Sermon Notes

Scandalous Grace
Sow the Wind
October 18, 2026

HOSEA 7:3-16
“They delight the king with their wickedness,
the princes with their lies.
4 They are all adulterers,
burning like an oven
whose fire the baker need not stir
from the kneading of the dough till it rises.
5 On the day of the festival of our king
the princes become inflamed with wine,
and he joins hands with the mockers.
6 Their hearts are like an oven;
they approach him with intrigue.
Their passion smolders all night;
in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
7 All of them are hot as an oven;
they devour their rulers.
All their kings fall,
and none of them calls on me.
8 “Ephraim mixes with the nations;
Ephraim is a flat loaf not turned over.
9 Foreigners sap his strength,
but he does not realize it.
His hair is sprinkled with gray,
but he does not notice.
10 Israel’s arrogance testifies against him,
but despite all this
he does not return to the Lord his God
or search for him.
11 “Ephraim is like a dove,
easily deceived and senseless—
now calling to Egypt,
now turning to Assyria.
12 When they go, I will throw my net over them;
I will pull them down like the birds in the sky.
When I hear them flocking together,
I will catch them.
13 Woe to them,
because they have strayed from me!
Destruction to them,
because they have rebelled against me!
I long to redeem them
but they speak about me falsely.
14 They do not cry out to me from their hearts
but wail on their beds.
They slash themselves, appealing to their gods
for grain and new wine,
but they turn away from me.
15 I trained them and strengthened their arms,
but they plot evil against me.
16  They do not turn to the Most High;
they are like a faulty bow.
Their leaders will fall by the sword
because of their insolent words.
For this they will be ridiculed
in the land of Egypt.

Hosea piles up pictures…

  • OVEN
  • UNTURNED BREAD
  • LOSS OF STRENGTH & GRAY HAIR
  • SILLY DOVE
  • FAULTY BOW

Common Thread: Different pictures. Same diagnosis. They don’t realize what they are becoming.

HOSEA 7:14
They do not cry out to me from their hearts
but wail on their beds.
They slash themselves, appealing to their gods
for grain and new wine,
but they turn away from me.

HOSEA 8:1
“Put the trumpet to your lips!”

HOSEA 8:7
“They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind.”

Seeds don’t look like their harvest.

  • Anger → resentment
  • Comparison → misery
  • Lust → bondage
  • Neglect → distance
  • Prayer → trust
  • Scripture → wisdom
  • Generosity → freedom
  • Gratitude → joy

Nobody chooses the whirlwind. We choose the seeds.

Today’s choices are planting tomorrow’s life

What am I planting that I don’t want to harvest?
What do I want growing in my life a year from now?

Ask Yourself…

  • A year from now I want to be more ________.
  • I need to stop sowing ________.
  • I need to start sowing ________.

Hosea 7:13
“I long to redeem them.”

Today’s small decisions are planting tomorrow’s life.

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