Talk Isn’t Cheap but It’s Not Enough
Notes
Transcript
Loving words
19 And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. 20 I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord.
But there is also decisive, concrete action
1 And the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.” 2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley. 3 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.” 4 For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods. 5 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 and to his goodness in the latter days.
Hosea’s Humiliation & Gomer’s Redemption (1-2)
Hosea’s Humiliation & Gomer’s Redemption (1-2)
Seeking those who do not want to be found (1)
Seeking those who do not want to be found (1)
The woman here is most certainly Gomer.
She apparently gave herself to another man in some formal sense (loved by another man)
Became a temple prostitute and this man is her pimp?
Maybe this man’s concubine?
Maybe sold into slavery at some point and was purchased by this man?
Bottom line, Gomer broke her marriage vows with Hosea.
She does not have a concern for the shame and humiliation she has brought upon herself and Hosea.
Sacrificing for the undeserving (2)
Sacrificing for the undeserving (2)
Hosea buys her back
15 shekels of silver
a homer of barley
lethech of barley
total = the equivalent of 30 shekels of silver (half a year’s wages)
32 If the ox gores a slave, male or female, the owner shall give to their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.
Accidental death of a slave
Gomer yoked herself to another man, and Hosea comes to buy her back.
He comes to redeem her so she could be his wife… again.
The fact that he paid in barley and silver suggests perhaps that he didn’t have enough currency for the payment.
And keep in mind, this is intended to depict God’s love for His people:
Hosea 3:1 (ESV)
1 And the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.”
cakes of raisins (end of v. 2): often connected to Baal worship. Thought to be an aphrodisiac.
Gomer’s Rescue From Herself (3-4)
Gomer’s Rescue From Herself (3-4)
Sacrificial Discipline (3)
Sacrificial Discipline (3)
Verse 3 is difficult to translate
lit you shall not belong to a man (you shall not belong to another man)
Hosea instructs Gomer to live with him as his wife and stop her adulterous ways.
The end of verse 3: so will I also be to you.
Debate over this clause, but I suggest that this refers to temporary sexual abstinence. This is a certain kind of discipline in response to her sexual perversion. But the goal, in part, is to engage in a healthy sexual relationship in a God-honoring marriage.
Hosea’s love for his wife is not a self-serving love. It’s a sacrificial love. He sidelines his own desire for the sake of her good.
But verse 4 helps us to understand verse 3 and to make the connection to God’s love for His people.
Severe Dismantling (4)
Severe Dismantling (4)
The reunification between Hosea and Gomer as husband and wife with a extended but temporary time of sexual abstinence for many days in verse 3 is pointing to the impending fall of Israel which will result in:
Hosea 3:4 (ESV)
4 For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods.
many days: Israel will dwell without the joy of having a king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods.
without a monarch
without the priesthood
without the freedom to worship
God will strip her of all that she has made into idols: political security, economic security, religious security.
And as painful as the Assyrian captivity will be, it is a painful grace from God. He will not allow her to continue in her rebellion, her adultery and her idolatry.
Because what this will make clear is that Israel’s only protector, her only provider, her only shepherd is the LORD.
Promised Restoration (5)
Promised Restoration (5)
God’s people receive God’s love
God’s people receive God’s love
Israel repents and is restored to their God.
The love story of Hosea and Gomer fades into the background and what takes center stage is the love God has for His people.
Afterward… in the latter days
Afterward… in the latter days
The Northern Kingdom will fall, and a remnant will trickle down to Judah under the reign of King Hezekiah.
But Judah would fall to Babylon because of her rebellion. But 70 years later, they would come back to Jerusalem. But they would have no kingdom and would fall back into idolatry and rebellion.
Ultimately fulfilled in Jesus, the descendent of David.
13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” 15 And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. 16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. 17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.
4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
4 Then I heard another voice from heaven saying,
“Come out of her, my people,
lest you take part in her sins,
lest you share in her plagues;
