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Hosea the Prophet of Love

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[Hosea 2:19-20]

“I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the LORD.”

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There was Hosea son of Beeri in northern Israel. Hosea was nicknamed the prophet of love.

When Hosea was called by God, the king of northern Israel was Jeroboam II.

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God appeared to Hosea and gave him a special command.

“Go, marry an unclean woman and have unclean children!”

God told him to take Gomer as his wife. Gomer was so unclean that no one could take her as her wife.

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Hosea obeyed God's command and married an unclean woman, Gomer.

The unclean woman Gomer was greatly loved by the prophet Hosea.

Seeing her own infidelity, she could not become the wife of a man, and Gomer began her new

life through Hosea.

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Two sons and a daughter were born to Hosea and Gomer. The first born son was Jezreel.

The second is a daughter, Lo-Ruhamah. The third was a son, whom he named Lo-Ammi.

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But this beautiful relationship did not last long.

Gomer abandoned her husband and all her children and returned to her unclean past.

Hosea's love for his wife was in vain. Hosea suffered a great betrayal.

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But God again commanded Hosea. “Go and love your wife again.

Just as I love Israel, who worships other gods, so you also love Gomer,

who has forsaken you and has done unclean things.” God told Hosea to put God's love into practice.

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Hosea, a man of God, put into practice the word of God.

He went to find Gomer, who had left him, with fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a half

of barley. He paid the ransom for Gomer and brought Gomer from there.

Gomer was able to return to Hosea's wife again.

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Hosea said to Gomer. “Don’t leave me any longer.

No more doing unclean things, no more loving others. I will do the same to you.”

Hosea forgave his wife, Gomer, who had left him and had fallen into infidelity,

and took her back as his wife.

Gomer became a woman who was so great and wonderfully loved by Hosea.

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Through the prophet Hosea, God spoke of how great God's love for Israel is.

Just as Hosea loved Gomer, God unilaterally loved unclean Israel.

He loved them and gave them all good things.

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But Israel betrayed God's love. They forsook God and fell into the sin of worshiping idols.

They did evil that God did not want, and they rejected God's love.

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Nevertheless, God did not forsake Israel.

He told Hosea that he loved Israel with an incomparable love and the love that Hosea paid for Gomer as his wife again. God showed through Hosea that he was patient and waiting for Israel to realize their mistake and return to God.

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Like Gomer, who was loved by Hosea, we too are people who have been greatly loved by God.

We too are sinners who cannot receive God's love. But God loved us sinners.

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God sent Jesus to this earth to pay the price for our sins in order to restore us who were sinners as His children. Jesus paid for all our sins and paid the price for our sins by dying on the cross.

Jesus paid for all our sins, just as Hosea paid to get Gomer back.

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The moment we have faith in Jesus, we become children of God.

This is the same as receiving Jesus as our bridegroom.

We who are saved become the bride of Jesus and enjoy the blessing of living with Jesus forever. Because Jesus, our bridegroom, never forsakes us.

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We must not act like Gomer. I must not forsake the grace of God who saved me.

You must be a person of faith who values and gives thanks for the salvation you have received.

We must always be careful not to fall into unclean things that are not pleasing to God.

You must always be a person who walks with the Holy Spirit so as not to deviate from the Word

of God.

(This is the sample conclusion provided by CTM. Please feel free to change the conclusion to best suit the listeners of your sermon.)