"A Heart to Know God"
Part 1 of a series titled "To Know Him: The Book of Hosea"
The BIG Idea:
God desires for God s people to know God. The Old Testament book of the "Minor Prophet" Hosea tells the true-life story of God's invitation to God's people to know God then and how to know God now. Despite Israel's unfaithfulness to God's Old Covenant, God remained faithful in God's commitment for God's people to intimately know God. To know God with an ever-deepening intimacy requires us to draw near to God each day.
14 "Therefore, behold, I am going to persuade her, Bring her into the wilderness, and speak kindly to her. 15 Then I will give her her vineyards from there, And the Valley of Achor as a door of hope. And she will respond there as in the days of her youth, As in the day when she went up from the land of Egypt. 16 And it will come about on that day," declares the Lord, "That you will call Me my husband and no longer call Me my Baal. 17 For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, so that they will no longer be mentioned by their names. 18 On that day I will also make a covenant for them with the animals of the field, the birds of the sky, and the crawling things of the ground. And I will eliminate the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and will let them lie down in safety. 19 I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, In favor and in compassion, 20 And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. Then you will know the Lord." -- Hosea 2:14-20 (NASB)
A Prayer to Begin the Message:
"Generous God, You offer a place in Your Kingdom for all of humankind. Let us listen to Your sacred Word today, knowing that the Kingdom of God is near. May the message of Your Holy Spirit fill us with knowledge, wisdom, and spiritual understanding, which in turn leads to our continued transformation each day. Lord Jesus, we long to know the heart of God the Father. We pray this in the sacred and holy name of Jesus the Christ. Amen."
ILLUSTRATION: Mark dines in Jordan for the first time!
It takes time and patience to get to know God and grow our relationship with God.
There is a certain level of trust and vulnerability that is required in a relationship if we are to know someone beneath the surface-level conversations.
Living naked and unashamed happens best in the safety of a committed, monogamous marital relationship.
24 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked, but they were not ashamed. -- Genesis 2:24-25 (NASB)
God shares the imagery of marriage in God's challenge for God's chosen people.
"And it will come about on that day," declares the Lord, "That
you will call Me my husband
And no longer call Me my Baal (false god). -- Hosea 2:16 (NASB)
God made a covenant with Abraham for the Hebrews to be God s people.
2 "And I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; And you shall be a blessing; 3 And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed." -- Genesis 12:2-3 (NASB)
4 'You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I carried you on eagles' wings, and brought you to Myself. 5 Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; 6 and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel." -- Exodus 19:4-6 (NASB)
Even with all his wisdom, King Solomon led poorly.
4 For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away to follow other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of his father David had been. 5 For Solomon became a follower of Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and of Milcom the abhorrent idol of the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not follow the Lord fully, as his father David had done. 7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the abhorrent idol of Moab, on the mountain that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abhorrent idol of the sons of Ammon. 8 He also did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods. -- I Kings 11:4-8 (NASB)
"Raise your eyes to the bare heights and see; Where have you not been violated? You have sat for them by the roads like an Arab in the desert, and you have defiled a land with your prostitution and your wickedness. -- Jeremiah 3:2 (NASB)
Israel's unfaithfulness to God had not ceased by the time Hosea was given the role of prophet by God. (722 BCE; 200 years after Solomon s death)
God desired a vibrant marriage with Israel once more longing to return to the tender intimacy and devoted love they shared in the formation of Israel.
- God called for Israel to put away their idolatry.
- God desires to be reunited as a husband and wife.
- God desires to be betrothed together forever.
God promises for this renewed betrothal with Israel to be made in righteousness, justice, love, mercy, and faithfulness.
"This is not only a promise that God will reveal God s self to them more fully than ever, but that He will give them a heart to know Him." -- Matthew Henry's Commentary (1961, p.1109, Zondervan)
Whenever we choose to draw near to God, God promises that God will draw near to us.
Come close to God and He will come close to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. -- James 4:8 (NASB)
The closer we are to God and the more time we spend in the presence of God; the more we learn about God's character and know the heart of God.
If we desire to know God with an ever-deepening intimacy, we must be intentional to draw near to God each day.
19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, through His flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God,22 let s approach God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. -- Hebrews 10:19-22 (NASB)
"The blood of Jesus, the Son of God has been shed for you, so that your sins are forgiven and the holiness of God will not consume you but thrill you." -- John Piper (Desiring God; 03/23/1997)
If we want to know the heart of God, we must spend time knowing the Lord.
Questions for Reflection:
Have you ever had an awkward first encounter with someone? What made it awkward? If you still interact with that person, how has that first meeting affected your relationship?
Has a person ever changed your first impression of them? Did your view change for the better or worse?
What makes it difficult for our relationships to go deeper than surface-level conversations? How can we build the level of trust required to feel comfortable to share private or personal information about your life with someone else?
What does Hosea's name mean in the original language?
Why does God use the imagery of marriage when God describes God's relationship with the nation of Israel?
What happens when we "draw near" to God? Why is it important for followers of Jesus to practice daily? How does this help us to know the heart of God more?
What spiritual discipline can you start, or restart, this week to draw near to the heart of God?