INTRODUCTION

Hosea is primarily a love story, specifically one of redemptive love. The pain Hosea has endured in his marriage to unfaithful Gomer uniquely qualifies him for his prophetic ministry to the Lord’s unfaithful people. Failing to trust the Lord, Israel has sought security in foreign powers and false gods. Yet, as Hosea is eager to show, Israel’s unfaithfulness has not diminished God’s love for them. Hosea paints Israel’s spiritual adultery with vivid images, calling God’s people with both warnings and heartfelt appeals to turn back to the Lord. Failure to repent will result in punishment, but God takes no delight in that prospect. Rather, he desires them to turn from idols to him, their true husband and the only one who can provide for their needs.

The book, primarily poetry, is dominated by oracles of judgment. The first three chapters are autobiographical, recounting how Hosea responded to the unfaithfulness of his wife, Gomer, redeeming her from the slavery into which her unfaithfulness had led. In the remainder of the book, chapters 4–14, Hosea uses his experience as a parable to depict the Lord’s broken relationship with his covenant people and his intention to redeem them from their enslavement to sin.

Hosea spoke to the northern kingdom of Israel in the turbulent period of the 8th century BC. Following the death of Jeroboam II, Israel had six different kings in just over twenty years; four were assassinated and the last was forcibly removed from the throne. The rising empire of Assyria invaded Israel, and by 722 BC had completely conquered the nation and carried off much of its population into exile.

Israel had made the mistake of identifying the Lord with Baal, a Canaanite nature god. This identification may have begun innocently enough, since baal simply means “master.” But by the time of Hosea, the people were visiting shrine prostitutes, and had adopted the magical practices of fertility cults. Hosea repeatedly denounces this corrupted worship as spiritual prostitution. He also condemns the nation’s foolish foreign intrigues, its rejection of the moral law, and its callous greed. The people dismissed Hosea’s warnings, however, and simply mocked him.

The book is structured into two main parts. The shorter first part tells how God commanded Hosea to marry the unfaithful woman Gomer. She is symbolic of Israel’s wavering faithfulness to the Lord. The prophet’s own life thus provided a picture of God’s intentions toward wayward Israel. The longer second part contains oracles delivered during the decline after King Jeroboam, alternating hope and doom as Hosea both threatens and pleads with the kingdom of Israel in the last years before its exile.

NOTES: - Israel is the northern kingdom and Judah is the southern kingdom. - Judgment is never just a simple punishment, it is always meant to bring repentance and salvation to God’s people.

SESSION 1 - Israel’s Adultery Illustrated - Hosea 1:1–2:1

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READ: Hosea 1:1–2:1 (NIV)

Hosea 1

1 The LORD gave this message to Hosea son of Beeri during the years when Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah, and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel.

2 When the LORD first began speaking to Israel through Hosea, he said to him, “Go and marry a prostitute, so that some of her children will be conceived in prostitution. This will illustrate how Israel has acted like a prostitute by turning against the LORD and worshiping other gods.”

3 So Hosea married Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she became pregnant and gave Hosea a son.

4 And the LORD said, “Name the child Jezreel, for I am about to punish King Jehu’s dynasty to avenge the murders he committed at Jezreel. In fact, I will bring an end to Israel’s independence.

5 I will break its military power in the Jezreel Valley.”

6 Soon Gomer became pregnant again and gave birth to a daughter. And the LORD said to Hosea, “Name your daughter Lo-ruhamah—‘Not loved’—for I will no longer show love to the people of Israel or forgive them.

7 But I will show love to the people of Judah. I will free them from their enemies—not with weapons and armies or horses and charioteers, but by my power as the LORD their God.”

8 After Gomer had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she again became pregnant and gave birth to a second son.

9 And the LORD said, “Name him Lo-ammi—‘Not my people’—for Israel is not my people, and I am not their God.

10 “Yet the time will come when Israel’s people will be like the sands of the seashore—too many to count! Then, at the place where they were told, ‘You are not my people,’ it will be said, ‘You are children of the living God.’

11 Then the people of Judah and Israel will unite together. They will choose one leader for themselves, and they will return from exile together. What a day that will be—the day of Jezreel —when God will again plant his people in his land.

Hosea 2

1 “In that day you will call your brothers Ammi—‘My people.’ And you will call your sisters Ruhamah—‘The ones I love.’

THINK ABOUT THIS

What a strange command! God told Hosea to marry a promiscuous woman. Why would God tell Hosea to do that? How would that make Hosea feel in his heart? What was happening in God’s heart that he would tell Hosea to do this?

God did this to point out that the people of Israel had become unfaithful to him, just as a promiscuous woman would be unfaithful to her husband and family. God’s people had been following after the gods of other nations, even though all those gods were false and couldn’t do anything for them. Only God could provide for the people and care for them, but they ignored God and became spiritually unfaithful.

What happened to the household of Hosea? His wife, Gomer, ran away from home. She had affairs with other men. Imagine how this must have hurt Hosea’s heart. Then God commanded Hosea to bring his wife back (Hosea 3). If we were in Hosea’s place, would we want to bring our spouse back?

Hosea’s situation helps us to see how painful it was for God to keep loving his people and caring for them. Even though they kept turning away to their own destruction, God kept loving them—just as he keeps loving us today. Eventually, he sent his only Son, Jesus, to pay for all the sins of us fallen sinners and to take us back. What an amazing God of love!
author — Jang Ho Park

DIG IN

1. Hosea’s Wife and Children (1:1–8)

God instructs Hosea to marry Gomer, who will prove to be an unfaithful wife (Hos. 1:2). Hosea’s broken marriage will reflect Israel’s unfaithfulness to God. What does God’s instruction reveal about the nature of his covenant with Israel? (See also Ex. 6:6–8; Ezek. 16:8–14.)

“He went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son” (Hos. 1:3). Hosea was told by God to name his firstborn son “Jezreel” (v. 4), which points back to the wicked Israelite king Ahab, who murdered Naboth, a godly man from Jezreel (see 1 Kings 21). Ahab’s primary evil was to promote worship of Baal as the national religion of Israel. How does the naming of Hosea’s child and the story from 1 Kings 21 reveal the nature of Israel’s current unfaithfulness?

“She conceived again and bore a daughter. . . . She conceived and bore a son” (Hos. 1:6, 8). The wording used to describe the birth of Gomer’s second and third children suggests that Hosea was not their father, which is reinforced by the names given to the children: “No Mercy” and “Not My People.” What do these names reveal about what Israel stands to lose because of her unfaithfulness to the Lord?

“Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered” (Hos. 1:10). Hosea echoes the promise God made long ago to Abraham (Gen. 22:17; 32:12), a promise God would keep despite Israel’s ongoing disobedience. What do the things promised in Hosea 1:10–11 reveal about the nature of salvation?

SIMILAR SCRIPTURE

Zechariah 4:6 Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.

Isaiah 12:2 “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”

2 Kings 19:35 And that night the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.

Zechariah 9:9-10 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.

Hosea 11:12 Ephraim has surrounded me with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit, but Judah still walks with God and is faithful to the Holy One.

Psalm 44:3-6 for not by their own sword did they win the land, nor did their own arm save them, but your right hand and your arm, and the light of your face, for you delighted in them. You are my King, O God; ordain salvation for Jacob! Through you we push down our foes; through your name we tread down those who rise up against us. For not in my bow do I trust, nor can my sword save me.

Titus 3:4-6 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

Matthew 1:21-23 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

Zechariah 2:6-11 Up! Up! Flee from the land of the north, declares the Lord. For I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heavens, declares the Lord. Up! Escape to Zion, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon. For thus said the Lord of hosts, after his glory sent me to the nations who plundered you, for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye: “Behold, I will shake my hand over them, and they shall become plunder for those who served them. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me. Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord.

Jeremiah 23:5-6 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’

Isaiah 49:6 he says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

Isaiah 36:1-22 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. And the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem, with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer's Field. And there came out to him Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder. And the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours? Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me?

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Psalm 33:16 The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.

SESSION 2 - Israel’s Reconciliation Unveiled - Hosea 2:2–3:5

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READ: Hosea 2:2–3:5 (NIV)

Hosea 2

1 “In that day you will call your brothers Ammi—‘My people.’ And you will call your sisters Ruhamah—‘The ones I love.’

2 “But now bring charges against Israel—your mother— for she is no longer my wife, and I am no longer her husband. Tell her to remove the prostitute’s makeup from her face and the clothing that exposes her breasts.

3 Otherwise, I will strip her as naked as she was on the day she was born. I will leave her to die of thirst, as in a dry and barren wilderness.

4 And I will not love her children, for they were conceived in prostitution.

5 Their mother is a shameless prostitute and became pregnant in a shameful way. She said, ‘I’ll run after other lovers and sell myself to them for food and water, for clothing of wool and linen, and for olive oil and drinks.’

6 “For this reason I will fence her in with thornbushes. I will block her path with a wall to make her lose her way.

7 When she runs after her lovers, she won’t be able to catch them. She will search for them but not find them. Then she will think, ‘I might as well return to my husband, for I was better off with him than I am now.’

8 She doesn’t realize it was I who gave her everything she has— the grain, the new wine, the olive oil; I even gave her silver and gold. But she gave all my gifts to Baal.

9 “But now I will take back the ripened grain and new wine I generously provided each harvest season. I will take away the wool and linen clothing I gave her to cover her nakedness.

10 I will strip her naked in public, while all her lovers look on. No one will be able to rescue her from my hands.

11 I will put an end to her annual festivals, her new moon celebrations, and her Sabbath days— all her appointed festivals.

12 I will destroy her grapevines and fig trees, things she claims her lovers gave her. I will let them grow into tangled thickets, where only wild animals will eat the fruit.

13 I will punish her for all those times when she burned incense to her images of Baal, when she put on her earrings and jewels and went out to look for her lovers but forgot all about me,” says the LORD .

14 “But then I will win her back once again. I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her there.

15 I will return her vineyards to her and transform the Valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope. She will give herself to me there, as she did long ago when she was young, when I freed her from her captivity in Egypt.

16 When that day comes,” says the LORD, “you will call me ‘my husband’ instead of ‘my master.’

17 O Israel, I will wipe the many names of Baal from your lips, and you will never mention them again.

18 On that day I will make a covenant with all the wild animals and the birds of the sky and the animals that scurry along the ground so they will not harm you. I will remove all weapons of war from the land, all swords and bows, so you can live unafraid in peace and safety.

19 I will make you my wife forever, showing you righteousness and justice, unfailing love and compassion.

20 I will be faithful to you and make you mine, and you will finally know me as the LORD .

21 “In that day, I will answer,” says the LORD . “I will answer the sky as it pleads for clouds. And the sky will answer the earth with rain.

22 Then the earth will answer the thirsty cries of the grain, the grapevines, and the olive trees. And they in turn will answer, ‘Jezreel’—‘God plants!’

23 At that time I will plant a crop of Israelites and raise them for myself. I will show love to those I called ‘Not loved.’ And to those I called ‘Not my people,’ I will say, ‘Now you are my people.’ And they will reply, ‘You are our God!’”

Hosea 3

Hosea’s Reconciliation With His Wife

1 Then the LORD said to me, “Go and love your wife again, even though she commits adultery with another lover. This will illustrate that the LORD still loves Israel, even though the people have turned to other gods and love to worship them. ”

2 So I bought her back for fifteen pieces of silver and five bushels of barley and a measure of wine.

3 Then I said to her, “You must live in my house for many days and stop your prostitution. During this time, you will not have sexual relations with anyone, not even with me. ”

4 This shows that Israel will go a long time without a king or prince, and without sacrifices, sacred pillars, priests, or even idols!

5 But afterward the people will return and devote themselves to the LORD their God and to David’s descendant, their king. In the last days, they will tremble in awe of the LORD and of his goodness.

THINK ABOUT THIS

Marriage ceremonies used to contain the vow “I pledge you my troth.” The words would be considered quaint today, but it was a way of making a solemn pledge of unfailing love and loyalty. In more modern English we would say, “I will be true to you.”

The Bible often describes God’s relationship with believers in terms of the loving relationship of marriage. In the Ten Commandments he says, “I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God” (Exodus 20:5). That may sound strange, because often people think of jealousy as bad. But jealousy is not the same as envy. Envy doesn’t like it when other people have good things, and jealousy is about protecting things that belong to you. Jealousy can sometimes be distorted, but basically it is a sign of a burning love that rejects betrayal. In marriage, the bridal couple promise “to forsake all others” and be true to each other.

This God we worship loves us so much that he was willing to give his life for us. His love is forever. It is not here today and gone tomorrow.

In return, we must love God with our whole heart and soul and mind (see Matthew 22:37). It must be a total commitment. How could we run after other gods and leave the God who loves us so much? author — George Young

DIG IN

Israel’s Unfaithfulness Punished (2:1–23)

“Plead with your mother, plead . . . that she put away her whoring from her face” (Hos. 2:2). As if speaking to his illegitimate children, Hosea speaks God’s words to Israel, clarifying where their unfaithfulness is taking them and what will happen if they refuse to repent. Why is this worded as a plea?

The nature and results of idolatry are uncovered in this section, first in the words of Gomer/Israel (2:5) and then in God’s response (2:6–13). Based on this passage, how do idols deceive their worshipers, and how does God’s judgment increase in intensity when idolaters refuse to repent? Where do we see these patterns in our culture and our own lives?

“I will hedge up her way with thorns” (Hos. 2:6). Israel is determined to pursue her lovers (v. 5), but God will prevent her from succeeding. As a jealous husband who has been wronged by the infidelity of his people, he desires them to come to their senses and return to him. How are his actions here—hedging with thorns, building a wall, obscuring Israel’s idolatrous paths—actually merciful? What does this reveal about the nature of godly jealousy?

God will destroy the vines and fig trees, which Israel has attributed to Baal (Hos. 2:12). Unlike the salvation the Lord holds forth—an unearned gift of grace—idols always exact wages from their worshipers. In their unbridled pursuit of Baal, God’s people have forgotten him (v. 13; see also Jer. 3:21; 18:15). Review the warnings Moses gave to Israel before they entered the Promised Land: Deuteronomy 5:15; 8:2–3, 18; 15:15; 16:3, 12; 24:18. Based on his warnings, what specifically have the people forgotten?

The Lord’s Mercy on Israel (2:14–23)

Although God will punish Israel for covenant unfaithfulness, his intention is restorative, not destructive, which is made clear in 2:14–15. What characteristics of God’s love are seen in this passage, and how is such a love conducive to repentance? (See also Rom. 2:4.)

“In that day, declares the Lord, you will call me ‘My Husband’” (Hos. 2:16). The remainder of Hosea 2 presents a description of what life will be like when the marriage between God and his people is restored. Through a series of “I will” statements, God paints an enticing picture to woo Israel. How is the nature of true repentance, meaning “to turn around,” reflected in the promises God makes in these statements?

Hosea Redeems His Wife (3:5)

God commands Hosea to redeem his wife and bring her home. The fact that Hosea has to purchase Gomer shows the desperate situation into which her adultery has brought her. In like manner, God will redeem his unfaithful people, after which they will undergo a forced separation from all that has fueled their idol worship. What effect will this forced separation have upon God’s people, and what outcome does he intend?

SIMILAR SCRIPTURE

Judges 3:7 And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth.

Jeremiah 7:9 Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known,

Ezekiel 23:40-42 They even sent for men to come from afar, to whom a messenger was sent; and behold, they came. For them you bathed yourself, painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with ornaments. You sat on a stately couch, with a table spread before it on which you had placed my incense and my oil. The sound of a carefree multitude was with her; and with men of the common sort, drunkards were brought from the wilderness; and they put bracelets on the hands of the women, and beautiful crowns on their heads.

Ezekiel 23:35 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have forgotten me and cast me behind your back, you yourself must bear the consequences of your lewdness and whoring.”

Ezekiel 22:12 In you they take bribes to shed blood; you take interest and profit and make gain of your neighbors by extortion; but me you have forgotten, declares the Lord God.

Ezekiel 16:17 You also took your beautiful jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself images of men, and with them played the whore.

Jeremiah 23:2 Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord.

Jeremiah 18:15 But my people have forgotten me; they make offerings to false gods; they made them stumble in their ways, in the ancient roads, and to walk into side roads, not the highway,

Jeremiah 11:13 For your gods have become as many as your cities, O Judah, and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to shame, altars to make offerings to Baal.

Jeremiah 2:32 Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet my people have forgotten me days without number.

Jeremiah 2:23-25 How can you say, ‘I am not unclean, I have not gone after the Baals’? Look at your way in the valley; know what you have done— a restless young camel running here and there, a wild donkey used to the wilderness, in her heat sniffing the wind! Who can restrain her lust? None who seek her need weary themselves; in her month they will find her. Keep your feet from going unshod and your throat from thirst. But you said, ‘It is hopeless, for I have loved foreigners, and after them I will go.’

Isaiah 17:10 For you have forgotten the God of your salvation and have not remembered the Rock of your refuge; therefore, though you plant pleasant plants and sow the vine-branch of a stranger,

Psalm 106:21 They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt,

Psalm 106:13 But they soon forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel.

Psalm 78:11 They forgot his works and the wonders that he had shown them.

Job 8:13 Such are the paths of all who forget God; the hope of the godless shall perish.

2 Kings 21:3 For he rebuilt the high places that Hezekiah his father had destroyed, and he erected altars for Baal and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them.

1 Kings 18:18-40 And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you have, and your father's house, because you have abandoned the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals. Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table.” So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel. And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word. Then Elijah said to the people, “I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal's prophets are 450 men.

1 Kings 16:31-32 And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him. He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria.

Samuel 12:9 But they forgot the Lord their God. And he sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab. And they fought against them.

Judges 10:6 The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. And they forsook the Lord and did not serve him.

Judges 2:11-13 And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the Lord to anger. They abandoned the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth.

Deuteronomy 32:18 You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you, and you forgot the God who gave you birth.

Deuteronomy 8:11-14 “Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery,

Deuteronomy 6:12 then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

Exodus 32:34 But now go, lead the people to the place about which I have spoken to you; behold, my angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them.”

SESSION 3 - Israel’s Iniquity Abounds (Hosea 4:1–6:3)

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READ: Hosea 4:1–6:3 (NIV)

Hosea 4

The Charge Against Israel

1 Hear the word of the LORD, O people of Israel! The LORD has brought charges against you, saying: “There is no faithfulness, no kindness, no knowledge of God in your land.

2 You make vows and break them; you kill and steal and commit adultery. There is violence everywhere— one murder after another.

3 That is why your land is in mourning, and everyone is wasting away. Even the wild animals, the birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea are disappearing.

4 “Don’t point your finger at someone else and try to pass the blame! My complaint, you priests, is with you.

5 So you will stumble in broad daylight, and your false prophets will fall with you in the night. And I will destroy Israel, your mother.

6 My people are being destroyed because they don’t know me. Since you priests refuse to know me, I refuse to recognize you as my priests. Since you have forgotten the laws of your God, I will forget to bless your children.

7 The more priests there are, the more they sin against me. They have exchanged the glory of God for the shame of idols.

8 “When the people bring their sin offerings, the priests get fed. So the priests are glad when the people sin!

9 ‘And what the priests do, the people also do.’ So now I will punish both priests and people for their wicked deeds.

10 They will eat and still be hungry. They will play the prostitute and gain nothing from it, for they have deserted the LORD

11 to worship other gods. “Wine has robbed my people of their understanding.

12 They ask a piece of wood for advice! They think a stick can tell them the future! Longing after idols has made them foolish. They have played the prostitute, serving other gods and deserting their God.

13 They offer sacrifices to idols on the mountaintops. They go up into the hills to burn incense in the pleasant shade of oaks, poplars, and terebinth trees. “That is why your daughters turn to prostitution, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.

14 But why should I punish them for their prostitution and adultery? For your men are doing the same thing, sinning with whores and shrine prostitutes. O foolish people! You refuse to understand, so you will be destroyed.

15 “Though you, Israel, are a prostitute, may Judah not be guilty of such things. Do not join the false worship at Gilgal or Beth-aven, and do not take oaths there in the LORD ’s name.

16 Israel is stubborn, like a stubborn heifer. So should the LORD feed her like a lamb in a lush pasture?

17 Leave Israel alone, because she is married to idolatry.

18 When the rulers of Israel finish their drinking, off they go to find some prostitutes. They love shame more than honor.

19 So a mighty wind will sweep them away. Their sacrifices to idols will bring them shame.

Hosea 5

Judgment Against Israel

1 “Hear this, you priests. Pay attention, you leaders of Israel. Listen, you members of the royal family. Judgment has been handed down against you. For you have led the people into a snare by worshiping the idols at Mizpah and Tabor.

2 You have dug a deep pit to trap them at Acacia Grove. But I will settle with you for what you have done.

3 I know what you are like, O Ephraim. You cannot hide yourself from me, O Israel. You have left me as a prostitute leaves her husband; you are utterly defiled.

4 Your deeds won’t let you return to your God. You are a prostitute through and through, and you do not know the LORD .

5 “The arrogance of Israel testifies against her; Israel and Ephraim will stumble under their load of guilt. Judah, too, will fall with them.

6 When they come with their flocks and herds to offer sacrifices to the LORD, they will not find him, because he has withdrawn from them.

7 They have betrayed the honor of the LORD, bearing children that are not his. Now their false religion will devour them along with their wealth.

8 “Sound the alarm in Gibeah! Blow the trumpet in Ramah! Raise the battle cry in Beth-aven ! Lead on into battle, O warriors of Benjamin!

9 One thing is certain, Israel : On your day of punishment, you will become a heap of rubble.

10 “The leaders of Judah have become like thieves. So I will pour my anger on them like a waterfall.

11 The people of Israel will be crushed and broken by my judgment because they are determined to worship idols.

12 I will destroy Israel as a moth consumes wool. I will make Judah as weak as rotten wood.

13 “When Israel and Judah saw how sick they were, Israel turned to Assyria— to the great king there— but he could neither help nor cure them.

14 I will be like a lion to Israel, like a strong young lion to Judah. I will tear them to pieces! I will carry them off, and no one will be left to rescue them.

15 Then I will return to my place until they admit their guilt and turn to me. For as soon as trouble comes, they will earnestly search for me.”

Hosea 6

Israel Unrepentant

1 “Come, let us return to the LORD . He has torn us to pieces; now he will heal us. He has injured us; now he will bandage our wounds.

2 In just a short time he will restore us, so that we may live in his presence.

3 Oh, that we might know the LORD ! Let us press on to know him. He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn or the coming of rains in early spring.”

THINK ABOUT THIS

Like many of the prophets, Hosea spoke against religious activity that was not sincere worship of God. In the northern kingdom of Israel where Hosea prophesied, there was plenty of worship. But the worship of Baal had corrupted the worship of God. Priests, set apart by God for holiness, were now promoting the very opposite. “The more the priests increased,” God said, “the more they sinned against me” (Hosea 4:7).

Through Hosea, God reminded the people that renewal of the heart was more important than merely following religious rituals. “I desire mercy, not sacrifice,” God told them. Centuries later, Jesus said these very words to the religious leaders of his day (Matthew 9:13).

It seems that the tendency to just go through the motions of worship confronts every generation of God’s people. How can we avoid that critical mistake?

In 1 Corinthians 15:4, Paul writes that Jesus was “raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” Many have wondered which Old Testament passages Paul had in mind, but Hosea 6:2 is often suggested as a possibility. In Jesus Christ, mercy and sacrifice come together perfectly. His sacrificial death atones for all our tainted worship. And his resurrection restores us to a life of worship with which God is pleased.

If true worship is what you seek, stay close to Jesus. author — Peter Hoytema

DIG IN

No Knowledge (4:1–3)

As the Lord lays out his case against Israel, he accuses the people of having no faithfulness, steadfast love, or knowledge of him (4:1). Failure to be faithful and to love fit well with the marriage metaphor in Hosea, but a lack of knowledge might at first seem surprising here. Nevertheless, it is a key idea in the book. What does this section overall reveal about the nature of this missing knowledge?

In place of faithfulness, love, and knowledge is all manner of sins (4:2). God’s commandments have been willfully broken, and the whole creation suffers as a result (v. 3)—as it has ever since the fall (see Gen. 3:17–18; Rom. 8:22). What does this indicate about the nature of sin?

Accusation against the Priests (4:4–9)

God narrows his focus from the people in general to the priests, who were responsible for teaching the people God’s law and therefore bore a greater responsibility for the current apostasy. For what does God hold them accountable? The judgment for their failure will be rejection by God—rejection not only of the priests but also of the priests’ children. How does Exodus 29:44–46 reveal the significance of this consequence?

Prosperity has fostered a spirit of independence from the Lord, which has made the people callous to sin, and it will cost them their glorious heritage (Hos. 4:7). This is not the first time in Israel’s history that priests have abused their office (see 1 Sam. 2:27–36), nor would it be the last. Much later, long after the Jews had returned from exile, the priests again failed to carry out their high calling. Read Malachi 2:1–9. What similarities do you see between the actions of the priests here in Hosea and those of Malachi’s day? The repetitive failure of the temple priests points to the need for a priest who would keep God’s covenant and feed God’s Word to God’s people, and such a priest is found only in Christ, who fulfilled all priestly obligations (see Heb. 5:1–10).

The priests are guilty also because “they feast on the sin of my people” (Hos. 4:8). The sin here might be in reference to the burnt sacrifice the priests were required to offer on behalf of the people and which they were then entitled to eat (see Lev. 6:25–30). Far from carrying out their calling to provide atonement for sin, the priests have become greedy, and their privileged position will not shield them from God’s judgment (Hos. 4:9). Why do you think greed is a fitting description for those in pursuit of sin?

The Path of Idolatry (4:10–14)

The nature and outcome of idol worship are revealed clearly in this section, and one of the consequences shown is futility: “They shall eat, but not be satisfied” (4:10; see also Mic. 6:14; Hag. 1:6). The book of Ecclesiastes also emphasizes the general futility that resulted from the fall. How does Romans 8:18–21 uncover the grace of God that reverses this consequence?

Idols never deliver what they promise. God’s people had come to believe that the worship of Baal would result in increased fertility and agricultural fruitfulness, and their worship practices involving ritual sexuality mirrored this belief. According to Hosea 4:11, what led Israel to “cherish” these ritual practices and forsake the Lord?

A link is made in this section between alcohol abuse and sexual immorality, both of which can be aspects of an idolatrous heart. According to Hosea 4:11, what danger is posed by these two sins? How does Ephesians 4:17–19 echo this passage in Hosea, and what insight does it add to it?

The futility of idol worship is emphasized again in Hosea 4:12: “My people inquire of a piece of wood.” Worshiping idols is not only futile; it is ludicrous. How do Psalm 115:4–8 and Isaiah 44:9–20 further illuminate not only the folly of worshiping idols but also the destructive power of doing so?

Why does idolatry have intergenerational consequences? How is this depicted in Hosea 4:13–14?

Wrapped in the Wings of Idols (4:15–19)

Judah, the southern kingdom, is warned to stay away from Israel in order to avoid following Israel’s downward path. Specifically, Judah is to avoid the shrines in Gilgal and Beth Aven (4:15). Those two shrines had been set up in the north for the worship of the Lord but were a violation of God’s command that he be worshiped in one central place, which was located in the south. Read Deuteronomy 12:8–14 and 1 Kings 12:25–33. What do these passages reveal about worship that pleases God and about the temptations that work against that?

Israel, called “Ephraim” in Hosea 4:17, has become enslaved, wrapped in the wind (or spirit) of idols (v. 19). Twice in verses 17–19, shame is noted as the inevitable result. Based on God’s overall indictment of his people in Hosea 4, how specifically will this shame be manifested?

Adultery in High Places (5:1–14)

Hosea calls Israel’s leaders, both priests and kings, to account for their guilt because they have become a “snare at Mizpah” and a “net over Tabor” (5:1). The reference to Mizpah and Tabor points back to a better time in Israel’s history. What do the images of “snare” and “net” seem to imply? How does the wisdom contained in Proverbs 1:17–19 add to the picture here in Hosea?

“The revolters have gone into a deep slaughter” (Hos. 5:2). This is likely a reference to the child sacrifice of Baal worship. If so, it sheds light on how the leaders in Israel have promoted Baal. How is this likelihood reinforced by Psalm 106:36–38? According to the psalm, what underlies and fuels this horrific ritual?

Although Israel has failed to know the Lord, the Lord knows Israel. God sees that the people have become utterly defiled through idol worship and that “their deeds do not permit them to return to their God” (Hos. 5:4). Why do their deeds block the way back to God, and what does this reveal about the nature of idolatry?

Both Israel and Judah “shall stumble” in guilt (5:5), but this stumbling is no mere misstep. How do Isaiah 8:11–15 and 1 Peter 2:6–8 bring forth its ultimate meaning?

Because God’s people offer him worship only in pretense, they will not find him (Hos. 5:6). The ordinances God appointed for worship were meant to deepen the people’s devotion to him, but now the people practice them as a way of manipulating God. They have no qualms about mixing elements of Canaanite religion into their worship. How does Isaiah 1:11–15 shed light on why God has withdrawn from them?

A specific accusation against Judah’s leadership is that they “have become like those who move the landmark” (Hos. 5:10), which involved laying claim to land rightfully belonging to another (see Deut. 19:14; 27:17). After God brought his people into Canaan, he apportioned the land in a detailed way among the tribes of Israel (Joshua 13–21). In light of this history, why was land-grabbing so abhorrent in God’s sight?

“Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment, because he was determined to go after filth” (Hos. 5:11). “Filth” here can be translated also as “human precepts.” What renders human precepts analogous to filth? How would you define the human precepts of Hosea’s day that the people were “determined” to pursue? How about those of our day?

God has become “like a moth” to Ephraim and “like dry rot” to Judah (5:12). What do these images convey, and how does that imagery speak to God’s faithfulness in exposing the impotence of idols? The imagery changes in verse 14, where God likens himself to a lion. How is this image different, and what is its import here?

The Lord’s Appeal (5:15–6:3)

God will tear and strike down his people (Hos. 6:1), but rather than driving them farther from him, the punishment will bring healing and restore them to a right knowledge of God. How is this expressed in 6:3? What does this teach us about God and his ways?

“After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him” (Hos. 6:2). How do Hosea’s words here point to what underlies all repentance and the restoration of God’s people? How does Luke 24:44–47 reveal this truth?

SIMILAR SCRIPTURE

Jeremiah 4:22 “For my people are foolish; they know me not; they are stupid children; they have no understanding. They are ‘wise’—in doing evil! But how to do good they know not.”

Micah 6:2 Hear, you mountains, the indictment of the Lord, and you enduring foundations of the earth, for the Lord has an indictment against his people, and he will contend with Israel.

Isaiah 3:13-14 The Lord has taken his place to contend; he stands to judge peoples. The Lord will enter into judgment with the elders and princes of his people: “It is you who have devoured the vineyard, the spoil of the poor is in your houses.

Hosea 12:2 The Lord has an indictment against Judah and will punish Jacob according to his ways; he will repay him according to his deeds.

Jeremiah 25:31 The clamor will resound to the ends of the earth, for the Lord has an indictment against the nations; he is entering into judgment with all flesh, and the wicked he will put to the sword, declares the Lord.’

Jeremiah 5:4 Then I said, “These are only the poor; they have no sense; for they do not know the way of the Lord, the justice of their God.

Isaiah 34:1 Draw near, O nations, to hear, and give attention, O peoples! Let the earth hear, and all that fills it; the world, and all that comes from it.

Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.

Revelation 2:29 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Revelation 2:11 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.’

1 Corinthians 15:34 Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.

Romans 1:28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.

John 8:55 But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word.

Micah 7:2-5 The godly has perished from the earth, and there is no one upright among mankind; they all lie in wait for blood, and each hunts the other with a net. Their hands are on what is evil, to do it well; the prince and the judge ask for a bribe, and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul; thus they weave it together. The best of them is like a brier, the most upright of them a thorn hedge. The day of your watchmen, of your punishment, has come; now their confusion is at hand. Put no trust in a neighbor; have no confidence in a friend; guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your arms;

Amos 7:16 Now therefore hear the word of the Lord. “You say, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel, and do not preach against the house of Isaac.’

Jeremiah 34:4 Yet hear the word of the Lord, O Zedekiah king of Judah! Thus says the Lord concerning you: ‘You shall not die by the sword.

Jeremiah 19:3 You shall say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing such disaster upon this place that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle.

Jeremiah 9:20 Hear, O women, the word of the Lord, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth; teach to your daughters a lament, and each to her neighbor a dirge.

Jeremiah 7:28 And you shall say to them, ‘This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, and did not accept discipline; truth has perished; it is cut off from their lips.

Jeremiah 7:2-6 “Stand in the gate of the Lord's house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the Lord, all you men of Judah who enter these gates to worship the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’ “For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another, if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm,

Jeremiah 6:13 “For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for unjust gain; and from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely.

Jeremiah 4:28 “For this the earth shall mourn, and the heavens above be dark; for I have spoken; I have purposed; I have not relented, nor will I turn back.”

Jeremiah 2:4 Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the clans of the house of Israel.

Isaiah 66:5 Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble at his word: “Your brothers who hate you and cast you out for my name's sake have said, ‘Let the Lord be glorified, that we may see your joy’; but it is they who shall be put to shame.

Isaiah 59:13-15 transgressing, and denying the Lord, and turning back from following our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart lying words. Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands far away; for truth has stumbled in the public squares, and uprightness cannot enter. Truth is lacking, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. The Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice.

Isaiah 34:8 For the Lord has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.

Isaiah 28:14 Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers, who rule this people in Jerusalem!

Isaiah 5:3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard.

Isaiah 1:10 Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom! Give ear to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah!

1 Kings 22:19 And Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing beside him on his right hand and on his left;

SESSION 4 - Israel’s All-Encompassing Evil (Hosea 6:4–9:17)

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READ: Hosea 6:4–9:17 (NIV)

Hosea 6

4 “O Israel and Judah, what should I do with you?” asks the LORD . “For your love vanishes like the morning mist and disappears like dew in the sunlight.

5 I sent my prophets to cut you to pieces— to slaughter you with my words, with judgments as inescapable as light.

6 I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings.

7 But like Adam, you broke my covenant and betrayed my trust.

8 “Gilead is a city of sinners, tracked with footprints of blood.

9 Priests form bands of robbers, waiting in ambush for their victims. They murder travelers along the road to Shechem and practice every kind of sin.

10 Yes, I have seen something horrible in Ephraim and Israel: My people are defiled by prostituting themselves with other gods!

11 “O Judah, a harvest of punishment is also waiting for you, though I wanted to restore the fortunes of my people.

Hosea 7

1 “I want to heal Israel, but its sins are too great. Samaria is filled with liars. Thieves are on the inside and bandits on the outside!

2 Its people don’t realize that I am watching them. Their sinful deeds are all around them, and I see them all.

3 “The people entertain the king with their wickedness, and the princes laugh at their lies.

4 They are all adulterers, always aflame with lust. They are like an oven that is kept hot while the baker is kneading the dough.

5 On royal holidays, the princes get drunk with wine, carousing with those who mock them.

6 Their hearts are like an oven blazing with intrigue. Their plot smolders through the night, and in the morning it breaks out like a raging fire.

7 Burning like an oven, they consume their leaders. They kill their kings one after another, and no one cries to me for help.

8 “The people of Israel mingle with godless foreigners, making themselves as worthless as a half-baked cake!

9 Worshiping foreign gods has sapped their strength, but they don’t even know it. Their hair is gray, but they don’t realize they’re old and weak.

10 Their arrogance testifies against them, yet they don’t return to the LORD their God or even try to find him.

11 “The people of Israel have become like silly, witless doves, first calling to Egypt, then flying to Assyria for help.

12 But as they fly about, I will throw my net over them and bring them down like a bird from the sky. I will punish them for all the evil they do.

13 “What sorrow awaits those who have deserted me! Let them die, for they have rebelled against me. I wanted to redeem them, but they have told lies about me.

14 They do not cry out to me with sincere hearts. Instead, they sit on their couches and wail. They cut themselves, begging foreign gods for grain and new wine, and they turn away from me.

15 I trained them and made them strong, yet now they plot evil against me.

16 They look everywhere except to the Most High. They are as useless as a crooked bow. Their leaders will be killed by their enemies because of their insolence toward me. Then the people of Egypt will laugh at them.

Hosea 8

Israel to Reap the Whirlwind

1 “Sound the alarm! The enemy descends like an eagle on the people of the LORD, for they have broken my covenant and revolted against my law.

2 Now Israel pleads with me, ‘Help us, for you are our God!’

3 But it is too late. The people of Israel have rejected what is good, and now their enemies will chase after them.

4 The people have appointed kings without my consent, and princes without my approval. By making idols for themselves from their silver and gold, they have brought about their own destruction.

5 “O Samaria, I reject this calf— this idol you have made. My fury burns against you. How long will you be incapable of innocence?

6 This calf you worship, O Israel, was crafted by your own hands! It is not God! Therefore, it must be smashed to bits.

7 “They have planted the wind and will harvest the whirlwind. The stalks of grain wither and produce nothing to eat. And even if there is any grain, foreigners will eat it.

8 The people of Israel have been swallowed up; they lie among the nations like an old discarded pot.

9 Like a wild donkey looking for a mate, they have gone up to Assyria. The people of Israel have sold themselves— sold themselves to many lovers.

10 But though they have sold themselves to many allies, I will now gather them together for judgment. Then they will writhe under the burden of the great king.

11 “Israel has built many altars to take away sin, but these very altars became places for sinning!

12 Even though I gave them all my laws, they act as if those laws don’t apply to them.

13 The people love to offer sacrifices to me, feasting on the meat, but I do not accept their sacrifices. I will hold my people accountable for their sins, and I will punish them. They will return to Egypt.

14 Israel has forgotten its Maker and built great palaces, and Judah has fortified its cities. Therefore, I will send down fire on their cities and will burn up their fortresses.”

Hosea 9

Punishment for Israel

1 O people of Israel, do not rejoice as other nations do. For you have been unfaithful to your God, hiring yourselves out like prostitutes, worshiping other gods on every threshing floor.

2 So now your harvests will be too small to feed you. There will be no grapes for making new wine.

3 You may no longer stay here in the LORD ’s land. Instead, you will return to Egypt, and in Assyria you will eat food that is ceremonially unclean.

4 There you will make no offerings of wine to the LORD . None of your sacrifices there will please him. They will be unclean, like food touched by a person in mourning. All who present such sacrifices will be defiled. They may eat this food themselves, but they may not offer it to the LORD .

5 What then will you do on festival days? How will you observe the LORD ’s festivals?

6 Even if you escape destruction from Assyria, Egypt will conquer you, and Memphis will bury you. Nettles will take over your treasures of silver; thistles will invade your ruined homes.

7 The time of Israel’s punishment has come; the day of payment is here. Soon Israel will know this all too well. Because of your great sin and hostility, you say, “The prophets are crazy and the inspired men are fools!”

8 The prophet is a watchman over Israel for my God, yet traps are laid for him wherever he goes. He faces hostility even in the house of God.

9 The things my people do are as depraved as what they did in Gibeah long ago. God will not forget. He will surely punish them for their sins.

10 The LORD says, “O Israel, when I first found you, it was like finding fresh grapes in the desert. When I saw your ancestors, it was like seeing the first ripe figs of the season. But then they deserted me for Baal-peor, giving themselves to that shameful idol. Soon they became vile, as vile as the god they worshiped.

11 The glory of Israel will fly away like a bird, for your children will not be born or grow in the womb or even be conceived.

12 Even if you do have children who grow up, I will take them from you. It will be a terrible day when I turn away and leave you alone.

13 I have watched Israel become as beautiful as Tyre. But now Israel will bring out her children for slaughter.”

14 O LORD, what should I request for your people? I will ask for wombs that don’t give birth and breasts that give no milk.

15 The LORD says, “All their wickedness began at Gilgal; there I began to hate them. I will drive them from my land because of their evil actions. I will love them no more because all their leaders are rebels.

16 The people of Israel are struck down. Their roots are dried up, and they will bear no more fruit. And if they give birth, I will slaughter their beloved children.”

17 My God will reject the people of Israel because they will not listen or obey. They will be wanderers, homeless among the nations.

THINK ABOUT THIS

The book of Exodus tells of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt, in which God, through Moses, led his people out of slavery. In the Old Testament this event was remembered each year in the celebration of the Passover, and in Christianity it is recalled in the same Passover week leading up to Good Friday and Easter. The New Testament shows that Jesus himself became the final Passover sacrifice when he laid down his life to free God’s people from their slavery to sin.

Matthew notes the infant Jesus’ flight to Egypt to point out that God’s Messiah not only would be called out of Egypt, but also would free his people from captivity once and for all.

We remember Egypt as a place of slavery. And in paying the price for our sin, Jesus set us free from our slavery to sin—whether that be addiction to alcohol or drugs, negative self-talk, a life of constant searching, or plaguing doubts that keep us from experiencing God’s love. Jesus sets us free from the tyrannies of sin, whether they be evil inclinations like arrogance, character flaws like deceit, moral failures like sexual infidelities, or selfish actions like greed.

We live no longer as slaves of our sin. Jesus brings us to new life in which we are restored to God and to each other. Welcome to new life in the presence of God because of Jesus! author — Dean Deppe

DIG IN

The Broken Heart of God (6:4–7:3)

God’s grief over the hard-heartedness of his people is clear in the cry to both Ephraim and Judah: “What shall I do with you?” (6:4). The reason for his outburst immediately follows: their love for him is pretense. How is this love described, and how does it contrast with that depicted in 6:1–3?

“My judgment goes forth as the light” (6:5; see also Isa. 51:4). Despite the fickle love of Ephraim and Judah, God continues to call them to repentance. In what way does God’s judgment serve as light? See also John 3:19–21.

The sort of love God wants from his people is evidenced in covenant faithfulness and committed pursuit of him (Hos. 6:6). With what has Israel been attempting to placate God; and why, given that sacrifice was required by the covenant, did these efforts displease him? In what ways are we prone to the same thing?

In what way has Israel transgressed the covenant “like Adam” (6:7; compare Gen. 2:16–17; 3:17)? What link is made between Adam and the people of Hosea’s day by the apostle Paul in Romans 5:12–18?

“They do not consider that I remember all their evil” (Hos. 7:2). Despite the loud and clear warnings of the prophets, why do the people “not consider” that God sees their sin? Review your notes on Hosea 2:5, 13; 4:6–7, 12; 5:4, 11, 13.

Oven, Cake, Dove, and Bow (7:4–16)

Hosea likens Israel to an oven used to bake bread in 7:4, 6, and 7. How does the oven simile show progression over the three times it is used here? What does this convey about the heart of God’s people?

Israel is described in 7:8 as being like a “cake not turned,” or half-baked. The simile begins when Hosea denounces them for “mixing” with foreigners. What results when God’s people become indistinguishable from those who do not know him? Israel had mingled their worship practices with those of the Canaanites. Where do we see something similar in contemporary worship practices?

Knowing or failing to know the Lord is a dominant theme in Hosea (2:8, 20; 5:4; 6:3; 8:2; 9:7; 11:3; 13:4; 14:9). Here, in 7:9, the people do not know they are being destroyed by the very thing from which they seek strength. What light does this shed on the nature of sin?

Hosea also likens Israel to a dove, “silly and without sense” (7:11). What is Hosea conveying with this imagery? Why has Israel been “calling to Egypt” and “going to Assyria”?

Rather than turning to the Lord wholeheartedly, the people give themselves more fully to Baal, “gash[ing] themselves” in hopes of economic gain (7:14; see also 1 Kings 18:26–29). What lies behind the people’s bent toward self-destruction, and how is this folly exposed in Hosea 6:15?

SIMILAR SCRIPTURE

Deuteronomy 32:39 “‘See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.

Job 5:18 For he wounds, but he binds up; he shatters, but his hands heal.

1 Samuel 2:6 The Lord kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up.

Lamentations 3:40-41 Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord! Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven:

Hosea 14:4 I will heal their apostasy; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them.

Isaiah 2:3 and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

Jeremiah 30:17 For I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal, declares the Lord, because they have called you an outcast: ‘It is Zion, for whom no one cares!’

Isaiah 55:7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

Job 34:29 When he is quiet, who can condemn? When he hides his face, who can behold him, whether it be a nation or a man?—

Hosea 14:1 Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.

Hosea 13:7-9 So I am to them like a lion; like a leopard I will lurk beside the way. I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs; I will tear open their breast, and there I will devour them like a lion, as a wild beast would rip them open. He destroys you, O Israel, for you are against me, against your helper.

Lamentations 3:32-33 but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; for he does not afflict from his heart or grieve the children of men.

Jeremiah 3:22 “Return, O faithless sons; I will heal your faithlessness.” “Behold, we come to you, for you are the Lord our God.

Isaiah 30:26 Moreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when the Lord binds up the brokenness of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow.

Hosea 5:12-15 But I am like a moth to Ephraim, and like dry rot to the house of Judah. When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria, and sent to the great king. But he is not able to cure you or heal your wound. For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear and go away; I will carry off, and no one shall rescue. I will return again to my place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face, and in their distress earnestly seek me.

Jeremiah 50:4 “In those days and in that time, declares the Lord, the people of Israel and the people of Judah shall come together, weeping as they come, and they shall seek the Lord their God.

eremiah 33:5 They are coming in to fight against the Chaldeans and to fill them with the dead bodies of men whom I shall strike down in my anger and my wrath, for I have hidden my face from this city because of all their evil.

Psalm 30:7 By your favor, O Lord, you made my mountain stand strong; you hid your face; I was dismayed.

Zephaniah 2:1 Gather together, yes, gather, O shameless nation,

Jeremiah 30:12 “For thus says the Lord: Your hurt is incurable, and your wound is grievous.

Isaiah 30:22 Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. You will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, “Be gone!”

SESSION 5 - Israel’s Idolatry Overcome (Hosea 10 & 11)

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READ: Hosea 10 & 11 (NIV)

Hosea 10

1 How prosperous Israel is— a luxuriant vine loaded with fruit. But the richer the people get, the more pagan altars they build. The more bountiful their harvests, the more beautiful their sacred pillars.

2 The hearts of the people are fickle; they are guilty and must be punished. The LORD will break down their altars and smash their sacred pillars.

3 Then they will say, “We have no king because we didn’t fear the LORD . But even if we had a king, what could he do for us anyway?”

4 They spout empty words and make covenants they don’t intend to keep. So injustice springs up among them like poisonous weeds in a farmer’s field.

5 The people of Samaria tremble in fear for their calf idol at Beth-aven, and they mourn for it. Though its priests rejoice over it, its glory will be stripped away.

6 This idol will be carted away to Assyria, a gift to the great king there. Ephraim will be ridiculed and Israel will be shamed, because its people have trusted in this idol.

7 Samaria and its king will be cut off; they will float away like driftwood on an ocean wave.

8 And the pagan shrines of Aven, the place of Israel’s sin, will crumble. Thorns and thistles will grow up around their altars. They will beg the mountains, “Bury us!” and plead with the hills, “Fall on us!”

9 The LORD says, “O Israel, ever since Gibeah, there has been only sin and more sin! You have made no progress whatsoever. Was it not right that the wicked men of Gibeah were attacked?

10 Now whenever it fits my plan, I will attack you, too. I will call out the armies of the nations to punish you for your multiplied sins.

11 “Israel is like a trained heifer treading out the grain— an easy job she loves. But I will put a heavy yoke on her tender neck. I will force Judah to pull the plow and Israel to break up the hard ground.

12 I said, ‘Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you.’

13 “But you have cultivated wickedness and harvested a thriving crop of sins. You have eaten the fruit of lies— trusting in your military might, believing that great armies could make your nation safe.

14 Now the terrors of war will rise among your people. All your fortifications will fall, just as when Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel. Even mothers and children were dashed to death there.

15 You will share that fate, Bethel, because of your great wickedness. When the day of judgment dawns, the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.

Hosea 11

God’s Love for Israel

1 “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and I called my son out of Egypt.

2 But the more I called to him, the farther he moved from me, offering sacrifices to the images of Baal and burning incense to idols.

3 I myself taught Israel how to walk, leading him along by the hand. But he doesn’t know or even care that it was I who took care of him.

4 I led Israel along with my ropes of kindness and love. I lifted the yoke from his neck, and I myself stooped to feed him.

5 “But since my people refuse to return to me, they will return to Egypt and will be forced to serve Assyria.

6 War will swirl through their cities; their enemies will crash through their gates. They will destroy them, trapping them in their own evil plans.

7 For my people are determined to desert me. They call me the Most High, but they don’t truly honor me.

8 “Oh, how can I give you up, Israel? How can I let you go? How can I destroy you like Admah or demolish you like Zeboiim? My heart is torn within me, and my compassion overflows.

9 No, I will not unleash my fierce anger. I will not completely destroy Israel, for I am God and not a mere mortal. I am the Holy One living among you, and I will not come to destroy.

10 For someday the people will follow me. I, the LORD, will roar like a lion. And when I roar, my people will return trembling from the west.

11 Like a flock of birds, they will come from Egypt. Trembling like doves, they will return from Assyria. And I will bring them home again,” says the LORD .

12 Israel surrounds me with lies and deceit, but Judah still obeys God and is faithful to the Holy One.

THINK ABOUT THIS

Yes, it is time to seek the Lord. The duties, distractions, and drain of life demand that we seek the Lord! Without heartfelt seeking we are hollow people with empty hearts and lives. Life renewal comes only when we seek the Lord.

In today’s Scripture we discover how people in the Bible experienced hard times because they tried to live life in their own strength. Although the circumstances and places are foreign to us, we know that as long as we trust our own judgment, try to go it alone, or follow the way of least resistance, we find disappointment and maybe even disaster.

We were created to live in community with God. But how do we do that? It’s hard to be optimistic even about finding a sock lost in the laundry. How can we be optimistic about finding the God of eternity?

The good news is that we can be upbeat in our search—not because of our unerring sense of spiritual direction, but because of God’s faithfulness. God himself says through the prophet Jeremiah: “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).

God is found by all who truly seek him. And when we find the Lord, we discover that he himself has been seeking us. author — Jack Gray

DIG IN

A Luxuriant Vine (10:1–10)

“Israel is a luxuriant vine that yields its fruit” (10:1). Hosea uses another image, that of a fruitful vine, to remind Israel of better days (see also Ps. 80:8–11). Historically, their abandonment of the Lord coincided with prosperity, a connection also made in Jeremiah: “I spoke to you in your prosperity, but you said, ‘I will not listen’” (Jer. 22:21). In what way could prosperous conditions test one’s faithfulness to the Lord?

Hosea foretells the end of the northern kingdom, when the people will have no king. The people will be given what they want: “We have no king, for we do not fear the Lord; and a king—what could he do for us?” (Hos. 10:3). Their words harken back to the days when Israel rejected God’s kingship in favor of being ruled by a human king (1 Sam. 8:4–7). And while God did establish a monarchy for them—the line of David—it proved to be woefully inadequate. By means of this long, unsuccessful history, God will eventually restore the hearts of his people to acknowledge his rightful kingship over them. Israel’s growing despair with human kingship is evident here in Hosea 10. What do we see in verses 4–9 that evidences this despair?

God is going to discipline his wayward people, using the nations to do so (10:10). What does that reveal about how God works in the world?

A Trained Calf (10:11–15)

Israel is fixated on a fertility idol, so Hosea addresses them with agrarian images. The image of a trained calf (10:11) is another allusion to Israel’s beginnings. The Lord spared his people the yoke; they loved to thresh in his field (see Deut. 25:4). But that freedom was abused, so the people will have to be harnessed. What will result if God’s people submit to the yoke of his discipline?

The law of sowing and reaping is clear in Hosea 10:13. Because Israel has sown iniquity, she will reap injustice; by trusting in man rather than God, Israel has come to believe lies rather than truth. Think of a time when you “trusted in your own way” rather than in the Lord. What did you reap as a result? How would you define the “fruit of lies”?

A Toddler (11:1–11)

“When Israel was a child, I loved him” (11:1). The Lord is not only their king and husband; he is also their father and hasbeen since forming them as his own special people (see Ex. 4:22–23). He aches over them with a father’s concern for a wayward, rebellious child. Read Luke 15:11–32, Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son. How does that parable reveal God’s intentions toward Israel in the discipline they are about to undergo? See also Hebrews 12:5–11.

By means of the toddler image (11:1–4), Hosea recounts how God cared for Israel when the people were small and weak. What word pictures does the prophet use to describe God’s care in this passage, and what do these pictures convey?

SIMILAR SCRIPTURE

Matthew 2:15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

Exodus 4:22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son,

Hosea 13:4 But I am the Lord your God from the land of Egypt; you know no God but me, and besides me there is no savior.

Hosea 2:15 And there I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.

Malachi 1:2 “I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau Jacob's brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob

Hosea 12:13 By a prophet the Lord brought Israel up from Egypt, and by a prophet he was guarded.

Ezekiel 16:6 “And when I passed by you and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’

Jeremiah 2:2 “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the Lord, “I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.

Deuteronomy 7:7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples,

Hosea 12:9 I am the Lord your God from the land of Egypt; I will again make you dwell in tents, as in the days of the appointed feast.

SESSION 6- God Turns Israel’s Apostasy to Allegiance - Hosea 12:1–14:9

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READ: Hosea 12:1–14:9 (NIV)