Transcript Diapositiva 1 - Your Life

Lesson 1 for April 6, 2013
When Solomon died, the kingdom of Israel
was divided in two:
1. The kingdom of Judah (south), the tribes of Judah and
Benjamin. It was always ruled by a king from David’s
house.
2. The kingdom of Israel (north), all the other ten tribes.
Its first king was Jeroboam. There never was a regular
royal house.
During the reign of Jeroboam II (793-753 BC), Israel
enjoyed a time of prosperity like in the times of King
Solomon (2K 14:25)
That material prosperity increased the spiritual decay.
Because of Jeroboam II sins, Israel was destroyed by
Assyria 30 years after his death in 722 BC.
Hosea’s prophetic ministry began during the reign of
Jeroboam II. Its goal was to make Israel realize its
spiritual condition so they would abandon their idols and
come back to the true God. If they listened to that
prophetic message they would be saved from the
devastation of the king of Assyria.
The prophets didn’t only receive messages from God
and communicate them. Sometimes God asked them to
be a “living example”, to communicate the prophetic
message by using actions in their own life.
ISAIAH
Walking around
naked during 3 years
(Isaiah 20)
Assyria’s
invasion of
Egypt.
JEREMIAH
Buying a belt, putting
it on, burying it far
away and coming
back to take it
(Jeremiah 13:1-11)
Against Judah’s
haughtiness.
EZEKIEL
Making models and
laying on one side
and then on the other
one (Ezekiel 4:1-6)
The capture of
Jerusalem.
HOSEA
Marrying an
adulterous woman.
Israel’s spiritual
adultery.
The names of Hosea (God saves) and his
children were a message for the people:
1. Jezreel (God will sew or scatter), son of Hosea
and Gomer.
 “So he went and took Gomer the
daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived
and bore him a son. 4 Then the Lord said
to him: “Call his name Jezreel, for in a
little while I will avenge the bloodshed of
Jezreel on the house of Jehu, and bring
an end to the kingdom of the house of
Israel.”” (Hosea 1:3-4)
2. Lo-Ruhamah (Not having obtained mercy).
Daughter of Gomer’s adultery.
 “And she conceived again and bore a
daughter. Then God said to him: “Call her
name Lo-Ruhamah, for I will no longer
have mercy on the house of Israel, but I
will utterly take them away.”” (Hosea 1:6)
3. Lo-Ammi (Not my people). Son of Gomer's
adultery.
 “Now when she had weaned LoRuhamah, she conceived and bore a son.
Then God said: “Call his name Lo-Ammi,
for you are not My people, and I will not
be your God.”” (Hosea 1:8-9)
“For their mother has played the
harlot; ahe who conceived them has
behaved shamefully. For she said,
‘I will go after my lovers, who give
me my bread and my water, my
wool and my linen, my oil and my
drink” (Hosea 2:5)
Just like Gomer abandoned
Hosea for her lovers, Israel
had also abandoned the true
God and prostituted by
worshiping Baal and Astarte.
“For she did not know that I gave her grain, new
wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold—
which they prepared for Baal” (Hosea 2:8)
Are we also running the risk of considering God’s
blessings as result of our own effort, luck or
intelligence?
Do we use God’s gifts for our own benefit or do
we invest them on God’s work?
Besides that “spiritual
adultery”, Israel also sinned by
considering God’s blessings to
be given by its lovers the false
gods.
“Therefore I will return and take away my grain in its time and
My new wine in its season, and will take back My wool and My
linen, given to cover her nakedness… I will punish her for the
days of the Baals to which she burned incense. She decked
herself with her earrings and jewelry, and went after her lovers;
but Me she forgot,” says the Lord” (Hosea 2:9, 13)
Although Gomer didn’t know nor want to admit it, Hosea still
sustained her and gave her everything she needed until God ordered
him to stop sustaining her.
When Israel stopped coming to God, He didn’t provide them their
harvest anymore. God wanted Israel to think things over and to come
back to Him.
Gomer was abandoned by her lovers and was
auctioned as a slave.
Hosea paid a high sum of money to rescue her
and to make her doubly his (wife and slave).
But he never used his right as master, but
drew her “with bands of love” (Hosea 11:4)
“And I said to her, “You shall stay with me many
days; you shall not play the harlot, nor shall you
have a man—so, too, will I be toward you.” For the
children of Israel shall abide many days without king
or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without
ephod or teraphim.
Afterward the children of Israel shall return and
seek the Lord their God and David their king. They
shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the latter
days” (Hosea 3:3-5)
Didn’t God do the same thing for us? He
was our Creator, our true husband. He
paid a high price (the life of His own Son)
to save us from the slavery of sin, to give
us freedom and to make us doubly His.
“For you were bought at a price;
therefore glorify God in your body
and in your spirit, which are God’s”
(1 Corinthians 6:20)
“Therefore, behold, I will allure her, will bring her into
the wilderness, and speak comfort to her” (Hosea 2:14)
God “officially” married Israel at mount Sinai. The trip through the
desert was their honeymoon. There God became known to His
people.
God proposes a new honeymoon for His people,
both in Hosea’s time and today. A special moment
to meet God again.
“And this is eternal life, that they may
know You, the only true God, and Jesus
Christ whom You have sent”
(John 17:3)
“Many who bear the name of Christians are serving other gods
besides the Lord. Our Creator demands our supreme devotion,
our first allegiance. Anything which tends to abate our love for
God, or to interfere with the service due Him, becomes
thereby an idol. With some their lands, their houses, their
merchandise, are the idols. Business enterprises are prosecuted
with zeal and energy, while the service of God is made a
secondary consideration. Family worship is neglected, secret
prayer is forgotten. Many claim to deal justly with their fellow
men, and seem to feel that in so doing they discharge their
whole duty. But it is not enough to keep the last six
commandments of the decalogue. We are to love the Lord our
God with all the heart. Nothing short of obedience to every
precept—nothing less than supreme love to God as well as
equal love to our fellow man—can satisfy the claims of the
divine law”
E.G.W. (SDA Bible Commentary, notes on 1 Samuel 7:3, “Modern forms of idolatry”)