I am sure that deep down, we all want to be used by God...as long as it doesn't take much effort on our part. If that were the case, we would all line up to make a difference and be God's voice in this world. But sometimes being used by God might mean a lot of effort. It sure did for Hosea.

Hosea was a prophet OF God who was used BY God in a BIG way. He didn't just go around talking to people about Him...he used his life to send a message to the Israelites. What would you do if God asked you to marry someone you knew was going to go sleep with other people? What would you do if God asked you to marry a prostitute, not to change her, but to love her no matter what she did (continue her employment)? What if God even asked you to name your kids "un-loved" and "not mine"?

God asked Hosea to do this, all for a reason. To show how the Israelites have been treating God. To show how God feels about his people at this point in time. And to show the mercy, compassion, and the unfailing Love of God.

Sunday morning we looked a little deeper into the first of many minor prophets we are studying in our series "the Bible Jesus Read". We won't have time to finish all the books of the Old Testament this year, but I didn't want to skip the minor prophets. Here is a good made up statistic. Studies show that most studies of the Bible don't study the Minor Prophets. Although I just made that up, in my experience (and most likely in yours) it's true. We tend to stray away from these books because the language is weird, the times are very far away, and we feel that God is too mean in them.

But they are so rich in the themes of God and the Bible. Yes they talk about justice and judgment. But they also teach us about comfort, grace, mercy, and salvation.

Back to Hosea. My favorite part about Hosea is chapter 3 (chapter two is a close second though). In chapter three, Hosea goes and finds Gomer (his prostitute wife). In Chapter three we see that after a hurtful relationship of her sleeping around and having kids that are not his...HE still takes the first step in loving her. He buys his wife back from the life of prostitution; he literally redeems her for 15 sheckles of silver and some barley. Hosea here is taking the final step in forgiving his no good wife by redeeming her. I can't miss the foreshadowing here.

Hosea = God
Gomer = Us

Hosea redeeming Gomer = God redeeming us

Gomer moved from lover to lover hoping to find some satisfaction. Only out of some sort of obligation did she ever go to Hosea to be loved.

We are like Gomer. Instead of going to God to be satisfied, we find false community, false hope, false joy in things that do not last. When we go to God it is because we feel obligated.

Hosea takes the first step in forgiving and loving his wife. He redeems her.

God is like Hosea. He took the first step in reconciling us and redeeming us through Jesus.

I am shocked at my made up statistic and wonder why more people don't read and study the minor prophets. I can't wait till next Sunday!

much Love,
johnny