Prayer Meeting 7/3/2023
The Compassionate Heart Of Hosea  - Part 1


Well tonight I thought we would conclude the final part of the teaching from the prophet Hosea, where we have drawn much from the remarkable work by Jeremiah Burroughs (born 1599, died 1649). However, as a studied the supposed four verses I was struggling to get beyond two words in the first verse. So with the agreement of the elders, they have agreed to do one more week.

Let me read our prayer tonight, and one so fitting for our subject. Back to the ‘Valley Of Vision’ book, page 92 in the small leather one, and page 51 in the paperback - it’s called 'Assurance’:

Almighty God, I am loved with everlasting love, clothed in eternal righteousness, my peace flowing like a river, my comforts many and large, my joy and triumph unutterable, my soul lively with a knowledge of salvation, my sense of justification unclouded. I have scarce anything to pray for; Jesus smiles upon my soul as a ray of heaven and my supplications are swallowed up in praise. How sweet is the glorious doctrine of election when based upon thy Word and wrought inwardly within the soul! I bless thee that thou wilt keep the sinner thou hast loved, and hast engaged that he will not forsake thee, else I would never get to heaven. I wrong the work of grace in my heart if I deny my new nature and my eternal life. If Jesus were not my righteousness and redemption, I would sink into nethermost hell by my misdoings, shortcomings, unbelief, unlove; If Jesus were not by the power of his Spirit my sanctification, there is no sin I should not commit. O when shall I have his mind! When shall I be conformed to his image? All the good things of life are less than nothing when compared with his love, and with one glimpse of thy electing favour. All the treasures of a million worlds could not make me richer, happier, more contented, for his unsearchable riches are mine. One moment of communion with him, one view of his grace, is ineffable, inestimable. But O God, I could not long after thy presence if I did not know the sweetness of it; And such I could not know except by thy Spirit in my heart, nor love thee at all unless thou didst elect me, call me,  adopt me, save me. I bless thee for the covenant of grace.

Let me start again by sharing a bit about Hosea. Hosea was called by God at a time when Israel was under the kingship of Jeroboam, a wicked king. And people followed suit and rebelled also. God then instructs Hosea to go and warn them of their rebellious ways, and instructs Hosea to take a harlot as a wife, and also raise her illegitimate children, born in her acts of whoredom.

We spoke about whether this was real or a metaphor. I switch back and forth. Burroughs believes it is but a deep dream that Hosea had, that instructed him. Others think the same. While others see it as a reality. Regardless of where you stand, we have to treat it as real and learn from it. The marriage depicts the relationship God has now with the Israelites. They too have sold their lives to idols, and sold their flesh to the wickedness of the world. This marriage reveals that state between God and the people.

Burroughs says:

The people of Israel were now near destruction, and were daughters of sensual delights. It is the usual way with those idolators, who forsake the true worship of God to give themselves up to the pleasures of the flesh.

He also says:

“How am I slighted by my people, the idols can be followed, they can be remembered, but I am neglected, I am forgotten, they have activity for their idols, but none for me; memory for them but none for me!”

Burroughs adds these very, very sobering and challenging words:

God takes it very ill when men can find memory , strength and activity enough for their sinful ways , but none for him. Many complain of weakness, but who was ever so weak, but had strength enough to sin.
 

How many of us say we have no time, I’m tired, I know I need to find the time to study more and pray more, and relation more? Yet you never seem to not have the energy for your sin. You always find time to seek idols. You can find, even in your sleeping moments, time to read nonsense, think of things that are ungodly. Talk about things that matter only to your flesh. We can’t remember a scripture or a psalm, or how good God is, but we can remember how to stir up our sin.

From chapter two, verse 14 onwards, God changes from rebuking and warning, to showing His grace and mercy, and His heart to draw His people back to Himself in spite of their rebellious sinful, prideful ways. This is the verse I was struggling to get beyond the first two words. This, I said last time, is where we will start tonight and conclude our very brief but I hope fruitful time in Hosea and Burroughs. However, we won’t tonight now.

Please, I implore you all to not forget these messages, and take full advantage of the notes we have at our disposal. How many of you haven’t even looked at a single note from these teachings at all outside tonight?

Hosea is known as the St. John of the prophets, such is the love and compassion shown by God to His people. Hence the title. First we did two sermons on ‘The Courageous Heart Of Hosea’. Tonight and next time will be: ‘The Compassionate Heart Of Hosea’. Just as Christ is to us all, prophets all have attributes of Christ but even they fall way short.

Verse 14-17 of chapter two is the beginning of God drawing His people back to Him after their severe warnings. I will read the four verses but we are not going to get even fully through one of them.

Hosea 2:14-17

¹⁴ “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, Will bring her into the wilderness, And speak comfort to her. ¹⁵ I will give her her vineyards from there, And the Valley of Achor as a door of hope; She shall sing there, As in the days of her youth, As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt. ¹⁶ “And it shall be, in that day,” Says the Lord, “That you will call Me ‘My Husband,’ And no longer call Me ‘My Master,’ ¹⁷ For I will take from her mouth the names of the Baals, And they shall be remembered by their name no more.

Here we see Gomer the prostitute being drawn to brokenness, the idol of the love of man, the love of herself for pleasure is not working. Its leaving her more empty: more lost more hurt. However, God is of course talking of all His people. Gomer represents all rebellious people who turn from God. Hosea, the husband, represents God and His desire to rescue.

The first word is ‘therefore’. It in itself tells us the heart of God for His people. Therefore: Gomer went after her lovers, she ignored God’s goodness, she turned her back on Him. What at times, do we turn from God to? To man, to stuff, to idols of choice. We put Him aside to pursue all sorts of sin. And because of God’s love He says: ‘therefore’! Because we turn from Him: His heart in turn responds to come after us.

Therefore - wow - what a loving God we have. It really is our duty to have that therefore: often as a pastor I have to respond to people drifting, or their actions by coming to them. It’s what we call a trumpet call, but it must not just be a warning but born from a loving concern.

Therefore. Therefore. Therefore - what a word. Who doesn’t love Gods Word? When a ‘therefore’ can give us a glimpse into the heart of God. Our heart should be moved with compassion not just correction.

Burroughs says:

Here is the bond of union, but it is a very wonderful one, it is the first “therefore”.

Let me read verse 13b again, which adds weight to the therefore.

Hosea 2:13b

“She decked herself with her earrings and jewellery, and went after her lovers; but me she forgot,” says the Lord.

God’s next action to that behaviour: ‘therefore’. Because of this… ‘therefore’!

It is often in our greatest sin that God acts most graciously.  We are His, we are His chosen people. He plucked us from our depraved life and breathed new life into us. And He who has started this work won’t leave us as orphans.

Burroughs says:

Such is the grace of God to those who are in covenant with him that it takes occasion of their greatness of sins, to show the greatness of his mercy: from the vileness of our transgressions, to declare the richness of his grace.

That is amazing grace. When we were least deserving, God showed us His great love and forgiveness. Do we have that heart? Often not so. We have a: ‘you hurt me I hurt you back’. Or maybe: ‘you hurt me - stuff you, I won’t be near you again’. Yet God towards us, whom we have done so much more to reject and hurt Him, and continue to do daily, has a ‘therefore’, yet we don’t have a therefore with others. The depth we know our own forgiveness is to the depth we forgive.

Luke 7:44-47

Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”

This sinful woman never stopped loving and serving Christ regardless of the environment, the pressure, the judgement from others, because she never forgot how much she herself was forgiven. Those who don’t forgive, who continue to be bitter, who harbour hatred, resentments, jealousy, anger, rage, are either those who have not tasted and seen that the Lord is good i.e. saved. Or those that have forgot how much forgiveness they needed and has been given.

Listen, do you know brothers and sisters how much it cost God to forgive you? It cost Him the life of His Son. Really, if God was to act like us it would be a case of, as Burroughs
says:

I have followed my lovers, I have followed after vanity, and folly, and therefore!  God has rejected me, God will have no mercy upon me, I am undone and the gates of mercy are shut against me.

Is that the type of ‘therefore’ God acts on? Is this the heart of God? No. Is this how Christ lived and died? No. Yet we have all manner of ‘therefore’s’ towards others.

Burroughs says:

These discouraging, despairing therefore’s are very grievous to the spirit of God.

The next word in verse 14 is almost as astounding:

Therefore… ‘Behold!’

Oh, how weak are man’s words and wisdom compared to that of God’s lips? God’s breathed out Words.

Therefore… ‘Behold!’ The word in Hebrew is ‘hinae’. It means to be certain, a definite - like watch this! I am about demonstrate something. It demands our full attention. Therefore, behold - action is imminent. The greatness of our sins is about to be overruled by the greatness of God’s love and mercy.

‘Behold’, I will allure her. I will entice her. It’s ‘I will’; not ‘I could’, ‘I might’, ‘I will think about it’. No! ‘Behold I will allure her. I will draw here unto Me’. Listen, we may go after our idols and pursue sin. However, if we are His, God won’t stop coming after you.  God doesn’t stop preferring you when you prefer anything but Him.

What God is doing here is that He is about to move so powerfully and beautifully into the heart of His people, that He is going to draw them away from their lovers, back to Himself. God loves us so much, He knows we are lost and have nothing but vanity without Him. We are empty.

Therefore, behold, I will allure her. I will put back into her a desire for me. Oh how I love what Burroughs says:

If God come and outbid all, the bargain is made up, and God carries away the heart.
 

God will outbid all our idols and all our fleshy pursuits and sins offerings.  Behold, He will brothers and sisters. What a word. God will outbid all our sins and idols. Oh how often do we say, God is so much better than anything man and the world can give me? But we need Him to draw us at times. How lost can we get in His goodness, yet so soon turn once again to things so futile?

Surely we must pray: Lord please let me never leave your side. How broken are we at times, and God just turns up and captures us, and takes us to a better place. Isn’t it amazing that, just a thought, or in a moment, we are once again drawn back into His presence and His comfort. We didn’t know we were being allured and enticed. We just find ourselves again back in that place of holiness.

Burroughs says:

Thus Christ sometimes sends such a glance of his eye into the heart of a sinner, as surprises the soul, and bring it involuntary into love with the ways of the truths of God.
 

Oh how is that so true? We were all lost, all dead in sins, yet we see just a glimmer of Christ and it draws us to Him. It’s none of our business, it wasn’t even something we were looking for.  No one can look for Christ who doesn’t know Him, as we don’t know Him to look for Him. We may well look for something, but only He can incline your heart to Him, even at a glance. I think of Peter when Jesus glanced at Him. It had such an immediate effect. It captures us. It just takes our breath away. And God makes sense, His truths become what we love.
 

Hosea 2:14a

¹⁴ “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, Will bring her into the wilderness,

Why the wilderness? What does He mean? Why, if He is going to show mercy, does He need to take her, or us, or His people to a dry place, to a barren place; to the wilderness? Surely mercy can stop us on our tracks without taking us to the wilderness? Note who is doing the directing here. God Himself.

What about the story of the prodigal son? Do you think the father didn’t know the outcome before he let the son go? Do you think he only hoped he would return to him and be overwhelmed by his father’s love? While he was full of dirt, and smell, and brokenness, the father’s embracing of him, and just celebrating his return, was worth infinitely more because he did nothing but rebel and turn his back on that love. The love we give to those that don’t expect it, is a love that goes deeper than any other.

Even in that pursuit, and the enticement from the devil that leads us to rebel against God, we have a God who tells us what the devil intended for harm, He intended for good. We many not see God in our pursuits of sin; and we may not see Him in our broken despair at first. But for sure all who are His, He will be ‘thereforing’; He will be ‘beholding’; He will be alluring.

Jesus could have got Peter to not follow at a distance, but he did allow it. He could have got Peter to never deny Him three times but He didn’t. But could He then have chosen to not come to the sea of Galilee and ask Peter ‘do you love me’ three times? No he could not. Why not? Because of His love for Peter and His promise that He would be instrumental in building His church and professing His name. The wilderness of Peter’s denial was the beginning of the end. Peter, that day on the beach, was comforted beyond His comprehension. Never again did Peter live for anyone but Christ.

1 Peter 4:7-8

But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”

Where did Peter learn that love covered a multitude of sins? From Christ Himself, whom he denied thrice.

Isn’t true comfort not the comfort we get from sin, or from man? It’s such a cheap comfort. Because it a comfort that only lasts moments. Mostly, it is not comfort at all but fleshy relief. The flesh is relieved of its intense pursuit for but moment. Most the time it can’t even be enjoyed fully because its only feed the carnal part. Even then its not satisfaction, its only relief. True idol worship is only a moment of relief. Yet true comfort that comes from God speaks comfort to our very heart. It brings a change in heart, not just a change of feelings.

Co-dependants don’t have a change of heart when things are going okay, they have a change of feelings for a moment. People who worship and need the love of man, are never comforted in the heart and a deep place of security and peace, but only a feeling that does not run deep. Do you know the difference? If you do, you should reject the feeling and get close to God.

How many are never ever moving on from worry? They just go from despair to relief. Back to despair. The heart is never comforted, because God is not Lord. But for those whom He is - do you remember the deep comfort that was beyond relief, beyond a feeling? And the feeling is nowhere near going to sustain peace and security and love; and grace and faithfulness. As soon as the relief feeling subsides, God is again pushed aside in pursuit of the worry, or the need to be loved, or fix the situation. Relief feelings have almost zero longevity.

Yet that comfort that comes from God is not solution-obsessed, its acceptance and surrender driven. It’s: ‘it doesn’t matter I am His, all is well with my soul’. How is your soul tonight people? Is the comfort of the Lord making you cry out ‘it is well with my soul’?

Amen.