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A very good morning to all of you, welcome to Gospel Light and our first English worship service this Sunday morning. Pardon the poor resolution, it's taken from someone's iPhone, transmitted on WhatsApp, so not so clear. But I think what will be clear is that we all had a wonderful time in church camp this year.

Well, I ... I think we had great food, we have great lodging, we have a wonderful opportunity to hear some sermons, 7 preachers giving us the Word of God. And the greatest enjoyment I had, the greatest joy I took out of it was to see the interactions and the love of God's people. It really felt like God's family was in action. I saw that no one was really left out, everyone was trying to reach out to someone in love, connecting them, encouraging one another. It was great to see those inter-generational discussion groups after the sermons. I thought this was a wonderful, wonderful church camp.

I really wished all of you could have joined us in this camp. But hey, no matter, we are planning for another one next year, hopefully we'll find a hotel that is big enough to house all of us there. I'm not sure, er, but I'm ... I'm already looking forward to church camp next year. In fact, I was so eager that I said, "Hey, maybe we should extend it to five days, four nights." Ah, but after I took a poll, I realized 4 days, 3 nights seems to be the sweet spot. So look forward to that next year in June. I hope you'll keep your calendar free to be able to join us and benefit from this camp.

This camp was about one passion. It's about that one singular thing that motivates us and drives us. And we heard from seven preachers, Elder Thomas started it off for the English congregation with the lesson on approval - How we should not seek for approval from men, from others, but really to live for the audience of one alone, and that is God.

Elder Fred then followed up with a message about the heavenly city — reminds us about the Christian anticipation, that we are to live with a view towards that eternal city to come, and not see that everything is to be lived for here. Elder Jeff then reminded us, that it's not about the anticipation of the future, but also the appreciation of God here and now. That we can desire God and indeed we should hunger and thirst after God because He is worthy right here, right now.

Pastor Kay Hong gave us an application about one passion and that is — to be holy even as God is holy. Lucerne came in, teaching us from Haggai, the lesson on alignment — how we need to be aligned with God and not be about our own panelled houses. Haniel spoke about the advancement of the Gospel and Pastor Yufei ended off with the ability to do all that or the accomplishment through the power of the Holy Spirit.

They all spoke about one passion, but with different perspectives and nuances, we have been blessed. Today people always ask me, "How come in camp you don't do anything ah, so switch off, so ... so shiok ah!" I say, "I'm the last camp speaker, because we end off with a last message." And I want to appeal you ... appeal to you to look to the one passion we should have in God alone.

And I'm going to do it via the book Hosea. Hosea is a book about God's love. Hosea is the last prophet to the northern kingdom of Israel. And it is a book that speaks about God's unfailing love for His people. Last week, we looked at how we centered the theme of the book on this singular Hebrew word, "hesed". The word, "hesed" means steadfast love or loyal love.

Psalm 136 is a song about hesed — the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever, repeated 26 times. And the book of Hosea is about God's loyal love, especially in the light of Israel's utter unfaithfulness.

How do we see God's love? How do we see that it is strong and steadfast and unchanging, especially when we understand how unfaithful, rebellious and wicked the people were? We saw that the book of Hosea was a book, therefore written to confront Israel about their rebellion against God.

We see that this is not just about information but that Hosea is actively calling them to repent and to come back to God. But this is not just about calling them to a God who may reject them but to a God who has promised there will be redemption for them. There is tremendous comfort in the book of Hosea.

So that is the goal, why God raised Hosea to write this book, Hosea. And if you like a simple, very broad, general outline of Hosea would be this:

[1] Story
He starts off with a story which we are going to read of today. A story between himself and his wife.

[2] Sin
Then God, from this story, would explain and delineate the utter sinfulness of the nation of Israel.

[3] Sufferings
And God would tell them that they will suffer for their sins. There will be consequences for their sins, there will be chastisement for their sins.

[4] Salvation
But it ends off beautifully in chapter 14 with an emphasis on the salvation God will give. This is what Hosea is about.

So let us start with the story and it starts in chapter 1 and verse 2 all the way to chapter 2 and verse 1. And I've entitled this message simply, "Gomer" the wife of Hosea.

[1] The Portrait
It starts with a portrait, a picture.

You know, somethings ... sometimes things are easy, more easily understood with a picture. I can give you lots of pictures today but today I choose to give you a word picture. If I were to say, "I love you," it's not as good as if I say to you, "I love you to the moon and back."

But that's an interesting way to say things - I love you to the moon and back. What does it mean? It means I love you so much I'm willing to go to the moon and come back just to show I love you. Of course, it's an exaggeration! Of course, it's a hyperbole! But this exaggeration communicates, it's a beautiful picture of how this man is willing to go to great lengths to prove his love to you.

Another word picture would be - I love you to bits. Heard that before? What does it mean to love you to bits? It means I love every single part of you, every detail, every bit of you.

So these are graphic pictures, and God, being a wonderful teacher gives us a picture, a portrait of what hesed is all about. And it comes in verse 2. "The Lord said to Hosea ..." [[Hosea 1:2] This is an absolute shocker, "He says to Hosea, "Go take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom."'

This is absolutely mind-blowing! "Go take yourself this adulterous woman." The Hebrew is not specific as to whether this is adulterous or a prostitute, it could apply to both. And commentators are also divided as to whether this is referring to Gomer, adulterous before marriage or that she will be adulterous after marriage. So, we do not know whether this is referring to Gomer as a prostitute or an adulterous woman, or whether she was adulterous before or after the marriage.

But the point is this, God is saying to Hosea, "You go get a wife and this wife will commit adultery against you. She will be unfaithful to you and she will bear children out of this adulterous relationship." This is an absolutely shocking thing! Why, why would God call His prophet, His servant to do something so heartbreaking as that?

God says the reason is that, "The land, your people, the nation of Israel commits great whoredom by forsaking Me, Jehovah God." [Hosea 1:2]

See, this is a very appropriate word picture, it's a very appropriate portrait for Israel. Israel understood that they are married to God. At the Mount Sinai, they established a covenant where God said, "If you obey My covenant and My words, you will be My people." [Exo 19:5] "And the people said, "All the words of the LORD, we will do."' [Exo 24:3] "We agree to this union, we are joined in holy matrimony, as it were."

But the people of Israel were never faithful to God, they were adulterous, they were unfaithful, right from the word go, worshipping other gods, other idols. And how they hardened their hearts against God and will not obey God and how they would worship foreign gods in the land of Canaan, offering their children as child sacrifices.

They sinned against God over and over and over again, storing up the wrath of God against them. [Hosea 13:12] So God now says, "Go, marry a woman who will be unfaithful to you, to show how Israel has been unfaithful to Me."

You see, they have sinned so long and their hearts so hardened that God needs to grab them, wrestle them, jolt them into this shock and horror of Hosea and Gomer, so that they will wake up. Because they are so used to their sin, they think it is not a problem at all. So God in His mercy uses a drastic, shocking, horrific relationship to show them their sins against Him.

God is using this to show them how gut-wrenching and heartbreaking it is for God. So often when we read the Bible, we ... we read about God's sovereignty, we read about God's wisdom, we think that God controls all things, knows all things, therefore, He is untouched by sin in this world. He does not grieve over sin in this world, He is not affected. And to Him, it is all just a game, that's what we think! But that's not what God says.

God says, "Look at Hosea and the heartbreak and the pain and the anguish Hosea would experience is just a fraction of what I experience." The Bible speaks about a God of emotions, a God who grieves. For example, we read in Genesis 6:6, "It grieved Him to His heart," when He saw that there was only wickedness in the hearts of men continually in the days of Noah. In Psalm 78:40, we read also of how Israel rebelled against Him and grieved Him.

So God tells Hosea, "Go, marry this woman, she will be unfaithful to you, let Israel feel the force of pain I go through. Let them have a glimpse of how difficult it has been for Me, so that they may understand in the context of that great betrayal and rejection and adultery, the amazing, stunning hesed I have for them. Even though they grieve me to the heart, I love them and will not utterly forsake them."

God's love is stunning when we realise how undeserving we really are. So, Hosea starts with this portrait - Go marry this unfaithful woman.

[2] The Punishment
The second thing this text tells us is the punishment that flows.

Gomer is going to have children and the three children Gomer will bear will be three children that communicate that God will punish sinners. We read, "So Hosea obeyed God, took Gomer, married her and she conceived and bore a son." [Hosea 1:3]

God said to him, "Call his name Jezreel ..." [Hosea 1:4] Jezreel is a place in the Middle East, it's a valley in particular. It's a significant valley because God goes on to say, "... for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel."

This is a reference to a story in 2 Kings, chapters 9 and 10, where Jehu committed massive massacre on Ahab's descendants. And with that massacre of Ahab's descendants, Jehu became king and he established a dynasty that would last until Hosea's time, Jeroboam II would be king.

So God says, "Call your son Jezreel, because Jezreel is where Jehu started this northern kingdom of Israel. But I will call it Jezreel because I will punish the house of Jehu. I will put an end to this kingdom, to this dynasty. I'll break the bow which is an instrument or weapon of war. I will absolutely defunct this kingdom and put aside this kingdom." [ Hosea 1:3-5]

So, call his name Jezreel because the dynasty that started there will end here. That will be the judgement from God. After Jezreel is born, "Gomer conceived again and bore a daughter. And the Lord said to him, "Call her name ..." [Hosea 1:6] If you have a daughter, what would you call her? Grace, Mary, Elizabeth, wah, sounds so nice ah, right, all these names. And maybe if we have a daughter, we'll call her name Mercy. Nice. There are some ladies who are called Mercy, very good name.

Nope, but "... you will call her [Bo Mercy, Tak Mercy,] No Mercy." No Mercy, that will be her name. "But when I go Sunday school, people will call me what?" No Mercy loh! That's your name forever. "Why give me such a painful name?" "Because I want all of Israel to know, "I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel to forgive them at all." [Hosea 1:6] "They must suffer the consequences of their sin, their rebellion, their betrayal against Me."

Now, here we see God's sovereignty, "I will have mercy on the house of Judah ..." [Hosea 1:7] "But not on you guys, it's my sovereign choice." Now, people often have this problem that, "Oh, God is so unfair, He must ... He must save everybody." Who says so? It is just for God to punish sinners, and if He should spare some, it is not that He is unjust but that He is merciful. "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and I choose to show mercy to Judah but not to you guys at this point of time." That's God's prerogative, nothing unrighteous with that.

Well, after No Mercy is born, "She conceived and bore a third child, a son." [Hose 1:8] And his name will be John? No, God's grace, no that will not be his name, his name will be Jonathan? No, "his name will be Not My People." [Hosea 1:9] Wah, you know when you put your exam script, my name is Not My People. That's not a very cool name to have but that's his name, Not My People. Why? Because, "They are not my people and I am not their God." [Hosea 1:9]

So with the birth and with the naming of these three children, God is communicating with Gomer, with an adulterous relationship will flow and come forth punishment. They will be Jezreel - I will end your kingdom at Jezreel, it will be No Mercy, and it will be Not My People.

When my two sons are born, we gave them names not like this. I thought it would be very difficult for them to live the rest of their lives. So we call them Shawn, which means God's grace, Matthias, which means God's gift. But these three children will be called God's judgment. They will come to adulterous Gomer, just as they will come to adulterous Israel. "You commit unfaithfulness to God, you will have children, children of Jezreel, No Mercy and Not My People."

By the way, if you think this is unjust, if you think this is, "Wah, how can God suddenly spring this surprise on them?" It is not sudden, go back and look at Leviticus 29, go ... or 26. Go back and look at Deuteronomy 29, both these chapters warn how God will judge the people if they should forsake Him. And God has actually waited for centuries, given them opportunity to repent, but they have not. And so when their sins are stored up, Assyria will come, judgment will come and they will experience God's punishment. It's been said in the Bible.

And so may I say to you, "Folks, God has said in the Bible that He will judge all sinners. It may be some time more to come, I'm not sure when. Maybe you're 40 years old, 15 years old, 60 years old." And you say, "I don't see any judgment." Well, He will come, judgment will come.

For example we read, "But because of your hard, and impenitent heart ..."[Romans 2:5] You know what is right, but you still choose to sin against God, "Because of your hard and impenitent, you are not willing to turn, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed." [Rom 2:5] On that day, it will be no mercy. On that day, it will be not my people.

And the Bible says in Revelation 21:8, for example, "But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars ..." None of us could say we have never sinned in any of these areas, none of us could ever say, "I've never hated anyone in my heart, I've never had an impure thought." None of us could say we have never lied.

You know where we will go? The Bible tells us, "Our portion will be in a lake that burns with fire and sulfur." [Rev 21:8] That's hell! That's eternal punishment! And on that day, no one can say, "God, You never warned me." It's written in the Scriptures, just as it was for the nation of Israel.

So Hosea begins with a portrait, a heart-wrenching portrait of Israel's utter unfaithfulness, God's immense grief, and the stunning hesed. But it also communicates the punishment that Israel will have to bear for their sins against God.

But that's not the end, many a times when we read Hosea, it or when we read the prophets, it always seems so dark and depressive and sad. But no, because chapter 1 turns a corner and offers a bright glimpse of hope and healing and restoration. There is a beautiful promise, because verse 10 starts with, "Yet ..."

What a beautiful word! You are going to be punished ... yet, but ... Yesterday we were driving back from camp, across the causeway, super thankful there was no jam. Maybe waited for a while because I chose the wrong lanes. You know how it is? Lane 1, lane 2, lane 3. Which one shorter ah? You know that kiasu, I want to get home fast. Well, unfortunately this dumbo chose a ... a longer one.

Never mind, I saw others pass a bit faster. It's fine, it's just a few cars. And we emerged from the checkpoints, came out, and then I saw the road sign, "BKE, to the left," but I'm on the right. And you thought you can switch lanes, but no, at the checkpoint there is a barricade. So I thought to myself, "BKE is where I want to go, but this one leads me to Woodlands Regional Centre, siao liao." There will be a lot of people at Woodlands, I may have to go round and round, jam, jam, jam. Aiyah, siao liao!

I ... I want to go there, but I had no choice, I chose the wrong lane, I'm stuck there. I ... I thought, why does Singapore government make roads like that one? You let them see the sign, but you cannot go on that road. I cannot get to BKE, and then I drove a little bit more, I saw — to BKE, turn here. Wah, heng [fortunate in Hokkien dialect] ah! No need to go through Woodlands Regional Centre, can come back to BKE ah!

You know Israel, they messed up, and we think that there is no way back, because there is the barricade. You are never going to come back to be My people, but God says, "No, no, no, go a bit further, you can join back BKE."

"Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea which cannot be measured or numbered." [Hosea 1:10]

Oh, you're not going to be utterly decimated. In fact, you will be numerous. Many, many of you will be blessed. I want to pause and allow us to take a step back and appreciate that this is Genesis language. This is Genesis language. How wonderful it is that we, as a church went through the book of Genesis, and I can refer back to this.

Because when God made a promise to Abraham and to Jacob, He used this language. He said, for example, in chapter 13:16, "Abraham, I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth." So many! Hyperbole, of course, but it communicates the great multitude that will be blessed because of Abraham.

He goes on to say in chapter 15:5, "Look toward heaven, number the stars, and if you are able to number them, so shall your offspring be." So many of them, like the stars! Singapore, not many. I mean in Singapore, when you look at the stars, like one or two only, max. But if you were in those days where there are no cars, no factories, oh, what a beautiful sight it must have been.

God says to Abraham, "I will surely bless you, I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore." [Gen 22:17]

Hosea invokes the Genesis language, and not just to Abraham, but to Jacob. This is chapter 28:14, and God said to Jacob, "Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth." And He says to Jacob again, "I will surely do you good and make your offspring as the sand of the sea." [Gen 32:12]

And God said also in Moses, Deuteronomy 30, verse 5, "God will lead you into the promised land and He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers."

So God says, "I will keep My promise! I will keep My promise, even though you don't, even though you will sin against Me and are unfaithful to Me, just like Gomer will to Hosea, I will not forsake you. What I said to your father Abraham, what I said to Jacob, that I'll bless you and through you the nations, I will do it, even when you don't." That's what marriage looks like. That's what God and His people look like. That's what hesed looks like, folks.

"And in the place where it was said to them, [the third son,] Not My People, God says, "It shall in the future be said to them, [you miss BKE now, but go a bit further, you can come back to BKE] children of the living God." [Hosea 1:10]

"You messed up because you can never obey the law. You messed up because you could never obey Me. You thought you could, you said , "All the things you said we will do." You thought you could, you can't! But one day I'll let you back in, but it will not be by your works, but by the finished work of My Son, Jesus Christ. There will be grace, there will be mercy, there will be forgiveness given to you."'

You know, this is such a ... such a foundational verse. This is such a foundational statement that Peter later on, he wrote, "Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people." [1 Peter 2:10]

He's using the language in Hosea. "Jews, you guys, thought that you can get to God by your own obedience, earn your way to God. You can't! But now that Jesus has come and shown you that He is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, you can be My people. Now you are My people, not because of your works, but because of grace. And you have believed in Him and God's grace flooded your life."

And not just Peter, the apostle Paul, he also mentions this verse in Romans chapter 9:24-26, "And in the very place where it was said to them," [Which place? Hosea chapter 1] "You are not my people, there they will be called sons of the Living God."

And you know how he applies this? Paul applies this to the Gentiles. The Gentiles were never God's people. The Gentiles did not have the law, did not have the sacrifices. But now in the last days, in the New Testament, God says, "Yes, even though the Gentiles were not My people today, they can be My people." That's why you can be God's child, that's why I can be God's child, because God is gracious and merciful.

What a beautiful verse this is — "And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together." [Hosea 1:11] They were split, they were divided for 200 plus years! How can they be united? Oh, it's not about a national unity per-se, but it's about a spiritual unity, because they will all follow this one head.

Who is this head? I won't steal the thunder from subsequent sermons, but that one head is none other than David their king. And this is not about David, but the son of David, Jesus Christ.
The son of David will be the One, all Israel and indeed all Gentiles will look to for salvation and for life.

And so God says, "Finally, and they shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel." [Hosea 1:11]

Now, He switches the use of the name Jezreel. I think the word, "Jezreel" in its original meaning refers to sowing, it's like agricultural farming. So God says, "On that day, there will be a rising up from the land." It's an agricultural imagery, there will be a growth of the crops, a flourishing of the harvest that God has sown. God has sown mercy and grace, and there will be a wonderful harvest, a wonderful fruitful bounty at the end of it all.

I know that's the way we should take the word, "Jezreel", perhaps because of Hosea 2:22-23, "They shall answer Jezreel, and I will sow her for myself in the land."

So we end off with chapter 2, verse 1, "Your sons will be called Jezreel and Not My People. Your daughter will be called not, No Mercy," but somewhere down the road, drive on a little more, whilst you missed the turn, there will be a way back for you. Because even though you're unfaithful to Me, I'm a God of hesed. I'm a God of steadfast, loyal love."

This is our God, this is the God of the Bible.

So, maybe today you think you have messed up in life. You have sinned against God, you have blasphemed His Name, and you thought to yourself, "Maybe God will never accept me." I say to you, "Whilst it is still today, this is the acceptable time. This is the day of salvation. You can turn back to God, just as God would show mercy upon Israel."

What a story! What a portrait - Hosea and Gomer, Jehovah and Israel. Utter unfaithfulness, but stunning hesed. God will judge your sin, there may be consequences to your sin today. But you can be redeemed, forgiven, and washed because of David, the son of David, who will come and lay down His life to save you from your sins. I pray you will turn to Him today.

Let's bow for a word of prayer together.

As we close, I'd like us to think on a few things. As we unfold this passage, I hope you will be struck with the grief in God's heart. Don't think of this as a game for God, don't think of this as something easy and frivolous for God, because God Himself reveals how grieved He is over sin. He is grieved to His heart, He is saddened and vexed and pained.

Oh, I have in my ministry here met with some couples who go through heartbreaking situations like this. And I do not wish it on any one of you, it is heart-wrenching, it is painful. And maybe for those who have suffered through betrayal and rejection, could perhaps understand more how our sins must have grieved our God.

But though God is grieved, He is a God of hesed, a God of loyal love, and He has not given up on you. You are alive today, you have been alive for so many years of your life. Do you know that this goodness of God, not judging you for your sin as yet, should lead you to repentance and not hardeness?

I tell you, our God is good. "How good?" you say. He's so good that when we are adulterous and we are unfaithful and we will not acknowledge Him, though He is our Creator, He still is opening wide His arms and saying to you, "My child, come home. Turn from your sin, for I have given you My Son. While you are yet sinners, I gave Him up on the cross to die and to pay for your sins, come home and be saved." So my dear friends, may you come to know the hesed, loyal love of God.

Dear church, one passion. If we have any other deep passion, other than for Jehovah God who gave His Son to die for us, the Bible calls us adulterous and adulteresses. You know why people today chase after the things of this world, get addicted to drugs, alcohol, games, sex, pornography? Because we have not found that one passion.

There is only one worthy of all our heart, soul, mind and strength. And Jesus says, "Love the Lord your God." That's that singular passion — one God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Why? Because He first loved us and gave His Son for us.

As we end this week of church camp, and as we look into the book of Hosea, I appeal to you, by the grace of God, by the mercies of God, that you realign yourself to this one passion and present your bodies a living sacrifice. Serve Him, glorify Him. May God bless you.

So Father, thank You today for Your Word. And I pray that Your hesed love will be beautifully, wonderfully received into many hearts. That we may be shocked at the portrait of Hosea and Gomer and see ourselves in the story. Give us grace to turn, to repent and to believe in Jesus.

And we pray for Gospeliters today, that we will walk in that joy and that newness of life as we center our passion in You and You alone. Give us a passion for thee. How we thank You today, though our sins abound, Your grace and mercy is more. Your grace and mercy much more abounds. Let us sing of Your mercy. Let us sing of Your grace. Be glorified through us, we pray in Jesus' Name. Amen.



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