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2 When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, "Go, take for yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord." 3 So he went and took Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.4 And the Lord said to him, "Name him Jezreel; for in a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. 5 On that day I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel." 6 She conceived again and bore a daughter. Then the Lord said to him, "Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have pity on the house of Israel or forgive them. 7 But I will have pity on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God; I will not save them by bow, or by sword, or by war, or by horses, or by horsemen." 8 When she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived and bore a son. 9 Then the Lord said, "Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not my people and I am not your God." 10 Yet the number of the people of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which can be neither measured nor numbered; and in the place where it was said to them, "You are not my people," it shall be said to them, "Children of the living God." (Hosea 1:2-10 NRSV)
You have experienced the use of props by some pastors to drive home the point of their sermon. One pastor in the DFW area one year did a series on, what else, sex and had a brand new showroom quality Ferrari (a very expensive car, boys and girls) on the stage. If you want to know the sermon and how it relates to the very expensive and very fast car, google it. I could venture a guess, but there might be actual kids reading or hearing this message. God is love, boys and girls! I once threw flour tortillas into the congregation and won a new family to the church that Sunday, and I only hit one of the senior citizens of the cranky ilk. And no pulpit committee meeting was needed to remedy it! And there are countless other examples of props that I could give. But God wins. In this sermon that God knows Israel, His beloved and chosen people, needs to hear and see, he tells the senior pastor of First Israel, "Uh, here's how this sermon is going to play out. I know you're single, and you've never been married. And if I'm remembering them correctly, one of the commandments requires that all preachers be married, so for your prop for this sermon, I want you to get a, how do I say this without embarrassing me, you, and the woman I'm about to talk about? You heard the song, 'Hello, Baby' by the Big Bopper? Well, I want you to marry a girl like he's talking about, with the 'wiggle in the walk, giggle in the talk,' No, that's embarrassing me. How did Eugene Peterson have the nerve to write this passage in such a brash way? I'll have to ask him, but uh, Hosea, your prop will be a woman of ill repute, and she will also be the mother of the children you hadn't even about thought having. She's the sermon prop for the people to see that their behavior has mimicked her behavior." Hosea replies, "Lord, I don't think I'm following this sermon prep about the prop. I'm hearing you want me married, and that's fair; I've thought about marrying a girl like dear old mom, but this prop seems to be a bit beyond where I thought a prophet should start a martial journey. I thought a high school sweetheart might have been a bit more logical place to start. You know, a prom, some Friday night football games, a hay ride or two; but we're starting more on a street corner than a rumble seat in granddad's old Model A. And shazam, you want me to marry a woman named Gomer? She might not be quite Mayberry material; she's solid Vegas.
And the wedding took place. I now pronounce you, husband and (slight hestitation on God's part) wife. The wedding night produced a child, whom God said they were to name Jezreel, for the shedding of the blood of Jezreel; and this would be the end of house of Israel. The sermon is live and it has everyone's attention.This birth, God said, would break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel. Gomer conceived again and God said to name this baby, a girl, Lo-ruhamah, (No Mercy) because God would no longer have pity nor mercy on the house of Israel. The pity would go to the southern brother, Judah, whom God would save by His might and not anything created like bows, swords, war, or horses, or horsemen.
Gomer conceives another child, and this one is named Lo-ammi (Nobody), because Israel was now nobody to God, and God was no longer their God; yet, hope is shared for God declares that the number of people from Israel would be like the sand of the sea, too numerous to count, and the place where God had said, "No more, Israel," would be remembered as the place where God would call them, "Children of the living God."
It's sad to know such sermons are ever necessary, but they are. Yet, even this sermon with the sad sermon plot that the prophet had to endure was a powerful message to the unfaithful people of Israel. God asks His people again and again, "Can't you be faithful? Can't you fulfill the vows you took to be my people? Must you stray time and time again? Your actions scream that you deserve death, yet my love for you is so great that I will forgive you and restore you if you sincerely and honestly repent of your sin. There is no need to wander among the dead while you still have life; I will share the fullness of life to all who desire it; such is my love for you.
PRAYER: Awesome loving God, thank You for the second and third chance you give to all who seek to receive it. Help us to serve You in getting the message out to those still wandering lost; this we must do in Christ Jesus' strong name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Be a sermon prop of hope, love, and forgiveness.
Receive my blessings of joy and peace,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
