Both People Into It • Hosea 2

1:05:48 Teaching begins

Notes

A guy has to deal with his wife who has really strayed far from him, to the point where she’s sleeping with many other men. Her husband has been generous and giving, but she thinks all that good stuff is from her lovers. She doesn’t really know her husband. She has no clue what a great guy he is.

The guy is God. Instead of divorce He’s going to do something daring: win back His clueless wife, Israel, till she returns His love with intense interest and longing.

Relationship is the best when both people are into it.

I’m reading Hosea 2 beginning with verse 2.

1. God has a broken marriage.

A. It’s sad when a relationship breaks down. Two people who were thinking, “us” start thinking, “me”.

1. Notice the one person thinking “me” is Israel. God is still thinking “us” He hasn’t gone away from Israel. Israel is the one who has gone away from the Lord.

2. But things have come to a head. It’s really hard to live in a broken relationship, where only one person is into it, and the other doesn’t care.

B. God has had enough. He’s suing for divorce.

1. This is unthinkable. God hates divorce. My mom decided to divorce my dad. On the day she decided to do it, she read Malachi 3 I hate divorce, says the Lord. The same day she heard it on a Christian TV show, “I hate divorce” Once more that day she heard it, “I hate divorce, says the Lord.” She said, “Okay, okay! I won’t do it.”

2. Here’s how bad the relationship is, how painful, how hard to bear it is: God says, “I want to sue you for divorce. You are not My wife, and I am not your husband.”

C. The charge is adultery. God’s wife is sleeping around and she is absolutely convinced that her lovers are the ones giving her all the good stuff she loves.

D. God says, “But that’s Me giving her all the good stuff. These other gods aren’t giving her anything. She takes it all from Me and gives them the credit. She’s forgotten Me.” Can you imagine being that distant in a marriage? She believes all the good stuff comes from her lovers. She believes them and not her husband. That’s hard.

E. “Not only that, but these aren’t My children,” says God. Everyone loves children, they are a blessing from the Lord. But these are someone else’s children. “They are the direct result of her cheating on Me and loving others who are lying cheaters. Those children are not Mine.”

2. God is going to teach His wife how things really are.

A. God is going to take away all His good things, strip her naked, make her like a wilderness, slay her with thirst. The good stuff is temporary. He gave it, and He can take it away. No more fun, no more lovers.

B. He’s going to hedge up her way with thorns. Her way is away from Me. So I’m going to make it really difficult and painful for her to go her way. The farther she goes, the more painful it will be.

C. I’ll build a wall against those lovers. They won’t contact her.

D. She’ll think, well, I’ll just go after more good stuff, but it won’t be there. Those lovers won’t be there. Not a word of explanation, they’re just gone. They are not faithful through thick and thin. Suddenly they ghost her.

E. They never had good stuff to give in the first place, they just lied to her that they did. They’re rip-off artists who are playing her for a chump. Because she’s clueless, she believed them.

3. Though God’s speaking court action His mind is not on divorce. He is almost outrageous, He’s so daring. He’s going to make a perfect marriage with Israel.

A. After enough time going naked, burnt, starving, degraded, this girlie will start thinking, “I’ll just go back to my husband. He was better than this.”

B. But we’re not done yet. God will allure his unfaithful wife into the wilderness. He’s going to make it look inviting, cool, oooh, I want to go out there! Then He‘s going take her there and she’ll find out: Surprise, baby: it’s a wilderness.

1. This is not how you woo someone. Generally, you take a girl to a fabulous environment so she goes, “Wow, it’s beautiful!” Then she transfers that to you, and says, “Wow, you’re wonderful!” Now we’re making progress.

2. Wastelands are not attractive. There’s no good stuff in a wasteland. There are no other lovers in the desert. There’s nothing except God and His girl.

C. What good can happen in the wilderness? Not good stuff, but the best stuff: God will open up a door of hope.

1. Here’s a door. A door is an opportunity to go in or go out. Otherwise you’re stuck, there’s no exit. Here’s hope: you’re not stuck in the absolute mess you’re in, you adulteress. God is going to get you out. We’re going to get rid of all disobedience and treachery from you.

2. The valley of Achor was where Israel went to find out the traitor who caused the entire nation to be defeated in battle. God pointed him out. Israel took him and stoned him and got rid of his disobedience and treachery. Now that God was again with Israel He made them invincible.

D. God says, “My girl is going to sing as she did in the days of her youth, when she came up from Egypt.”

1. We even have the lyrics of that song, Exodus 15: I will sing unto the Lord for He has triumphed gloriously, the horse and rider thrown into the sea. The Lord is my God and I will praise Him, my father’s God, and I will exalt Him.

2. The sad thing is, when they came up out of Egypt that song was temporary. It lasted almost two-thirds of a chapter. Then there was no water and the people were yelling at Moses and God. Did you bring us up out of Egypt to kill us with thirst? We’re back to not knowing God is good.

E. This song will be permanent because God is going to have a permanent marriage.

1. I will betroth you to Me forever. Usually marriage is till death do us part. Forever means eternal life. Neither one of us is going to die ever again. There will never be another breakup. You will not lose the plot ever again.

2. I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice. My rights protected, your rights protected. Our relationship will be pure. No one gets cheated, no one gets defrauded. That’s peaceful, reassuring. Cheating is stressful, restless. There’s no peace for the wicked. Here is peace in the marriage because all sin is removed. It’s right and just.

3. I will betroth you to Me in lovingkindness and truth. You need love, a covenant, and firmness in order to have a relationship. When you have all three you have security. Lovingkindness, chesed, is love in context of a sacred covenant. God keeps covenant for a thousand generations. He is chesed. Truth is firm. It never changes, nothing can move or bend or twist truth. Truth is eternal.

4. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. I will never fail you. I will never leave you in the lurch, forever.

F. The result of a perfect, permanent marriage is you will know the Lord.

1. The whole problem is that this girlie did not know her husband is the very best she could ever have. Here is the one, true, living God whose name is unchanging covenant love, and Israel could not be bothered. That’s painful.

2. God here promises you will know Me as I really am. I’ll make you forget the names of those guys. You’re going to call Me my Husband, not my Boss.

G. We say, “How are you going to get perfect relationship with a clueless adulteress?” God says, “I’m going to give it to you. I’ll give you eternity, righteousness, justice, covenant love, truth, and faithfulness. I’ll give you Me to live in you forever, and when I live in you, you will know Me.”

H. We know that God does this through giving us His only begotten Son Jesus, who gave Himself for our sins. He took away our guilt and shame and gave the very righteousness of God. They don’t know this yet, but we do.

4. After the relationship is right, God will throw in everything else.

A. I’m also going to make everything right all around you. Everything will respond to Me and it’s going to be good. As long as God has taken away our sins and brought us back to Himself, why not throw everything else in as well?

B. This means giving good stuff is not a big deal to God. Knowing God and having a perfect permanent relationship is the big deal. Everything depends on knowing God.

C. Now some people don’t believe this. Everything is fine. I’m getting all the good stuff I want. I don’t need God. That puts you in the position of the clueless girl who doesn’t know her husband is good. You’re an adulteress and an idolater only headed for judgment.

5. But you don’t have to go to judgment.

A. Maybe you’ve already made the trip, maybe this year you’ll make it. You’ll find yourself in the wilderness. You’ll know how you got there—your own stupid sin. You are so clueless.

B. And it’s desolate out there. Nobody and nothing  but you and the rocks. You’re all alone. You think, well, this is it. This is how it ends. I’ve blown it so bad.

C. The wilderness is useful because it strips away everything that’s a distraction, that you don’t need. All that stuff is unimportant.

D. You find that God is in the wilderness. He brought you there on purpose. In this wilderness valley He’s going to get rid of the traitor, the adulterer, the idolater, that’s you, by showing you the way out, the door of hope.

E. That door is Jesus Christ. He said, “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.” John 10:9

F. Really? How? He says, I will betroth you to Me forever.

1. Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice. I’ll take your sins on Myself, and you will be clean and righteous forever.

2. I will betroth you to me in lovingkindness and in mercy. I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, and you shall know the Lord. You will know His absolute goodness.

G. How can an idolater and an adulterer do that? You believe God. He’s said three times, “I will betroth you to Me.” You didn’t put words in His mouth, He said it. He wants to give you a perfect, permanent relationship that gives you peace and security. So you believe God.

H. Memorise this verse and think on it. Live in it. You’ll find you will totally be into this relationship with God. Relationship is the best when both sides are into it.

Let’s pray.