Intro.
I decided to preach on a
prophet. Many of the prophets
bring messages of anger and
warning about God’s judgment.
In life we cannot just skip past
God’s anger when we have not
kept our part of the covenant.
This week we hear from Hosea
and I chose a passage about
love instead of judgment.
In chapter 11, God speaks like a
hurt, parent (vv. 3-4). "How
could they be so foolish as to
turn away after all I taught them
and did for them?" God's pain is
not only the result of love that
has been rejected. It also is
caused by a sense of sorrow for
what Israel brought upon itself.
A good parent never enjoys
saying "I told you so".
This passage is known as the
love chapter or John 3:16 of the
whole Old Testament. It is by
far the favorite part of Hosea
and is also why Hosea is called
the love prophet.
The passage read today can be
divided into four parts. Verses
1-4 show God's love for Israel
started in the beginning.
A.
Hosea lived 700 years before
Christ. It was a time when the
Israelites were being threaten
and taken captive by Syria and
Egypt.
The book of Hosea can be
divided into three parts. The
three major parts of the book
are: chs. 1-3; 4-11; 12-14. All
three parts have God’s
judgments, punishment, but
give hope the last word.
So the book of Hosea remains a
sometimes confusing mix of
justice and mercy, God's anger
and tenderness, promises of
doom and words of hope.
Verses 5-7 describe the
punishment that is on the way
because they refused to return to
God and abandon their evil
ways.
Verses 8-9 reveal God's pain
because of Israel's fate and
God's refusal to give up on one
who has been so loved.
Verses 10-11 promise a future
of reconciliation and restoration.
B.
Hosea is delivering God’s
message about God’s covenant
with us – being like a
parent/child relationship.
Hosea tells the image of God
being like a parent who lifts an
infant to their cheek and bends
down to feed it.
God the parent has taken care
of the children of Israel since
the beginning. The mother fed
them from her breast. The
parents helped them take their
first steps.
God was still there for them,
but they continued to turn
away. They worshiped Baal
and gave offerings to idols. Just
like a child whose parents are
still there while the child turns
away from them and the values
they have raised the child with.
Raising children is not for the
faint of heart.
C.
I thought of many stories about
parenting children this week.
As we left our drive way to
make our second trip for our
court date and to bring our
children home. I looked at Tim
and said good bye home and
life as we know it. Tim said life
will never be the same.
I knew intellectually that would
be true. I had no Idea how
emotionally true that would be
and just how much my life
would be changed and all that
my children would teach me.
How a parent feels rejection,
anger, punitive and love.
From the very beginning I
experienced what God was
telling the prophet Hosea.
Children will disagree, rebel,
leave, disobey, and reject.
The first night of parenthood
was the first experience of
rejection. In a strange land with
children we could not
communicate with very well.
Tim left to go send an email to
loved ones back home to let
them know court went well and
the children were with us alone
for the first time.
We didn’t think anything of Tim
leaving for a few minutes and
for me to be with the kids by
myself. Tim was gone for
maybe a couple minutes when
Rachel realized he was gone.
She began to cry and then
scream and she refused my
comfort. She refused my touch.
She refused to believe she was
safe with me. She only wanted
Tim to hold her. So I took sweet
calm Nathan in my arms and
pointed to the door for Rachel to
open and we got in the elevator
and went to Tim.
Tim extended his arms to her
and up she went and calmed
down immediately. Nothing like
feeling rejected, at least Nathan
was happy in my arms. I got a
small dose of what God feels
like when we don’t spend time
with him. When we as God’s
children decide to spend time
worshiping other things in our
life.
baby sitter.
Interesting last night the same
feelings of rejection happened
to me because they are growing
up. Nathan had been wanting
for weeks to come and stay at
Anthon with me. He was
excited at first but then decided
not to. He would be goingo to
camp for a week and he
decided he wanted to be in his
bed and with the zoo.
The first day Kevin decided he
would hide from me. The two
older children I had taken to day
camp that day. I fixed lunch for
Kevin and wanted him to come
and eat. I rang the big ship bell
that was off their back deck. It
was loud and the kids knew to
come home when they heard it.
He did not come and did not
come. I told myself don’t get
mad or worry too soon.
Then Rachel came home from
being a junior counselor at
camp this week and she choose
not to come so she could get
ready to go back to camp
tomorrow morning.
The vacation house in Anthon
was empty and lonely. I
wondered how lonely God gets
when we put other activities
before spending time with him.
D.
I also thought of one 5 yearold boy who was very stubborn
and independent. I was 22 and
would be a nanny for him and
his two older siblings. The five
year-old Kevin told me when
he met me he did not need a
For a week in the middle of the
summer the parents left for a
week to go to a business
convention. I was left in-charge.
I looked all over the
neighborhood for him. I told
myself he will come home when
he is hungry. I waited another
hour and started really looking
by knocking on some of his
friend’s doors.
I then had to go and pick up the
other two children from camp.
They assured me he had done
this before and they would help
look for him. They knew he was
in the neighborhood.
We all got on bikes and looked
for a while. I finally said I think
I should call the police before it
gets any later. The 10 year old
said I don’t know where else to
look.
We got back to the house and
who was there sitting on the
front steps mad the house was
locked. Kevin - who was mad
at me for locking him out when
he was hungry. After I had
looked for him for 8 hours.
I did not know to hug or shake
the kid. I decided to punish and
discipline him. I put him in his
room. When I brought his
dinner to his room he threw a
wooden ball off his bed post at
me. So I took away playing
with his friends for the next
day.
I think this is just a little bit of
what God experienced when
the Israelites turned away and
did not want a relationship.
There needs to be punishment
but at the same time you look
forward to the ending of
punishments because punishing
is not fun. Instead we look
ahead for the fun times
together.
God was full of anger, hurt and
at the same time full of mercy
and love. God chose mercy and
love over punishment. Unlike
me who just wanted to punish
so he would learn a valuable
lesson and do what I say.
D.
Hosea goes on to give God’s
message “How can I give you
up? How can I hand you over, O
Israel? My heart recoils within
me; my compassion grows
warm and tender. God could not
stand to be apart from Israel and
God cannot stand to be apart
from us today.
God will not sever the
relationship. God's love will not
go away. God will remain "in
your midst" (v. 9c). God's love
for Israel is stronger than their
sin.
Hosea’s message is telling us
that is what God is like. God is
our parent who does not want to
let us go. God has been there in
our life since the beginning and
God does not intend on giving
us up or handing us over.
Hosea even says God will bring
the Israelites home out of exile.
Not only will God not give the
Israelites up God will bring
them home.
Con.
So God does not give us up
either. When we turn away God
brings us home because God is
full of mercy.
God’s cry is a love song for us.
It is a love song for all people
for all the time. Humans will
cause God’s heart to ache. But
God’s heart will also continue
to show love and mercy.
I will return them to their
homes." It is certain. They can
believe it and it will give them
hope during the painful years
of exile. They are still loved by
God in spite of everything. The
future will be bright. What has
been lost will be restored.
There are two key words which
show God's attitude toward
Israel-"love" and "call." Love
comes first. Because God
loves, God calls. It is natural
for the lover to call the
beloved.