Contending for the Right

The moment we say we are going to fight for something it send "chills" down our back. This is because we have been taught that fighting is not right. God calls Hosea to instruct the people of Israel to fight for the right and he is to fight for Gomer his wife. There can be times that we must fight for the right, standing up against that which is evil or wrong. Let’s take a look at what God says through Hosea.

Hosea 2:1-7
1 Say to your brothers, " Ammi," and to your sisters, " Ruhamah."
2 "Contend with your mother, contend,
For she is not my wife, and I am not her husband;
And let her put away her harlotry from her face
And her adultery from between her breasts,
3 Or I will strip her naked
And expose her as on the day when she was born.
I will also make her like a wilderness,
Make her like desert land
And slay her with thirst.
4 "Also, I will have no compassion on her children,
Because they are children of harlotry.
5 "For their mother has played the harlot;
She who conceived them has acted shamefully.
For she said, ' I will go after my lovers,
Who give me my bread and my water,
My wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.'
6 "Therefore, behold, I will hedge up her way with thorns,
And I will build a wall against her so that she cannot find her paths.
7 "She will pursue her lovers, but she will not overtake them;
And she will seek them, but will not find them. NASU

Notice the wrong, Gomer is not being the wife she should be, she is caught up in adultery. Hosea is told to "fight" for her. He is not told to simply put her away. Or walk away from this situation. God is also telling Hosea, if she doesn’t turn from her ways, HE will be the one who exposes her in judgement. To often, we Christian’s what to be sure that sin is judged, and rightly so. However, this should not be our first response to sin. It should be one of contending for the sinner, fighting them, so that they can be restored into fellowship.

It was God who was going to up a hedge around her so that she could not get to her lovers.
One other thing we should notice. It is the children who suffer because of these sinful actions. We can see this in our culture today. When sin is allowed to become "full blow" the sad reality is there will be heartaches and trouble.

Let me ask you, "Do you know someone who is struggling with some sin?" Are you willing to "contend with them in grace" to win them back to Christ. Paul give us clear help with understanding this matter.

Gal 6:1-5 1 Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness*; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. 2 Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another. 5 For each one will bear his own load. NASU
* emphasis mine.

I want to encourage you today, be like Hosea and use gentleness and grace to win back the one who you know is going astray. (If someone seek to come to you, be open to being won back to fellowship, they are doing this because they care!) Don't rush to judging.

Explore for yourself
1. What has happened in the marriage of Hosea and Gomer?
2. What is to be put away? What will happen if she fails to put it away?
3. What "like" statements does the Lord make?
4. What will be done for the children of harlotry?
5. Why did Gomer pursue her lovers? What six things did she receive?
6. What is the first "therefore" statement in vs. 6?
7. What was tried first? What does this tell us?
8. What is the hoped result? During all this what does she not know? What did she not do?
9. What is the second "therefore" in v 9?
10. What does this show us?