Just in case it slipped past you, the common thread throughout the entire book of Hosea that summarizes the root cause of their problem is their treatment of the Word of God. Why do they treat each other so poorly? They’re not following God’s commandment to love their neighbor. Why do they pursue false worship and false gods? They have discarded God’s Word to love and be devoted to Him alone. Why do they seek the authority and protection of surrounding nations? They have cast aside His Word of authority and protection for an earthly one they perceive to be stronger. God states repeatedly that their going through the motions of observing the rituals associated with the temple, festivals, and priesthood are to no avail because He knows that they’ve rejected the very Word that provided them in the first place.
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One of the human race’s common character flaws transcending race, culture, and time is its inclination to re-write history. As life unfolds, there is a tendency to interpret one’s past in a different light to conform to an image they’d rather project rather than the cold, hard truth of the original matter. One of the battles that seems to be fought by every generation of every culture is the degree to which history is re-written to fit the present.
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I would characterize God’s pouring out of His heart here as that of the perfect, loving parent. He has cared and nurtured us, guided our growth, observed our mistakes and even times of rebellion, but never lost the love and desire only a parent can have for its child. Parents always see the potential, always work towards bringing it to fruition.
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It’s actually quite a testimony for the grace and love of God that He provides so many opportunities to come into a right relationship with Him. He has invoked multiple communication channels so that there’s quite a variety, even overlapping chances to hear and respond to Him. Here are metioned three: “the prophets”, “the words of My mouth”, and “the judgments”.
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It doesn’t take a lot of Bible reading to find out that the biblical definition of “hearing”, “understanding”, or “knowing” is proved by the same, common thing: Doing. If you don’t put into practice what God has said, you don’t know a thing according to His view.
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Let’s summarize the amazing opening chapters of Hosea. God instructs Hosea to take a wife, knowing full well in advance that her chief character flaw is unfaithfulness. She bears Hosea three children and leaves him, apparently returning to a life of prostitution. God then instructs Hosea to take her back and re-establish a love relationship with her. Hosea finds her in the process of being sold into slavery, purchases her (the biblical term is “redeems”), and restores her forever in love. Is there anyone out there that doesn’t see how Hosea is a type of Christ, in that this is precisely what Christ has done for us?
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