Hosea 1:2-8; 14:1-9 (NKJV): When the Lord began to speak by Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea: “Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry And children of harlotry, For the land has committed great harlotry By departing from the Lord.” 3 So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. 4 Then the Lord said to him: “Call his name Jezreel, For in a little while I will avenge the bloodshed of Jezreel on the house of Jehu, And bring an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. 5 It shall come to pass in that day That I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.” 6 And she conceived again and bore a daughter. Then God said to him: “Call her name Lo-Ruhamah,
For I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, But I will utterly take them away. 7 Yet I will have mercy on the house of Judah, Will save them by the Lord their God, And will not save them by bow, Nor by sword or battle, By horses or horsemen.” 8 Now when she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, she conceived and bore a son. 9 Then God said: “Call his name Lo-Ammi, For you are not My people, And I will not be your God.
O Israel, return to the Lord your God, For you have stumbled because of your iniquity; Take words with you, And return to the Lord. Say to Him, “Take away all iniquity;
Receive us graciously, For we will offer the sacrifices of our lips. 3 Assyria shall not save us,
We will not ride on horses, Nor will we say anymore to the work of our hands, ‘You are our gods.’ For in You the fatherless finds mercy.” 4 “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, For My anger has turned away from him. 5 I will be like the dew to Israel; He shall grow like the lily, And lengthen his roots like Lebanon. 6 His branches shall spread; His beauty shall be like an olive tree, And his fragrance like Lebanon. 7 Those who dwell under his shadow shall return; They shall be revived like grain, And grow like a vine. Their scent shall be like the wine of Lebanon. 8 “Ephraim shall say, ‘What have I to do anymore with idols?’ I have heard and observed him. I am like a green cypress tree; Your fruit is found in Me.” 9 Who is wise? Let him understand these things. Who is prudent? Let him know them. For the ways of the Lord are right; The righteous walk in them, But transgressors stumble in them.
The Book of Hosea can be a hard read for some. I love it because it shows how much God loves us by showing us how He used Hosea to bring Israel to repentance.
Notice in the first Chapter, after Hosea introduces himself, he goes right to it and talks about how God told him, Hosea, to marry a prostitute. Why would anyone in their right minds marry a prostitute, you might ask. That’s a good question. When you read further, we see that God told Hosea that His People are acting like a prostitute in the way they treat His Love for them.
Notice in Chapter 14 we see God telling Israel to return to Him. We see that He basically is telling them He forgives them for what they did.
But there is so much in between these passages that you have to read to understand how He led them to repentance. Basically, throughout the Book of Hosea, God called them out for their wrongs toward Him. He rebuked them in how they worshipped, how they disobeyed His commands, how they treated others, etc. He pointed out to them how they strayed away from a life of righteousness.
If we take a look at Hosea, and it is only 14 chapters and can be read in it’s entirety in about an hour or less, hopefully we can see how we do many of the same things. Although this book was written for Israel to return to Him, we can also learn from it about the ways we go astray and hopefully, we can learn for Israel’s mistakes.
Despite how we disobey God. Despite our going astray. He loves us with a love that cannot compare to any. Because of this love, He gives us a way to return to Him and to turn away from our foolishness. We may not see Him use a prophet today that married a prostitute to see how foolish we are. He may use something similar in our lives to direct our paths back to Him.
Are we going to be like Israel who repented when He showed them their wrongs? Or are we going to walk a path that keeps us from being close to Him?
It starts with Our Relationship with Jesus. If you don’t have a Relationship with Him or you need to rekindle that Relationship, do it now. Call out to Him and seek his Love and Forgiveness. It really is as hard or easy as you make it.
We should look to Him daily to seek a relationship with Him. I want to encourage you to seek Him today, if you haven’t already. If you need help, have questions or need direction in this regard, please, feel free to let me know.
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Any scripture referenced here is taken from New King James Version (NKJV) unless otherwise noted
