There She Goes Again | Sunday, June 9, 2024

Have a seat. We're so glad that you are here this morning. Before we get into the Scriptures, I want to take just a moment to acknowledge something important. If you've been driving around the community over the last several days, Thursday and Friday in the late afternoon, you might have gotten stuck in a whole bunch of traffic for high school graduations. This is the season for graduations, and we have some graduates here at our church this morning that we want to acknowledge and pray for.

Angel, I think you're here. Would you stand up where you're at? We have Angel Garcia and Lucy Shman. I don't know if Lucy's here at this service, but we also have Michael Jones and Peter D. Brosie. What we want to do is pray for you, so please stay standing. Anyone who is around them, we ask you to put your hand on their shoulder, and we will pray for them in just a moment.

I also want to acknowledge that Pastor Jason is graduating with his bachelor's in psychology in August from Cal Baptist University. His daughter, Maggie, is graduating together with him from Cal Baptist as well, which is pretty cool.

So, would you guys join me in prayer for our graduates? Let's lift them up to the Lord. God, we thank you so much for this next step in life. It really is a milestone, and for these individuals, especially those graduating from high school, there are a lot of new open doors and sometimes concerns and trepidation. But God, by Your Spirit, by Your Word, and by the working that You do through the body of Christ, You guide us into all truth. You teach us all things and give us wisdom for life.

So we pray for our graduates. We ask, God, that You would guide them step by step into this next season. Pour out Your Spirit upon them and use them for Your glory in our community. Lord, we thank You so much for them, and we pray that they would rejoice in this achievement. We ask that You would ready them for the next things that You have for them. We believe that You have created us for a purpose, and while we don't always know all the details of that purpose, You've given us enough to know to follow You, and You will direct us into those things. You work in us to will and to do Your good pleasure.

So we pray for Angel and the other graduates in our church. We ask, God, that You would pour out upon them and direct them in Jesus' name. Amen.

Awesome! Very cool. All right, we are going to get into the Scriptures this morning. If you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand, and one of our ushers will bring you one. We will be studying together this morning.

This last week, I was at a pastor's conference. At one point, I was there talking with a number of friends of mine who are also pastors, and we got onto the subject of weddings and marriage. We all agreed that it's kind of an interesting shift that has happened, at least for me and some of the other guys I was talking to, in the last five or so years. I don't do as many weddings as I once did, and that's not because marriage rates are down. I think a lot of people would assume that, but in fact, the last few years, marriage rates have been up.

What has been a marked change, a very different change than when I first started out in ministry, is that more and more couples are asking a friend or a family member to officiate their wedding. You can go online and, for about twenty dollars, get a license to perform a wedding. Because of that, ministers are not asked to do weddings quite as much as we once were.

That said, over the two and a half decades of my pastoral ministry, I've probably performed around forty or fifty weddings. There are a number of couples here this morning for whom I performed your wedding. At every wedding I've ever done, there is a passage of Scripture that I share, at least a portion of it, from the New Testament book of Ephesians.

I would like you to start with me this morning by opening your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 5. It's near the end of your Bible. If you open to the last third of your Bible, you'll find the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Then comes the book of Acts, followed by the Epistles: Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, then Galatians, and Ephesians.

If you've attended a Christian wedding, you have probably heard some portion of this passage read before. I share portions of it at every wedding I do, beginning at verse 22. Ephesians chapter 5 states, "Wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord." I just lost about half of you.

For the husband is the head of the wife, as also Christ is the head of the church. He, Christ, is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing.

Such a thing exists, but the church should be holy and without blemish. Husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself, for no one ever hated his own flesh but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones. For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This, Paul says, is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

Nevertheless, let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. I know that for some, the opening words of that passage might be the only thing that people hear: "Wives, submit to your own husbands." At that point, some people are triggered in our triggering culture, or they tune out, especially because of the culture we live in that has moved so far away from the Scriptures. That might be a stumbling block for some people.

Fortunately, I didn't read this passage this morning to focus on that exhortation to wives or the exhortation to husbands, where it says, "Husbands, love your wives as Christ also loved the church." The reason I focus on this this morning, or begin with this, is what we find in verses 31 and 32. So look again at Ephesians 5:31. Paul says, "For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." He says this is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

In addition to having performed dozens of weddings over the years, I also meet with couples that I am going to do a wedding for. Either myself or one of the other pastors here always begins with a premarital counseling session. I do four sessions with couples that are intending to get married, and in the very first one, I want to share from the Scriptures what God's defined or intended purpose and plan for marriage is. I think we all recognize that especially in the last twelve or so years, we've had a redefinition in Western culture of what marriage is all about, which is a concern. I don't think governing bodies have the authority to redefine what God created. The Bible makes it very clear in Genesis that God is the...

One who instituted this institution called marriage is God. He, the Maker of marriage, gets to define what marriage is about. Thankfully, in the Scriptures, we have a number of things that we can piece together about God's intended purpose for marriage. I think it's key to consider this intended purpose.

In my own studies of the Scripture, I found seven things—maybe there are more, but at least seven—that God speaks of or reveals in the Scripture regarding the institution of marriage. Taking what Genesis says, we read of the first marriage between Adam and Eve in Genesis 1 and 2. Marriage is intended by God for partnership; the husband and wife are joined together, and the wife is a helper to the husband, a partner to the husband.

Not only is marriage for partnership, but that passage I just read in Ephesians chapter 5 makes clear that marriage is also intended by God for provision. Husbands are to provide for and care for their wives. Perhaps one of the favorites for many people is that marriage is intended by God for pleasure. First Corinthians chapter 7, Proverbs chapter 5, the Song of Solomon, and other places in the Scriptures make it very clear that there is a pleasurable fulfillment in the marital relationship that God intends to be a part of marriage.

As a result of marriage being a pleasurable engagement between two individuals—a husband and a wife—the fourth thing is that marriage is intended by God for procreation. The first commandment in the Scriptures is to be fruitful and multiply, fill the Earth and subdue it. My wife and I have sought to do that; we have four kids, so we have engaged in procreation just as the Scriptures intend.

Fifthly, and this is one that you may not realize, marriage is intended by God to keep individuals pure. Marriage is for purity. How so? There is a desire resident in both men and women for sexual fulfillment, and that is only allowable by the Scriptures within the context of the covenant of marriage. First Corinthians chapter 7 makes it very clear that marriage is intended to be a guard against sexual impurity or immorality.

Additionally, marriage is intended for perfection or sanctification. What does that mean? It means that God wants to use your spouse—your wife or your husband—to transform you. You might have entered into marriage thinking that you were going to change.

God intends to use your spouse for what some people might call the Sandpaper Ministry. You might need something like the Jackhammer Ministry or the Dynamite Ministry, where God needs to sanctify and transform you. There is a purifying reality to marriage; however, the most profound purpose of marriage goes beyond these practical reasons.

I think the seventh purpose is what we read in verses 31 and 32 of Ephesians chapter 5. Marriage is a picture, an illustration that God intends to use in our lives to show us the relationship He desires for us to experience with Him—a oneness relationship with God. We see this spoken of in a number of places in Scripture.

In Ephesians chapter 5, it says, "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." Only in God's marital math does one plus one equal one. God desires to take two individuals and join them together as one.

Jesus also rehearses these same words that Paul does in Ephesians chapter 5 when He talks about marriage in Matthew chapter 19. In Matthew 19:4, Jesus answered a group of people who were asking Him questions about marriage. He said, "Have you not read that He who made them from the beginning made them male and female?" You could spend a lot of time discussing that in our culture today. He continued, "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh."

Then Jesus adds, "So then, they are no longer two but one. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no man separate." Jesus is quoting from Genesis, just as Paul was quoting from Genesis chapter 2:24. Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. Again, one plus one equals one in God's marital math. What God has joined together, let no man separate.

When we read this, we see that God's intended purpose for marriage is the joining together of two as one.

The word where it says, "the two shall become one flesh," is the very same Greek word that Jesus uses in what is referred to by Bible commentators, teachers, and theologians as the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus in John chapter 17. In John chapter 17, Jesus is praying for his followers, for his disciples, and for his church. It is a very beautiful, long prayer, but the core theme of this prayer is the idea of oneness, unification, or unity with God.

In John 17:11, Jesus is praying to the Father and says, "Now I am no longer in the world, but these, my followers, are in the world, and I come to you, Holy Father. Keep through your name those whom you have given to me, that they may be one as we are one." That same word, "the two shall become one flesh," is echoed in Jesus' prayer that they may become one as we are one.

He prays the exact same thing again in verse 20. He says, "I do not pray for these alone." Who are "these alone"? They would be his disciples who were there: Peter, James, John, Bartholomew, Thomas, and so forth. Jesus continues, "But also for those who will believe in me through their word." Who is that? That's us. We have believed in Christ and trusted in Christ through their word. So, I pray for them, for you and me today, that they may be one. This is verse 21 of John chapter 17: "That they may be one as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be one in us, and that the world may believe that you sent me."

He prayed it in verse 11, he prays it again in verse 21, and he prays it again in verse 22: "And the glory which you gave me I have given them, that they may also be one as we are one." Are you seeing the theme? He reiterates it again in verse 23: "I in them and you in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me."

When you take the different passages of Scripture together and piece them together like a puzzle, the image becomes clear. Point number one, if you're taking notes this morning, is that God's desire and design is that we would be united together with Him in love. That's God's aim: that we would be joined together with Him in love. What Paul reveals in Ephesians 5:31 and 32 is that the human relationship of...

Marriage is a tangible and temporal illustration of the relationship that you have this morning. If you're married, that husband-and-wife union is a covenant where you are joined together as one flesh before God. This is a tangible and temporal meaning; it's earthly. You are not going to be married to your spouse in eternity. Some of you may be saying, "Praise Jesus!" I hope that's not what you're saying. I hope you're saying, "Man, that's a bummer!" But it is an earthly illustration. It's tangible; it's something that we can experience very practically, but it's temporal. It's for now, and it points to the relationship that God desires to have with us.

Our minds can't necessarily fully grasp what that means, but I would say that throughout church history, if you go back for the last 2,000 years, this is a concept that the church has revisited constantly. Salvation, ultimately, is the absorbing of our nature into His. We come into unification with God; that's the ultimate end of our salvation through glorification. Marriage is the tangible and temporal example of that. It's an illustration of it.

Among all the other purposes that God intends for marriage, this one is key. I think it's interesting that every single human being has a deep-seated desire for this kind of relationship. It's hardcoded and hardwired into us from a very young age. We deeply desire this kind of deep connection with another soul, another individual. At the foundation of that is not just a desire for an earthly relationship, but a yearning within your soul for a connection to God. That's what we deeply desire. People may not recognize or acknowledge that reality, but it is a reality nonetheless.

At this point, you may say, "Well, so what? What does this have to do with our text that we're going to be looking at this morning in the book of Hosea?" Well, Jesus said of the marital relationship, "What God has joined together, let no man separate." The separation of this institution, this relationship, this covenant of marriage, is not what God intends. However, there are two things that cause the separation of this marital union, and they both start with "D." The first one is death. When you got married, if you're married this morning, you probably said, "Until death do us part."

Part of death is the separating reality of marriage, but there's one other "D" that causes separation within marriage. Can anybody guess what that is? Divorce. It's a heavy word. I'm very grateful this morning, as I stand here, that my parents are still married after decades, and my wife's parents are still married after decades. However, I know that when I was growing up and going through school, there were more of my friends whose parents were divorced than those whose parents were still together. This is an unfortunate reality of our culture—the culture that we live in—where divorce, particularly in the 20th century with no-fault divorce, has led to the separation of many unions.

Ultimately, this relationship is meant to picture the relationship that God desires for us to have with Him. I think there is a connection between the dissolving of the marital relationship in our culture and the redefining of that relationship, as well as a misunderstanding of what it is that God desires for us. Unfortunately, as I stand here this morning, there are many of you who have been affected by divorce—perhaps the divorce of your own parents or maybe a divorce that you experienced. I want to say that, even though it's a painful reality, divorce is never God's intended outcome. It's not His perfect will.

Now, I will say it is His permissive will; He has permitted it. In fact, Jesus Himself says that God permitted it because of our flesh. What is our flesh? It is our fallen nature. Even death is not as God intended it; it wasn't His design. So, neither of these things—death or divorce—were God's intended desire or design. His intended desire and design is that we would be united together with Him in love and that we would experience this love in marriage as well. However, death and divorce do bring about a separation of the marital union.

In talking about divorce, the Bible does give some legitimations to it. What are the legitimate reasons as the Bible defines them? This may be new for you; you may not have known this because we live in a no-fault divorce culture. But what does the Bible say about divorce? When is it allowable or legitimate according to God? Remember, divorce is always because of our flesh, because of the fallenness of this world. Jesus says in Matthew chapter 19 that Moses permitted a certificate of divorce because of your flesh. When is it allowable according to God?

The Scriptures indicate that there are three reasons wherein divorce is allowable. The first reason, which probably makes sense to many, is adultery. Adultery is given as a legitimate reason for divorce in the Scriptures.

Secondly, as you read through the text of the Bible regarding marriage, abandonment of the covenant of marriage is also a legitimate reason for divorce. Third, one could make a case for abuse. The last two reasons—abandonment and abuse—are perhaps more difficult to identify in the Scriptures, so some people would disagree. They might argue that there is only one real reason for divorce, which is adultery. Jesus speaks to this in Matthew chapter 19, where He says that because of sexual immorality, Moses permitted a certificate of divorce.

However, it is important to note that divorce is never God's perfect will. Death and divorce are not intended or desired by God, yet they do bring about the disruption of the marital covenant due to our flesh. Divorce is a very real and painful reality, and many of you have been deeply affected by it. I had friends growing up in school whose parents divorced when they were very young—around five, six, or seven years old. The total devastation that brought into their lives was profound. I also know people whose parents waited until they were adults to divorce, but it was still a devastating experience for them.

Divorce is a horrible and painful reality in our culture. It needs to be reiterated that God's desire and design is for us to be united together with Him in love. Marriage serves as a tangible and temporal illustration of this reality.

Now, this brings us back 2,800 years to Hosea. If you still have your Bibles open to Ephesians, turn to the left to find Hosea, which is about the middle of your Bible. If you find the Psalms, turn to the right, and you will eventually pass the prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, and then Hosea. We are in Hosea chapter 3, which is a very short chapter, but it contains a powerful passage.

As I have been sharing over the last couple of weeks, Israel—the people, the nation, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—were wedded to God. They entered into a covenant, and marriage serves as an illustration of this. What they experienced at Mount Sinai, when they spoke their vows, was a moment where God spoke vows and promises to them, and they responded with their own vows.

Promises to God were made, and they said, "All that you have said we will do and be obedient." Essentially, they said "I do," much like you might have when you got married. They were wedded together with God at Mount Sinai. Then, they renewed their vows about 40 years later, which is a significant time. If you've been married for 40 years, it might be a good time to renew your vows. They renewed their vows to God 40 years later at Kadesh in the Book of Deuteronomy. After that, they entered the promised land.

As we have studied in the Scriptures, we see that they did not continue in that relationship; they turned away from God, which the Bible says is sin. Point number two, if you're taking notes this morning: sin always ruins relationships and results in death and separation. That is what is always on the other side of disobedience to God's commands. It consistently leads to ruined relationships, death, and separation. We see this from the earliest sin in Genesis chapter 3, and we observe it in every other instance throughout the Scriptures where sin enters in. It is a horrible and heartbreaking reality, the ruin of separation.

The ruin of divorce has affected some of you—your parents, your own experiences, whatever it may be. In those instances, it is easy for us to cast blame. We often say, "It was because of this," or "It was because of that." In blaming, we tend to point the finger at someone else rather than ourselves. However, the blame matters less than the fact that sin brings ruin, devastation, separation, and death. We could spend a lot of time pointing fingers, but Israel had committed spiritual adultery. God had remained faithful to His covenant; He had remained faithful to His people even when they were unfaithful.

The Scriptures tell us a number of times that they played the harlot with other gods. That is the imagery given for their worship of idols, and it began very early. This year, prior to coming to Hosea, we studied through the Book of Judges. This was just after the children of Israel had entered the promised land under Joshua. After Joshua died, there arose a generation that did not know the Lord nor the works that God had done for Israel or through Joshua. The children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they served the Baals. "Baal" is just a general name for master or lord.

The chief deity of the Canaanite peoples surrounded the children of Israel. Judges 2:12 says they forsook the Lord and followed other gods. Verse 17 states they played the harlot with other gods and bowed down to them. Their idolatry is depicted as adultery, which is a very tangible concept for us. Some of you may have experienced the pain of a spouse committing adultery. When we are given that image in the text, it evokes strong emotions, as it is intended to do.

The children of Israel played the harlot with other gods; they committed spiritual adultery. They did this for hundreds of years. By the time we come to Hosea, almost 500 years have passed—perhaps even more—since they began to engage in this idolatry during the time of the judges. Throughout those five centuries, God has been repeatedly calling out to His people to return to their covenant and to faithfulness, as they were unfaithful to their husband, if you will, to their covenanted God.

Despite this, they continued to play the harlot. God sent prophets like Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, and Jeremiah, all calling out to them to return to the Lord. Hosea is among those prophets, and God's message to the children of Israel through Hosea is striking and strange. We saw the beginning of it a couple of weeks ago in Hosea chapter 1. God called Hosea to do something that seems completely insane: He instructed him to marry a woman who was already immoral, knowing she would be unfaithful to him. This marriage would serve as a sign to the people.

After more than 500 years of God calling out to His people through the prophets, He tells Hosea, "Alright, here’s what we’re going to do. You are essentially the last prophet before the divorce." Hosea is to marry an immoral woman, and she will be unfaithful to him. He is to start a family with this unfaithful woman, and his relationship with her and their children will serve as an example to the people.

They have three children. Their first is a son, and they name him Jezreel, which means "He plants" or "He sows." The idea is that God planted the people of Israel in their land as part of the covenant He made with them: "You will be my people, I will be your God, and I will give you this land." So, He planted them in the land, and part of that land was a very fertile valley called Jezreel.

Your immoral and unfaithful wife, Goomer, your son is to be named Jezreel because I have planted you. I am going to uproot the people from Jezreel, and I am going to exile them from the land. Then they have a second child, a daughter, and God says through this daughter that her name will be Lo-Ruhamah, which means "no mercy." I have been merciful to you for hundreds of years; for centuries, I have been merciful to you in your sin.

What is mercy? It's not receiving what you deserve. Perhaps you've had this experience before: you get pulled over for speeding, and the cop decides to be nice at that moment. He says, "Listen, I'm going to let you off with a warning today." That's mercy. You deserve to be punished; you were speeding, you broke the law. But in mercy, he says, "I'm going to excuse you today." God has been merciful to His people for centuries; they have not received what they deserved.

Now, He says through Hosea and Goomer's second child, "No more mercy. You're going to be uprooted. I will no longer be merciful to you." They have a third child, a son, and they name this son Lo-Ammi, which means "not my people." You are no longer my people. We entered into a covenant; I was going to be your God, and you were going to be my people. But you have been unfaithful to the covenant, and now, after over 500 years of unfaithfulness, you are no longer my people. I will no longer be merciful. I am going to uproot you from the land.

That was God's striking message through Hosea to the children of Israel in the 8th century BC. If that message and that call to Hosea were not strange enough, we have more strangeness—stranger things, shall we say—in chapter 3. Look at verse one: the Lord said to me, Hosea writes, "Go again and love a woman who is loved by a lover and is committing adultery." The implication of the text is very clear.

Hosea and Goomer had entered into the covenant of marriage; they had started a family. At some point, she left and returned to her immorality, just like Israel had returned to their idolatry and their adultery time and time again over the centuries from the time they came into the Promised Land. Hosea and Goomer had started a life, they had started a family, and now, at some point, she leaves and returns back to her adultery.

Whoredom and adultery are serious issues, and God says to Hosea, "I want you to return again and love her," even though she is being loved by a lover who is not him. She is committing adultery. Why would God say this? The end of verse one provides insight: it is just like the love of the Lord for the children of Israel, who took to other gods and loved the raisin cakes of the pagans. They have gone after what they could get from others, just as God has gone and brought His people back to Himself time and time again throughout these hundreds of years. Hosea, I want you to now go and do the same.

As I mentioned earlier, let me be clear: adultery is the clearest legitimation for divorce or separation in the Scriptures. Abuse and abandonment can be debated as grounds for divorce, but it is very clear that sexual immorality or adultery is a definitive reason. Jesus said in Matthew 19:9, "I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality or adultery, and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries one who is divorced commits adultery." These are very clear words. Adultery is the clearest legitimation for divorce in the Scriptures.

Israel has repeatedly played the harlot against their covenanted God, committing spiritual adultery upon every high hill and under every green tree. These are indications of the different gods that they bowed down to. If ever there were grounds for separation, if ever God had the right to put away His people for their adultery, He had it very clearly. If ever there was a case for a man to put away his wife, Hosea certainly had it with his immoral wife, Gomer. Yet, God says, "I want you to go again and love her," who is loved by another lover and is committing adultery.

God's word to Hosea is striking. He says, "Go and buy her back." In verse two, Hosea states, "I bought her," as she is committing whoredom and selling herself. "I bought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver and one and a half homers of barley." He then says to her, "You shall stay with me for many days, and you shall not play the harlot, nor shall you have a lover. So too, I will be faithful toward you."

For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod or teraphim. Afterward, the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord.

The Lord their God and David their King; they shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the latter days. Sin always ruins relationships and results in death and separation. God has experienced that with Israel, and Hosea has experienced that with Gomer.

This is so beautiful. Point number three, if you're taking notes: God's consistent example is one of faithful love to a persistently unfaithful lover. You see this throughout the text of the Old Testament. I find it fascinating. I've had conversations with people before—maybe you've experienced this as well—normally with someone who thinks they know the Bible but has probably never read it. They make these great assertions about how mean and unkind God is in the Old Testament, claiming He was just wrathful, vengeful, and angry. People will tell me this, and I ask, "Have you ever read the text of the Bible?"

Well, they often respond, "No, I haven't read it." So, you have an opinion about something you know nothing about. That's called ignorance. What I've discovered, having studied the Old Testament quite a bit, is that God's consistent example from Genesis to Malachi and beyond is one of faithful love to a persistently unfaithful lover. It's a beautiful picture of mercy, grace, and kindness when mercy, grace, and kindness are the last possible thoughtful outcomes. But that's what you see when you look at the text. That's what we see here in this passage.

What is amazing to me is that God, through Hosea in the eighth century BC, gives this striking message to the children of Israel: "I am going to uproot you, whom I had planted from Jezreel, from the land, and I will have no mercy on you. You are no longer to be My people. I will exile you from the land."

Then, about 250 to 300 years later, what does God do? He calls back to them again through the Prophet Jeremiah. Let me read to you from Jeremiah chapter 3. This is amazing. Jeremiah 3:6 states, "The Lord said to me," and Jeremiah recounts, "In the days when Josiah was king of Judah, the southern tribes of Israel, God said to Jeremiah, 'Have you seen what backslidden Israel, the northern kingdom, has done? She has gone up on every high mountain.'" That's where the people of the Canaanites worship Baal, "and under every green tree."

They worshiped Asherah. Israel has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree and there played the harlot. I said, after she had done all these things, "Return to me." Who did God say to return to Him through? Well, prophets like Hosea, a couple of hundred years before Jeremiah. I said to her, "Return to me," but she did not return. Her treacherous sister Judah, in the southern kingdom, saw this. They saw what Israel did.

Then I saw that for all the causes for which backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I put her away. During the time of Hosea, I cast her off. I said, "No more mercy, you're not my people." I put her away; I gave her a certificate of divorce. Jeremiah 7:8 states that yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear. Judah saw this but went after other gods and played the harlot also.

So it came to pass that through her casual harlotry, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees. Yet for all this, her treacherous sister Judah has not turned to me with her whole heart, but only in pretense. Only with her mouth did she say, "Oh, I'm sorry," but the heart was not there.

In verse 11 of Jeremiah chapter 7, the Lord said to me, "Backsliding Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. Go and proclaim these words to the north, to Israel, to the northern tribes. Say to her, 'Return to me, backsliding Israel,' says the Lord. I will not cause my anger to fall on you, for I am merciful. I will not remain angry forever. Only acknowledge your iniquity; just confess your sin that you have transgressed against the Lord your God and have scattered your charms to alien deities, false gods, under every green tree. You have not obeyed my voice," says the Lord.

"Return, O backsliding Israel," says the Lord, "for I am married to you. I will take you one from a city and two from a family. I will bring you to Zion. I will give you shepherds according to my heart who will feed you with knowledge and understanding."

What is going on here? After Israel had played the harlot and committed spiritual adultery and whoredom with all these false gods for hundreds of years—nearly a millennium of this—God comes to them again under the Prophet Jeremiah and says, "Just return back to me. Just acknowledge sin, and I'll receive you to myself. I will take you again as my bride. I'll make you mine again, and I shall be your God, and you shall be my people."

God's consistent example in the text is one of a faithful love to a persistently unfaithful lover. Where is all this ultimately fulfilled? Hosea alludes to this, where God is going to receive His people back to Himself again. Jeremiah speaks of it as well, where God is going to bring them back to Himself once again.

Where is He going to do this? He is going to do it at Zion. He will give shepherds over them who will feed them and give them understanding. When does this come to pass? Ultimately, this is most clearly fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is God incarnate; Jesus is God come to the Earth, Emmanuel—God with us.

Why did He come? He came to do what Hosea, whose name is Hosa, or from the house of Hosa, represents. The name is translated as Yeshua. Jesus is a type of Jesus. He came to the world to do exactly what Hosea does in chapter 3: He goes and redeems His bride back to Himself. Jesus comes to this world to redeem a sinful people unto Himself. He comes to claim His bride, who in Ephesians chapter 5 is referred to as the bride of Christ. Remember, marriage is an illustration and an example of what God intends to do to make us His once again.

God's grace persisted even when Israel was unfaithful. What would you do if you were in Hosea's position or in God's position, and your spouse—he or she, or whoever it was—was consistently unfaithful and continued to go out on you? You would have every legal right under the law of Moses to say, "I'm putting you away. I'm giving you a certificate of divorce." Even though you may not want to, even though you loved them, you would have the right to do so.

But here, God called Hosea to do something awesome and amazing: to buy her back. Why does God call Hosea to do that? Because it is a picture. All these things were written as examples for us; it is a picture of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ comes and buys us back.

In seeing this story, I can't help but think of Paul's words in Romans chapter 5, where sin abounded, grace abounded all the more. There is a problem with that, because I don't know about you, but in my mind, when I think about that—where sin abounds, grace abounds—I wonder, "God, if You are persistently and consistently gracious to sinful people, aren't they just going to keep on sinning?" Is that where your mind goes?

That's where my mind goes. Well, Paul anticipated that in Romans chapter 6. Right after he says, "Where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more," he anticipates the question and says, "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?" That's where our minds go: shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?

I can't help but think of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke. One of the most beautiful illustrations of this is when Jesus went to the house of a religious leader, a very good man, a godly man, a man who tried to keep the law. His name was Simon. Jesus went to have a meal at Simon the Pharisee's house. As he was there, Luke chapter 7 says that a woman came in, a "sinful woman." You can use your imagination about what "sinful woman" means; I think we all go to the same place.

She came in and stood behind Jesus, weeping. She had a bottle of very costly perfume, which she opened and anointed Jesus with the oil. After she did this, she collapsed on the ground, and the text seems to imply that she was weeping and, with her tears and her hair, washed Jesus's feet. Simon the Pharisee was indignant; he was disgusted by this. The text says he began to think in his mind, "If this guy were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman she was, that she is sinful, and he would not allow her to touch him."

You see, in Simon's mind, he was good according to his own standards of keeping the law and the traditions of his people. He believed that if a sinful person touched him, he would immediately become immoral, sinful, and dirty. In fact, he was so committed to this belief that, like the Pharisees of his day, he thought that if a non-Jew, a Gentile, even cast a shadow on him, he would immediately become sinful.

So, in his mind, he thought, "If this guy were a prophet," which means for a time he was maybe even playing with the idea that Jesus was a prophet, but he concluded clearly that he was not. If he were a prophet, he would not allow this sinful woman to touch him. Jesus, perceiving his thoughts, responded accordingly.

Thoughts. He said, "Simon, I have something to say to you." Simon, probably disgusted, replied, "Yeah, what? What do you have to say, Master? Please say what you're going to say."

He said, "There was a man who had two servants who owed him money. One owed him 500 denarii, which is more than a year and a half of wages, while the other owed him 50 days' wages, about a month and a half. The master forgave both of them. Which of them do you suppose would love their master more?"

Simon answered, "Well, I suppose the one who was forgiven the greater debt." Jesus said, "You've deduced correctly."

He continued, "You know, Simon, since I came here, you did not give me water to wash my feet, but this woman has washed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. When I came here, you didn't greet me in the customary and respectful way of giving me a kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss my feet. When I came here, you did not anoint me with oil, which was the customary thing to do for an honored guest, but this woman has broken out this costly oil and anointed me with it. She who has been forgiven much loves much."

He then said to her, "Woman, your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you."

This is one of the most striking and beautiful pictures; it gives me goosebumps every time I think about it. What is this image? This is the image of what God has done for us.

To another woman, even though I’ll admit it's a contested passage of Scripture—meaning there are critical scholars of the New Testament who don't believe that it was actually in the original writings of the Gospel of John—there's a beautiful passage that seems to fit with the character of Jesus.

In John chapter 8, a woman is brought to Jesus who was caught in adultery in the very act. She is brought by the religious leaders, and they cast her down in front of Jesus. The religious leaders said to Jesus, "Moses in the law said she should be put to death. What do you say?" They were seeking to catch him in breaking the law. "What do you say, Master, Teacher, Rabbi? Moses would have put her to death. What do you say?"

He didn't say a word. The text of John chapter 8 says that he stooped down on the ground and began to write with his finger in the dirt. We're not told what he wrote, but there is speculation by Bible commentators. What we are told is that from the oldest of...

The religious leaders, from the oldest to the youngest, all left one by one as He wrote in the dirt. They pressed Him, though, as He remained silent. "Come on, what do you say?" He stood up and said to them, "He who is without sin, let him cast the first stone." The text of the Greek is very clear: "He who is without the same sin, let him cast the first stone." From the oldest to the youngest, they all thought, "I think I have to leave right now," until no one was left except for the woman and Jesus.

Jesus asked her, "Woman, where are your accusers?" She replied, "No one accused me." He said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more." That's the key: go and sin no more. Shall we sin that grace may abound? Jesus, or Paul, asks, "Certainly not! How shall we who have died to sin live any longer in it?"

In Romans 6:2, Paul continues, "Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore, we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so, we should walk in newness of life."

Point number four, and I'll wrap it up: God's kindness and grace are intended to bring us to repentance. The danger in reading the prophets, the danger in studying Hosea, is that we can fall into a Simon-esque self-righteousness. We can become accidental Pharisees, pointing at the people of Israel and saying, "What a bunch of foolish idolaters! I would never do such a thing." We need to be careful and take heed when we think we stand, lest we fall.

Paul, in Romans 2, says, "Do you think this, O man, you who judge those who practice such things, and you are doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, His forbearance, His longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?"

God's kindness and grace are intended to bring us to repentance. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way.

The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. There is a desire in our soul when we see someone sin, and we say there needs to be justice; there needs to be punishment. We often think there is too much grace, but we forget that all we like sheep have gone astray. Maybe you only owe fifty denarii, while that other person owes five hundred. Oh, what an awful sinner they are! We must be careful, as we can become accidental Pharisees, just like self-righteous Simon or the blind Pharisees who brought the woman caught in adultery to Jesus.

We need to remember that we are no less unfaithful than the sins of Israel. We must come humbly before Him who bore our punishment for us. There needs to be a punishment, and Jesus bore that punishment for us. He was wounded for our transgressions; the punishment for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.

We are going to partake of communion this morning. I invite Anthony and the worship team to come forward. If you do not have one of these little cups with communion elements, please raise your hand, and one of the ushers will bring them to you. We will partake together after they lead us in a worship song.

We need to remember that there was a punishment for sin; there was a payment that was made. Hosea paid for Gomer; he redeemed her. And Jesus, Yeshua, redeemed us by His precious blood that was poured out and His body that was broken so that He might redeem us. May we recognize that we have been forgiven much. Why? Because he who is forgiven much loves much.

One of the other things I have discovered is that the person who recognizes they have been forgiven much is very humble in their assessment of others. If you look down at other people and think, "Oh, that sinful person," perhaps you have not recognized your own sinfulness, like Simon the Pharisee. Would to God that we recognize we have been saved and rescued from so great a sin! He who knew no sin became sin for us that we might be the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.

Lord Jesus, we thank You so much for the reality of this truth.

Good morning. We pray, God, that as we sing this song of praise to You, You would bring to mind the reality that You have forgiven us such a great debt. Stir our hearts to praise You because You are worthy of our praise for all that You've done for us. We praise You in Jesus' name. Let's worship together.

Paul the Apostle, writing to the church at Corinth in 1 Corinthians, chapter 11, says, "For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus, on the same night that He was betrayed, took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, 'Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.'" Let's partake together.

In the same manner, after they had eaten, He took the cup and said, "This is the cup of the New Covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." Let's partake together.

Lord, You are good. You who knew no sin became sin for us. You took our guilt, our shame, our many sins and debts upon Yourself, and You were punished in our place so that You might conquer sin and death on our behalf. In You, we are more than conquerors. In You, we are given grace and forgiveness. We are redeemed; we are adopted. In You, we are made right, justified in Your sight.

God, help us to see not the greatness of our sin, but the greatness of Your grace. Help us not to see the greatness of other people's sin, but the greatness of Your love and grace for them as well, and to be lights of that to others.

Lord, I pray that we would be those who have received and enjoyed Your grace, but that we would also be a conduit of Your grace to other people today and this week. There are many people who are seeking to come into a relationship with You, even though they haven't recognized or fully understood that this is what they deeply desire. They don't recognize or understand that they are separated because of their own sin, and Jesus, You paid it all.

All we trust wholly and completely in You and Your finished work, not in our good works. But, Lord, we also recognize You have saved us for good works. You say to us, like You did to the woman caught in adultery, "Go and sin no more." Help us to do the same. God, pour out Your grace upon Your church, we pray.

We praise You. Would you stand with me for the benediction? You can pass your cups to the center aisles for the ushers to receive.

May the Lord bless and keep you. May He make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. May He lift up His countenance upon you and give you His peace. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of His Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.