Last week we spoke about the reality of idolatry. Our hearts are idol-making factories, which means that we are prone to turn anything good into a replacement for God.

• Idolatry happens almost subconsciously. Worship of God is an

heart, mind, and body activity.
• One of the main goals of the

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in the Old Testament was to call out the idolatry of the people.
• Why would God care? He cares because idolatry is the ultimate form of

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. This is why the story of Hosea takes the shape it does.
• The lives of the prophets were not just about preaching a message, but sometimes about embodying a

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. They were living illustrations of spiritual truths.

About Hosea

• Hosea was a prophet in the

kingdom of Israel about 200 years after Israel split into the north & the south. For over 25 years, Hosea proclaimed the Word of God to the people of Israel (who he sometimes called Ephraim or Jacob).
• Hosea’s calling was not easy. Remember, these are real people in this passage & yet God had incredible purposes to use them for His

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. (See Hosea 1:2)
• Hosea is called by God to go &

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a promiscuous woman. God tells Hosea in advance that she will be unfaithful. All of this is an illustration to be a public display because Israel has committed idolatry against the Lord.
• Hosea’s wife’s name is Gomer. He marries her & has

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children. We know for sure that one is Hosea’s, but the text is unclear about the other two.
• Hosea’s life is to us a scandalous illustration of the

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of God towards us. So, how are we to understand this book & its message?

We are

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• The nation of Israel had ceased to be

at the wickedness of their leaders & their religious idolatry.
• How personally does God take our idolatry? He says it is spiritual

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. So, he used Hosea’s life & his marriage to an unfaithful woman to shock Israel into a place of clarity about their actions.
• What are you depending on to comfort you besides God? What are you leaning on in your life to bring you fulfillment, meaning, & purpose more than God? Is it a relationship in your life? Is it your job? Is it a hobby? Where in your life are you choosing to carve out your own path or live on your own terms rather than believe God & trust in Him? These are places of idolatry and spiritual adultery.

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is our Hosea.

• The reason that God told Hosea to pursue Gomer even in her unfaithfulness was because He wants to paint a

of His pursuit of us.
• Just like Gomer, we are not

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of His love. We have done nothing to merit His work of redemption, yet He gives it freely.
• Just like Hosea paid a price that

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him in order to get Gomer back, God gave that which was infinitely valuable, His one & only Son, to bring us home.

// Romans 5:8 | But God shows His own love for us in that, while we were yet sinners (His enemies, walking against Him), Christ died for us.

• This is the future reality for Israel that Hosea continually points to. One day, the

would come to redeem Israel & fulfill His covenant promises to us.
• But here is something important to remember: God’s love is

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, not

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(JD Greear).
• Understanding the reality of God’s love is how we

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the bondage of sin. We don’t change ourselves & earn God’s love as a reward for our work, we find transformation by embracing the reality of His love for us.
• The reason for your idolatry is that you feel like you are

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something, so you try to find it for yourself. The answer is fixing your eyes on the truth of God’s love for you & what He has done to save you — as you abide in this truth the Spirit of God transforms you & sets you free from those idols.

We are

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.

• God called Hosea to a situation in which he would publicly display the

of God through an undesirable set of circumstances.
• This is one way that God uses His people in this world. Remember the message we have been looking at throughout our journey into the prophets: we are Israel & we are also the prophets. God uses us to

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a specific message to a specific set of people at a specific time. Many times, in fact most times, we don’t see this coming & we probably wouldn’t choose it if we did.
• It is only by continually reminding ourselves of God’s

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for us that we can find the resources to display God’s love & character to those around us.

In Summary:

• Idolatry is spiritual adultery. Idolatry

the relationship with the only One who can truly love, protect, and provide.
• Idolatry Promises Much, Delivers Nothing, and Leaves You Empty. Idolatry is self-harm because it deceives and

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. It leads you to cut yourself off from the true Life-Giver and attach yourself to things that cannot satisfy—and ultimately destroy.
• Idolatry doesn’t just offend God—it

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the idolater. To worship something other than God is to choose death over life, bondage over freedom, and emptiness over fullness.
• The story of Hosea is not just about a prophet and a prostitute—it’s about God and us. We are Gomer. God is Hosea. And the

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is where love paid the price to bring the unfaithful home.