Family Problems
Text: Hosea 1:1-3 Date: 2-15-26
I. The introduction: Hosea, Hezekiah, and Sennacherib (Hosea 1:1)
With his proud heart, Sennacherib King of Assyria mocked the God of Israel (Isa. 37:11-12). But God had an answer! He is the Holy One of Israel. He is the eternal, righteous, sovereign God of His people. Jerusalem knew her God, and the Assyrians did not.
Sennacherib faced an enemy that he had never fought against, a battle that was he had never been a part of, and a situation entirely new to him. He was facing the living God.
The Assyrian king had been openly defiant and blasphemous in his loose words against Jehovah. “His contempt for God was great, for it was founded on an ignorance of God”.
Jehovah God is sovereign, He will not be mocked, He will protect His people, and He answers the prayer of the righteous person.
In one of the greatest victories in the history of Israel, God defeats a stronger aggressor and wipes them off the battlefield. “It would be difficult to overstate how much Jerusalem's deliverance demonstrated God's favor toward the kingdom of Judah” (third mill).
II. The intent of the book (Hosea 1:2a)
Hosea’s book emphasizes Jehovah’s righteousness as displayed in His love for His people. God loved Israel and desired they follow and obey Him, and He did everything possible to give them the opportunities to submit to His love.
The people forsook God’s laws and paid for it by experiencing God’s justice upon them. Leaving the God of love meant they now understood that God’s mercy only lasted to a certain point, and now God’s righteous anger would destroy them. God always punishes sin, even when His own people are committing the sins. Hos. 8:13 and 9:9 demonstrate that God only accepts righteousness on His terms.
Hosea ends with hope! The book underscores the importance of the Lord’s covenant with the nation of Israel. Hosea speaks of God’s chosen people, the people whom He dearly loves. The covenant is described as a marriage and in terms of a father-son relationship (11:1; Ex. 4:22).
III. The instruction for Hosea (Hosea 1:2b-3).
The Lord now commands Hosea to take a wife of whoredoms.
What was God’s purpose for this seemingly unholy marriage?
Application: God had set Israel up for success, only to have them turn against Him and His goodness. What a wretched thing to oppose the beautiful hand of God in our lives.
God chose Israel to be in a covenantal relationship with Himself. The picture in the OT is that of a marriage bond between a husband and wife, between God and His people (Jer. 3:14; 31:32; Isa. 54:5; Hos. 2:19-20; cf. Rom. 11:5). The original covenant was broken by the people.
Gomer, like Israel, “was so influenced by her surroundings and environment that she became immoral” (Hailey 136).
Application: In the end, we don’t know if Gomer was a prostitute before or after marrying Hosea. What we do know is that God commanded him to do so.
He used this act to symbolize the depths of unrighteous actions and sinfulness of the nation of Israel so that He could then demonstrate His long-suffering nature to His people. He gave them a real life illustration in an attempt to arouse them from their stupor of following false gods. In the end it didn’t matter, and they failed to repent.
Conclusion
God chose the nation of Israel to be blessed beyond all other nations both to prove His covenant relationship with them, and also to be the heritage from which His Son Immanuel would come forth. During the time of Hosea, the nation chose spiritual adultery and departed from the Lord. No doubt Hosea’s heart was shattered, and even more God’s heart must have been broken for His chosen people. But, thankfully we have the completed scriptures and we know that God is not done with His people, and we will learn more about that as we study this book.