In Hosea 11, we went over God’s love letter to His people.  In it, God was wistful, remembering when faithfulness was more a part of His people.  Yet, looking forward, God stated that His children would come to Him, specifically from Gentile lands.    God had not abandoned those whom He called to be His own.  […]

It has only been a few months since Yahweh rescued Israel from their slavery in Egypt.  In Exodus 3:12, He had promised to bring Israel to Mt. Sinai and again reveal Himself–this time to the entire nation. Sinai was the mountain of God, the place where He put in place His [Old] Covenant with its […]

Still looking into God’s Ten Words (Exodus 34:28, Deuteronomy 10:4) to His people, we continue to understand what to means to live as God’s people toward those around us.   Read Exodus 20:15 –          What is God protecting in this verse?   Genesis 2:15-16: The Lord God took the man and placed him in the Garden […]

God and Hosea have both, almost exhaustively, called Israel to repent.  But Israel’s response has been only outward at best with still an unchanged heart.  And so, both God and Hosea have more to say.  We begin by hearing from Hosea. Read Hosea 10:1-2 In these verses, the Hebrew is not clear whether Hosea is […]

We have learned that Israel half-heartedly repented.  The repentance was not real repentance but only of outward show—and even the outward show of repentance was not convincing.  And so the harsh words for Israel continue.  Read Hosea 8:1-3 Hosea used a word to describe a bird overhead, ready to eat Israel.  The word can either […]

Still looking into God’s Ten Words (Exodus 34:28, Deuteronomy 10:4) to His people, we continue to understand what to means to live as God’s people toward those around us.   Read Exodus 20:14 We now take an extended look into this word from God as our culture, in many ways, revolves around one’s view of sexuality […]

In the last lesson, we made our way through Hosea chapter 5.  Through poetry, Hosea described what would happen to the Northern Kingdom if they did not “return to [God’s] place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek [his] face” (Hosea 5:15).  Today, we hear Israel’s answer. Read Hosea 6:1-3 –          How do these verses […]

After the people of Israel agreed to do all that God had spoken, God gave to Moses His Ten Words.  We went through God’s first word, which declared who He is as their God–the God who rescues, saves, and delivers.  God’s second word dealt with having no other “gods before Him,” which after their recent […]

Hosea had to buy back his wife (as if he were paying for her services as a prostitute).  Hosea provides us a picture of what God does: He buys us back, using His Son, Jesus, as the price.  After that, we learn that the priests in the Northern Kingdom were not fulfilling their teaching role.  […]