3/14 Senior & Junior High BFC "Hosea 2 & 3"

Senior High-Jared Graves, Junior High- Sandra Baker

Introduction

Let’s review last week. The main guy in the story is? (Hosea) And God tells him to do what? (marry an adulterous woman, Gomer) What theme is brought up by God towards the end of the chapter? (You are so far away from being the person that I created you to be I don’t even know you. One day, I will. I’m going to make sure of it).

God is going on a soap box rant here for a little while. We know that it is God speaking, yet let’s try to read it in two different perspectives. Let’s read it as God’s words to Israel, but also as God speaking to Hosea and saying everything that he is feeling.

Lesson

Have everyone open up to Hosea 2:2.

Hosea 2:2-8 (Israel’s Sin)

God looks at the people that He created, He delivered, and that He loves and sees what they are doing to Him. We talked about adultery from a human perspective last week. How would it feel if our wife/husband cheated on us. But let’s see exactly what God is going through. God created every fiber of these people’s being. He created them with love and care. He made it possible for them to be born, he delivered their ancestors, He has done everything possible for them, yet they turn from Him.

Hosea 2:9-13 (Israel’s Sin)

God is going to get revenge for everything that the Israelites have done to Him. Does that sound like your God?

If we look at this carelessly, we would see God as a very vengeful God, but see what is happening here. God is saying all these things that you have perverted and turned into something for other Gods will be turned back to me. God is basically saying before you come home, I have to get everything else. Remember the commandment “No other gods before me”?

Hosea 2:14-23 (God moving to redeem)

Look at what God is going to do. 1) He is going to take Israel away to the desert. He is going to seclude her and take her away from all distractions. 2) When all distractions are taken away God is going to give back all the things He took, except now they are holy. 3) God will bring peace. With no competing gods, there is no need for battle.

Heaven is going to be awesome. This is what it is going to look like. This is God’s ideal existence; one with His creation.

Read Hosea 3 (Hosea application to God’s story)

It’s almost like God says, “If I can do this, Hosea, you can too.” Hosea learns that God knows what it feels like to be cheated on.

Basically now, you have Hosea marrying Gomer, paying a slave's ransom for her, and then saying let's do this relationship the right way. Does that sound familiar? God made us, married us in the old covenant, then as we sinned and went away from Him, He paid a price, His Son for us. Then, when we come back, we are told this is a new way of  life, and this is what the relationship is supposed to look like. God shows that He loves us so much that He is going to make the first move. This was John 3:16 hundreds of years before John 3:16 was written.

Application

If there is infidelity in a relationship the blame is usually on the unfaithful spouse. However, is the other spouse at fault if they do not try to reconcile differences?

There is an entire world out there that does not realize that God has made the first step in reconciling them and restoring a perfect relationship. That is where we come in.