Heavenly Hosea,
By Brian Baer

Hosea 1:2

One of the greatest things about reading the Bible and studying on the Word of God is finding Christ in the Old Testament. It’s all about Jesus, every jot and title is about him. You will find him in the tabernacles, in the temples, in the feast of weeks, feast of unleavened bread. You will find him in the trumpets and in the vials, and the bowls of the Old Testament.

The Old Testament looks forward to him.
The gospels declare him.
The epistles explain him.
The revelation also declares him.

There is a clapping of hands between the book of Genesis and the Book of John. In Genesis, it declares him as Elohim. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. That’s one hand clapping. The other hand clapping is in the book of John where it says, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made." That’s saying the same thing, but from different perspectives.

 You know it was Jesus, because it finally says, "And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." The Bible is all about him.

 He was the seed of the Old Testament where it says, "the seed of the woman would rise up and bruise the head of the serpent." He was what Moses called "that prophet." He was the door of the tabernacle, the purple of its majesty, the blue of its grace, and the red for its redemption. He is the high priest that goes into the holiest of holies, but then again he is the lamb whose blood was shed. He is the mercy seat, he is the fulfillment of the law, he is Aaron’s rod that budded, and thank God he is my pot of manna. He is divine enough to be the gold in the ark, but he is human enough to be the wood that the gold was overlaid upon. The whole Bible is about Jesus.

 And when I was reading the book of Hosea the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said study on Hosea, and when I did I soon found that Jesus is there too. For Hosea is a type of Christ. His name is a short form of “Jehoshea,” or Joshua.” This is a wonderful story of God’s grace and mercy and if we look at the scriptures I want us to notice a couple of things:

 I. Perversion of the World

Israel was very prosperous, yet Hosea tells them of their sins, and foretells their destruction. The prophet was to show Israel their sin, and that it was very hateful in the site of God. Their sin was idolatry and we must recognize that that sin is an injury and shameful to God. That is why Hosea was called to do an unusual thing in taking a woman like Gomer for a wife. It was not wrong for Hosea to contract such a marriage because God had commanded it, and because his motive was to exalt the woman to where he was. Such was the case of God to his son. He saw that the world was still like Israel and it didn’t seem like it was going to get any better so he sent down his son, our heavenly Hosea, to take us as a bride and bring us to where he is.

 Something interesting is how he prophesied the ruin of Israel. He foretells the fall of the royal family with the name of his first child, Jezreel “dispersion.” He foretells God abandoning the a nation in his second Child, Loruhamah, “not-beloved” or “not having obtained mercy.” God showed great mercy, but Israel abused his favors. Then probably the worst of all the names of his children, Loammi, “not my people.”

 Sin turns away the mercy of God, even from his own people. If pardoning mercy is denied then no other mercy can be expected. Though some, through unbelief, are broken off, God will have a church. We must realize our salvation comes from the mercy of God, not on our own merit.

 In order for us to realize how God views sin we must look at a few things:

 A. Seriousness of Sin - Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
B. Symptoms of Sin - Pride, Fear, Greed, Indifference
C. Strength of Sin
D. Sting of Sin - I Cor. 15:56 "The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law."
D. Salvation from Sin -

1.Continue in it
2. Cover it
3. Compromise
4. Confess

Although God was addressing Israel, how much it sounds like he is speaking of our nation. Our nation is being over-ran with immorality, greed, corruption in and outside the church. What does this nation need to really get it back on track? There are a few things that this nation desperately needs, and it all starts within the churches. If we can get our church members right with God then we might be able to do something.

1. Personal Master - Everyone born of Adam’s race is born with a need of a Saviour, "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities. But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand. Be not wroth very sore, O LORD, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people. (Isaiah 64:6-9)"
   
2.  Praying Mothers - Thank God for mothers who know how to touch God in behalf of their needs of relatives, friends and neighbors.
   
3.  Preaching Ministers - Many today have forsaken preaching and have replaced it with intellectual addresses and philosophical rambling. We are to “Preach the word” (2 Tim. 4:2) Preach it with sincerity, simplicity, and with the Spirit of God. God help us to be delivered from watered down, dead messages. May God send old time, holy Ghost Preaching of the truth.
   
4.  Passionate Members - The members, if they are right with God, will be humbled within, (2 Chr. 7:14. If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.) Telling it out, (Acts1: 8. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.) Reaching down and pointing to a hill called Calvary, telling the sinner there is salvation available for him, (Jn. 12: 32. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.)

 II. Purchase of the Wife

 A. Redemption of the Wife - We find that in Hosea 3: 2. So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley.

Silver stands for redemption in the Bible and barley was the offering that the poor people brought to offer. All in all the total was about $12.50. But in all the studies that I have done all of them say that Hosea gave all that he had to pay for her redemption.

 Galatians 1: 4. Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father.

Titus 2: 14. Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

Revelation 1: 5. And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.

 B.   Repentance of the Wife - In the 2nd chapter of Hosea we find that Hosea’s wife, failing to appreciate her blessings, went after her former lovers and took up her old life of sin. And we can see the nation of Israel did in the spiritual realm what the wife did in the physical. Following through Ch. 2 we can note the fall of this adulterous nation and of the wife.

(6) Her confusion
(7) Her dissatisfaction with the expected help from her lovers.
(9-13) Her deprivation (withdrawal) of the blessings of God.

 All of these came to her in her captivity, but we can see a bright future when in repentance she comes back. (16-17) “Ishi” means “my husband.”, Baali “my master.”

 C. Return of the wife - I tried to imagine what it must have been like on the day of the auction. The air was cool and crisp, and in midst of the marketplace you could hear “Six shekels, who’ll make it seven.” The bidding seemed like it was taking forever, and one by one they looked over the body of Gomer. She stood naked before them and it was obvious that she was not well taken care of. You could see her ribs through the skin, and her dark black hair that had been, at one time her pride and joy. It was once a place for combs and ribbons. Now it was matted with dirt and lice. Her eyes were black, not from makeup, but from tiredness and abuse.

 “8 shekels, yes thank you, now how about 9.” As it continued, she though back over her life, she had not been born a slave, she once had a husband. She chose to be a slave. She though back to the joy of her wedding day, and the feast. So much fun and laughter. There was fruit, vegetables, meat, anything you could want. How long had it been since she had a meal.

 “10 Shekels, who’ll make it 11.” She remembered the great times with her husband. She also remembered the times when she caught the eyes of the men from the village and they bought her nice things. Soon, as time went on, the strange bedrooms increased and the nights with her husband lessened. But now she was reduced to a harlot. Selling her body to her many lovers as if the number of men could fulfill the deep longings that she had deep inside. Oh she wanted so much just to go home. Her hunger drover her to the garbage pit and that is where the one who was selling her now found her. He offered here some soup and it wasn’t too long before he was tired of her and now he was selling her.

 “10 Shekels, going once, twice. What’s that, 15 shekels and 10 bushels of barley?” Sir, this woman? The better ones will be up in a few. Oh well then; it’s a deal. Once, twice, sold. And the deal was done. She didn’t even raise here head to look. Expecting hands to grab her and take her away to be used again, she was shocked when she felt a robe cover her nakedness, and slowly she turned and saw the most beautiful eyes of her husband. He covered her and without a word of condemnation, or even a look of disgust, he looked at her and said, “I’ve come to take you home.” Not as a slave, but as a wife.  

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