LESSON 1, INTRODUCTION:

It's a short Text, but loaded with the Grace of God!

The Book of Hosea is unique within the Bible's inspired "library." The Prophet there faces issues that would crush most other men.

Yet out of his burdens and trials come some of the greatest statements of God's Love and Mercy ever penned!

Additionally, this Text is special to me because the Lord gave it to me as I was driving one day! That's right, coming home form a Revival Meeting. Reading my Bible, "thinking" my way through Hosea's fourteen chapters.

Well, here are our Verses for the next three or four days.

God is speaking to Israel. Wayward, backslidden Israel! Stubborn Israel, yet still God's "chosen people!"

"And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD." Hosea 2:19-20

God is proposing marriage to her, to that little nation!

Of course, that's God's very nature, to desire to enter into "covenant love" with His children.

To be their "Husband!"

"For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel." Isaiah 54:5

But Israel had been unfaithful!

Just like Hosea's wife was to him!

"Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the LORD." Jeremiah 3:20

But even in the face of all that rejection, God remains determined!

Resolved to pursue her, Israel, catch her, and bring her Home!

And He found her in the "wilderness," in the dry barren "desert." Sinning against her Lord!

"I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at her first time: but they went to Baalpeor, and separated themselves unto that shame; and their abominations were according as they loved." Hosea 9:10

But God is still going to "bring her home!"

Then Israel will know God again, as her tender affectionate Husband!

The noun "Ishi" means just that, "husband."

"And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali." Hosea 2:16

"Baali" is one of their false gods, one Israel had "mixed" into her Jehovah worship!

God will become Israel's Man, another shade of meaning for "Ishi."

Our wonderfully relentless God!

I'm glad He did not give up on me!

And on you either!

Let's enjoy this study!

"And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD." Hosea 2:19-20

It should be delightful!

                                                                       --- Dr. Mike Bagwell

LESSON 2, THE CONTEXT:

The amazing thing about our Text is its setting, its "context."

Here's how the Book of Hosea begins.

God tells His Prophet to get married, not an unusual command at all. But the woman chosen, Gomer, is already slated to become a "wife of whoredoms!" She will be a prostitute. Hosea obeys this starkly unique command of God!

Three children are subsequently born, all pre-named by God!

Then, seems to me, after her wild lifestyle has been predicted of God, it happens! She lives to the fullest the debauchery and idolatry God had foretold.

Then, most amazing of all, God tells Hosea to go get her! To find her, wherever she's sleeping, and bring her home!

Hosea finds her, has to pay money to "get" her back, and brings her home! He plans to live with her as his wife, all over again!

All of which, literally occurring mind you, is a picture of the way rebellious Israel has been acting toward her God, toward Jehovah.

This little Nation had "played the harlot" too!

But God, in His ineffable Love, means to "redeem" Israel as well, just like Hosea did his wife!

That's where our Text fits. God is talking to her, to Israel. "And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD." Hosea 2:19-20

Is this not Grace?

Is it not God's kind of Love?

In spite of her sin, which He will forgive anyway, Israel is the object of God's thrilling Mercy!

Mercy she does not deserve!

Love she has not earned!

Instead of divorce she gets betrothal, a renewal of the marriage vows! From Almighty God!

And may I be so bold this Saturday morning as to suggest that Israel's wayward behavior here mirrors ours, your and mind.

Not literally perhaps, sleeping with many lovers, but spiritually.

We were sinners.

We had "loved" many gods, and probably goddesses too.

We had been "unfaithful" to our Creator!

We had ignored God's Word.

But He loved us anyway!

He "came" after us, too!

Pursued us, chased us, and glory to God, caught us!

Blessed capture!

Paul called it an "apprehension!"

An "arrest!"

Jesus redeemed me and brought me back into fellowship with Him, with the Triune God!

And He has spoken "words of love" to me as well!

Things like these ...

And a whole lot more!

Straight from the lips of our Heavenly Bridegroom!

"The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee."

Wow!

Thank the Lord today for forgiveness!

Thank Him for His unrelenting Love!

Thank Him that he came and "got" you from the "miry clay" of the world!

Thank Him for your salvation!

And the kind of "love" He has showed upon you since the day He saved you! Really, even before that!

A love that cannot be shaken!

That will never leave you!

I close today with Paul's great words, some of the most comforting ever written for the true Christian. "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:35-39

Amen!

                                                                          --- Dr. Mike Bagwell

LESSON 3, "BETROTHED:"

I once heard a Man of God say this. "If God says something just once, of course it is true! If God says it twice, pay special attention! It is then vitally important!"

For some reason I have never forgotten that statement.

But what if, in the very same Text, God says something three times?

What kind of emphasis must we give that statement?

Label it "of utmost importance!"

Such is the case today, three times!

Clearly!

"And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord." Hosea 2:19-20, God to Israel!

Did you see them?

Those verbs?

Identical!

Three times!

Betroth, betroth, betroth!

The word is spelled "aras" in Hebrew.

In each case it is expressed as a verb in the "piel" stem. That demands we translate it as showing great intensity!

God is emotionally, mightily, intensely, whole heartedly doing this betrothing! This is astounding!

The verb itself has an unusual meaning, too.

Unusual to our western minds anyway, as opposed to the mid-eastern minds of these Jews, citizens of Israel.

"Aras," according to several lexicons, means "to pay the price!" It implies a "gift" is to be given ... "to the bride!"

It is also closely related, if not synonymous, with another "aras" word that means "to desire, to request!"

Think of these cultural norms!

"Plug" them into our Text!

Israel has been rebellious! She had backslidden, badly! She had, using the Prophet's language, "played the whore."

She has forsaken God, her true Husband, and pursued the gods and goddesses of the world!

She has been "unfaithful" to her God!

Yet, get this, God still loved her!

He "desired" her!

He pursued her!

He found her!

He brought her back home!

He forgave her!

He cleansed her!

And He now is proposing marriage to her!

Again!

Read these startling words. "The Lord said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot. And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce. And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks." Jeremiah 3:6-11

Wow!

Yet today, in our Hosea Text, God is taking her back!

This is Grace!

This is mostly parallel with Hosea's actions toward his wife Gomer, too.

God, betrothed to Israel!

Back to Jeremiah where God, soon after the above verses, still says: "Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion." Jeremiah 3:14

"Betrothal," in the face of great sin!

"And I will betroTH thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord." Hosea 2:19-20

But what did God give His Bride, Israel?

If "aras," to betroth, means that, "to pay a price, to give a gift?"

He gave her salvation!

He gave her peace!

He gave her love!

He gave her provision!

He gave her all she needed!

And so we leave the Text this morning, in absolute awe!

Yet, so it is with me.

I had been unfaithful to God!

Steeped in sin, I had rebelled against the Almighty!

Yet He loved me anyway!

Came to me, convicted me, and brought me to Jesus!

He saved me!

Proposed to me, betrothal, marriage, a future secure in Him!

And I have accepted!

He is my Bridegroom!

My Saviour!

My Lord!

My heavenly Lover!

My Everything!

Yes, I believe every New Testament Christian can also claim these precious words! "And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will bethroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord." Hosea 2:19-20

Thank you, Lord!

Betrothed!

                                                                    --- Dr. Mike Bagwell

LESSON 4, RIGHTEOUSNESS AND JUDGMENT:

"Betrothal" is virtually the same as being married. At least that's so in the ancient cultures of the East.

So when God says to Israel: "And I will betroth thee unto me for ever," He is extremely serious!

Just as the Church in the New Testament is the Bride of Christ, so is Israel in the Old Testament the Bride of Almighty God.

And once consummated, this Marriage will last "for ever!" That's what the Lord just told Israel, Hosea 2:19.

Relationship with the Lord, being His adopted son or daughter, is eternal!

What security this affords!

He is my Husband, for ever!

He is my Protector, for ever!

He is my Provider, for ever!

He is my Saviour, for ever!

He is my Guide, for ever!

And He is also loving me with several great traits, divine attributes, mentioned in our Text.

Back to Hosea 2:19, in part anyway. "And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment."

Let's begin with these two, like Hosea does.

"Righteousness," spelled "tzsedeq" in Hebrew, means "that which is clean, pure and correct" in the Eyes of God!

In other words, God will do nothing wrong in His relationship to His Bride!

Unlike some earthly husbands, He will never lie!

He will never cheat!

He will never abuse!

He will never "change His mind" about wanting her!

A Righteous Husband!

Furthermore, God will love us in "judgment." This is "mishphat" and means "that which is proper, fitting, orderly," even "customary" too.

Our God will never treat us unfairly!

He will never put anyone ahead of His Bride!

He will never favor us less than He did the day of our espousal!

He will never treat us wrongly!

His "manner" with us will always be worthy of His Name!

Amazing!

"And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment." 

"Righteousness" looks Godward!

"Justice" looks manward!

In either direction, God is a wonderful Husband!

To Israel!

And to the Church!

Do you hunger today for a relationship filled with rectitude, with honesty, with not one iota of hypocrisy?

That would be "righteousness."

Do you also long for a relationship that's fair and impartial and always on an even level of respect, of honor, of adoration nearly?

That would be "justice."

And God has promised both!

He has delivered too!

"And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment."

Thank you, Lord.

The harlotry of Israel is being repaid with the very righteousness of God!

And the disloyalty of that little Nation is being swapped for God's fairness and consistency!

What a blessing!

What a marriage!

What an eternity awaits this Bride!

Praise the Lord.

                                                                           --- Dr. Mike Bagwell

LESSON 5, LOVINGKINDNESS AND MERCIES:

The little Nation of Israel had been so wicked!

So unfaithful to her God!

Yet he "forgave" her!

And "loved" her, although I probably have these two verbs in reverse order!

Then God does something more.

He proposes to her, he suggests marriage!

With these very words: "And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord." Hosea 2:19-20

What Grace this is!

It has become fashionable today for brides and grooms to write their own "vows," when they marry I mean.

Well, it looks to me like God has just done that too!

He promises Israel: "And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord."

This speech is loaded with vows!

"I take thee for ever!"

God is talking!

"I promise to marry thee and never do thee wrong, 'righteousness!'"

"I promise to always be fair to thee, never impartial or neglectful, 'judgment!'"

Then today's lesson, "I promise to always be gentle to thee, never harsh, 'lovingkindness!'"

And compassionate too, never apathetic, 'merciful!'"

And there's even more to come tomorrow!

Let's examine these two new words, "lovingkindness" as a singular noun and "mercies," obviously plural.

God will always treat His Bride with "lovingkindness."

The word is "hesed," technically expressed as "chesed." It means that God will "come down" to Israel's level, walking with her and talking with her and fellowshipping with her, loving her gently at all times! This also is a tenacious love, never letting go of its subject! A love that will not quit! An elevated God, the only true and living God, loving a lowly ex-sinner like Israel!

Wow!

And God will follow up "lovingkindness" with tons of "mercies!"

Now we have "racham," initially the Hebrew word for "womb." In fact, twice in the Bible it is rendered as "bowels," one's intestines! It then comes to mean the most intimate feeling One can have for another! One's innermost emotional commitment!

God loves Israel with all He is!

With all He's got!

From the depths of His very Essence!

He will show her "pity," another shade of meaning for "racham," time and time again!

Just like yesterday where the second word superseded the first, "judgment" going deeper than even "righteousness," so today "mercies" is more tender than even "lovingkindness!"

What love!

What vows!

What promises!

What initiative!

To a woman who was a few hours ago living in sin, blatantly so!

Living the life of a common prostitute, following one lover after another, one false "god" or "goddess" after another!

Talk about "lovingkindess and mercies!"

How very blessed is "Israel," Jehovah God's Bride!

Then, come to think of it, how very blessed is the New Testament Church too!

Jesus' Bride!

He loved us enough to die for us!

That's a love also freighted with righteousness and judgment and lovingkindness and mercies, not counting the rest of the text!

Thank you Lord for loving us so!

We are, like Israel, so unworthy of such Attention!

Your Grace truly is amazing!

"And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord." Hosea 2:19-20

Thank You, again!

                                                                         --- Dr. Mike Bagwell

LESSON 6, FAITHFULNESS:

I believe this Text is cumulative!

That just means that it is "building" as it goes, increasing in intensity and beauty!

God is promising to His people more and more!

"And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord." Hosea 2:19-20

Today we have reached the clause where God gloriously says:  "I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness."

Think of it!

One Passage with the same verb three times. "will betroth."

God says to Israel: "I love you, I want you, I will marry you, and I will stay faithful to you for all eternity!"

Excuse the bad grammar, please! I know I have just used several run-on sentences. I just couldn't stop!

I am overwhelmed with this kind of Love!

"Greater Love hath no man than this." John 15:13

"Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us." 1st John 3:1

"I have loved thee with an everlasting love," God to the Jews! Quoted from Jeremiah 31:3.

Again, our Text today: "I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness."

The verb "will betroth," spelled "aras," is still expressed in its most intense form, the "piel" stem. God dramatically, emotionally, intensely loves Israel and desires to make her His own!

He's proposing marriage!

And He is furthermore promising, as we men also do in our earthly weddings, "until death do us part!"

God will be "faithful" to her, to His Bride!

That word is "emunah," meaning "firm, steady, stable," that kind of idea. It is ultimately derived from "aman," the Hebrew root word meaning "established, trustworthy, continual, verifiable, steadfast." Then get this one, "nurse" or "nursing!"

God will have no "ups" and "downs" as a Bridegroom!

No good days and bad days!

He will always be the very same, "perfect!"

Always keeping His promises!

Always living up to His Word!

Here's the first time "emunah" is used in the Bible. I will capitalize the word for easy identification. "But Moses' hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun." Exodus 17:12, during the battle with the Amalekites.

I guess you could say, according to the King James translators, that God is "going steady" with Israel!

He loves her!

He is nearly infatuated with her!

What kindness!

And surely, if Jehovah God loves Israel that much, with her spotted record of transgressions, past and present, Jesus loves the Church, the New Testament Bride of Christ, will equal intensity!

Or even more so!

Paul thought so!

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:35-39

And, maybe best of all, once this Love starts, it will never end!

He, Jesus, will be faithful to you, dear saved friend!

Once again, God has saved the "best" 'til "last!"

"And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord." Hosea 2:19-20

Thank You, dear Lord!

We love Thee too!

And the desire of our hearts, if we know anything at all, is to be faithful to You, in return!

How can we do otherwise?

Here's how Paul expressed his strong desire to remain faithful to His Lord. "So that I might finish my course with joy." Acts 20:24, that's it, "finishing the course!"

May we do the same!

                                                                       --- Dr. Mike Bagwell

LESSON 7, KNOWING THIS WONDERFUL LORD:

Against a dark background a sparkling diamond can shine with dazzling contrast, ever so brightly!

That's exactly what we have in our current Text, too.

Straight from the Bible.

Hosea's background?

Sin and infidelity and degradation, fornication, too. Or should, in this case, I call it adultery?

The woman who easily could have been the object of the Prophet's scorn, His wife Gomer, became the focus of his deepest love!

"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, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine." That's in the Bible, word for word, King James Version, too! It's Hosea 3:1.

That's the dark background.

Now, the sparkling diamond!

God is speaking to Israel, here the fulfillment of Hosea's wife Gomer, unfaithful Israel, the "wife" of Almighty God!

"And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord." This is something, Hosea 2:19-20.

I hope you see the contrast!

Today time has come to examine the last clause of the Passage. "And thou shalt know the Lord."

Who would not want to know the Lord, this Lord?

This God Who will love an old vile ex-sinner!

This God Who can so completely forgive that a common harlot appears cleansed and forgiven and even multi-blessed!

This God Who operates on Love and Mercy and Faithfulness, as well as Righteousness and Judgment!

Making all five of these qualities, these attributes, work in favor of the object of His attention, little Israel!

"And thou shalt know the Lord."

Wouldn't you want to know the person who loved you in spite of your weaknesses and sinful proclivities?

Who knew you for what you really were?

Who had been kind to you when everyone else hated you?

Who ascribed worth to you, when down inside you felt worthless?

"And thou shalt know the Lord."

That verb "know" is "yada" in Hebrew.

It means "to know" in every level imaginable. The lexicons say "to learn to know."

On the light end it can mean merely "to make an acquaintance."

On the heavy end, "to love intimately!"

Not to be too blunt but here's the verb's first appearance in the Bible. "And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord."

Wow!

That's "yada" for you, in its strongest sense.

If we ever realize how much God loves us, how much He has really done for us in righteousness and judgment and lovingkindness and mercy and faithfulness, we will want "to know" Him too.

To know Him better and better!

To love Him so much the world will call it an obsession!

To worship Him even!

To adore and magnify Him over and over again, the rest of our lives!

"And thou shalt know the Lord."

For this whole Lesson a verse in Proverbs has been looming in my heart. Here it is, Proverbs 19:22, the first half anyway. "The desire of a man is his kindness."

This means that the most predominant trait in a person, the quality which gives him or her the greatest desirability in the eyes of others, is "kindness!" And "kindness" is "hesed," exactly the word used for God's "lovingkindness" in our Text!

God is kind!

We desire Him!

We long for Him!

We genuinely love Him!

Another Proverbs verse too. "The wise in heart shall be called prudent: and the sweetness of the lips increaseth learning." Proverbs 16:21

The last clause particularly, "The sweetness of the lips increaseth learning."

God's "lips" have been so sweet this week, in Hosea 2:19-20 I mean, loving us like He does, He has increased my desire to learn!

To lean about Him!

To learn Him!

To experience Him!

No teacher can "yell and holler and fuss" his way to success! His students will not learn, maybe even can not learn, under such ugliness and stress!

But a good teacher sure can gently, graciously smile his way to success, those blessed students soaking up every bit of information, like dry ground on a rainy day!

The verse is so logical.

If God is sweet and good and kind ... then we should want to know Him better and better!

To which I heartily say, "Amen!"

Jesus believed, still does believe, that "knowing" God is of utmost importance. He even equated it with eternal life!

Talking to His Father in Heaven, in deep prayer, Jesus says: "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." John 17:4

Then, we must "know" God!

You might could say that God is out "soul-winning" in Hosea 2:1-20, really!

And here's what He says to Israel: "And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness."

And here's what is supposed to happen, "And thou shalt know the Lord." Translate that, "And thou shalt be saved!"

Amen!

Is He sweet to you?

Is He kind?

Has He "proposed" to you, like He did to Israel?

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." This is Jesus in Matthew 11:29-29, "proposing" to you!

This one is good too. "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." This is the last invitation in the Bible, Revelation 22:17.

God is still "proposing!"

Will someone accept Him today?

Will someone else praise and thank and glorify his Name for having proposed to you?

I can't help it.

Just one more time.

"And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord."

Wow!

                                                                        --- Dr. Mike Bagwell

Yes ...

Someone recently hinted that I say "wow" too much. That it is the most over-used term on the Internet!

Help me find a new word then.

But it must adequately show amazement and wonder and excitement at the marvelous Grace of God!

Until then, let me again say "Wow!

           An Old Testament Text that magnifies the good Grace of God!