Hosea 13:1-16 | Food for Thought
Questions
In the first three verses, the Lord lays out a trajectory of Ephraim: where they’ve been, where they are, and where they’re headed. How would you describe that trajectory?
Hosea takes note of their skilled work and precious metals used to make idols. Why might he have included this detail?
What does Ephraim’s reputation of being cow-kissers and human-sacrificers say about them? Is it hard to believe that they would hold such low regard for people and high regard for other parts of creation?
God moves on to speak about himself. While the Lord is unchanging, his interactions with his people have had their own trajectory as his people fell into pride and forgetfulness. What’s that trajectory been like?
Does that trajectory seem stark or harsh? How does his analogy of the bear seem to make sense of the intensity of his actions?
What was the point at which God’s people changed their their thinking about him?
How does the subtleness in simply forgetting about the Lord creep into your life? How does it especially show up when your “belly is full?”
God then calls out those who Israel had turned to for salvation and deliverance: not the Lord, but kings and rulers. Instead of saving Israel, what has their leadership done to God’s people?
What does this communicate about the significance (or insignificance) or earthly rulers?
What does this say about what’s more significant (or less significant) when it comes to supporting earthly leaders?
Is “getting what we asked for” always a good thing?
Later in the New Testament, Jesus says the Father doesn’t give his kids gifts that are harmful to them. How does this text in Hosea square with that truth in the gospels?
Next, God says he wants to bring new life to Ephraim. He’s bound up his inquity and stored away his sin, but instead of letting himself “be delivered” in new birth, he refuses to come out. What’s the Lord trying to communicate here?
Are there any ways that we refuse the new life that the Lord has for us and is trying to “birth” in us?
In verse 14, God declares what he’s going to do and asks some rhetorical questions. What does the Lord declare?
How does this directly connect with what God will do in Jesus in his first and second comings?
But at the end of verse 14, he says something different. By the end of verse 16, he reaffirms that there’s going to be some “bad news” before the “good news.” What does he say?
How does this picture clash with the picture that God’s painted of Israel and his hopes for them? Consider their skilled craftsmen, precious metals, powerful rulers, desire for new life, etc.
How can it be that compassion would be hidden from the eyes of the Lord? What does that mean? Is that true today, even in light of Christ?