Hosea 6 - Heart Failure

v1-3
the people are saying that they want to go back to God, and they acknowledge he's hurt them but he will heal them. he has wounded them, but he would heal them. in two days he'll put life in them, and raise them up on the 3rd day, (JC reference???) to live in his presence and know him. They say to learn about God as he will go to them like the rain. 


v4-6
God asks what should he do with Israel and Judah, their faithfulness is really short lived, it's only superficial. He's warned prophets that God will kill them, and justice brought to them. 


 "I want faithful love more than I want animal sacrifices. I want people to know me more than I want burnt offerings."


I love this verse. It just proves the importance of a real loving faithful relationship with God.


v7-11
But the Isrealites have broken the convenent like Adam, and have been unfaithful. Gilead is a place of evil, priests like robbers, murder. God has seen bad things in Israel, God has seen the prostitution and the uncleanliness. 


God has set Judah a time when they will be clean again. 


application
read verse 6 above. all i can really say, is just think about it. How is your relationship with God. are you faithful and loving? 

Hosea 5 - The Ripple Effect part II

v1-3
God is telling all the leaders, people, and royal family that they will be judged. They have done loads of evil and sin stuff/ They have been acting like a snare and a net, trapping and exploiting poorer people. What the people have done isn't hidden from God, and because Israel acts like a prostitute, it is unclean.


v4-7
These people won't repent, they won't be faithful, they don't know God. Their attitude was prideful, and they will stumble because of their sin. Judah in the south, followed the same example and they will fall too. although they worship false gods, they'll still try to worship and sacrifice God but he won't be there anymore, cause he's left them. They've not been true to God, they don't belong to him, their false worship will destroy them and their land. 


v8-12
Here, God is pronouncing this judgement. he says to blow the horn which i think is something to d with war or an attack. Israel will be ruined on the day of punishment. He compares the people in Judah to those who steal others land. God will pour out his punishment onto them. Israel is crushed by punishment because of their sins. They will consumed by troubles and disasters. 


v13-15
The sickness affecting Israeel and Judah, they tried to go to the King of Assyria for help, but he can#'t help or heal. God's a bit graphic here, saying how he is like a lion, and will attackl them and tear them to pieces and drag them off, and no one will save thenm. Then the people will turn to him. 


application
again, i don't really know.

Hosea 4 - The Ripple Effect part I

4v1-3
Hosea passes on the message from God to Israel about the things that God has against them. They are not true, not loyal, do not know him, use his name in vain, lie, kill, steal, adultery. One murder follows another. Because of all the sins that Israel has committed, the land is drying up, the people are dying, the animals and fish are dying too. The judgement of God extends to all living things, not just humans.


4v4-9
God now starts at the priests. He says that everyone should not accuse and blame people. Priests shouldn't blame people for arguing with them, because the people don't know anything, they have more of a right to argue it. God says they will be ruined in the day, and prophets will be ruined in the night, and Israel will be destroyed. (also referred to as mother). The people will be destroyed as they have no knowledge, they have refused to learn, so they can't be priests of God. They have forgotten the teachings, so he will forget them. The more priests there are, the more they sin against God. God will take their honour and give them shame. The priests live off the people sinning so want people to sin which is obv wrong. They eat meat people use for sacrificing for sins.  Priests are as wrong as the people and they will be punished and God will repay them for the wrong they have done.


4v10-13
They will eat but it won't be enough (reminds me of pirates of the carribean!), they will have sex with prostitutes but have no kids, they have left the Lord to give themselves to prostitution, they are drunk with it and it will stop them understanding. The people ask false gods for help, God basically ridicules this. Like prostitutes they chase after other gods and left their own God. They make sacrifices, burn offerings. To chase after false gods is considered spiritual prostitution.


4v14-15
God says he won't punish the daughters or daughter in laws for becoming prostitutes because the men have sex with them, it's not just a one sided thing, because there are two people having sex. It says that the men if anything are more guilty because they should be setting an example, and not being lead into immorality. They also offer sacrifices to temple prostitutes.Hosea gives warning to Judah telling the people not to go to Gilgal or Beth Aven where false worship had been established by Israel. Hosea says not make careless oaths in God's name, and not to misuse God's name.


4v16-19
The people of Israel are stubborn like a young cow so God will feed them like lambs in the country. Israel has chose to worship false gods, so God will let them. When they've finished drinking, had sex with prostitutes, and they love their disgraceful ways, they will be swept away by whirlwinds and sacrifices will bring them shame, not blessings.


Application of chapter 4
God's reading out like a list of Israel's sins here, and everything they've done wrong right? We'd have that too, if we weren't christians. we'd have a million sins next to our names. THANK GOODNESS GOD IS MERCIFUL. he's forgotten, he's wiped us clean :)

Hosea 3 - Back Together

v1
We're going back to Hosea now, we talked about that in chapter 1, and Israel in chapter 2, now back to Hosea. God says to Hosea again, go show love to a woman whose loved by someone else, whose been unfaithful. God will do the same to Israel even though they worship other Gods and eat raisin cakes. These aren't just like ya know scones or anything, these were foods that honored false Gods. So here, they are both loving difficult people and showing the depth of their love. 


v2-3
Gomer had somehow, and for some reason sold herself back into prostitution. Angel in Reedeming love runs away to get her money back and to escape everything, but obv we don't know actually why she runs away. Hosea then bought her back, and said to her that she had to wait for him. but she can't be a prostitute or have sex with any other man, and Hosea won't have sex with any other woman in return. 


v4
Hosea then says that Israel will live many days  without a king or leader, without sacrifices or sacred pillars (used for false gods) , without a holy vest (ephod) or idol (teraphim) used for divination. Here, Hosea is comparing Gomer's seperation from Hosea to Israel's seperation from Israel. During exile, the Jews will have no temple worship, or any God thing. it says here that telling Gomer not to have sex with any other man is similar to having Jews with no religious stuff, like a trial of deprivation


v5
After this, the people will turn back to God, follow him, fear him and be blessed by him. But also to David their king - who i THINK is Jesus? I don't know, bit confusing. I think Hosea is looking ahead, prophesiing kinda thing. 


Application for chapter 3

1. LOVE LOVE LOVE. Love the unlovely. Love the unloved. Love the enemy. Love the people who turn against you. Love everyone. Love like God, not because they deserve it, because we should be merciful
2. Hosea paid for Gomer, God paid for us by death of jesus, we weren't free ya know!

Application for everything so far

My commentary does a lovely little summary / application :D

• No matter how low we sink, God wants to lift us up and restore us, there's also a second and third and fourth chance with God
• Controverisal, but adultery shouldn't be the grounds for divorce, it should be on the grounds for forgiveness and love. I possibly disagree, you can forgive them and then divorce them. but anyway.
• We have idols, such as facebook, skyrim, phones, TV, etc etc, and when we have idols, we're putting them above God and we shouldn't do that. 
• All sin breaks God's heart, especially from the elect. For us, the one we love the most who rejects and hurts us, it's horrible right? Yeah, God faces that everyday :(

Hosea 2 - Two Love Songs

v2-3
uses some pretty weird analogy here. Hosea asks God to plead with Israel (who he calls God's mother. weird, huh? Israel is God's mother?), to accuse Israel (who is no longer Hosea's wife and he's not the husband), to tell her to stop acting like a prostitute and behaving like an unfaithful wife. If Israel refuses to stop acting this way, then Hosea will strip her naked and make her dry like a desert. Basically i think here, we're all being very metaphorical. Bit like revelation. 


v5-6
Hosea won't take pity on the children of Israel either because they are children of a prostitute (harsh but okay) because the prostitute got pregnant with them acted disgracefully. Israel says it will chase after other nations (lovers) who give food, water, wool, flax [whatever flax is] wine and oil. 


v6-7
Hosea will block Israel with thorn bushes and build a wall so Israel can't go to other nations. She will run to nations (lovers) but she won't find / catch them. Other nations is symbolizing Israel's love for Baal as well? ahhh. anyway this happens becauuuuuuuse then Israel will go back to God! But tbh it's too late. God's going hello i gave you flax?!?! not the nations, not Baal, me. what did i get in return? No, i wno't provide for you anymore. Oh and worst of all, i gave you flax and shizz, and all you did was give it back to Baal. Stupid.


v9-13
Here God describes the punishment of Israel. God will take away the grain and wine, wool and linen, and she'll be naked. She'll basically be publicly exposed and no one can help Israel. All the festivals prescribed by Moses will be stopped as well. No one will help, not Baal. Obv, he's not real. When they thought Baal gave them agriculutal goodness from worship, God would take it away. God will punish them for the number of times they worship Baal and forgot God


v14-20
God says here his real motivation. H'es to draw Israel back to him, cause he's a God of lurrrrve. God will give them a new chance, a new start. God talks of the Valley of Achor, place of trouble for the Israeliets and instead it will be a place of hope. Israel will be the wife once again, and won't call Baal his master. God will make a convenant of peace. He will abolish war tooo. Reconciliation will happen forever, based on righteousness, justice, love and faithfulness. 


v21-23
God will then send rain and crops and stuff to Israel. He will call Israel "my lvoed one" and there'll be the convenant again. 


Application
I apologize that it's quite heavy, i have to read it several times to understand what it's talking about, and when it's not your QT, its a bit like whaa?! Okay so couple of things

1. Imagine this. Your husband (or wife) gave you the most amazing birthday present, but you went and thanked his (or her) sister instead. It's weird isn't it? The Israelites were doing this, God gave them stuff and they thanked Baal. They thought it was from Baal, but it wasn't. I know most of you won't have an idol of Baal in your room or anything, but similar concept. When God gives us stuff, we need to remember to say thank you. Thank him for the sunny weather today, thank him that the essay got finished, thank him for that good friend you have. It's not because of you, or coincidence, IT'S GOD.
2. God's in charge. This whole of the bit in the bible is what God will do, and sometimes we need to remember, whether in clarinet exams or PE exams or during a hard trial, or just general life, GOD's in charge, not us.
3. In the beginning there was a great parallel between the physical relationship between Gomer and Hosea, and Israel. Not an application, but one to remember for next time.
4. Lastly, Israel had turned against God. and in some ways, they didn't apologize and God still took them back. We have an amazing loving God, and it doesn't matter what we do, God will forgive us. All the time. But we have to forgive like he forgives us. And it's not just outright "i forgive you" it's inside the heart too. There's no point forgiving someone on the outside if you can't on the inside. There's just more hurt and pain. Yes, I know how flipping hard that is, but it's God, it's not you, do it in his strength and his love.

Hosea 1 and 2 v 1 - Messed up Marriage

Straight off God asks Hosea to go marry an unfaithful woman and have unfaithful children because the people of the country have been unfaithful. This bit is basicalllllly the whole of Redeeming love. my commentary says that she may have been unfaithful before or after she married Hosea, there's loads of different things like she could have been a prostitute, or she took part in a sex cult thing, or she cheats on him after the marriage, we just don't know. but this was to show Hosea how hard it was to love someone who was an adulterous, and how hard it was for God to love Israel depsite them turning against them. But ofc, in ways they aren't comparable. Hosea's not God, but Hosea didn't have hundreds against him. God tells Hosea to have kids with this woman, who are adulterous, but this doesn't mean that they are prostitutes, it's cause their mum is. bit harsh tbh. it may have been other kids she's had as well as the kids she has with Hosea. 


He marries Gomer and she gets pregnant. God says to name the baby Jezreel. This means "God scatters" and God's going to punish the family of Jehu for the people they killed at Jezreel.God will put an end to the kingdom of Israel and break the army in the Valley of Jezreel. 


Gomer gets pregnant again and God says to call the baby Lo-Ruhamah which means "not loved" because God won't pity Israel anymore and he won't forgive him. He will save the people of Judah however and God will save them but not by war but through God. 


Gomer get's pregnant again and God calls this one Lo-Ammi because they are not his people and he is not their God. God then says there'll be loads of israelites, more than anyone can count. and although God says they arent his people, later on they'll be called children of the living God. Israel and Judah will join together and have one leader and they will be great.


I don't really know how to apply. I guess, trust God? Marry a prostitute if he asks? I don't know, i'll think a bit more about it later.