Christ in Hosea

Week 9, Thursday: God’s holiness vindicated
God’s covenant consists of promises (Gen. 12.1-3; Deut. 28.1-14), mandates (Lev. 18.1-5), and sanctions – warnings of judgment for disobedience. God made all this clear from the beginning. He is holy, and His Law is holy and righteous and good. In His holiness, and according to His Word, God cannot simply “wink” at transgression. Rebellion against His grace involves embracing His justice and the sanctions that justice demands.

Read Hosea 11 and 12

Meditate on the following passages from Hosea
1.  Hosea 2.1-13: Here God summarizes His “charges” against Israel and what He must do as a result. But this is nothing new. God is simply reminding His people of His covenant. How should this Word to Israel speak to us today?

2.  Hosea 4.7-19: When do the people of God deserve His justice? Do we ever not deserve justice from the Lord? Explain.

3.  Hosea 5.1-15: Is it ever “too late” to avert the judgment of God? In a community that comes under God’s judgment, are some more to blame than others? Explain.

4.  Hosea 8.1-14: In God’s covenant, you get what you choose. Explain.

5.  From the cross Jesus cried, “It is finished!” What was finished? Meditate on Romans 8.1. Why is this so?

Summary
Jesus bore the judgment of God against us, so that the justice of God could be satisfied and His covenant fulfilled to all those He has chosen for Himself. Jesus satisfied the justice of God both by His holy and righteous life and by His sacrifice for sin on the cross. We deserve God’s wrath, but Jesus has borne it for all who believe in Him.

Closing Prayer
O God, You know my foolishness;
And my sins are not hidden from You.
Let not those who wait for You, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed because of me;
Let not those who seek You be confounded because of me, O God of Israel.     
Because for Your sake I have borne reproach;
Shame has covered my face.
I have become a stranger to my brothers,
And an alien to my mother’s children;
Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up,
And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.
When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting,
That became my reproach.
I also made sackcloth my garment;
I became a byword to them.
Those who sit in the gate speak against me,
And I am the song of the drunkards.
But as for me, my prayer is to You,
O LORD, in the acceptable time;
O God, in the multitude of Your mercy,
Hear me in the truth of Your salvation.

Psalm 69.5-13

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.