Bible Reading Reflection from Hosea 1-7

[Originally posted in a WhatsApp group (JAC) as a daily reading update (reflection) from each chapter of the Bible] 

ℍ𝕆𝕊𝔼𝔸 𝟙

The life of a prophet is not easy. He was told to marry a woman, most probably not of his preference, for he must be expecting to marry a godly girl.

Then he was told to call his children awful names:

1. Jezreel — judgment on Israel (v4)

2. Lo-ruhamah — no more compassion (v6) 

3. Lo-Ammi — not my people anymore (v9)

   # When we read the prophets, we will see God's righteous judgment against sin, whether it be committed by His people or the Gentiles.

   # Also, we will see God's mercy even amid His serious judgment that whoever turns back to Him will be delivered.

   # Also, we will see God's faithfulness that He has preserved remnants (the faithful) because He remains committed to preserving and fulfilling His promises.

Judgment. Mercy. Faithfulness. Even the names of the children of Hosea reveal these three characters of God vividly!

 

ℍ𝕆𝕊𝔼𝔸 𝟚

I see the beauty of the book of Hosea. He first proclaimed judgment upon Israel, and then when we, readers began to ponder what has happened to God's promise of preserving His people, Hosea proclaimed Salvation of God.

In Chapter 1, verse 1-9 is the rejection of Israel. Then v10-2:1 is the restoration.

Then chapter 2, v1-13 is the judgment again, v14-23 is the salvation.

I think this is true in our life too. God chastises us in sin and blesses us in righteousness. He will lead us into trouble for our sins, but He, because of His faithfulness, will rescue us again.

 

ℍ𝕆𝕊𝔼𝔸 𝟛:𝟝

"Afterward the sons of Israel will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king; and they will come trembling to the Lord and to His goodness in the last days."

Hosea, a prophet of God would have divorced his wife just as Joseph tried to divorce Mary, the mother of Jesus. And once divorced, he cannot marry her again. She shouldn't be accepted by her former husband again according to Mosaic Law.

However, God has the habit of doing illegal things. He can because it is His rule! 😂 I remember God telling Abraham to sacrifice his son on fire! 😱 What an evil demand! Huh!!?? But we realize that's how He is going to kill His Son Jesus for us.

Hey, btw, He doesn't break His rules. Otherwise, He can't be trusted. It looks like He is changing His rules here and there from our not-that-smart perspective, but it's not.

So, coming back to divorce, God divorced Israel, and then, He took her back. That's illegal of God according to Mosaic Law. But again, Law is for man, God is above the Law!

And even here, God is telling Hosea to bring his wife back!

Now, I am not a prophet. I have no special revelation. I am not a special man. I am just an ordinary Christian; therefore, I cannot do as Hosea did. Hosea's life is a special episode because God wants to communicate His love for us through his life.

I thought of sharing from verse 5, but if I do, it will be too long.😬

 

ℍ𝕆𝕊𝔼𝔸 𝟜:𝟞

"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children."

Why is our heart troubled? Why is our life full of trouble? Why are we unable to navigate issues in our life? Why are we not prospering? Why aren't we joyful? Why aren't we living like a tree planted by the streams of water?

Answer: Lack of Knowledge, the Knowledge of God, the Scriptures, the Bible.

Albert Mohler said that our generation is the most illiterate generation in church history when it comes to Bible knowledge!

Psalm 1 tells us that a blessed person is the one who seeks to know God for he will be like a tree firmly planted by the streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers. (Ps.1:3)

 

ℍ𝕆𝕊𝔼𝔸 𝟝

v6. "They will go with their flocks and herds To seek the LORD, but they will not find Him; He has withdrawn from them."

Wow! God had withdrawn from them!

Did not the Scriptures say that whoever seeks God will find Him? But here they didn't find Him. In fact, God ran away!

Well, we see the answer in v15

"I will go away and return to My place Until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me."

They were seeking, but not earnestly. God seeks earnest seekers. God wanted them to acknowledge their sins. In other words, "confession" of sins (1John 1:9).

Did not the Scriptures say that God saved us while we were His enemies? How comes He is rejecting His people now?

Well, we see the answer in v2, it's chastisement. [Chastisement in the Christian understanding is not a punishment that will be suffered in hell, but a punishment in our present life. And of course, no matter how one may suffer in this present life, it cannot be compared to the suffering of hell.]

Is this the Old Testament God? Is Jesus of the New Testament different?

Well, Jesus withdrew Himself many times from the crowd. They sought Him. He wasn't found. When they finally found Him, Jesus rebuked them for their superficial seeking. They wanted physical foods, not Him. We may read that in John 6 especially v15, 24-27.

It’s interesting to see the teachings of the Bible are unchanging: both in OT and NT.

 

ℍ𝕆𝕊𝔼𝔸 𝟞:𝟙

"Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us."

Hosea was urging the Israelites to come back to God in the first-person plural pronoun "us". He identified himself with the sinning Israelites just as Jesus identified Himself with sinful humanity.

How we ought to urge one another, to encourage one another, to revive one another, to stir up one another in godly things, in repentance, and in all good works!

 

ℍ𝕆𝕊𝔼𝔸 𝟟:𝟙𝟚, 𝟚

𝕧𝟙𝟚. "When they go, I will spread My net over them; I will bring them down like the birds of the sky. I will chastise them in accordance with the proclamation to their assembly."

𝕧𝟚. "And they do not consider in their hearts That I remember all their wickedness. Now their deeds are all around them; They are before My face."

God is unchanging. He is faithful. What He says He fulfills. That's true too: to save and to damn; to reward and to punish!

In this chapter, I see how God remembers each and every sin wicked people have committed. And like fishing, He will spread a net to catch them. They will not escape God’s net. As a man sow so shall he reaps.

I thank God for the gift of Jesus Christ. God doesn't remember (to find fault) my sins anymore. Christ has absorbed each and every sin of mine. That's as far as eternal judgment (Last Day Judgment) is concerned.

However, God disciplines His children just as a loving father disciplines his child. So, every now and then, when I wilfully sin, He chastises me. His chastisement is bitter at the moment, but it's for my own good. And there's the peace and joy of God when I submit to His chastisement.

Chastisement against the believers and punishment against the unbelievers is different! BTW, God chastises unbelievers too.