Hosea 11: God's Amazing Kindness

Have you ever felt the heartbreak of watching someone you love walk away? In this deeply moving exploration of Hosea 11, we discover God's raw emotional response to Israel's rejection—a divine heartbreak that mysteriously coexists with unconditional love.

The chapter unfolds like a parent's memoir, with God reminiscing about Israel's early years: "When Israel was a child, I loved him and called my son out of Egypt." We feel the tenderness as God recalls teaching Israel to walk, leading them by hand. Then comes the painful turn—despite this nurturing relationship, Israel repeatedly rejects God, pursuing false idols and empty worship. The divine response is stunning: "My heart is torn within me and my compassion overflows." These aren't the words of a distant, emotionless deity, but of a loving parent devastated by a child's rejection.

What makes this passage so remarkable is what happens next. Just when divine justice should strike, mercy interrupts. "How can I give up on you, Israel?" God asks, revealing that divine love operates beyond human limitations. Where human relationships often end after repeated betrayal, God's commitment persists. The message becomes crystal clear for us today—no matter how far we've strayed, the door home remains unlocked. As we explore in this episode, "You can't out-sin the grace of God."

If you've experienced the pain of rejection or the joy of reconciliation, this episode will resonate deeply. It challenges us to consider both sides of love—the vulnerability that leads to heartbreak and the courage that keeps reaching out despite rejection. Subscribe to Bible Breakdown for more insights that bridge ancient wisdom with our daily struggles and triumphs.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, everybody, welcome back to the Bible
Breakdown podcast with your host, pastor Brandon, today.
Hosea, chapter 11,.
Today's title is God's AmazingKindness.
God's Amazing Kindness, and Idon't know if you've ever done
this before, but they used tohave these Pixar movies and
right before the Pixar moviesthere'd be those little like
mini videos.

(00:20):
And there was this mini videothat was like three to five
minutes long and by the end ofit I have to admit, listen, you
can, you can whatever.
I was like a puddle, like I waslike it's like crying.
I was like this is ridiculous,I'm crying over a three minute
video, but it was just sopowerful and today's one of
those chapters.
So I don't care how manly youare or how whatever you are, get

(00:44):
your tissues ready, because itis beautiful and brutal at the
same time as the soap operacontinues to turn.
So if you know what I'm talkingabout, you know what I'm
talking about.
Get your Bibles open, get themready.
Hosea, chapter 11.
While you're doing that, makesure you take just a moment to
like, share and subscribe to theYouTube channel and the podcast
, make sure to leave us afive-star review on the podcast

(01:04):
and, as always, make sure you'regoing to the Bible Breakdown
Discussion on Facebook.
They're doing an amazing jobthere of just creating this
community of people that we arerallying around God's Word.
I can't think of a betterreason to rally.
I mean, there's people rallyingfor so many different reasons.
What better to rally aroundthan to know God by knowing His
word, because that truly is theeternal blessing that we get to

(01:25):
have?
And so, once again, if you haveyour Bibles and you open up
with me to Hosea, chapter 11, itis part of what's considered
the minor prophets and, if youremember, they're minor, not
because they're less than, butbecause they didn't write as
much.
I mean, you got people likeEzekiel, isaiah, jeremiah they
love their pen.
They had so much to say.
Hosea he gets it done in 14chapters.

(01:47):
He's like I'm good, all right,and the overall goal of Hosea is
God's reckless love.
It's the reckless love that Godhas for us, and we're going to
see this in today's chapter.
And what I was telling you abouta second ago is I remember I
was watching this Pixar littlemini deal and what it was is it
was this random thing, but thepoint was is, when this little

(02:12):
baby was being raised by its mom, it loved its mom.
It was close to its mom.
It was just like this you couldtell there was this close
relationship.
That's the way it was intended,right.
And then, as they got older,mom is there, he's got older,
mom is there.
And then, when the baby gets tobe a teenager, it does what
some teenagers do and decidedthat it was independent and it

(02:33):
didn't want to be close to momand it just kind of turned away
from mom.
It kind of broke mom's heart.
But then, as you see mom, she'sjust depressed and dejected,
dad can't console her, and allthis.
And then a little bit later,you know the, the now grown
child, comes home and gives momthis big hug and I'm sitting

(02:53):
there just like, like, like,half squacking, just like that's
, that's just beautiful.
I mean just just beingridiculous.
I was getting so emotional aboutit.
But why I was so emotional isbecause if you have children,
you know how.
That is right.
They're going to getindependent.
And that was kind of the pointwas is they're going?
The point of raising childrenis raising future adults, right,

(03:16):
like you're raising people whocan take care of themselves, but
it's still hard, right?
Well, that is not quite this,but that is close to this,
because what is going to beamazing about Hosea 11 is it's
going to talk about how God waswith the nation of Israel when
they were a new nation, that atsome point they didn't think
they needed God anymore.
And as I was thinking aboutthis, I was thinking about how

(03:38):
beautiful the reckless love ofGod is.
Because, I'm going to be honestwith you, how many times have
we been friends with people andsaid, hey, man, listen, you
ain't got time for me, I ain'tgot time for you, but God
continues to reach out to us.
So, anyway, let's read thistogether.
Just hear the love of God as weread this together.
You ready?
Hosea, chapter 11, verse 1, saysthis when Israel was a child,

(04:00):
in other words, a young nation,I called my son out of Egypt.
Pause, by the way, in the bookof Matthew, when Jesus goes down
to Egypt to escape Herod,killing all the firstborn
children, and then he comes backfrom Egypt, they use this
scripture as the fulfillment ofthe prophecy of the Messiah
coming back out of Egypt.

(04:20):
Just throwing that out there.
So let's read that again.
Hosea 11, verse 1, says thiswhen Israel was a child, I loved
him and I called my son out ofEgypt.
But the more I called to him,the farther he moved from me,
offering sacrifices to theimages of Baal and burning
incense to idols.
I myself taught Israel how towalk, leading him along by the

(04:44):
hand, he says, to feed him.
But since my people refuse toreturn to me, they will return
to Egypt and will be forced toserve Assyria.

(05:07):
War will swirl through theircities, their enemies will crash
through their gates and theywill destroy them, trapping them
in their own evil plans.
For my people are determined todesert me.
They call me the most high, butthey don't truly honor me.
Oh, how can I give up on you,israel?
How can I let you go?

(05:28):
How can I destroy you, likeAdma, or demolish you like
Zeboim?
My heart is torn within me andmy compassion overflows.
No, I will not unleash myfierce anger.
I will not completely destroyIsrael, for I am God and not a
mere mortal.
I am the Holy One living amongyou and I will not destroy you.

(05:51):
For someday the people willfollow me.
I, the Lord, will roar like alion, and when I roar, my people
return trembling from the westLike a flock of birds.
They will come from Egypttrembling like doves as they
return from Assyria and I willbring them home again, says the
Lord.
Israel surrounds me with liesand deceit, but Judah still

(06:16):
obeys God and is faithful to theHoly One.
Wow, do you see how God issaying that?
When they were young, I tookcare of them, but as I got older
they didn't think they neededme anymore.
And man, it hurt.
I did all these things for them, I helped them, I did all these
things and they turned awayfrom me.

(06:36):
But then he's saying but Ican't give up, I can't, I can't
give up, I can't give up on them.
And do you know why thatblesses my heart?
Is number one is because Idon't know about you, but I need
that kind of grace because I'mgoing to mess up that many times
.
You know I, I need, I need Godto not give up on me.
But you know why else thatblesses me?
Is because if you've been aChristian for very long and

(06:58):
you've discovered the goodnessof God at some point, you look
around at your friends and yourneighbors and you want them to
experience the goodness of God,and there's almost nothing more
heartbreaking than when you seesomeone who has experienced the
love of God but yet they'veturned away and they've walked
away or they've gotten cold intheir relationship with Him.
And when you see that, itbreaks your heart.

(07:18):
But do you know what I love?
It's just like this God's notgoing to give up on them, no
matter what happens, no matterwhere they go, no matter how far
they walk away, god says I'mnot going to give up, I am not
going to let them go, I'm goingto continue to call after them.
And all they got to do is turnaround.
And they can always come onhome again.

(07:41):
It's the idea of the door isalways unlocked.
All you got to do is walkthrough it.
Maybe that's you today.
Maybe you would find yourself,maybe you'd be honest and you
would say that you have walkedaway from God.
Can I tell you, the door isalways open.
God is always close.
You can never do too much.
You can never go too far.
You can't out sin the grace ofGod.
You can't out sin his goodness.
That's how much he loves you.

(08:02):
God's word says, for God soloved the world that he gave his
one and only Son that, whoeverbelieves in him, they would not
perish but have eternal life.
And God did not go through allthat trouble sending his Son
into the world to point anaccusing finger and tell the
world how bad it was.
He came to help and to put theworld right again.

(08:22):
You know what that means.
That means he's still lookingfor you.
Come on home to Jesus.
Let's pray together right now.
God, thank you so much for yourunfailing, reckless love.
I'm thankful for your amazingkindness.
I pray we'll never take it forgranted, but if we have
salvation we'll realize that thegreatest miracle we could ever
hope for we've already received,and maybe somebody today will

(08:44):
hear your voice as you call andthey'll repent of their sins and
turn their life over to you.
In Jesus' name, we pray Amen.
You know what God's Word saysin Hosea 6, verse 6, he's saying
to us.
He says I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices.
I want you to know me more thanI want burnt offerings.
God wants a rich, realrelationship with us.

(09:08):
I love you.
I'll see you tomorrow for Hosea, chapter 12.