My Pulpit Message Notes: ENDURING GRACE

ENDURING GRACE

My Pulpit Message Notes are transcribed from the sermon preached at the Nairobi Baptist Church (NBC) Ngong Road on Sunday 5th February, 2023. Preacher - Pastor Elijah Mokaya, Youth Pastor NBC. Scripture: Hosea 1,2,3 . Topic: Enduring Grace

Background

Hosea is a contemporary of the prophet Amos and he is writing during the reign of Jeroboam II king of Israel, Hosea 1:1

“ The word of the Lord that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the reign of Jeroboam son of Jehoash king of Israel:”

He is specifcally prophesying and speaking to the Northern Kingdom that came to be known as Israel, or Ephraim, because Ephraim had risen to become a more prominent tribe.

- During the reign of Jeroboam II and the period of Hosea’s prophesy Israel was enjoying economic prosperity and for a time they experienced a false sense of security and calmness. It is in this period that they plunged deeper into idolatry and forsook Yahweh the God who had delivered them from Egypt and they went afer other gods of the surrounding nations.

- So Hosea writes to warn them of the impending judgement that was occasioned by their apostasy and syncretism i.e mixing of the worship of Yahweh and other gods. But even as he warns them of God’s judgement, Hosea still shows them God’s grace and love that still jealously pursues them.

God’s Enduring Grace Hosea 1,2,3

- Pastor Chuck Swindol of the Insight for Living Ministries has preached a message from the book of Hosea that he has titled; A Scandal in the Personage. Te late Dr. E. K Bailey, a notable African American preacher, preached a sermon from this book titled; Te Preacher and the Hoochie. And many others have preached from this book and these kind of titles are not rare to come across. Others are; the prophet and the prostitute, are some of the titles that speak about the book of Hosea.

- These sentiments must have been shared by those who lived in the times of Hosea. As they walk and are having these conversations, this topic would come up. “ Te prophet Hosea did what?” “ Te prophet married a what?”

- God had asked the prophet to do a most difficult thing, impossible even, to marry a prostitute. Tis is what the Bible tells us in Hosea 1:2-3

“When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.” 3 So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.” (ESV)

God was speaking to Hosea, uses one word that is translated in the ESV as whoredom that the NIV translates into three different phrases. “Go take yourself a wife of whoredom/prostitute and have children of whoredom/prostitution for the land commits whoredom/prostitution by forsaking the LORD.

- Imagine being called to the prophetic office and nowadays there are many that are coming up and assigning themselves titles as prophets and apostles etc and then your first assignment as a prophet, because the Bible says, “When the Lord first spoke through Hosea…,”. And your first assignment as a prophet is to take a wife of whoredom. To take a prostitute as a wife.

Not only that, but also to have children with her, some of whom, there is good evidence to suggest that the children were not even Hosea’s. Tat’s why the

Bible says, and have children of whoredom/prostitution. Scholars have argued that this could either mean the children themselves got involved in prostitution, but I incline more with the suggestion that the children perhaps were born out of wedlock, that Gomer, Hosea’s wife went out of her marriage, she had children that were not Hosea’s.

This was the fate of Hosea and he must allover sudden become the talk of town, because the absurdity of what he had done had confounded many. The insanity of it all confusing even more, for how could a prophet associate himself with a prostitute? How could a holy man enjoin himself with such a harlot, a man of worth stooping too low to marry what many would have considered a worthless woman?

- And as they shook their heads in wonder, God had gotten their attention. For in this unimaginable situation was a picture of their own relationship with Yahweh.

- Hosea’s marriage to Gomer was symbolic of God’s marriage to His people Israel. Hosea represented God and Gomer represented the people of Israel. In other words, a holy God who had no business with associating Himself with that which is unholy had made a covenant with an unholy and ungrateful people.

- In Hosea, the Israelites ought to have seen God, and in Gomer, they ought to have seen themselves. If I was Hosea, as they probably jeered at me and whispered behind my back I would have turned to them and told them, ‘Aha, who has the last laugh?’ You laugh at me because I married a prostitute and yet you are the prostitutes.’

- In Hosea, you and I ought to see God and in Gomer we ought to see ourselves. We are Gomer. I am Gomer.

- Brothers and sisters, one would assume that a woman, of Gomer’s status would be forever grateful for the gesture of love and acceptance extended to her by her husband Hosea. Because no one else would have cast a second glance at her and considered her to be a wife, yet this man comes and reaches out to her and reaches out to her and marries her.

One would expect that Gomer would live a life of faithfulness and loyalty and would forever be grateful to her husband that wanted her when no one else would have wanted her. It seemed the only sensible thing, but no, Hosea’s love for Gomer would go unreciprocated. In fact Hosea would suffer a great betrayal.

The Great Betrayal

Hosea would suffer a great betrayal in that the one he married would go back to the embrace of other men. She would give that which was meant only for her husband to other men and as the Proverbs says, her springs were scattered abroad, her streams of water in the streets, Proverbs 5:16.

- Some of us know what it is like to have love that is not reciprocated, unrequited love. To love someone who betrays your love. Some of us are still in pain over love that were betrayed. This was Hosea, but even more this was God. And Hosea was left a rejected and dejected lover. His love for Gomer was completely unappreciated, unreciprocated, betrayed. And God wanted the children of Israel to see how they had left Him as a rejected and dejected Lover. His love for them had gone unappreciated, unreciprocated and betrayed.

- God wants us to see how many times we like Gomer have left Him a rejected Lover. That many times His love for us goes unappreciated, unreciprocated, betrayed. And as a result, God decided to pass judgment on Israel. So the children that Hosea and Gomer would have would bear names that would speak of the judgment that God would inflict upon the Israel.

Jezreel, the frst born would speak of God’s punishment against the violence that Jehu committed at Jezreel. And because Jeroboam II was in the house of Jehu, God pronounced judgement against that house to bring an end to that particular house.

The second born Lo-Ruhammah, which means, no mercy, God says, I will no longer have mercy on you. Lo-Ammi meaning, you are no longer my people and God for a moment said, I will disown you as my people, I will no longer call you my people. You have forsaken me.

- Hosea 1:10, starts with a phrase that is so important for us. It says “Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “Children of the living God.”

- God is still a God of covenant even when He is issuing and decreeing judgement against the people of Israel. That the same God that had made a promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, about their seed and the fact that indeed their offspring shall the like the sand of the sea, this same God despite the fact that the Israelites had rejected Him, a dejected Lover, betrayed love even as He issued judgement, this same God still remembers His covenant.

This is the amazing thing about our God. But also one would wonder what is it that the Israelites had done that God considers and compares it to adultery / prostitution? What is the heinous sin that they had done that God uses His choice servant, a prophet to be a symbol of the relationship between Himself and the Israelites? He chooses to take woman of the street to represent the very people that He loves.

- You see, the Israelites had forsaken the living God, their covenant God and had gone ahead to worship foreign gods. They participated in despicable practices that the pagan nations around them. Even worse, they gave credit to other gods for what God had blessed them with. They also used what God had blessed them with to please and to serve other gods.

Hosea 2:5 “For their mother has played the whore;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 fax, my oil and my drink.’

- Forsaking the God that had given them everything, forsaking the God that had taken them out of the land of slavery brought them to the land that flows with milk and honey. Forsaking that God that had blessed them with everything and pursuing other gods and saying, “I will go afer my lovers that give me all these things.” Tey gave credit to other gods for what God and blessed them with.

Hosea 2:8

“And she did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil, and who lavished on her silver and gold, which they used for Baal.”

- God’s blessings, God’s good gifs had been turned to please and serve other gods. Tis is what God compares to prostitution. Tis is a heinous sin. For the Almighty God to reach to us and shower us with His love, to lavish His love upon us, to give us good gifs yet to turn away from Him and to consider other gods and idols and say, these are the ones that have done this for me.

wilderness when Moses delayed up in the mountain, didn’t they tell Aaron to make them a calf and as they worshipped it, didn’t they say, “these are your gods o Israel, who took you out of Egypt.”

- Yet, before we are too quick to judge the Israelites let us remember this Scripture is for us today. For how many times do we credit other, people, things for that which God has blessed us with? How many times do we take that which God has given us and lavished upon us and used it to please other gods. So just as Gomer went seeking after other lovers, the Israelites went seeking after other gods. And we also forsake our God and go seeking after other gods.

gods that we worship today

1.African Traditional Religion.

In the recent past there is a surge of many of us going back to the religion of our ancestors. We are going back and seeking that which our ancestors worshipped. It is no longer enough for us to worship the God that has been revealed in the Scriptures. We are saying perhaps our ancestors knew something that we don’t and so are going back. Some of us because of the power of association we are doing things that we ought not to and are getting ourselves into religious practices we ought not to in order to associate, in order to be called this and that. Brothers and sisters, beware because that was the fate of the Israelites.

- 1 Peter 1:18

“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.”

- Peter says you were redeemed from a certain life, an empty way of life that was handed over to you by your ancestors. Brothers and sisters it cost the blood of Jesus Christ to redeem you from practices and religious rites that were meant to destroy you. How dare you go back there? How dare you mix the worship of the living holy God with the worship of the god of our ancestors? How dare we cheat against God that way? How dare we engage in that level of whoredom / prostitution because it is the same? There are some who gave gone back and we see nothing wrong with that. There are some of us because of the power of association have compromised our own walk with God and God is saying look at Gomer, that is you. And He is calling you back to the purity of our worship, you cannot worship God and worship the god of our ancestors. There is only one God and He has been revealed in the Scriptures. Only Jesus grants us access to this God. Come away from the gods that you are worshipping. We need to come back to our Lover.

2. Witchcraft.

There are moments in the life when we feel that God is not moving the way we desire for Him to move. When prayers don’t seem to work and normal Christian habits seem futile. And in those moments we are tempted to seek for “higher powers”. And some of us have gone and sort after witchcraft. Perhaps you have not gone to the traditional witches as we know them, but have gone to the prayer us, famaously ‘waombi, wombaji, waombezi. Perhaps in your house you have evidence of that. You have some holy water that you were given by a certain ‘man of God’. You have some paraphernalia that you were told, this has the anointing of God, some anointing oil that you were given because you visited a prayer us, a muombezi, a muombolezi, etc.

- Some of us in our own bodies we have lucky charms, or protective charms. And God is calling us today, and saying you have become a Gomer. You have left Me, who is your Lover, who protects you and have associated my protection with other gods. You have left Me who provides for you and have associated my provision with other gods. You have left Me, who is your healer and associated my healing with other gods and God is saying, come out of witchcraft, come back home, come back to you Lover. Whether the witchcraft looks dark, or is embedded on what seems to be Christian, it is all witchcraft and you need to come back to your Lover, to your God.

3.New Age Religion.

Many have been led astray by this, especially the younger generation. We believe in the law of attraction. We ask the universe for things. ‘Universe, do your thing.’ Rather than pray to God, we manifest things. You probably have crystal balls and other New Age stuff in your house. You practice things that are outside of Scripture and because people on social media say that manifesting works, you have gone ahead and rather than pray you manifest. We have become like the Israelites and are now attributing God’s blessings to the universe. We are worshipping other gods whether we know it or not.

4. Wealth.

Wealth has become a god for many of us. Brothers and sisters there is a reason why Jesus said that it is very difcult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. And by Kenyan standards do not think that I am talking about other rich people, I am talking about you and I. By Kenyan standards you are rich. Do you have a toilet inside your house? You are rich because a majority of Kenyans do not have that privilege. Can you aford an Uber? You are rich. Wealth if we are not careful can become a terrible god and Jesus warns us so that you may be careful. It is difcult, impossible even or the rich to enter into the kingdom of heaven. It takes God’s special grace and power because God is a God of impossibilities. Tat is why despite our wealth, we are still able to enter the kingdom of God. But we must beware because you cannot serve God and mammon.

- How many times are we unable to serve God, or do simple Christian duties because we are chasing afer wealth? How many times are you unable to attend HGF because you are too busy working, searching afer wealth. Some of us are unable to come to church physically, it is not a health condition, but it is a convenience of being at home so that you may continue searching afer wealth.

- Wealth has become a dangerous god. So we don’t have time for God, or the things of God because we are chasing after wealth. We need to be careful because the drift happens slowly.

- Our hearts don’t grow cold in one day. It takes the occasional neglect of your quiet time. It takes a day, or two that go without you praying. Before you know it, you add to the statistics of the many that say we used to serve with this brother, we used to be with this sister, but today they no longer associated themselves with God. Let not wealth become your god.

- How willingly are you able to part with your wealthy for the sake of the glory of God? Does your wealth give you more meaning and significance than God does? Do you consider those that are lesser than you socio-economically to be lesser individuals? How do you treat your watchman, house-help? Because they have less money than you are they less human beings or has wealth become your god, speaking and telling you all manner of things?

- The LORD desires to win us back to His love. He warns us as He warns the Israelites and He woes us until our relationship with Him is restored.

- What pains God the most in not just that He is neglected, dejected and rejected Lover, but also the fact that in pursuing other gods, we are exposing ourselves to great harm and danger. Because you see the gods that the Israelites worshipped were harsh gods. Baal for example, that they went after and neglected YAHWEH, do you remember the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel, when they sought after Baal, they cut themselves in an attempt to appeal to their god so that they attract his attention. These gods were harsh. Te gods we are going after are harsh gods. Money is harsh god, the gods of witchcraft are harsh gods, New Age religion is a harsh god, traditional african religion is a harsh god, only YAHWEH is a good God. And God who is a good Lover is not just jealous because you have neglected Him, He is also jealous because you are harming yourself.

- What we don’t realise about idols is that they are not empty things. “Universe do your thing is not just an empty fancy thing that came recently”, African Traditional Religion, what’s the big deal about facing this huge tree, or a particular mountain? Be very ware.

- Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10:19-20 “

Do I mean then that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons.”

- Behind an idol, Paul argues, there is a demon and the reason why those things seem to work is because there are demonic forces working behind to fool and allure you from God. You are in dangerous territory. And it breaks God’s heart to see you go in that direction. It breaks God’s heart to see the Israelites go after other gods that will leave them, high and dry, destroyed. So He woes us.

- I wonder how many of us have suffered because we opened a door that devil took advantage of? How many of us are being oppressed and possessed by demons today? How many of us have a cloud of darkness over us because we neglected the worship of the living God and went after other gods?

- Brothers and sisters come back. Throw away that holy water, the crystal balls, all the paraphernalia, the protective charm and come back to the living God. Your Lover cares too much for you to see you hurt yourself. And so this God will punish you to bring you to your senses. He will expose you to restore you.

- Hosea 2:6-7

“ Therefore I will hedge up her way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her, so that she cannot find her paths. 7 She shall pursue her lovers but not overtake them, and she shall seek them but shall not find them. Ten she shall say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband, for it was better for me then than now.’

- God sometimes will punish us and expose us so that we may return to Him. And I pray if perhaps right now if you are going through something, or God has exposed your sin, it is an act of His mercy because He wants you to come back to Him.

The Great Betrothal

- God’s grace perseveres and persists in pursuing us. There are two musicians that have written a song, Matt Papa and Matt Boswell have written a song that has these lines, “Our sins, they are many, but His mercy is more.” That although God’s judgement is upon all sin and wickedness, yet mercy triumph over judgement. James 2:13.

- The book of Hosea shines a ray of hope for you and I that many times forsake our God in pursuit of other lovers. Tat despite the fact that Gomer left her rightful husband and sought the embrace of other men, God still commanded Hosea to go and love her as a picture of what He does for us. Hosea 3:1 God spoke to Hosea to go again and marry a woman that has gone after other men.

- And this is the beauty of God’s enduring grace, that it woes us, it allures us, it tenderly reaches to us even as Hosea 2:14 puts it. “ Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.”

- And yet God will not rest until He has won your heart back. He desires that your relationship with Him becomes like that of a lover with His beloved and not necessarily a question of duty. He desires that you will lovingly obey and follow Him and not necessarily do that dutifully and begrudgingly.

- Yet this is the best news yet, that the wife who forsook her husband, the one who defiled herself with other men will be betrothed by her husband.

- Hosea 2:19-20

“19 And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. 20 I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord.”

- Tree times the LORD says, “I will betroth you” speaking of the totality of this betrothal, the greatness of this betrothal, that though she had defiled herself, the Bible says, she will be betrothed / married as though she were a virgin.

- This is the good news, that despite your mess, and how you have corrupted yourself, despite how much you have tainted yourself with sin, God is able through Jesus Christ to cause you to be just as though you never sinned.

- God is the one that the Bible tells us loved the church and gave Himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing of water through the Word and to present her to Himself as a radiant church without stain, or wrinkle, or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

- You who has gone astray and defiled yourself with other gods, God will make you blameless. You will be without stain, you will be faultless.

- Just as Hosea paid a price to have his wife back, so Jesus paid a price to have you and I with Him forever. God demonstrates His own love towards us in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. You have been bought with a price so honour God in your body.