Majors In The Minors - Part 1 - Hosea
by Hank Hayes
June 3, 2026 · Centerpointe Apostolic Church (Murfreesboro, TN)
Kind: teaching
Scripture: Hosea 1:2, Exodus 34:14, Exodus 20:5, Hosea 3:1, 1 Corinthians 6:9, Romans 5:8, Hosea 6:1, Hosea 6:4, Hosea 11:1, Hosea 11:8

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/hank-hayes--majors-in-the-minors-part-1-hosea
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

------------------------------------------------------------
Tonight we are launching a brand new Wednesday night series that is focused on the minor prophets. And uh you know there's a lot of jokes about the minor prophets. It's not that they weren't good enough to make it to the majors. It wasn't that they're still in college and one of these days, you know, they're going to do better and and make more money. It's not that, you know, they're just not good enough to be a major prophet. It's uh simply the fact that if you were working in publishing, they just did not write a big enough book to be a major prophet. And so if they just would have wrote more, then they could have just been a major prophet. But they didn't cut it. They just did not cut it. So tonight we are going to be kicking off this series on the book of Hosea.

And the title of my message is loved back to life. The God who loves the unfaithful. I don't know about you, but I'm grateful that we serve a God who truly cares about each and every one of us. Who truly cares about me. He cares about your children. He cares about everybody in your family. Amen. He cares about your neighbor and your co-workers. We serve a God who is truly faithful even when you and I are unfaithful. And maybe you know someone in your life, they're just not doing what they need to be doing. They're not living the life that they should be living. Well, I'm here to tell you today that we are in a room full of people that have testimonies. Amen. And just like that loved one that you're praying for, perhaps maybe you were not on the right path either at some point in your life, but yet God's love pursued you passionately.

Amen. And you're in here today, you're saved, filled with the Holy Ghost because of the love of God. And if he's willing to do it for you, then don't throw in the towel. Don't stop praying for that family member. Amen. Because God loves them. Amen. To truly understand this book, we have to look at the historical context. And so, if you have your Bibles or your tablets or your phones, if you'll turn with me, we'll go to the book of Ho Hosea. But before we get into it, we need to understand this. Hosea prophesied during a very dark, turbulent time in the history of Israel. And specifically Hosea is ministering during the 8th century BC. This is a nation that is deeply divided between the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom. And I I know that you know when we look at history for some of us we go man that was a long time ago we kind of get checked out.

Or perhaps we even say you know when we look at geography that it seems like it's really far away. But even in our own country, we can recognize that we have had some division and currently still have division within our country. Of course, we had our own civil war between the North and the South. We have deep political division right now. Democrats, Republicans, conservative, liberals. I mean, massive division in our country that needs healing. I mean, we've got the Yankees and the Red Sox. I mean, just deep division, arguments on social media. Is a hot dog really a sandwich? I mean, these are things that the church needs to be praying about. We need healing in this country over our division. Hosea was a prophet in the northern kingdom of Israel.

That's the people that he was ministering to. And the northern kingdom of Israel is oftentimes referred to as Ephraim. Historically, this nation was experiencing what we would call great wealth, great political success. You know, you it's the it's the kind of country you want to live in. Amen. I imagine that their gas prices were pretty good during that time. I imagine that they weren't pinching pennies when they went to the grocery store. The economy was doing great on on on the political landscape. Everything looked good except we have this massive hole in the nation and that hole was spiritually. Economically they were doing great but spiritually they were completely bankrupt. They had abandoned the one true God. They had turned to Baal worship.

And we see that consistently throughout the Old Testament where they turn on God and they turn to Baal. Baal is a Canaanite god of fertility and agriculture. Of course, we know that Baal was not even a god at all, just something made out of wood. But the people of Israel during this time, they began mixing their pagan rituals with the worship of Jehovah. And what did that bell worship actually look like? Well, there would be the occasional child sacrifice. And I think that's hard for you and I to understand today. How could anyone offer their child, the life of their child in such a brutal way to a piece of wood? But yet, that's what Israel is doing. There was ritual prostitution, self mutilation, self-indulgent festivals. They were having wild parties.

All these things that that was very unpleasing to God. And I imagine that these wild parties are probably what we see in Nashville with the p uh the pedal taverns. All those drunks down there kicking the bicycle back and forth singing Achy Breaky Heart. No wonder God was displeased by that. But it's right there in this historical mess that God begins to speak to a man of God. out of all the people in Israel, God begins to speak to the prophet Hosea. We make the statement that he's a minor prophet, but he's no minor prophet at all. And when we get into his story, for those that have been in the church for a while and you've read this book, you know exactly where we're going. But for those that have never studied this book or perhaps you're new to the church, uh you're going to see that he is no minor prophet at all.

But this is the key thing. I instead of God speaking to the prophet and giving him this verbal message that he could go out and stand before the people and cry out to them and and hope that perhaps maybe they'll just repent of their sins. No. Instead, God decides to do something that hopefully he will never do again. God commands him to live out an interactive illustration. So, let's read about that. We're going to go to Hosea chapter 1. We're going to start with verse two. And and and just for to understand this a little bit easier, I'm going to be reading from the New Living Translation, but from this point on, we'll be going to the New King James Version. Hosea 1:22 says, "When the Lord first began speaking to Israel through Hosea, he said to him, 'Go and marry a prostitute."

I just want to pause for a moment. You're not going to get your minister's license with the United Pentecostal Church International. If you say that God has told me that I am to marry a prostitute, it's just not going to happen. I I I think we need to understand the gravity of the matter. God has spoken a specific word to him. Now, I don't know about you, I've had people come to me and say, "Hey, I feel like in the Lord that I need to do such and such." And sometimes I have felt like that seems pretty good. And sometimes I've made the statement, "Perhaps you need to wait a moment." I mean, this right here, one of the toughest things when it comes to ministering is finding a good sermon illustration. It's one of the hardest things. If anybody in here has ever taught a class or you preached, you understand it's very difficult to find a sermon illustration.

Michael Bardwell makes fun of me. He says, "How many marathons are you going to run just so you can get a sermon out of it?" So, I signed up for my seventh one. But this is this is going above and beyond. I mean, for a sermon illustration, go and marry a prostitute. But yet, it it doesn't stop there. God goes on to say, "So that some of her children will be consume uh will be conceived in prostitution." So it just gets worse. What is the purpose of this man of God doing this? Well, God to say, "This will illustrate how Israel has acted like a prostitute by turning against the Lord and worshiping other gods." I heard a joke. You know what's worse than marrying a prostitute? Marrying one named Goomer. And that's exactly what we see Hosea doing.

Hosea marries a prostitute by the name of Goomer. And I imagine that when he got down on one knee and he popped that question, she probably said, "Shazam, Shazam." The Bible goes on to say that she became pregnant and she gave Hosea a son. This is I mean, this is this is wild stuff, right? And it just gets worse. Okay, not notice what happens. The Lord said, "Name your child Jezrael, for I'm about to punish King Joo's dynasty to avenge the murders he committed at Jezrael. In fact, I will bring an end to Israel's independence. I will break its military power in the Jezrael Valley." Now, I'm going to tell you right now, typically you want to name your child something, you know, honory, right? I I heard something the the other day. They said, "Parents, you you have to quit naming your children and not remembering that one of these days they could be a future CEO.

They could be president of the United States, but they can't have a name like Boo Boo. Like, quit naming babies and start naming future adults. Amen. I can't go into this story, but just, you know, anybody that's married to a teacher can tell you that there are some wild names out there. Okay? If you think someone is beyond naming their child Lucifer, I found out recently that it it has happened and it's not a nickname. Uh I don't know if the Freemans are in here or not, but I remember uh I feel like it was yesterday, but it was it's been quite a while back when he was Spanish pastor. He and I had to talk a lady out of naming her brand new baby girl Jezebel because all she knew is that Jezebel is a beautiful name and Jezebel was a very important historical person in the Bible.

And that's all she knew. And we said, "Sis, you might want to read the book. There's a few names that you don't name your children. Lucifer is one of them, right? Jezebel's one. You You don't name your child Benedict Arnold or Judas or Trader Joe. You may shop there, but you don't name your child Trader Joe. Just some names that you don't name your children. But, you know, God goes on to command Hosea that there are certain names that I want you to name your children so that it represents what Israel has done. So, verse six says, "Soon Goomemer became pregnant again and gave birth to a daughter. And the Lord said to Hosea, "Name your daughter Lo Rama," which means not loved. For I will no longer show love to the people of Israel, or forgive them.

I don't know about you, but I don't know of any young girl that wants to be named not loved. Verse seven says, "But I will show love to the people of Judah. I will free them from their enemies, not with weapons and armies or horses and chariots, but by my power as the Lord their God. After Goomemer had weaned Lorama, she again became pregnant and gave birth to a second son. And the Lord said, "Name him Loami," which means not my people, for Israel is not my people, and I am not their God. Yet the time will come when Israel's people will be like the sands of the seashore, not many to count. Then at the place where they were told, "You are not my people." It will be said, "You are children of the living God." Then the people of Judah and Israel will unite together.

They will choose one leader for themselves, and they will return from exile together. What a day that will be, the day of Jezrael when God will again plant his people in his land. What we see here is that that God, he's very upset with the people of Israel, but yet he still has a heart that yearns for his people. And he says, you know what? For a time, there's going to be some distance here, but this is not my plan to leave you or forsake you. Amen. It is my desire that once again you will be my people and you will live in the land that I have chosen for you. In other words, even though the people were being unfaithful to God, God was still faithful to the promise to the covenant that he made with Abraham so many years back. He's a God who is faithful to his covenant even when we are unfaithful.

God's people may be unfaithful, but his love continues to reach. Amen. He's a God who loves the unfaithful. So, I don't know who it is that I'm talking to tonight. Perhaps maybe you feel as though that's you. Or maybe you know someone who's not been faithful to God. I'm here to tell you today that he is still pursuing them. Amen. He is still reaching for them. As long as there's still breath in their body, as long as there's still breath in your body, he is the God who loves the unfaithful and he is passionately pursuing you. Amen. So God tells Hosea to go and marry a woman named Goomemer and he describes her as a prostitute. Hosea obeys God. He marries her. They build a home together and Goomemer bears three children. And there's a lot that we can learn from this real life illustration.

But but as we move forward, there's one thing that we need to understand in this story. Hosea represents God. Hosea represents the heart of God. Goomemer represents Israel. But if we're being true to the text, Goomemer represents you and me. Goomemer represents the people outside the four walls of this church in our community. And so God wanted Hosea to feel the exact heartbreak that he feels when his people turn away from him. Her physical unfaithfulness is a direct picture of our spiritual unfaithfulness. And it shows us that sin is not just a technical breach of a rule, but it breaks the very heart of God. If you go to get on the interstate, you'll see billboards, and they're true. God is love, and God is love. You'll see some billboards that would tell you that God is a judge.

God is a judge. You'll see some bumper stickers that'll tell you that God is a God of mercy. And guess what? That is exactly right. He is a God of mercy. I have not yet. Maybe you have, but I have not yet seen one that says God is jealous. But he is a God who is jealous. Amen. In fact, we see it. This is what he says. Exodus 34:14 says, "For you shall worship no other god, for the Lord whose name is jealous is a jealous God." That's his name. Exodus 20 and 5 says, "You shall not ba bow down to them nor serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God." And so the God that we serve is a jealous God. And we have to keep that in mind as as we uh break down the book of Hosea. We have to understand he is a jealous God and he's jealous for his people.

He's jealous for you. He's jealous for me. And so Hosea marries Goomemer and they build a family together. But in the book of Hosea, we hit this tragic turning point where the temptation of her old lifestyle begins to pull her back with intense authority. Despite having uh the stable home, def uh despite the fact that she had a loving husband, she had made a decision to return to the streets. And so the Bible shows us that she decks herself out in makeup. She puts her earrings and her jewelry on. She puts on clothing that exposes her body. And she goes out and she chases after her former lovers. And we can contrast that with how the godly are supposed to to dress. Amen. How the godly are encouraged to dress in a way that shows respect to God, that shows respect to others.

The New Testament shows us that we're to avoid clothing that's overly uh flashy or expensive. We're not to to wear things that draw sexual attention to ourselves. That that's the difference here between Goomemer and the godly. And so for a little while in her mind, she's living in this total fantasy world. From the outside, it looks like it's going well for her. It's a life of parties. There's laughter. There's super uh fishial pleasure, but the fun is a complete lie. And her life begins to spiral downhill at a rapid pace. In fact, we see from the scripture that her beauty starts to fade from the abuse of her lifestyle. Her money completely runs out. And there is a moment that we see that even her friends completely abandon her. And she finds herself penniles, homeless, and totally isolated.

And eventually those debts, they catch up to her and she's forced into slavery. She's too poor to buy food and in time she's no longer even useful to her master. So he takes her to the public auction block where he can sell her to the highest bidder. And as I was preparing for this lesson, I I couldn't help but be reminded of the prodal son. Jesus tells this story that's often taught and preached. the young son. He runs off with his share of the inheritance to a distant country. Takes everything he has, runs away from a loving home, from a loving father, from a loving community. Runs away, takes everything that he has, runs to this distant country, squanders everything on wild, reckless living and parties. And then once he's completely broke, he's not useful to anyone else.

He finds himself abandoned and broke both spiritually and physically. And so in an act of desperation, he takes on a job feeding pigs. And the Bible says that in the process of feeding the pigs that even he longs to eat the slop that the pigs were eating. That's low. That's rock bottom. And so in the story of the prodical son, we see that when he comes to his his senses and he says, you know, if even if I go back home, if if I'm just a slave in my father's home, that would be so much better than the way I'm living now. When he comes to his senses and he goes home, we see that the father begins to run to him. He embraces this foolish son and he brings him back into right standing where his son should have been the entire time. And we see similar action in the book of Hosea.

Hosea finds out about her desperate situation and he goes down to the marketplace. But the thing is is he didn't go down there to say, "I told you so. He didn't go down there to moh to mock her. No, he went there because he was in love with her. He showed up at the auction prepared with every single asset that he could scrap together. And the Bible says that it was 15 shekels of silver and a Homer and a half a barley. And so the text implies that Goomer is completely broken down. Her clothes are ragged. Her hair is matted. Her body was shaking with fear. She couldn't even look Hosea in the eyes because she knew what she had done had filled him with shame. But Hosea didn't care about her appearance. He didn't care about the public embarrassment.

He paid the price that the master had asked and he physically buys back his own wife so that he could restore her to her rightful place. And I want you to think about what a hard thing that is to do. His image as a man of God is tarnished. I mean, these are real people that we're talking about. And you know the kind of conversations that you have when people do dumb things. I guess Hosea didn't pray hard enough. He should have known that she was not a good person. If Hosea would have just took at least a day to fast, he could have been able to see what kind of woman she was. Think about those poor children. First of all, they have terrible names. And now he's spent everything he has to buy back his wife. They're completely broke. He must not be a man of God.

He must not be spiritual at all. I I don't know about you, but if you have ever found yourself in a tough situation, how many times have you picked up the phone and you've called a friend and you said, "Hey, if you were in my shoes, what would you do?" Anybody ever done that? I I I just need a little bit of advice here. If you were in my shoes, what what would you do? I don't know of a single person that would have said, "Hey, I think you need to go back and buy her back." So, where does it come from? Hosea 3:1 says, "Then the Lord said to me, the command comes from the Lord." The love comes from the Lord. He says, 'Go again, love a woman who is loved by a lover and is committing adultery, just like the love of the Lord for the children of Israel who looked to other gods and loved the raisin cakes.

So I bought her for myself for 15 shekels of silver and a homer and a half of barley. This historical account is placed in our Bibles, I believe, for a specific reason, and that is to show you and I that the relentless love that the Lord has for the lost causes him to go to places where you and I are probably not willing to go. and that the love of God is willing to take us back no matter how unfaithful that we have been. When we look at Goomer standing on that auction block, we're looking into a spiritual mirror because don't forget Israel is not the only one that's Homer Goomer, but we are Goomemer. The Apostle Paul, he he he addresses there there is some conflict in the church in Corinth. He's actually getting upset because he finds out that there is some there's fighting.

There's infighting within the church. And he says that that I'm even hearing that you're suing each other. His mind's completely blown. We're not talking about the casual disagreement. We're talking about arguments to the point in which you are suing each other. And this is how the Apostle Paul responds when he hears that. 1 Corinthians chapter 6:9 says, "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolattors, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. This is his response to the church fighting and suing each other. And then he goes on pointing the finger right at the church, pointing right to the individual.

And he says, "And such were some of you, but you were washed." See, see, see, you got to understand, hey, you have some tendencies, Goomer, of going back to that former life that you used to live. You have some tendencies of do you're slipping up a little bit. So Paul is stepping into the midst of the church and HE'S SAYING, "HEY, BEFORE you mess this entire thing up, I need to remind you what God brought you back from." And so he gives this laundry list of sins and he says, "Such were some of you." And I imagine that as the pastor was reading that scripture, reading this letter to the church, that they were thinking to themselves, "He's stepping on my toes. He's calling me out. But Paul had to remind them, such were some of you, but you were washed.

Hey, you're not the same person that you used to be. You cannot go back to the former ways that you were living. You cannot slip up. Don't fall down. Stay the course. You have been washed. You are sanctified. You are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the spirit of our God. Why? Because God is faithful to the unfaithful. He doesn't want to leave us in our sin. No matter how terrible your sin is, he does not want to leave you there. He will passionately pursue you no matter what the cost is. And so we see that that we are the ones who wander away looking for validation and things that leave us broken and bankrupt. But grace means that Jesus did not wait for us to clean ourselves up before he came to the rescue. I can't tell you how many times I've invited people to church and they said, "You know what?

I've got some things that I need to get right first. Let me take care of a few things and as soon as I do, I'll get to church." And I've not ever seen them in church because you you don't understand grace. You don't understand that you can't do it by yourself. Goomer, you cannot get off the auction block. Someone has to pay the price for you to be saved. And Jesus says, "You know what? You can't do it. Your parents can't do it. There's no one in this room that can do it for you. So, I'll tell you what I will do. I will go to the auction block. I will pay the price. I will come to your rescue. I will save you. I will restore you. And I will get you in right standing with me." That's the cross. That's the message of the gospel that he came to the slave market of sin.

He stepped into our dirty mess and he paid that ultimate price at Calvary to buy us back and love us back to life. Amen. Anybody grateful? Anybody thankful for what he's done for you? Amen. So, Romans 5:8 says, "But God demonstrates his love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." It didn't say that when you finally came to your right mind and said, you know, I'm not living the way that I I should. that that Jesus says, "Now I'm going to die for you. Now I'm going to redeem you." Now, it says that while we were yet sinners, Christ died. And I'm going to tell you something that um we all know in here. You're going to have trouble in life. You're going to have trouble. You're going to get news that you don't want to hear.

And if he never heals you again, do you understand and do you accept that what he did on the cross was enough? that he was willing to buy you back from a devil's auction block. Do you understand that that in itself is enough? And that's what Hosea was willing to do for Goomemer. But Goomemer was his wife. They had children on the line. But what Jesus did is on a grander scale. And so while we're living like Goomer and we're putting things before God, he demonstrates his love towards us and he goes to that cross and he buys us back. And I think that that is worth every single one of us in here giving the Lord a hand clap of praise for. Amen. Can we do that? Give him thanks. And so as we move into chapter 6 of Hosea, we see that the people are seeing what's taking place here and they have to respond to God's judgment.

In fact, on the surface, it it seems as though the people truly understand what's going on. They have a moment of clarity and it's like revival has just hit them. Let's read how they respond. Hosea 6:1 says, "Come and let us return to the Lord. For he has torn, but he will heal us. He has stricken, but he will bind us up. After two days, he will revive us. And on the third day, he will raise us up that we may live in his sight." Let us now, let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. His going forth is established as the morning. He will come to us like the rain, like the latter and the former rain to the earth. And they continue by saying that God's going to revive them, that he's going to raise them up, that he's going to come like this seasonal rain.

And in those verses, if we read them casually, it sounds like an incredible prayer. It seems like they are repenting. It does seem as though Israel again is going to have revival. In fact, it sounds like the perfect altar call response. But how many times have we got caught up in the altar and we've got caught up in the song and we say stuff like, "If you can use anything, Lord, you can use me." and we're just saying the words and we're caught up in the emotion and God says,"I hear you and I'm going to take you up on that." And he begins to speak to you and he tells you to do something and you say, "Well, that's not what I had in mind, God. I have somebody else that you could use for that." And God's going, "No, no, no, no. Time out. I heard you in the altar.

You said, "If I could use anything, use you." And so I want to use you. And we create every kind of excuse not to do what God has called us to do. Hosea could have done that, but he didn't. And so we see the people of Israel, they look as though they're doing the right thing. Have you ever heard someone say, "God knows my heart." Some of you just laugh because you know why they said that. You finally had the courage to tell them, "Hey, I don't think you should do that. I don't think God's pleased with that." and they look you straight in the eyes and they go, "God knows my heart. God knows my intentions and they're right." And that's the scary thing because he knows their thoughts. He knows their intentions. He knows everything. And so we we have to be careful.

Amen. Because he also knew the people's motives and their minds and their hearts. And this is how God responds in Hosea 6 and4. The Lord responds by saying, "Oh Ephraim, what shall I do with you? Oh Judah, what shall I do to you? For your unfaith or for your faithfulness is like a morning cloud and like the early dew it goes away. See God's able to see right through their words. He called their repentance a morning cloud, a morning mist. In other words, as soon as it gets hot outside, it's going to vanish away. And God rejects their prayer. Why did he reject their prayer? Because Israel didn't want a personal relationship with him. They just wanted the benefits of having a relationship with him. They were treating the Almighty like a like a vending machine.

They thought that they could offer a quick emotional superficial apology just to stop the pain of their consequences to get it patched up and then THEY WOULD GO RIGHT back into chasing after their idol. See, this is the thing that you have to understand about bail worship. They thought that Bale was going to help them out with their economy. They thought that God that that Bal was going to help them out with with their children. Okay? They thought that that Bale was was the god to go to when we when we need uh an economic victory, but we're going to go to Jehovah when we need a battle one. And so they were cheating on the Lord. And once they realized, oh, the the God of war over here is very angry. Okay. Uh we need to bandage this up. Lord, we know that you'll come to you.

You will bind us up. You'll heal, you know, and all this stuff. their their words were empty. God saw right through their prayers. And I think that this text gives us a profound warning about the nature of our own worship and lifestyle. Because I'm afraid that often times people outside the church only see the exterior of our apostolic lifestyle. They see our emphasis on separation from the world. They see our modesty of holiness. They see our commitment to stewardship. and they're immediately drawn back and they say, "Hey, where is all the fun? What's up with all the rules?" And unfortunately, it happens within the church, too. We start arguing about the very word of God. And we start saying, "Well, such and such's church doesn't believe that or so and so's church doesn't practice that."

And we get caught up in this trap of the enemy because we're way more like Goomer than we want to admit. Because Goomemer had assumed that the real fun was living out in the world. There's no restrictions. There's no rules. There's no covenants. There's parties. There's drinking. We're having a blast. No one has a care in the world. But I'm in a room full of people that have a testimony. And if you've ever lived for God for any length of time, then you understand that we are the ones who are holding the real treasure. Because sin promises a lot but delivers on absolutely nothing except for addiction and depression and brokenness. My friends, I I I have been astonished with the conversations that I've been having with people lately, completely broken because of choices that they have made.

And everyone that I have spoken to has told me, "I regret this. I wished I hadn't gone down this path." And so Israel's massive mistake in Hosea 6 was thinking that if I can just follow a checklist, then I can get a blessing. But true holiness is not a mechanical checklist. Amen. True holiness is simply the natural response of a bride who loves her husband. We don't live in a we we don't live a separated life out of a sense of miserable restriction. We live it because we've been bought off the auction block. And we don't want anything to disrupt this relationship that we have with God. This is why I can't go back to living the way that I used to live. That's why I can't dress like the world. Let me give you a pet peeve of mine. When people say, "If we would start dressing more like the world, maybe we could attract the world to the church."

We can't do that. We can't do that because we have been bought off the auction block by someone who loves us way more than anyone out in this world. Amen. We can't do it. And so as we move into Hosea chapter 11, I want you to notice how this metaphor it it beautifully shifts from a heartbroken spouse to a heartbroken parent. And so many of us in the room, we can relate to this. Hosea 11:1 says, "When Israel was a child, I loved him. And out of Egypt I called my son, and they called them so that they went from them, and they sacrificed to the bells, and they burned incense to carved images. I taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by their arms, but they did not know that I healed them. See, every blessing that Ephraim was giving w was was connecting to Baal was a blessing that was coming from the father.

I taught them to walk, taking them by their arms that they did not know that I healed them. I drew them with gentle cords, with bands of love. I was to them as those who take the yoke from their neck, and I stooped and fed them. God begins to look at the look back on the infancy of of this nation and he recalls how he called his son out of Egypt. Verse three and four, God describes the tender, intimate details of of raising a toddler. And he says, "I taught Israel how to walk. I led them by their arms. I drew them with gentle cords and bands of love, lifting heavy yolks from their necks. I'm the one that stooped down and I fed them. And yet, despite this tender care, the more that God called them, the further they ran into idolatry, sacrificing to these false gods, and they completely refuse to repent.

And so I ask you this. Why would you take anyone back that has been so unfaithful to the point that they refuse to admit even when they've hit rock bottom that they were wrong. And yet that's what our loving God does. He takes us back even when we're unfaithful. I want to tell you a story as how I can relate to this on a on a very minor note. Okay? I want you to understand this is incredibly minor. But last night as I was preparing for this lesson, um I kind of I kind of get in the zone and and when I do, I don't really hear everything taking place around me and a and in a house with four kids that that can be dangerous. Except I did hear something and that was a giant crash in the living room. And when I heard the crash, my immediate response is, "What happened?"

And I hear my wife tell my little 5-year-old son, "You go tell dad what you just did because that was dad's." And so in the living room, I like I said, "Guys, this is this is incredibly minor, okay? But I I had found this um this chalice that to me looked like uh something you would use at communion. And uh Homeman was kicking a soccer ball in the living room, which he knows he's not supposed to do, but because dad is preoccupied, we're going to have a little soccer game here in the living room. And he kicks that ball and he knocks it down and shatters this thing. And so my wife brings this cup into me that's completely destroyed. And she says, "You tell dad what you did." And he comes in and he embraces me as I'm sitting in this chair. Now, you have to understand, okay?

I I mean, so many of us in here have raised kids, but let me tell you about Homeman. Homeman is the type of kid that can hurt his sister and we'll say, "Holman, you apologize. You give her a hug. You tell her you're sorry and he'll go, "We're still working on him." But something about turning five, that personality has completely changed and he comes running in and he gives me the biggest hug and he looks at me with these crocodile tears. I mean the his eyes got this is not exaggerating. This is not preacher talk, okay? He looks at me with these big watery eyes. big old tears coming down his face and he says, "Dad, are you really really mad at me?" So I grabbed him by his ankles and I threw him out the window. What do you do? He's broke a rule that he knows he shouldn't break time after time after time.

But as soon as I take my eyes off of him, little mischief. And we can't ignore the fact that something has been broken. And yet the way he looks me in the eyes as an imperfect father with so many flaws. I want you to remember I didn't say you're Goomer. I said we're Goomer. If an imperfect father can feel that kind of overwhelming grace, imagine how much more our almighty God feels when we break our covenant with him. And this is what I want to leave you with. If you underline in your Bible, if you highlight, if you're taking notes, if you need something to write down and post a sticky note on your bathroom mirror, I whatever it is you do, this is the one that you need to write down. Hosea 11 and8 we see the Almighty the creator of heaven and earth as he cries out from heaven from a heart that is torn between justice they deserve punishment and the love of a father and this is what our almighty God says in Hosea 11:8 how can I give you up Ephraim How can I give you up?

You have been so unfaithful. You have broken every covenant. I have chased you time and time again. I have tried to fix this and you have not done your part. But how can I give you up? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I make you like Adma? How can I set you like Zaboam? My heart churns within me. My sympathy is stirred. Admin Zaboam were completely wiped out, destroyed. And yet our God refused to allow this to happen to his unfaithful people. And this right here is the ultimate definition of a covenant of love. Even when justice says to abandon this rebellious child, his compassion is too warm and tender. and his love keeps reaching and he loves them back to life. Can we stand as we step into this uh new series on the minor prophets, let's make sure that we don't just learn about history, but that we actually apply by the heart of the message.

Amen. I want everyone in this room to know that he loves you and that he cares about you. And I don't know everyone's situation in here. I don't know what it is that you're facing. I don't know the decisions you've made or the decisions that you have to make. We make hard decisions. As I mentioned before, our world's pretty troubled. And we don't always get the news that we want. But if anything, what we can get out of Hosea is that no matter what it is you face and no matter what decision you have made, your God still loves you, your God still reaches for you. Mom, dad, if you're still praying for that child, don't give up. Amen. And I know that there are some young people in here that are still praying for their parents. Don't give up because he's still reaching.

Amen. Let's bow our heads. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this opportunity to be able to come into this house tonight and to worship you in spirit and in truth and to dive into this word. God, I thank you for Hosea. I thank you for a man of God that is willing to do the hard things. I thank you for the example, Lord. I pray that in this place that if we are not where we need to be with you, that we will genuinely repent. That we will turn to you and that we will run to you. Because as we begin to run to you, you'll run towards us and embrace us with your loving care. All this we pray in the name of Jesus. And let the church say, "Amen." Get an amen.