Point 1: Grace changes how God redeems his own.
Hosea 1:10 - “Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’
Point: Only God can be credited with fertility, life, and hope.
Point 2: Graces reverses the natural flow.
Hosea 1:11 - The people of Judah and the people of Israel will be reunited, and they will appoint one leader and will come up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel. “Say of your brothers, ‘My people,’ and of your sisters, ‘My loved one.’
Two Benefits of Grace:
1. Israel and Judah are reunitee
2. Destiny is altered.
Point 3: Grace restores broken relationships.
Hosea 2:1- “Say of your brothers, ‘My people,’ and of your sisters, ‘My loved one.’
The Original Promise to Abraham (see: Genesis 22:17) – “I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore.”
See Zechariah 10:9 – “Though I scatter them among the peoples, yet in distant lands they will remember me. They and their children will survive, and they will return.”
Point: Grace is God’s agent of fulfillment.
Bad News: Sins that Separate us from God (2:2-13)
A. Unfaithfulness = Prostitution – Hosea 2:2-5
Point: God gave Israel up to her own desires: Idolatry... a form of Prostitution.
Side Note: How does an “all-loving” God allow/cause catastrophes? One word: Integrity. God’s
Response to Unfaithfulness (see: Hosea 2:2) – Rebuke
B. Ingratitude (Hosea 2:5b-9)
The Problem: Hosea 2:8 – “She has not acknowledged that I was the one who gave her the grain, the new wine and oil, who lavished on her the silver and gold – which they used for Baal.”
** God’s Response to Ingratitude (vs. 6-7)
Point: God detests giving glory to any other = Ingratitude
C. Immodesty (Hosea 2:10-13)
Hosea 2:10 – “So now I will expose her lewdness before the eyes of her lovers; no one will take her out of my hands.”
“Lewdness” (v. 10) = shamelessness, lack of modesty
Point: God is taking away all of the JOY of the Israelites’ SIN.
Great News: God STILL offers Grace (Hosea 2: 14-15)
God woos Israel (v. 14)
Restore the blessings (v. 15) -
2 Truths Remain -
Truth 1 - Split devotion never works.
Truth 2 - Even in his anger, God holds out the “Grace” carrot.
