Morning, Village. My name is Kyle Hernandez.
I'm one of the elders and leaders here. I have
the privilege and honor to share the Word of
God with you today. Our church is a place where
I deeply cherish. I deeply love and appreciate
each and every one of you. I'm seeing God's hand
working in this place, His Spirit moving. I'm
so humbled to be a part of it, and I'm so grateful
that I even have the opportunity to be up here
with you. I'm grateful that my family came today.
That speaks so much love. They came last minute
because we were all hanging out at a barbecue
last night. I feel so grateful and loved. My
wife is going to come up here and kick us off
with reading the Scriptures. Hosea chapter 11.
When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out
of Egypt I called my son. Israel called to the
Egyptians even as Israel was leaving them. They
kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning offerings
to idols. It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
taking them by the hand, but they never knew
that I healed them. I led them with human cords,
with ropes of love. To them I was like one who
eases the yoke from their jaws. I bent down to
give them food. Israel will not return to the
land of Egypt, and Assyria will be his king,
because they refuse to repent. A sword will whirl
through his cities. It will destroy and devour
the bars of his gates. because of their schemes.
My people are bent on turning from me. Though
they call to him on high, he will not exalt them
at all. How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can
I surrender you, Israel? How can I make you like
Adma? How can I treat you like Zeboam? I have
had a change of heart. My compassion is stirred.
I will not vent the full fury of my anger. I
will not turn back to destroy Ephraim. For I
am God and not man, the Holy One among you. I
will not come in rage. They will follow the Lord.
He will roar like a lion. When he roars, his
children will come trembling from the west. They
will be roused like birds from Egypt and like
doves from the land of Assyria. Then I will settle
them in their homes. This is the Lord's declaration.
Ephraim surrounds me with lies, the house of
Israel with deceit. Judah still wanders with
God and is faithful to the holy ones. This is
God's word. That's my wonderful wife. She read
that so beautifully, baby. Just come up here
and finish reading this. They already heard me
in their first service. Let me start with a little
recap with the book of Hosea. Hosea is set in
18th century BC, 8th century BC, a time of political
instability. and spiritual decline from the northern
kingdom of Israel. While the Assyrian empire
was growing in power, Israel was plagued by internal
corruption and widespread idolatry. The prophet
Hosea's message was a warning that Israel's unfaithfulness
to God, which is linked to a wife's infidelity,
would lead to their destruction at the hands
of the Assyrians. Hosea holds a special place
in my heart. His message deeply impacted me.
When I reread the story after my own years of
running from God, when I first came to faith,
God radically changed my life. I experienced
his love, his truth. I finally found what I was
looking for in life. filling me with hope, filling
me with joy and a family, a church family. However,
I slowly began to drift away through circumstances
of life, not staying in the word and some bad
choices I made along the way. And most of all,
I didn't put God first in my life. Somehow I
became ungrateful. I forgot what the Lord has
done for me. So when I reread Hosea, I could
relate to the Northern Kingdom's backsliding.
Because I also had a season from strain for my
faith. I didn't even realize how far I actually
drifted. I felt like, I felt lost. I didn't even
recognize myself, the man that I used to be.
I wasn't living life, but life was just living
me. I had forgotten the boundless love and promises
of God that I had once experienced. But God's
love for me endured. He gently restored me through
a series of nudges, undeniable revelations from
Scripture. And even the movie, The Case for Christ,
there's a part at the end where Lee Strobel came
to Christ, and you could feel God's presence,
and he was in tears. And I remember that moment
when I first met God on a Friday night, and somehow
I forgot that even happened. So when I reread
Hosea, I saw a glimpse of myself in the northern
kingdom. which gave me a little bit more compassion
for the people of that time period. Hosea's life
as a modern prophet became a living sermon. By
marrying an unfaithful woman, he felt the pain
and betrayal that God feels. It's through his
personal experience that his message had become
so powerful, a message of God's boundless love.
Right now, I'm going to give you a modern -day
illustration that parallels Hosea the prophet.
A man from England was in a love and marriage
until his wife was drawn into free love and the
drug culture of the 1960s. When her lifestyle
led to a severe illness after she separated from
him, his church community advised him that he
had every right to divorce her, even on biblical
grounds. But this man chose a different path.
He located his gravely ill wife, brought her
home, tenderly cared for her until her ultimate
death. He chose to honor his sacred vow before
the Lord rather than his own happiness. He showed
God's faithfulness to his wife. even though she
was unfaithful. You see, church, spiritual faithfulness,
it's not a feeling. Sometimes feelings are a
part of it. But when Jesus chose to go on the
cross for our sins, he didn't feel like going
on the cross. He even prayed to the Father. For
this cup to pass. But he did so for our redemption.
Because he loves us. Love unconditionally. Is
what we're called to do. To redeem the undeserving.
And uphold a covenant even in the most difficult
challenges. Can anyone relate? Have you ever
loved someone and wanted the best for them only
to have them fail or reject you and reject your
best efforts to help? Have you kept trying only
to realize that the help that you give them only
enables their self -destructive behavior? And
your only option was to pray, trust God, and
let them suffer the consequences of their choices.
Perhaps it was a rebellious teenager, a family
member with a bad addiction problem, or even
an unfaithful spouse. Have you given unconditional
love to someone who took it for granted and discarded
your every efforts to love and help them? I'm
sure many of us have. Today, we're going to dive
into God's heart, a heart that is pained by the
unfaithfulness of his people, but also filled
with his boundless love. His love is boundless.
It is never ending. It is merciful. It is unrestricted,
and it is limitless. If you're taking notes,
point one, God's love for Israel as the son.
Verse one, when Israel was a child, I loved him,
and I called him my son. I called him my son.
God's language here, it shifts from a husband
and wife relationship. From chapter 1 to 11,
he has the context of an unfaithful spouse, the
way Israel is treating him. But now he's making
it even more closer, even more deeper. He is
saying, using the framework of a son. It's very
personal. The Hebrew word for son conveys a closeness.
A precious belonging. God is saying, this is
mine. This is my son. And this is my son. It's
rooted in Israel's history. I called my son out
of Egypt. Let's refer to what happened in Egypt.
It's a historical event of God calling the nation
of Israel out of slavery in Egypt during the
time of Exodus. This event established Israel
as God's firstborn son, whom he rescued from
bondage and made them his chosen people. And
those people were chosen, the Jewish people,
to bring in the Messiah into the world. which
is our Lord and our love, Jesus Christ. In Exodus
6, 6. Therefore, tell the Israelites, I am the
Lord. I will bring you out from the forced labor
of the Egyptians, and I will rescue you from
slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched
arm and great acts of judgment. God remembers
that he freed his people from slavery. He made
them a nation. He brought them out of their bondage
from Egypt 500 years before Hosea's time. There
were people with no rights forced to build feral
supply cities and even subject to a brutal edict
of having their male infants killed. But God
used Moses, who despite being raised in privilege
and killing an Egyptian, was raised by God to
be an instrument of their freedom. It shows that
God uses and does imperfect people to do his
will. Thank God for that. He's so good. There's
also a prophetic reference here. In the New Testament,
Matthew 2 .15, Matthew connects Jesus' childhood
directly to this Old Testament prophecy in Hosea.
Matthew uses it to show that Jesus' life fulfilled
the Old Testament prophecies. This passage describes
how Joseph, Mary, and the infant Jesus fled to
Egypt to escape King Herod, ordered to kill all
the male children in Bethlehem. You guys? See
a commonality here? There's always a force trying
to destroy the line of Christ. After Herod died,
God instructed Joseph in a dream to return to
Israel, thus fulfilling the prophecy, out of
Egypt I called my son. Even the most conservative
scholars believe this as a direct fulfillment,
highlighting Jesus' identity as the ultimate
son of God. My next point, point two. Israel
rejected God as father. As seen in Hosea 11 .2,
Israel called to the Egyptians. Even as Israel
was leaving them, they kept sacrificing to Baal
and burning offerings to idols. They kept sacrificing
to Baal. Let's look at what Baal was like. Baal
worship was a demonic practice of worshiping
a fertility god. Their rituals included child
sacrifice and crude acts of immorality. That's
unspeakable. Which directly went against God's
covenant. Rejecting the very first commandment.
You shall have no other gods before me. The very
word Baal means master and overlord. It's a...
termed rightfully only belonging to our creator
God. Burning offerings to idols. Remember the
altar of incense in the holy place of the Lord's
tabernacle where only the high priest could go.
The altar of incense was a symbolic temple that
God had them made after they were delivered from
Egypt as God's representation on earth. constructed
in this temple had very deep meaning and symbology
that they were supposed to learn and teach them
as they come out of Egypt. So the burning of
incense in the holy place, it symbolized the
prayers of the people ascending to God. But here
was Israel, God's chosen son, burning incense
to a false god. It just shows how far they drifted.
Continuing to reveal the grief in God's heart,
verse 3. God is remembering that he taught them
how to walk. It says in verse 3, it was I who
taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the hand,
but they never knew that I healed them. God is
remembering it was I who taught Ephraim how to
walk. Being a good father, he gave them the law
and the prophets to guide them. As slaves, they
had a slave mindset. They didn't know how to
function outside their former overlords. God
provided them a way to live and a way to have
right relationship with God. Just imagine teaching
a child to walk. We've got a lot of mothers in
here, and they've done it several times. How
much time does it take? How much care does it
take teaching them to walk? You're grabbing them
by the hand, encouraging them, try to grab their
head before it hits the ground. Well, the kids'
heads are durable these days. I don't know. Maybe
it's the milk or something. It just takes a lot
of effort to teach kids how to walk and a lot
of encouragement. And motivation. And God does
that with us today, and he was doing it for the
Israel. It's beautiful imagery God is using here.
But you know, it's a different story when they
learn how to walk, right? They end up running
out the front door, trying to chase a false idol
like an ice cream truck. Don't give those kids,
if you do give them, if you give them, I'll buy
them ice cream once. You know, that's all it
takes. They'd be chasing after the UPS man trying
to get ice cream. God watched over them. He gave
them his law. He gave them his prophets, like
Moses and Hosea. And he even guided them with
his very presence in the tabernacle. In Nehemiah
9 -12. You led them with a pillar of cloud by
day and with a pillar of fire by night to illuminate
the way they should go, providing a cloud by
day and guidance and shelter for the sun and
fire to give them light and warmth for their
travel by night. See, God's love was tangible.
Not only did he free them, not only did he give
them his law and the prophets, but he was also
there, guiding them. They could see him in a
small way. The real God is unseen, but he made
this tabernacle for them to have a physical mindset
to connect with. Continuing in verse four, I
led them with cords of human kindness, with ropes
of love. To them, I was like one who eases the
yoke. from their jaws, and I bent down to give
them food. I love how the NIV expresses it this
way. I led them out with cords of human kindness,
with ties of love. To them, I was like one who
lifts a little child to the cheek, and I bent
down to feed them. Giving a little kid a lollipop,
you know, it's this beautiful imagery. The phrase
child to a cheek. God just uses his soul parental,
and he so loves us, and he still does. He remembers
feeding the manna from the wilderness when they
had no food to eat. God's love was tangible.
It was personable. It was opposite of the heavy
yoke they had in Egypt. In Hosea 11, five through
seven, Israel will not return to the land of
Egypt and Assyrian will be his king because they
refuse to repent. A sword will war through his
cities. It will destroy and devour the bars of
his gates because of their schemes. It's interesting,
verse five, he will not return to the land of
Egypt. Like, ain't they trying to avoid Egypt?
Didn't they get out of Egypt? But this scripture,
it kind of has a double meaning here. It could
be viewed as a rhetorical question. Will they
not return to Egypt? Like, will they not return
to Egypt? Or it could be sometimes they won't
be able to flee to Egypt. You see, they were
supposed to be separate. people from the world,
but yet they always had these unauthorized boundaries
and partnerships and agreements and military
alignments with Egypt. And they would run to
Egypt sometimes when they were in trouble. Even
our Lord went there when he had to flee the infants
being killed. But he was a little baby though.
He will destroy the bars and gates. Bars and
gates represented security protection for Israel's
cities, and they would lose this because of their
schemes. Consider the crucial role of gates in
medieval castles. Have you ever watched something
similar to Braveheart, where they're doing an
invasion, and they're coming in with a battering
ram. The first thing they do is tear down those
gates. That's the strongest part of the castle,
the most important part. God is telling them
here he's going to destroy their most hard part
of the city, their most secure part of the city.
Sometimes God does that in our life. The thing
we hold on to the most will be taken down if
it gets in the way of loving our God. My people
are bent from it. on turning from me. They call
him, though they call to the most high God, he
will not exalt them at all. God never refuses
a repentant person. But here, although they are
calling on him, they are truly failing to honor
him and exalt him. Their actions contradict their
words. So as Christians, this speaks a lot to
me because there's a lot of times, especially
me being a trucker and being in that life, I
want to say that joke too. I got the perfect
punchline, but they also know I'm a Christian.
So it's very important as Christians that our
language and our faithfulness they line up. The
more we get rooted in Christ, the more those
two things will get closer together. Kind of
like a little baby walking. God is so good. He's
so patient, so loving. Point three, God shows
Israel compassion. God says, how can I give you
up, Ephraim? How can I surrender you, Israel?
How can I make you like Adamah? How can I make
you like Zeboiim? My heart is conflicted. My
compassion is stirred. Adamah and Zeboiim were
two cities that were destroyed with Sodom and
Gomorrah. God is saying he has too much compassion
to destroy them like Sodom and Gomorrah. By comparing
them to Sodom and Gomorrah in some ways, it's
very clear he has the right to destroy them.
Sodom and Gomorrah didn't have his law. They
didn't have a tabernacle. They didn't have the
things that Israel had. So he had every right.
But let's take a look at what Sodom sins. We
often think of unnatural relationships, but Ezekiel
16, 49 gives us a broader description. Behold,
this is the guilt of your sister Sodom. She and
her daughters had arrogance, abundance of food,
and careless ease, but she did not help the poor
and the needy. Sodom's downfall came from a life
of luxury and laziness. In some ways, like our
nation today, a lot of our problem is that we
have too much and we're not doing enough, even
in our churches. You know, where some churches
are just, they're missing the mark. We don't
want to be a church that just pursues comfort
over pleasing our God. Even though it's nice,
I love the setup and all the work, but it's,
you know, it's a heart condition. Verse 9 declares,
I will not vent the full fury of my anger. I
will not turn back to destroy Ephraim, for I
am God and not man. The Holy One among you, I
will not come in rage. God has every right to
destroy them, but he remembers them as a child.
He says he is not like man. He does not punish
us as our sins deserve, and he is compassionate
and full of love. I'm so grateful he's not like
us. He is so forgiving and compassionate, and
he never gives up. He never stops pursuing. It's
because he loves us. Verse 10, God promises,
they will follow the Lord. He will roar like
a lion. When he roars, his children will come
trembling from the west. I love this. Just as
a baby cub finds their mother's roar, God is
calling to his people to come home. It's beautiful
imagery. I could just see something like Lion
King singing. And then all the little baby cubs
coming through the jungle. But this lion has
a deeper meaning than just the imagery God is
showing. In Revelations 5, 5. Then one of the
elders said to me, do not weep. Look, the lion
from the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has
conquered. so that he is able to open the scroll
and its seven seals. Look, the lion from the
tribe of Judah, the root of David. This roar
of the lion of the tribe of Judah, Jesus Christ,
who will forgive and bring us back. God will
not leave them in exile and slavery. He will
not leave me. He most certainly won't leave you
there. He is boundless in love, and he never
gives up on his children. He never stops pursuing
until you're ultimately home with him. Verse
11, they will be roused like birds from Egypt,
like doves from the land of Assyria. Then I will
settle them in their homes. This is the Lord's
declaration. Verse 11 refers to the roused like
birds and doves. represents Israel finally returning
home from their exiles in Egypt and Assyria,
finding their way back home. To them, it was
the northern kingdom. It was their physical home.
But to us, today, it is our eternal home with
Jesus Christ. Jesus is the one who ultimately
fulfills this promise. He is the one who will
gather all believers, both Jew and Gentiles,
from every nation and bring them home. Just as
the Israelites were settled in their physical
homes, we will find our true internal home and
rest in Christ. When he returns, he will gather
the faithful from all corners of the earth. Jesus
is the ultimate fulfillment of what a true Israelite
should have been. He lived a perfect life of
obedience, honoring the covenant that Israel
continuously broke. And he calls us to follow
his example, to live a life of faithfulness until
we are ultimately brought home with him. In Revelations
21, then I saw a new heaven and a new earth.
For the first heaven and the first earth had
passed away and there was no more sea. Our ultimate
home is with Christ. And in the end, there's
going to be a new heaven. There's going to be
a new earth where God is going to restore all
things. He's going to restore our pain, our struggles,
our failures, and the utopia that we so want.
We will get in him and him alone. And he's going
to make a more beautiful earth. He's going to
take away all the things that are bad and fill
them with good. And even how good his heaven
is, he's going to make it even better. It also
says he will wipe every tear from their eye.
He would wipe the pain. He would wipe their struggles.
He will wipe their hardships, their regrets,
their failures. All things new. This is the ultimate
restoration. What is God saying today? Is he
calling you? Inviting you to come home? Is he
moving in your heart, but something's holding
you back? I want to remind you. that God's love
is boundless. He patiently endured my rebellion
and my backsliding. He'll never give up on you.
He's always pursuing the lost. He is always pursuing
the prodigal son to return home. It is God who
made us, and we belong to him. He created us.
He gave us his son to die in our place on the
cross, and yet some of us still openly rebel.
Some of us still resist his love, resist his
truth. But hear this, God's not condemning you.
He's not throwing your past in your face. He
is loving you and asking you to love him in return.
If you don't know him, come to him today. Find
his great grace. his mercy, his truth, and his
love. He is the author of reality. For John 1,
1 John declares that if we confess our sins,
he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our
sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
By his blood, we are made clean. Clean by his
sacrifice, we are made complete in him. If today
your love has grown cold for the Lord, he wants
you to know that he loves you. His love is enduring.
He'll never give up on you. Let's strive to be
the people of God. true disciples of Jesus, with
our hearts open to his love, let's be the church
that he wants us to be. Let's be the church that
makes a difference in this generation. Let's
be a church that represents Christ, where we
get healed, we work on our problems, that we
become what the Northern Kingdom should have
been. Well, we got a good start. We got a long
way to go, but God is working. And I'm so grateful.
Let's be the church that truly, truly loves him
and puts in the practice lovingly obeying our
Lord.