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Good evening New Life Baptist Church, we're there in Hosea chapter 3 and this is the final chapter of the introduction of the book of Hosea. So Hosea chapter 3, even though it's quite short, it does have a lot of similar parallels to chapter 1 and chapter 2. But if you start there in verse number 1, it says, then said the Lord unto me, go yet love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress according to the love of the Lord toward the children of Israel. The total for the sermon this evening is the love of the Lord, the love of the Lord. And you know we do have a God, God is love, we have a God that has great love and we know the extent of his love, that he sent his only begotten son to die on the cross for our sins so we can have a way to heaven and we can spend eternity with him for all eternity you know and it's an amazing thought to think about how the son of God would sacrifice himself for sinners such as us. And so we understand the love of God but you know when it comes to Hosea chapter 3, if you were there for chapter 2, I was trying to explain how there are many different views. You know the first three chapters of Hosea, when we look at Hosea's marriage, like when we look at the teaching of Hosea, the teaching itself is not complex. The teaching itself is quite straightforward as long as you have a decent amount of Bible knowledge you can piece it together. But understanding what took place in Hosea's marriage, you know there are a lot of opinions out there and the opinion that I hold here you know is quite different to the ones that you would often read about online or maybe heard from pulpits in the past. But if we can just keep going there in verse number 3, it says, who look to other gods and love the flagons of wine, sorry verse number 1, I think I said verse number 3. But verse number 1 there, we see that God is asking Hosea to love a woman. You know and you're saying well hold on, doesn't he already love his wife? Doesn't he really love Gomer? You know we saw that he got married to Gomer in chapter 1. What is being asked of God you know this time? And we can see he's definitely telling Hosea love this woman, all right? Now look at verse number 2, so I bought her to me for 15 pieces of silver and for a Homer of barley and a half Homer of barley. So what I want you to notice there is that Hosea actually has to go and purchase this woman who God told him to love. Now let me go through the various views that exist in this relationship. You know it might seem already unusual to you to say hold on Hosea, didn't you get married in chapter 1? Why are you going to go and love another woman? And so let me just express to you what people feel about this passage. Now the first view of this passage is that chapter 3 is about Gomer once again. You know Hosea is taking Gomer as his wife and so it is a retelling of chapter 1. You know so chapter 1 you have a very quick overview. You know Hosea marries this whorish woman, they have three kids, many years go past obviously because they've had three kids. But then when we get to chapter 3 we see retelling of the detail of how Hosea took Gomer as his wife. So that is definitely one view out there. It'd be similar to say Genesis chapter 1, Genesis chapter 2. In Genesis chapter 1 we have a quick overview of the you know creation and on the sixth day we see that God created man and woman. But then in chapter 2 we go into a more detailed view of what took place on the sixth day and we see the events that took place, why God created a man and then why he created a woman and how he created a woman, how he created a man. So we've got a lot more detail in chapter 2 of Genesis whereas chapter 1 is more just a quick overview. So some people think that Hosea is kind of similar in that sense. Chapter 3 is a lot more detail as to how he took Gomer as his wife. Now the reason I disagree with this position, number 1, verse number 1 starts by saying then said the Lord unto me, okay. Then said the Lord unto me. So what this is saying is this is after what took place in chapters 1 and chapters 2. Then the Lord said unto me. So this is something that is continuing what took place after chapter 1. Of course in chapter 1 we saw that he was married and he had three children. And then in chapter 2 he's prophesying against the northern nation of Israel and chapter 3 is something that takes place after that event. So that's why I don't agree with that because it seems to me this is not a retelling, we're not going back in time where actually this is something that took place after chapter 1 and chapter 2, okay. The second reason I disagree with that view is in verse number 1 there it says that this woman that he is to love is yet an adulteress, okay. She's an adulteress. Now Gomer in chapter 1 is not said to be an adulteress, she's just said to be a woman of whoredoms. And so I believe that Gomer was a woman who committed fornication because adulteress basically means that she was married in the past and she committed adultery, right, and then she's getting remarried or something, right. But in chapter 1 it doesn't point out the fact that she's an adulteress, it's just that she's a woman of whoredom. And so it's more likely that Gomer was a woman of fornication who then, who was unfaithful obviously to her married day but you know I believe Gomer, I've got no reason to believe otherwise that Gomer remained faithful to Hosea after they got married. So I don't agree with that view for those two reasons. Now the second view is that this is Gomer once again but it's not a retelling of chapter 1 but this is Gomer after marriage. So the idea there is that Gomer had been unfaithful to Hosea, she committed adultery and I explained this to you in chapter 2 where a lot of people get this idea that Gomer committed adultery from chapter 2 because God refers to Israel as having had committed adultery to him. And so they believe that somehow Gomer had done the same but again the Bible does not plainly state that. And so you know we kind of jump into conclusions like could you imagine if Gomer is actually a faithful wife and then we have preachers behind the pulpit talking about how unfaithful she was to Hosea, she was an adulteress, you know we don't have that cleavage in the Bible, that's something that you have to kind of add into the scriptures. And you know when God uses allegories or illustrations not everything has to be like for like. You know the reason why Hosea married a woman of whoredoms was because you know God as it were as an illustration was married to the nation of Israel and it was as though that woman had committed adultery to God. And so Hosea was to experience something similar but not everything that happened to Israel has to happen to Gomer and we don't have that confirmation for us in the Bible that it took place in that way. So yeah so as I said this that many people some people believe that this is Gomer after marriage that she had remained she had been unfaithful that she had become a prostitute this is why Hosea has to buy her they think so she had become a prostitute and Hosea even though she had been adulteress you know he's been commanded by God to go back to her and take her once again as your wife and for some reason he has to purchase her. So why do I disagree with that position? Verse number one to me just makes no sense that Hosea has to purchase his wife. You know it's not it's not like God asked him to do this like if you look at that verse number one verse number one is what God asked him to do but verse number two just says what Hosea did he went out and purchased this woman okay if he's already his wife there would be no need to purchase her he would just take her it's his wife okay. So having to go and purchase her like a prostitute makes no sense to me whatsoever okay and again it doesn't say that she was a prostitute here okay she doesn't say she was a harlot it just says she was an adulteress okay again you know people that take that view are kind of adding those extra bits and pieces in that position there. Secondly the reason I don't believe this is Gomer after they got married is because again it says that she's an adulteress and remember what is the righteous judgment for an adulteress woman back in those days. You know if someone was caught to have committed adultery they were to be brought before you know the judges and if there were two or three witnesses and one of the witnesses here is God himself he's saying this is an adulteress woman you know if there were two or three witnesses then she would be put to death she would have to face the death penalty for being an adulteress woman. So again if we're going by the laws of God it doesn't make any sense to me that Hosea would have to take her once again but rather she should be brought before judges and executed for her sin. So that doesn't align with what I understand well what clearly is taught for us in the word of God as well all right I hope that kind of makes sense to you. Now the reason why a lot of people do believe that it is Gomer after marriage that she had become unfaithful and Hosea had to win her back I think this largely comes from the dispensationalist or Zionist view where the idea is well Israel you know the physical nation of Israel yes they became wicked yes they became an adulteress woman in the eyes of God yes but even though she's gone and been an adulteress you know God will one day you know love her again and they will be reunited with God and that's why the nation of Israel still today are God's chosen people and one day they're all going to turn to Jesus Christ believe in him and they're going to have they're going to reign on this earth with Jesus Christ okay. So that I believe that position largely comes from the Zionist dispensational view where they where they must have a physical nation the same physical nation of the Old Testament somehow reappear as righteous people you know in in the end times or in the millennial reign of Christ all right. So now there's a there's a third view let me share that third view with you the third view out there is that this is a different woman to Gomer and in fact I do believe this is a different woman from Gomer okay but the third view says that well because Gomer was unfaithful in chapter two you know she disgraced herself as a wife you know God is telling Hosea well just go and marry another woman you know yes you know a similar woman that has a similar background where you know she's not necessarily you know a woman of whoredoms a woman of adultery yeah go and marry a second woman but my problem there is well is God really asking Hosea to marry and have two wives you know is God telling Hosea hey just commit a polygamy you know so what if your wife has cheated on you go and marry some other woman then Hosea would be married to two women and I just we again very clearly in the Word of God God is against polygamy so I can't support that position either even though I do believe this is a separate woman all right. So let me share with you what is Pastor Kevin's position and I've come to this position only really by studying the book of Hosea to preach this to New Life Baptist Church you know I did have some thoughts about I had some questions but as I read these passages over and over again and understanding God's laws you know it's very easy to just take a position of saying well this is just an exception you know you know God doesn't really want you to be married to two women or God doesn't really want you to you know marry an adulterous woman but this was an exceptional case just for Hosea so we can only apply this to Hosea and not apply it to the rest of us and look that could be true but I don't think we need to go there with the exception I know that there are times that God asks his men to do exceptional things and even though this you know this is unusual I don't believe it is exceptional you know I believe what we see he can fit neat and tidy within the laws that God has already put in place that we can understand that are black and white in the scriptures. All right so what is my position just very briefly I believe that this is a different woman that he was asked to marry or to love okay I believe this woman was a widow and that when Hosea married this woman he also was a widow at this point in time you say pastor Kevin that sounds really far-fetched well let me just explain to you the reasons why and I think once I explain it to you it's not gonna sound far-fetched it's gonna sound pretty reasonable it's gonna sound reasonable it's gonna sound accurate okay so first of all if you remember chapter one you know we went through it and had a look at how long Hosea was preaching to Israel and we easily concluded that he would you know easily preach in at least 60 years maybe more 50 60 years even more so you know even though Hosea itself is not a very large book it does you know that the preaching the message of that book goes on for many many decades and if you remember chapter one I already mentioned it to you you know Hosea marries Gomer and they have three kids okay so just in chapter one alone we have many years that take place during chapter one we don't know how much time how many years took place between chapter one and chapter two we don't know how long the message of chapter two was given to us there how many years he preached that and we don't know how long between chapters two and chapter three took place I mean there could be several years we could easily be looking at an entire decade going by I'm just throwing that out there okay just from chapter one alone we can definitely see that many years took place and so if many years have taken place from the time that Hosea married Gomer I believe it is more than reasonable to say well it's it's you know we know that Hosea is not to marry how to commit polygamy and have two wives well in order for him to marry a different woman than the first that would mean that his wife had passed away okay and we know that God allows remarriage if your spouse has passed away so I believe that is a very reasonable to believe that and we see the time frame you know I don't see why that would be an impossibility I think it's more than possible all right the second reason that I don't believe this is Gomer this is a second woman that is marrying is because again in verse number two it says so I bought her to me for 15 pieces of silver and for an Homer of barley and a half Homer of barley and so he's gone and purchased this woman again it makes no sense to me that he would have to go and repurchase his first wife okay but if he's purchasing another woman that makes a lot more sense okay but it makes no sense to me that is we have to purchase you know the fact that he has to go and purchase this woman proves that this woman was not his to begin with okay that she's a different woman again the third reason is I don't believe God would ask Hosea to have two wives and as I said to you so I don't believe it's an impossibility that Gomer had passed away at this point in time and so Hosea is free to get remarried now let's consider this woman even though she's not named here let's consider this woman here what else what do we know about this woman number one she's a known adulteress okay so the fact that it says that she's an adulteress must mean that she was married when this sin took place otherwise it would be fornication okay so this is a woman that has been married in the past okay and the Bible saying she's a known adulteress all right but even though she's a known adulteress what was it what's the righteous judgment for adultery the death penalty is it not it is right so how is it that she's still alive even though she is known to have committed adultery well let's go to the book of John keep your finger there in Hosea let's go to John chapter 8 and verse number 3 let's go to the book of John and chapter 8 and verse number 3 we're going to a very famous story of Jesus Christ here and what we know what we'll learn in this story is that even an adulteress person if they do not have the witnesses to prove they've done adultery they are not to be put to death okay even though that is a righteous judgment if the witnesses are not there if there's not enough witnesses okay that are saying the same story then she is not to be found guilty and so in John chapter 8 verse number 3 reads and the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery and when they had set her in the midst they said unto him master this woman was taken in adultery in the very act now look I have no reason to say that they were lying in fact at the end of it Jesus will say to this woman go and sin no more so it seems like she was definitely a woman that was caught in the very act of adultery right now this woman gets brought before Jesus and in verse number five it says now Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned but what say us now so you can say yeah the book of the laws of Moses says this woman deserves the death penalty by stoning but what do you say Jesus verse number six and the and they said tempting him this they said tempting him that they might have to accuse him but Jesus stooped down and with his finger wrote on the ground and though he as though he heard them not so when they continued asking him he lifted up himself and said unto them he that is without sin among you let him first cast a stone at her so Jesus says yeah you know what it's right we should stone her but let it be the one that is without sin that stones her first all right so Jesus is very very smart the reason he was intelligent about this he's upholding the law of Moses but at the same time he recognizes they are under Roman authority and in this time I haven't got time to prove it right now but the Jews were not allowed to put people to death you know without the proper authorities by the Roman you know Empire which is why they had to take Jesus to you know pilot to get the authorization to have Jesus put to death right but let's keep going in verse number at nine of this number eight and again he stooped down and wrote on the ground and they which heard it being convicted by their own conscience went out one by one beginning at the eldest even unto the last and Jesus was left alone and the woman stand in the midst when Jesus had lifted up himself and saw none but the woman he said unto her woman where are those thine accusers have no man condemned thee she said no man Lord and Jesus said unto her neither do I condemn thee go and sin no more so what do we learn there that if in the Old Testament if a woman was found to have committed adultery and there were the accusers or the witnesses there to testify that this took place right then she was to be put to death by stoning but if there were no accusers if there were no witnesses even though she committed the crime she would be let go free okay and of course you needed two or three witnesses the only one that stood before her was Jesus and so Jesus you know he's basically saying well you know I you know I don't accuse you what you know there's there's not enough witness there to make an accusation against this woman and so she was let free so what does that have to do with Hosea well I'm just trying to show you that it does take place where a woman can have committed adultery but not have been put to death simply because there wasn't enough evidence or witnesses to you know make a guilty of that crime but what we learn here in Hosea is this woman that Hosea was to marry or to love was a woman who was a was an adulterous woman right she she was definitely known for that act but she just wasn't incriminated for that act so why am I telling you that well if I had mentioned to you that this woman would have to be a widow herself so in her marriage when she was married to a man she was unfaithful to this man she did commit adultery but over time for whatever reason it seems like you know she got away with it as it were but her husband passes away and this is important because if her husband was still living Hosea would not be allowed to marry her you know he would be committing adultery and again that would be against the laws of God all right now the other thing is that we learn here in Hosea chapter 3 verse 2 again that he had to go and purchase this woman you say why would he have to go and purchase this woman well again in the the laws of the Old Testament days that if you were to marry a woman you would have to pay a dowry to her father okay now you're saying well pastor Kevin you know this woman was already married and why would he have to pay a dowry you know for this woman well I you know keep your finger then let's go to the let's go to our where can I take you to yeah let's go to Leviticus 22 go to Leviticus 22 for me Leviticus 22 and while you're turning to Leviticus 22 I'm going to read to you from Deuteronomy 22 you go to Leviticus 22 I'm going to read to you from Deuteronomy 22 verse 28 and let me just read this passage to you it says if a man find a damsel that is a virgin which is not betrothed and lay hold on her and lie with her and they be found then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsels father 50 shekels of silver and she shall be his wife because he have humbled her he may not put her away all his days so here we see an example if a man and a woman committed fornication you know he was required to marry her because she had now been defiled but the price that he would have to pay for not doing it not waiting until marriage was 50 shekels of silver okay so that's the dowry that he would have to pay the father you know the girls father now how much did Hosea have to pay well there in chapter 2 it says so I bought her to me for 15 pieces of silver and for an Homer of barley and a half Homer of barley so let's just put set aside the barley for a minute for a minute so 50 shekels of silver if you committed adultery and you know yet to marry that will get that woman and the father allowed it but this woman who had already been previously married right she's no longer a virgin and she's been you know an adulteress woman all right then it makes a lot more sense that Hosea would only have to pay 15 shekels you know a lot less than what would otherwise take place okay so that kind of you can see how that fits in there you say again why would he have to pay a dowry for a woman who's already been married well that's why I got you to turn to Leviticus 22 Leviticus 22 in verse number 13 let me just show you a practice that was in this day and age here in Leviticus 22 verse number 13 it says but if the priests daughter be a widow or divorced now I'm making the case that this woman that Hosea married was a widow okay so you know if the priest thought to be a widow or divorced and have no child and is returned unto her father's house as in her youth she shall eat of her father's meat but there shall no stranger eat thereof so what do we learn that we see that there was a practice that if a woman got married and she had no children but her husband passed away so she became a widow or they got divorced that she was to go back under her father's authority and so this would make sense that if she's back under her father's authority even though she has a lover we see in chapter one I some type of friend that loves her that Hosea went and paid a dowry to this woman's father not 50 shekels not 30 shekels but 15 shekels of silver and and and took her as his wife and so you know what I what I you know I'm going through a lot of passages here but I'm just trying to show you we don't have to just turn around and say well it's just an exceptional case we can fit all of this within the laws that God has for us clearly laid out for us in the Bible we don't have to kind of you know wrestle the scriptures you know if we're just mindful if we just be patient with the passage and think about the laws of God we can see how this relationship between Hosea and this woman could take place within the laws that God has laid out for us all right now let me give you another reason why I believe this is the correct interpretation and the best position to take between Hosea and this woman that he married well if you remember Hosea chapter 1 and chapter 2 begins with you know the Lord you know looking at Israel as a as a as his wife as it were you know that but she had be she had been unfaithful right she had committed spiritual whoredoms with false gods right so we sort of start with that idea and of course Gomer was to represent that woman you know when Hosea married her Gomer was a woman of whoredoms and so Gomer you know illustrated the fact that the northern nation of Israel was you know a whorish nation in the eyes of God right but if you remember how chapter 1 and chapter 2 both ended it ended with a millennial reign of Jesus Christ and the fact that one day Israel would be or the people of God I should say would be reigning with Jesus Christ in the millennium right but again you know that physical nation was rejected by God God said that they are not his people that he is not their God and so what we see is a moving away from the physical nation and what I you know again I don't want to reiterate everything that I that I taught but that one day or the it this is the day actually you know but in the eyes of Hosea there'll be a day where that physical nation would be replaced by that physical nation that's sorry that that spiritual nation the physical nation will be replaced by the spiritual nation which is the Israel of God which are all believers Jews and Gentiles that are in Jesus Christ and so this second woman that is being taken by Hosea as a wife represents the fact that that you know you know there will be a new body that Jesus Christ will take upon to himself which would be that spiritual nation of Israel so again we see those parallels they're being played out the physical nation rejected and a spiritual nation being taken to rule and reign with Christ in his millennial reign all right so that's that's how you know those chapters conclude chapters 1 and chapter 2 and again chapter 3 has a very similar parallel message as well if you can please turn to Matthew 21 for me turn to Matthew 21 and verse number 43 turn to Matthew 21 and verse number 43 and I know you know as a church you guys are very very familiar with this teaching but you know because we live in this day and age and we live in so many amongst so many believers and and brethren that I'm friends with that have such a unusual idea of you know God bringing back that physical nation you know we need to cover this over and over again so in Matthew 21 verse 43 it says therefore say I unto you these are the words of Jesus the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof so God here is speaking to the Jews that do not believe on him he says look the kingdom of God can be taken away from you and given to another nation all right a nation that brings forth the fruits thereof look at verse number 44 and whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken and on whomsoever it shall fall it will grind him to powder and when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard this parable look at this they perceived that he spake of them yeah why did he speak of them because they rejected Jesus Christ because they had a false religion that they were following hey that's just exactly what was going on with the nation of Israel in the time of Hosea they had rejected God they've gone after false gods of the false religions and so that was about them they would be rejected and God will receive unto himself a another nation okay now go back to Hosea for me go to Hosea and go to chapter 2 Hosea chapter 2 and look at verse number 23 Hosea chapter 2 and verse number 23 you look at that and I'm going to read to you from 1st Peter chapter 2 verse number 9 okay just so you can see the similar words I'm reading to you from 1st Peter chapter 2 and verse number 9 it says by year a chosen generation speaking to believers all believers Jew and Gentiles in Christ a royal priesthood and holy nation hey that's the nation that God is given the kingdom to all right and holy nation are peculiar people that ye should show forth the praises of him who have called you out of darkness into his marvelous light now compare Hosea 2 23 with what I'm about to read which in time past were not a people but are now the people of God which had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy so what does Hosea 2 23 say and I will sow her unto me in the earth and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy and I was saying to them which were not my people thou art my people and they shall say thou art my God okay so this second woman that Hosea is marrying was not his wife right was not his people as it were in fact she belonged to another man she had become a widow but now he took her to himself and this represents the fact that we were once not the people of God but we've become his people okay so the parallels are just too what's the word I'm looking for but they're too perfect right they're too perfect just to sort of take some other position I don't think any other position really does justice to Hosea 3 as much as this position does you know now you say well pastor Kevin does that mean we have to break fellowship with those that might have a different position on Hosea and his marriages absolutely no I'm just joking of course not okay you know these are these are chapters that are quite challenging these are chapters that do ask a lot of questions and you know requires a lot of study so you know whenever we have passages where you know there are different views and it's usually because these they are challenging passages right they really requires you to get digging deep and know the Bible well so of course you wouldn't break fellowship with people that you know view these passages in a different light okay but I love I love the consistency in Hosea chapter 1 chapter 2 and chapter 3 now let's go back to Hosea chapter 3 let's keep going in verse number 3 Hosea chapter 3 and verse number 3 it says and I said unto her thou shalt abide for me many days thou shalt not play the harlot so this is the woman that is marrying and thou shalt not be for another man so will I also be for thee so I want you to think about it what is Hosea saying he says look and thou shalt not be for another man so will I also be for thee that sounds again a lot like Hosea chapter 2 verse 23 where it said and I will say to them which were not my people thou art my people and they shall say thou art my God okay Hosea is basically saying the same thing you know you're my wife don't go and play the harlot and I am for you I am yours you know you belong to me and I belong to you okay so again you can see how these things align let's go to verse number four for the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king and without a prince and without a sacrifice and without an image and without an ephod and without terraform now let's break down verse number four and then we can tie it into verse number three there so there's a prophecy here of Hosea that he's saying look there's coming a day when when the nation of Israel the physical nation there will have no king now look today Israel has no earthly king right the physical nation and we know that when Israel was taken by the Assyrians that they that's it that was the end for their form of their kingship right that was the end of it so from from that time till even to this day they still have no king then it says then without a prince so a prince would be someone that follows after the king passes away the prince would become the king so there's no you know dynasty there's no lineage of kings that would continue and again we live in that day and without a sacrifice so there's coming a day when they're gonna stop giving those sacrifices in the temple right again that's today they're not offering sacrifices there's been an end to that again because the New Testament is in effect Jesus Christ is the sacrifice and we've had an image I'll get to the image in a minute and then it says and we've had an ephod so an ephod was again the what was required for the priests to wear and again so it's saying basically there'll be no Levitical priesthood again here in 2020 there is no Levitical priesthood and you know that whole practice was done away with when Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD so we're definitely you know Hosea is definitely speaking about a future event to come now all these things that I just mentioned to you do have to do with Old Testament worship do you have to do with the things that God asked this nation to do in service for him but it's also tied in with the worship that they were doing to false gods because it says there in verse number four and without an image so this is basically talking about an idol again remember they set up statues and they had all these you know statues of gold and of wood they would they would worship and so what they were doing with that they were mixing the worship of God with pagan worship we've worship of false gods they'll mix in the two things together it reminds me a lot of the Roman Catholic Church where you know a lot of what they say sounds Christian right but then you know their practices the all the statues and images how they pray to these saints that's all pagan worship that's all worshiping false gods right so it's like they've they've mixed Christianity with false religion and basically that is what's happened in the time of Israel as Hosea was ministering to them by preaching the Word of God and so then it says we are an Ephod and look at the end and without terraform now I don't know exactly what terraform is but I did a word study through the through the Bible and every time the word terraform is mentioned it's tied in together with idols and false gods so again this is something else that is not what God required from this is something else that's corrupting the worship of God all right so what is Hosea saying he's saying look he's saying to his wife that he's taken hey you belong to me I belong to you for many days let's say that yeah thou shalt abide for me thou shalt abide for me many days we're going to be together for many days and then in verse number four for the children of Israel shall abide many days without King and so forth so there are going to be many days ahead which is roughly oh I don't know you know over 2,000 years now right where the northern kingdom of Israel would not be worshiping God with all these corrupted you know false gods that's going to put me put in there's going to be an end to all of that for many days but also during those many days Hosea will be with his wife okay so think about that so if God has a spiritual nation so why don't we have that physical nation no longer practicing their religion or even their false religion but what is happening are the true worshipers of God hey we can worship God in spirit and in truth and we are together with Jesus Christ right Jesus says that he will never leave us nor forsake us you know where we have Jesus Christ with for many days as it is in fact where with Jesus Christ for all eternity all right so that's the that's the parallel that we have there again the woman representing the second wife representing the spiritual nation of God that we're all part of now I'm just going to read to you from 2nd Corinthians 6 15 you don't need to turn there just read it to you 2nd Corinthians 6 15 and what Concord have Christ with Belial or what part have he that believeth with an infidel and what agreement have the temple of God with idols hey that's what Israel was doing they were mixing the temple of God with idol worship for ye are the temple of the living God as God have said I will dwell in them and walk in them and I will be their God and they shall be my people again quoting what Hosea said you know in chapters sorry in Hosea chapter 2 all right so you can see once again that God is looking back to the way that the old Old Testament nation of Israel was mingling God's worship with false gods God says look what Concord have have I with Belial you know what what agreement is there you know between you know worshiping God and following up these false gods you know we are called to be followers of Lord we are actually the temple of God we have the Holy Spirit living in us and so we are you know saved for the purpose of giving God worship giving God service okay for all eternity brethren not to go and worship some false gods and get into false religion we are called to get out of that and be worshipers of the God of the Bible we are his people and he is our God okay back to Hosea are you already there Hosea chapter 3 in verse number 5 it says afterward shall the children of Israel return and seek the Lord their God and they David their king and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days once again how does Hosea chapter 3 finish the same way that Hosea chapter 1 finished the same way that Hosea chapter 2 finished the millennial reign of Christ again we are the Israel of God God has started focusing on the physical nation that's been rejected but now he's receiving unto himself the spiritual nation of all believers Jews and Gentiles in Jesus Christ and one day we're gonna have David as our king now that David there is referring to Jesus Christ because Jesus Christ would come from David right you know when Jesus walked the earth they they they said of him that he's the son of David right he was a descendant of King David now I'm going to read to you actually let's let's finish up here you go to John chapter 10 you go to John chapter 10 for me and I'm going to read to you from Ezekiel 37 Ezekiel 37 verse 22 you go to John chapter 10 Ezekiel 37 22 reads and I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel and one King shall be king to them all now we saw in Hosea that King was called David right so there'd be one nation and one King then it says and they shall be no more two nations again the fact that there was a northern kingdom of Israel and a southern kingdom of Judah that distinction won't exist in the millennial reign of Christ then it says neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms anymore at all neither shall they defile themselves anymore with their idols nor with their destitute sorry nor with their detestable things nor with any of their transgressions but I will save them out of all their dwelling places wherein they have sinned and will cleanse them so shall be my people and I will be their God again the same wording that Hosea used the same wording that Peter used right and referring to the spiritual nation of God and then it says in verse number 24 and David my servant so there's David again shall be king over them now this is why this is not actually King David but Jesus Christ okay and it says and they shall have one shepherd they shall also walk in my judgments and observe my statutes and do them all right so the millennial reign of Christ is going to be exciting the whole world is going to be following the commandments of God all right now you're in John chapter 10 verse number 16 who is that one shepherd who is that one King that was spoken about in Ezekiel and of course Hosea speaking about John chapter 10 verse 16 reads words of Jesus Christ and other sheep I have which are not of this fold them also I must bring and they shall hear my voice and there shall be one fold and one shepherd right so what we saw in Ezekiel there'll be one nation and one shepherd hey that one shepherd is the Lord Jesus Christ he's going to sit on the throne of David all right now I'm sure King David's going to have a very prominent position during that time during millennial the millennial reign of Jesus Christ as well but the one that the person that is above all kings the one that is the shepherd of the forward of course is Jesus Christ and so brethren I hope that gives you further understanding of Hosea chapter 3 listen there is no difference in Hosea chapter 2 and Hosea chapter 1 all this to serve us as an introduction for the rest of the book okay let's pray heavenly Father Lord I just want to thank you for this bible study Lord thank you for helping me to work through the bible and to be able to teach your word to New Life Baptist Church Lord I just pray that we would understand Lord our calling as the spiritual nation of God as the as the Israel of God that we are called to be his people and that he is our God Lord thank you so much for including us in your plans we thank you for Jesus Christ we thank you for the shepherd of the sheep and Lord he is the great shepherd Lord and I thank you Lord that we can be under his protection and he can lead us in green pastures Lord I pray that we would be people that would walk in your ways Lord help us not to corrupt ourselves like the Israelites of old corrupt themselves Lord with false worship and Lord I pray that we would always be people that worship you in spirit and in truth and Lord thank you for the great teachings that we see in Hosea Lord the replacement theology that Hosea preached many many years ago we thank you Lord for the and Lord I just pray that you'd bless us for the rest of the day we pray these things in Jesus name amen