Hosea 6 “A Call to Return”

“Come, and let us return to the LORD; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us; On the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight.” (vv.1-2)

Here Hosea leads Israel in a humble prayer, with the right heart, in response to the chastening hand of God. Instead of arguing with God, or resenting His correction, Hosea turns to prayer.

This is a prayer that trusts the love of God, and sees His loving hand even in correction. Often, a rebellious child will complain that their parents do not love them. Of course, the parents do love the child, but in their rebellion and lack of submission, they can’t receive or respond to that love.

In verse two we read, “After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up,” Hosea prayed this full of confidence in God’s love and power to restore. In the prayer, we see a shadowy prophecy of Jesus’ resurrection on the third day. The context supports this wonderfully; on the cross Jesus was torn and stricken for our sake, yet He was also gloriously raised up on the third day.

A beautiful “call to return” to the LORD, to walk in confidence and wait on Him, with the promise that He will come like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth (v.3). In Israel, the only way crops were watered was by rain. So the farmer waited for the rain with great anticipation.

When we anticipate and wait for God with this kind of earnest expectation, He answers and will come to us.

The Truth: “But those who wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not grow weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31)

Hosea 5 “The Leaders Rebuked”

“Hear this, O priests! Take heed, O house of Israel! Give ear, O house of the king! For yours is the judgment, because you have been a snare to Mizpah and a net spread on Tabor. The revolters are deeply involved in slaughter, though I rebuke them all. I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me; For now, O Ephraim, you commit harlotry; Israel is defiled.” (vv.1-3)

When God saw the sinful state of the nation of Israel, He saw that it was because the leaders did not lead in a godly way. It would be tempting for the priests to blame the people, but it was really the fault of the spiritual leadership (priests) and political leadership (house of Israel) of the nation. They were corrupt cheaters. The kind of men who would change property boundaries to their advantage if they thought they could get away with it.

Ephraim’s sinned by living by man’s standards and opinions, instead of God’s. We can’t walk by human precept unless we first reject God’s precepts, and that was exactly what Israel did - being foolish enough to trust in man (her eventual conqueror) instead of trusting in God. Choosing a King Jareb instead of the LORD, was never going to end well for them.

The real tragedy of Israel’s sin wasn’t so much that they stumbled. It was more so that they did not respond to God’s rebuke when they did stumble. If a man knows how to humbly respond to God’s correction, He will always work with him.

The Truth: “If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin, and to cleans us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

Hosea 4 “Israel’s Sin, God’s Judgment”

Hear the word of the LORD, You children of Israel, for the LORD brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land, “There is no truth or mercy 
Or knowledge of God in the land.
 By swearing and lying,
 killing and stealing and committing adultery,
 they break all restraint,
 with bloodshed upon bloodshed.
 Therefore the land will mourn;
 and everyone who dwells there will waste away
 with the beasts of the field
 and the birds of the air;
 even the fish of the sea will be taken away.” (vv.1-3)

Here God levels His charges against Israel as if in a court of law. God is the plaintiff, and the Israelites the defendants. The charges being, “There is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land.” Each of these three points is connected. When people forsake the knowledge of God, soon truth and mercy are both gone. Truth must be rooted in something more than personal opinion, and mercy means going beyond self-interest. True wisdom and understanding always begins with the knowledge of God. Proverbs 9:10 says, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding."

In our text, God goes on to say, “They break all restraint.” It all connects back to leaving the knowledge of God. For by doing so, truth and mercy become things of the past, and people no longer practice restraint. When man will not (or can not) restrain himself, bloodshed and destruction soon follow, as we've seen on national television in many states around this country. Then, “Everyone who dwells there will waste away.” This is the tragic fruit of forsaking the knowledge of God; truth, mercy, and restraint all disappear. Then, enter a new thought, that casting these things away is a doorway to freedom – when in reality it is only a pathway to destruction.

God’s judgment promised in verse 9 goes to leadership as well, “And it shall be: like people, like priest, so I will punish them for their ways, and reward them for their deeds.” This means the priests, the religious leaders, who may have thought they would be immune from the judgment coming upon Israel, will find themselves held responsible for allowing the decay of their city, and the degrading of it’s people. For God promises that when it comes to judgment, like people, like priest (Leadership). No one shall escape it.

The Truth: “For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.” (2 Corinthians 5:10)

Hosea 3 "Unconditional Love"

Then the LORD said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by a lover and is committing adultery, just like the love of the LORD for the children of Israel, who look to other gods and love the raisin cakes of the pagans.” (v.1)

Here God directed Hosea to go back to his wife, even though she was committing adultery. It wasn’t in the past; it was in the present; yet he was commanded to go back to her and to love her.

Why did God command Hosea to go back to his still-unfaithful wife? Not only for the sake of Hosea and his wife Gomer, but also so that they would become a living lesson of the LORD’s relationship with His people. They were still steeped in spiritual adultery, yet the LORD still loved them.

So Hosea bought her for fifteen shekels of silver out of prostitution (vv.2-3). The point of paying for Gomer wasn’t just to get her to give up her trade as a prostitute. It was to bring her back into a relationship with Hosea, her husband, to abide with him. Thus signifying God’s desire to bring Israel back into relationship with Him, and for them to abide once again with Him.

But this would not happen right away. Israel would abide many days in her fallen state (v.4). Yet after this time of political and spiritual ruin, Israel will return and seek the LORD again. This will mark their restoration – and there will be no restoration until they turn back to the LORD. 

This prophecy will be ultimately fulfilled in the millennial kingdom, where prince David will be the shepherd of Israel for king Jesus, who will be their God (Ezekiel 34:23-25). Thus restoring the bride, Israel, to her husband whom she left, Yahweh!  Pray for Israel brothers and sisters, for she has spent far to many days away from her true husband, Messiah king Jesus.

The Truth: “I will establish one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them—My servant David. He shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and My servant David a prince among them; I, the Lord, have spoken.” (Ezekiel 34:23-24)

Hosea 2 “Sin, Judgment, And Restoration”

“Therefore, behold, I will allure her, I will bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfort to her. I will give her her vineyards from there, and the Valley of Achor as a door of hope; She shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.” (vv.14-15).

Back in chapter 1 we saw Israel’s sin portrayed as an adulterous wife. And here in the beginning of chapter 2, God again paints Israel as an adulterous wife, but one who is no longer worthy to be compared to a wife. This shows that the relationship (between God and Israel), was dramatically broken.

Israel then tries to justify her harlotry (vv.4-5), but God said, “I will hedge up your path way with thorns” (vv.6-8). Meaning, every time Israel went off the correct path, God would place a “hedge of thorns” in their way, to drive them back to the path of restoration.

Despite it all, Israel enjoyed great prosperity during the time of Jeroboam II. But she used her prosperity for idolatry and the pursuit of ungodly pleasures, so God would take away her prosperity (Judgment). And, as Israel felt her need and deprivation, perhaps she would then turn back to the LORD (vv.9-13).

When our relationship with the LORD is where it is supposed to be, our needs have a way of working out. This is the same principle Jesus taught in Matthew 6:33: But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Look to Him in all things brothers and sisters and your cup will never run dry.

The Truth: “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you” (John 15:7).

Hosea 1 "The Land Is Guilty of Harlotry"

When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry; for the land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking the Lord.” (v.2)

Let’s begin with a hypothetical question: If you found out that you were a victim of adultery, could you forgive your spouse? Imagine that the unfaithfulness was not a one-night stand, but a long affair. Imagine further that your spouse wasn’t very repentant and was even rather open about what he or she was doing. Would you still love your spouse? Would you want him or her back?

This question is asked to highlight the incredible love of God. When we–His people–are unfaithful, spurning the love of our true Husband, He continues to love us. He pursues us, wooing us back and disciplining us. That’s the picture we see in the lives of Hosea and his wife Gomer.

Hosea’s marriage and family were a living symbol of God’s message of judgment. In front of the nation, they acted out the relationship between God and Israel. Just as Gomer chased after other men, so Israel chased after other gods. Just as she dishonored the marriage covenant, so the nation dishonored its covenant with God (Jer. 3:8-9; Ezek. 16:32-34), and punishment was imminent.

But this is not the end of the story. God in His infinite mercy and love restored both the nation of Israel to Himself, and Gomer to her loving husband Hosea. What a beautiful picture this is of God’s love for us! Our loving heavenly Father, who would endure anything to reconcile His children back to Himself.

The Truth: “For you are all sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 3:26)

Ephesians 6 "Armor up"

"Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." (Ephesians 6:11)

In our reading today, the Apostle Paul shows that the Christian faces spiritual forces - rulers, authorities, and powers of darkness and wickedness (vv.12-13). These spiritual forces (not of flesh and blood), are directed by an even greater power, Satan himself - intended to further his schemes. With enemies like this, only spiritual defenses will do.

Fortunately, God in His grace has provided us with a complete suit of armor that can enable us to stand against these powers of evil; the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit (vv.14-17).

Although we may seem to lose an occasional skirmish, the fact that God has already provided us with salvation guarantees that we will ultimately win the war. Satan can oppose us but he will never be able to defeat us. And though we may lose an occasional skirmish, God has already provided us with salvation which guarantees that we will ultimately win the war. Satan can oppose us, but he will never be able to defeat us.

Therefore, armor up every day in His Word and serve God and Christ as faithful soldiers in this battle, and you will become conquerors over the dark forces of evil.

The Truth
“But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:37-39)

Ephesians 5 "Walk In Love"

“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.” (vv.1-2)

In our reading today Paul calls us to embody the love that God has shown us in Christ. Jesus gave His life as a fragrant offering to the Father on our behalf (v.2). As imitators of God, we are called to love one another just as God and Jesus have loved us. When we love one another, the world senses the presence of God in our lives.

Living out sacrificial love is one of the highest and most difficult callings that we have as children of God, especially in a culture that teaches us to demand our rights. Even in the church we can get caught up in wanting everything to revolve around our preferences. By voluntarily surrendering our own desires—even our rights—for someone else, we are imitating Christ. This has consequences beyond our own spiritual life, for God uses this kind of love to attract unbelievers to Himself. Therefore, walk in love.

The Truth
“I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.” (John 17:20-21)