Sharper Iron — Majoring in the Minors - Hosea 2:14-3:5: A Faithful Husband to a Faithless Bride

Hosea’s preaching takes a Gospel turn as the LORD promises to woo Israel anew as His bride. No longer will they call upon Him in idolatrous worship, but they will call upon Him as their Husband according to His holy name. In this wedding between God and His people, He invites them to dwell with Him as He once dwelt with Adam and Eve in Eden. The LORD’s command that Hosea bring back Gomer, despite her unfaithfulness, provides a living sermon of the LORD’s faithfulness even to His faithless people, finally brought to fulfillment in the work of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Rev. Tim Sandeno, pastor at St. John’s Lutheran Church and School in Wykoff, MN, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Hosea 2:14-3:5.

To learn more about St. John’s Lutheran, visit stjohns-wykoff.org/home-2.

“Majoring in the Minors” is a mini-series on Sharper Iron that goes through the books of Hosea, Joel, Jonah, Micah, and Nahum. Although the books of these prophets are shorter, the Word of God they preached was important in the years leading up to the coming of the Christ, and that Word remains important for the Church today. Just as we still need to listen to their call to repentance over our idolatry, so we still need to heed their call to trust in the Savior, Jesus.

Sharper Iron, hosted by Rev. Timothy Appel, looks at the text of Holy Scripture both in its broad context and its narrow detail, all for the sake of proclaiming Christ crucified and risen for sinners. Two pastors engage with God’s Word to sharpen not only their own faith and knowledge, but the faith and knowledge of all who listen. Submit comments or questions to: listener@kfuo.org

Sharper Iron is underwritten by Lutheran Church Extension Fund. Together in faith, LCEF helps to start, sustain and strengthen LCMS ministries through financial and strategic partnerships. Visit lcef.org.

Hosea 2:14-3:5

The Lord‘s Mercy on Israel

¹⁴“Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
    and bring her into the wilderness,
    and speak tenderly to her.
¹⁵And there I will give her her vineyards
    and make the Valley of Achor^[a] a door of hope.
And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth,
    as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁶“And in that day, declares the Lord, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’ ¹⁷For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more. ¹⁸And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish^[b] the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety. ¹⁹And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. ²⁰I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord.

²¹“And in that day I will answer, declares the Lord,
    I will answer the heavens,
    and they shall answer the earth,
²²and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil,
    and they shall answer Jezreel,^[c]
²³    and I will sow her for myself in the land.
And I will have mercy on No Mercy,^[d]
    and I will say to Not My People,^[e] ‘You are my people’;
    and he shall say, ‘You are my God.’”

Hosea Redeems His Wife

3 And the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.” ²So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech^[f] of barley. ³And I said to her, “You must dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you.” ⁴For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods. ⁵Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days.

Footnotes

Hosea 2:15 Achor means trouble; compare Joshua 7:26
Hosea 2:18 Hebrew break
Hosea 2:22 Jezreel means God will sow
Hosea 2:23 Hebrew Lo-ruhama
Hosea 2:23 Hebrew Lo-ammi
Hosea 3:2 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams; a homer was about 6 bushels or 220 liters; a lethech was about 3 bushels or 110 liters

Rev. Timothy Appel

Although a mathematics degree may not be incredibly helpful to (proudly born-and-raised Texan) Rev. Timothy Appel while hosting Sharper Iron, his love of CFW Walther and the season of Easter will come in handy. His Call is shepherding the flock at Faith Lutheran Church in Godfrey, Illinois, and he’s also husband to wife Kristin and dad to their growing basketball team of children. When he’s not carrying out pastoral duties, you may find him reading “The Lord of the Rings,” snacking on Reese’s peanut butter cups, playing dominoes with his boys, or studying up on Texas history (including Sam Houston, of course).