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Isaiah 12:1-6; Isaiah 17:1-14; 2 Chronicles 28:16-21; 2 Kings 16:10-18; 2 Chronicles 28:22-25; 2 Kings 18:1-8; 2 Chronicles 29:1-2; 2 Kings 15:30-31; 2 Kings 17:1-4; Hosea 1-2:13<\/strong><\/span> Today Isaiah chapter 12 is a very short chapter.\u00a0 But it is a wonderful song of praise to God!\u00a0 Verse 2 reads: \u201cSurely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.\u201d <\/em>How does this verse resonate with you? Do you frequently sing songs of praise to the Lord? Do you trust in God? Are you not afraid? Is God your strength and your song?<\/span><\/p>\n In 2 Kings 16 today King Ahaz of Judah messes up big time\u2026\u00a0 Whaddya think about his idea to remove the bronze altar from the Temple and install an altar that was designed in Damascus?\u00a0 Think God will be happy about this?\u00a0 Essentially King Ahaz swapped his security in God to placing his security in King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria and his pagan gods.\u00a0 Stay tuned to upcoming readings\u2026\u00a0 Again \u2013 I come back to our lives today.\u00a0 Are we ever similar to King Ahaz in doing something in our lives that we know is not pleasing to God?\u00a0 Do we know what is right and what is wrong and sometimes choose what is wrong?\u00a0 Why do we do this?\u00a0 Can we stop doing this?\u00a0 If so, how?\u00a0 Might it help us to stop doing wrong things if the #1 priority in our lives today were God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit?\u00a0 What is the #1 priority in your life today?<\/span><\/p>\n Allright, today is a big day! We start the book of Hosea. Hosea prophesied in about 750 B.C. in the northern kingdom of Israel \u2013 which was rare.\u00a0 Most of the prophets were in the southern kingdom of Judah.\u00a0 Hosea lived during the final \/ last days of the northern kingdom, which ended in 722 B.C.\u00a0 Below is an image of Hosea with the five kings: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah and Jeroboam, and with his wife, Gomer, from a 14th century illuminated Bible:<\/span><\/p>\n ~ Hosea ~<\/strong> Hosea chapter 1 certainly stands out right away \u2013 with God commanding Hosea to marry a prostitute, Gomer.\u00a0 The purpose of this relationship is to parallel Israel\u2019s unfaithfulness to God.\u00a0 You\u2019ll note that the names of the children born to Gomer get progressively worse for the people of Israel \u2013 1.\u00a0 Jezreel, or \u201cGod scatters\u201d\u00a0 2. Lo-ruhamah\u2013`Not loved\u2019-\u00a0 3. Verse 9 provides the worse name that could be bestowed to symbolize God\u2019s relationship with Israel: \u201cAnd the LORD said, \u201cName him Lo-ammi\u2013`Not my people\u2019\u2013for Israel is not my people, and I am not their God.\u201d<\/em> Ouch\u2026.\u00a0 This is about as bad as it can get for Israel.\u00a0 \u00a0 Below is an image of Hosea, Gomer and their 3 children:<\/span><\/p>\n Fortunately, we see redemption in verse 10: \u201cYet the time will come when Israel will prosper and become a great nation. In that day its people will be like the sands of the seashore\u2013too many to count! Then, at the place where they were told, `You are not my people,\u2019 it will be said, `You are children of the living God.\u2019\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Whew!\u00a0 This applies to most of us reading this as well \u2013 Gentiles.\u00a0 This is the beginning of the mission to the Gentiles after the time of Jesus.\u00a0 Do you we believe we are part of this promise?\u00a0 That we are parts of the sands of the seashore?\u00a0 That we are children of the living God?<\/span><\/p>\n Chapter 2 is a powerful \u201clegal case\u201d against Israel and her unfaithfulness to God.\u00a0 Verse 8 stood out to me in this chapter today: \u201cShe doesn\u2019t realize that it was I who gave her everything she has\u2013the grain, the wine, the olive oil. Even the gold and silver she used in worshiping the god Baal were gifts from me!\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Do we realize that everything we have comes from God?\u00a0 Everything?\u00a0 Do we misuse any of these gifts from God in our life in ways that would not be pleasing to God?\u00a0 Could God bring a \u201clegal case\u201d or \u201clawsuit\u201d against us today for misusing his gifts to us?<\/span><\/p>\n Worship Video:<\/strong> Today\u2019s readings reminds me of Mac Powell\u2019s song \u201cNew Creation:\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \n
~ Click here to read today\u2019s Scripture on Bible Gateway ~<\/span><\/em>
~ Listen to today\u2019s Scripture with <\/em>The ESV Bible<\/em><\/span> ~<\/p>\n
Author: Hosea
Date: Eighth century B.C.
Content: The book of Hosea consists of two unequal parts, the first containing Hosea\u2019s life (chapters 1-3) and the second containing Hosea\u2019s messages (chapters 4-14). Hosea was a prophet to the northern Kingdom of Israel prior to its fall in 722 B.C., and his ministry spanned some forty years. He was a contemporary of Amos, Isaiah, and Micah. Hosea\u2019s unhappy marriage life depicted symbolically the state of affairs in his nation. Just as his wife left home for a life of prostitution, so Israel had left God to seek after false gods. But as Hosea continued to love his wife and finally brought her home again, so God continued to love Israel and promised to restore her someday.
Theme: Two things stand in marked contrast in the book of Hosea: the love of God and the waywardness of Israel. God is depicted as faithful, caring, forgiving, kind, and loving. God\u2019s unfailing love is the theme of the book. Israel is seen as faithless, straying, sinful, rebellious, and wanton. She is characterized by ignorance of what God requires and total lack of desire to please God. However, just as Hosea\u2019s love triumphed in the end, so will God\u2019s love work a miracle of transformation in Israel. (Above commentary is from Tyndale Publishers \u201cThe One Year Bible Companion\u201d p. 15)<\/em>\u00a0 A wonderful commentary on the book of Hosea by Hampton Keathley IV is <\/span>at this link<\/span>.\u00a0 Below is an image for the traditional tomb of the prophet Hosea near the Jordanian mountain called Jabel Osha (Osha is Arabic for Hosea):<\/span><\/p>\n