Turn with me to the Old Testament
book of Hosea. Hosea is a little book right
after the book of Daniel, if that helps you any. Hosea. While you're turning, let me
say that I remember a message that Brother Mahan preached in
1975. I heard it probably in the early
1990s. Don't know the exact time. And
it was called Hosea, a type of Christ. You can find it on the
internet now. I encourage you to listen to
it. A couple weeks ago, I found that message Brother Mahan preached
and I listened to it again. I have been thinking for several
months now about Hosea and Gomer. My message to you this morning
will not be much different from the message that I heard Brother
Mahan preach so many years ago. Do you know why? Because it's
the truth. It's the gospel. It's a story
that pictures redemption. It's a story that declares the
love, the mercy, and the grace of God in Christ. Hosea chapter
1. Look at verse 2 with me. The
beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea. And the Lord said
to Hosea, Go take unto thee a wife of whoredoms, and children of
whoredoms. For the land hath committed great
whoredom departing from the Lord. Now I would have you notice that
here in the beginning, that is of the word of the Lord by Hosea,
that this is a word of the Lord. That's important. This is the
Lord's word. This is a word from God. This
is a word from God. It's delivered by God's prophet,
Hosea, but it's not just a word delivered by Hosea. It's a word
delivered to Hosea. You see that? And the Lord said
to Hosea, when a word is delivered or a message, sermon is delivered
by me, I had better hope. Now I'm telling you, and I do,
I had better hope that it's a word delivered to me, not just by
me, but to me. The one who delivers the word
of God has the same need of the word of God as those who hear
it. And I suppose, and I've told
you this, one of the most alarming passages, verses found in all
the scriptures, where Paul wrote, lest by any means, when I have
preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. Every sinner,
believing or unbelieving, must hear the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ in order to be saved. Why? Because it pleased the Lord
through the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Notice again verse 2, And the
Lord said to Hosea, Now, the word said here is a strong word,
especially in this verse. Here it means much more than
just speaking a word. The Lord said. The Hebrew word
is Amar, and it means to appoint. It means to command. And the
Lord appointed Hosea. The Lord commanded Hosea. These are not just flippant words. Believe me when I tell you that
God never speaks flippantly. He always speaks with purpose. He's a God of purpose. God doesn't
speak flippantly. God doesn't talk just to talk.
I do, but God doesn't. And the Lord appointed, the Lord
commanded Hosea. What was the command? is a strange
command. He said, go take unto thee a
wife of whoredoms, and children of whoredoms. For the land hath
committed great whoredom, departing from the Lord. The Lord commanded
Hosea to take a wife, but not just any woman, a prostitute. Not just any wife, but one given
to whoredom, one given to prostitution. That word whoredom in the original
Hebrew means adultery and idolatry. This speaks of a wife who cannot
be faithful. This refers to a bride who has
many idols. This refers to a wife of unfaithfulness
and infidelity. Notice where this bride is to
be found. Among the children of whoredom.
Among the children of adultery and idolatry. Among children
who have been born illegitimately. Children who were born outside
of marriage. Children born out of physical
and fleshly lust. Children born not knowing who
their father was. Among the children of whoredom.
Notice what this land is called. The land that hath committed
great whoredom. A place that had departed from the Lord. A
place where God had been abandoned. A place where God was given no
thought. A place that was ignorant of
who God is. Verse 3, So he, Hosea, went and
took Gomer. Now let's just go slow here.
We've got plenty of time and I'm not going to keep you long,
but that word took in this verse means accepted. Did you know
that the name Hosea, like Joshua in the Old Testament and like
Jesus in the New Testament, means Deliverer. It means Savior. Hosea. Same as Joshua, same as
Jesus. It means Deliverer and Savior. Hosea, the prophet of God here,
God named Deliverer and Savior. Do you see what God commanded
him to do? Hosea, God's prophet, God's deliverer,
God's savior, took, accepted, joined himself to, entered into
a marriage covenant with Gomer, who was a harlot. That's an amazing
thing when you consider what she was. A common whore. A harlot, a prostitute, a hooker.
There's so many names. Lady of the evening. Soon to
be an unfaithful wife. Gomer was a product of whoredom. Gomer lived in a land of adultery
and idolatry. And what a strange command from
God, wasn't it? Can you imagine? God commanded
Hosea to take a prostitute to be his wife. Why would God command
Hosea to do such a thing? Why would God insist upon such
a union as this? I'm sure that Hosea had some
questions as to why. And though our Lord Jesus does
all things according to His divine appointment and purpose, Hosea
must have wondered why God was requiring this of him. Why would
God command a prophet to marry a prostitute? Do you ever wonder
why God does what He has in your life? Have you ever asked the
Lord why? I have, and I have often. Now
there's an old saying that goes, ours is not to reason why, but
ours is but to do and die. But sinners are just not made
that way. We ask why a lot. If we don't ask it outwardly,
we ask it inwardly. Do you suppose that Noah ever
wondered why, ever asked the Lord why? He was the only man
on earth that found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Do you
think Noah ever asked, Lord, why did just me and my family
come into the ark? No one else. For 120 years, we
invited men to come in, begged them to come in, but no one came.
Why? Do you suppose that Moses ever
wondered why he of all people, who confessed right up front,
I'm not an eloquent speaker, I don't know if he stuttered
or had a lisp, I don't know, but he was very conscious of
his inability to speak. Do you think he ever asked the
Lord why he was the chosen vessel that would speak to Pharaoh on
behalf of God? I'm sure he did. I'm sure he
asked why. Moses didn't feel qualified to
speak for God, but I can assure you that he didn't stutter when
he went before Pharaoh and said, thus saith the Lord, let my people
go. Do you suppose Abraham ever wondered
why he was the only man in the land of Ur of Chaldees that God
plucked out of idolatry? Do you suppose Joseph, Jacob's
son, ever wondered why he was in prison in Egypt while his
brothers were at home enjoying the love and blessings of their
father Jacob? Time revealed why the purpose
of God might come to pass. Do you suppose that Job ever
wondered why in one day's time he lost all his children and
all his possessions? Do you wonder if Jacob ever wondered
why God loved him and hated his brother Esau? Why did God command
Hosea to take a prostitute as a wife? I'm sure he asked why. Do you know why he did? He did
so to teach Hosea and both you and I something about the love
Mercy and grace of God in Christ. Oh, I think about this and it
just thrills my soul. How great and marvelous is God
to reveal these things to us. Look at Hosea chapter 3 verse
1. Hosea here says, then said the
Lord unto me, go yet, no matter what this woman has done, no
matter what this woman is, go yet and love a woman beloved
of her friend or lover, one who's courted by another man, yet an
adulteress, he says, one who will never be faithful. Go yet
and love this woman, though she'll prove to be an adulteress, for
this shows us something." Now, it shows us something of God's
love, grace, and merciful to unfaithful people like you and
I. Do you see the picture here? Go and do so, look at this, according
to the love of the Lord toward the children of Israel. There
it is right there. Who look to other gods and love
flagons of wine. Gomer pictures gods elect people
who by nature are nothing but unfaithful harlots. This is a picture that displays
the love of God toward the spiritual children of Israel who by nature
are unfaithful, adulterous, and whorish people. They go chasing
after every God but the true and living God. God's going to
show Hosea and us, I hope, something about the unconditional love
that he has for his elect in Christ. Now, again, here's a
man who is told to love and marry a woman who loved and gave herself
to other men. I suppose that would be a very,
very difficult thing for a man to do. Here's a man who is told
to love a woman that would in no wise, in no way, return love
to him. Oh, may God teach us now. May
God teach us something about how Christ gave himself to those
who absolutely had no interest in him or love for him. And in this, Hosea is a beautiful
picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. Brother Mahan called his message
on this subject, Hosea, a type of Christ. I'm going to call
mine the prophet and the prostitute. Christ loved sinners that at
first didn't love Him. Sinners love Him only because
He first loved them. Isn't that what the scriptures
teach? We love Him, John said, because He first loved us. chosen sinner's pitcher, Gomer. We, like Israel of old, gave
ourselves to other gods, other lovers. We, like Gomer the harlot,
gave ourselves to other lovers. Gomer had no need of Hosea. She didn't know that he would
be her deliverer, not until God showed her differently. And by
nature, friends, we have no need of Christ. We didn't know that
He's our Deliverer. We didn't know that He's our
Savior, not until God showed us. God commended His love toward
us while we were yet sinners. Spiritual harlots. Sinners. Spiritual harlots. Unfaithful
adulterers. Sinners. Christ died for us. here in His love, not that we
loved God, no, but that He loved us and sent His Son, just like
He sent Hosea, sent His Son to be a propitiation for our sins,
1 John 4.10. Did Gomer deserve this love of
Hosea? Do we deserve the love of God
in Christ? How could anyone say that we
do? Did Gomer deserve Hosea's mercy and grace? Do we deserve
the mercy and grace of Christ? So, again, let's reiterate. Hosea
chose an evil bride, a bride who lived among evil people.
Do you remember what Isaiah said? He said, I'm a man of unclean
lips, and I dwell in the midst of people with unclean lips.
Hosea chose a wife that lived in an evil land. That's a picture
of who Christ chose to be his bride. Hosea came and he entered
into a marriage covenant with her. You know, that's what a
marriage is. It's an eternal covenant that
a man makes with his wife before God. That's what a marriage covenant
is to a child of God. I know that. But Gomer didn't
follow Hosea. Gomer didn't adapt to his ways. Gomer went the way of the world. Does that sound familiar? Does
that sound like someone you know? Gomer came from a land of whoredom.
Gomer came from a family of prostitution. That was the way she was raised.
That was the way that she'd been taught. The lovers in her world
was all she cared about. Is it so with you? Was it not the same with us?
But one thing that's constant through this story is that Hosea
never gave up. Never stopped loving. He loved
Gomer. Child of God, God has loved you
with an everlasting love. And an everlasting love is a
love without beginning and without end. God in Christ has always
loved you. God in Christ will always love
you. Having loved His home that were
in the world, He loved them unto the end. That's what He said. Take God's word for it, not mine.
Christ Jesus loved them, His people, unto the end. He'll never
give up on you. I'll never leave thee nor forsake
thee." And even though Hosea had chosen Gomer, loved Gomer,
made Gomer his bride, she continued to walk in the way she always
had. She walked in the way of her
people. She did the way that she was
taught. That's what all of us did. Some of you still are. among
whom we also had our conversation in times past in the lust of
our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind,
and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others." Sin's
what we are. That's why we sin. Sin is as
natural as breathing. The book of Job says, how abominable
and filthy is man Answer, so much so that he drinks iniquity
like water. Look at Hosea chapter 2 verse
7. This verse says that Gomer followed
after her lovers as Israel had followed after other gods. Now you and I walk according
to the course of this world, do we not? Why? Because we are
of this world by nature, birth, and practice. We are, by nature,
the children of wrath, even as others. Simply put, we just do
what comes natural to us, don't we? It just comes natural to
us. Sin comes so natural to us. I've often said that I've learned
through raising children that you don't have to teach a young
child how to sin. It just comes natural. Hosea
made Gomer his wife. He took her out of the land of
Hordom, but he couldn't take the Hordom out of her. That's
exactly what Christ did for us. There's no perfect type, is there?
Because Christ can do infinitely, abundantly above anything that
we can think. Infinitely more so than what
Hosea could do for Gomer. Second thing I want you to see
here is that Hosea provided for Gomer even in her sin. What mercy, what grace. Look
at verse 8 of chapter 2. He says, for she did not know
that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and I multiplied her
silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal. Now the prophet Hosea
here is speaking of both Israel and Gomer. God graciously provided
for both. Israel foolishly used God's blessings
in the service of Baal, who was a false god, an idol. And Gomer foolishly shared Hosea's
gifts with her lover. He's saying the same things to
both here, both to Israel and to Gomer. In verse 8 he says,
she didn't know that I was the one providing for her. How long
did I walk in this life of children of wrath, even as others, and
didn't know that all along God was providing for me? Everything. Everything that I needed, God
was providing for me. Oh, I thought I was providing
it for myself, but I see now that I wasn't providing anything.
Gomer thought it was her lovers, but it was Hosea all along. All her lovers was doing was
using and abusing her. Saul of Tarsus. I think about
old Saul of Tarsus. He hated the name of Christ.
He hated the people of Christ. But he was one of God's chosen
from the beginning and he was redeemed by Christ before the
world ever was. Yet, Paul wrote in Galatians
chapter 1, he said, but when it pleased God who separated
me from my mother's womb. Actually, God separated Paul
before he was in his mother's womb. Before the foundation of
the world. That's when God separates all his elect. When he gave them
to Christ before the foundation of the world. and determined
to be merciful and gracious to him in Christ. Gave him to Christ
to die for. God provided for Paul in eternity
what he purposed in time to do, and that was to reveal his son,
the Lord Jesus Christ, in him. And that's what God's going to
do with Gomer. He's going to reveal to her that
Hosea is the one who truly loves her. Sinner, if you belong to
God, Christ is the one who loved you and gave himself for you.
And in the story of Hosea and Gomer, here's the comfort that
I want you to have. Here's the beauty that I want
you to see. Here's the love that I want you
to feel. Here's the redemption that I
want you to have. Christ provides. Christ protects. Christ's providence watches over
His bride. And Christ's purchase is what
secures her redemption. What did Gomer contribute to
her redemption? She was living away from home. She was violating her covenant
of marriage. She was sinning against the man
that loved her. She was estranged from the One
who was taking care of her. What did she contribute? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. And what
a beautiful picture of God's sovereign mercy and grace in
Christ to us. This is the Gospel. One day,
Gomer the harlot, She came to herself. Just like that prodigal
did when he was out in the world. You remember that. Scripture
says he came to himself. We come to ourselves when God
comes to us in mercy and grace. Isn't that right? Gomer was brought
down in humiliation. Look at verse 10 here in chapter
2. God says, and now will I discover. Now that word discover there
means to reveal. Same word as reveal. Now, will
I reveal? God's going to reveal to her,
what? Her lewdness. Her folly. God is going to reveal ours.
I'm telling you He is. A closer look at the Hebrew word
lewdness here explains clearly what God reveals in us. That
word means disgrace. God shows us that we're disgraceful. It refers to our lust, our lustful,
dirty, depravity. You look up the word lewdness
in the dictionary and that's exactly what it means. Did you
notice that God is going to reveal this in the sight of her lovers? Did you see that? Even her filthy
lovers will see her disgrace and no longer desire her. God
reveals to her that she's used up. Her youthfulness is now gone. Her natural beauty has faded
away. She's way past her prime. Her
lovers stop calling. Her joy turns unto mourning. Her sweetness turns to bitterness. Her life becomes a burden. Her
happiness turns to sorrow, and she's now stripped, humbled,
broken, and sorry. And she wants to go home. She
wants to go home. Oh, I'm telling you, if you belong
to Christ, God can and will make you hate your way. God can and
will cause you, like Job, to abhor yourself. Brother Mahan
said you can't taste of grace until you taste sin and become
weary of it. Isn't that true? So, Gomer wants
to go home. Did she return to the One who
unconditionally loved her? No. She couldn't. Well, what do you mean she couldn't?
She now belonged to someone else. She had sold her soul to her
lovers, she had sold her body in her profession, but now she
had sold her freedom and she was in debt to her sin. Her profession had cost her much,
much more than she made. There is pleasure in sin for
a season, but then comes the suffering of affliction, Hebrews
11.25. I've seen Gomer so many times
in my mind's eye. Do you see her? Can you see her?
She's standing on a slave block. It's going to be sold. to pay the debt that she owes.
A common slave and bondage to the sin that she's committed.
No longer a beautiful woman, but a used up harlot. No longer
beaming with pride, but broken in humility. The auctioneer starts
the bidding, but nobody bids. This worn out prostitute's going
to sell for nearly nothing, the folks thought. Someone offers
a half homer of barley, but quickly the bid is raised by another. Another bid comes, a homer of
barley, and again the amount is quickly raised. Every time a bid is made, it's
instantly raised by another. Who is this man that has walked
up boldly in front of the slave block? Well, it's Hosea, Gomer's
husband. Surely he's not the one bidding.
Surely not. Surely he doesn't want her back
after all that she's done to him. I can just see Hosea looking
in Gomer's weeping eyes and loudly proclaiming, I'll give 15 pieces
of silver and a homer of barley and a half homer of barley. And
the auctioneer says, sold. Sold. Sold. Hosea would have paid whatever
it took. even to the shedding of his own
blood, even to the giving of his own life. You see, the covenant
that he had made with this prostitute named Gomer was an everlasting
covenant. That's what Christ did for you,
his people. Christ paid it off. The soul
that sinneth, it shall die. The wages of sin is death. And
the beloved John wrote, Hereby perceive we the love of God,
because He laid down His life for us. Child of God, you've
been bought with a price. We say that often. But do you
really see, do you see the price that Christ pays? I told you
in the beginning that Hosea means Deliverer and Savior, the name
Hosea does. Do you know what the name Gomer
means? It means complete. Complete. It means vanishing. Gomer had to decrease. Gomer
had to vanish. In order to be made complete,
dear sinner, you and I must vanish. You and I must become nothing,
and Christ must become all. Only when we're conformed to
the image of Christ do we truly vanish. Christ increases, for
we see that He alone is made unto us wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. Christ increases, for He is all
and in all. And Christ cannot be all if we're
still something. We are Gomer. We must vanish. We must become complete in Him. We must become perfectly conformed
to the image of Christ Jesus. Many times I have, in my mind,
pictured Gomer as she stands there on that slave block and
takes Hosea by the hand and steps down off that slave block Her
eyes are not on the crowd. Her heart's not on her former
lovers. Her eyes and her heart are on Hosea, her Deliverer,
her Savior, who gave Himself for her. Who are your eyes and
your heart on? May God fix them on Christ, your
sovereign Deliverer and Savior. May God enable you to see that
He alone is salvation and that you're complete in Him.