The book that we have before us is the prophetic book of Hosea. This book is one of the most unusual books in the Bible because of the subject matter and the manner of communication by which God presented His message through His prophet Hosea to the people of Israel. The people of Israel are in a sense the bride of Jehovah God even as the church is the bride of Christ, and we shall see God deal with His unfaithful bride through the words and actions of Hosea.
Hosea is instructed by the LORD to marry a prostitute who becomes symbolic of the relationship between Jehovah God and the nation of Israel. The prostitute will be unfaithful to Hosea even as Israel has been unfaithful to God. Regardless of her behavior, Hosea, by the instruction of God, continues in his commitment to the prostitute which demonstrates God's relentless commitment to Israel, and even when she forsook Him, He continued to be in love with her.
Hosea ministered from around 750 b.c to 714 b.c., and he served as a prophet to the northern tribes of Israel which are referred to as Ephraim in this book during the same period as the prophets Isaiah and Micah. He served under six kings of those northern tribes of Israel until 721 b.c. when the nation of Israel was conquered by the Assyrians because of their apostasy.
The book has two major sections which are divided into chapters one through three which speak to the personal troubles which come into Hosea's home, and chapters four through fourteen which relate to the troubles within the nation of Israel. In chapter one, we will see a sign of troubles which are revealed through Hosea's children. In chapter two, we will discover a sin that brought these troubles which are revealed through Hosea's wife, and in chapter three we will see salvation from those troubles by Hosea which is symbolic of the LORD bringing rescue to the people of Israel.
We will be inspired by the Holy Spirit of God as we study this book and relate it to our own lives. Let us bow our heads in prayer and ask the LORD to reveal to us any area in our lives that may be like that of the people of Israel, and ask Him to forgive and cleanse us if we find any fault so will will live in a manner that is pleasing to Him.
Next time Hosea begins his book with the words, “the word of the LORD that came to Hosea”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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