by
Rev. Mark Perkins, Pastor
Denver Bible Church
326 E. Colorado Ave.
Denver, Colorado 80210
To: Hosea
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Sermon No. 1
"When Israel was an infant, then I personally loved him;
and from Egypt I called my son.
"The more they [the false prophets] called them [the people
of Israel], the more they went from them [the false prophets]
to the Baals; they were really sacrificing and they were really
burning incense to the idols.
"And I myself personally taught Ephraim to walk; I took
him by his arms, but they did not know that I healed them.
"I drew them along with human cords, with ropes of love;
and thus I was to them as lifters of a yoke from their jaws;
and I fed him softly."
A. The infancy of Israel is the time from Abraham to the first
Passover.
B. During that time, God had personal love for His chosen nation.
That personal love was directed toward the doctrine in their
souls.
C. The second half of the first verse is also a messianic prophecy
(see attached sheet).
D. The people responded to whatever the false prophets were preaching,
and they did it. Their idolatry was very intense.
E. Verse three goes back to the early childhood of this nation
- God taught them how to walk. There is a strong image of God
doing these things Himself - He does them personally. This is
a great picture of God's immanence - His interaction with mankind
in space and time.
F. But Israel rejected God's healing. It isn't that they couldn't
know; its that they refused to know it. God provided the knowledge,
and they rejected it.
G. God drew them along out of Egypt with human cords and ropes
of love - and again the love is personal.
H. Israel was in slavery in Egypt - God lifted their yoke and
fed them softly. He was not harsh to a people who had been in
slavery for some four hundred years. God with this sermon builds
His case against Israel - from His gentle treatment of them they
could not complain.
Sermon No. 2
"He will not return unto the land of Egypt; an Assyrian
will be his king because they refused to return.
"And a sword will whirl in his cities and will make an end
to his limbs and consume them because of their counsels.
"And my people are always hung up on turning from me; though
they call to one on high, he will not at the same time lift up."
A. In spite of God's tenderness toward Israel, they did not respond,
and instead rejected relationship with Him.
B. As a result, Assyria, a Gentile nation, will be their ruler.
This is all but appropriate - they acted like Gentiles, and so
now they will be ruled by them. They will discover what it is
like to have a ruler other than God. Not in Egypt, but in Assyria.
C. In order to accomplish this result, the cities will be destroyed.
A graphic description of traumatic amputation follows - the sword
whirls and the limb comes to an end, and he is consumed.
D. The reason for the consumption is the counsels which they
heeded. Not the counsels of God, but of men - false prophets
and idolaters.
E. The hang up is not psychological, but figurative in another
way. As they turn from God they get themselves all hung up -
like they are in the bramble bushes.
F. Being stuck in the bramble bushes, they call to one on high
- not Yahweh, but instead some demonic entity - their idol.
G. The idol cannot lift them from the bramble in which they find
themselves entangled.
Sermon No. 3
"How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I deliver
you, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I set you
like Zeboiim? My heart is altogether turned within Me; My compassions
have grown tender.
"I will not execute the fury of My anger; I shall not return
to destroy Ephraim; for I am God and not a man, the Holy One
in your midst; and I shall not enter into a city.
"They will walk behind Yahweh like a lion; He will roar
- He will really roar; and His sons will come trembling from
the waters.
"They will tremble like a bird from Egypt, and as a dove
from the land of Assyria; and I shall cause them to dwell in
their house - a declaration of Yahweh."
A. God asks rhetorical questions that point to the difficulty
of giving His beloved and chosen nation over to final discipline.
B. This is not an easy choice - there are strong ties due to
their former virtue.
C. Admah and Zeboiim were two of the nations allied with Sodom
and Gomorrah, referred to in Gen 14:8. They underwent final discipline
with the two better known evil nations.
D. God is shown as agonizing over this decision, because it is
so difficult. On the one hand there is their former glory; on
the other hand is their present evil.
E. This is an anthropopathism, for God is decisive and always
knows what is right. The illustration from human viewpoints shows
that though man would have agonized over this, God is God. The
fact that God does not have difficulty with decisions shows Him
to be all the greater.
F. There is a distinction about the final discipline of Israel
- God has decided in eternity past not to wipe them off the face
of the earth without a trace. Instead, they will go to Assyria
in slavery, but have the opportunity to return.
G. They will walk behind Yahweh - the idea is that the lion cub
walks behind its mother in complete safety due to the strength
of its mother.
H. And then a prophecy - the roar of the lion precedes the re-establishment
of Israel.
1. The roar is the shout of the archangel at the second advent.
2. The crescendo of the roar is well portrayed by the language here.
3. Trembling from the waters is a portrayal of human childbirth. Ancient writers often described childbirth as coming through or from the waters because of the similarity between amniotic fluid and water.
4. Trembling is just right for the physical status of a newborn child.
5. The second advent is the rebirth of Israel.
6. Their new home will be the millennial earth.
7. And this is a declaration of Yahweh. It will certainly come true
Verse twelve more properly belongs as the first verse of the
twelfth chapter. We will leave it until then.
Grace Notes
Warren Doud, Editor
1705 Aggie Lane, Austin, Texas 78757
Phone: 512-458-8923