This is the Truth Network. Welcome to the broadcast ministry of Finding Purpose with Russ Andrews, where we seek to glorify God by making him known and guiding others towards their true purpose in life. No one is here by chance. God put us here for a reason. And the most important thing we can do is discover his plan for us and commit ourselves to it.
Keep listening as we learn from the Bible how to live wisely in God's world. which is the first step towards finding your purpose. Let me pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for this night and Lord, thank you for bringing all these men here. Lord, we're We want to hear from you tonight.
And you You speak to us, Lord, when we open up your word. And you speak this, Lord, for your indwelling Holy Spirit. And so, Lord, we look forward to hearing from you tonight. I pray to God that you would take your word. And I'm praying that it would go forth and accomplish the very purpose for which you intend.
In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
So the title of tonight's message, What is God like? And we're going to be looking at Hosea chapter 1 through Hosea chapter 2, verse 1. And so if you've got your Bibles, open up to Hosea, which is the first of the minor prophets. near the very end of the Old Testament. And I want to show you tonight three important attributes of God.
Because I want you to really leave it in like... Understanding Governor. who God is and what He's like. And so first, you need to know that we worship a God who speaks. Because he's a God who desires to be known.
You sure they are? He speaks to mankind. because he deserves to be known. In Genesis chapter 3, verses 8 and 9. As the Lord God walked in the garden in the cool of the day, he called out to the man, Where are you?
Because the man and his wife were hiding. Probably nothing. Because it was sent. And so at the very beginning, we see that the God of the Bible is the God who wants us to know him. And the reason he wants to know him is because he wants us to He wants us to love him.
and to worship him. And he wants to have a relationship with us. And he wants to guide us through this life and bless us along the way. That's why he wants us to know him and have this relationship with him. In Exodus chapter 3, verse 14, the Lord spoke to Moses from a burning bush and said, I am who I am.
This is what you are to say to the Israelites. I am as sent me to you. Do you show this in God's very name I am? It points to both his transcendence and his diluts. And if you don't know what those two words are, let me explain them to the kids.
Trans citizens Transcendence means that God is beyond us, that He's really a God who cannot be known. He's just too far beyond us.
Well, eminence. It refers to a God who draws near to us because he wants to be known.
So God is but transcendent. And He is imminent. And notice this. Right here in Exodus 3, verse 14, that he's the one who took the initiative to draw near to Moses. in that burning bush to in order to reveal himself not only to Moses but also to reveal himself to the Israelites.
In Deuteronomy chapter 30. Moses and the Israelites are out in the desert. They've come to the Mount Sinai, and God has. called Moses on top of the mountain because he wants to speak to him. And so in verses 15 and 16, He tells Moses what he wants.
Moses to convey to the Israelites And God is saying to the Israelites. And here's what it says in Deuteronomy 30 verses 15 and 16. You think about this carefully. Because it's the same thing that God will say to you and me tonight. I set before you today life and prosperity.
Death and destruction.
Now, think about this. They get ready to head towards the promised land. And this is what God wants to say to them before they enter the promised land. For I command you today to love the Lord your God. to walk in his ways and to keep his commands, decrees, and laws.
Then you will live and increase. And the Lord your God will bless you in the land you're entering to possess. But If your heart turns away and you are not obedient, And if you're drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land. And if you read 1 and 2 Kings, which I hope you have done by now, you need to hop on it.
You'll see the history of Israel and how that time and time again. They chose to disobey God and bow down to other gods. And all began. With King Solomon. Rebel Against God by Mary Foreign Wives.
who led him astray, which is exactly what God warned would happen. to worship other gods. And this would eventually led to the downfall of Israel and resulted in a divided kingdom. In Hosea chapter 1, We see that it was time for God to once again Speak to his wayward people. And this time he has chosen to speak to a prophet by the name of Hosea.
So look at verses 1 and 2. The word of the Lord that came to Hosea, son of Bere, during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotho. A pass. And Hezekiah. All kings of Judah, and during the reign of Sheroboam, son of Jehoash, king of Israel.
When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, Go, take to yourself an adulteress wife. and children of unfaithfulness. Because the lamb is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the Lord.
So Hosea appears in history. During the time of the divided kingdom, when God calls him to speak to the northern kingdom of Israel, remember, it's divided into, Israel's divided at this point. The northern kingdom is known as Israel, and the southern kingdom is known as Judah. In the Northern Kingdom, Will end up lasting about 250 years from approximately 975 BC, which was the time of King Solomon's death. To seven twenty-two B circum.
With your sear, it's gonna be a So Hosea spoke, catch this now, the word of the Lord. That's why they would say, thus saith the Lord. Because they were literally speaking God's word. He spoke the word of the Lord, Hosea then, during the final 40 years of Israel's existence. all the way up until the invasion of the Assyrians and the destruction of Samaria, which was the capital of Israel.
So he lived during the time of the last, one of the last seven kings, but I mentioned six kings here.
So he came in at the time of Solomon II, excuse me, Jeroboam II. Jeroboam I was the first king of Israel when the kingdom was divided. He was the one who began the downfall after King Solomon.
So he reigned during the last six kings, which was Zachariah. Shalom And then he landed. Hannah. Have a coffee? And Hosea, Hosea, which is not a big confusion with Hosea, okay?
And it was a talent of great religious Adultery, violence. Murder, drunkenness. armed robbery and adultery. And listen, catch this. Four of the last six kings of Israel were all assassinated.
You think they could make a boogie about this? All of the kings of Israel, beginning with Jeroboam I, all the way down to King Hosea. What evil? All of them. Not a single good king in the Northern Kingdom.
Just like King Solomon, they led the people to worship Baal and Molech, who were the. false gods of their neighboring enemy countries. And they're worshiping these Gods, listen, included child sacrifice.
Some of the kings would take their sons and daughters and burn them alive as offerings to Baal and Molech. Do we do anything like that here in America today? Yes. Moreover, their religious practices included male and female shrine prostitutes. who perform sexual acts in public as a form of worship.
Can you believe that? Hosea writes that the land was guilty of the vilest, I can't even think of a worse word, the vilest adultery in departing from the Lord. It was into this decadent society that God spoke to Hosea and commanded him, not a suggestion, it was a command, to find a whore or a prostitute and take her to his wife and to take any children she had already birthed with other men. And so he found a woman Who could be on? Found him with Gilmore.
An imperative or in obedience to God. Yeah.
So here's a question. Why did God command him to do this? Mm.
Well, you know what? is because those age marriage would serve as a living a living feature. of the painful relationship between God and Israel. And God wanted Hussein to experience this pain for himself. That the broken heart that God had He wanted Jose to experience so that he would be better equipped to speak in God's behalf.
with a broken heart. And so from the very beginning, God wanted to bless the Israelites so they would enjoy life in the land that He gave to them, the promised land. And through Moses, God pleaded with them And I'm more like to Mel Sana. He pleaded with the Israelites through Moses. To choose life.
of her death. That's the same choice he gives you and me.
So, what are you choosing? Are you choosing life? What do you have? Blessings or curses. In Deuteronomy 30.
Verses 19 and 20, Moses said. Again, they're getting ready to enter the promised land. He says, This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you. That I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses.
Now choose life so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God. Listen to His voice. And hold fast to Him, for the Lord is your life. And he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Lord's your life.
Jesus said in John 14, 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. This life cannot be found outside of Jesus Christ. Satan and Israel chose death over life. They chose curses over blessings, and they chose disobedience over obedience. And so God had no choice but to act.
And I do deal. And that brings us to the second attribute of God that we see in this text. We worship a God who is. He's really, he's holy and just. His holiness.
And its justice is beyond anything that we can comprehend. And because he's holy and just, sometimes. He has to judge us, does he not? Just like any father would do with a wayward son, Hebrews 12. You you have to punish the son that you love.
So look at verses 3 through 9. Verse 3 says, So he married Gomer, daughter of Diblain, and she conceived and bore him a son. Then the LORD said to Hosea, Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jacob for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. Did you get that? I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel.
In that day, I will break Israel's bode in the valley of Jezreel. Goa conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the Lord said to Hosea, Call her Lo Reubama, which means not loved. for I would not yet again show love or pity to the house of Israel. For I will show it not again.
Forgive them. And to the house of Judah.
Now he's talking about the southern kingdom. I will not again show pity, nor will I yet again save them as Yahweh their God. I will not save them from the bow or from the sword or from war, from horses or horsemen. Then verse 8. After she had weaned Lo Ruhamah, Galah had another son.
And then the Lord said, Call him Lo ami, which means not my people. For you are not my people. And I am not. Your God. Did you know that's what um Non-believers were here.
Oh, the day of judgment. Today will be Can't scattered. to a place like Jezreel, a place of judgment. And Jesus will say, I never knew you. You're not my people.
Depart from me. Do you want your friends to hear that message? Did you know that God is a God who measures sin literally? He measures it. For over 400 years The Lord had observed the sin of the Canaanites and the Amorites who were living in Canaan.
If you ever wondered why, God drove them out of the land. This is why. He gave them 400 years to repent. And all the while as they were sinning, All these things that I just read about what the Israelites were doing. The Canaanites and Amorites have been doing that for 400 years.
Child sacrifice. Sexual uh sexually depraved worship. And all the while, God was keeping the measure of the sin as if he was weighing it on scales.
Okay. Where am I getting this from? The vowel. Look at well in your outline Exodus 15 The Lord spoke to Abraham and said, Now brought back, you know. Back to to um you know to Exodus here.
When God is speaking to Abraham about his future, he says, Abraham knows for certain that your descendants will be strangers in the country, not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated for 400 years. Where was that going to happen? in Egypt. For I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. You however will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age.
In the fourth generation, Your descent will come back here. talking about the land of Canaan. Because he's going to send Moses to set them free from bondage. In Egypt. For the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.
All the while that the Hebrews were grown into a nation in Egypt, when they were enslaved. God was measured in the sin of the Amorites and Canaanites back into the land of Canaan. And when the Syndic Amorites reached its full measure, God commanded Joshua to lead the Israelites into the land of Canaan. And beginning with Jericho, Yeah. Joshua was instructed.
Listen to this now, he's the general. He was instructed to destroy with the sword every living thing in it. Men, women, young and old, cattle, sheep, and donkeys. Yeah.
Such is the wrath of God, men. You would think the Jews would have learned something about God when they observed how severely he judged the Canonites and Amorites. But guess what they learned? Nothing. Beginning with the reign of King Solomon, all the way down to the last king, King Hosea.
Again, not me, or Hosea. How do y'all pronounce it? GM, Professor GF, where are you? Breaks. He's checked out.
All right, holding it up later. But it's not to be confused with Hosea. Yeah.
So beginning with King Solomon, you track him down through Jeroboam I, all the way down through Ahab, Omri, all these evil kings, until you get to Jeroboam II, and then Zechariah, all the way down to King. Hoshea. See if all my scalps are changing memories. Oh yeah. These kings led Israel to commit the same sins as the Canaanites, a grievous idolatry, depravity, depraved worship, and shall sacrifice.
Thus God had no choice. but to judge his chosen people. They were his treasure possession. Just like a son is to a father a treasure possession. Hosea prophesied that the Lord, and he did this for 40 years, that the Lord who had delivered them from Egypt, who led them through the Red Sea on dry ground, who fed them manner from heaven, he gave them water from rocks, while they wandered and grumbled in the desert for 40 years, he continued to feed them and nourish them.
And then he gave them the promised land. This same Lord was going to judge them severely. The word Jezreel in verse 4 means God sows or God scatters. Hosea was declaring prophetically that God was about to scatter the Israelites and sow or plant them in a foreign land. He was going to destroy them just as King Jehu.
And again, you have to read 1 and 2 Kings to understand this. Just as King Jehu had finally destroyed King Ahab and Jezebel and their entire family in the area of Jezreel.
So, Jezreel is a place of judgment. In the same manner, God was going to put an end to the kingdom of Israel. And this is exactly what happened. In 722 BC, when Samaria fell to sh to Shalmaneser V, the commander of the Assyrian army. Here's what happened.
Listen to this, okay? This is Guys, this is not my word. This is God's work. Amen.
And if you're to appreciate God's love and grace and mercy, It helps to understand that He saved you from His wrath. 2 Kings 17. says this The king of Assyria invaded the entire land. marched against Samaria and laid siege to it for three years. In the ninth year of King Hosea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria, deported the Israelites to Assyria.
All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt under the power of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. They forsook all the commands of the Lord their God and made for themselves two idols cast in the shape of calves and an asheropole. They bowed down to all the starry hosts, and they worshiped Baal. They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire. They practiced divination and sorcery, and sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, provoking him to anger.
So the Lord, it says, again, I'm quoting scripture, was very angry with Israel and removed them from his presence. Not only did God destroy them. But he treated them as a people he no longer loved. could no longer forgive, and who no longer belonged to him. Why did this happen?
Because the Israelites chose death rather than life. They chose curses rather than blessings. They chose disobedience. rather than obedience. But here's the good news.
All hope was not gone. There's always hope men with God. As long as you have breath in your lungs, there's always an opportunity. For God's grace and mercy. Habakkuk 3:2 says, In wrath.
Remember mercy. No, it's in your wrath, God. Please remember mercy.
Okay. That's the third attribute of God that I want you to take away tonight. We worship a God who is merciful. In fact, Micah 7, 18, 19 says that God is a God who delights in showing mercy. And thus he offers us hope.
Look at verse 10 of chapter 1 and then chapter 2 verse 1. Yet, now this is Hosea looking into the future. To his way into his future. At least 700 Euros. and even beyond us tonight.
So you have to listen carefully, Kat. Yet the Israelites will be like the sand of the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, you are not my people. It'll be called Sons of the living God. The people of Judah and the people of Israel.
So he's talking to the entire kingdom of Israel, United Kingdom. We'll come together. And they will appoint one leader. Who's that pointing to? The Messiah.
The Messiah. And we'll come up out of the land for great will be the day of Jezreel. Save of your brothers, he says to Joseph, save your brothers, my people. and have your sisters. My loved one.
See, that's what God wants to send all of us. Hosea offered the Israelites hope of a coming revival in the very land from which they would be taken. The land of Jezreel. Which that's that's an area up in um the northern kingdom of Israel.
So here what he's doing. It's a play of words with this word Jezreel. He's reversing the meaning of Jezreel. From what he said earlier, and it was at verse 3 or 4, to what he's saying now in verse 11, I believe it is.
So Jezreel meant Scattered.
Now it's got a lane. plant. What's up? Dr. Michael Eaton says, What God scattered in judgment, he would be ready to plant again.
God will take seed and plant them again and give them a new hope of fruitfulness and productivity. The day of Israel's restoration would be not an end, but a starting point, not a reaping, but a sowing.
So let me ask you a question. Has Israel's spiritual restoration begun? Yes or no? This is not a fair question. Yes.
It began when God sent his Son into the world to preach the gospel in both Judea and Samaria. to the Jew first. Romans 1.16, Paul says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. Because it is the salvation of everyone who believes. First to the Cheers.
Vintage. In John chapter 4. And she's in Canada. The Samaritan woman did well. The Samaritans, by the way, were the descendants of the Israelites of Hosea's dad.
who were taken by the Assyrians back to Assyria. Oh, and then Some of the poor people left in the land, and over the course of time, they intermarried with the Assyrians. And so the Samaritans World. half Jewish and half Gentile.
Okay, this is why the Jews despise them and would not even walk into Samaria. The Pharisees would walk around east of the Jordan River and come up go around the area of Samaria and come up to the Sea of Galilee and take a circuitous route. But Jesus was not like that. Jesus marched right into Samaria on a divine mission. He had an appointment with a woman of ill repute.
The warrant, the weather. If he shared the gospel with her, And she believed. And it said streams of living water began to flow from within her. And she went back to her town, Sycar, from which people looked down at her. And all of a sudden, she's got her head held up high.
And she says, come make the man. who do everything about me. As a hotel, Believed. This took place About 700 years after Hosea's promise of hell. In Acts we see that the persecution of the church scattered Jesus' followers.
This is in Acts chapter seven and eight, early stone Stephen. And they put his their clothes down at the feet of Saul, who was The Apostle Paul later, who was in charge of the execution of Stephen. And then a great persecution broke out among the church, and they scattered all over Israel. What they take with them when they're scattered. The gospel.
Then the Apostle Paul After his incredible salvation, he carried the gospel all over the known world, even to Rome. But to the Jew first. Since the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD, for the past 2,000 years, There's been very little hope for Jews spiritually speaking. It's just been like days like God has been silent.
However, in 1948 Once again, God brought hope with the establishment of a permanent homeland, the nation of Israel. And I believe they will never depart from that place again. I believe they've actually become an immovable rock, and all who go against her will injure themselves. Just ask Hamas. And has the line.
Yeah.
And anybody else that comes against them. John is not finished with Israel. He will see to it that his promise of hope that he offered through the prophet Hosea is completed. In the very place where they were once called not my people, they are going to be called sons of the living God. In Romans 11, Paul refers to believing Jews as the natural branches.
We studied that last semester. These are Messianic Jews who. believe that Jesus is their promised Messiah. Very slowly. Since nineteen forty eight, Jews have been hearing the voice of God in different ways.
Either of them. Missionaries that are, a lot of these are Jews who've become Christians, who go to Israel to share the gospel.
Some of them are beginning to read the scriptures. I'm talking about Jews now.
So they they read the gospel. And those who have believed have become part of the church. And they had been grafted into their own olive tree. as the natural branches What you are grafted in is what kind of branches? Unnatural brand.
In Romans 11, 25 through 27, Paul writes of a coming time, I believe, you know, this is not 100% clear, but this is what I believe and what other theologians believe, it's a time in our future. When I believe they bought an expensive album, It is likened. Come in Israel. Paul writes, I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited. He's primarily talking to the Gentile believers in Rome.
He says, listen. Israel has experienced a heart and in part. Notice it's not, he didn't say completely. in part implies there's some who believe. Israel has prepared a hardening part until the full number of Gentiles has come in, and so all Israel will be saved.
I've learned this about reading the Bible. God measures things. He measures sin. He's also right now keeping a measure of the number of Gentiles who truly believe in Jesus. And only God knows when the last Gentile will come in.
And at that point, I think there'll be a revival in Israel. Joel Rosenberg. who actually lives in Israel to now He's written a bunch of best-selling books. He estimates that there are 1 million Messianic Jews in the world today. And there are only about 18 to 19 million shoes.
So that's a That's not a bad percentage.
Well, people come up and say, how come the Jews don't believe? You're also there.
Well, how come the Gentiles don't believe? Yeah.
I wonder if the perception is not about the same.
Now man, listen, I want to close with these two verses here. Because I have one main takeaway I want you to take home tonight. Hebrews 11, 1 and 2. It kind of reflects back on everything that I've said tonight. In the past, God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various places.
You could put Hosea in that verse. But in his last days, He's spoken to us about his son. Wouldn't you the last iceberg you have? When Jesus died rose again and ascended to the Father. Very good.
That's why you're on the front row. When Jesus came into the world, the incarnation, and then he died on a cross, was buried, rose again, and then when he ascended into heaven, the last days began.
So we've been in the last days for 2,000 years. Is God still speaking today? Yes. Yes. How does he choose to speak today?
Through his word, the Bible. Thank you. Through this book like here. I looked at this book And ask God Speak to me, Lord. Because I am listening.
And then rate it. Romans 10.17 says, Faith comes from hearing the message. And the message is heard through the word of Christ. Live handwriting us. Hear what the Spirit says to the church.
Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you so much for tonight.
Well, thank you for bringing these men here.
So pray to God that you will do it. Feel within each one of us. Just something that keeps growing every week. A hunger to know you intimately. Paul said, I want to know Christ.
And the power of his resurrection. And the fellowship of sharing in his suffering, becoming like him in his death. And well, that's what we should be praying. I want to know Christ more intimately. Lord, I want to you you speak this Lord because you're a God who wants to be known And we need to know you, Lord.
And the darker the world gets, the more we need to be in intimate fellowship with you. I'm reading your word. Crane. and sharing this incredible fellowship like this on Tuesday nights.
So David is merely Protect us to God from it. all the sickness is going out of the world. And we lifted my special friend Frank Pierce who's battling um the flu and he's in the hospital now that you bring here into his body. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
You've been listening to Finding Purpose with Russ Andrews. This broadcast is made possible because of the prayers and financial gifts of listeners like you. If you want to learn more about our ministry or support us as we reach others with God-centered Bible teaching, please visit us at findingpurpose.net.
