Relational Spirituality

vinecoveredtower2Hosea is a book about the unrequited, rejected love of God for his people.

It is one of the oldest (760 BC) books of the Bible, from before the Torah/Pentateuch. Discusses the Fall of the Northern Kingdom, and the many false gods/idols (Baal, the Canaanite storm god, and Asherah, a Canaanite fertility goddess) the people of Israel have chosen above God. I've selected some of the important sections to consider and mediate on. 

  1. What strikes you about the words God speaks through Hosea?
  2. Why do the people leave God to “consult wooden idols, diviner’s rods”?
  3. What does God say will happen with the people?
  4. How does God want this to end, and how will he get this to occur?

Chapter 1: 1 The word of the Lord that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the reign of Jeroboam son of Jehoash[a] king of Israel:.....

2 When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.” 

Chapter 4: Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites,

    because the Lord has a charge to bring

    against you who live in the land:

“There is no faithfulness, no love,

    no acknowledgment of God in the land.

2 There is only cursing,[a] lying and murder,

    stealing and adultery;

they break all bounds,  and bloodshed follows bloodshed.

3 Because of this the land dries up,

    and all who live in it waste away;

the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky

    and the fish in the sea are swept away.

“Because you have rejected knowledge,

    I also reject you as my priests;

because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children.

7 The more priests there were,

    the more they sinned against me;

    they exchanged their glorious God[b] for something disgraceful.

8 They feed on the sins of my people

    and relish their wickedness.

9 And it will be: Like people, like priests.

    I will punish both of them for their ways

    and repay them for their deeds.

10 “They will eat but not have enough;

    they will engage in prostitution but not flourish,

because they have deserted the Lord

    to give themselves 11 to prostitution;

old wine and new wine take away their understanding.

12 My people consult a wooden idol,

    and a diviner’s rod speaks to them.

Chapter 6: What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?

    What shall I do with you, O Judah?

Your love is like a morning cloud,

    like the dew that goes early away.

5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets;

    I have slain them by the words of my mouth,

    and my judgment goes forth as the light.

6 For I desire steadfast love[a] and not sacrifice,

    the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

Chapter 7: 14 They do not cry to me from the heart,

    but they wail upon their beds;

for grain and wine they gash themselves;

    they rebel against me.

15 Although I trained and strengthened their arms,

    yet they devise evil against me.

16 They return, but not upward;[b]

    they are like a treacherous bow;

their princes shall fall by the sword

    because of the insolence of their tongue.

This shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.

Chapter 8: 12 Were I to write for him my laws by the ten thousands,

    they would be regarded as a strange thing.

13 As for my sacrificial offerings,

    they sacrifice meat and eat it,

    but the Lord does not accept them.

Now he will remember their iniquity

    and punish their sins;

    they shall return to Egypt.

14 For Israel has forgotten his Maker

    and built palaces,

and Judah has multiplied fortified cities;

    so I will send a fire upon his cities,

    and it shall devour her strongholds.

Chapter 10: Sow for yourselves righteousness;

    reap steadfast love;

    break up your fallow ground,

for it is the time to seek the Lord,

    that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.

13 You have plowed iniquity;

    you have reaped injustice;

    you have eaten the fruit of lies.

Because you have trusted in your own way

    and in the multitude of your warriors,

14 therefore the tumult of war shall arise among your people,

    and all your fortresses shall be destroyed,

Chapter 14: Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,  for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.

2 Take with you words  and return to the Lord;

say to him,  “Take away all iniquity;

accept what is good,

    and we will pay with bulls

    the vows[a] of our lips.

3 Assyria shall not save us;

    we will not ride on horses;

and we will say no more, ‘Our God,’

    to the work of our hands.

In you the orphan finds mercy.”

4 I will heal their apostasy;

    I will love them freely,

    for my anger has turned from them.

5 I will be like the dew to Israel;

    he shall blossom like the lily;

    he shall take root like the trees of Lebanon;

6 his shoots shall spread out;

    his beauty shall be like the olive,

    and his fragrance like Lebanon.

7 They shall return and dwell beneath my[b] shadow;  they shall flourish like the grain;

they shall blossom like the vine;

    their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

8 O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols?

    It is I who answer and look after you.[c]

I am like an evergreen cypress;

    from me comes your fruit.

9 Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them; for the ways of the Lord are right,

    and the upright walk in them,

    but transgressors stumble in them.

 

Reflections to Consider

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Relational Publications

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Relational Audio & Video

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Publications

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Relational Music

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Music

  • Jesus be the centre

    Center is a song that speaks of the essence of our life in Christ, and echoes the words the Christ Read More
  • I Lift My Hands

    A powerful hymn of adoration and praise Arkansas Gospel Mass Choir. This succinctly captures the joy of knowing our savior. Read More
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Relational Reflection

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Audio & Video

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Favorites

  • Transforming this World: The Hope of Glory by NT Wright +

    Wright confronts the perspective that this world doesn’t matter, and that we live only to be in heaven. He shows Read More
  • What is Good in a World that Defies Hope: a talk by NT Wright +

    This is the second part of three talks by NT Wright at Harvard University in November, 2008 on the topic Read More
  • The Stream, the Lake and the River: NT Wright +

      Acts 2.1-21; John 7.37-39; a sermon at the Eucharist on the Feast of Pentecost, 11 May 2008, by the Read More
  • Jesus in the Perfect Storm by NT Wright +

    Zechariah 9.9-17; Luke 19.28-48; A sermon for Palm Sunday, April 17, 2011, In the University Chapel of St Salvator, St Read More
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Hidden Blessings

  • Christ is a Great Savior: a review of the movie Amazing Grace +

    Amazing Grace is a historical drama about William Wilberforce who was elected to British Parliament at the age of 21 Read More
  • Wilberforce, Hollywood's Amazing Grace, Charlotte Allen +

    William Wilberforce's relentless campaign eventually led the British Parliament to ban the slave trade, in 1807, and to pass a Read More
  • Making Beauty out of Ugly Things: Grace by U2 +

    Grace, she takes the blame She covers the shame Removes the stain It could be her name Grace, she carries Read More
  • The True Nature of Grace and Love: a movie review of the Soloist +

    The 2009 movie The Soloist is based on a book by the same name, written by Los Angeles Times columnist Read More
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