Hosea 1:1

The book of Hosea, chapter 1. I’m going to read the first two verses of this chapter. And we’ll be looking at verse 1 tonight. The word of the Lord that came unto Hosea, the son of Beery, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, king of Israel. The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea. And the Lord said to Hosea, Go take unto thee a wife of hordoms and children. of Hortems, for the land hath committed great hortem departing from the Lord. May God bless to us, His sacred and holy word this evening. In 1904, William Borden was the heir to the Borden Dairy Estate. He graduated from a Chicago high school, a millionaire. his parents decided to treat him to a world tour. Take a trip around the world and he traveled through Asia and the Middle East and Europe. And during his travels, he got a burden for the people that were there. Writing home, he said, I’m going to give my life. to prepare for the mission field. When he made this decision, he wrote in the back of his Bible two words, no reserves. Turning down a high-paying job after graduating from Yale University, he entered two more words in his Bible, no retreats, completing his studies at Princeton University or seminary, a board and sailed for China. He planned to work with the Muslims there, stopping first at Egypt for some preparation for that occasion. While he was there, he was stricken with cerebral meningitis, and he died within a month. In his Bible, under the words, no reserves and no retreats were found the two more words, no regrets. Now, we might think that William Borden had wasted his time, but in God’s plan of things, he had not. He did what God had called him to do. Josea is a prophet who, like William Borden, who like William Borden, did not. seemed to get anywhere in his ministry. God called him to preach to Israel, and for many, many years, he preached to an unrepenting, unconcerned people. Did he waste his time? Did he waste his life doing this? Was he a complete failure? Could he have better used his time to his time to something else? I think you could write over Josea’s life also. The words, no regrets. He faithfully served God in the capacity that he was given. Now the book starts out with the person of Josea. And so we’re going to talk about the prophet Josea for a few minutes. The thing is, we know virtually nothing about this man. The Bible does not reveal much. It can be summed up rather quickly. His name has the same meaning as Jesus’ name. The salvation bearer or the Savior. Remember in the New Testament, the angel told Joseph, thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins in Matthew chapter 1. And so there is a sense in which the word carries the idea of Savior. Josea, Joshua, Josiah, Jesus, really all very similar names. They were used commonly in the land of Israel, pretty much like we would use commonly in the land of Israel, pretty much like we would use John and James and Robert at our own society. Josea introduces himself as the son of Barry, but we know nothing about Barry. Nothing else is revealed about him, and so that does not help us much. Thus, Jose emerges from the darkness of history here, sort of like Melchizedek. There’s no family line to go along with him, to follow him, to see exactly his background. His background is completely concealed, and evidently it’s not important for us to know. Unlike Amos, who was a contemporary, Hosaya was not of the kingdom of Judah. He was actually from the kingdom of the north. Israel itself. And he speaks of the king of Israel as our king in chapter 7 and verse 5. The person of Josea. Now, one of the things that stands out in this book is Josea’s marriage, which is revealed here in chapter 1 and 2 in particular. One of the few things then we learn about Josea is is his marriage. This is a very interesting part of the book. Jose is commanded by God to marry a woman named Gomer, the daughter of Diablin, who also is an unknown figure to us. What is known about Gomer is she evidently was a prostitute. And the preacher here marries a prostitute. It’s highly unusual. It’s done at the Lord’s command, however. Gomer bore Hosea three children, and as we will discover, the marriage brought much pain and unhappiness to the prophet. This story of the marriage is not passed on to us for the prophet. the purpose of us getting some type of exciting tidbit about the prophet’s life, it served to really reinforce his message. Josea was inspired by God to marry here. It was ordered by God. Just as Jeremiah was ordered not to marry, and Ezekiel was ordered not to mourn the death of his wife. wife. Why is this marriage important? Why is it given such prominence in the early part of the book? Well, it is through this marriage that Israel is given a vivid lesson about their poor relationship with Jehovah God. The unfaithfulness of Gomer was used to make Josea feel betrayed, and we can see. here God felt the same way about unfaithful Israel, who is classified as his wife. He was betrayed by them. In other words, Josea’s marriage is really an object lesson. It teaches us something. Josea not only preached through words, but he also, in a sense, preached through deeds. it’s because his marriage was like a divine sign to the Israelites. So his marriage is not incidental to his message. In fact, it was a constant reminder of the state of Israel before God. They were unfaithful to the Lord. That brings us to the third point I want to make here in the introduction, and that is Josea’s message. Josea preached God’s common. judgment upon Israel because of the evil of their nation. Their perverted waves, their unyielding defiance of God’s message. And yet the love of God for whose true people found within the nation of Israel constantly breaks through the dark message of certain judgment. that is given with regard to the nation at large. God always loves his people, even when he’s bringing judgment on a nation in which they live. Josea was sent especially to the northern kingdom of Israel, the ten tribes. You recall, after the reign of King Solomon, that Israel actually split into two kingdoms. the southern kingdom of Israel. The kingdom of Judah remained faithful to the Lord for a long period of time because they had the temple worship. Whereas the kingdom of Israel turned away from the Lord to golden calves and bail and other type of gods at that time. And so because they weren’t coming down to Jerusalem for worship, they set up their own worship services and turned away from the Lord. There was all kinds of religious perversions, lawbreaking that took place. And the ten tribes were a very wicked nation. And these are the ones to whom. in particular, Josea minister. So we see the prophet Jose, his person, his marriage, and his message. Now, secondly, in verse one, we’re told about the time frame of Josea’s message. Verse one is not just background, but it’s surprisingly important to understand the timeframe in which he ministered. Many historical circumstances are connected with these various kings, and that provides us a glimpse into the Prophet’s world. The first four kings that are listed are all from the southern kingdom of Judah. Uzziah here was Judah’s 11th, king. He wrote a long time. He ruled for 52 years. He was known for his successful military expeditions against the Edomites and the Philistines. However, toward the end of his life, he came, he became filled with pride, decided he wanted to enter into the office of a priest and burn incense before God, which violated. God’s law. The chief priest, Eresiah, and 80 others tried to persuade him not to do this, but he wouldn’t listen. And you recall that God struck him with leprosy, which stayed with him until his death. Jotham, the son of Uzziah, began his reign during his father’s last four years. lived in the leper’s house away from everyone else. Josiah had to take the reins of government and rule. He had a great military expedition against the Amonites and forced them to pay tribute to Israel. He was a great builder, fortifying several places in Judah and building the upper gate of the city of Jerusalem and of the temple there. His reign commenced with the beginning. of Isaiah’s ministry. The third man that’s mentioned here is Ahad’s, the son of Jotham. The critical moment of his reign, it was when Risen, the King of Damascus, and Pecca, the King of Israel, made a covenant, made a league, if you would, an agreement against Judah. They were going to attack it. and Ahaz was overwhelmed with fear. Judah was disastrously defeated. And in his distress, Ahaz turned to Tiglath policer, who was the king of Assyria for assistance. Well, the king of Assyria proved more of a detriment than a help. In fact, he even caused Ahaz to beaqqqaqa. He began sacrificing to some of his gods, his foreign gods. Ahaz actually closed the doors of the temple and made high places to the foreign gods in every corner of Israel. He was a very wicked king. It was very tragic for the kingdom of Judah. The fourth king that’s mentioned here is He is Hezekiahiah. the son of Ahaz, who began the reign in the troublous times of his father. Some of his counselors suggested that they make an alliance with Egypt. Some suggested that he make an alliance with Assyria. Israel, however, in this case Judah, was warned by God not to trust in these foreign powers, but to trust in the Lord God. So one of the first official acts of Hezekiah was the cleansing and the reopening of the temple. And they found the law of God which had been stashed away somewhere and lost for a period of time. The Syrian king, Sinakarib, eventually invaded Judah and had the city of Jerusalem surrounded and he called upon Ezekiah and Israelites to be. surrender. But God, you recall, sent a death angel struck down the vast army of the Assyrians overnight, and they all were dead. And so the king of Assyria had to return home in humiliation. Hezekiah became seriously ill at one point. Almost died. And you recall that God, by the prophet, Isaiah extended his life for 15 more years. From all this, we can figure out here that Josea must have prophesied for a long period of time. In fact, if we count up all the years, it’s at least 70 years that he prophesied. He also prophesied, we’re told here, during the days of Jeroboam II. Jeroboam II, who was listed. last was actually the first king to reign in this list. From the very end of Jeroboam’s reign around 712 to the beginning of Hezekiah’s reign in 6.45, there’s a span of at least 70 years. The death of Jeroboma, after the death of Jeroboam, Uzziah lived 38 years. And after him, Jothan lived six years. And after him, Ahaz lived 16 years. If you add that all up, you pretty much end up with about 70-some years that he must have prophesied. But we are told that he did work during both the time of Jeroboam in the northern kingdom and Hezekiah, the last king mentioned, in the southern kingdom. In fact, Josea lived probably long. enough to see some of his prophecies come to pass. He lived in the dark days when Samaria, the capital of Israel, fell in 640 BC, and the ten tribes, the northern kingdom, went into captivity. So he had a long ministry. We see that Josea ministered during a time when Israel enjoyed great prosperity. We read it here about. Jeroboam, the son of Joach, the king of Israel. Israel was enjoying a golden age, really, if you would, under Jeroboam II. The king occupied the throne of Samaria at the time, and many thought it was a great time to be alive. For never had the authority of Israel’s kings extended further in the northern kingdom, and never had the Israel’s kings extended further in the northern kingdom. lived in great luxury as they did under Jerobo II. The people of Israel were in great adversity and distressed before that time, but because of his military victories, prosperity reigned. Israel was in a period of economic boom. These were good times for the nation. Previously, there had been no one to help them. And then along came Jeroboam, and Israel flourished and grew exceedingly prosperous. It was about this time that Josea comes along and raises his voice and talks about the coming judgment of God upon the nation. For while Israel was prospering militarily and economically, she was dead spiritually. She had turned away from the Lord. God, and that’s a very sad thing to tell. It was a time of great wickedness, and they had forsaken the true worship of the Lord. And so God sent Jose to prophesy of his great wrath against the house of Israel, even though outwardly these were sort of like the best of times, financially and militarily. So he prophesied during a time when Israel enjoyed great prosperity. Josea served during a time of political unrest also in Israel. It’s interesting that Josea here is silent. There’s a whole series of kings in Israel that reign the same time as the last kings of Judah were reigning, but he never mentions them here. There were six kings which followed in quick succession after the long reign of Jerobo. But Josea never says a word about him. It was a time of bloodshed and tears. In a period of 20 years, there were no fewer than five new kings. How is this possible? Well, one king would murder another king and take his place. and he’d become king. And so there were all these assyria of assassinations. So he had Zachariah, Shalam, Manaham, Pecacchicaya, Pecha, Pekiah, Hoshia, were usurpers, who seized the reins of the throne by force. God gave them kings in his anger, and he took him away in his wrath. Life in Samaria became a hopeless power struggle. Josea is a citizen of the northern kingdom, and these are his kings, and yet he dates his book by references mostly to the kings of Judah in the southern kingdom. It would be like me saying, I lived and worked and preached, during the reigns of Putin in Russia and Chi in China, and never mentioned. Trump and Biden. Well, these six kings really were black sheep. And I think, uh, Josea was no doubt ashamed that his nation had engaged in such mess, messy, uh, messy, uh, dealings. It’s an conceitingly dark chapter in Israel’s history. So this is the time frame of Josea’s ministry. It a long ministry. They were prosperous times in the northern kingdom, but there was political unrest, especially after Jerobone II had reigned. Now, what can we learn from this first verse? And believe it or not, there’s a lot that actually can be learned from this passage of scripture. So let’s take a few practical lessons. The first is this. You should realize, God often uses obscure men to proclaim his word. God doesn’t always use the most popular or most famous men in known Christian circles to deliver his message. Josea is unknown. He’s an unknown instrument in his day. His family line isn’t prominent. He doesn’t come from the line of David. He’s not a Levite. He’s not a priest. We don’t know anything about it. And the lesson is this. It’s your duty to study the divine authority of God’s word. Regardless of the instrument, the Lord chooses to use. Notice the word of the Lord that came onto Josea. We read in verse one. It came to him. God chose him, even in his obscurity, to bring this message to the northern kingdom. We need to recognize God’s message. And don’t reject it just because someone is obscure who’s bringing the message. We should hear Christ’s voice in the message as one who has been given ears to hear, hear his voice, even though the messenger is unknown to us. So you should realize God often uses obscure men to proclaim his word. Secondly, your ministry may, your minister may labor a long time and not see outward success. You see Jose here, who had a ministry that extended through many kings, who were reigning, and through a variety of social conditions, both good and bad. Both good kings like Hezekiah, but bad kings like Ahaz. Sometimes he lived during the wicked king, sometimes a moderate king, sometimes a moderate king, sometimes he was encouraged by a good king. And further, he prophesied in all these king’s reigns. And here you see the sort of the sort of, the steadfastness of his spirit. He was faithful to the Lord all this time, notwithstanding the many difficulties he encountered in his ministry. He continued preaching faithfully for at least 70 years. That’s a long time to minister. And though he labored that long, he had very little to show for it. The nation of Israel never really repented. The people were not converted to God by his ministry. He ministered in a society that actually grew worse and worse as time went on. The northern kingdom was far from God. It was just like a heathen kingdom. Jeroboam did evil in the eyes of the Lord. Terrible things were done during the reigns of the other Israelite kings that are not mentioned here. We read in Second Kings 17. 17. This that the Israelites caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire. Use divination and enchantments and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger. That’s the description, we’re told, of the Northern Kingdom. And notice here that God may allow a minister to serve a long time among a group of people or a nation and yet never be converted. These people are never converted. It would be therefore wrong for a minister to give up and abandon his work because he does not see success that he desires. I must confess as I studied this that’s one lesson that was very particularly difficult to swallow. God may not always grant a minister outward success. Here we are as a church, laboring to serve Christ in the midst of a very sinful society. And outward success seems to elude us. In fact, people today are causing their sons and daughters to be slaughtered by the ritual of abortion. The new age astrology is prominent. We find that psychics are in abundance. We preach, but it seems that our society grows worse and worse. In the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger, shall we quit? Are we a failure? Is it time to fold up shop to disband the church. Josea’s ministry indicates this would be wrong. God gave us a ministry to perform, and we should perform it. And like William Borden, we must say no reserves, no retreats, no regrets. So God may not be pleased to send a Reformation in our day. and in our area. This calls for patient endurance on the part of you and me. So the minister may labor a long time and not see outward success. The third thought is this. God may allow you to see the fulfillment of your warnings to the wicked. Josea lived long enough here that he actually saw his prophecy come to pass. And Israel go in the case. captivity and fall under the severe judgment of God. Not all judgment is a far-off. Sometimes, if we hang around long enough, we actually see our success. And what God said what he would do, he brings it to pass. Perhaps you warn a person. You tell them about their wicked ways and God’s judgment, which hangs over them, and they laugh at you and scorn you. But there is a day in which you may see them on their sickbed or their deathbed, and they’re going to be thinking about what you said to them because it came to pass in their life. So God may allow you to see the fulfillment of your warnings to the wicked. Fourth thing here is you should not view material prosperity as a sign of spiritual health. We talk about Israel enjoying good, times they seemed to be in a prosperous days, but their heart was far from God, and as such we see this was a problem. It seemed that all was well, but they didn’t enjoy the favor of God. This was not God’s blessing upon them. Let it be noted that outward prosperity does not necessarily mean your heart is right with God. We have to learn to look at things beneath the surface and see as God does. We studied Asaph in his spirit about the wicked. In Psalm 73, we spent weeks studying him. And he was envied at the prosperity of the wicked until he went to the house of God and he understood their bitter end. Then he realized that God had set their feet in slippery places. and God’s judgment was going to fall upon them. Unless God sees fit, to send some type of revival or reformation to the United States, we’re going to be crushed underneath the judgment of God as surely as Israel was long ago. So you shouldn’t view material prosperity as a sign of spiritual health. Our nation may be prosperous. We may be one of the most prosperous nations on Earth, but we are a nation far from God. Lastly, you may classify yourself among God’s people and yet be left out by God. Shalom, Manaheim, Pecca, Pecha, Pachia, Zachariah, Hoshia, surrounded themselves with great splendor. They were all ambitious men. They tried to make names for themselves, and they wanted to elevate Israel. to the status of world power in their day. They lived only for themselves and for their own glory. They are not important enough, then, for Hosea to even list their names here in his beginning of his prophecy. Now, these Israelite kings belong to a nation which had dealings with the Lord God, who could claim perhaps, well, we’re God’s people. But they never learned to devote their lives to the Lord. They were never God’s true people. And so they are nameless in God’s eyes. They’re nameless because they never devoted themselves to the service of the Lord. At least Jeroboam II was used by God to fulfill the prophet Jonah’s prophecy, that God would raise up a deliverer for the Northern Kingdom. But these, These other six kings spent their lives ruthlessly pursuing their own interest and murdering anyone who got in their way. This pitiful problem is still with us today. Just look carefully through the ranks of those professing to be the Covenant People of God. And you don’t need to be guilty of murder, adultery, or theft to do without a name in God’s eyes, to be missing from the Book of Life. Many make the fatal mistake of supposing that only recognize scoundrels and outright sinners will be excluded from heaven. That’s certainly not what the Bible teaches. What is the sin that makes you fit for nothing but the fires of hell, being fruitless and being useless? You must be. be you must realize this even if you are a refined and respected member of a church you’re without a name in the eyes of God if you’ve never been regenerated and you’ve never worked grace in your heart and changed your walk of life the question is whether or not you live for God whether or not you live for yourself unfortunately being exclusively concerned with yourself and your own interest has become a way of life for many who profess to be Christians so look carefully at your life because if you’re truly one of God’s people if you truly have your name in the book of life you’re going to serve him you’re going to be fruitful in your life but if not then what was you because you’re nameless before the Lord Lord God. Let’s close with a word of prayer.