Awe-inspiring redemption,conclusion

What a story! As we finish up our study of Gomer, and her husband Hosea, let's look for a moment at the "why" of Hosea's purchase.

Why did he do it? Why did he endure the humiliation, the sacrifice of all his worldly wealth? Well, one reason was that Hosea was God's man. He wanted to obey His clear command. When God spoke, Hosea not only listened, he obeyed!

Another reason was that Hosea loved Gomer. He wanted to make a difference in her life -- when he redeemed her from slavery, that was the biggest difference he could have made!

When we come to Jesus for salvation, it is much the same. When God saves our soul, He does it because He loves us. His desire is to deliver us from the slavery of sin; then we are free to live a new life in Christ Jesus.
Let's look at what Hosea said to Gomer, as he helped her down from the auction block:

And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man: so will I also be for thee. (Hosea 3:3, KJV)

Then I told her, “You are to live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will behave the same way toward you.” (Hosea 3:3, NIV)

He is telling Gomer that he has expectations for her. His vision of their relationship going forward is that she is not to live like her life was before; she's not to follow the path that led to the auction block. Her life will be different.
Jesus does that for every one of us that He saves. He transforms us into "new creatures."

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! (II Corinthians 5:17)

We can't meet Jesus and stay just like we were before....He is truly a life-changer!
I put the two translations there, so that we can study it completely. The commentaries say that Hosea was telling Gomer that he expected her to live a new life, a life of chastity. For a long time, she had been the object of lust, and men (perhaps many men) had used her to satisfy their desires. Now that she has been redeemed, Hosea is bringing her home to heal. He will create a safe environment for her, and keep her in his love.

He also is telling her that the days of loose living are over. She is not to be for any other man; and her redemption and the love Hosea offers are not to be taken lightly. He has paid an extremely high price to redeem her, and he offers her a home in which she will be loved and cherished.

Jesus does that, too, when He saves us. Yes, we have said that He wants to deliver us from sin, and to give us a new life. But He expects us to be His alone, until He calls us home to heaven.
This verse from last week applies here, too:

 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. (I Corinthians 6:19-20) 

 Let's not fall into the trap of taking His sacrifice for granted. Let's not take it lightly. Let's covenant to honor Him with the lives we live. Every time a sinner becomes a child of God, there is a desire to live for the Lord Who saved them.  After all, when it dawns on us (either the first time, or when it's realized anew) what we were before, and where we were headed, we are awe-struck. Am I right? When we think again of what God has done for us, in saving us, we are pulled in His direction. We love Him because He first loved us.

I bet that Gomer began to see Hosea through different eyes now. She may have grown tired of their relationship before, and then abandoned their home. Now, Hosea has proven his love for her, and I think she must have had a new love for him, too. Their marriage has been restored, and their family has been re-united. I like to think that there was now absolute commitment on both sides of that relationship.

This is the absolutely awe-inspiring truth of Jesus: We love Him because He first loved us. We have a desire to live for Him. And we know that He is faithful, dependable, and can be trusted to keep His promises to us. He will never leave us or forsake us, and our relationship will never end. We know that is why He saves us to begin with -- He desires a relationship with us! Isn't that awe-inspiring?

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6)

I don't guess that anything in this world amazes me as much as the love of God. That He, holy and almighty, would love people like us, like me, and save us is amazing and awe-inspiring! Have you experienced the wonder of His redemption? If so, you know what we're talking about, and we can praise Him together for His mercy and grace. If you've not experienced His redeeming love, I hope you will reach out to Him in prayer today. He will hear, and He will save you -- and you will have new life! If you need help, please click on the "What is Salvation"tab on the right-hand sidebar, or send us a message and we will help. You'll enjoy a Christmas season like you've never had before!

Absolutely awe-inspiring redemption, continued

Have you ever wanted something so badly, that you've been willing to give anything to get it? Have you told yourself, "It's worth all I have!" Have you been so eager to purchase it, that you didn't care about the cost?

Stay tuned, because that is what we are studying today!

When we left Gomer, she was standing in the marketplace, about to be sold as a slave. She'd left Hosea and the children, and pursued her own pleasures and desires. Then she'd been tossed aside. Pretty sordid story, right? Sad . . .

But it didn't stay that way!
Remember, we said that God told Hosea to go and show her she was loved. To find her, and to love her. And Hosea went -- no hesitation, no questions -- he went and found her. She was probably a far cry from the youth and loveliness that he'd married. But when he saw her, he didn't hate her. He didn't look away, and pretend he didn't know her. He didn't turn away from her. It must have broken his heart to see her in such a condition, and so Hosea did what he had to do.

...................for fifteen pieces of silver, and for a homer and half a homer of barley... (Hosea 3:2)

The "standard" price for a slave was, as we mentioned last week, thirty shekels of silver. We know that because of this verse:

If the bull gores a male or female slave, the owner must pay thirty shekels of silver to the master of the slave, and the bull is to be stoned to death. (Exodus 21:32)

Evidently, Hosea didn't have the full price of thirty shekels, so he added to his silver about 430 pounds of grain. So, we can see that he truly gave all that he had. This purchase was so important to him that he didn't care if he had nothing left.

But wait.
This purchase also cost Hosea something else. It cost him his pride. Think about it. He is in a public place, and there is a large crowd there. Everyone would have known who he was -- remember we said that the lives and the words of the prophets were very interesting to the people, even though they rejected the God that he spoke for....
Standing in that public place, he had to purchase for himself a woman who had betrayed him, over and over. But that is exactly what he does. Hosea willingly paid a steep price to redeem Gomer from slavery. And it gives us a clue to Hosea's huge heart, when he tells her to stay true to him, and he'll be true to her. No resentful glances. No bitterness. Just the love that makes him purchase her out of slavery.

I guess you know what I'm going to say next. But it truly is awe-inspiring. Hosea's actions here are just a small picture of the huge work that God has done for us. Like Gomer, we are slaves to sin. But God came into this world in the person of His Son. He gave all that He had. He gave Himself, as a sacrifice for our sins. He gave so much more than thirty pieces of silver; He gave His life and shed His sinless blood on the cross.

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. (I Peter 1:18-19)

Jesus willingly suffered the shame and public humiliation necessary to redeem us. Picture this again in your mind . . . the Creator of the universe is hanging on a cross, surrounded by the puny, sinful beings of the world, and ridiculed by the Jewish leaders. He's mistreated by the Roman soldiers. He is even ridiculed and despised by one of the criminals hanging near him. He endured it all so that He could purchase us, redeem us from the slavery of sin.

...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:2-3)

There's an interesting difference in the King James Version of verse 2 in chapter three of Hosea. It says, "I bought her to me." In the culture of that time, Gomer already "belonged" to Hosea because of their marriage. Now, after his purchase in the slave auction, Gomer is his completely. He has bought her. She is his, because he has sacrificed all that he had, in order to make her his, exclusively. The name "Gomer" means "completely." First, she was completely lost in her sins. Now she is completely loved. Completely forgiven.

That happens in our lives, too. When God saves us, we become His. Completely His. We are completely loved, forgiven, and redeemed by His grace. And in addition, our relationship with him is far more intimate than that of a slave. God becomes our Father!

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. ( I John 3:1-2)

I heard a wonderful illustration and wanted to share it with you:

                This is the story of a little boy who built a sailboat. He built it and fixed it up,
                and painted it. He took it to the lake and pushed it in, hoping it would sail.
                Sure enough, a breeze filled the little said and the boat wen gliding along the
                waves.
                Suddenly, before the little boy realized it, the sailboat was out of his reach,
                even though he waded in quickly and tried to grab it. As he watched it float
                away, he hoped perhaps the wind would shift and bring it sailing back to
                him. Instead, he watched it go farther and farther until it was gone.
                He went home crying, and his mother asked, "Didn't it work?"
                He said, "It worked too well."
                Some time later, the little boy was downtown and walked past a second-
                hand store. There in the window was his boat!
                He went in and looked, and there was no mistake. He told the shopkeeper,
                "That's my boat." He picked it up and started to leave.
                The shopkeeper told him, "Wait a minute, son, That's my boat. I bought
                 it from someone." The boy said, "No, sir, I made it. See?" And he showed
                 him the marks where he hammered and sanded.
                 The shopkeeper said, "I'm sorry, son. If you want it, you'll have to buy it."
                 The little boy didn't have any money, so he worked hard and saved his
                  pennies. Finally, one day he had enough money, and he bought the little
                  boat.
                  As he left the store, holding the boat close to him, he was heard to say,
                  "You're my boat. You're twice my boat. First you're my boat because I
                   made you, and second you're my boat because I bought you!"

If ever we get depressed, and we start thinking that we aren't worth much, we need to stop and think. Remember what God thinks of us. 

We are His. Not just once, but twice His! He made us; we are His because He created us. And then, we are His because He bought us, on the cross. He paid the price to redeem us. 

Awe-inspiring redemption. We'll conclude our study tomorrow.

Absolutely awe-inspiring redemption

Last week, our focus was mostly on Gomer, her long-suffering husband, Hosea, and the parable that they lived out -- a living picture, if you will, of the love of God for His wayward children, the people of Israel.
We're lingering in the book of Hosea this week, because I thought it would be appropriate at this Christmas season to zero in on Christ Jesus' love for us, and His redeeming power and grace.

To fully understand our study of this wonderful and little-studied book, we need to refresh our memory of the background. We need to look at the timing, when it was written. And I saved this nugget that I found: the name "Hosea" actually means salvation! The book of Hosea is literally a message of salvation to a spiritually bankrupt nation.

At the time of Hosea's ministry to his people, Israel was a very prosperous nation in material ways. They had plenty of everything, maybe too much! Life was easy, and that can be dangerous for some folks! They also enjoyed political and military peace . . . hey, why do we need to do all that temple stuff? We're rocking along just fine.
They may have been peaceful and prosperous, but they were Morally. Bankrupt.  Big time. One of the first verses in the book says that they "look to other gods, and love flagons of wine." Well, the main god that they looked to was the Canaanite god, Baal. "Looking" to Baal meant sexual acts as worship, cutting the body (specifically banned by Yahweh), and even sacrificing family members to a fiery death, all to appease Baal and curry his favor. To say that Israel was guilty of spiritual sin was to put it mildly.

Even though the people had no real love for the true God, or for His worship, they were very interested in His prophets. These holy men were entertaining, at the very least, so they would pay attention to them. Knowing this about His people, God used Hosea, his wife Gomer, and their children, as a picture of His relationship with Israel. And we can find a beautiful picture of the redemption of Christ in these passages.

Let's dive in!
To truly understand the depth of Hosea's love, we need to go back to the Word. Gomer is first mentioned in chapter one.

When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.” (Hosea 1:2)

The first months (or maybe years) of their marriage, may have been very happy ones. I'd like to think that Gomer tried to change her ways, her outlook, and her whole self, to bring happiness to this husband that chose her. The Bible does say that their first child was definitely Hosea's:

 So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. (Hosea 1:3)

But things seemed to go downhill after that.
When Gomer is mentioned in chapter two, she is called an adulteress.

Their mother has been unfaithful    and has conceived them in disgrace.She said, ‘I will go after my lovers,    who give me my food and my water,    my wool and my linen, my olive oil and my drink.’ (Hosea 2:5)

She committed adultery while she was with Hosea, living in their house together. There is a contrast between verse 3, and verses 6 and 9. In the case of the first child, the father was Hosea. In the other two, it simply says "she conceived," and the implication is that he was not the father of those children.

Then she left him for another man (or men). Gomer's actions are a picture of the spiritual condition of the children of Israel, these people to whom Hosea was presenting the love and salvation of God. The people lusted after the gods and the worship practices of the Canaanites, and ultimately they abandoned the God of their fathers.
Gomer's actions are also a picture of lost sinners today. Of all of us. Just like Gomer, when we are lost in our sins, we pursue our own pleasures and lusts, and we care nothing about the Father God who loves us.

but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. (James 1:14)

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time,gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. (Ephesians 2:1-3)

Yep. We are (or were) all Gomers. And just like Gomer, our lover or master, Satan, will put us up on the auction block, too. He'll wreck our lives and toss us away.
That's what her lover did. In chapter three we see her on the auction block.
It's a pretty graphic picture of what sin does, in every life that it touches. A sinful life may be pleasurable for a time, but it leads to misery and ruin, and then to death.

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. (Galatians 6:7)

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

But God isn't willing to leave this situation like this! And so He tells Hosea that no matter how she has treated him, and in spite of how she has hurt the children, and in spite of how she has lived and brought shame to herself and others, he is to go and show her again, how much she is loved.

That is absolutely awe-inspiring.
And here is something else inspiring -- does Hosea hesitate? Does he look at the ground and mumble about how he shouldn't have to do this? No! He goes after her because he loves her -- he goes immediately. He loved her before she fell into sin, and he loves her in spite of her sin. He has such great love for her, that he is willing to do whatever it takes to bring her back.

Does this sound familiar? This is such a fabulous picture of the awe-inspiring love God has for us sinners! No one had to tell Him to love us....He loved us before we were born, and when we were innocent kids. He kept on loving us when we chose sin instead of righteousness. And He still loves us today. Absolutely nothing can make Him stop pursuing us, and loving us, until He brings us into fellowship with Him! His love for us is unconditional, and it knows no boundaries -- nothing can stop it.

We can spurn his love, as Gomer did with Hosea. But God will continue to love us.
We may not make time for Him, but He continues to love us.
We may even ignore Him, but His heart still calls to us.
We may think we are too sinful and worthless, but He looks at us with love and keeps calling.

This is an awe-inspiring love. Why does He love us so? Why does He pursue us?
Because He wants us to accept His awe-inspiring redemption.
Thank Him today for His love. And join us next time, as we study that wonderful redemption.