Skip to main content

Hosea 4:10-19

God has had enough!
To continue the courtroom metaphor, it's time that Israel's crimes where exposed and brought out into the light. Hosea, as prophet (God's prosecuting lawyer) has the job of continuing to present the evidence for Israel's unfaithfulness...


[Activity] It has been suggested that verses 10-14 begin and end with proverbs about Israel's lack of understanding... and then 'sandwiched' between them are the three main things that have made Israel foolish: drunkenness, consulting idols for guidance, and offering pagan sacrifices.
Explore how these two proverbs and these three points are described in these verses and how they could be paralleled in our world / culture today...

In the previous verses, even though the women are mentioned, who will (and won't) be punished in verse 14?  

Why does God hold the men responsible, rather than the immoral women?

What lessons are there for us here?

Apparently, it's too late for Israel... but Hosea redirects his attention onto her sister-nation, Judah... Judah is given three warnings. Two in verse 15 and 1 in verse 16.
What are they?
How might they relate to us today?

What is Israel compared to in verse 16 and why?
Why might God say the same of us?

Holding this portrait of God as Judge (chapter 4) up against the portrait of God as Lover (chapters 1-3) could seem a bit confusing (at best) and contradictory (at worst).
Why is it important for us to hold on to BOTH pictures of God at the same time?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Disciple: Judas

  {Disciples} JUDAS ISCARIOT_   Turning away     The most notorious of al the disciples – and the one universally scorned – is Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Jesus. His name appears in every list of the disciples (except in Acts 1), and it always appears last.   The other eleven are an encouragement to us because they show how common people can be used by God, even with all their faults and failures, to do remarkable things.   Judas, on the other hand, stands as a warning about the power of spiritual carelessness and pride, which can drag us away from loyalty to Christ.   Judas lived in close proximity to Jesus for three years.   He heard every teaching; he saw every miracle.   But in all that time his heart only grew harder.   The other disciples were being transformed, by Jesus, into passionate followers; Judas was being changed too...     [Group discussion starter] Have you ever had a friend or colleague that appeared to b...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ephesians 5:21 - 6:9

  [Grace and Peace] EPHESIANS_   [Activity] Spend some time exploring the logical flow of Ephesians 5:21-6:9…   [Read Ephesians 5:21]   Paul addresses different relationship types (marriage, family, co-workers) when he writes to the Ephesians. Before he gets specific in his instructions, he gives a general one. What attitude are we supposed to have towards others?     What should submission look like in daily life?     [Read Ephesians 5:22-33]   In verses 22-24, why does Paul tell wives to submit to their husbands?     How does remembering that a wife is really submitting to the Lord affect submission to a husband?     In verses 25-33, how are husbands, in turn, to treat their wives?     How does comparing a husband’s love for his wife to how the Messiah loves the church remove any danger of the husband abusing the wife’s submission?       What ...
Post a Comment
Read more

{SEVEN CHURCHES} #3

  {SEVEN LETTERS}    The Attractiveness of Suffering_   Revelation 2:8-11     In the year AD 177 persecution broke out against the Christians living in what is today the French city of Lyon. Christianity had raised the suspicions and hatred of the Roman  bureaucrats who governed the city. The vicious persecution that raged, touched Christians at every level of society. After the persecuti on subsided, church father Irenaeus, arranged for a letter to be written to Christians in other parts of the Roman Empire describing the faithfulness of the  martyrs...   We  can’t  even begin to put into words, much less describe in detail, the  magnitude  of the persecution here: how the pagans raged so terribly against the saints, and how the ble ssed martyrs endured so patiently... To begin with, they nobly endured all the abuse the whole mob collectively piled on: screaming  at them, punching them, dragging them through the stre...
Post a Comment
Read more