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- What attributes of God’s character does this passage reveal?
- How does the passage point to Jesus?
- How should the truth of this passage change me?
- How do the events of today’s reading help you better understand the grand narrative of Scripture?
Hos. 1-3
I watched an episode of “The Chosen” recently where Jesus made the statement, “I make people what they aren’t.” I see that truth in these chapters. The Israelites were not God’s people. They attributed all of God’s blessings to their idols; to anything but God. What better way to show them where those blessings really came from than to take them away? God sent destruction on His people; sent them into devastation and captivity. However, I love what He says about doing that here. “Therefore, I am going to persuade her, lead her to the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her” (Hos. 2:14). Though it seems like He sent her away, He led her. Though He removed His compassion from her, He never really left her. He did this so that they might know that He alone was their God so that they might live.
Each one of us is no different than Israel. We need to realize that it is God who sustains us, loves us, and gives us life. I also love the description of our changed heart that results from seeing God for who He is. “You will call me “my husband” and no longer call me “my Baal” (Hos. 2:16b). The footnote in the CSB gives the meaning of “my Baal” as “my master”. From obligatory service to genuine love – that is the change God works in us. He makes us what we were not – His people.
Hos. 4
‘There is no truth, no faithful love, and no knowledge of God in the land! Cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and adultery are rampant” (Hos. 4:1c). A line from an old country song ran through my head when I read this. “To know me is to love me.” A vain statement from a human, indeed, but so true of God! We do not really know Him if we do not love Him, and we do not really love Him if we don’t obey Him.
Hos. 5
Here’s another verse that got me thinking this morning. “Their actions do not allow them to return to their God; for a spirit of promiscuity is among them, and they do not know the LORD.” (Hos. 5:4). We cannot move toward God when we are going our own way. They are opposite directions. We cannot claim to know God if we persist in doing whatever we want. Truly knowing and loving God changes us. But in order to get there, we must turn from our actions and do things differently.
Hos. 6
The CSB titles the first three verses of Hosea 6 as, “A Call to Repentance”. But these verses are so much more than that! They don’t just call us to repentance, they tell us God plans to redeem us with that repentance. They show us that when we repent, we follow the same path as Jesus. We are wounded, but Jesus took our wounds on Himself so that we could be healed. And God will raise us up on the other side, just as He raised Jesus on the third day. We carry Christ’s suffering because He carried our punishment so that we can live in His presence and know our God.
Hos. 7
Many people view God as some kind of cynical father who destroys his children because they don’t obey him. But that isn’t the case at all. They look at statements like, “destruction to them, for they rebelled against me!” (From Hos. 7:10). But they miss the first part of the statement. “Woe to them, for they fled from me” (Hos. 7:13a). God is more like a father who walks a treacherous path with his children. He tells them to stay close to him so they will stay safe. But they disobey. They flee from him, believing that He is restricting them from all the good things that await them away from his side. So they run right into destruction. And the father laments. If only his precious children would have obeyed, they would have lived!