Lesson #12

HOSEA 11
Lesson #12
THE CHARACTERISTICS OF GOD’S BANDS OF LOVE

• Memory Verse: Hos 11:7
• The previous section of the book of Hosea concentrated on the unfaithfulness of Israel.
• This chapter concentrates on the extensive love of God in spite of Israel’s unfaithfulness.
• To fully understand God’s love, we need to understand God’s concept of election or His choosing.

• Read Hos 11:1-4 God’s unconditional choice of love

• “When Israel was a child…”

(1)

• God’s close family relationship with His people:
• From the beginning of creation, God desired a close personal relationship of love and trust with the people of His creation.
• It is for this reason that he delivered the Israelites out of Egypt.(1)
• Why did God choose Israel out of a great variety of the groups of people that He could have chosen?
• There were many groups of people located in various geographical areas that were larger in number, more productive, more intelligent, and more impressive, so why Israel?
• The ultimate answer is something that only God knows and is explained only by his great sovereign grace and love. (Deu 7:6-8) However we can gain some insight into how God makes choices by observing some other choices that God has made.
• God’s choice of Abraham.
• God’s choice of David.
• Biblical Principles in this chapter

:

• =1= God’s choice is always the unexpected.
• =2= God’s choice is never based on outward appearance.
• =3= God’s choosing is always with a specific purpose.
• =4= God’s choice is always the least deserved.
• Read 1Cor 1:27 the foolish things confound the wise.
• “…called my son out of Egypt.”

(1)

• When God called Israel out of Egypt, they were not serving God. They had forgotten God and were serving their Egyptian masters and the gods of Egypt.
• God delivered Israel because of His love for them.
• Love was the motive for deliverance in the Old Testament and the motive for salvation through Jesus Christ in the New Testament.(Joh 3:16)
• Read Mat 2:15
• Matthew quotes from Hosea 11:1 to refer to God’s choosing for a specific purpose.
• Joseph took Jesus and Mary to Egypt to prevent King Herod from killing Jesus. When Herod was dead, God told Joseph to take his family out of Egypt.
• You can see the parallel in this fulfilled prophecy between the deliverance of Israel (in its infancy) out of Egypt to serve God and the deliverance of Jesus (as a baby) out of Egypt to serve God.
• The nature of God’s extensive love:

• “…taking them by their arms…”

(3)

• In a very gentle way God led them through the wilderness. He taught them, and healed them. However they rebelled against God’s guidance. They refused to learn about God and His expectations, and they failed to acknowledge God’s miraculous healing power with thanksgiving.
• We can say the same today about the gentleness of the Holy Spirit that guides us, teaches us, and heals us. He is a gentleman that will not force us to do God’s will.
• Often we do as the Israelites did. We rebel against God’s perfect will for us to do our own will. We fail to learn God’s Word about who God is and what He expects from us, and we fail to thank Him for His miracles and His provision.
• God fought Satan by using His ultimate weapon, the life of His Son Jesus Christ to bring salvation to man, but like a gentleman, he does not force it upon us. He stands at the door of your heart knocking and waiting for you to allow Him to enter. (Rev 3:20)
• “I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love…”

(4)

• What is it that attracts man to God?
• The greatest attraction is man’s need for love. Every human needs to feel love and acceptance. Through this great need that God has placed in man is what God uses to draw us to Him.
• The unconditional love of God is the strongest force in the universe.
• Christians that want to win people to the Lord Jesus Christ will be wise to use God’s own methods of unconditional love to attract the non-believer.
• To the contrary, that which does the greatest damage to the spread of the gospel is a believer’s lack of unconditional love.
• It is this lack of unconditional love that the enemy uses to destroy the seeds of the gospel.
• While the band of love is the strongest power in the universe, by its nature it does not violate man’s free will to choose his own destiny. As we have already seen the Holy Spirit is a gentleman and patiently waits for man’s response.

• Read Hos 11:5-9 Egypt and Assyria
• As we have learned previously in the book of Hosea, the Northern Kingdom foolishly tried to appease the enemy, Assyria, with money. It was like a child trying to buy friendship with a monstrous gorilla by means of a small piece of candy.
• We have also discussed how the Northern Kingdom tried to make a strong defense alliance with Egypt and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. However, the Southern Kingdom of Judah betrayed the Northern Kingdom’s efforts to Assyria.
• While these two nations of Egypt and Assyria, and the events surrounding them, are factual in the Old Testament, these two nations of Egypt and Assyria are spiritual prefigures or examples to inform the New Testament believer.
• Egypt:
• Through the entire Bible, the nation of Egypt represents, by prefigure, the world, worldliness, or the human system of thinking. This aspect is best understood in a study of the books of Exodus and Numbers.
• Assyria:
• The Old Testament speaks frequently of Assyria and its leader, the Assyrian.
• It is clear in a study of the prophecies in the book of Daniel that the Assyrian leader is a prefigure of the antichrist, a world leader that will come in the tribulation period of seven years in the future.
• The Antichrist is the second member of the unholy trinity: Satan, the father of lies, the Antichrist, and the False Prophet.
• Therefore, by association, the nation of Assyria symbolically represents the kingdom of Satan, spiritually speaking.
• “He shall not RETURN into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian shall be his king…”

(5)

• We have seen previously in our study of Hosea’s prophecies that, in truth, Israel will again RETURN to become captives in Egypt in the tribulation period under the Antichrist. (Deu 28:64-68 Isa 19:18)
• However, they were not enslaved in Egypt when the Northern Kingdom fell to the Assyrian armies in 721 BC. The Pharaoh of Egypt was not their king. Instead, the king of Assyria was their king.
• The spiritual significance of this verse is clear. The spirit of the Antichrist that already is in the world became their king instead of Jesus Christ when they rejected Jesus at his first coming. (1Joh 2:18) For that reason Jesus told the Pharisees that their father was Satan and not God. (Joh 8:44
• There is a future fulfillment when the Antichrist (by prefigure the Assyrian) will be the king of the Jews.
• In the beginning of the Tribulation period, the Jews will believe the lie that the Antichrist is the true Messiah they have expected for centuries. They will accept him as their king and Messiah.
• Read John 5:43

• “And my people are bent to backsliding…”

(7)

• This is the second time we have seen this phrase in this book. Remember it refers to a stubborn heifer that rebelliously refuses to move forward in obedience.
• God’s great dilemma: (8-9)

• …mine heart is turned within me, my repenting are kindled together”

(8)

• In desperation God searches for ways to reach His people so they will understand that their eternal future is at stake.
• “How shall I give thee up, Ephraim?…”

(8)

• This sentence expresses God’s great love for Israel.
• We see in it His great frustration because His unconditional love has not produced the desired effect.
• We see His great patience that He is unwilling to acknowledge defeat.
• We see His great determination to continue His plan in spite of rejection.
• “…How shall I deliver thee, Israel?…”

(8)

• God already was using the strongest force in the universe to win them, the force of unconditional love.
• By means of that love, God would make the ultimate sacrifice, His own Son, Jesus Christ. (Joh 3:16)
• “…How shall I make thee as Admah? How shall I set thee as Zeboim?

(8)

• Admah and Zeboim were two cities at the southern end of the Dead Sea near the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.
• God judged the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah at the same time He judged these two cities. Now He would have to judge all the northern cities for their similar immorality.
• “I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not RETURN to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man…” (9)
• God permitted the Assyrians to destroy Israel’s cities, but they would not totally destroy the people.
• Speaking with human reasoning, the Israelites deserved total annihilation for their rebellion, but God had a different plan. He would fulfill the promises He made to Abraham to bless all the 12 tribes of Israel. To complete His promises, all 12 tribes needed to maintain their existence. God could not destroy the northern 10 tribes and maintain only the 2 southern tribes. He needed all 12 tribes.
• Therefore, in God’s great dilemma, He must balance His justice to punish Israel’s sins with His mercy to demonstrate His love and still maintain His righteous sovereignty over the powers of the enemy that would destroy totally the people of God to make God a liar of His promises.
• We can see this balance in verse 9. “…the Holy One in the midst of thee, and I will not enter into the city.”
• God would keep working in the midst of Israel and remain a Holy God without violating His perfect justice and his supreme mercy. Only God could walk this fine line between mercy and justice.
• Instead of His personal coming to the earth to judge his people, He would let the Assyrians bring the judgment.

• Read Hos 11:10-12 The future promise of restoration
• God’s plan would eventually produce the desired fruit. His people eventually will seek the Lord. (10) They will eventually fear God when they see the destruction of the tribulation period that threatens their existence as a people.
• “…He shall roar like a lion; when he shall roar, then the children will tremble from the west.”

(10)

• God destroyed Israel like a lion when he permitted the Assyrians to attack. (5:14)
• At the end of the tribulation period, God will call the Jews back to the Promised Land with a roar like a lion. The Jews will tremble in their scattered places in the west, but they will obey and RETURN to the Promised Land to begin the Millennial Kingdom of Jesus’ reign on the earth for 1000 years.
• The prophecy about the west is an interesting detail in that the majority of Jews in the world live in the United States, west of the nation of Israel.
• When Israel RETURN s from captivity, they will tremble like a frightened dove (11)
• The first fulfillment is the RETURN from captivity in Babylon.
• The second fulfillment is the RETURN from captivity in Egypt by the Antichrist in the tribulation period.
• “…but Judah yet ruleth with God, and is faithful with the saints.

(12)

• This is a troubling verse because both the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah were disobedient children to God. God would punish both kingdoms but not at the same time.
• These are facts we have already studied in the book of Hosea. Then, how must we understand the end of verse 12?
• The Hebrew scripture interprets the word “ruleth” to mean = to wander restlessly and to be unruly with God.
• There was still a faithful remnant in the Southern Kingdom. For that reason, the judgment on the Southern Kingdom is delayed.
• Review and application:
• God has explained His love by means of his great dilemma of balancing perfectly His justice and mercy.
• Therefore in this chapter we can see God’s love in action.
• What are the characteristics of God’s “tough love”?
• Tough love sees that perfect justice is satisfied
• In other words, tough love does not suspend justice to apply mercy.
• Tough love is remedial to help the believer overcome and to merit restoration.
• This chapter in Hosea reminds us of the prodigal son in the New Testament.
• Read Luke 15:11-24
• Discussion

: What parallels do you see between the story of the prodigal son and God’s plan for Israel in the book of Hosea?

HOMEWORK
Hosea 12
This is a self-study. Please do not send homework answers to the teacher forcorrection.

• Application of Hosea 11
• In what ways does your life today parallel the story of the prodigal son?
• What changes can you make in your life that will make God rejoice?
• Preparation for Hosea 12
• Read Hos 12:1-14
• What is the significance of verse 3? (Gen 25:22-26)
• From the story of Jacob in Genesis and from what you already know about Jacob’s life, what is the principle for success in life?

Memory Verse: Hos 12:5