Hosea 1

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Psalm 150
• Hymn — Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise (#38)
• Prayer of Invocation
• Westminster Shorter Catechism — Questions 27 & 28
• Hymn — Marvelous Grace of Our Loving Lord (#465)
• Pastoral Prayer
• Sermon
• Hymn — Not What My Hands Have Done (#461)
• Benediction — Numbers 6:24-26

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Sermon Title: A Living Picture of Judgment and Mercy

Scripture: Hosea 1:2–2:1

I. The Living Picture of Deserved Judgment (Hosea 1:2–9)

A. The call to marry an unfaithful woman (Hosea 1:2–3)

1. The call is abrupt and shocking — Hosea's marriage is a living picture of the human problem
2. The reason given: "the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the LORD"
3. The covenantal framework: God takes his people as a husband takes a bride; the intimacy and duties of marriage define the relationship

B. The human problem of unfaithfulness (Hosea 4:1–2)

1. No faithfulness, no steadfast love, no knowledge of God in the land
2. Specific sins map directly onto the moral law — lying, stealing, murder, adultery
3. Warning to self-examination: we are not free from the same wandering heart

C. The three children as pictures of broken relationship (Hosea 1:4–9)

1. Jezreel — points to God's judgment on wickedness and the reality of wickedness itself; recalls Jehu's self-serving bloodshed; anticipates the Assyrian and Babylonian exile
2. Lo-ruhamah (No Mercy) — God's covenant choosing was pure mercy; those who harden themselves in sin may finally hear "I will no more have mercy"
3. Lo-ammi (Not My People) — the deepest consequence of covenant-breaking; severance of the relationship God initiated
4. The names function as a warning, not merely a verdict — repentance opens the door to God's relenting mercy (cf. Jonah and Nineveh)

II. The Living Promise of Undeserved Mercy (Hosea 1:10–2:1)

A. The Lord's promise to rescue (Hosea 1:7)

1. God promises to save Judah "by the LORD their God" — the triune God: the Father announces salvation by the Son
2. Salvation will not come by bow, sword, war, horses, or horsemen — the enemy is spiritual, not physical
3. No human strength, good works, government, family, or self-effort can defeat the enemy of sin
4. Christ alone saves — he takes upon himself the deserved judgment for all who trust in him; God's full wrath is poured out on Christ so that deserved judgment is replaced with undeserved mercy
5. The hymn Not What My Hands Have Done captures this: "Thy work alone, O Christ, can ease this weight of sin"

B. The Lord's promise to restore covenant bonds (Hosea 1:10–2:1)

1. The promise to Abraham of a vast, innumerable family is renewed — the number of God's people will not diminish (Hosea 1:10)
2. God's hesed — his steadfast, unwavering, never-failing covenant love — remains firm for all his elect
3. "Not my people" becomes "my people"; "No mercy" becomes "mercy" — the undoing of the undoing, accomplished in Christ
4. Gathered under one head, Jesus Christ, family bonds are restored; broken relationships within God's family find their only sure foundation here
5. Restored relationship with God in Christ is guaranteed and unwavering, even when earthly restoration remains uncertain