pregnant and gave birth to a second son. 9 And the Lord said, “Name him Lo-ammi — ‘Not my people’ — for Israel is not my people, and I am not their God. 10 “Yet the time will come when Israel’s people will be like the sands of the seashore — too many to count! Then, at the place where they were told, ‘You are not my people,’ it will be said, ‘You are children of the living God.’ 11 Then the people of Judah and Israel will unite together. They will choose one leader for themselves, and they will return from exile together. What a day that will be — the day of Jezreel — when God will again plant his people in his land. 2:1 “In that day you will call your brothers Ammi — ‘My people.’ And you will call your sisters Ruhamah — ‘The ones I love.’” (Hosea 1:2-2:1 NLT)
And — then — after making it clear that Hosea’s faithfulness and Gomer’s unfaithfulness is a picture of God’s faithfulness to his unfaithful people — in chapter 3 — we read... “Then the Lord said to me, “Go and love your wife again, even though she commits adultery with another lover. This will illustrate that the Lord still loves Israel, even though the people have turned to other gods and love to worship them.” 2 So I bought her back for fifteen pieces of silver and five bushels of barley and a measure of wine. 3 Then I said to her, “You must live in my house for many days and stop your prostitution. During this time, you will not have sexual relations with anyone, not even with me.” 4 This shows that Israel will go a long time without a king or prince, and without sacrifices, sacred pillars, priests, or even idols! 5 But afterward the people will return and devote themselves to the Lord their God and to David’s descendant, their king. In the last days, they will tremble in awe of the Lord and of his goodness.” (Hosea 3:1-5 NLT)
OK. When you think about God, do you have space for him to be able to tell people to do things — like — marry someone who’s going to be unfaithful to them and it’s all meant to show us how unfaithful we are to him? Does God have that kind of authority in your life?
Now Hosea’s relationship with Gomer is a way to find Jesus in this book — for Jesus is the faithful husband and we — the church — are his bride who so often is unfaithful as we chase after other lovers — other things we find satisfaction in more than we find in Jesus. But you’ll have to find Jesus that way on your own because we’re going to find him another way.
So let’s turn to our passage — Hosea chapter 6 — to discover a way to find Jesus in this book — and in all of the Bible. Let’s begin in verse 1.
“"Come, let us return to the Lord; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. 2 After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. 3 Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth." 4 What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away. 5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light. 6 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. 7 But like Adam they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt faithlessly with me. 8 Gilead is a city of evildoers, tracked with blood. 9 As robbers lie in wait for a man, so the priests band together; they murder on the way to Shechem; they commit villainy. 10 In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing; Ephraim's whoredom is there; Israel is defiled. 11 For you also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed.” (Hosea 6:1-11a ESV)
Think about what it means to know someone. In our Internet — social media — day and age — relationships are a click away. There’s an ease to them — a convenience — to these online relationships. And — one thing we like about them — is how they’re quantifiable. How many followers do you have? How many likes did your post or story receive?
Now — truth be told — I’m not on social media. I quit it all years ago. So it’d be easy for me to just bash the whole thing — but I won’t do that. And though I’d suggest that many people would be much happier if they quit social media — there are some good things about it. For example, we live in a highly mobile society. People move frequently. Many don’t live near their family and social media is a convenient way to stay in touch.
But the danger behind the idea of what it means to know others and to be known — that social media projects — is that relationships should be more focused on quantitative measurement than the quality of our relationships. And this becomes the filter we put — not only on our relationships with other people — but we put this filter on our relationship with God. Where we measure our relationship by results — “Did God answer my prayer for that raise at work” — versus — “How am I growing in my love for him?”
You see, the biblical idea of knowing — or understanding — means more than quantitative measurements — like knowing facts about God. Knowing — biblically speaking — is personal — it’s relational — it’s the difference between knowing things about someone and personally knowing them. (Bible Project Hosea)
And this biblical idea of knowing comes at us in full force in the person of Jesus. Where — though we live in a culture that prides itself on individuals being the sole determiners of what it means to know something — even what it means to know God — Jesus says that no one knows God except by knowing him. And this kind of knowing — that Jesus speaks of — isn’t simply knowing quantitative facts about him. It’s a personal knowing — a believing — a relationship with him — a trust. But before we jump to Jesus too quickly, let’s go back and look at our verses in Hosea and learn what it means to know God.
“"Come, let us return to the Lord; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. 2 After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. 3 Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth." (Hosea 6:1-3 ESV)
Our chapter begins with a song of repentance. Most likely, this was a song sung by the Jewish priests when the nation was in danger. (Hans Walter Wolff, Hosea in Hermeneia: A Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible, eds. Paul D. Hanson and Gary Stansell (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1988), 116-17.) Remember — the Assyrians are threatening the Israelites in this time period. And it’s the people of Israel’s unfaithfulness that’s bringing their coming destruction. But some of the people — including some of the priests— seem to be connecting the dots. They recognize that God has struck them — and they want to be healed — but they’re not connecting their spiritual adultery to their circumstances — thus we’ll see that their repentance isn’t genuine.
And verse 2 — by the way — was a tempting way to find Jesus in this book. The apostle Paul alludes to this verse in First Corinthians chapter 15 when he says that Jesus died, was buried, and was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. (1 Corinthians 15:4) Verse 2 is the “scriptures” Paul was referring to.
And notice — in verse 3 — that it’s through “knowing” the Lord that their safety in his presence will be found. But look at God’s response to their song. In verse 4 — Hosea — speaking for God — says...
4 What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? (Though that’s the name of one of the 12 tribes — in the book of Hosea it’s used as a name for the whole nation of Israel.) What shall I do with you, O Judah? (Notice how God’s speaking to both the northern and southern kingdoms.) Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away. 5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light. 6 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. (Hosea 6:4-6 ESV)
So what we’re seeing — here — is God’s description of their devotion to him — their loyalty to him — their faithfulness to him. God says their devotion to him is “like a morning cloud that disappears with the heat of the day.” And that doesn’t sound good, does it?
But notice the kindness of God — for he tells them what he desires. He wants their steadfast love. God wants them to know him. He doesn’t want their sacrifices — he wants them. A qualitative relationship with us is what God desires — not a quantitative “look at how many sacrifices we’ve offered to you” relationship. You see, when our relationship with God is quantitatively based — look at how many times I’ve prayed, or how much money I’ve given, or how many times I’ve served, or how many weeks I’ve shown up for worship — you’re just bargaining with God. “I’ve done all this God and now you’ve got to do this” — like — protect us from the Assyrians.
But that’s not the kind of relationship God wants with us. He wants our hearts — he wants to be the source of our joy — he wants to be our satisfaction — our most valued treasure. And when our relationship with him is like this — it’s amazing — because we end up still doing all of those other things — praying, and giving money, and serving, and worshipping — but we do so for very different reasons. We do them because we’re in a relationship with God built on his infinite love for us.
Yet the Israelites don’t understand this. So God slays them. Now his intention isn’t to destroy them — remember — they’re his bride — like Gomer is to Hosea. God wants them to respond to his love. But look at how our verses end. Verse 7.
7 But like Adam they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt faithlessly with me. 8 Gilead is a city of evildoers, tracked with blood. 9 As robbers lie in wait for a man, so the priests band together; they murder on the way to Shechem; they commit villainy. 10 In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing; Ephraim's whoredom is there; Israel is defiled. 11 For you also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed.” (Hosea 6:7-11a ESV)
So the list of sins — here — indicates that they’re not really repentant. Now we’re not even sure what all’s being referred to here. Whatever happened in Gilead left a trace of blood. Obviously, the priests have abandoned their job description — they’re committing murder and breaking the law in other ways. The people — like Gomer — are being a whore — unfaithful to their God. And — with an ominous warning — Judah’s told that a harvest is coming for them as well. But not a good harvest — a tragic one. All because they’ve failed to know God just like the Israelites.
Which leads us to a way we can find Jesus — not just in Hosea — but a way to find Jesus no matter where you are in the Bible. Look for this theme of knowing God. But — remember — knowing God isn’t just learning information about him. Biblically speaking, there’s much more to knowing God than that.
For example, in John’s gospel we find Jesus and his disciples having a conversation. This is the night when Jesus shared the Last Supper with his disciples. So he’s washed their feet. He’s just told them that he’s about to go somewhere and they won’t be able to follow him. And — after this unsettling news — Jesus tells the disciples, “"Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 4 And you know the way to where I am going." 5 Thomas said to him, "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?" 6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him." 8 Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us." 9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.” (John 14:1-11 ESV)
And what Jesus is saying is that we know God by knowing him. There is no knowing God without knowing Jesus. And Jesus clearly didn’t mean, “Philip, now that you know some facts about me — my height and weight — my hair and eye color — well now — you know some facts about God.” That’s not what Jesus meant — he wasn’t talking about quantitative knowing. Jesus was saying, “Philip, think of all that you know about me. My unconditional love. My patience. The truth I’ve taught. How I’m slow to anger, but when it’s time — I’m willing to flip tables over. You know my compassion for people who are lost or who show up to hear me teach and forget to bring their lunch. Philip, you know me and in knowing me you know my Father.”
And it’s as we know Jesus that we gain a better understanding and knowledge of who God is. Someone has said, “Knowing God is the most practical project anyone can engage in. Knowing about God is crucially important for living our lives. Disregard the study of God, and you sentence yourself to stumble and blunder through this life blindfolded, as it were, with no sense of direction and no understanding of what surrounds you.” (J.I. Packer)
Which sounds great, but leads to an obvious question: Josh, how do we do this? How do we know Jesus better? Now this is somewhat hard, because it’s easy to take what I’m about to say and make the goal quantitative rather than qualitative. But here goes anyway.
First, study the Bible. Of everything we can do to know God, this is the most important. Jesus knew this better than anyone. As a young boy, he amazed religious teachers with his understanding of the Old Testament. ( Luke 2:46-47) When Satan tempted him, he resisted by repeating the Bible from memory. (Luke 4:1-13) When he taught crowds, he quoted from the Bible. (E.g. Matthew 5:21) Jesus even began his public ministry by opening up and reading a scroll containing words from the prophet Isaiah. ( Luke 4:16-21) Jesus knew the Bible. If you want to know God, study the Bible.
Second, fast. Fasting means to abstain from eating food for spiritual reasons. It’s a time where we focus on our dependence on God. And often fasting is accompanied with prayer. Now — you may have a medical reason that makes fasting something you need to be wise about — like my boys who are type-1 diabetics — but in our self-indulgent culture that — in many ways — lacks self-control — fasting is one of the most neglected ways to know God. Jesus modeled fasting for us (Matthew 4:24 ) and he spoke of having an expectation that his followers will fast. (Matthew 6:16-18) Now there’s no explicit command on how to fast (In the Bible we see 1 day fasts (Judges 20:26), 1 night fasts (Daniel 6:18-24), 3 day fasts (Acts 9:9), 7 day fasts (2 Samuel 12:16-23), 14 day fasts (Acts 27:33-34), and 40 day fasts (Deuteronomy 9:9).), but the normal practice in the Bible is to fast from eating food to focus on God. If you want to know God, practice fasting.
Third, fellowship with one another — or as we say it here at Gateway — connect to one another. Now it’s easy to think of fellowship as just a social activity, but — biblically speaking — it’s more than that. Fellowship is about being connected to the body of Christ — to other Christians — it’s about encouraging one another. Jesus modeled fellowship for us in many ways. He lived in fellowship with his Father and with the disciples. And he knew that our fellowship would be a challenge — thus he prayed for our unity.
But here’s the thing about fellowship and connecting with other Christians: It doesn’t happen by accident — you have to plan for it. It takes discipline to make time — in our busy lives — to connect to other Christians. This is true for ourselves — and parents — this is true for your children. It takes intentionality to make youth group a priority for your teen. But if you want the ember of faith to grow in your son or daughter — if you want their faith to glow red-hot, know that embers grow red-hot when they’re together — but scattered and on their own — embers soon grow cold and die out. So if you’re noticing that your faith — or the faith of your child — if you’ve noticed that your “knowing God” has been growing cold — it’s time for you to get in fellowship with other Christians.
And we all need to remember that there are people who long to connect with others. And our goal — as a church — is to be a welcoming community for people who are wanting to explore what it means to know God. And there are many people — maybe you — who are scared of being rejected because they’ve experienced the pain of rejection in the past — including the rejection of church people. And Gateway — it’s all of our responsibility to extend to others the loving fellowship of Christ. As we’re reminded each week — before we greet one another — Christ has welcomed us into fellowship with him — and we’re to extend that fellowship to others.
And one last way to know God — rest. Do you want to grow in your relationship with God — rest! We suffer from busyness. And the Bible warns us against overworking because rest is a gift from God. Now — we’re not to be lazy — we’re to work hard and we’re to rest — trusting that God’s doing just fine being in control of all things. And Jesus not only showed us how to rest — he promised to be our rest. For when we trust in the work he accomplished for us — in his life, death, and resurrection — when we put our trust in his work — which Jesus said “It is finished” — his work for us is completed — we can stop relying so much on our work — and rest in his.
And it’s his finished work that gives us our worth, and identity, and purpose, and fulfillment. Rest is about believing that Jesus will take care of all things — even those things you feel like you must do today because no one else will. Rest is about “easing off the gas pedal of life” knowing that God is in control of all things and that we are not.
Do you know God? Not just facts about him — do you know him? The way we know God is by knowing Jesus. For — just as Jesus told Philip — he’s telling all of us, “Know me and you will know my Father.” And what God most desires of you is your steadfast love. He wants you to know him — to know his love for you, his faithfulness to you, and to trust that he is protecting you. God wants you to know him by knowing his Son. Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, thank you for your Son. For it is through Jesus that we are able to know you. Know your love for us. Your patience with us. Your protection over us. Your purpose for us. And that what you most desire of us is for us to know you and to trust that Jesus’ work on our behalf is finished and is sufficient.
But — Father — to know you requires taking an honest look at the quality of our relationship with you. We can so easily measure our relationship with you quantitatively. “I glanced at that devotional that was sent to my inbox. I prayed a few times this past week. See all that I’ve done God!” When you’re patiently waiting for us to desire to know you and to be known by you. You’re desiring more than a list of things we do — you’re desiring our hearts. And to be our joy and treasure. To be our satisfaction and hope. To be the One in whom we so trust that we can rest.
So help us — Father, Son, and Spirit — to know you. To desire to know you. To live with the purpose of knowing you. And we pray all of these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.
May you go knowing your Heavenly Father because you know his Son. Amen.
God loves you. I love you. You are sent.
Find the notes for the sermon here.
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