This is a tough one for teens so the way he weaves their story with gods love for his people israel with hoseas love. Jul 10, 2018 we are currently reading from the book of the prophet hosea at daily mass. The story of the prophet hoseas troubled marriage is a powerful testimony to two things. Its fourteen chapters contain both a warning concerning future events and an interpretation of these events meanings. Hoseas reconciliation with his wife the lord said to me, go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. The book of hosea is a narrative history and prophetic oracle. There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of god in the land. Through hosea, the lord tells the story of israels disobedience, his discipline, and his steadfast, faithful love. This is a book that i will probably find myself reading over and over again until it simply falls apart at the seams. Jan 18, 2016 a love story is found in the book of hosea that can read like a scandalous romance but this powerful message shows how far we will run away from god and how far he will come to save us. A retelling of the biblical love story of gomer and hosea, set against the romantic backdrop of the california gold rush. This retelling of the biblical story of gomer and hosea set during the time of the. According to the superscription, hosea began his prophetic activity during the reign of jeroboam ii c. God had a message he wanted to give israel through hosea, but first he wanted hosea to literally live out the message he had for israel.
When a confrontation occurs amongst the youth group, stuart takes the opportunity to share with the group the touching story of the old testament prophet hosea. Throughout the book, the prophet speaks to the people of israel about the critical situation that developed during the. Hosea was called to the ministry of a prophet early in his life, and the book of the bible devoted to his name spans almost the duration of his lifetime. The book of hosea is a loose collection of the prophets oracles. Chapter 3 sees hosea instructed to love a woman who is also an adulteress probably gomer again but not to be intimate with her for a number of days to symbolise the time that israel would be without a king before they repented of their ways and returned to the lord who had been loyal and faithful. Hosea, the son of beeri, prophesied for quite some time, from 785 to 725 b. The book of hosea starts with the story of a very unusual and unlikely couple, as god asks a godly and pure prophet hosea to marry a harlot.
The story of hosea and what it teaches about god and holy. Do you wonder how the lord could command his servant to do something like marrying this unfaithful and immoral woman. The life of hosea is one of the strangest of the prophets. The unique thing about god using this relationship as the comparison is that this relationship is messed up. Author jennifer rothschild tells the remarkable love story of hosea, a story that belongs to. Hosea continues to love his wife, despite her unfaithfulness to him and so his marriage is a picture of gods covenantal love for his people and israels continual unfaithfulness to him. Undying love the story of hosea and gomer jeroboam ii was on the throne of the northern kingdom of israel, and his military exploits had extended israels borders farther than they had been since the days of solomons glorious kingdom. In this text, gods agony is expressed over his betrayal by israel.
A youth group have gone camping and the leader is trying to interest these young people in the book of hosea and gods command that he marry a prostitute named gomer. Hosea was a young preacher in the nation of israel, the northern kingdom, and he was a. The story of hosea teenagers steve, carrie, cooper, and gameboy embark on a weekend camping trip led by their church youth group leader stuart sean astin and his wife beth erin bethea. Book of hosea, also spelled osee, the first of 12 old testament books that bear the names of the minor prophets, considered as one book, the twelve, in the jewish canon. Such a beautiful love story that i could not separate myself from both mentally and emotionally. Gods love for israel, a nation of people more interested in themselves than in gods direction for their lives, shines through clearly against the darkness of their idolatry and injustice hosea 14. We do well to recall the story, especially given the continue reading the story of hosea and what it teaches about god and holy matrimony. Steve, carrie, cooper, and gameboy are looking forward to their youth group trip. Not only does the book of hosea provide an example of gods love to a people who have left god behind, but it also shows us what forgiveness and restoration look like in a close relationship. Jan 02, 2020 hosea is the only prophet of israel who left any written prophecies which were recorded during the later years of his life.
To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. Liz curtis higgs, bestselling author of thorn in my heart my heart and soul were profoundly shaken as i realized anew the lessons portrayed through the stories of hosea and gomer, michael and angel. Love her as the lord loves the israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes. Ralph waldo emerson observed that the entire world loves a lover.
The northern kingdom of israel enjoyed moderate success from conquering neighboring kingdoms, but they were spiritually bankrupt on the inside. Like the book of amos, the book of hosea is addressed to the people of the northern kingdom israel. They are called minor prophets not because their material is less important or insignificant, but because of the size of the book they wrote was shorter in length. Set around the fall of the northern kingdom of israel, the book of hosea denounces the worship of gods other than yahweh. Jan 15, 2017 the first thing we read in this book is the word of the lord, to emphasize plainly that hosea was a prophet. And his name is related to the name joshua, which means salvation.
Hoseas name means salvation and shares the root hebrew word with the names jesus and. Unfailing love changes everything video rent by jennifer rothschild includes 7 individual, rent sessions from the womens bible study. I read it twenty years ago and i knew then this book would be a classic and it is. A video series on april 2nd, 2012 preaching through a book of the bible requires a commitment to both the hard work of exegeting a text and the challenging task of bringing its message to life within a given cultural context. While some interpreters have thought the story to be merely an allegory of the relation between god and israel, others claim, more plausibly, that the story is to be taken literally. The answer was right there in gods instructions to hosea, even as the lord loves. The book of hosea is a deeply personal and passionate love story, yet its a difficult story. The first three chapters use hoseas life to illustrate his prophetic message, as he marries gomer, who is repeatedly unfaithful to him. The rest of the book by far the majority is a poetic commentary on the spiritual meaning of hoseas marriage to gomer.
Redeeming love by francine rivers has undeniably earned a coveted spot on my top bookshelf of classically flawless stories. The first concerns the nature of the story told in chs. Hosea is the last prophet to proclaim god to the northern nation, called israel 750725 bc. The book of malachi is one of the most unique in the scriptures. According to the traditional order of most hebrew bibles, it is the first of the twelve minor prophets. The book of hosea has at least two perplexing problems. And if he was right that all the world loves a lover, then the best loved book in the entire bible should be the prophecy of the prophet hosea. Simply put, redeeming love is the most powerful work of fiction you will ever read. Hosea is the first book in the sections of minor prophets. Book of hosea overview insight for living ministries. And they actually turned against him, the very one who helped them hos.
With sean astin, elijah alexander, kenton duty, sammi hanratty. In hosea, we hear gods broken heart, his longing for his covenant people, who were so often unfaithful to him. Hosea accuses israel of breaking their covenant with god, and warns them of the tragic consequences to follow. It is ultimately a story about gods love for his people. The calendar on the wall indicated that it was about 760 years before jesus was born. In the book of hosea, god sends hosea to israel during king jeroboam iis reign to admonish.
Hosea we are currently reading from the book of the prophet hosea. Theme verse of hosea then the lord said to me, go again, love a woman who is loved by her husband, yet an adulteress, even as the lord loves the sons of israel, though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes. A love story is found in the book of hosea that can read like a scandalous romance but this powerful message shows how far we will run away from god and how far he will come to save us. This is a tough one for teens so the way he weaves their story with gods love for his people israel with hosea s love for gomer is often difficult for even adults to grasp. Hosea, an oldtestament prophet, preached his own life message using his marriage as the sermon illustration. The book of hosea is one of the books of the hebrew bible. In some ways the story of hosea differs little from. The incredible scandal of gods perfect love found in hosea. God keeps pursuing us and waiting for us to cast ourselves on his faithful love.
Redeeming love has a special way of infusing the great and indescribable love of god straight into the heart of the reader. Liz curtis higgs, new york times bestselling author. Only one who knows the love and forgiveness of god can ever love this perfectly. Karen kingsbury, new york times bestselling author simply put, redeeming love is the most powerful work of fiction you will ever read. Throughout the book, hosea pictured the people turning away from the lord and turning toward other gods 4. Joining them is teen outsider ashely, who is materialistic and selfinvolved, and whose bad attitude separates her from the rest of the group. Hosea 1, fractured love west palm beach church of christ. The prophecy of hosea centers around gods unending love towards a sinful israel. Hosea has been charged by god with a difficult taskmarry. The book of hosea is one of the most beautiful and confusing books you will. Their life is a love story, but not the fairy tale kind. Powerful love overcomes rebellion in the book of hosea. I know what youre thinking and yes, gomer is a girls name. The book of hoseaits a deeply personal and passionate love story, yet its a difficult story.
Its the story of god and the unfaithful nation he loves anyway. As an account full of harsh judgment unfolds, we find in its midst a rare and pure gem. Redeeming love is a literary masterpiece, reminding us that gods love is unconditional. The story of the prophet hosea s troubled marriage is a powerful testimony to two things. Hosea s wife, gomer, leaves him for anotherjust like israel has left god to worship idols. We do well to recall the story, especially given the great debate among some in the church today over the question of divorce and remarriage. Gomer was still beloved of hosea even though she was an adulteress, and god wanted him to seek her out and prove his love to her. This was our college drama presentation for easter, 20. Mar 27, 2019 and, god uses the story of hosea and gomers marriage to show that gods people have done the same to him. We are currently reading from the book of the prophet hosea at daily mass. Have you ever realized that god used the love story of hosea and gomer to compare to his relationship with us. Hoseas love for gomer is only a picture of gods love for israel, because all the while that israel was unfaithful to god, he was providing for them, and they took his blessings and used them for their idol worship.
Preaching through a book of the bible requires a commitment to both the hard work of exegeting a. The book of hosea was likely written between 755 and 725 b. The book of hosea illustrates that no one is beyond the offer of our forgiveness because no one sits outside gods offer of forgiveness. But when a confrontation occurs between carrie and ashleya newcomer with a bad attitudethe spirit of fellowship is broken. The book of hosea may feel complex, but interpretative help is found when we realize that it is intended to be approached as a living parable.
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