Sermon on Hosea 13:4-6; I Am the Lord Your God

I Am The LORD Your God Let us turn to our Bibles to the book of Hosea. The book of Hosea, one of the larger, minor prophets of the Old Testament after the book of Daniel. They're called minor with respect to their size compared to Ezekiel and Jeremiah which are much larger and longer books. Hosea is one of the longer ones, of the shorter ones. Hosea 13, 4-6. Let us listen attentively to the word of God. Hosea 4-6. Yet I am the Lord your God, ever since the land of Egypt, and you shall know no God but me, for there is no Savior besides me. I knew you in the wilderness, in the land of great drought. When they had pasture, they were filled, and their heart was exalted, and therefore they forgot me. Let us pray. Gracious Spirit of truth and light, may these words, especially here in the opening phrase, I am the Lord your God, ring true in our hearts that he is our God. May not a single person here leave not having you as not only their God, that is Elohim, the creator God of all, but the Lord, Jehovah, the covenant-keeping God of his people in particular, of those within the church of the Old and New Testament era. And to be encouraged thereby, and strengthened that no matter how bad things may seem in our own lives and the things around us, that you are our God, and that is sufficient. We ask this, we ask God by your mercies through Christ. Amen. This wonderful verse, this phrase in particular, I am the Lord your God, contains much glory and marvel from our Father's revelation through the prophet Hosea. This particular phrase has much depth and wonder for us to treasure and to grow in our faith as believers. It comes embedded with warnings and judgments to be sure as it is true for all the prophets. The Lord uses more of a club, often it seems, to get the attention of the hard-hearted Jewish church of old. We may have experienced that ourselves in our own lives. But he also offers the sweet honey of the gospel and grace and care of the Heavenly Father as we read here in this touching phrase. Yet, in spite of your persistence in sin, in difficulties, in violations of my holy will, I am the Lord your God, ever since the land of Egypt. Today we need this as well. We need a club sometimes, as well as some sweet honey in our life. But here I want to focus upon the encouraging words from God through the mouth of the prophets here, in particular the sweet honey. They are not offered as an excuse to keep on sinning. God is not saying, I'm the Lord your God so you can keep doing whatever you want. That's never the case when it comes to the prophets. Rather, they're here as a way to woo them and encourage them to repent and turn back to their Savior, to the one who cares for them. Let's learn more here about what this phrase is. I am the Lord your God and the significance of it in the Christian walk. That's the first part. I Am the LORD Your God I am the Lord your God. I am. Here in self-revelation is the only way we can know about God. If He did not deign and desire for us to know about Him, we'd be in the dark always. And yet we have creation. We know from Psalm 19 and elsewhere, the heavens declare the glories of God. Science shows us over and over again the amazing things of this world that are clear evidence that there is no such thing as evolution, but there is a Creator. These things are because God has so deigned it that you would learn about Him even without the Bible. I am. In other words, God is saying, I am telling you who I am. You can't figure it out without my help. We would not know who He is without general revelation that's called the revelation of creation, of the animals, of the stars, of math, of science. They all point to the living God, the Creator of all, because God had so designed it. I am God. I am the one who has designed this universe such that you can't help but know me. God is self-identifying. That's the only way we can know about such things of Him. Only He can declare who He is. It's not our own imaginations. It's not whatever we wish or desire. That's where false religions come from and the crazy stuff we see in paganism and the like, which unfortunately is growing in America. The Hindu religion, for example. That's them ignoring creation and making up their own imagination, bringing in their own so-called revelation. And it's false and it's dangerous. We have the world around us and we have especially the Bible. And so when He says, I am the Lord your God, He is giving a self-declaration of who He is and showing us and telling us what we need to know. What they need to know. And He has many descriptions or titles here tied to this I am. I am Adonai. I am the Lord Adonai. I am the Savior. I am the Father. I am God. I am the Holy One. The Great I Am. The Just One. All these names. I had a nice poster when I was Renee's age of the Great I Am. It had like 99 names for Jesus or something. It was beautiful. And I had a little booklet of a friend of mine who went through all the Old Testament text. I haven't been able to find it even on Google. Of course, Google's gone downhill. Of all the names of Jehovah. Jehovah Sarak, which means the Lord the Righteous One, for example. And we give a long list of these things. You miss it sometimes in English that this is a full name of the Lord our God. So this way of speaking this almost formulaic way of speaking here. I am the Lord. I am the Lord your God. I am the Lord your Holy One, etc. and all the like. They describe who He is in various and sundry ways. The phrase here is combined with a number of truths as we'll see. We first encounter here the first part of this phrase. Yet I am the Lord your God. Your translation is probably like my translation here in which the word Lord is all capital words. Capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D. And that should tell you it's His unique name Jehovah. That's what it's referring to. It's not just capital L and then O-R-D Lord. That's sometimes the case. But here it's all capitals. So it's a special name. It's a unique name. We first encounter this title of God, the origins of it, in the book of Exodus. After Moses fled Egypt for slaying a taskmaster who was beating one of his own. He was tending animals there in the desert and saw an amazing burning bush. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame, a fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. It would be quite something to see. What in the world is going on here? And Moses said, I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn. God got His attention. Because we're slow of heart, even the best of us. So God sometimes has to wake us up. And here He uses this miracle. The bush is on fire, but it's not burning. And so when the Lord saw that He turned aside to look, God called to Him from the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses, and He said, Here I am. Then Moses said to God, Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they say to me, What is His name? What shall I say to them? What an odd thing to ask, it seems to us today. Why would we say, What other name would you have for God? It's God. Or the Lord, or something like that. But back then it was significant. Names were significant. They were descriptions of the nature of that which is named, or the person in this case. In this case, the divine person. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And they had been in Egypt for several hundred years. Didn't have a whole lot to go on. They didn't have pastors and churches like we have today, so their revelation was just going on by word of mouth. They probably lost a lot of things, as we know. In our history of Exodus in the desert, they kept going back to the idols of Egypt. So there's some confusion there. What shall I say to them? What is your name? What is His name? And God said to Moses, verse 14, I am who I am. Right? I am that I am. Or I am who I am. And He said, Thus you should tell the children of Israel, I am has sent me to you. So then He shortens it. So the full name is Jehovah. I am who I am. And He shortens it there to I am has sent me to you. All caps, Lord, is Jehovah, which comes from this text. And it means I am that I am, the eternal great I am. That is, He's immutable. He is infinite. He is independent. I am that I am as I never change. I am always the same. And so, although they forgot about me in Egypt, and they thought I forgot about them, but I've come to tell you I've not broken my covenant. When I gave my word, because I am the great I am, the one who does not change, the one who's immutable, unchangeable, I've come to fill my word and deliver them out of bondage. That's what He's saying in this text in Exodus. And that's what that name Lord means. And because it is tied to the covenant, His promise to Abraham and to his offspring, that is those who are the elect, those who have faith and trust in Jesus Christ, and is often known as His covenantal name, Jehovah. Because His promise, I am that I am, I never change, I'm going to fulfill what I said I promised you, in what? The covenant. In the promise to Abraham and to his spiritual offspring. And so, to be immutable necessarily means He's infinite, which necessarily means He's independent. It's all of a piece. The incommunicable attributes of God, those characteristics that are unique to Him, nothing in creation is immutable. Nothing in creation is truly infinite. We talk about it in the abstract of math, but it's not the same thing as the existence of being infinite. I can't imagine that. We are finite. We take up space. Even angels take up space. God. He's everywhere. He's omnipresent. And so these attributes that no one else shares with Him, the incommunicable attributes are all of a piece. And here He's emphasizing the immutability part of who He is. Therefore, they should be encouraged. God has kept His word, will always keep His word, because I am that I am. I'm always the same. You may think God has forgotten you, like the Jews thought God forgot them, but He has not because He never changes. And so we see how important doctrine is. What is our belief in God? And so this morning I preached on what? Being careful in what you believe and what is taught from the word of God. And if we're sloppy about who God is, well, you know, God just kind of suffers with the rest of us and He changes His mind now and then. Well, that makes all the difference in the world. Why would I want to trust in that kind of a God? A God that is, well, I was and I kind of will be and maybe I'll change my mind later. I am that I am. Sometimes you might want to describe it as the eternal present for Him in one sense. I speak as a man. It's a way of describing in human terms, in human language, beyond our full comprehension, that I never change. So He remembers the covenant with Abraham. Whereas the other name here, God, your God, Elohim, is about God who is a deity, that which makes God a God as such. He's deity. We're not deity. Jehovah's about God's covenant care for His people. He is not just God over all things. You'll see that in Genesis 1. It's Elohim, Elohim. Chapter 2, it's Jehovah, Jehovah. Because there's a change in perspective there, an emphasis. And the God part, Elohim, is over all creation, but Jehovah's with respect to us, His people. The amenability is the guarantee of the deliverance of the church of old. Often it's just simply, I am the Lord. Exodus, Leviticus, Ezekiel, in chapter 20, for example, it mentions this a number of times. It just simply says, I am, I am, I am the Lord, I am the Lord. And Hosea here as well. Your God, I already touched upon that a little bit here, Elohim, emphasizes the divine activities of our Creator towards mankind, not just towards the church, but everything within creation, specifically mankind, the saved and the unsaved alike. And as such, He is the object of all true reverence and godly fear. So in other words, another way of looking at this is, the unbeliever can know of God and He does know God, right? Romans 1.18 tells us all mankind know there's a God and suppress that truth and unrighteousness that can't help but know that there is a God. They know God in that sense as Elohim, but not as Jehovah, because they're not in a covenant relationship, they're not in a saved relationship, they're not in the church. Now, another part I want to emphasize here is, I am the self-revelation of the Lord, the Lord, the covenant-keeping God, your God, but also your God. Yours. He has made a special promise for His people, for you, not just anyone else. Insofar as He's the Creator over all, yes, but this is His unique, redemptive rule over His people. The point here is, I have a special relationship with you, Israel of old, the Old Testament church. And He also has it with us today as well. The Lord of heaven and earth chose the church in the Old Testament, a Jewish form, and the New Testament, Jewish and Gentile alike, mixed together, but still a church. Those who believe in the Messiah, those who are saved by God, for there's only one way to be saved, and it was never to be Jewish, but to be one who believes in the Messiah to come, or the Messiah who has already come. And thus, they have a special obligation to Him, and God to us. Of course, He willingly came into the covenant with us, and willingly offered to us many blessings and goodness in the covenant of grace. And we have to Him, therefore, reciprocal obligations to Him. That's often what He means, and often what He's getting at when He says, I am the Lord, your God. Not the pagans. I'm talking to you. I have a relationship with you. I'm your Father, Father Almighty. I'm also the Son and the Holy Spirit. We have a greater revelation in the New Testament of these things. And therefore, you ought to follow me. You ought to be holy. You ought to love me. Deuteronomy 10.15 The Lord delighted only in your fathers to love them, and He chose their descendants after them, you above all people as it is today. That's the special obligation. And so He's saying here, I am the Lord, your God. I am Elohim, who's taking this almighty power that created heaven and earth, and sustains all things visible and invisible, and redirecting that power and might towards you in this special covenant relationship. I am that I am. I promise to keep Abraham's covenant of grace, and I'm going to keep it right now. That's what He's saying in this phrase. For the Abrahamic covenant is our covenant as well. Do not forget. Galatians 3.7, Paul writes to the churches of Galatia. Therefore, know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. Not all Israel is Israel, Paul argues elsewhere in Romans chapter 2. They're not special anymore. It's a big thing today, again, unfortunately. It seems to come around every 10 years in politics, because there's a political game being played here. Israel today, we don't even know if it's the same Israel of old. It's just assertive. We really don't know. Just take people's word for it. Lots of things have been lost in 2,000 years. But they are not special anymore. If they don't trust the Messiah, they're not the sons of Abraham, as far as Paul is concerned, and Christ is concerned. Therefore, know only those who are of faith are the sons of Abraham. In the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith. In other words, he's saying it was a prophecy. It's going to point to this greater reality that we have in the New Testament. Preach the Gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, and you, all the nations, shall be blessed. Then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. We are the sons and daughters of Abraham if we trust and believe in Jesus. And it's always been that way. Not all Israel is Israel. Romans 2. Ephesians 2.11. Therefore, remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh, so clearly his audience is non-Jews, who were called uncircumcision. Right? That's what it means to be a Gentile. By what is called the circumcision made in the flesh by hand. So he's emphasizing this is the outward form. Paul does this often, because he's driving home the point. It was never about the outward form. Verse 12. At that time, you, who is this? The Gentiles, were without Christ. Interesting. They were without Christ. That means the Jews had Christ. Doesn't it? That's what that means. Being aliens from the commonwealth of what? Israel. So he's saying this description here of what a Gentile is in parallel. These are parallel descriptions. To be a Gentile is to be one that is without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and what? Strangers from the covenant of promise. As well as what? Having no hope and without God in the world. The implication being all the Jews had all this stuff. You guys didn't. And it's true they did. That is, any Jew who believed. And many, unfortunately, did not believe. Just like today. You could be a member of the church and not believe. Sad. It's tragic. But it's the same exact thing. And Paul's hammering here that the Gentiles have this description of them. And he continues here in verse 19 at the end of Ephesians 2. Now therefore, you, has that changed yet? No, still the Gentiles, are no longer strangers and foreigners. Well that, what? He's saying you've been brought into the true Israel of God. So Paul's taking that old language like Peter does. What does Peter say? You know, we are a royal priesthood, a holy nation. Quoting the Old Testament. But I thought that was for the Jews. Well, it is for the Jews. And so far as they are believers in the Messiah to come, they are Old Testament Christians. And so therefore, it's still applicable to us. That's why they can keep quoting these passages, Peter does, Paul does, and others, of the Old Testament applied to the New Testament church. Because it's the same church, just that one is immature, Jewish form, and we are in the more mature, as it were, adult form. And Galatians 4 emphasizes that. But fellow citizens, with the saints and members of the household of God. Paul's taking this language of Israel and applying it to the Gentiles and the New Testament church. That's the point of Ephesians 2. That's one of the verses that really blew my mind and I just, I said, okay, I'm no longer going to have this misconception about the church. It exists in the Old Testament. That's amazing. And I believe it now. If you hate your sin and flee and embrace Jesus, you shall be saved and preserved by what? The Lord your God. The covenant-keeping God, the I Am that I Am, has made a promise to you in Christ Jesus. If you repent and believe, you shall be saved. And it's not dependent upon you, is it? God comes here and says, I am the Lord your God. Not, look how amazing your faith is and how obedient you are. We know that's not the case in the book of Hosea. He just hammers them over and over after every chapter. What is your problem? The Creator Elohim is your covenant-keeping God if you trust in Him and He'll keep His word and preserve you in spite of your failings and shortcomings. The whole phrase is used several times in the Old Testament as well, not just the partial phrase as I mentioned. Exodus 6-7, I will take you as my people and I will be your God and you shall know that I am the Lord your God who brings you out from the burdens of the Egyptians. Second Commandment, Exodus 25, and you shall not bow down to them nor serve them for I the Lord your God. I am the Lord your God. I'm a jealous God visiting the iniquity of the fathers and the children of the third and fourth generations. And many times in the book of Leviticus, the book of the priesthood, it has a number of general laws. It's kind of interesting. It's in that book we learn you're supposed to love your neighbor. In the book of Leviticus, Leviticus 11-44, we read, for I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore, what? Consecrate yourself and you shall be holy for I am holy. So here, as I mentioned before that phrase, I'm the Lord your God, it often has a tie to a point. I have a special relationship with you, therefore what? Here, therefore be holy. The whole book of Leviticus, of course, is about holiness. The priestly holiness, which was more outward form and grandeur to be sure, but all that was supposed to be symbolic of the inward holiness all Jews were supposed to have, which was a pure heart and the fruit of the Spirit. Leviticus 25-17, therefore you shall not oppress one another, but you shall fear your God, for I am the Lord your God. There it is again. Here he emphasizes fear and no longer oppressing people. God's people have an obligation to follow his will. Ezekiel 20, I mentioned that before, uses the phrase four times emphasizing his divine right to call them to repentance and faithfulness. In a way he does not with anyone else. Even with Jonah and Nineveh, we were going over that last night. Yes, Nineveh repented and God relented from the immediate judgment upon them, and yet none of them joined the Jewish church. So it was clearly a temporary, I think, at least the mass of them, was a temporary repentance, but it still showed God's kindness even to unbelievers who were outside his covenant. Here, in Hosea, it's about his unique power to deliver them. I am the Lord your God, therefore be holy. I am the Lord your God, therefore do not oppress one another, but fear me. Here, I am the Lord your God ever since the land of Egypt. I Am the LORD Your God Since Egypt Ever since the land of Egypt. Here he's emphasizing his redemptive relationship through that great act several hundred years before. Not that he only became their God since the land of Egypt. Clearly that's not the case because he met Moses and the bush before they were delivered out of Egypt. He was already their God and their God through Abraham and the promise therein. So here he's emphasizing a pivotal time in their own history in which he delivered them. He often, through the mouth of the prophets, points back to Egypt. Remember what I did for you. This is not a little thing. It's a very significant thing. I set you aside from the pagan nations and indeed it was a great earthly deliverance, a turning point in their history. Outwardly, economically, socially, politically. All these outward things that are significant in their own way. But at the end of the day, of course, pale in comparison to the saving of the soul. But he uses that outward form to emphasize the inward holiness they're supposed to have in submission and repentance, for example. Here, that he is their deliverer and they need to flee to him. The delivery from Egypt, the salvation from Egypt, it's the same word. I use those two words interchangeably. It's the event of the Old Testament. The great referent point that the prophets go back to time and time again. Partly to bring shame upon Israel. Look what I did for you and this is how you're going to treat me is the implication a number of times. Other times as a call of repentance. Look at the kind of passion I had upon you. Come back to me. Different emphases depending on the context. But of course, is God only concerned about that kind of outward oppression? What about the spiritual oppression of sin and Satan? All the more. Because God is what? Is a spirit and he wants us to what? To worship him in spirit and in truth. John chapter 4. And if he wants us to worship him in spirit and in truth, that can't happen unless he what? Saves our soul so that we can worship him in spirit, in our soul. Soul and spirit are just synonymous. God is concerned about the soul. It was never just merely about the body. The problem that the Jews had up until the time of Christ especially was always outward forms. It was always the external and the flesh. That's why Paul hammers over and over again that that's wrong. It was always about the soul. And the outward forms of circumcision, of the priesthood, of the altars were always there to be assistants and helps to point to who? Jesus. Because Jesus is the great priest. Jesus even calls himself the temple. Tear this temple down in three days, I'll raise it. Raise it up from the grave. The book of Hebrews tells us all that pointed to our Lord and Savior. And the Jews refused to see it. So it was never about physical or material deliverance. God certainly did that. But it was always about the soul. He takes care of our bodily concerns to be sure through providence. That's why your parents have a job, you have a job and the like because God had deigned it so. I Am the LORD Your Only Savior But especially our spiritual needs, the saving of our soul. I am the Lord, your only Savior. So he wants to drive that point home. Yet I am the Lord your God ever since the land of Egypt, that great turning point, and you shall know no God but me. That's the way it's supposed to be. But what have we seen in the book of Hosea? Time and time again he berates them, he condemns them, he warns them. Stop worshipping. Bail. These other false gods, Ashtoreth and whatnot. And they wouldn't listen. I knew you in the wilderness, in the land of great droughts. We read here in verses 5 and 6. When they had pasture, they were filled. Filled by whom? By God who delivered them out of Egypt. So he's telling them there, look at the things I've done for you, I've been with you generation after generation. Come back to me is the implication here. An implicit call to return to their Savior. And you shall know no God but me, for there is no Savior beside me. There is no Savior beside me. This is a significant point. We have many false religions today here in America and around us. They claim there are other ways to heaven. They claim there are multiplicity of ways. They claim, some of them, the more subtle ones, will say well sure, it's Christ, but it's Christ plus your effort, Christ plus your baptism, Christ plus something. But God tells us it's only God and only Him can, only He can be our Savior. Who else can redeem us from eternal punishment in hell but He who is eternal Himself? It could never be man. Who can satisfy infinite justice but He who is what? Infinite Himself. It could never be anything in creation. So, just simply thinking about it, you realize, of course, there's no other Savior. It's only me. There can be no other Savior besides me. Because there's no one else who's infinite. No one else who is I am that I am, who never changes and is immutable in His promises and His deliverance. Only God can save. God in Christ Jesus. The Bible asserts this in a number of places, of course. The temple system, only the great high priest alone could atone in that once a year in the great atonement. And that pointed to Jesus Christ after the order of Melchizedek. Psalm 62.6. He only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense. I shall not be moved. The Old Testament saints only looked to Him. They realized it was only deliverance, salvation, protection from hell. It was only from God. Nothing else. No one else. No animal. No creation. No idol. Not their best effort. Not their best intent. It was only and ever Him. Isaiah 43.11. That you may know and believe me and understand that I am He. Before me there was no God formed, nor shall there be after me. I, even I, am the Lord and beside me there is no Savior. You can't get help from anyone else. You're just fooling yourself. Don't listen to the lies out there. It's only in Jesus. Isaiah 45.21. And there is no other God beside me. A just God and what? A Savior. There is none beside me. No other Savior God, we would say. Hyphenated. Two ideas crammed together. And there can't be because there's only one God. All the other gods are fake, false, and made up. Salvation from the consequences of our sins cannot come from anything in creation but from Elohim, the great deity who does wondrous works among mankind, who is Jehovah, the great I Am that I Am, the covenant-keeping God who will save you as He promised to the othermost. Picked up, of course, in the New Testament. I already mentioned the number of times in which the apostles just quote Old Testament Jewish passage as though it's theirs. It's all of ours because it is. Luke 2.11. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord. But we know there's only one Savior. Therefore, Christ is what? God. There's only one God Savior. Or Lord. You know, in the New Testament we often read Jesus as Lord and we might lose sight of and think about it as, well, Lord. Well, we have kings, we have lords today, but I don't think they're my Savior. Often when it's saying Christ Jesus is Lord, it's saying Christ Jesus is L-O-R-D, all caps, Jehovah. God. Lord is another name for God. Deity. Peter's sermon. One of his sermons early on in Acts. Him, God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and what? Savior. To give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. Salvation is only found in God in Christ. God the Father declares that He is the only Savior. We must come to Jesus and no one else. There is no contradiction here because Jesus is also divine. One divine Godhood in three persons. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The great three in one. Brothers and sisters, the Bible testifies that deliverance from sin and entrance into heaven can only be by our heavenly Savior. There's only one Savior and no one else beside Him that can save you. And each has a role, I'm not a priest on it here, but the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in our deliverance. In the Old Testament text, the Trinity is not as clear or understood, but it is there. You can see it. We can know salvation only comes from the divine. That Jesus must be, therefore, divine and not merely or only human. And, of course, this incarnation is a great mystery, but a comfort for us for God has brought about our deliverance from sin and Satan and death itself and in the most amazing and mysterious way by sending His only begotten Son. Whosoever shall believe in Him shall have eternal life. The Bible testifies that this deliverance is only from Him. The Lord is your God, your Deliverer, your Savior, the only Redeemer. Rejoice in His salvation. Always put your trust in Him and in Him alone, let us pray. Father God, may we be encouraged by this truth. I am the Lord, your God. Or we can say to ourselves, I am the Lord, my God, He is my God, and I am His people, as we read elsewhere. We are His people. It's a special relationship, God. And may we not water that down by saying we're all God's children. We are not all God's children. All those who do not trust in Jesus or live in rebellion have been cast out into outer darkness. Help us, Lord God, to speak this truth as well to others who are not believers, that they too can have the Lord as their God, that they would repent and they would trust in Jesus and not in their own righteousness. Help us to live such a life, we pray, in the light of the greatness of who You are, to always trust in You, for there is no Savior besides You. We pray this by the blood of our Lord and Savior, the great Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Amen.