Its people don’t realize that I am watching them. Their sinful deeds are all around them, and I see them all. (Hosea 7:2 NLT) “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.”…
Frustration with Fickle People – Hosea 6:4 – 7:3
God has asked Hosea to live out a physical picture of His relationship with Israel. Israel has not responded as God desires, so Hosea delivers God’s message through a series of word pictures. I am tempted to jump over the next several chapters of Hosea’s message. That would be an application of selective listening and…
An Invitation – Hosea 6:1-3
“Come, let us return to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds. 2 After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence. 3 Let us…
Attempting to Return – Hosea 5 Part 2
When they go with their flocks and herds to seek the LORD, they will not find him; he has withdrawn himself from them. (Hos 5:6 NIV) The book of Leviticus provides extensive detail on the sacrificial system that was to be practiced by the Israelites. The issue that Hosea is dealing with is the result…
Moving Away – Hosea 5 Part 1
“Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God. A spirit of prostitution is in their heart; they do not acknowledge the LORD. (Hosea 5:4 NIV) The Israelites have chosen to pursue idols and the pleasure they find in idol worship. They don’t even acknowledge that God exists. They are in control of…
Opening Arguments – Hosea 4
Hear the word of the LORD, you Israelites, because the LORD has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: “There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land. (Hosea 4:1 NIV) In the first 3 chapters of Hosea God has given us a vivid picture of what…
Redemption and Reconciliation – Hosea 3
The LORD said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.” 2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and…
God as Husband – Hosea 2:14-23
In the previous passage we saw God’s holiness on display. When God’s holiness encounters Israel’s unfaithfulness the relationship between God and His people is broken and the consequences are serious. This is not what God desires. “In that day,” declares the LORD, “you will call me ‘my husband’; you will no longer call me ‘my…
God is Holy – Hosea 2:2-13
I will punish her for the days she burned incense to the Baals; she decked herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers, but me she forgot,” declares the LORD. (Hosea 2:13 NIV) Who is God and what does He want. In this passage God clearly describes that what He is illustrating with…
A Prophet’s Life – Hosea 1
When the LORD began to speak through Hosea, the LORD said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the LORD.” 3 So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. (Hosea 1:2-3…