Hosea 2:1-23

Adultery and idolatry are constantly compared throughout the Scriptures.  God had called the nation of Israel to be His people, His children and His spouse.  They were to be a nation that was separated for the purpose of worshiping Him.  They were supposed to set an example of holiness so that God’s blessings would flow freely through the nation of Israel and be an example to all the other nations.  God’s desire was to bless Israel as His family so that all the other nations could be blessed through this nation.  Instead, Israel was unfaithful to the Lord and ran after all the gods of the nations surrounding them.  Worship is one of the greatest blessings God has given to us and it is also our primary responsibility as believers in Him.  Unfortunately, the fall of man has introduced a polluted form of worship in our lives that is called idolatry.  We must constantly guard our hearts from this besetting sin.

ISRAEL’S CONDEMNATION: Israel’s unfaithfulness and idolatry is described as the adultery of a blatantly unfaithful wife.  She has gone out into the streets to find other lovers and without any discretion or shame.  This brings about the wrath of God on the nations just as the wrath of a husband would be upon a wife who has been found to be unfaithful.  God compares His wrath to that of a husband who finds out his wife is an adulteress and that the children she has born are not his.  Hosea warns Israel that God will turn His back on them and they will be left to wander as captives of other nations.  The will be left without provision or protection and they will be abandoned in the wilderness of their sin.  The real price of sin is always far greater than the false promise of sin’s pleasures.  God’s judgment of sin is far more severe than anything that can be experienced on this earth.  His rejection of Israel and the years of slavery are only drops in the bucket of God’s eternal wrath against sin.  We must prepare for this future reality.


ISRAEL’S RESTORATION: No matter how difficult the judgment against Israel becomes, Hosea once again has a message of hope for the restoration of Israel.  God promises that He will once again use the wilderness of judgment to draw the nation into the promise of His blessing.  He promises to bring about a radical change in the lives and the hearts of the nation.  He will restore them to Himself through faith in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Their hearts will be changed and so will their identity.  They will no longer be scattered as slaves but they will be planted as productive seeds in their nation of promise.  They will no longer be the people who will experience no mercy, but the mercy of God will flow through their lives.  They will no longer be the people that are not God’s people but they will be called God’s children and they will call Him their God.  The sin of idolatry will once and for all be lifted from the hearts of God’s children and they will worship Him for all of eternity in faithful adoration with undivided affections.  This promise of a changed heart is the only hope for the nation of Israel and it is the only hope for all of man-kind.  Jesus offers to give us a new heart and change our idolatrous hearts into worshiping hearts in response to our faith in His work on the cross on our behalf.

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