Tag: Redeeming Love

Posted in Bible study, LGG Study

Faithful Love: Week 4, Wednesday Unaware of Disaster

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READ: HOSEA 9:1-9 AND ISAIAH 10:1-4; SOAP: HOSEA 9:9

Hosea Announces Israel’s Punishment

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[a] will bury you.
Nettles will take over your treasures of silver;
    thistles will invade your ruined homes.

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[b] 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.

Hosea Announces Israel’s Punishment

What sorrow awaits the unjust judges
    and those who issue unfair laws.
2 They deprive the poor of justice
    and deny the rights of the needy among my people.
They prey on widows
    and take advantage of orphans.
3 What will you do when I punish you,
    when I send disaster upon you from a distant land?
To whom will you turn for help?
    Where will your treasures be safe?
4 You will stumble along as prisoners
    or lie among the dead.
But even then the Lord’s anger will not be satisfied.
    His fist is still poised to strike.

Hosea was accused of being a fatalist by Israel when the truth is Israel was gravely unaware of the pending disaster.

Read today’s LGG Blog to see why they were so unaware –

Gibeah is remembered for several things but one especially horrendous incident is what God was referring to here when He compared Israel’s corruption to Gibeah’s. For the full story and the answer to today’s reflection question read the brutal story, at the link below, that God included in His Word for us to read – Reflection Question: In light of what we know about Gibeah, what possible good could come from God’s reminder and comparison of Israel’s sin to that of Gibeah? — Share your thoughts in the comment bar.

https://www.gotquestions.org/Gibeah-in-the-Bible.html
Posted in Bible study, LGG Study

Faithful Love: Week 1, Wednesday And on That Day

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READ: HOSEA 1:3-5; 2 KINGS 17:21-23; SOAP: HOSEA 1:5

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  (And on that day) I will break its military power in the Jezreel Valley.” Hosea 1:3-5

For when the Lord tore Israel away from the kingdom of David, they chose Jeroboam son of Nebat as their king. But Jeroboam drew Israel away from following the Lord and made them commit a great sin. 22 And the people of Israel persisted in all the evil ways of Jeroboam. They did not turn from these sins 23 until the Lord finally swept them away from his presence, just as all his prophets had warned. So Israel was exiled from their land to Assyria, where they remain to this day. 2 Kings 17:21-23

And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel. – Hosea 1:5 

Read why in today’s LGG Devotional

Reflection Question: How did God respond to Israel’s sin? Did God give Israel opportunities to repent? (see vs 5-20 to answer the second question)

Posted in Bible study, LGG Study

Faithful Love: Week 1, Tuesday Provoking the LORD

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READ: HOSEA 1:2 AND 1 KINGS 15:33-16:7, 1 Kings 16:23-34; SOAP: 1 KINGS 16:26

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.”

Baasha son of Ahijah began to rule over all Israel in the third year of King Asa’s reign in Judah. Baasha reigned in Tirzah twenty-four years. 34 But he did what was evil in the Lord’s sight and followed the example of Jeroboam, continuing the sins that Jeroboam had led Israel to commit.

 This message from the Lord was delivered to King Baasha by the prophet Jehu son of Hanani: 2 “I lifted you out of the dust to make you ruler of my people Israel, but you have followed the evil example of Jeroboam. You have provoked my anger by causing my people Israel to sin. 3 So now I will destroy you and your family, just as I destroyed the descendants of Jeroboam son of Nebat. 4 The members of Baasha’s family who die in the city will be eaten by dogs, and those who die in the field will be eaten by vultures.”

5 The rest of the events in Baasha’s reign and the extent of his power are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Israel. 6 When Baasha died, he was buried in Tirzah. Then his son Elah became the next king.

7 The message from the Lord against Baasha and his family came through the prophet Jehu son of Hanani. It was delivered because Baasha had done what was evil in the Lord’s sight (just as the family of Jeroboam had done), and also because Baasha had destroyed the family of Jeroboam. The Lord’s anger was provoked by Baasha’s sins.

16:23 Omri began to rule over Israel in the thirty-first year of King Asa’s reign in Judah. He reigned twelve years in all, six of them in Tirzah. 24 Then Omri bought the hill now known as Samaria from its owner, Shemer, for 150 pounds of silver. He built a city on it and called the city Samaria in honor of Shemer.

25 But Omri did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, even more than any of the kings before him. 26 He followed the example of Jeroboam son of Nebat in all the sins he had committed and led Israel to commit. The people provoked the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, with their worthless idols.

Hosea 16:25-26 – Read the rest of the story

Can you believe what God told Hosea to do? He had to marry a what? A prostitute? That´s a strange command.  

Read the devotional

Reflection Question: What did Omri do to provoke the anger of God? – Also, feel free to share your thoughts on Hosea’s situation. Responses can be made in the comment bar.

Posted in Bible study, LGG Study

Faithful Love: Week 1, Monday – Salvation is Found in the Lord

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WELCOME TO DAY 1 OF OUR JOURNEY THROUGH HOSEA! I’M SO GLAD YOU’VE JOINED ME AND PRAY THAT TOGETHER WE WILL GROW DEEPER IN OUR FAITH AND UNDERSTANDING OF GOD’S FAITHFUL and Redeeming LOVE. 

Read: Hosea 1:1 (if you like suspense, only read verse 1 today – otherwise, spoiler alert!) and 2 Kings 14:23-29; SOAP: 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. Hosea 1:1 (NLT)

Jeroboam II Rules in Israel

Jeroboam II, the son of Jehoash, began to rule over Israel in the fifteenth year of King Amaziah’s reign in Judah. He reigned in Samaria forty-one years. 24 He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. He refused to turn from the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had led Israel to commit. 25 Jeroboam II recovered the territories of Israel between Lebo-Hamath and the Dead Sea, just as the Lord, the God of Israel, had promised through Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath-hepher.

26 For the Lord saw the bitter suffering of everyone in Israel, and that there was no one in Israel, slave or free, to help them. 27 And because the Lord had not said he would blot out the name of Israel completely, he used Jeroboam II, the son of Jehoash, to save them.

28 The rest of the events in the reign of Jeroboam II and everything he did—including the extent of his power, his wars, and how he recovered for Israel both Damascus and Hamath, which had belonged to Judah—are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Israel. 29 When Jeroboam II died, he was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. Then his son Zechariah became the next king.

Throughout the book, Hosea will show us that salvation is found in turning to the Lord and away from our sin. … 

Read More

Reflection Question: Today’s SOAP passage is short and maybe less than exciting, but what, if anything, stands out to you about God and Hosea? I invite you to share your thoughts in the comment bar.

Want to know more? Read 2 Chronicles 26-28