Christ in Hosea

Week 9, Saturday: The God Who pursues and persists
God is sovereign, and has need of nothing beyond Himself. Yet God reached out to Israel in love. He sought them, called them, pursued and delivered them, bore with them in their rebellious ways, and loved them without fail. Yet for all this, Israel did not remain faithful.

Read Hosea 3 and 4

Meditate on the following passages from Hosea
1.  Hosea 1.1-11: God intended to use Hosea’s marriage as a sign and reminder to Israel of His love. How would you describe the love of God as revealed here?

2.  Hosea 3.1-5: How hard must this have been for Hosea? How did God expect Israel to respond to His pursuing love for them?

3.  Hosea 6.4-11: How did the ministry of the prophets demonstrate God’s love for His people? What do we learn about love from the work of the prophets?

4.  Hosea 11.1-12: Here Israel is regarded as the Lord’s child, and we can feel the Lord’s deep, unfailing love for His people. How can you see that this love of God was not conditioned on Israel and Judah loving Him?

5.  God loves the world so much that He sent Jesus to embody and proclaim His love (Jn. 3.16). Jesus reached back to the love of God as revealed by prophets like Hosea to validate His ministry as the Messenger of God’s love. How can you see that:

-        in Jesus’ frequent use of the example of marriage?

-        in such parables as the lost sheep, the prodigal son, and the good Samaritan?

-        Jesus’s words were not always easy, but they were always loving. Explain:

-        Jesus on the cross spoke of God’s unconditional love for His people. Explain:

Summary
Love moved God to save Israel. Love moved Him to care for her and to bear with her rebellious ways. In His love God confronted His sinful people, reminded them of His faithful love for them, and called them to return to Him. In love God pursued His people, wooing and calling and reaching out to them, even as they turned their backs on Him. Jesus came in the love of God, as the love of God, and with the love of God, thus fulfilling all the words of Hosea and the prophet’s concerning God and His love.

Closing Prayer
When He slew them, then they sought Him;
And they returned and sought earnestly for God.
Then they remembered that God was their rock,
And the Most High God their Redeemer.
Nevertheless they flattered Him with their mouth,
And they lied to Him with their tongue;
For their heart was not steadfast with Him,
Nor were they faithful in His covenant.
But He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity,
And did not destroy them.
Yes, many a time He turned His anger away,
And did not stir up all His wrath;
For He remembered that they were but flesh,
A breath that passes away and does not come again.

Psalm 78.34-39

T. M. Moore

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Each week’s studies in our Scriptorium column are available in a free PDF form, suitable for personal or group use. For all available studies in Hosea, click here.

A primary theme of the book of Hosea is Israel’s failure to keep covenant with the Lord. God’s covenant is a central theme and provides the organizing motif for all of Scripture. Learn more about God’s covenant by ordering a copy of T. M.’s book, I Will Be Your God, from our online store (click here).
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.