Hosea was a prophet of God during a time when the people of God in Judah were not being faithful to the Law. God told Hosea to marry a woman who would not love him like she should. God did this to show the people of Israel that though they were His people, they did not love Him like they should. When they served idols and did not obey God’s law, they were not showing true love for Him.
Through Hosea, God told the people that He would not be their God and they would not be His people if they did not repent. He also said that He would allow an enemy to come and defeat them in battle and take them to live in another land. God wanted his people to serve Him and He would take care of them and make sure they had food, water, and places to live. But the people loved their idols and would not turn to God even when their food and water became hard to find. Can you imagine not having much food or water but still not serving God who would give plenty of food and water?
Though the people had not loved God like they should, God was willing to take them back if they would repent. To repent means to change your mind so that instead of disobeying God, you will obey God. God would forgive their sins if they would turn to Him.
Hosea begged the people to turn back to God. He told them that the Lord had brought suffering on them for sin but He would make things better if they would return. But, he said, they were not very faithful. They did not have a strong love for God. Hosea said that God wrote great things in His law but the people thought they were strange things. They did not learn the law of God like they should and so they did not understand the things God wrote to help them be good people.
Hosea also said that God would not accept the animal sacrifices they people were offering. They thought that even if they were not obeying all of the law, if they made sacrifices like the law commanded, that God would accept it. But God did not want them to just keep part of the law, He wanted them to do all that He commanded. We must make sure that we do not think that just because we do something religious, like going to worship services, that we can use bad language, or lie, or do other things God does not want us to do. God wants us to serve Him with our hearts, because He loves us. He also wants us to keep His law because it is good for us.
Lessons from Hosea
- God wants people who are sinning to come back to Him so He can forgive them.
- God wants His people to keep His laws and serve Him because they love Him.
- Sometimes people will not serve God even when they are punished for disobeying.
