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God’s Gracious Cure: The Declaration of His Covenant Love for His People

July 16, 2017 Preacher: Series: The Prophecy of Hosea: The Story of God's Redemptive Justice & Covenant Love

Scripture: Hosea 11:1– 12:1

Key Truth: God’s gracious steadfast love is far more persistent and powerful than our sinful disobedience.

 

 

Introduction:

Q: What do you feel like you deserve at this point in your life?

 

 

Reflections on the God’s Grace in the Exodus and Israel’s Apostasy:

Hosea 11:1-7: 

“Hosea took a certain risk in couching the relationship between Yahweh and his people in terms of love. The Canaanite nature cult put great stress on the erotic nature of the divine-human relationship and the role of physical love in maintaining the order of the universe. Hosea guarded against misunderstanding by his insistence that God’s love is best understood not in sexual terms, or in the cycles of fertility each spring, but in the redemptive acts of the Exodus. More than passion is involved; there is the deliberate activity of God’s will throughout Israel’s history, itself a continuity of divine instruction and discipline.’”

William Sanford LaSor, David Allan Hubbard, and Frederic William Bush, Old Testament Survey: The Message, Form, and Background of the Old Testament

Q: Has there even been a situation where God showed you great grace that you ended up responding by spurning His grace through disobedience?

 

 

The Promise of God’s Steadfast Love for His People and the New Exodus:

Hosea 11:8-12:1

“(Yahweh) looks at his erring child and is overwhelmed by love; he knows that what his rebellious son has done is worthy of expulsion from his house, but he cannot reject him forever. The punishment will not be ultimate. We see the grace of God here as we have not yet seen it in the whole prophecy. Yahweh will not give up his people.”

Thomas Edward McComiskey, “Hosea” in The Minor Prophets: An Exegetical & Expository Commentary, Volume 1

Q: How has God evidenced His steadfast love for you despite your failures?

 

Hosea 11:1-12:1 teaches us that:

-we often spurn God’s gracious attempts to deliver us from the bondage of sin

-though we deserve complete destruction, God continues to pursue us in steadfast love

 

Benediction:

Hosea 14:4-7