Unfaithful People, Unreasonable God

For those of you who don't know who David Platt is or what Secret Church is, you should go check it out here... 

On Good Friday, from 7pm-2am, I tried to keep up with David Platt's teaching on The Cross and Suffering (yes, those times are correct.. it was 7 hours long). He's an incredible teacher, but 7 hours was hardly enough time for him to cover everything he had to share with us, so he was flying through all the information. Luckily, I have a binder full of his notes (with most of the blanks filled in). I've been looking over some of the notes and one of the things that stood out to me was the section about the book of Hosea.

If you've never read Hosea, you should. It's a fairly short book, and it's a beautiful story of God's amazing love and grace. (Also, you should read Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers.)
Anyway, enough with the reading reccommendations... I just wanted to share some of the notes David Platt gave on the book of Hosea:

• Hosea is a story of an unfaithful people. (Hosea 2:2-13)
• Gomer was unfaithful, as were the people of Israel:
• She was adulterous.
• She was idolatrous.
• She was hypocritical.
• She was forgetful.
• Hosea is a story of an unreasonable God. (Hosea 2:14-23)
• Despite Gomer's unfaithfulness, Hosea chased after her. God promised restoration to the people of Israel, even though they were unfaithful:
• I will allure her.
• I will lead her.
• I will speak tenderly to her.
• I will give to her.
• I will restore her.
• I will protect her.
• I will betroth her.
• I will respond to her.
• I will establish her.
• I will pay the price for her.
• Relation to the Cross:
• On the cross Jesus was condemned like the harlot's children.
• Like Jezreel, He was the place of bloodshed.
• Like No Mercy, He was given no relief.
• Like Not My People, He was cut off from the Father.
• On the cross Jesus was regarded as the unfaithful wife.

"When we see this love at work through the heart of Hosea we may wonder if God is really like that. But everything in the Word and in experience shows us that He is. He will give man the trees of the forest and the iron in the ground. Then He will give to man the brains to make an axe from the iron to cut down a tree and fashion it into a cross. He will give man the ability to make a hammer and nails, and when man has the cross and the hammer and the nails, the Lord will allow man to take hold of Him and bring Him to that cross, and in so doing will take the sins of man upon Himself and make it possible for those who have despised and rejected Him to come unto Him and know the joy of sins removed and forgiven, to know the assurance of pardon and eternal life, and to enter in the prospect of the hope of glory with Him forever. This is even our God, and there is none like unto Him."

-Donald Grey Barnhouse

 We, as humans, are unfaithful people. Nevertheless, God is faithful {always}. He gave His only Son up to the cross to pay for the sins of people just like you and me {and I am so thankful for that}. To our simple minds, His love is unreasonable and His power is unfathomable. But it is true - there is none like Him!