July 20: Hosea 1-7

July 20, Hosea 1-7

Hosea was written towards the end of the 8th century BC - a rough time for both Israel & Judah (disobedience…). What is Hosea all about? ‘Hosea depicts Israel’s unfaithfulness with a number of images from gamily and nature. Israeli is like; a promiscuous wife, an indifferent mother, an illegitimate child, an ungrateful son, a stubborn heifer, a silly dove, a luxuriant vine, and grapes in the wilderness. Yet Israeli’s unfaithfulness and obstinacy are not enough to exhaust God’s redeeming love that outstrips the human capacity to comprehend.’ (ESV study Bible)

Hosea 1 God told Hosea the Prophet what to do, and he obeyed. When God first spoke to Hosea, God told him to take an unfaithful wife (whore) and have kids of whoredom, “…for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.” God is going to use the life of Hosea to show His people what they have become. So, Hosea obeyed and went and married Gomer. They had their fist kid and Yahweh told Hosea to name him Jezreel. God was going to use the even the names of Hosea & Gomer’s kids to illustrate the Prophetic to His people. Jezreel is for sure Hosea’s child, but none of the rest of the children explicitly say that. Gomer has another child and God said to name her ‘No Mercy’ - obviously indicating the future of Israel. She had another child and God wanted him named ‘Not My People’ - a stark reminder of the Abrahamic covenant that they have violated. God reminds us in this chapter as well that He had not forgotten that the Israelites were to be as numerous as the sand on the shore, but the Israelites had forgotten. But there is hope for the future…

Hosea 2 God tells Hosea to tell his people that they have received God’s mercy and that Israel must return to God. As it was, God was very angry with them for whoring after idols and having their hearts turned from God. God was providing everything they needed and they still turned to Baal. So, God planned on uncovering their sins and there will be none to rescue them. They will be punished for serving Baal & forgetting the Lord. 

God used punishment to bring Israel to repentance and show them His mercy. God will give them the safety they need because of his steadfast love and mercy & then they will be betrothed to each other and know the Lord…

Hosea 3 Hosea needs to redeem his wife. God told him, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.” God ordained this to happen, and so Hosea went after. Hosea told Gomer “You must dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you.” He needs her to not be a whore just like God needed Israel to not be a whore - to be restored. 

Hosea 4 There is controversy in the land and Hosea is calling them out as God had instructed him to. They have lost their love and knowledge of God. “There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land; is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.” They are acting like the world, not like God’s people. There are false prophets and straight up rejection of the Lord Almighty. The priests are crooked and they will be handled. “Like a stubborn heifer, Israel is stubborn…”  I grew up on a dairy farm - heifers can be extremely obstinate and sometimes only move when they want - or are ‘persuaded’ to move. That is what God is calling them out for. They love their idols and not their God. 

Hosea 5 Punishment will be coming for Israel & Judah. The deeds of the people are horrible and God will be removing many of their things from Him, including Himself. They will be oppressed and punished. 

Hosea 6 Israel & Judah are unrepentant. This is not a good place to be, but God still offers hope to His people though the promise of a Redeemer someday (Jesus!). They need to repent and turn to the Lord. But their love is fleeting and easily swayed, so they offer sacrifices that are not from the heart. What does God want? “For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” That is what God wants - our hearts in pursuit of Him with all of us, not just the ‘going through the actions’ minutia. 

Hosea 7 What should be weighing heavy on God’s people? It should be God’s generosity and not His punishments. But God remembers their evil, because that is where their hearts are. Israel has become adulterous, and loving other gods. What does God say about that? “Woe to them, for they have strayed from me! Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against me! I would redeem them, but they speak lies against me.” Israel is living in self-inflicted pain because their hearts were not true to the Lord. 

To sum it all up: 

• Sometimes it seems as though God goes through great extremes to get His point across and to get His people to be obedient. 
• Like Hosea & Gomer, we need to make sure that we are not whoring after any idols or have anything in our lives more important than God. 
• Make sure that you live a life that reflects God, not the world. I know that I have said this numerous times, but we are not to be like the world. TV. Media. Music. Parties. Sexual Immorality. Perverting things…. on and on. Who do you look more like, Jesus or the culture around you?
• Never forget this and never cease applying this: “For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”
• God will not be fooled. God will not be mocked. Are you more like Hosea or Israel? Which do you want to be?