Rev. Steven S. Billings
Pentecost 4
Sermon
6-8-2008

Hosea 5:15-6:6

¹⁵ I will return again to My place Till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me." ^6:1 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. ² After two days He will revive us; On the third day He will raise us up, That we may live in His sight. ³ 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 former rain to the earth. ⁴ "O Ephraim, what shall I do to you? O Judah, what shall I do to you? For your faithfulness is like a morning cloud, And like the early dew it goes away. ⁵ Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets, I have slain them by the words of My mouth; And your judgments are like light that goes forth. ⁶ For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

Today's Old Testament presents a beautiful prophecy of the coming Messiah, the Savior of the world. This Messiah was first promised in Genesis chapter three. God continued to promise His coming as He dealt with Abraham. And throughout the Old Testament we see how He continued to prepare the world for its Savior.

At the time of the prophet Hosea the Kingdom of Israel was divided. Hosea was a prophet in the northern kingdom.

Israel had developed a rather nasty habit of rebelling against God, who would then bring difficulty upon them so they would seek His help. Throughout the Scriptures we see a cycle that repeats itself over and over again: Israel rebels, God puts them through tribulation, they repent, God restores them, they enjoy a period of peace, but then fall away, and the whole thing starts all over again.

Sounds kinda familiar, doesn't it. You know, people haven't changed all that much since the days of Hosea. The pattern seen in the Children of Israel can be seen in our world today - even in our own country, even in our own lives. We rebel against God, do things the way we want to - never mind what God thinks - then He puts us through some experience that wakes us up and brings us back to Him. We repent, He restores us, we enjoy peace and harmony with Him, then sin enters in and the cycle rolls around again.

When today's text was written Israel was in a state of rebellion. Through His prophet, God had been calling them back, to repent of their rebellion, but they wouldn't listen. Now there was the threat of attack from the powerful Assyrian army, an attack which was sure to obliterate them. Still, they wouldn't repent. So, God said, "I will return again to My place Till they acknowledge their offense."

He had tried and tried to get them to turn from their rebellion, but now He was going to have to allow trouble to come so they would remember Him and worship Him again. Sometimes God has to hit us over the head with a two-by-four to get our attention, doesn't He. Sometimes He has to put us flat on our back to get us to look up. It's not something He enjoys, but He knows it's necessary, as He says: "Then they will seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me."

What follows is a beautiful prophecy of what God will do for Israel. Even though He is going to make them endure affliction He will not leave them forever. Hosea writes: "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."

Yes, God does allow difficulty to come into the lives of His people, but He does not allow it to continue forever. When His purpose has been fulfilled, when His people have turned back to Him, He removes their trouble. "He has torn us to pieces but He will heal us; He has injured us but He will bind up our wounds."

My friend, if you've been rebelling against God and now He's got you in a situation where you have no other option but to trust Him, maybe He's trying to wake you up. Maybe He's saying, "Look, all I want is what I alone deserve: worship, praise, honor, obedience." Maybe it's His way of telling you that He wants to be back in your life, to be included as a vibrant, active part of your life. If this is the case and you're realizing it today, be of good cheer, the end is near. God has promised that He will bring healing; He will bring restoration.

Now, understand: God brings affliction into our lives for many different reasons; this is just one of them. A rebellious attitude toward God may not be the reason for whatever trouble you're in. But it might be, and that's something you should consider. We know it was the case for Israel, and thanks be to God, they knew it wouldn't last forever. God would deliver them, and you can be assured that He will deliver you as well.

By now you may be wondering what all this has to do with the Messiah. Well, in the beginning of Hosea's book, God instructs him to go out and marry an adulterous woman and have children by her. As the Lord puts it, "For the land has committed great harlotry By departing from the Lord" (1:2).

The Bible often speaks of the relationship of God to His people in marital terms. When His people have turned away, He often - as He does here - calls it adultery.

This marital relationship comes up again in connection with Christ and the Church. In Matthew 25, Jesus tells the parable of the ten virgins who prepare for the bridegroom, referring to the church preparing for the coming of the Lord. In Revelation 19, we read about the marriage feast of the Lamb, also referring to Christ and the Church. Ephesians 5, which speaks of the relationship between husband and wife, is all about Christ and the Church. With this imagery in mind, Hosea's whole life is seen as a Messianic prophecy. He goes out to woo and win an adulterous woman, making her respectable; Jesus suffers and dies for His bride, the Church, making us respectable in the eyes of God.

And look at the specific prophecy in our text. This is clearly Messianic. Though we all have turned from God and deserve the punishment and injury mentioned here, it is not we ourselves who have endured it, have we. By virtue of being sons and daughters of Adam, we are born into a state of rebellion against God (original sin) and live out that rebellion day-by-day (actual sin). The punishment for this sinfulness is death.

But, someone else has paid that price, hasn't He. Israel was unfaithful - the adulterous woman. Hosea stands in the stead and by the command of God, marries a harlot, and thereby indicates that God Himself will reconcile the unfaithful nation as a groom purifies his unfaithful bride.

Beloved, though we have deserved the wrath and punishment of God on account of our sins - individually and collectively - our Bridegroom - Jesus - has taken that wrath and punishment on Himself. Jesus was torn to pieces for us. Jesus was injured on our behalf. Jesus is the one to whom this text points. Indeed, Jesus is the one to whom the entire life and ministry of Hosea the prophet points.

How clear this becomes when our text says things like: "After two days He will revive us; On the third day He will raise us up!" Jesus, the Messiah, was the One who was revived after two days. He was the One restored on the third day.

Jesus took upon Himself what we so obviously deserved, and because He took our punishment, because He was torn, because He was wounded, we have been spared the pain of eternal death.

All the benefits of this passage are now ours. Because He was revived we shall be revived. Because He was restored we shall be restored. We have been healed; He has bound our wounds.

This would make a beautiful ending. But, our text does not end here. It goes on to answer a very important question: "So what?" So we have been healed. So what? So He has bound our wounds. So what? So we have been revived. So what? So we have been restored. So what?

So, now we "live in His sight." We live, walk, do everything, say everything, in His presence. As Paul said to the men of Athens: "In Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28).

We Christians are taught from a very young age - are we not? - that Jesus lives in our heart. You graduates have most likely heard this your whole lives. Count it a blessing that you've been raised in a Christian home and had the immense privilege of attending a Lutheran school. Here you have been reminded again and again that you received the Holy Spirit in your baptism and that He is always with you.

But that sort of makes you re-think the way you do some of the things you do, doesn't it. Sometimes I have to ask myself, "If Jesus were walking beside me, would I go to some of the places I go? If He were listening, would I say some of the things I say? If He were watching, would I do some of the things I do?" You know what? He is!

A little girl once asked her grandfather, "Grandpa, is God bigger than us?" He was sort-of surprised by the question; they can come up with some real winners, you know. "I suppose you could say that," he finally answered. "Well," she replied, "if He's bigger than us and He lives inside us, shouldn't we be able to see Him?"

Come, let us return to the Lord, for He has prepared the way, and stands ready to take our hand. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen