Hosea 9:1-17 | Food for Thought
Questions
“Rejoice not, O Israel! Exult not like the peoples; for you have played the whore, forsaking your God.”
The Lord isn’t opposed to celebrating or rejoicing. But what does he say our rejoicing should be tied to? When is it not a good time to rejoice?
Especially in certain pockets of American Christianity, mourning, grief, and lament are unfamiliar, uncomfortable, and unwelcome parts of our life with the Lord. But how are these sometimes necessary? How are they actually the right responses and ways of walking with the Lord?
Is your relationship with the Lord defined by a healthy balance of rejoicing and repenting? Do you try to rush past one to get to the other? Is it easier for you to sit in “sackloth and ashes” or to find any and every reason to celebrate?
“They shall not remain in the land of the Lord, but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean food in Assyria. …Egypt shall gather them; Memphis shall bury them. Nettles shall possess their precious things of silver. …Woe to them when I depart from them! …I will drive them out of my house. …they shall be wanderers among the nations.” Thoughout this passage, there’s a theme of being driven away from their land and the Lord.
Why is their land so significant to who they are? Where will they be driven away to?
What’s the spiritual significance of God’s people living in those places?
How does the gospel we now live in light of speak directly to those present spiritual realities and future promises made true in Christ?
When you read about this stuff, does God seem further away or nearer now than he did in the Old Testament? Why?
How does the gospel speak into the way we get to live with the Lord today, no matter where we are?
“Like grapes in the wilderness, I found Israel. Like the first fruit on the fig tree in its first season, I saw your fathers. But they came to Baal-peor and consecrated themselves to the thing of shame, and became detestable like the thing they loved. Ephraim’s glory shall fly away like a bird. …Their root is dried up; they shall bear no fruit. ….My God will reject them because they have not listened to him.” Here, Hosea refers to the origins of God’s people and how from even their earliest days, they were prone to wandering. (Numbers 25:1-13 is referenced here.) A picture of Israel as a plant is used.
Where did God’s people come from? And how do we remain as God’s people - in glory, fruitful, and accepted?
How easy is it for you to hear the words of God in Hosea? …in the bible in general?
Because Jesus is the Word made flesh, he listened perfectly to the Lord and was accepted by him on our behalf Does this change the way we interact with the bible? How does our acceptance in Christ change the way we listen?
How do we know if we’re listening well? What would tip us off in one direction or another?