Hosea 2:14-18 (NKJV)

“Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
Will bring her into the wilderness,
And speak comfort to her.
I will give her her vineyards from there,
And the Valley of Achor as a door of hope;
She shall sing there,
As in the days of her youth,
As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.

“And it shall be, in that day,”
Says the LORD,
“That you will call Me ‘My Husband,’
And no longer call Me ‘My Master,’
For I will take from her mouth the names of the Baals,
And they shall be remembered by their name no more.
In that day I will make a covenant for them
With the beasts of the field,
With the birds of the air,
And with the creeping things of the ground.
Bow and sword of battle I will shatter from the earth,
To make them lie down safely.”

Now to lure her back. In the previous passage, the LORD frustrated Israel. Her chasing after other lovers got her nothing but failed harvests and canceled festivals.

Now God provides all the delights she thought she’d get elsewhere. That ought to get her attention. Israel’s eyes should be opened, and she’ll see what true love is.

“And it shall be, in that day,” says the LORD, “that you will call Me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer call Me ‘My Master,’”

God is using Israel’s unfaithfulness to take their relationship to the next level.

The cross kicks this up another level, but in a curious twist the language moves in the opposite direction. Post cross, God’s love is so obviously great that, “My Husband,” isn’t the usual term.

We’ve gone from failing to recognize God’s love to taking it for granted. We’re so used to it that we forget that He’s still “My Master.”

That’s why it’s so important to declare, “Jesus is Lord.” We need to be extra clear about those things we tend to take for granted, lest we forget.

All the weekly study guides, which include all five devotionals plus related questions for discussion or meditation, are available for download here:

https://www.ailbe.org/resources/itemlist/category/91-deep-studies

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https://www.amazon.com/Higher-Purposes-Lesson-God-Job/dp/1684719534