After we’ve had a chance to settle in with Hosea (who is listed first, and who also came first), it would be great to see who were contemporaries, who were probably having conversations with each other, and which prophets wrote about the same theme but ended their books very differently.
Minor Prophets: Hosea, A Love Story
True love is of God, Whose love is infinite. Love is sovereign, love defies reasoning, it is apart from reason. Love is not according to logic, love is according to love. Love goes all the way, and then love goes one step further.
Minor Prophets: Hosea, Nature of Repentance
This has always been God's heart, from the first moment Adam and Eve fell from grace to the last moment a person draws breath.
Minor Prophets: Hosea, True Repentance
As I read Hosea, I realized the people of his day the people wanted happiness, not holiness, a change of circumstances, not a change of character. They shed tears of sorrow over suffering, not tears of repentance over sins.
Minor Prophets: Hosea, Gomer Redeemed
Some prophets preached God's message, others wrote it down, but Hosea, now, Hosea lived it out. Because of his marriage, Hosea’s story is able to show you and me, like nothing else could, what God feels, His depth of suffering, His heart response to His people.
Minor Prophets: Hosea, Gomer Leaves
For Gomer this felt like total deprivation, and yet it was the very best thing for her, as Hosea wooed her back to himself. Allowing God to allure me, when I sense I am in the wilderness, letting Him speak tenderly to me, allowing this time alone with God to be enough makes these wilderness times turning points in my life.
Minor Prophets: Hosea Marries Gomer
When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.” So Hosea married Gomer daughter of Diblaim.
The 12 Minor Prophets
This week, I'm starting a new series from the Hebrew Bible (what many refer to as the "Old Testament"). I've long been fascinated with the poetry, imagery, and intensity of the prophets, and especially intrigued with the minor prophets--maybe because the only place I ever heard teaching on all twelve books was in the Bible study I used to be a part of.