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a marriage, how to restore a marriage, and that's the main theme I see here in Hosea chapter 3. If you remember last week, I talked to you about how Hosea chapter 2, I believe is mainly related to the nation as a whole. And you do see Hosea talking to his children in law, the children of his wife, when she had cheated on him and had children with another person. But I think the main application was meant to be towards the nation as a whole, and when you see this chapter, I think it's going to make sense here, okay? Now, point number one, obviously my goal is to make an alliterated sermon, so point number one in regards to her is she basically acts as a slut, okay? Because we understand that she acts as a whore, the Bible shows us that, she has children with another man. And so notice what you see here in Hosea chapter 3 verse 1, then said the Lord onto me. So I want you to notice here in verse number 1, it says, then said the Lord. What that's indicating to you is that is after Hosea chapter 2, okay? Hosea chapter 2 happens, then said the Lord, this is taking place afterwards, okay? Now go back to Hosea chapter 2, I just want to show you a few things to remind you. Hosea chapter 2, Hosea 2, and notice what it says in Hosea 2 verse 7. And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them. And she shall seek them, but shall not find them. Then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband, for then was it better with me than now. So you see the statement, I will go and return to my first husband. However, she doesn't actually return to her husband yet in Hosea chapter 2. We're actually going to see the culmination of these events in Hosea chapter 3. That's why I said, I believe the main application for chapter 2 is the nation as a whole. But I do believe this kind of attitude springs up into her where she's like, man, I departed from my husband to be with other guys because they provide me with stuff, and now look at my life. Now it's empty. Now I have nothing. It reminds you of Naomi in the Bible, as her husband Elimelech takes a family to Moab, and then all of a sudden she's just like, man, I left, and I felt I was empty when I left, but I was actually full, and I came back empty. I lost everything. And that's kind of the attitude that she has, okay, on the inside. Go back to Hosea 3, Hosea chapter 3. So verse number 1, it says, Then said the Lord unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend. And so God is actually speaking these words to Hosea, and he says to him, I want you to go. He says, go after her, okay? The indication is he didn't really go after her to bring her back yet, okay? Now he told the children, plead with your mother, plead, but in terms of him actually going to get back his wife, to bring her back, that's not really something you see in chapter 2. But you do see that in chapter 3, and it says, go yet, and you say, why would God have to motivate Hosea to bring back his wife? Well, his wife left him for other men. Now you can imagine if you were the husband in this situation, obviously you'd be hurt by that. Obviously you'd be angry about that. And look, it doesn't matter how godly of a person you are, Hosea may have been a great, great man of God. Obviously he's going to be angry that his wife was with some other guy. So I'm sure that although he realized she should come back, at the same time he didn't really want her back, right? He was basically very angry about the situation, and God says, you know what? I want you to go. He says, go yet. I want you to go after her. Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend. So God tells him, I want you to love this woman that is beloved of her friend, okay? Now she was beloved of him. He loved her, right? He poured out his heart into this woman, but I want you to see this. He says, I want you to go now and bring back that woman. Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend. Now you have to understand something. At the time of this taking place, Hosea in his heart doesn't really seem like he wants his wife back that much. He's obviously very angry at her. He's obviously not putting in 100% effort to bring her back. He's obviously very hurt about what happened. What you must understand in the Bible, love implies action. And what happens is the feelings follow the actions, okay? It's always interesting when you have people that, you know, they know they should read the Bible. They know that in January they should read the New Testament cover to cover with their church, right? Amen? Right? We're going to be doing that in January. And yet some people at our church are not going to do it. You know why? Because they don't feel like it. But what's interesting is if they actually put in the effort to do it, they would start to actually enjoy reading the Bible. And they would be like, man, I've been missing out. You know, that's part of Sunday sermon, okay? But what you must understand is that the feelings will follow the actions. And so often in life, people are waiting for the feelings to come. And once those feelings come up, then they'll do it. You know, you have to do what's right ahead of time, and then the feelings are going to follow. And when he's saying, go yet, love a woman, he's saying, I want you to put your actions and your heart into this person. And you know what's going to end up taking place? The feelings of anger and resentment, you know what, they're going to change to a genuine love for his wife if he puts in the action to go after her. And God says, go yet, love a woman, be loved of her friend. Now look, we understand why he would not really want her back at this time. Given the fact that she had children with somebody else, you must realize that every single day he is seeing those children. And look, we understand that sometimes people have relationships in the past, but this is the present. And these children are at the house, and every single day he's reminded of this, even when she's not being faithful at this point. You could see where he could be very angry about this, and very emotional about this, but God says, I want you to put your actions and your heart into this person. You know, obviously when it comes to loving somebody, obviously feelings are a part of that, but quite honestly, a large part, the majority of love is that you just make a decision, I'm going to pour my heart into this person. I mean, that's what love is. You know, your actions will indicate what you really love. People might say, well, Brother Stuckey, you know, man, you know, I love to reach the loss, I love to get people saved, but if you don't go soul winning, the actions don't really indicate that to be true, right? Say, I love reading the Bible, but you never read the Bible, right? Where people say, man, I love my wife, but I come home from work, and I sit on the couch, and I watch TV, and I don't spend any time with her, I don't spend any time with the kids. Yeah, your actions really look like you love them. You know, it's not just about a feeling like Hollywood wants to make it out to be. They make it all a big feeling, if you just feel like they're the right person, no, you make a decision, I am going to love that person, okay? And as I've said before, marriage is something that is directly proportional. As you love your wife more, she will love you more. As your wife loves you more, you're going to love her more. That is the way it works, and God says, I want you to love a woman, be loved of her friend, yet an adulteress. She committed adultery on him. She was an adulteress. She had a husband who loved her, who poured his heart into her, who worked hard for that marriage, worked hard and loved her. Now, obviously, he wasn't perfect. Nobody's perfect, but he loved her, and yet she committed adultery on him. Yet an adulteress, the Bible says. According to the love of the Lord toward the children of Israel who looked to other gods and loved flagons of wine. And so you see the indication here. He says, Hosea, I want you to go after your wife who's committed adultery on you. And he says, you know what, that's very similar to the fact that my people, the children of Israel, you know what, they went toward other gods. Instead of loving me, they forsook me. You say, what's God trying to do with Hosea? God's trying to help Hosea get an understanding about how he feels, right? He's allowing Hosea to go through major, major trials, because he wants Hosea to understand and to have that passion and realize, hey, this is what our nation is doing to God right now. Just as my wife is departing from me, that is what this nation is doing to God, and God wants Hosea, the prophet of God, he wants him to understand that feeling. And I promise you, Hosea understands that feeling. Go to Malachi chapter two, Malachi chapter two, Malachi two, Malachi chapter two, the last book in your Old Testament, Malachi chapter two, Malachi chapter two. So I want you to realize that if you're going to be someone who's going to be a preacher of God or a pastor, an evangelist or whatever, God might actually allow you to go through some various trials in your life. That's what we see with Hosea. That's what we see with pretty much any of the prophets in the Old Testament. That's what we see with any of the great men of God in the New Testament. They go through problems. They go through trials. Now, here with Hosea, it's specific because God wants Hosea to understand how God feels that the children of Israel have departed from him. Let me tell you something. If you decide, I want to be a pastor, I want to run a church or whatever, you're not signing up for this life where you're rich and famous and everything is going perfectly for you. No, actually, you know, when you're serving God, there's going to be trials. There's going to be tribulations. And look, that's true for any church member as well. Yea, all that will of Godly shall suffer persecution, the Bible says. All of us will go through various trials in your life. But you must understand something that unless you've gone through a various situation, it's going to be hard to help other people that have gone through a situation before. And sometimes God allows you to go through trials in your life so you can help out your church members who go through the same things. And look, I've seen this to be true with friends of mine that are in the ministry that go through major trials in their life and it allows them to help out their members who go through trials as well. Malachi chapter 2, notice what it says in verse 11. Judah hath dealt treacherously and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the Lord which he loved and hath married the daughter of a strange God. So here's Judah in verse 11 of Malachi chapter 2 and they go down a very similar road to Israel. If you remember in the series of Hosea, we talked about how God said, I will be merciful to Judah right now, but we're at the end of the Old Testament. And that mercy has run out because Judah is doing the same thing as the nation of Israel, marrying the daughter of a strange God. Verse 12, the Lord will cut off the man that doeth this, the master and the scholar out of the tabernacles of Jacob, and him that offer it in the offering on to the Lord of hosts. Now you say, Brother Stuckey, what does it mean to cut off the man that doeth this? That means to kill them, right? If you look up cut off in the Bible, it's an indication he's going to kill them. You say, but man, these are spiritual leaders, the master and the scholar. Yeah, those are the number one people that God would probably want to kill, right? False prophets of a nation. He says, you know, I'm going to cut off, I'm going to get rid of, I'm going to destroy the master and the scholar, okay? Verse 13, and this have you done again, covering the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping, and with crying out, insomuch that he regardeth not the offering anymore, or receiveth it with goodwill at your hand. So basically, Judah does the same thing that Israel does. They mess up, they screw up, and then they just cover the altar of the Lord with tears. God, forgive us. I'm sorry that I went to the Feast of the Black Nazarene, right? I'm sorry I've got this Buddha statue that I rub their belly every single day, you know, in the morning for good luck or whatever. I'm sorry I've got these other gods in my house. I'm sorry I've got rosary beads in my purse for good luck and everything. And I've got a statue of Shiva in the bathroom and stuff like that. I mean, that's basically what they're doing. I'm sorry I'm worshiping the fish god, the gods of the Philistines, and all these other false gods, the Babylonian gods, and the Assyrian gods, and all of these different false gods. And you know, God says, you know what, I'm sick of it. Because you're doing the same thing over and over again. You mess up, and then you screw up again. Then you say, God, forgive me. And the reason why they're begging for forgiveness is because God's going to destroy them. Please forgive us, God. Give us another chance. And look, you know, realize that God is merciful, and he was merciful with the kingdom of Judah and Israel for a very long time. But eventually, that mercy with God is going to run out, okay? Notice verse 14. Yet ye say, wherefore? Because the Lord hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously. Yet is she thy companion in the wife of thy covenant. And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one, that he might seek a godly seed. Therefore, take heed to your spirit and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth. Verse 16, for the Lord the God of Israel saith that he hateth putting away. Okay? Now you say, what does it mean by he hateth putting away? He's basically saying, I hate divorce. Okay? And he's talking about the nation as a whole, but think of it on an individual level as well. It is true that God hates divorce. Okay? Now at the time with Hosea, he's still married to his wife, technically. But are they really like husband and wife when she's not living with him? When she's gone? I mean, technically they didn't sign the writing of divorcement. But they're not really acting as husband and wife. So in a large way, they're really acting as if they are divorced and not really together, because when you get married, two become one. Well look, if you live completely apart from each other, and don't see each other, and you don't talk to each other, you can't really say that you're really together anymore. Okay? Now go back to Hosea chapter three. Hosea three. Hosea three. And look, all of us to some degree have departed from God. None of us can say we're fully righteous. None of us can say we're perfect. Obviously, the process of sanctification after salvation is a free will choice that takes effort, and it takes a lot of work to do. And so obviously, all of us to some degree have sinned against God. But the nation of Israel had completely departed from God, and God said, you know what, I'm done with you, okay? You're no longer my people. Because he made a covenant with them, but it was not an everlasting covenant no matter what they did. It was a covenant that was basically valid as long as they obeyed God's rules. And since they didn't, God says, you know what? I'm done with you, okay? So point number one, she acts as a slut or as a whore. She cheats on him. She has children with somebody else. Point number two, what you're gonna see is this. You're gonna see she becomes a slave, okay? And you gotta read verse two closely and think about it because I had to read this chapter and think about it. But notice the first six words of verse two. So I bought her to me. Think about that. See, he was told, I want you to go after your wife. And he goes after his wife, and the Bible says, so I bought her to me. Now the Bible does not give you a lot of indication, but you have to really think about it and think about the Old Testament to understand exactly what is taking place, right? She departed from her husband for purposes of financial gain. She said, my lovers give me my corn and my wine and my flax and all of these nice things, and she didn't realize it was actually Hosea who was providing those things. She didn't realize how great it was that her husband provided things for her. She wanted this nice and awesome life, and she left, she didn't get it. All of a sudden, her lovers are gone, and inside of her heart from chapter two, it said, I'm gonna return to my first husband because it was better. She left for financial purposes, and she ran out of it. And what ends up happening in the Old Testament, what could end up happening? You could basically sell yourself into servitude if you had debts that you could not pay. Is that not right? Now it's not really a concept we have here in the Philippines in today's world, but people could get a big debt and not be able to pay it, and they would become servants, they would become slaves. And basically, they had to work off that debt. So you have to understand that she is basically at this situation. Cuz he's going and he's buying her. What does that mean? It means she's being sold, right? I bought her to me. Why does he have to buy her? Because she's not free anymore. And so basically, he goes after his wife, and look, you go from verse one to verse two, and a lot of stuff's going on. You have to really think about what's taking place. He's told to go after his wife, and when he gets there, he buys her. Why? She's no longer free. She's being sold. She has a debt that she can't pay off. She left for financial purposes, and she doesn't have it anymore. She's basically become a slave, and he goes there, and he basically rescues her from whatever would have happened in her life, okay? And it says, so I bought her to me for 15 pieces of silver, and for an Homer of barley, and a half Homer of barley. So he buys her for 15 pieces of silver, and then he also gives a Homer of barley, and a half Homer of barley, so one and a half Homer's of barley. Now quickly go to 1 Corinthians chapter six, and then we'll think about this amount here in a second, 1 Corinthians chapter six. Because there's also a lot of parallels with us in terms of our salvation. Because here's the thing, the Bible says that we are bought with a price, right? God buys us in terms of him giving us the free gift of salvation. We get saved, and the Bible says we're bought with a price, much like Hosea literally bought his wife Gomer, okay? 1 Corinthians 16, 1 Corinthians chapter 6, 1 Corinthians 6, not 16. 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verse 19, what? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For you are bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit which are God's. And the Bible says here that we are bought with a price. Basically, our body does not belong to us, it actually belongs to God. Now look, we can never pay back the free gift of salvation, and God gave us a free gift. And every good thing we do, we get rewards, but our body belongs to God. And what that means is, it doesn't matter what you want, what matters is what God wants. You say, Brother Stocky, man, I know you just preached against drinking wine, but I just really love the taste of wine. I really love tequila and beer and everything. It doesn't matter what you love. What does God want you to do, though? That's what matters. You say, I enjoy drinking, but does God want you to drink? You say, I enjoy smoking cigarettes. Does God want you to smoke cigarettes? You say, I enjoy watching the worldly movies. I enjoy listening to the rock music. I know you preached against it, but I enjoy it anyway. It doesn't matter what you enjoy. You're bought with a price. You're expected to obey what God tells you to do, okay? So there is a parallel to just as Hosea buys his wife, who's become a slave, we're also bought with a price. Now go to Leviticus chapter 27, Leviticus 27. I mean, picture yourself in Gomer's position at this time, okay? Because as she's being bought by her husband, you have to understand that the people that are being sold into servitude, the other people that are being sold, it's probably not the best atmosphere, right? Hosea is told to go after his wife and it doesn't tell us how he ends up finding her. Maybe he runs into people where he knew she was and they say, well, she's over there and everything. He ends up finding his wife and she's being sold into slavery. And I can imagine that the other people that are being sold, I mean, this is like an auction for people, okay? I can imagine that there was probably some pretty big lowlifes and some questionable characters in this crowd. And considering the life that she was living as she was whoring around and selling her body, acting as a prostitute, you can understand that she was hanging around some bad people. And she's being sold as a slave and then you know what, Hosea gets there, whereas wife Gomer is, I mean, she probably looks terrible. She probably looks like a wreck because her whole life has been destroyed. And you know what, honestly, you know, she's probably scared for her life at this point. She's going to be sold into slavery and then Hosea comes and he says, you know what, I'm going to buy that woman. I'm going to buy her to me. She is mine. 15 pieces of silver, one Homer of barley, and then a half Homer of barley. Now notice what it says in Leviticus 27 verse three. And Leviticus 27 verse three, because the Bible actually gives you a price on basically a servant or a slave. Leviticus 27 verse three, and I estimation shall be of the male from 20 years old even on to 60 years old. Then I estimation shall be 50 shekels of silver after the shekel of the sanctuary. And if it be a female, then I estimation shall be 30 shekels. You say, Brother Stuckey, why is it that the men, they're sold for 50 shekels and the women are sold for 30 shekels? Well, because this was a manual labor culture and because men can outwork women when it comes to lifting heavy things and doing manual labor. And I understand that's considered offensive in today's world, but it's just a fact, right? I mean, there's no question that men are stronger than women, right? I remember I took a class in college and they were talking about why is it that the average man is taller than the average woman? Why is the average man stronger than the average woman? They had all these different theories. Now my theory is because God made us differently. I think that makes sense, but that wasn't really the opinion of most of the people in the class and all of these experts, psychologists and sociologists and everything like that. One of the main theories that they're pushing, and I don't know if they're pushing it now because it's dumb, but they say the reason why women are not generally as tall as men is because they're taught at a young age that they're not going to be as tall. And it gets into their head and the result is they're just not as tall because they're told they're not going to be as tall. Now, you know, how do you respond to something that's so bobo, right? I mean, that's got to be one of the dumbest things I've ever heard, right? That women are taught at a young age, you're not going to end up being as tall or as strong as men, and so what ends up happening, they don't end up being as tall and as strong as men. No, God just made us differently, and there's nothing wrong with that, right? There's nothing wrong with the fact that men and women are just made differently. It's not insulting to women. It's not insulting to men. We're just made differently. Look, I am never going to have a baby. It's not possible. You say, why? God didn't create me that way, right? God designed women with the capability and the ability to do that, not with men. And look, here's the thing about this. Yes, men do end up being taller and stronger. However, I mean, women live longer than men on average, right? I mean, there are differences. In some ways, yeah, you know, women live longer. The mortality rate for men is higher at every single age of life from the womb to the age of one day old, two day old, all the way until you die. I mean, because I used to work on mortality rates at my job. The mortality rate of men is far higher at every stage of life than women. Men and women are different. That's why women live longer, but men are stronger. That's what the Bible says. Men are the stronger vessel. Women are the weaker vessel, and look, common sense will tell you that that's true. So look, the male is sold for 50 shekels, why? Because in general, a man is going to have more ability to do manual labor. He's going to be basically be, you know, two thirds more valuable, 70% more valuable financially in terms of what he can produce than a woman. That's what the Bible is saying here, okay? Leviticus 27 verse 16, and if a man shall sanctify under the Lord some part of a field of his possession, then thy estimation shall be according to the seed thereof, and Homer of barley seed shall be valued at 50 shekels of silver. And so notice a Homer of barley is 50 shekels of silver, okay? A woman is worth 30 shekels of silver, and a Homer of barley is 50 shekels of silver. Go back to Hosea chapter three, Hosea three, Hosea three. I love sermons where we get to do a little bit of math, okay? I'm a math guy, so it's always fun to do. But a Homer of barley is 50 pieces of silver, okay? And what it said in Hosea three verse two is, so I bought her to me for 15 pieces of silver, and for a Homer of barley, and a half Homer of barley. And so one and a half Homer's of barley, 50 shekels of silver, so one and a half is going to be 75, right? For one and a half Homer's of barley, that's valued at 75 shekels of silver, and he also paid 15 shekels of silver for her. So 75 and 15, basically he's paying the equivalent, roughly, of 90 shekels of silver, okay? Now you say, Brother Stuckey, why did he not just pay 30 shekels of silver? Well, you know, probably he didn't have that much money on him immediately. I mean, he's a man of God, which means he's not going to be rich, right? I understand most religious leaders in today's world are rich, but you're not going to find that in the Bible from the people that are men of God, that are great characters of God. So he probably doesn't have 30 shekels of silver just in his back pocket, because realize he's not, as far as we know, he's not told by God, this is what's going to happen. She's going to be sold, she's about to be sold into slavery, bring this much money on you. He pretty much just pulls out 15 shekels of silver that I guess he had, right? And he also gives one and a half homers of barley. So I don't know if that's what was required to get her. Maybe they, you know, if you seem like, you know, you're desperate and you really want to buy something, they might raise the price, right? Maybe they're trying to take advantage of the situation. You know, I don't know, you know, it's like, if I go on the street and they're selling buko juice, it's like, it's probably like 25 pesos for me and 10 pesos for you, right? Because they're going to try to rip me off or whatever, and they figure they can get away with it. And you know what, it's largely true. I'm just not going to be as good at bartering as other people, right? So I'm not sure if that's what it is, or maybe he's just trying to show her how much she's worth, or maybe other people bid on her because it seems like it could be like a bidding sort of auction and that's what it was required to get her. But you know, basically, you know, he didn't have the 30 shekels of silver, which would have probably been the generic amount of money. I'd imagine maybe somebody else bid on her and he's trying to outbid them and he doesn't have any extra money. So he's going to sell his homers of barley in order to outbid them because he didn't have that in financial money in his pocket, okay? So he spends a lot of money on her, 90 shekels of silver, and that's three times what she would be worth if she was like a servant just working for him. Obviously, as he's buying her, he's not buying her to just be a servant. You know, he's buying her because, you know, that's his wife and he wants her back, okay? So Isaiah chapter three, verse two, so I bought her to me for 15 pieces of silver and for a homer of barley and a half homer of barley. Verse three, and I said unto her, thou shalt abide for me many days. So first we see that she acts as a slut. She becomes a slave. But what we're going to see now is a second chance for her. And you know, unfortunately for us as people, hopefully none of us that are married would screw up our lives, our marriage this badly. But you know, honestly, in life, often it takes us hitting rock bottom before it wakes us up. I'm sure he begged and pleaded with his wife on many occasions. And yet she hoard around on him. She had children with other men. And then once she hits rock bottom where she's going to be sold as a slave, all of a sudden it's going to make you realize, man, I should just go back to my husband, right? And that's kind of like the nation of Israel. They hit rock bottom and then they're like, man, we should just go back to worshiping God. It actually was much better than, you know, our current situation. But what he tells her is this, he buys her for 15 pieces of silver and for a homer of barley and a half homer of barley. And I said unto her, thou shalt abide for me many days. Thou shalt not play the harlot and thou shalt not be for another man. So will I also be for thee. And so what he tells her when he buys her is, you know what, I'm buying you. You're going to abide with me. And he says, you're not going to play the harlot and thou shalt not be for another man. So will I also be for thee. What he says, you know what? I'm going to be faithful to you. I expect you to be faithful to me. Now I want you to realize that this is, as far as we know, really the only insult he gives, right? It's not really an insult. He's just saying, as he bought her, he's like, you, you. She literally belonged to him. Okay. He literally bought her. But he's saying, you know what? You belong to me. Basically, I'm going to be faithful to you. I'm going to pour my heart into you. I expect you to do the same with me. And what do you see? You see a husband who's giving his wife a second chance. He's completely forgiving her. Now look, this would not be an easy thing to do in this situation. I mean, she literally has children with another guy. She's cheated on him. That's his wife. And she leaves him and goes with other guys. And then he finds her and then he brings her back. He buys her. And look, he spent his own money. I mean, part of him might have been like, man, I have to waste money to bring you back because you cheated on me. But you know what? You don't see this indication of resentment that he holds inside of his heart. And see, the key for him giving her a second chance is the fact that he was willing to forgive her, okay? Go to Jonah chapter two, Jonah two, Jonah two. I mean, the reality is that this is a large part of what marriage is, is just forgiving your spouse when they mess up and your spouse forgiving you when you mess up. Because the reality is, when you're around somebody 24-7, day after day after day, you know what? You're going to have some disagreements. You're going to have some arguments. You're going to have things that you just don't agree on. You're going to get into arguments. You're going to get into fights. And you know what? The key is that you're just willing to forgive your spouse and move on. And here's the thing. If you choose not to forgive and you just hold resentment in your heart, it's just going to get worse and worse and worse and worse. I mean, literally, half of marriages in the United States end in divorce. 50% of marriages end in divorce. That's why prenuptial agreements are so popular now, where basically you say, if we get a divorce, I get to keep this amount of money. Right? I mean, people are so paranoid about getting divorces that when they get married in the US, they'll force their wife or whatever to sign a prenuptial agreement where if we get divorced, you don't get my money. So basically, if one of the husband has more money than the wife, when they get married, the wife will sign something saying, hey, if we get divorced, I still get to keep my money. Right? And this is what all celebrities do, because they have millions and millions of dollars. So they always make their spouses sign prenuptial agreements. But that's just basically saying, hey, there's a chance we're going to get divorced. Why would you want to go into marriage saying, this might not work? Right? I mean, you should have the attitude, we're going to stay together no matter what. We're going to stay together forever. And yet half of marriages end in divorce. Why is that? Because you have a husband who doesn't forgive his wife, you have a wife that doesn't forgive her husband. And then the next time they get into a fight, they start bringing up something that happened six months in the past. Well, six months ago, you did the same thing. Well, eight months ago, you did that. Yeah. Why are you holding on to that bitterness and that anger inside of your heart? It's only going to destroy your marriage. And for Hosea and Gomer to work, he has to fully forgive his wife. Not just say, well, I forgive you. But then every time they get in a fight, yeah, well, you know what, you cheated on me. No, he's got to actually forgive her. Otherwise that wound will always be open. And here's the reality. If you always bring up stuff from the past that bothers you, it's always going to bother you. Do you understand that? I mean, if something makes you upset, if something really bugs you, you're really upset about it, by thinking about it and by dwelling on it, it's just going to make you more miserable. People think they're miserable because of their current situations. No, they're miserable because they dwell on the things that they don't like. If they would quit thinking about it, it wouldn't bother them so much. But people get upset about something and they just dwell on it and they act depressed. They always bring it up. I mean, literally for the next two years, all over Facebook, every single day, people are going to complain about their face mask that they're going to wear. I promise you that's true. Why? Because as they keep bringing it up, it keeps bugging them. Of course, nobody's a huge fan of them, but you know what? Our church has gotten plenty of people saved, even given everything that's happened. But you know what? What I also don't do is I don't just get behind the pulpit and just every single sermon just complain and complain and complain. I don't want to be at a church where we're just always complaining about everything. Yeah, sometimes life hands you lemons. Make lemonade. Just deal with a tough situation. Don't dwell on it. Don't talk about it all the time. And look, if Hosea just always thought about it, it would always bother him. Jonah chapter two, Jonah chapter two, Jonah chapter two, Jonah chapter two, verse seven. When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord and my prayer came in under the end of thine holy temple. They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. Now, if you've been at our church for any length of time, I think you're well aware that this is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. I talk about Jonah chapter two, verse eight all the time about how if you want mercy, if you want forgiveness, you cannot observe lying vanities. And the same is true on an individual level. I'm sure from indications, she reaches this point and she realizes, you know what? My life is messed up. I screwed up. I'm sorry. And I'll tell you why I believe that. Because after this chapter, I don't really believe there's an indication that they have marriage problems after this. This situation is given as an example for Hosea to understand what's going on. But I believe after this, I do believe that she is faithful to him. After this situation, I believe God gives him an example to understand. So Hosea understands how God feels about his children, whoring around and departing from him. And in all indications, I think their marriage is actually okay at this point after this event. And the reason why is she admitted she was wrong and he actually forgave her. Okay, go to Ephesians chapter four, Ephesians four, Ephesians four, Ephesians chapter four, Ephesians chapter four, Ephesians chapter four, verse 26, Ephesians chapter four, verse 26. And it says this, Be ye angry and sin not, let not the sun go down upon your wrath. The Bible tells you don't allow the sun to go down upon your wrath. God is saying is basically, if something is really making you mad, you want to deal with it before you go to bed at night. The reason why is because if you don't deal with it and you go to sleep angry, and then you're dreaming about how mad you are and everything, you're going to wake up angry, right? If you would just be willing to forgive and forgive before you go to bed at night. And look, mainly we're applying to marriage here today because we're talking about how to restore marriage. Just having the principle that, you know what, if my wife does something that really makes me mad, I'll forgive her before we go to sleep at night. And the same way the wife for the husband, if the husband does something that really makes me mad before we go to bed at night, I will forgive them. But it also means that if you do wrong, you need to say you're sorry before you go to bed at night, because if you don't, then they're not going to end up forgiving you. Look at verse 32 or verse 31, verse 31. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. And be kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. And so the Bible says we ought to forgive one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. How did we get forgiven by God? Well, we basically didn't follow his rules. We basically disobeyed everything God said. And God said, you know what? I'll forgive you. I'll forget about it. Your sins will not be remembered, and you will go to heaven, right? That's how God forgives us. And as saved people, we confess our sins to God in the morning. Guess what? He forgives us. It's done, okay? That's the way we ought to be to each other. Now the context is with a local church, the Church of Ephesus. But how much more with your marriage when you're around them all the time? Forgiveness is a large part of a successful marriage. Now go to Judges chapter 16. Judges 16. Judges 16. Let me give you an example of the extreme mercy of God, okay? And we're going to see this in the life of Samson. Judges chapter 16 verse 20. Now realize this with Samson, you know, just to give you a background. We understand that the strength of Samson came actually from his hair, right? Now this is not a justification for you men to grow out your hair and everything. I know I need a haircut. It's getting a little bit long, but it's not a justification for us as men to get long hair and everything like that. But it's an example we see here in the story with Samson where basically his hair was his strength. Now really his strength was coming from God, but we're seeing an actual example where basically his hair is his strength, okay? Now remember he's committing, you know, fornication with Delilah, and then eventually he just tells her where his strength is and he has his hair shaven off, okay? So notice what it says in verse 20. And she said, the Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep and said, I will go out as at other times before and shake myself. And he wished not that the Lord was departed from him. But the Philistines took him and put out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with fetters of brass, and he did grind in the prison house. He said, Brother Stocky, I thought you said we're going to see the mercy of God. I see Samson losing his eyes. It doesn't seem like God is very merciful. Well, number one, God has been merciful for a very, very, very long time with Samson. He's done a lot of things wrong. When you mess up and when you commit sins, you will pay for those sins in this life as a saved person. Because we have eternal life. We have everlasting life. We won't pay for it in hell. You'll pay for it in this life, but you say, where's the mercy of God? Verse 22, how be it, the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven. Now why does the Bible tell us this? Because isn't it obvious that if you shave your head, your hair is going to grow back? I mean, you get a haircut and then a month later, your hair is the same length, right? So why is the Bible telling us that his hair grew back? What is indicating to you is this, he lost the power of God on his life, but you know what? His hair started to grow back. And later on in the life of Samson, we see the power of God on his life again. What does that show you? It shows you that if you really mess up your life, hey, you might not be able to do what you used to do. You might lose your eyesight or whatever problem that's going to take place, but you can still serve God, right? I mean, if somebody was someone who wanted to be a pastor and they got divorced, well, they could no longer be a pastor. However, they could still serve God. They could still get people saved. Their hair is going to grow back again. That's what we see here. This is God being merciful. Okay, go to second Samuel chapter six, second Samuel six, your turn to second Samuel six. And you know, realize this, that in Ephesians five is it talks about husbands and wives, that husbands are commanded to love their wives as Christ loved us as Christ loved the church, right? And that means a sacrificial love of laying down your life. And in reality, when it comes to marriage, when it comes to anything, instead of focusing on other people and saying, well, I wish my husband did this. I wish my wife did that. You need to worry about yourself. You need to worry not about all the problems with the person you're married to, but worry about yourself and say, you know what? As a husband, I'm going to try to be the best husband I can possibly be. As a wife, you need to have the attitude I'm going to be the best wife I can possibly be. And here's the reality. None of us like to look at the faults that we have in our own lives. Every one of us thinks we're the greatest thing since sliced bread, right? We don't see all of the problems that we have. And if we would actually just focus on ourselves, that would cause our spouses to love us more and our marriage will get better instead of focusing on the other person. This is what people often do when it comes to sermons that are preached. You preach sermons and sometimes you have certain people in mind that you're thinking about like, you know, so and so, you know, for example, if I preach a sermon on why we should go soul winning, because we believe in soul winning, we love soul winning, right? I preach a sermon on why we should go soul winning and what ends up taking place. People that already go soul winning come up to me afterwards, brother Stuckey, I needed to hear that, right? It's the people that are already doing it. And I'm just thinking, man, you know, I'm trying to motivate these other people to go soul winning, but usually it's the people that are already going soul winning, right? Instead of focusing on other people, we need to focus on ourselves. And that's a good attitude to have when you hear the sermon being preached, right? Now turn it, look at 2 Samuel chapter 6, 2 Samuel 6, see, God does forgive Samson and give him a second chance. But you know what? Most of us, we are not like that. And when it comes to our marriages, most of us, instead of just forgiving and forgetting as God loves us, and as he commanded us to love our spouses, we hold resentment inside of our hearts. 2 Samuel 6 verse 16, and as the Ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michael Saul's daughter looked through a window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, and she despised him in her heart. Okay, now, David says is leaping and dancing. It doesn't say he's doing anything sinful. I mean, dancing can actually not be sinful. I understand most dancing is sinful, but the word dancing is not just inherently sinful, always 100% of the time. There's not really indication David is doing anything wrong. Like he's excited, he's leaping and dancing, and she despises or hates him in her heart. You say why? Because she was looking for a reason to hate her husband. She was mad at him. She was holding resentment in the fact that he was married to other women. Okay, verse 20, go down to verse 20. Then David returned to bless his household, and Michael, the daughter of Saul, came out to meet David and said, How glorious was the king of Israel today, who uncovered himself today in the eyes of the handmaids, of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovered themselves. So David comes home, he's excited, he's in a good mood, and then his wife greets him at the door and starts complaining, right? So what should David's reaction be? Well, he should be long suffering. He should forgive her. He should control his tongue. But is that how we usually act as people? No, this is how we usually act. Verse 21, And David said unto Michael, It was before the Lord, which chose me before thy father, and before all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord over Israel. Therefore will I play before the Lord. Now verse 21 is a very rude statement. Her husband or her father, King Saul, died, right? This is King Saul's daughter. And making that statement, I was chosen before your dad, right? It's a very insulting statement to make. Instead of trying to fix this marriage, David tries to just make it worse. She says something mean, I'm going to up the ante. Then in verse 22, And I will yet be more vile than thus, and will be based in mine own sight, and of the maidservants which thou has spoken of, of them shall I be had in honor. So David rubs in the fact that he's married to multiple women, basically. He's insulting her, okay? And so look, neither one of these people's trying to fix this marriage. What's the end result of this? Verse 23, Therefore Michael the daughter of Saul had no child unto the day of her death. What the Bible says here is the reason why Michael does not have a child is because of the fact this is the end of their marriage. This is literally the end of their marriage. This is the reason why she did not have a child unto the day of her death because they have this big fight and neither one ever forgives the other person. This is how we usually act. This is not how God acts towards us, though. God actually does forgive us and forget about it. Go back to Hosea chapter three, Hosea three, Hosea three. So we see that she, Gomer, acts as a slut. She becomes a slave. We see that Hosea gives her a second chance, and then we're gonna see point number four is seeking, okay? Now I want you to realize something that, say, what's the key to basically restoring a marriage and fixing a marriage? Well, here's the key that you're willing to forgive your spouse when they mess up. When mistakes are made, you forgive them, you forget about it, and you move on, okay? Notice what it says in Hosea chapter three, verse four. For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, okay? The children of Israel shall abide many days without a king. Now in God's perfect system, he did not set up a system of kings, okay? Because a system of kings is a bad setup. We have a system of kings. What ends up taking place is, you know, once I die, Zephaniah is the new king no matter what. It doesn't matter whether he's godly. It doesn't matter whether he's wicked. If you're the king, it gets passed down to your son, right? And so God did not set up a system of kings. He set up a system of judges. However, the people demanded a king in the days of Samuel because Samuel's sons were not walking after the Lord, and then all of a sudden King Saul becomes the king, okay? What the Bible says though here in Hosea three, verse four, is the children of Israel, they're going to abide many days. They're no longer gonna have a king, okay? Now you say, when exactly do they get a king again? Well, I mean the Lord Jesus Christ, but that's thousands of years in the future, right? We're really looking toward the future here. They shall abide many days without a king and without a prince and without a sacrifice. Are they making sacrifices today? Nope, not anymore. I mean, and it doesn't even make sense. Because of the fact the Jews don't believe the Messiah came, right? So why are they not doing sacrifices today? But you know, the Jews don't sacrifice the lamb at Passover anymore, right? It doesn't even make any sense. But the Bible says they're gonna abide many days without a king and without a prince and without a sacrifice and without an image. Now an image would be like idolatry. So not all of these things are listed are good, but the Bible's stating without an image and without an ephod, which was part of the clothing of the priest because they've been rejected by God. And then it says and without teraphim. You say, what is teraphim? Well, it's not seraphim, okay? It's different. It's close. S is right by T. But it's not seraphim, okay? Teraphim, I had to look this up, but they are small objects used as cult-like deities, skulls or something like that. So it's not something that's godly. Not all these things being listed are godly things. He's just stating, matter of fact, you're gonna abide many days without a king, without a prince, without a sacrifice, without an image, without an ephod, and without teraphim. And he's basically showing them that you're rejected, okay? You're gonna be done. You're no longer my people. And look, I'm not trying to be repetitive as I preach the book of Hosea. Because I get it, in most Baptist churches, you're never gonna hear them say that the Jews are rejected, right? The children of Israel have been rejected, but the Bible says that over and over and over and over again. It's like I literally think that these pastors have never read any of the Old Testament. Because minor prophets, I mean the major prophets, the minor prophets, it's all about the fact that the Jews have been rejected. There's no question about it. It's like they wanna pull out some random verse in Romans, just one verse, one confusing verse, to overthrow everything the Bible talks about. And look, it's weird to me, because I'll be honest, the churches I went to in West Virginia, they never taught the Jews were God's chosen people. So all the stuff I hear coming out of all these other Baptist churches, it was shocking to me. So that's probably why Marching to Zion was my favorite movie, cuz I'd never even heard of all these weird teachings. I'm like, what in the world are these Baptist churches teaching, right? I mean, it's crazy the stuff they're teaching. But if you read the Old Testament, it's just so obvious that the Jews have been rejected, okay, over and over and over again. And that's what the book of Hosea is about. He uses the example of a marriage between Hosea and Gomorrah to prove a point. And he says, Israel's done, but I will be merciful to Judah for a little while. And yet we just saw in Malachi, that mercy already ran out in Malachi. And Jesus reiterates that in the Gospels, how he says, I'm gonna give it to a nation that's bringing forth the fruits thereof, implying you're not bringing forth the fruits thereof, you're done, they've been rejected. And then they killed the Lord Jesus Christ. Is that when God forgave him? I mean, when did he forgive them? It doesn't make any sense, right? It's a doctrine with no verses to back it up saying, and it's a recent phenomenon. It's the 20th century where people started to really teach that Jews are God's chosen people. Nobody thought that before. You say, why? Pretty much everybody hated the Jews. I mean, the Jews have been kicked out of so many nations for all the abominations because look, they were bad in the Old Testament, but they got worse and worse and worse and worse. And they're responsible for so much of the gambling, the prostitution, the pornography, and the movie industry. Hollywood is all run by Jews. I mean, that's the truth. It's reality. Verse five. Verse five. Afterward shall the children of Israel return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. You say, Brother Stuckey, that already happened like 70 years ago. God gave them back their land. They really sought after God 70 years ago? Because if that were the case, then the Jews would believe on Jesus Christ and get saved, right? I mean, they reject Jesus Christ as a saver, so when did they seek unto God? You say, well, Brother Stuckey, that already happened. They already sought after God sometime in the last 2,000 years, sometime afterwards when Jesus said they were rejected. Why does it say this then at the end of verse five? And shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days. In the latter days, right? The Bible's indicating you that during the end times, that's when it's gonna, and it's not talking about all these wicked Jews who are just gonna believe on Jesus Christ. I mean, eventually the land's gonna go back because the wicked people are gonna be thrown out. They're gonna be done. They're gonna be gone. That's what the Bible indicates, okay? Afterwards, shall the children of Israel return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. This has not happened yet. And shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days. So what are the four points that we saw here today? Well, Gomer acts as a slut or as a prostitute or as a whore, and she ends up becoming a slave. She's literally sold like at an auction. I mean, has anybody ever been to an auction before where you're bidding on stuff? I've not been to this kind of auction, okay? But I've been at auctions where they're selling various things and everything and you bid, and you got somebody speaking that is just, I don't know how they do it, but it's like, you know, 25, 25, 35, 35, and they just like talk really, really fast and everything. I don't know how they do that, right? I used to love going to auctions because, you know, they would sell a lot of food and everything, but they just have various things that you bid on. Like they'd have an aircon or a television. Somebody bids, you know, whatever, and then they outbid and everything like that. That's what happens to his wife. It's basically an auction where they're selling off people because she became in debt and couldn't pay it off. But we see that he gives her a second chance, and in the end, we see a seeking with the children of Israel, but not these wicked Jews that have rejected God. But in the latter days when the wicked people are destroyed by God, and then you know what? We do have new Jerusalem and everything like that. Let's close in a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and just getting to see your word on this topic, God, and help us to apply this to our lives, especially to us that are married. And you know, obviously, I hope no one in our church would ever go down this road of having a marriage that has this many problems. But at the same time, you know, even if we don't have major problems that need to be restored on a smaller level, we do have problems that need to be restored in our marriages, God. Help us to be willing to forgive and forget and to give our spouse the second chances. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. All right. Hark! The Herald Angels sing, which is four hundred and... Let's say... lli.. 429 hark! The Herald Angels sing 429. 429. 429 hark! The Herald angels saying on the first.