A Picture of Christ

Q: What does the Bible say about redemption in Hosea?

The book of Hosea illustrates God's redemption through the story of Hosea and Gomer, emphasizing His unwavering love. In the book of Hosea, redemption is powerfully depicted through the relationship between the prophet Hosea and his wife Gomer, who symbolizes Israel's unfaithfulness. Hosea's command from God to marry Gomer, a woman of whoredoms, reveals the depth of God's love despite Israel's rebellion. Hosea's poignant act of redeeming Gomer from her bondage serves as a vivid representation of how God redeems His people. As expressed in Hosea 3:1, God instructs Hosea to love Gomer again, likening it to His own relentless love for Israel. The act of redemption is not merely a transaction; it is a profound restoration of relationship, demonstrating God's grace and commitment to His people even when they stray from His ways.

Q: How do we know God's love is unconditional according to Hosea?

Hosea showcases God's unconditional love by illustrating His commitment to redeem Israel despite its unfaithfulness. God's love is unequivocally demonstrated through the narrative of Hosea and Gomer. The story emphasizes that while Gomer represents the waywardness of Israel, God's love remains constant and unrelenting. As stated in Hosea 3:1, God directs Hosea to love Gomer again, showing that God's affection is not dependent on our merit or actions. This is mirrored in Romans 5:8, where it states that God demonstrates His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Hosea's marriage and subsequent efforts to redeem Gomer represent God's willingness to pursue His people. Thus, even when we turn away from Him, God's love seeks us out and desires our restoration, affirming His unconditional nature.

Q: Why is the concept of redemption important for Christians?

Redemption is vital for Christians as it assures us of God's mercy and forgiveness through Christ's sacrifice. The concept of redemption is at the heart of the Christian faith, encapsulating God's plan for salvation through Jesus Christ. In the story of Hosea, we see a parable of restoration that points to the ultimate redemption found in Christ. As Hosea purchased Gomer from her plight, Christ paid the price for our sins through His death on the cross, breaking the chains of bondage that held us captive (as indicated in Hosea 2:23). This redemption is not only about eternal salvation; it transforms our lives, engendering a profound gratitude that equips us to live for Him. Understanding redemption fosters a deeper appreciation of grace, encourages us to extend forgiveness to others, and compels us to live a life reflective of the love shown to us by God.

I'm going to ask you to open
your Bibles to the little book of Hosea. Hosea, one of the minor prophets. I want you to turn there because
I'll be referring to several verses from the book of Hosea. A few years ago, a publisher called Evangelical
Press began printing our Sunday school lessons in book form. They printed the
six volumes of the lessons I prepared from Romans 1 to the last verse
of Jude, 21 epistles. And to our amazement and gratitude
to God, they published them in four different languages, English,
Portuguese, Spanish, and French. And they're all over the world,
those Sunday School lessons are. And then they printed the book
of John. We went through the book of John,
verse by verse, and they printed that book. And then the last
one that they published was a study in the Old Testament
scriptures entitled, Old Testament Pictures of Christ as Seen through
New Testament Eyes. For a couple of years, we went
through the Old Testament picking out these patterns and promises
and pictures of Christ, beginning with the fall, the seed of woman,
the ark, all the way through the Old Testament. Well, I didn't
write but 86 of them, and they published the first 48 lessons
in a little And from Genesis to Job, they've
been out for some time now, and they've been translated into
French and into Russian. They're being translated now
into Russian. Well, I received a call a few weeks ago from the
director of evangelical press in Darlington, England, and he
wants to begin work on the second book of the Old Testament studies. The first book went from Genesis
to Job, and the second book will go from Psalms to Malachi. Well,
I didn't have enough of them. We only had thirty about 38 lessons,
and they need at least 48 or 50. So I've been working the
last few weeks on those other lessons, going through some of
the minor prophets, Hosea, Daniel, Hosea, Micah, Zechariah, Malachi,
some of those. He called and he said, if we're
going to go from Psalms to Malachi, we ought to have one on Malachi.
I said, all right, we'll have one on Malachi. But anyway, as
I've been studying these minor prophets and writing the lessons
the last several days, I prepared a lesson from Hosea. Now, I preached
from Hosea a long, long time ago. And when I went back over
this story in the book of Hosea, it was so refreshing to me and
such a blessing to me that I determined to preach from the book of Hosea
this morning. And the subject will be Hosea,
a picture of Christ. When I finished the lesson, I
gave it to my wife Doris to read. And she read it, and she looked
up and smiled, and she said, I love Hosea. I hope you respond
like that this morning. That would do me a lot of good
if when I finish preaching this message that somebody will smile
and say, I love Hosea. Because it's such a beautiful
picture of how the Lord Jesus Christ redeems us. It's the story
of redemption, the love of God, the grace of God, the redemption
we have in Christ. Two interesting things about
Hosea. Look at Hosea chapter 1, verse
1. One interesting thing about Hosea
is he prophesied about the same time as Isaiah. He was a contemporary
of Isaiah. Did you know that? I often wonder
at what time in human history these men preached and prophesied.
Well, this fellow, While not as famous as Isaiah, I guess,
but he prophesied at the same time Isaiah did. Look at verse
1. The word of the Lord that came unto Hosea, son of Bera,
in the days of, listen, Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings
of Judah. And in the days of Jeroboam,
the son of Joash, king of Israel. Now you just hold that and let
me read over here in Isaiah chapter 1. about when Isaiah prophesied. This is interesting, Isaiah chapter
1, and you'll find almost the same words. The vision of Isaiah,
the son of Amos, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem
in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, Kings of
Judah. So he prophesied about the same
time. These two men were contemporaries.
The second thing about Hosea, And you'll have to look this
up in your concordance. But I've told many of you, we
have concordances in here with the Hebrew and Greek lexicon
in the back. In other words, you don't have
to study Greek and Hebrew to study the Word of God. But it
helps sometimes when you look up these words. And you can look
the word up in the concordance and it will refer you back to
the Hebrew dictionary. And I looked up the name Hosea.
I don't speak Hebrew. I can't, I'm not proficient in
Hebrew at all. But I looked up the name Hosea,
and you know what his name means? It's the same name as Joshua.
Hosea and Joshua. And Jesus. You know, Jesus and
Joshua are the same word. Joshua knows as Jesus, and Hosea
means the same thing. Hosea, the word means the deliverer,
the deliverer, the Savior. So I tell you, it's really surprising
to me with a name like that we don't hear more messages from
Hosea. It's astounding. We hear a lot of messages from
Isaiah, and I know one reason, one reason, I'll take the blame
for this too. One reason that we don't preach
a great deal from Hosea is we don't like to preach on judgment
all the time, and that's what his book's all about. Judgment,
judgment, judgment, judgment. Condemnation, reproof. He reproves
Israel, he rebukes them for their sins, for their idolatry. And that's what most of his book's
about. But in this early chapters, in
the early chapters, here's the story I want you to see. Now
look at Hosea 1, verse 2. The beginning of the word of
the Lord by Hosea. 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. So he went and took Gomer, the
daughter of Debalaim, which conceived and bearing him a son." God commanded
this prophet of His, this servant of His, this godly man, to go
among a nation of pagan people, not Israel, but a pagan people.
A people of whoredoms, a people of prostitution, fornication
and adultery. It was just their way of life,
accepted like the Gentiles of old. That's a strange command,
isn't it? Well, you know, people who believe
God do not question God's commandments, do not question God's purpose
and God's providence. They know that God's way is best,
though they often do not understand why. And oftentimes we ask why. God sends a trial into our lives,
or a difficult time, or a difficult experience, and we say, well,
even so, Father, it seemed good in Thy sight. And we accept the
hand of the Lord, and He's the first cause of all things, and
we bow to God's will. But I often, and you do too,
say, well, why? Why are you doing this to me?
Why is this happening? Moses must have wondered why. Moses sitting down there in the
desert. Forty years he lived on the backside
of a desert with his education, with his upbringing, with his
skill, with his strength, with all this. And here he sits in
a desert for forty years. And I know he wonders why. Why
did he fail in his first efforts to deliver Israel out of Egypt?
He wanted to, but he failed. Here he is sitting over there
in the desert. God has a reason. I know Abraham. I know he wondered
why God gave him a son and turned around and said, take him up
on the mountain and kill him. Abraham was willing, but I know
he wondered, why don't you? What's the purpose of this? Joseph. Joseph had dreams of great power
and visions of great leadership in Israel, and here he is sitting
down in Egypt in a dirty jail. And I know he's sitting there,
I'm a child of God, I'm a son of God, what am I doing here?
What's this all about? How's this going to give me leadership?
This is a hopeless situation. What about Job, a man known for
piety? God said of Job, there's none
like him. And yet none suffered like Job.
Nobody suffered like Job. And I know oftentimes, he asked
it openly, didn't he? Why? And John Bunyan, I've been
right over there where John Bunyan sat in jail for 12 years. He
was the greatest preacher of his day. The straightest, strongest,
boldest preacher of his day, and he knew it. And there he
sat in jail for 12 years. And I know he wondered, why?
And here God comes to this man, Hosea, and said, tell me what
you do. You go down to this land where open practice, whoredoms
and prostitution and the worst kind of sensuality and flesh
reigns, and you choose one of those young girls and marry her
and bring her back to your home. I'll tell you what the Lord's
doing here. We know why because we read the last chapter. The
story's over now. But the Lord is showing his love
for us. Look at chapter 3. Chapter 3. Here's the key to this whole
story. Chapter 3, verse 1. Then said the Lord to me, go
yet love a woman, beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress,
a prostitute. And you do it according to the
love of the Lord toward the children of Israel who look to other gods.
That's what I'm showing you, Hosea. I'm showing you how I
love you and the people of Israel, how I love my people. And I'll
tell you this, the Lord loved us before we loved him. He chose
us before we chose him. John said here in his love, not
that we loved God, but he loved us and gave his son to be a perpetuation
by sin. Hosea went down and chose this
young girl and bestowed love and affection upon her. She didn't
love him, he loved her. God said, I passed by you when
you were polluted in your blood, and it was a time of love, and
I said, do you live? God chose us in Christ when we
were yet sinners. God committed His love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Christ died for the ungodly. You know, we love those that
love us. God loves those who don't love
Him. They will someday, but they don't now. We love people who
are our friends. God loves His enemies. We love
those who need us. And whom we need, God loves those
who need Him. He doesn't need them. Well, this woman bore Him three
children. Verse 3 said, He went and took Gomer, this young lady,
the daughter of Diblaim, To be his wife, she conceived and bear
a son, Jezreel, and then a daughter, and then another son. But you
know, after a while, she matured. Evidently, when he married her,
she was just a teenager. That's when they married back
then, just very, very, very young people, teenagers. And when he
married her, She wasn't involved in all of this, that her people
were involved in, but when she got a little older, she came
into his home and lived with him a while, and then she departed
and went the way of her people. Look at verse, chapter 2 now,
verse 1. Say ye unto your brethren, am
I? And to your sister Ruhema, plead
with your mother, plead. She's not my wife. Neither am
I her husband. Let her therefore put away her
whoredoms out of her sight, her adulteries from between her breasts."
That's what she's doing now. She's, see she, this is her people. This land of whoredoms and evil,
that's her people. She's one of them. And he came
and chose her and took her out. And when she became mature and
a little older, she went the same way they went. This was
in her. It was of her. She was raised
this way. These were her people and she
became like them. Look at verse 5. For their mother hath played
the harlot. She that conceived them hath
done shamefully. She said, I'll go after my lovers
that give me my bread, and my water, and my wool, my fax, my
oil, my drink. I'm going after them. I'm leaving
my husband. Well, I tell you, that's us.
You know, our little children are born and they look so innocent
and lovable and so without sin, don't they? It's in them. It's in them. It's born in them. The Scripture
says we're conceived in sin. We're shaped in iniquity. We're
brought forth from the womb speaking lies. And they come up and sometimes
you look at them when they're about ten or twelve or eight
or nine And you say, I wish I could keep them like that, because
you know what's ahead. You know what's ahead. It's in them. It's in them. Can the Ethiopian
change his skin? The black man, can he change
his skin? No, it's his nature. It comes from within. Can a leopard
change his spot? No, it's his nature. I don't
know whether they're born with spots or not, but they've got
spots inside, and after a while they're going to have spots.
And that's the way we're born into this world. Though God loves
us and though God has chosen us and though Christ has redeemed
us, we're born in sin and we're going to come up and be what
we are. And I'll tell you this, what
we do is because of what we are. And you can take children And
you can put them in an atmosphere of honesty and righteousness,
and you can shield them from everything outside, but that
sin nature is in here. It's in their heart, in the spirit,
it's in the soul. It's born that way. And they're
going to be what they, they're going to be sinners. They're
born sinners. They come forth from the womb sinners. That's
what they are. That's what she wants. Though
he loved her, and though he was good to her, that's what she
was. And when she came up with the
freedom and with an expression of her own, when she matured
and grew up, that's what she was. But you know what he did? Look here at verse 8, chapter
2. You know, she said down here in verse 5, In verse 5, look at verse 5 again.
Their mother hath played the harlot, she that conceived them
hath done shamefully. She said, I'll go after my lovers
that give me bread, and my water, my wool, my flax, my oil, my
drink. They weren't giving her those
things. You know who was giving her those things? Look at verse
8. She didn't know that I gave her the corn, and the wine, and
the oil. I multiplied her silver and gold,
which they prepared for David. I'm the one that gave her those
things. Now, let me tell you this. Let me go back a minute.
Hosea loved this woman and made her one with him. God chose us
before the foundation of the world. He said, I separated you
from your mother's womb. Before you were born, I knew
you. I knew you, I loved you. I've drawn you with an everlasting
love. I've loved you with an everlasting love, therefore with
loving kindness have I drawn you. He set his affection on
us before the world began. Then we were born into the world.
We belong to him, we're his sheep, we're his bride, we're his people.
We're his Jews, but we don't act like him. We're born into
this world and we're wild as a buck. We're born of a people. We're born in a system. We're
born with a nature. It doesn't love God. It doesn't
love holiness. It does not love righteousness.
It loves self and sin and lust after the world and the things
of the world. That's the way we are. And we go to those extremes,
some to greater extremes than others. But all of us, all we
like sheep have gone astray. You say, poor Gomer, she went
astray. So have you. We've turned everyone
to His own way. She didn't go the way of her
husband. She went the way of her people, the way of her nature,
the way of her lust, the way of her desires. And we haven't
gone the way of God. He's our God, isn't He? We haven't
gone His way. We've gone our way. I'll do it.
What's that song? My Way. My Way. My Way. But all the time we're
doing that. He's feeding us, and clothing
us, and caring for us, and protecting us. We say we do it. Yeah. She said, I'll go after my lovers,
they sure take care of me good. Oh no, those guys not taking
care of you, they're using you. I'll tell you who's taking care
of you, God is. Every night, I'll bet you old old Hosea would
go to wherever she's staying and he'd put corn outside the
door and oil outside the door. She'll need a little money, so
he gives her a little money too, silver and gold. Say, what's
he doing? You say, I wouldn't do that.
No, you're not going. I'm glad to. Because sure as
I went wrong, you'd give up on me. You'd disown me. You'd cut me out of the will.
Wouldn't you? Yeah, you would. I would too.
But He never cut me out of the way. No matter how far I strayed,
no matter how low I went, no matter how far from Him, He kept
every day, every day of my life, He kept supplying my needs. He's
going to need a little help here now. He's going to need a little
money. He's going to need a little food. I'm a self-made man, yeah. We sure made a mess out of self
too, didn't we? But He supplied the need. I found
a song that said this, He that formed me in the womb, He'll
guide me to the tomb. All my days will ever be ordered
by His wise decree. Before I'm saved, after I'm saved. Times of sickness, times of health,
times of poverty, times of wealth, times of sorrow, times of grief,
times of joy, times of relief. Times of temptress, power to
prove, times to taste the Savior's love. All must come and last
and end, as shall please my heavenly friend. But plagues and death
around me fly till he pleases, I cannot die. I know that he's
God alone. I and mine are all his own."
God's showing us here how he loves us. And Gomer's gone her way, but
he still loves her. He still hadn't forsaken her.
I'll never forsake you, he said. I'll never give up on you. Though
the sheep wanders from the foal and the sheep is lost, the Lord
Jesus still takes care of the sheep. Well, pretty soon, Gomer
was brought low. Look at verse 9. Now here's the
work of conviction. Therefore will I return and take
away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof.
I'm on a stripper. I'll recover my wool and my flax
given to cover her nakedness, and now I'll discover her lewdness,
her folly, her shame in the sight of her lovers, and none shall
deliver her out of my hand." All right. It's time for her
to stop. It's time for her to be brought
home. It's time for her to be arrested. It's time for her to
consider what she says up here in verse 7. Go back up verse
7. She shall follow after her lovers,
but she shall not overtake them, and she shall seek them, but
not find them. Then she'll say, I'll go and
return to my first husband, for then was it better for me than
now. Oh, oh, something's happened. I was better off than I am now.
What did the prodigal son say? He's down there in the hog pen,
and he came to himself. And he said, there's servants
in my Father's house, that often I am. I'm going to return to
my Father, and I'm going to say, I'm a mess, and I'm in a mess,
and I've sinned against heaven and in your sight, and I'm not
fit to be called your son. Won't you just make me one of
the hired servants, because the servants in my Father's house
get along better than the sons. Even the servants of my Father
get along better than folks out here. They're sons of this world. So here she's brought down. She's
discovered her folly. She's discovered her shame. She's
discovered her life is a burden. The sweetness has become bitter.
The joy has turned to sadness. What she loved, she now hates.
What she hated, she now loves. She's discovered the nothingness
of this world. and the nothingness of her friends,
so-called. I tell you, that's what happens
when God convicts us of sin. When God's going to save us,
when the Lord's going to bring us particle home, when the Lord's
going to bring His bride back to Himself, He's got to wean
us from the world. He shows us that we're nothing,
that we're lost. He strips us. He makes us weary
of sin and weary of this life and weary of this world and weary
of the way we've been going. He makes us long for His fellowship
and long for His grace and long for His presence. And now look, the last thing,
verse 23 of chapter 2. And I will sow unto me, her unto
me in the earth, and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained
mercy. And I will say to them which
are not my people, thou art my people, and they shall say thou
art my God." But now wait a minute. Gomer is a part of a system.
Gomer belongs now to the world. She's a slave to her masters. She's got a price on her head.
And so God says to Hosea here in chapter 3, verse 1, the Lord
said to me, you go yet and love a woman, beloved of her friend. She belongs to somebody now.
She's got a master who's renting her out, who's selling her, who
owns her. And she's unhappy now, and she's
discovered her shame and lewdness, but she still belongs to him,
yet an adulteress. To show the love of the Lord
toward the children of Israel who look to other gods and love
flagons of wine. So watch this. So I bought her.
I bought her to me for 15 pieces of silver. Hosea had to go down. See, she belongs to a system.
She belongs to someone else now. She's a servant of theirs. She's
their property. And Hosea has to go down there
to the marketplace where she's for sale. They don't want her
anymore because she doesn't want them. She means nothing to them anymore
and they mean nothing to her. They've got to dispose of her.
They've got to get rid of her. But they've got a price on her.
And he goes down there to the marketplace and there she is
up on the block. Everybody knows that's her husband.
But he's not ashamed to be identified with her. He's not ashamed of
her, he loves her. And when the beds are open, he raises his
hand and says, I'll bid. And he kept on bidding until
he bid 15 pieces of silver, and an omer of barley and a half
omer of barley. He said, that's what I'll pay.
He paid the price. And he went up and got her and
brought her down. He said to her, I said to her,
verse 3, Now you shall abide for me many days. You shall not
play the harlot any more. You shall not be for any other
man. So will I also be for thee. You're mine now. You're mine. I bought you, paid for you, satisfied
the dead. You say, how does that reveal
God's love for us? We belong to a system, a world
system. We belong to a human race. We're
in captivity to the law. The law's got a price on us.
Justice has a price on us. That's right. Death. That's right. Death. The soul
that's sinning shall die. And if God Almighty is going
to redeem you and me, He's got to come down here to the slave
market of sin. Christ dead. Jesus Christ. who
thought it not robbery to be equal with God, yet made himself
of no reputation, took on himself the form of a servant, and was
numbered with the transgressors, and came down here to this earth
and said, that's my people, that's my bride. Well, she's got a price
on her. Well, lay it on me. And he paid
the debt. It was the debt of perfect obedience
and death on the cross. He paid the debt. And the law
had turned me loose. And Justice, standing there holding
me, Justice had chains on my arms and chains on my feet. Justice
says, he's mine. Christ said, he's mine. And Justice
said, well, if he's yours, you've got to pay what he owes. I'll
pay it. And he paid it, and my chains
fell off, and my shackles fell off, and I'm free. And he came
up there and got me and said, now, you come on home. Where
you belong. I'm glad. I'm glad to go home. And she was glad. You say, well,
she'll leave again? Not on your life. Not on your
life. She found out the world can't
give her what He gave her. She found out the world doesn't
love her like He loves her. She knows where she's been. She
knows who she is. She knows the price paid for
her redemption. You needn't worry. She'll be
the best wife on the whole street. Because she's got the best husband
who loved her the most. And that's where God's people
are. When those loved by Him and redeemed by Him, they know
what they were. They know where they were. They
know what mess they was in. They know how impossible it was. There she stood. There she stood. And there He came. And He loved
her. And He paid. I bought her. I
bought her. I redeemed her. Now she turned
to her as they walked home. He said, you're mine. And you're
not going to be for anybody else. I bought you. And she's free. Nobody has any claims on her
now. They can't call her back. No. The debt's paid. No claim. That's a factual redemption.
That's a particular redemption. He didn't buy all the slaves
down there. There was some more there. You've met your life,
there was some more there. They didn't have a slave market
for one little woman. There were plenty out there,
but he bought one. He paid the price. He'd have
bought them all. He'd have taken them all home, but he didn't.
He bought one. He bought his.

A Picture of Christ

What does the Bible say about redemption in Hosea?

How do we know God's love is unconditional according to Hosea?

Why is the concept of redemption important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

Joshua

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Music

Recent Comments

About

Legal

Subscribe

Account

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Recent Comments

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Collections

Music

About

Legal

Subscribe

A Picture of Christ

What does the Bible say about redemption in Hosea?

How do we know God's love is unconditional according to Hosea?

Why is the concept of redemption important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

More from Henry Mahan

Related Sermons

Articles by Henry Mahan

Books by Henry Mahan

Joshua

Where this book stands in the tradition

Plato

Augustine

The Western Christian Tradition

This Book