Hosea 2 Love Must Be Tough

Hosea 2 Tough Love
Hosea 2 Introduction: What do you do when the one you love is continually unfaithful to you? The question is so fundamental that most begin to deal with it in Jr. High. For many thats where it starts. No sooner do boy friends and girl friends develop than one looses interest and heads off for someone else. The wounded party is torn by grief, wondering what to do. Over the years Ive watched this happen repeatedly, between dates, between those planning marriages, even between those already married. Ive seen all the responses. Pining, whining, raging. They dont work. You want to know what does? Cool, calculated demand for respect. Tough Love. The book of Hosea is about Unfaithfulness. The children of Israel were unfaithful to God. They were serving idols and false gods and then claiming that the worship of those false gods was the reason for their prosperity. It was as if the wife was committing adultery against the husband. Hosea was given the unenviable responsibility for manifesting Gods heart on this matter. God told him to marry Gomer, a prostitute. Gomer of course was repeatedly unfaithful to Hosea. In the process he was able to plumb the depths of Gods feelings concerning idolatry and deliver Gods message concerning Unfaithfulness. Hosea 1 sets the scene. Tonight we look at Hosea 2. It shows us how God responds to unfaithfulness. There are two currents of application here. First, and the primary application, is to understand how God will deal with you when you are unfaithful to him. Second, there is a powerful example of how you must give tough love when someone is being unfaithful to you.
I. A Strong Warning
Verses 1-2 are a strong warning! 1 Say to your brothers, "Ammi," and to your sisters, "Ruhamah." 2 "Contend with your mother, contend, For she is not my wife, and I am not her husband; And let her put away her harlotry from her face, And her adultery from between her breasts, Better come home Gomer. Dont forget, these words arent just for Gomer they were Gods message to his backslidden nation Israel. And they were for us to. God isnt like someone who needs the love and approval of his or her mate so much that he wont risk confrontation. God is confrontational. You cannot say you belong to Him and give your heart to other loves! The first commandment says he is a jealous God. Another application for those that are going through unfaithfulness. There is a lot of fear and insecurity. You dont want to risk pushing them away. You try to cling and hold on at all cost. Let me say this. If your mate is being unfaithful, the time for tenderness is over. You must get tough. Create a crisis. If you continue to do this you will lose me. It might not make a difference. However, if he or she is going to leave anyway, at least you will already be on the road to healing and your self-respect will still be in tact. We cannot love what we dont respect. God says, Respect me or else. You need to hear that. Moreover, you might need to say it to someone else.
II. Sometimes God will Expose

If you refuse to come home look at the warning: Verse 3, lest I strip her naked and expose her as on the day when she was born. God will expose. That is horrifying to some. The last thing they want is exposure. So they go to great lengths to cover up and live up to others expectations. Heres a principle.
God is not as concerned with your reputation as he is with your relationship

Sometimes the message from the church seems to be, Never blow it." Dont ever show anyone the real you. You have a reputation. God isnt nearly as concerned about reputation as we are. Hosea and Gomer are shocking proof. Another proof is the birth of his son. If God was so concerned with reputation, why did He do what He did to Jesus? Born in a barn. Questionable parents. Surely, the Lord knew that would hound him for the rest of his life. Look everyone, there goes Jesus, Marys illegitimate son. If God were so concerned with reputation why did Jesus go to the cross to die. Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. They mocked him! Answer: God isnt as concerned with reputation as we are. And when we sin repeatedly and are unfaithful, he will expose. Like lancing a boil, it is the only way to healing.
secrets become very important. Thats not always healthy. You say, I dont want to anger her or risk losing her. You already have.
III. Sometimes God will Limit Freedom

Another method the Lord uses is limiting freedom. Verses 5-7. 5 "For their mother has played the harlot; She who conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, I will go after my lovers, Who give me my bread and my water, My wool and my flax, my oil and my drink. 6 "Therefore, behold, I will hedge up her way with thorns, And I will build a wall against her so that she cannot find her paths. 7 "And she will pursue her lovers, but she will not overtake them; And she will seek them, but will not find them. Then she will say, I will go back to my first husband, For it was better for me then than now! God isolates. This is a principle in psychiatric care units. Refuse to get with the program and they dont punish you they simply take away freedoms. God works that way with you. He builds a hedge to limit opportunities. Like a big funnel. Every time you are unfaithful, he limits your freedom.
Sometimes exposure is the only way to bring healing

Another episode. A friend who loved the Lord. Addicted to prescription drugs. For years, he hid it. Then at a home looked in the medicine cabinet. Took some drugs. Was caught. I later asked, How did you feel? Relieved. Huh? Fortunately, he was in a church that lovingly ministered to him. Hard as it is to accept, exposure can be restorative. WE cant be so consumed with reputation that we miss this. Trend is to say we can never admit failure because that would hurt the reputation of Jesus. One time I was on a retreat with some men. Several stood to give their testimonies. The laymen were powerful. Warden of a prison who told about how his son was caught selling marijuana. Another told how he was caught trying to steal gas from the company. There was one who was musical, told of how his life in bars had stripped him of everything. Story after story of brokenness. And they didnt care who knows. Jesus was the healer. Secondary application for those of you struggling with an unfaithful love. Then tendency is to help them hide the secret. In alcoholic homes,
Two Sides to the Hedge.

From our side it is chafing. Limiting. Confining. I want to be free. However, when you are in rebellion you cannot be free. Your lifestyle is confining you. We saw this in the parable of the prodigal son. He eventually came to the point of total slavery on the pig farm. You see this with drugs or any other addictive behavior. The thing that seemed to bring freedom creates bondage. Sin enslaves. John 8:34, everyone that sins is the slave of sin
God designed it like that. When you reject his ways, and serve your gods, your lifestyle will lead you into bondage. That bondage, like the exposure, is designed to bring you to your senses. From Gods side it words as protection. Another aspect of the hedge, is protection. Gods discipline is designed to protect. Judgment comes when he lifts the protection and allows you to self-destruct. Job. Satans complaint Job 1:10 "Hast Thou not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. Gods purpose is to create insight. To see what is happening. Verse 7. Then she will say, I will go back to my first husband, For it was better for me then than now! Those words sound familiar dont they. Like the prodigal son parable. What am I doing here! My fathers hired hands live better than this. Therefore, the limitations of your life are actually designed to protect you. Its a part of discipline. Secondary application. You cannot limit the lifestyle of the one being unfaithful to you. In fact, the more you try to control them, the more out of control they tend to become. Nevertheless, you can ask God to build a hedge around them. Ive seen it happen. Pray that god would bring them to their senses.
lovers have given me. And I will make them a forest, And the beasts of the field will devour them. 13 "And I will punish her for the days of the Baals When she used to offer sacrifices to them And adorn herself with her earrings and jewelry, And follow her lovers, so that she forgot Me," declares the LORD. Why is he so harsh with Gomer and yet in the story of the prodigal son, (found in Luke 15), he killed the fatted calf and welcomed the boy home? The difference was in the attitude. Luke 15:17 18. 18 is the key. 18 I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; Nowhere does Gomer say anything close to that. She had insight, Its better at home. But she didnt have a contrite spirit. When there is NO brokenness, God will continue the discipline Until it comes. And when it comes: Restoration.
V. Always God Will Restore You

As soon as the words come out look at the response: 14 "Therefore, behold, I will allure her, Bring her into the wilderness, And speak kindly to her. 15 "Then I will give her her vineyards from there, And the valley of Achor as a door of hope. And she will 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 will come about in that day," declares the LORD, "That you will call Me Ishi And will no longer call Me Baali. God says, I forgive. Verse 16, ishi husband. Bali meant owner. Implying the intimacy is even greater than before. No matter what you have done. Beauty of God. He is the Lord of the second chance.
IV. Sometimes God will Break You

Verses 8-13. Why didnt Gomer get the fatted calf? Verse 11, 12, 13. Hardly a celebration. 11 "I will also put an end to all her gaiety, Her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths, And all her festal assemblies. 12 "And I will destroy her vines and fig trees, Of which she said, These are my wages Which my
Im reading Sandi Pattys book Broken on the Back Row. In the early 1990s Sandy Patty was the superstar of the Contemporary Christian Music world. She was top vocalist 10 years in a row. Dove Awards everywhere. Several Grammys. Sang for the president. Was on Carson. But her private world was out of control. Sandy committed adultery. Left her husband. Broke up another home. Here great fear all that time was exposure. She was so afraid someone would find out. So she lied and covered. But she was exposed. And as a result she was eventually healed. It was a painful process. She talks about how there were things that she did that can never be undone. Its not as if it didnt happen. But she was restored. Thats the love of God. Thats how he works. Look at the Messianic promise at the end: 23 "And I will sow her for Myself in the land. I will also have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion, And I will say to those who were not My people, You are My people! And they will say, Thou art my God!" But it could not happen until after brokenness. Have you been unfaithful with the Lord? God been dealing with you. Exposing. Limiting. Disciplining. Waiting to hear those magic words: I have sinned and I am sorry. When that happens there will be restoration.

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Hosea 2 Tough Love

II. Sometimes God will Expose

God is not as concerned with your reputation as he is with your relationship

III. Sometimes God will Limit Freedom

Sometimes exposure is the only way to bring healing

Two Sides to the Hedge.

V. Always God Will Restore You

IV. Sometimes God will Break You

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