Hosea Redeems His Wife
3:1 And the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.” 2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley. 3 And I said to her, “You must dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you.” 4 For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods. 5 Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days. (ESV)
The Lord Accuses Israel
4:1 Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel,
for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.
There is no faithfulness or steadfast love,
and no knowledge of God in the land;
2 there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery;
they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
3 Therefore the land mourns,
and all who dwell in it languish,
and also the beasts of the field
and the birds of the heavens,
and even the fish of the sea are taken away.
4 Yet let no one contend,
and let none accuse,
for with you is my contention, O priest.
5 You shall stumble by day;
the prophet also shall stumble with you by night;
and I will destroy your mother.
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge;
because you have rejected knowledge,
I reject you from being a priest to me.
And since you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.
7 The more they increased,
the more they sinned against me;
I will change their glory into shame.
8 They feed on the sin of my people;
they are greedy for their iniquity.
9 And it shall be like people, like priest;
I will punish them for their ways
and repay them for their deeds.
10 They shall eat, but not be satisfied;
they shall play the whore, but not multiply,
because they have forsaken the Lord
to cherish 11 whoredom, wine, and new wine,
which take away the understanding.
12 My people inquire of a piece of wood,
and their walking staff gives them oracles.
For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray,
and they have left their God to play the whore.
13 They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains
and burn offerings on the hills,
under oak, poplar, and terebinth,
because their shade is good.
Therefore your daughters play the whore,
and your brides commit adultery.
14 I will not punish your daughters when they play the whore,
nor your brides when they commit adultery;
for the men themselves go aside with prostitutes
and sacrifice with cult prostitutes,
and a people without understanding shall come to ruin.
15 Though you play the whore, O Israel,
let not Judah become guilty.
Enter not into Gilgal,
nor go up to Beth-aven,
and swear not, “As the Lord lives.”
16 Like a stubborn heifer,
Israel is stubborn;
can the Lord now feed them
like a lamb in a broad pasture?
17 Ephraim is joined to idols;
leave him alone.
18 When their drink is gone, they give themselves to whoring;
their rulers dearly love shame.
19 A wind has wrapped them in its wings,
and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices. (ESV)
2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley. 3 And I said to her, “You must dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you.”
The story just gets crazier and crazier. First God tells Hosea to marry a prostitute. Then she runs off to other lovers and leaves Hosea. Now God tells Hosea to go buy her back. He has to buy his own wife back! Let me tell you, I would not want to buy her back! Totally not worth it! But this is exactly what God does. Christ paid the ultimate price for me on the cross. Yet how do I treat his gift? How do I treat his sacrifice? When I give into sin I am playing the harlot. When I love something more than God I am playing the prostitute. But God has bought me back. This makes me ashamed to sin. I need to always think about what I’m doing before I give into temptation. But just think about what an awesome God we serve!!! Time and again I fail, but God has already paid the price and when he looks at me he sees the righteousness of Christ. How awesome is that!!!
Most awesome Meisha!
Beautiful Meisha Meisha!
Hos 3:10a They shall eat, but not be satisfied;
Then: The Israelites have food and comfort and wealth and power but are never content or happy with what they have. They always need more…
Always: chasing after the things of this world is a fruitless waste (Ecc 1:14) and it will never make us happy or content. But Jesus does satisfy completely John 4:13-14 13Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.
Now: Drink the living water and be content! Then use it to do what He says today! Don’t be fooled by the comfort of this world or any of the ‘stuff’ it doesn’t satisfy. Only Jesus and He is coming soon so don’t be found unprepared, respond to Him today!
Hosea, chapter 4:
12 My people inquire of a piece of wood
So this is what it boils down to. This is what we end up resorting to when we snub our noses at the Word of God, what He commands of us, and how He expresses His love for us. The One and Only Love, by the way, Who ALREADY was seated at the right hand of the Father. Jesus Christ IS the One Who created us, gave us life, works all things together, and then came after us in our sick sin and our hideous and deluded choices to do such things as literally inquire of a piece of wood. People still do that today, with Ouija boards, seances, horoscopes, fortune tellers…in what ways doyou do this? Or do I do this? How is it that WE are looking somewhere else besides going to God and His Word.
As ridiculous as it may sound to consult a piece of wood, this is truly how pathetic and damning it is for us when we look anywhere but the Savior for our justification. May God open our eyes to any ways we live that He finds displeasing, shameful, or out of step with what He commands of us.
They shall eat, but not be satisfied;
this makes a really good point. we will eat and never be satisfied. the only way for us to be satisfied is to drink the living water. we will never be thirsty again. nothing else can comfort us. you would think that the things of this world would, but no, only the Lord can and His living water. amen.
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge;
because you have rejected knowledge,
12 My people inquire of a piece of wood, and their walking staff gives them oracles. For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray, and they have left their God to play the whore.
The People of Israel have turned from the Lord and the wisdom found in his Word. Instead of having the Book of the Law or God’s Prophets guide them, they consulted sticks and fortunetellers. It’s easy to look at the Israelites and think that they truly were naive people because they consulted sticks for wisdom and guidance. However, we are pretty much foolish in the same way when we reject the wisdom from God’s Word and seek guidance from other sources. Today’s source may not be a piece of wood, but it’s just as foolish. We use our friends, the message in a popular movie, or the lyrics of our favorite song as our source of wisdom. God’s Word should always be our guide. We should always be living our life in conformity to the Word.
Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” May I never reject the wisdom from God’s Word and turn to the wisdom of the world. The Bible needs to be guiding my every step.
Awesome comment!! This Book is a struggle for me to understand. Thank You!
10 They shall eat, but not be satisfied;
here, he is talking about all the things people will do, but only being with God can truely satisfiy people, not stuff
c u all later
Despite the hard times in Israel, there will come a time, as verse 5 in chapter 3 says, when the nation will look towards David as their king. This may seem confusing, because David was dead when Hosea was penned. What really helped me was when I went to 2 Samuel 7:12-16, where the Bible tells us that Davids throne will last ever through his descendants. Jesus Christ is the ultimate fulfillment of this prophecy, and so sometimes the Old Testament references David in the way that Hosea does here. Israel will return to God like they once did by seeking Christ! Much like like yesterday, God’s forgiveness is shown throughout today’s chapters. Even though Israel is shunning God, He still forgives them, ultimately because of Jesus Christ. God has also forgiven me through His Son Jesus Christ! I need to worship God and praise His Holy Name because of this awesome reality!!!
good post:)
THE MINOR PROPHETS are commonly skipped over in the Scriptures by many Christians today. That’s why it is so exciting we are reading them! But here’s why many people don’t:
#1 – THEY ARE DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND ~ I have already had several students tell me or comment on how it can be hard to figure out what is going on. Don’t give up! This is a time when reading other people’s comments are really going to help you. Also, you may need some Bible resources to look up for more help. One great tool I would recommend is a Study Bible. The MacArthur Study Bible or the ESV Study Bible are both good. You can learn a lot about what is going on in a chapter by reading through the notes there. I know that all of the new freshmen just got ESV Study Bibles when you graduated from The Narrow and I would encourage you to use them. This will really help with understanding.
#2 – THEY ARE DIFFICULT IN WHAT THEY SAY – For example in chapter 4 verse one it says that God has a controversy with the people of Israel. Literally, it means he has a charge against them like in a court. This is a chapter of God going off on how sinful his people are living. In fact, he doesn’t just say the people are in sin, but that the priests and prophets have not been teaching them the truth like they should be. Now God is pronouncing judgment upon them both.
9 And it shall be like people, like priest;
I will punish them for their ways
and repay them for their deeds.
Let us make sure that we are not like the people of Israel who do not have the knowledge of God and forsake his Word. Even if it is difficult to understand or in what it says to do, let’s stay faithful to get in God’s Word every day and obey our God so that he will not have controversy with us but rewards for our obedience!
Keep reading through these Minor Prophets with us and you will learn how to study your Bible better than ever, and as a result, you will know God more than ever before!
I agree Pastor Bobby. No one ever said understanding the infinite and eternal God would be easy, and I don’t think it should be. But with time and persistence my troubles with understanding have even washed away. The Holy Spirit figuratively turns on the light bulb in my head. I almost get it everyday now when I understand to Word of God! SOTD is awesome!
Hos 3:10a They shall eat, but not be satisfied;
we can never be satisfied unless we eat our daily amount of scripture. Only God can satisfy us 100%. Nothing in this world can satisfy our eternal hunger or thirst for the lord. Only seeking him each day will give us satisfaction.
3:5 Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days
When the lifespan of earth is drawing to a close, many people will look for God. Just look at all the “armageddons” we had/will have. Y2K. 2012. Around that time people will be extremely afraid of death because they will realize the uncertainty that comes after. Thankfully, us Christians don’t have to worry about that. I fear the Lord NOW, because I know Jesus will come back like a thief in the night, so I am ready for His coming. The people that postpone Christianity or reject it all together will also believe in God one day. The only caveat? It will be too late. That is a reason I give people I evangelize to why they should treat Christianity with the utmost urgency!
4:4 Yet let no one contend,
and let none accuse,
for with you is my contention, O priest.
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge;
because you have rejected knowledge,
I reject you from being a priest to me.
And since you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.
People are straying away from God in this time, and almost all of Israel is forsaking the Lord for idols and prostitution. But who is God blaming here? The priest. He did not give adequate teaching from God’s Word and He is not trying to get the people to turn back to God. So what does God say He’s gonna do? Punish the priest first.
While the only “priests” (pastors) in True North are Bobby and Ben, we have a similar responsibility as Christians. If there is someone we know that is not a Christian, yet we do nothing to help them turn to God, then God will not only be angry with them for not following Him, but with us for not making disciples! Verse 6 says “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” If people don’t hear the Word, how can we expect them to be saved? Evangelism, whether to our friends or to strangers, is the most important way we can reach out to others who are not Christians.
3:1 And the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.
Wow! In chapter 3 we see how even though we are sinful and commit spiritual adultery God still loves us and is waiting for us to return to Him. He is faithful It still amazes me on how such a powerful and awesome God loves sinners like me. What a mighty God we serve.
Chapter 4:
Again, another WOW! This chapter out of the two I felt was a little more intense. Basically, this chapter is a charge/accusation against Israel and their unfaithfulness. And in verse 9 it talks about how everyone with be charged for their sin. There isn’t a get out of jail free card. God knows what everyone did and even the priests will have to pay. This chapter somewhat reminds me of Revelations and the deceiving/beautiful prostitute and how there will be adultery. So this chapter is a BIG reminder to me that I need to follow God and be careful of all the sin around me not to be tricked or taken in by all the evil ways of the world. God is the way and I need to make sure my eyes are fixed on Him! :]
Hosea 3:10a “They shall eat, but not be satisfied.”
WOW! Yet another chapter full of somewhat confusing information. In my head before I started the chapters, I knew what I’d be reading would be confusing, but I thought I knew how to look at it. Then I got into it..my mind was a little overwhelmed, but I think overall, I get it. I really like verse 10 from chapter 3 because to me, its a general symbol. No matter what we do, no matter how much we buy, we will NEVER be satisfied with anything but Christ!! This verse, to me, reflects back on Pastor Bobby’s message last week on material wealth and where our treasure is. We can never be satisfied with things of this world, even though we strive so hard to. I think that is one of the main things for teens in this life to remember. We can’t be satisfied with this life! Even I need to remember that.
Great comment Megan! If it gets difficult to understand Pastor Ben wrote a blog about Hosea that gives some background info on the book. Also, it might be great to refer to a resource like a Study Bible for more information on what the specific verses mean! Keep getting into it!
Thanks! I read through his blog and used an online study-bible for some more information.
3 Therefore the land mourns,
and all who dwell in it languish,
and also the beasts of the field
and the birds of the heavens,
and even the fish of the sea are taken away.
For a lack of faithfulness and knowledge, this is what they got. Reminds me of the struggle between fearing God and fearing man-I can fall into the trap of being stubborn, as in verse 16:
16 Like a stubborn heifer,
Israel is stubborn;
can the Lord now feed them
like a lamb in a broad pasture?
There will be no true reward for the ways we are stubborn on earth, seeking to please man, and the consequences of being unfaithful are much greater than what would come if we chose not to please man. It serves as a great reminder of what stubbornness will lead to and how in the end it will not be satisfying.
Awesome comment Josh! It’s great to see you on SOTD! Keep it up!!!
10 They shall eat, but not be satisfied;
they shall play the whore, but not multiply,
because they have forsaken the Lord
to cherish 11 whoredom, wine, and new wine,
which take away the understanding.
These verses really stood out to me because it reminds me of all the stuff that I may giving into or giving all of my attention to instead of God. The things of the world are never really going to satisfy me! Yes I can get all the pleasure I want out of these things but in the end they are ALL gonna burn and the Lord is going to be the only one standing! He is so much more important and so much more powerful than the things that I cherish here on earth. The most important thing in my life should not be to get the new coolest thing but to live for God with all of my life! I can only find satisfaction through Jesus Christ!
MARANATHA!!!!
love seeing the n00bs postin it up on SOTD!!!
Yes Goudge! I love seeing the n00bs post it up too! It shows how legiT they are!
2 there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery;
they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
When people cuss, they don’t think it’s bad, they think its just a word and no harm done. I mean sticks and stones right? Wrong. We should be saying things that are uplifting to God and other people, not degrading and causing other to fall.
Overall this passage is pretty depressing, but it shows how there is nothing new under the sun! Now that I know that the world has been in this hole for like forever, I need to stop walking past it, but helping people up and out of it like others did to me. It’s like, us whose names are on the book of life are on top of the dog pile in the hole, and the ones who are on the bottom are hopeless.
10 They shall eat, but not be satisfied;
This verse is a great reminder to keep our eyes on Jesus! People who aren’t christians go and lives their lives searching for all the money in the world. Because they think it will bring them happiness and that money is just the best answer to every problem. But we need to remember thats Not true! Jesus is all that can truly satisfy! He is all that matters, everything else will fall away and burn in the end and none of it will matter! But christians will have the one thing that does matter, an eternal life with Jesus Christ.
Great Comment! So true, we should set our eyes on the things above and not on the things on earth! :)
Great comment Kellie! i love that your on SOTD now (: maranatha!
9 And it shall be like people, like priest;
I will punish them for their ways
and repay them for their deeds.
Once again, the God presented here seems different from the one that our culture wants us to believe in. The God of the Bible punishes people for their sins. He is perfectly just, and that should scare us, because we sin all of the time! 1 Corinthians 10:11 says “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.” (ESV). These things in Hosea are written down for me, so that I can learn from them! I pray that I can have more of an understanding of how much God hates sin so that I can be motivated to sin less.
9 And it shall be like people, like priest;
I will punish them for their ways
and repay them for their deeds.
Wow! Israel is definately into some deep trouble with God. In verse 9 God points out how He will punish them for all the bad things they have done and repay them for their deeds. Because Israel was going against God, it obviously didnt go unnoticed. God had plans to punish each and every one of them for ALL their deeds. Today, AMERICA is the new Isreal… people are sinning everday, and the worst part is, because everyone commits a lot of the same sins, people feel as if its ok to do that particular sin because everyone else is doing it. Sometimes when I do a sin and feel bad about it, I try to hide the fact that I did it, but really im just fooling myself, God sees EVERYTHING I do…there is absolutely no way of hiding sin from Him. So the only thing I can do is ask for forgiveness and try to never do it again. Im so thankful God died for me, so that my sins can be forgiven!!! MARANATHA! :)
awesome comment… It is almost scary how much america looks like Israel.
10 They shall eat, but not be satisfied;
Nothing that this world has to offer will ever fully and truly satisfy us. No matter what stuff we get here we always want something more or something better. We may think it brings happiness but it only lasts for a short time. However, God does satisfy and brings us contentment which, unlike worldly things, lasts for eternity! I need to not get so caught up with the world and what I want but focus my life more towards God!
Great comment Joy! Great to see you here on SOTD!
4:1 Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel,
for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.
There is no faithfulness or steadfast love,
and no knowledge of God in the land;
When God is saying that He is not pleased with people and that He is not their God (last chapter), what is His rubric? What does He see that He is not pleased with? He sees people’s hearts, He sees that their love for Him is shaky and they’re not being faithful to Him. Jesus says that the “Greatest Commandment” is to love God with all your mind, heart, and soul. God has to be you’re everything if your going to love God with all you have. I’ve been thinking of that and trying to apply that for the last week. Going back to steadfast love, it’s 24/7 Christianity. All of you, non-alumni’s don’t even know what I’m talking about ;). But, we gotta live for Christ everyday of our lives because the cost to follow Christ is to give everything away. You can’t live days without Christ.
I’m gonna read my Bible more and have Christ in my mind so that I can have steadfast love because I can’t have steadfast love without that.
Amen brother KJ! Praying that you will stand firm!
Good morning!!
Romans 4:1
Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel,
for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.
There is no faithfulness or steadfast love,
and no knowledge of God in the land;
This has happened many times with the Israelites. They have always been able to get out of it, but they eventually fall back into it again. This is representing how we live sometimes. We do not have faith or steadfast love or knowledge of our GOD. We reject Him and do what gives us pleasure. Just picking up the Bible or reading SOTD can stop that. We just need to be in touch with God and that will make everything better.
Keep it up Connor! Great comment!
Hosea 4:
10 They shall eat, but not be satisfied;
they shall play the whore, but not multiply,
because they have forsaken the Lord
to cherish 11 whoredom, wine, and new wine,
which take away the understanding.
First of all, verse 10 says a lot! No one can be satisfied without our Lord Jesus Christ. People can please themselves with worldly things and think that they are satisfied, but they are never truly satisfied. It is like something huge is missing inside of them and yet they continue to “please” themselves with their sinful desires. Without the Lord, we can do nothing and is it completely pointless to love the things of this world. I have this piece of flair on my wall on facebook that reminded me of this and it says “Life without Jesus is like an unsharpened pencil, it has no point.” The people thought that whoredom, wine, and new wine were giving them joy, but all it was doing was taking away their knowledge and understanding of our amazing God!
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge;
because you have rejected knowledge,
I reject you from being a priest to me.
The priests of the Israelites had not done a very good job of teaching God’s Word, so therefore the people lacked in knowledge of it and turned to other sources of “wisdom.” In this verse, God is directly reproaching the priests because they had also rejected Him. This makes me think of how thankful I am for the awesome Biblical teaching that I receive from Pastor Bobby, Pastor Ben, and Pastor Mike every week. I have heard the truth, and therefore have no excuse to be ignorant of it. I do not want to turn to worldly wisdom like the Israelites did, but rather only seek God’s Word because it is the only true source of wisdom!
8 They feed on the sin of my people;
they are greedy for their iniquity.
9 And it shall be like people, like priest;
I will punish them for their ways
and repay them for their deeds
God is a jealous God. If your God is money or some other form of greed or prostitution, you are not good with God. In fact, he is ashamed of you. Hosea is told to marry this prostitute so that he can see what this life will lead him too. The ways of these people were terrible. It still blows my mind that God’s “chosen people” acted so against his word. They were given everything and didn’t think anything of it. We live in the same sort of environment in Orange County. Look at where we evangelize every saturday. The Irvine spectrum is a bastion of greed. Orange County is possibly the easiest place in the world to get caught up in money and sin. Like it says in verse 10 “They shall eat, but not be satisfied;” What satisfies you? Money, clothes, cars, houses, shoes, and all of these things that people get caught up in will never satisfy you. The Lord always will.
12 My people inquire of a piece of wood,
and their walking staff gives them oracles.
Basically I must hurry and comment. :) SO I agree with all of what Slushie said. IT seems soooooo dumb that they worshiped a stick…Can you imagine that now? What the heck? I would be like, “are you guys retarded?”. BUT we do the same thing today! How silly is that? God is worthy of all our praises, and yet we put other things before BIble study, or we don’t take the time to talk to Him in our day because other things are “more important” or we’re just “too busy for Him”. I’ve said these things at a point in my life. MAN! That was when I got a check up on my heart done. God always needs to be number one in my life, no matter what may be happening, I don’t need to be worshiping sticks. Maranatha please!
I know it’s kinda late, but I saw you get your diploma and when they called your name, I screamed :D
congratulations!! :)
awwwww why thank you Michaela! :D True Christian support is awesome!
5 Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days.
God is going to punish Isreal for their sins, but he knows they will return when they realize the error in their ways and beg for mercy from God, fearing and in awe of Him.
But He’s not letting them off that easy.
7 The more they increased,
the more they sinned against me;
I will change their glory into shame.
The people of Isreal were out having such a good time ignoring God and sinning, God had to step in and take complete control.
He promised them that their daughters will be prostitutes, and that their wives will be adultresses, but they will not be punished, so all of Isreal is going to be out of control even more than it already is. They will be ashamed of what they have done, and understand that without God in control, life is a giant mess that can’t be cleaned by yourself.
God needs to be in complete control of my life, I can’t once think “I can handle this by myself” because I can’t.
I need to seek his guidance in everything I do, to avoid being punished like Isreal. I like to think of it like a car. How God should always be the driver, and I’m always in the passenger seat, making sure not to be a back seat driver.
Every morning I wake up and pray that I stay in the passenger seat today and can exercise self control and always pray and ask God what I should do before I make any decisions.
So I pray that I remember God is always in control and to realize I don’t know what I’m doing and pray for His guiding hand in my choices today, tomorrow, and for the rest of my life.
10 They shall eat, but not be satisfied;
This verse is talking about how we can never be satisfied with earthly things. God is the only one who can truly satisfy us.
10 They shall eat, but not be satisfied;
they shall play the whore, but not multiply,
because they have forsaken the Lord
to cherish.
Good morning! I have missed posting on SOTD and I just loved this verse this morning!!!!
HE gives us so much in our lives and we can easily get distracted with these material things. They are only going to last for just a little while when the Lord NEVER FAILS. He is so amazing and we need to praise him & give him thanks for sacrificing himself for us. HE is so holy and gives us our daily food, our nourishment, our health, our family, our house, our transportation…. HE GIVES US EVERYTHING! PRAISE THE LORD!!!!
“Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.”
I think we sometimes underlook God’s love for us. We can come to the position that it wouldn’t be that hard for him to love us, but it’s essentially like he’s loving us, when we choose to love anything but him. And that is a kind of love that I really don’t understand, but I really am grateful to have it.
They shall eat, but not be satisfied;
I see this everywhere, people wasting their time to fill their empty hearts with earthly things and pleasures. Nothing can fill the hole in your heart other than the eternal food of the Word and presence of Christ! When Christ becomes the focus of our life, we are continually filled with the Spirit, and earthly pleasures become more of a moderation than a priority.
I pray that I can remember that the things that seem important now are really wasting my time and hindering me in my walk with Christ.
“You must dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you.” -Hosea 3:3
Is not Hosea’s request of Gomer very reasonable? Shouldn’t a wife be trusted to be faithful to her husband? And God’s request of us is similarly, very reasonable too: don’t be, as the Bible puts it, a “whore” with other idols and false desires; in two words: don’t sin!
God is loving, altogether righteous and good, holy and perfect, just and faithful. And idols, if there is even a comparison, are…temporal, deceiving, harmful to our well-being, and really worthless in an eternal perspective.
I feel really convicted. I have to admit that the thoughts in my mind while I’m sinning are stupid. At that time I am saying “Sin, you look a lot better than God…(epic fail).” Is sin really better than God? Obviously not! So why do I think that way?
Sin’s appeal is one of the reasons they call temptation, temptation. A game is played in my mind, where I juggle God’s command, and sin’s promise of (fun, happiness, success, etc…).
The question is, which one do I want more: sin or God? I can’t have both, and If I wanted both it would be as outrageous as a marriage with a prostitute (go figure).
Lord, make my heart view you as better than sin. You are better than sin, but give me strong thoughts to fight against sin’s appeal in the moment. In Christ’s name amen!
WOW! Awesome comment, as usual.. Just as Pastor Ben was saying last night, I am a 28 yr old, and I read your comments and they inlighten me daily. POWER TO THE YOUNG PEOPLE!! LOL! I am a new leader this summer and looking forward to knowing you better!!
Wow your comment was so convicting!! You are awesome Spencer!!
“They shall eat, but not be satisfied” (v. 10). If you have read my comments before you will understand that this is different because I will be talking in first-person and have it more personal.
I don’t know if it’s because I’m reading Desiring God by John Piper or something else, but I’m getting interested in the satisfaction of God. All my life I have been looking for satisfaction. In fact, I would say that that is how everyone lives their lives. We all want to do what pleases us. That can be self-seeking and sinful or it can lead us to great revelation. With me, I started to realize that my search for satisfaction was not a search to make me feel better about my life, but a search for the Satisfying God. Living as a christian has changed how I view everything. When I sin I don’t think that I’m just breaking God’s law, but I’m disgracing Him by saying that He isn’t satisfying enough and I want to find my joy and happiness in some other vessel. My mind tells me that is wrong, but I still seem to sin. Sometimes I question whether or not I’m most joyous when I’m serving God. If so, why do I still look outside of God for other satisfactions. Reading about the Israelites, I can understand their desire to worship other gods. It’s so easy to just give praise and thanks to something other than God and neglect Him, but I mustn’t. God, symbolized by Hosea, bought me with a price, the biggest price, namely His son Jesus Christ. My life wasn’t free, Jesus Christ had to be persecuted, mocked, spat upon, shamed, and hanged on a tree. I have this thought that keeps coming in my head: “If I were to meditate continuously on God’s trues such as Christ’s crucifixion, His wrath, and how I’m made new, I would never sin.” This thought drives me crazy. It drives me crazy because I do sin. Each time I sin, I feel like I failed God. I feel like their is a standard that I have to keep so that God may love me. But, that just adds guilt to my sin. There is no need for me to try to win, or keep, God’s love. If I couldn’t do it without grace before I was saved, why do I think I can do it without grace now? My mom always reminds me that God’s grace is
God’s
Riches
At
Christ’s
Expense
If I just meditate prayerfully on that thought I understand that I am redeemed and adopted into Christ’s fellowship through his blood and resurrection. However, this is not a way for justifying sin, it’s simply a reminder that when I do sin, I mustn’t make up for it as do some denominations of the church believe. God is my Redeemer forever more.
great comment, Jonny! i like how you threw in “Desiring God” :)
frustrated because I left a lengthy post that didn’t…
Hosea 3:1 And the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.”
I think my mom told me that God was trying to make a point to Israel.
“and the lord said to me, ‘go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adultress, even as the lord loves the children of israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.’”
this passage shows how much god loves us that even when we love other things more than him and love the creation more than the creator.
3:1 And the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.”
God’s mercy is unbelievable to me!! Israel kept turning to other gods and idols, yet when they came to him and asked for forgiveness, he immediately forgave them. I should not be taking advantage of God’s forgiveness and mercy. I am a sinner and deserve his complete wrath and punishment. I should be praising him for saving me and forgiving me even though I sin against him everyday!
3:1 And the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.”
This verse once again shows God’s great mercy. Even though Israel continued to sin, God gave them numerous chances to repent and turn back to him.
“And since you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.”
The Israelites should not have forgotten God and chased after other things. Repeatedly throughout Deuteronomy the Israelites are warned and cautioned to not forget God, because if they do there will be consequences for their disobedience. In Deuteronomy 6:10-12 it says “And when the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers…to give you – with great and good cities that you did not build, and houses full of all good things that you did not fill…and when you eat and are full, then take care lest you forget the Lord..” God knows our human nature so well that we are sinful and prone to wonder from the truth, especially when things are going well for us. In the preceding verses in Deuteronomy it commands the Israelites to meditate on the Law of the Lord and “teach them diligently to your children” so that they and the following generations will always remeber the commands and goodness of the Lord. It is sad to see then in Hosea how God has to bring a charge against the Israelites for their wicked ways. Instead of their children growing up being taught the Law of the Lord they will instead have the hand of blessing from the Lord removed from them while they persit in sin.
14 I will not punish your daughters when they play the whore, nor your brides when they commit adultery; for the men themselves go aside with prostitutes and sacrifice with cult prostitutes…15 Though you play the whore, O Israel,..
It is interesting how the Israelites were circumcised in obedience to the Abrahamic Covenant, the same covenant in which God promised to be their God. Genesis 17:13 says, “so shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant”. Yet in Hosea we find the Israelites guilty of much sexual sin, and as a nation referred to as a whore. It is ironic how this very personal sign in their flesh of there relationship to God is it seems forgotten or ignored as they engage in such sin.
Great to see you posting Laura!
All of chapter four is about God pouring out his wrath on Israel. Our God is a just judge, and his wrath is mighty. So many people forget this, and just think that God will love them no matter what they do, and as a result, they can do whatever they want. God will always love us, and he demonstrated that by sending his son to die for us. But he also hates all of those who do wrong (Psalm 5:5) This may seem contradictory, but we must remember that our God is both a God of love and of wrath. He is mighty. I want to have a fear of the Lord that is evident in all that I do. I want to always be aware of who God is, never imagining God as someone he’s not. He’s both my eternal, loving father, and an extremely just judge who will pour out his wrath on anyone who has not repented of their sins. It’s so important that I always keep this in mind because a fear of the Lord is crucial to a God-centered lifestyle!
2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley.
3 And I said to her, “You must dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you.”
This story gets more unusual and interesting. So, Hosea goes and marries Gomer, a prostitute, and then Gomer goes and leaves him for another guy. However, Hosea buys her back because he knows it’s the right thing to do. When I sin and and going against the Bible, I am being like Gomer. But Hosea is (in an analogy) like God. He bought Gomer back, just like God takes us back in when we sin. I am so glad to have such a merciful God who, instead of punishing me like I deserve, gives me another chance. What a great God we serve!!!
5 You shall stumble by day;
the prophet also shall stumble with you by night;
and I will destroy your mother.
As christians we will stumble and get lost daily…it is so hard to stay focused and keep your eyes focused on God. we pray that through our battle through highschool our morals and thoughts and actions will be unto God.So many people fall away and give up.We pray that this will not happen and we will grow stronger each and every week.(:
“And since you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.”
This is a good verse because it is really important that we never forget to read or Bibles or pray or else we will suffer consequences for not obeying his commands
3:1 And the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.”
im so glad that im on SOTD right now, i really need some prayers!! i love this verse of chapter 3, cuz God loves us even if we are not a follower of him, do stuff that he doesnt like us to do. What even more awsome is that God loves everyone the same this girl at my school i use to be bestfriends with herr before i was a christian and she does not believe in God n she wants to live her own way n her own life the way she wants…and i look at her and im like God is awsome/good cuz even though im the follower of him he loves her as much as me!!!
COME SOON LORD!!!!!!!
1 And the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.”
God told Hosea to marry a woman who was basically a prostitute, and for Hosea that was something very very hard to do. I have to always be willing to do what ever God commands me to do. I read a book on this verse and obviously it wasnt the direct words from Hosea but the author described how hard it was for him to marry someone that no Christian should ever marry. If I am going to trust in God, I always have to be 100% williing to do everything God tell me to do.
Passage: Hosea 4:10 They shall eat, but not be satisfied;
they shall play the whore, but not multiply,
because they have forsaken the Lord.
This verse may be directed at either the priests of the people. If it is directed at the priests, it probably means that their sacrifices will not be sufficient enough to sacrifice God. Also, these people have a longing desire in themselves for something. They automatically assume that the only way to satisfy this hunger is through the sinful things this world has to offer. They have forsaken the Lord, and turned to chase after their sinful desires. In a similar way, the world today also has us believing the lie that true happiness and satisfaction comes from the things of the world. This world is not all there is! But many live as though it is the only life they will ever have, and assume they will not be judged for their actions. However, as Christians, we know that there is more thatn what this world has to offer. We know that there is a life beyond this, and that God is the only thing that can satisfy our figurative “hunger.” Since God is our creator, He must have a reason for everything He does and creates. He created in us a desire for something beyond what we know. Some of us try to fill this emptiness with the things of the world, but God purposely put this dissatisfaction in our hearts so that we will draw closer to Him. I find that Christians are drawn to God because He is everything we ever need, and through God is the ONLY way we will be able to find what we are looking for. God displays this through the Israelites. He lets them go off and do as they please, to teach both them and US a lesson that no matter how much of the world you can ever receive in one lifetime, it will NEVER be enough to satisfy the hunger God placed in us.
I praise the Lord for being all that I ever need. I found that before I was a Christian, I was always feeling like I was missing out on something. I felt that nothing could make me happy for a long period of time. But the happiness and pure joy I get through being a servant of Christ is a sufficient supply of happiness that never runs out. I thank God for the joy He has put in my heart. I also pray that this joy will stand the test of time.
10 They shall eat, but not be satisfied;
In the world People try to find “happiness”. they think it can be found in: friends, material things, and doing what they want to do. Happiness is only temporary, like an adrenaline rush. They will never know real Joy. Joy is more of a content feeling. To experience true Joy you need Christ. As christians we should be joyful. This doesn’t mean we can’t have a “bad day”, but it does mean that we should take joy in the fact that we are saved. This reminds me of an analogy I heard. Say there are 2 people, Person A and person B. Person a Almost gets hit by a train on their way to school but was miraculously saved at the last minute. Person B on the other hand just went to school as normal. Who do you think would be more joyful. That’s how the christian attitude should be!
MARANATHA!!!!
AMERICA!!!
pshhh! ya your a n00b cause you spelled it wrong!
I read today and liked verse 10….
10 They shall eat, but not be satisfied;
So many people can never find what they are looking for. Some people just try to buy & buy & buy stuff, but they never feel satisfied. The world thinks that the best things in life are money, great careers, and girls or guys. However, once you experience the gift of God, the living water, you will be satisfied and all your emptiness will leave you. Once I became a Christian, I never again felt empty and I am so thankful for the gift that God has given me!!
There is no faithfulness or steadfast love,
and no knowledge of God in the land;
I like this verse! It just reminds me of Gods perfection and strength and just how powerful our creator is and how no one compares to him!
9 And it shall be like people, like priest;
I will punish them for their ways
and repay them for their deeds.
God punishes us for our sins and yet rewards us for the godly acts we do!! This verse encourages me to keep pressing on to do things that God would be pleased of!! Being in God’s word every day helps me accomplish this goal!! When I slip away from the word and miss a day or two, bad thoughts come into my mind because I am not keeping it pure by reading God’s word!!
The Bible is our only defense!!
MARANATHA!!!!!!!!!!!!
9 And it shall be like people, like priest;
I will punish them for their ways
and repay them for their deeds.
Wow. Israel is deep in sin in this chaptar. We need to be super careful that we are not sinning like that.
3:1 And the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.”
Hosea is a great example of an obedient Christian. Hosea loved the Lord and obeyed him. He loved the Lord so much he married a prostitute. That must have been difficult to marry someone who was constantly unfaithful and in love with other men, but Hosea obeyed the Lord and trusted in his provision. I strive to be like Hosea; obedient and faithful to the Lord!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MARANATHA
10 They shall eat, but not be satisfied;
they shall play the whore, but not multiply,
because they have forsaken the Lord
One of the biggest things I learned this year was about satisfaction. How ultimate satisfaction comes when my entire trust and hope is in God alone, not boys, friends, or material things. There are times when I am so satisfied in God alone and other times where I find myself wanting other things. And this verse totally proves my point! If the people of Israel had forsaken the Lord, then they weren’t satisfied. I need to make sure that I am setting the Lord always before me and that he is the only one that can satisfy me!
2 there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery;
they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
3 Therefore the land mourns,
and all who dwell in it languish,
and also the beasts of the field
and the birds of the heavens,
and even the fish of the sea are taken away
Its so ironic that the world is so much today like God said it would be in the end times. There are so many horrible things in the world today, that Christianity seems like such a smaller religion than others. It’s so important that as God’s disciples we be a light to others and make them wan to be a part of Christianity, to bring others to Him is what we’re supposed to do.
There is no faithfulness or steadfast love,
and no knowledge of God in the land;
2 there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery;
they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
This sounds a lot like earth today! These kind of sins happen every single day and it is completely normal. People cuss, lie, murder, steal, and commit adultery from day to day. We cannot be like the people in Romans 1:32 “…they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.” It would be hypocritical of me to give approval to others sin when i am living a life trying to resist those temptations/sins. I need to be the one to advise people of their sin and how serious it is. God gave us the 10 commandments for us and we need to put it to practice not only in our lives but also the lives of others.
2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley. 3 And I said to her, “You must dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you.”
This is a convicting reality, I am so unfaithful to God and act like the prostitute. How do I treat God’s gift? Well, sometimes I take it for grantide and follow my own sinful desires. Or I make excuses, etc. Yet everytime I act unfaithfully, Christ has paid me back. The thought of looking at myself through this view is humbling, I look exactly like the prostitute in Hosea. Thank you LORD for your faithfulness, tolerance, and love. I need to make war against sin.
!!!MARANATHA!!!
I read…
Hosea is so obedient to the Lord even though the Lord asks him to do something no man would desire to do, marry a woman that is unfaithful. However, to show Himself to Israel God decided to have Hosea marry two unfaithful women and love them in the same way God loves us. Sometimes God might ask us to do weird stuff that might seem bad for us to do (thinking selfishly), but through it His glory is able to be revealed. I need to be willing to do anything that God asks of me because of His gift of salvation that He has given me.
8 They feed on the sin of my people;
they are greedy for their iniquity.
The priests were glad when the people sinned. As people sinned it increased the priests power and position in the community. Sin offerings made sin sounds like it was encouraged. We should always stay strong with our relationship with Jesus christ, and we should try as hard as we can to avoid sinful desires.
3:1 And the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.”
God is commanding Hosea to love a woman who is going to be unfaithful to him, who he KNOWS he is going to be unfaithful. God wants Hosea to demonstrate just how awful it is that the people He loves unconditionally are “cheating” on him with idols. We can do the same thing, by giving other things priority in our hearts, be that popularity, relationships, school, sports, whatever. God is deeply insulted by that, and rightfully so, he deserves ALL that we can possibly give him!
19 A wind has wrapped them in its wings,
and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.
The people who are in a constant motion of sin and do not repent are the people who will wake up and realize they have one chance and that is their life and though many people shared with them they rejected the truth and were then stuck in bitter agony because of their unrepentful hearts.
We need to make sure we are true Christians not tweeners because there is no such thing as a tweener.
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge;
because you have rejected knowledge,
I reject you from being a priest to me.
And since you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.
7 The more they increased,
the more they sinned against me;
I will change their glory into shame.
wow! all the foreseen problems of the world packaged in a little box with a big red ribbon on top O_O’ everything just backfires when God stops being the #1 priority in our lives. it only takes one thing to stop before falling eventually
4 Yet let no one contend,
and let none accuse,
for with you is my contention, O priest.
Wow. God holds the spiritual leaders of Israel responsible for their infidelity. What a warning for me as a pastor. I need to make sure that I am being faithful to teach God’s Word so that no one dies for “lack of knowledge.” And I must make sure that I am leading no one astray by a bad example.
And the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress
The thing that hits me when I think about Hosea is that he never gets all these years of his life back. He’s called to “love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress.” And he does it. He never gets a normal life; he serves as a picture of Israel for God’s own purposes. He does so faithfully, as far as we can tell. He is fully committed to someone who is not at all committed to him.
The point is that this is a picture of how God is pursuing Israel. This is the way God loved us: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us! That breaks through all my pride. That convicts me of any apathy I have. We sang it in a hymn tonight at Resolved:
Amazing love,
How can it be
That thou my God
Shouldst die for me
Some people in Israel asked for forgiveness for their sins which is a very wise move. The others in Israel continue in their sin. The people on earth doing bad sinful things are not getting true satisfaction. The ones who repented are because there is no better feeling than the feeling of knowing that God lives in me!! Also the things that the unrepented people are doing lead to eternity in hell and for the repented people who live for the Lord lead to eternity in Heaven.
This hole chapter just shows me how much God hates sin and is willing to punish those who commit it. And these punishments seem pretty heavy, especially when it talks about eating and never being full, whether or not that was meant literally or figuratively. Sinning against God is definitely not a smart move.
Hosea 4
4 Yet let no one contend, and let none accuse, for with you is my contention, O priest.
5 You shall stumble by day; the prophet also shall stumble with you by night;
and I will destroy your mother. 6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.
Israel was such a stubborn people who were not able to accept reprove or rebuke from their priests or prophets. God gave Israel over to their pride full sin because of their lack of obedience to those who God had ordained over them. Even prophets and priests need to be ready to accept reprove that is from the Lord that can come from even a layman. Many pastors in our time are and have received reprove or rebuke from other pastors and they refuse to listen to the reprove that comes from the Lord. These pastors are leading their flock into destruction because of their follower’s lack of knowledge. This reminds me of a recent sermon that Pastor Bobby gave that talked about being obedient to your pastor by being obedient to their council. I don’t see how someone can call themselves a Christian and not obey their pastor who God himself as placed over you for Godly council. I can completely understand why God would give Israel up to their evil ways because of their inability and stubborn refusal to accept correction. I pray that the students of True North will be faithful to their God by being faithful to the instruction of their pastor. I pray that I myself will always be faithful to the reprove of the Lord.
Deuteronomy 17:12-13 The man who acts presumptuously by not obeying the priest who stands to minister there before the LORD your God, or the judge, that man shall die. So you shall purge the evil from Israel. 13 And all the people shall hear and fear and not act presumptuously again.
Hosea 4 Verses 1-3
The things listed in verse 2 are happening in our world today. People reject God and do not know Jesus Christ. The only way to break away from sin is through what Jesus Christ has already done on the cross. No deeds or anything we do saves us. Praise the Lord for His steadfast love and compassion and to tell all the world about his justice.
2 there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
I think that I have been spending so much time on thinking about the big things, like trusting the Lord and having patience and cherishing each moment because we don’t know what’s next, but I think I forgot that there are these “common” sins like lying, SWEARING, and stealing. I don’t swear hardly at all, but sometimes when I get very annoyed or angry or I stub my toe or something, I let some slip out. I’m pretty sure that when Jesus stubbed his toe, he didn’t swear. But people say things like oh, if no one is around, it’s ok. But GOD IS AROUND! He’s always there to hear us! And then also, people talk about how easy it would be to steal a pack of gum or something, but there’s the Commandment: Thou shall not steal. I mean there it is. Bam. I’m glad I read this verse!