Hosea 11:8-11

Tonight I turn with me to Josea chapter 11. Josea after 11 reading verses 8 through 11 How shall I give the up Ephraim? How shall I deliver the Israel? How shall I make thee as adma? How shall I set thee as a boam? My heart is turned within me. My repentings are kind of together. I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger. I will not return to destroy Ephraim, for I am God and not man, the Holy One in the midst of thee, and I will not enter into the city. They shall walk after the Lord. He shall roar like a lion. He shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the west. They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt, as a dove out of the land of Assyria. And I will place them in their houses, saith the Lord. That God blessed to us is sacred and holy word this evening. There’s a cemetery in New Orleans, which stands as a monument, in which stands a monument of a great ship. in the midst of a storm. And there’s a mother and daughter that are standing on board the ship, and it’s sinking, and their faces display terror as they cling to one another. The bronze plate on the monument says that the mother and daughter were their sole survivors of a large estate, and both of them were drowned. Upon their deaths, the lawyers, were faced with the question of who died first in the shipwreck. After some deliberation, the court decided the estate would be executed in the daughter’s name, thinking that the mother would have done everything possible to keep the child alive and would have sacrificed herself for her daughter. So those officials recognized the strength of a parent’s love. Even more powerful and beautiful is God’s love for his people. In sending his son, Jesus Christ, God displayed his desire to hold you in a place of safety. He sacrificed himself for your sake. In our text, we find God unwillingly to completely want to completely want to be wipe out his nation here, at least they elect people in it. Yes, this generation was vile and corrupt. God has concluded that they are not his people, in fact, and he sent them away into exile. But God still has a small, faithful remnant among them. He now speaks of a time beyond the present. and the fact that he cannot abandon them completely. I suggest that this text has something to say about God’s grace to the backslider as the text speaks of. Let me begin by saying that, you know, God’s grace often averts your destruction as a backslide. As we see here in verse 8 and not. 9. We’ll look at verse 8 to begin with. We see God is unwilling to abandon you as one of his people. How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? How shall I deliver thee Israel? How shall I make thee as Adam? Admas? How shall I set thee as a bone? My heart is turned within me. My repentings are kindled together. we have the case here of Israel. Do you ever talk with yourself? I do it all the time. And God himself portrays a conversation he has with himself, if you would. Now, of course, he’s using human language here in this situation. God doesn’t really debate with himself. He knows the end from the beginning. and all things are decreed according to his will. But he wants you to think of the situation of a parent debating what to do with a wayward son, couching things here in human terms. God has just uttered dire threats about sending Israel into exile to Assyria, who is Syria, turning loose the sword. in their cities. In verses 5 and 6. And yet that judgment is apparently going to be cancelled, or at least overturned, by a promise of deliverance and mercy here in verses 8 and 9. God seems like an angry father who is merely venting his frustration on a stubborn child. But it’s not as simple. simple is that. Because these words proceed from God’s mouth, they must be fulfilled, regardless of what he has said. They cannot be recalled or cancelled. Has he not spoken and shall he not do it? Both judgments and mercy, threat and promise, are firm and unchanged. He says, How shall I give the up, Ephraim? you see, the fatherly compassion here, his heart goes out to them. He’s moved within himself. In humanly speaking, God says that he would like to change his thoughts toward his nation here. Talks about his repentings. There is a faithful remnant among the nation to whom he now is going to provide hope. and that’s the case here with Israel. But let’s talk about the back’s life. Suppose you are a child of God. Suppose you have turned your back upon the Lord. What will happen? Well, certainly, you undergo his chastening. God’s sword may indeed be upon you. God may give you up, but will he give you up as his child? well the answer is no there are those that god does give up bible speaks about the reprobate being abandoned by god Romans 124 wherefore god also gave them up to uncleanness through the lust of their own hearts to dishonor their own bodies between them Romans 126 for this cause God gave them them up under vile affections. Why? Because when they knew God, they glorify him not as God. You may indeed be abandoned by your sin, to your own lust and sin, which will ultimately work to your instruction if you’re an unbeliever. If you’re a mere professor, this indeed may happen. But if you’re a child of God, God will not abandon you. He will hunt you down and bring you to himself. You see how this was played out in the story of Jonah, who turned his back upon the Lord, and we see the Lord bringing judgment upon him and bringing him back to himself and to repentance. if you can go on in your sin and not be brought to repentance, then you’re no child of God. Because that’s not what the scripture would tell us. A number of years ago, before any railroad came into Chicago, they used to bring grain to the city in wagons, and then they would unload the wagons and put them on ships on the lakes there and the Great Lakes and they would ship them off. Well, there was a father. They had a large farm and also he used to preach the gospel as well. And one day church business engaged him, so he sent his son to Chicago with the wagons to sell the He waited and waited and his boy never returned, but he didn’t he never came home. The last couldn’t wait any longer. He saddled up his horse and rode to Chicago and tried to find it. He found where his son had been and that he had got the money for the grain. Father was worried now that maybe the son was robbed and murdered. money. At last he, with the aid of a detective, tracked his son to a gambling den, where he found he had gambled away all the money he had got from the grain. And in hopes of winning it back, he sold the wagons and the horses. Of course, he lost them as well. What could he do? He was ashamed. Come home. home and faced his father. And the father knew what all this meant. He had fled away. He was grieved to think his son wouldn’t come back and confess his sin and believe that the father would forgive him. So he went from town to town, from city to city, and he would get the ministers to let him preach. And then at the close, he would tell his story. I have a son. It was a wonder on the face of the air somewhere, and then he would describe him. Finally, one day his son did show up for the service, and he was way up in the gallery. And at the end of the service, he waited until all the audience had left. And then he started walking up toward the pulpit. His father looked up, and there was his son, who came to him. came to confess his sin, and the Father freely forgave him. Now, you may sometimes feel like the young man. You may be a prodigal son spiritually. You may be wandering in sin, and you may be afraid to return to God. There’s not one day in which you’re in that condition, in which God, in which God is not one day in which God, not seeking you out and bringing you back to himself. He’s not going to let you go. God is unwilling to abandon you as one of his people. Now God restrains the outpouring of his wrath upon you. In the case of Israel here, there are two options. God’s justice says, destroy them. Make them like Admoni. and Zaboam. Find that God is unwilling to make Israel like Adma and Zaboom, towns in the vicinity of Sodom and Gomorrah, who were destroyed with them. So God will not totally annihilate his people of the nation. He has chosen some. He will not execute the fierceness of his wrath upon them. He will not return to destroy them. He won’t come back to finish them off every last one of them. He once crushed the nation by the hand of the Assyrians. But now he will not enter the city like an earthly king to destroy it utterly. While the nation of Israel will never return from captivity as a whole, there will be a remnant that will. return and be spared. As we look at the case of the backslider, the Bible teaches us that the destruction of Sodom Gomorrah and the cities around them are set forth as an example of those who suffer the vengeance of eternal fire, as Jude, verse 7 tells us. Hell is the place of eternal destruction for the wicked. There’s endless torment in the flames. There’s no mercy. There’s no hope of escape. God’s promises here that he will not, however, abandon his people to the everlasting destruction of the lake of fire. They will not be like Adma and Zobo. When you as a believer turn back, your back upon God, You’re going to find both judgment and mercy. God’s mercy does not preclude you from receiving a thrashing by his hand, for indeed those whom he loves he chastens and scourges. But God promises that he will not execute the fierceness of his wrath upon you. That he will not give you up to the eternal. flames. Christ sheep shall never perish. This is what scripture tells us. Still, you will feel the anger of the Lord, and it is a fearful thing, fall into the hands of our holy God as we see in Scripture. Who would like to be in Jonas’ shoes? Who would like to go through what he went through? when God brought him to repentance. Sometimes God takes us to the woodshed. Sometimes God gives us a good spanking. But in all your struggles and difficulties, remember this. As a child of God, he does not execute upon you the fierceness of his wrath. It will not be to the tenth degree. So God restrains the outpouring of his wrath upon you. God’s own honor is what preserves you, we see here in verse 9. If God had offended a human king, like they offended God, total annihilation would have been the result. The fury of man is well documented. Man will be vicious. Man will utterly destroy his soul. enemies and crush them. But God tells us he is God and he’s not made. God mitigates the judgment because of that. God says, I will chase him them with the rod of men. I will not yet take away from them my mercy in 2nd Samuel 7. 14. Now God’s mercy finds grounds in his carry. Because of God’s character, we find that he promises a Redeemer. He promises a people for his son. He preserves his elect at all times. Anyone who has no time for Christ should not expect better treatment than Adma and Zabom received. But if you are one of Christ, God’s reason for sparing you is that none of those who are given to his son are going to ultimately perish. God always preserves his remnant. God always preserves his true people. God is not like men. They make promises in their fury and wrath overturn them. God honors His word. He spares you. you for Christ’s sake. So God’s grace often avert your destruction as a backslider. Secondly to 9. God is determined to have you faithfully follow him. Let’s look at verses 10 and 11 of our text. They shall walk after the Lord. He shall roar like a lion. When he shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the west. And they shall tremble a bird out of Egypt and is a dove out of the land of Assyria and I will place them in their houses, Seth the Lord. God will cause you to return to him and walk with the Lord. We’re given here a picture of the remnant humbled in exile by the chasing hand of God. Now, this may have had a partial. fulfillment when the Israelites returned in captivity from captivity with the the northern with the southern kingdom but it has a more complete I think accomplishment in the gathering of God’s church out of the world by the gospel no doubt this is a prophecy of Christ’s coming to preach the gospel to the children of God that were scattered abroad. Christ here is called the lion of the tribe of Judah when he cries out his voice. He’s heard. Here’s the roaring of a lion. Revelation several times speaks about him with the lion of the tribe of Judah. You can compare this with some Old Testament and New Testament and passages about God’s voice and being a lion. God’s roar results in the gathering of his people from every nation to the church. Let’s look at the book of Joel, if you would. Chapter 2, Joseph of Joel is the next book. Chapter 2. Let me begin with verse 28. Chapter 2 I want to read verses 28 to 32. And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh. And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also upon the servants and upon the maid servants in those days will I pour out my spirit. And I will show wonders. in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon and the blood, for the great and terrible day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be delivered, or in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord has said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call. And then you’ll notice also chapter 3 verses 15 to 16. The sun and the moon shall be darkened. The stars shall withdraw their shining. The Lord also shall roar out of Zion and utter his voice from Jerusalem. And the heavens and the earth shall shake. But the Lord will be the hope of his people. and the strength of the children of Israel. So he will roar like a lion and he will gather his people and give him the spirit of God, which we know is the day of Pentecost. This has come the path. So God results, God’s roar results in the gathering of a people from every people from every day. nation to the church. The people come trembling with a true fear of the Lord and a deep respect for God’s glory. They will come from all sides, all the earth, from the sea, which is to the west, Egypt, which is to the south, the Syria, which is to the north and east. God will call you back to himself. His roar will be heard. heard. And with fear and trembling, you will come and walk in his ways. If you’re one of God’s children, you will hear the roar of Christ the line. You will come back to the Lord and again walk in his way. So God will cause you to return and walk in his way. Notice also that God will cause you to return and walk in his way. Notice also that God will cause you to forsake the world. Many accommodated themselves to life in Syria. You can imagine in settling in, getting comfortable there. But the remnant was never at home in the land of exile. In their hearts, they felt a burning desire to return to their own land. Just like a bird feels in irisible words, the words. for the winter. This instinct that guides birds is present in the regenerate people of the Lord, in the sense that they were always drawn back to God. You must escape the world. Not at a snail’s pace, but we see here at the speed of a dove. Those like Demas, who forsake the things of God. for the world and never return? They’re not true believers. God calls you and he says come out from among them and be separate. Touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you and you will be a father I will be a father under you. You shall be my sons and daughters like John Mark. Though you may forsake the things of God for time, you’re eventually brought back to faithful service to the Lord. So God will cause you to forsake the world. God will cause you to display his spiritual nature. No doubt, Josea had good reason to compare Israel’s to a dove when he spoke of the repentance and returned to God. No, true believers exhibit of dove’s nature. And there are several passages of scripture that refer to this. It speaks of mourning for sin. We read about Hezekiah, praying to God and moaning like a dove. It speaks of the presence of the Holy Spirit. Spirit of God ascends like a dove, the Bible says. It speaks of spiritual purity. From the Song of Solomon, we read about my dove, my undefiled. And it speaks of spiritual wisdom. He is wise as serpents, harmless as doves. How far can you advance in spiritual development? Often, you know, in the church, we find people acting more like beasts than like doves. Asaph confessed that he acted like a beast. Psalm 73. This is when he lost his spiritual perspective and doubted God’s promises. God expects you to bury the old desires of the flesh, so you’ll stop acting like a bird of prey and act more like a dundle. So God is determined to have you faithfully follow. Let me. close by saying this. God has a parental love for you as one of his children. He’s not going to give you up. When you backslide, you will often be very gracious in averting your destruction. He does not abandon you. He doesn’t give up on you. He’ll turn you over to your sins and lust if you were an unbeliever. He’ll pursue you. He keeps pressing you with your sins. But he restrains the outpouring of his wrath. You’re one of his people. While you may feel the anger of the Lord, you will not fear the fierceness of his anger. He chastens and he scourges, but his wrath is curtailed. God continues to work with you. There’s honor in his character, and he won’t change his mind. He is willing to allow a single, he will not be willing to allow one single elect person to perish. Not one of his promises will fall through. He always keeps his word. He will cause you to forsake the world. He will cause you to display the world. He will cause you to display a spiritual nature. This is the way God works. We should be thankful for it. Let’s close with the word fair tonight. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you, Lord, for your promises. We pray that you may remember us in our trials, and our difficulties, and our backslidings. And we thank you, Lord, that you always hunt us down. Bless us as your people tonight. May we be encouraged by this word that you’ve given us, that you won’t give us up. We ask these things in Jesus’ name with Thanksgiving. Amen. Let’s stand for the benediction tonight. Grace be with all them to love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen.