Introduction: the promise of happiness

A while ago I went to a wedding of a good friend. It was a lovely day – very musical day – he is musical and he sang a song at the reception – “Happiness, is just around corner.”

Perhaps a little idealistic we might say. But – what we all want isn’t it – to be happy. To be fulfilled, secure, content. We’ve mentioned through our talks that lots of things around us offer that to us. It’s how most adverts work – you get a picture of a happy, fulfilled, contented life in some form – or a bit of it. If you only you get the right perfume, car, holiday. Same can go with jobs or possessions or pleasures.

But probably the most common place we look for that happiness and fulfilment are relationships. Marriage perhaps – or children – family – friends.

God is making a similar promise to us in Hosea – he’s promising us something that will give us what we want – something will satisfy, fulfil and bring true happiness. And our instinct is right – it is about relationships – he is offering us a relationship that will give what we’re searching for.

As we come to finish Hosea, the question for all of us – is who will we believe? Which promise will we trust, who will we be faithful to?

We saw earlier that despite Israel’s adultery, God still loved her, and in his love he promised to marry her again.

Now we might think – but why marry her again, surely she’s going to do the same thing? What’s going to be different time?

The point of this last talk is that as God remarries Israel – he acts to make it different. God changes things so it’s a true marriage – everything a marriage should be. First of all,

1) God will make his new bride faithful in relationship, Hosea 2v16-20, 14v4

2v16 READ – the day of the new marriage. Look at footnote – ‘my Baal’. As Israel committed adultery – as she gave her trust and worship to Baal – she was still worshipping her God, Yahweh, as well. But she sometimes got them mixed up – and called Yahweh Baal.

It’s a terrible thought – calling your spouse by the wrong name. Imagine an unfaithful husband saying to his wife - Do you want to go out Saturday night, Alison? I mean Susan.

But that terrible state is going to change, v16 she’ll no longer call me baal. Why? What makes the difference?

V17 READ – or no longer will their names be remembered. So God is going to act - and take away the name of Baal from Israel’s lips. He’ll even wipe their memory – so that they won’t remember his name. And then as a devoted lover, Israel will only have eyes for, or a name for, one God – her true husband.

In other words God is going to make his bride faithful to him.

We see the same thing in v19-20 READ.

There are the qualities in perfect marriage – full of faithfulness and love. Now God has always been like that – but he’s going to act to make his marriage like this – Israel is faithful too.

One last reference, 14:4 – having invited them to repent, God then says, READ.

This is the heart of Israel’s problem in the old marriage – she has the disease of waywardness, of turning away from God. Another verse in Hosea says, “A spirit of prostitution is in their hearts” – Israel is ill in her spirit. She is addicted to adultery. It’s a habit she can’t kick.

But in the new marriage God says, I will heal her - I will make her whole and healthy with faithfulness.

A while ago I read a book describing the current developments in biotechnology. Popular explanation of some of the amazing things that might become possible.

How we might discover the cancer gene, the heart disease genes - and how we will have enormous power and ability to cure ourselves and put ourselves right.

However the book had a real concern about all this as well – because in the history of humanity we have always abused that sort of power. Commercial exploitation, social inequality, ethical misdemeanours.

Interesting conjunction – this enormous power to put ourselves right physically – yet at the same time a complete inability to do the right thing. We have if you like a spiritual gene – we have a spirit of prostitution. We treat other things as god and so do things wrong. And we are unable to eradicate or replace that gene.

But God says, in this new marriage, I’m going to heal you. I’m going to do spiritual surgery on my new bride – I’m going to remove this addiction to adultery. I’m going to act in you so that you are faithful to me, and will only have my name on your lips.

God will make his new bride faithful in relationship.

2) God will give his new bride fabulous riches, Hosea 2v21-23, 14v5-8

Second difference is that in this new marriage, God will give his new bride fabulous riches.

2v21-22 READ.

The word ‘respond’ here means acting in response to a need. And Israel – as they face God’s judgement, are in great need.

There is no rain, no food. They have been defeated by Assyria, people been killed and deported. The land, the nation, is dead. You could sum that up with the word Jezreel – that was the valley where Assyria defeated Israel – so is symbolic of this death.

But God will respond to this need – first to the skies, sky will respond to the need of the earth for water by sending rain. Earth will respond to the need for grain and wine and oil, by producing crops.

All this will respond to the need of Jezreel – because it will bring the nation back to life. God will plant Israel in the land – and she will grow – in crops, in wine, in oil, as a nation, she will grow and become all she was meant to be.

See similar thing back in chp 14v5-8 READ.

I don’t know if we’re a bit too urban to get this imagery.

V5 Israel will blossom like the lily – a beautiful nation.

V5 she will be like a cedar sending down roots. Idea is that she will be secure and strong.

V6 Splendour like an olive tree – she will be majestic, awesome as a nation.

V6 ‘fragrance like a cedar’ – Israel will be attractive and desirable.

God is promising to make Israel – secure, strong, fruitful and prosperous, majestic and wonderful.

Of course that what Israel wanted. She longed for good crops and wine and the rest of it – but she went to Baal and Assyria for them.

But the truth is, all these riches belong to God – and as he makes her faithful to him – he then showers these riches on her.

It’s like Indecent Proposal – last time – my adapted version. Demi Moore married to Robert Redford who is fabulously wealthy. The affair with Woody has been exposed – Redford has left her to Woody and she’s seen he has nothing to offer – and then he takes he back – she’s faithful to him – she can’t even remember Woody’s name – and so he showers her with riches. All she wanted before – all that Woody use to promise her – she is has from her true husband.

So too God will make his bride faithful – and then pour out all these fabulous riches on her – crops, oil, wine, people. He is going to lavish wedding gifts on her, and make her life so rich and abundant, she couldn’t even ask for more.

Of course the most wonderful thing, at the heart of all this – is simply that this new bride will know God.

2v23 READ. These are lovers talking to each other – saying, you are mine, and I am yours. We belong to each other – we know each other – we are united in relationship together.

We said earlier – this return – this remarriage – happens through Jesus. He comes as a bridegroom to love us – to win us back – to die for us – and bring us into a relationship with God – which is the true marriage. Number 3,

3) God makes us his new bride in Christ, Ephesians 5:25-27

Let’s look at Ephesians 5. Here Paul talks about marriage and how Christ is a model to follow – for instance v25 READ. V28 READ.

Then he goes on to say v31 READ. Now that is a quote from Genesis 2 – and in Genesis 2 it describing Adam and Eve and their human marriage.

Then Paul says v32 READ.

Paul is saying that this quote from Genesis 2 – that describes human marriage – what it’s really talking about is the divine marriage between Christ and his church.

Now you may be familiar with this – I don’t know – but the Bible says human marriage is actually a picture of the true marriage – ultimate marriage. That is the relationship between Christ and his church.

Here is the fulfilment of Hosea – God promises to come to marry his people again – God promises to act to make his bride faithful and to pour out his riches on her. That happens through Jesus.

That happens in part now.

V25-27 READ. We have been made faithful by Christ’s death. Not faithful in how we behave we still do things wrong, but he has taken away all our wrong and our sin in his death. So we are now holy, perfect – faithful. God can look at us and see us as a faithful, perfect bride. And he’s changing us to be more faithful – by his Spirit. He’s doing that spiritual surgery in us – taking out that spiritual gene of adultery – so we are faithful to him.

And we see that Christ gives us fabulous riches too - v29 READ. Hosea said God would care for his bride – now we see Christ feeds and cares for us as his own body. And he does that as he feeds us spiritually and helps us to grow in knowledge of him and being like him.

Yet of course, we are well aware, our marriage with Christ is far from perfect. In many ways we are still waiting for Hosea to be fulfilled – we’re still waiting for the wedding day God promises. And the Bible says it’s coming.

4) God makes us fully his bride in the new creation, Revelation 21&22

21v1,2 READ. Christ will return and God will bring about a new creation, a whole new world. But it’s described as a wedding. God’s people are the bride. Christ is the groom. And they are going to married – it’s like now we’re just engaged. Here is the wedding day when we are united. And Hosea is completely fulfilled. So,

God’s bride is now completely faithful – 21v9-10 READ. The imagery changes a little – the bride is the city, which is the people of God. But v11 READ.

This is a transformed bride – now perfectly pure, shining with God’s glory – reflecting his character and faithfulness. Later in 22v3 we read that the people of God serve him in the city – don’t serve anyone else, because they’ve been made perfectly faithful to him.

And so God gives his bride fabulous riches. First of all every that spoils has been banished from this city. 21v4 READ.

We can also see it positively – this city is everything a city could possibly be. V12 says it has a great high wall showing its security. It is made of every kind of precious stone – just look at v18, or v21 READ.

The language is being stretched to try and describe just how majestic, how desirable, how fabulous this city is.

You know this language of precious stones is also used of the prostitute in Revelation, the anti-God world – who seem to have all the riches of the world. But now we see – what the world wanted, and tried to get – actually comes from God. He is the source of all riches. And now he showers them on his bride.

Most of all – the heart of all this – is that we will know God. 21v3 READ. 22v4 READ. It’s the wedding day – the bride is finally with her husband, and they are united in intimate, profound, union with each other. It’s the perfect relationship – it’s what we always wanted.

A while ago I read about a TV programme in the States called, who wants to marry a millionaire? A millionaire selected his bride from about 50 contestants – then they were married on TV.

However, before all that happened – there was a prenuptial contract signed – stating that if the marriage broke up the bride wouldn’t be able to claim any of his money.

That sums up the low point we can reach in our relationships – not really trusting each other. Not really giving ourselves to each other – not really loving each other.

Human marriage, at its best, points to this divine marriage. At its worst – makes us long for this divine marriage – because we are fed up with the disappointment, loneliness, the hurt and the pain of life here. We long for a perfect relationship – which gives us all we really want.

On this wedding day, there will be no prenuptial contract – because this marriage will never end. There will be no going off with other partners – because this marriage will be utterly faithful. There will be no holding back – of possessions, or love – because Christ will give us all his riches – all of himself.

There will nothing left to do – but to enjoy the relationship. To enter an eternal honeymoon of perfect relationship.

Application

I said at the start we all want happiness, fulfilment, meaning and security.

And lots of things around us offer us something of that. Jobs, fashion, beauty, possessions, homes, pleasures and entertainment.

They aren’t wrong things – just won’t give us all you want. Because they are not god. Not enough.

Our instinct is often that we will get it in relationships - friends, family, a partner. Because the heart of what we want is to love and be loved isn’t it. To know and be known. To be valued and enjoyed. And to have some to love and enjoy and know.

But again while relationships are good - they only give us a taste of that fulfilment we want. And sometimes much less as we hurt and disappoint each other.

But God – being married and united to God. Being loved by him – to death. Being made rich by him. Knowing him. Being known by him. See his face. That is it. That is what we want. That is what we were made for. That is what life is about. As we see that – as we believe that - we give ourselves to him – to knowing him and growing in him and serving him – and being faithful to him now.

Sometimes people get married – and then for various reasons - down the track they renew their marriage vows. They remind themselves, and then recommit and reinforce their vows.

In a few minutes we’re going to have the Lord’s supper. And this is a bit like renewing our marriage vows with Jesus.

As we eat and drink it’s as though Jesus says to us:

All that I am I give to you – all that I have I share with you.

He has given himself for us – that’s how much he loves us. And he shares with us all of his riches – his forgiveness, his righteousness, most of all he shares himself.

And as we eat and drink it’s as though we say to him:

I receive your love – I receive you. And I give myself to you. All that I am is yours. Forsaking all others – all other gods, all other idols that promise so much - I’ll be faithful to you as long as I live.

Let’s use communion to renew our vows with Jesus.

The True Marriage

SBD Weekend July 2018

Hosea 2:14-23