A Study
of Hosea the Prophet
As I was
meditating on the notes I had written that led to this study, I was almost in a
doze when I heard this question and answer. “How do I stand in Your Presence
LORD?” “Very, very honest!” I hear The LORD speaking to me to not pursue the
natural life but to obey GOD!
The LORD
called Hosea, like He called all the prophets, He spoke to them. The difference
is that with none of the other prophets was His first Word to them a command to
do something that was morally and spiritually repulsive. GOD ordered Hosea to
marry a whore and have children. Isaiah and Jeremiah were ordered to do hard
and repulsive things, Jonah was ordered to do something that caused him great fear
so that at first he refused.
Hosea chose
Gomer and they had three children, a son named Jezreel meaning: “in a short
time I will punish the house of Jehu for having shed blood at Jezreel; I will
put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. When that day comes, I will
break the bow of Israel in the Jezreel Valley.” Gomer bore a second child, a
girl named Lo-Ruhamah meaning: un-pitied, “for I will no longer have pity on
the house of Israel. By no means will I forgive them. But I will pity the house
of Judah I will save them not by bow, sword, battle, horses or cavalry, but by
The LORD their GOD.” She bore a third child a son named Lo-Ammi meaning: not My
people, “because you are not My people, and I will not be your GOD.”
At some
point Gomer left and GOD told Hosea, “’…Go once more and show love to [this]
wife [of yours] who has been loved by her boyfriend, to this adulteress – just
as The LORD Loves the people of Israel, even through they turn to other gods
and love the raisin cakes [offered to them].’ So I bought her back for myself
with fifteen pieces of silver and eight bushels of barley.”
GOD was fed
up with Israel’s disobedience and rebellion and through all the prophets in
those days He kept warning them of His coming judgment. Hosea was just one of
them that He not only spoke through but used to show their sin and His mercy
and judgment. As Paul taught in 1 Corinthians 10 they are examples to us, GOD
is just as fed up with The Church’s disobedience and rebellion today!
“Come, let
us return to The LORD; for He has torn, and He will heal us; He has struck, and
He will bind our wounds. After two days, He will revive us; on the third day,
He will raise us up; and we will live in His presence. Let us know, let us
strive to know The LORD. That He will come in as certain as the morning; He
will come to us like the rain, like the spring rains that water the earth.
Ephraim, what should I do to you? Judah, what should I do to you? For your
‘faithful’ love is like a morning cloud, like dew that disappears quickly. This
is why I have cut them to pieces by the prophets, slaughtered them with The
Words from My mouth – the judgment on you shines out like light.
For what I desire is mercy, not sacrifices, knowledge of GOD more than burnt
offerings. But they, just like men, have broken the covenant, they
have been faithless in dealing with Me.” Hosea 6:1-7
Most of
Hosea’s prophesy is about GOD’s judgment on Israel, Judah and Samaria, but it
is intermingled with the promise of salvation.
“For what I
desire is mercy, not sacrifices, knowledge of GOD more than burnt offerings.” JESUS
expressed this truth twice: “While JESUS was in the house eating, many tax
collectors and sinners came and joined Him and His disciples at the meal. When
the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, ‘Why does your rabbi eat
with tax-collectors and sinners?’ But JESUS heard the question and answered.
‘The ones who need a doctor aren’t the healthy but the sick. As for you, go and
learn what this means; “I want compassion rather than animal sacrifices.” For I
didn’t come to call the “righteous” but sinners!’” Matthew 9:10-13. “One
Sabbath during that time, JESUS was walking through some wheat fields. His
disciples wee hungry, so they began picking heads of grain and eating them. On
seeing them, the Pharisees said to Him, ‘Look1 Your disciples are violating
Sabbath!’ But He said to them, ‘Haven’t you ever read what David did when he
and those with him were hungry? He entered the House of GOD and ate the Bread
of the Presence!’ – Which was prohibited, both to him and to his companions, it
is permitted only to the priests. Or haven’t you read in the Torah that on the
Sabbath the priests profane the Sabbath and yet are blameless! I tell you,
there is in this place something greater than the Temple! If you knew what “I
want compassion rather than animal sacrifice” meant, you would not condemn the
innocent. For The Son of Man is LORD of Sabbath!’” Matthew 12:1-8
It was the
religious leaders whom JESUS told “go and learn” and asked, “Haven’t your
read?” or “If you knew what”.
Read (314) Matthew 12:3, 5: (from 1097) to know again i.e. read
Learn (3129)
Matthew 9:13: to learn (in any way)–learn, understand
Knew (1097)
Matthew 12:7: to “know” in a great variety of applications and with many
implications (as follow, with others not thus clearly expressed):–allow, be
aware (of), feel, (have) know (-ledge), perceive, be resolved, can speak, be
sure, understand.
Salvation is
why JESUS came as the Son of Man, in obedience He did everything The Father
gave Him to do, “So also CHRIST did not glorify Himself to become High Priest,
but it was HE who said to Him: ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You.’ As
HE also says in another place: ‘You are a Priest forever according to the order
of Melchizedek’; who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayer
and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save
Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, though He was a Son,
yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffer. And having been
perfected, He became the Author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.”
Hebrews 5:5-9
If JESUS
learned obedience by the things He suffered, who are we to try to avoid
suffering. We should not look for it but we should not avoid it either.
Obedience is the theme of The Last Days so we better start practicing it now so
that when the time comes to obey instantly without question, we will!
