Found! My Hosea notes...

Last year, I had the wonderful privilege of teaching a Bible study on the book of Hosea to a great group of women (Beth Jefferson's Bible study group). I finished the study right around this time of year, and then we moved into our new house in May, and sadly, I thought my notes hadn't survived the move and were gone for good. But, hallelujah, they are found! Adam just found them tucked away in one of his document folders, so I am going to post my notes here so they'll survive into infinity (well, as long as the Internet lives...), regardless of where life takes the Mancillas (and all their stuff).

I'm also posting them because a couple of people have asked me for my notes, and I'm only too eager to share them. Teaching this book was difficult (this isn't like teaching Psalms!), but probably my most rewarding experience in the Word of God to date. God showed me amazing things about Himself through this book: mostly how He is such a jealous God over us...He loves us so much He simply can't stand sharing us with anyone or anything else. What a beautiful truth to cling to! It is my hope that these notes will bless somebody, somewhere. God's Word does not return void!

So without further ado, here was my hand-out on Hosea 1:

HOSEA
Introduction and Chapter 1

Historical Background
When Solomon (David’s son who reigned after him) died, the Israelites were separated into two kingdoms: the Northern Kingdom, Israel, and the southern Kingdom, Judah (10 tribes revolted and formed the Northern Kingdom of Israel; they did not want Solomon’s son Rehoboam as king, but the 2 remaining tribes were loyal to Rehoboam and formed the Southern Kingdom of Judah). Hosea lived in the Northern Kingdom and his king was Jeroboam II (13th king of the Northern Kingdom), a wicked king. Jeroboam II brought prosperity to the people of Israel (by taxing other nations under his power), but the people grew comfortable in their wealth and turned away from God. They committed many types of sin, but the sin that grieved the heart of God more than anything else was the sin of idolatry.
Because the division of the nation, Jeroboam I (the ancestor of Jeroboam II and the 1st king of the Northern Kingdom) was afraid of his people going to Jerusalem (into the Southern Kingdom) to worship, and as a result, that he would lose power over them. So Jeroboam I set up golden calves for the Israelites to worship, so they wouldn’t leave the Northern Kingdom for Jerusalem (1 Kings 12:26-33). This idol worship became worse and worse over the next 150 years, as the Israelites began participating in drunkenness, religious prostitution, and human sacrifice.

Sin of Jehu
Jehu was the 10th king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel and Jeroboam II’s great-grandfather. He wasn’t born into his kingship; in fact, he was actually just a soldier in the king’s army, when God commanded his prophet Elijah to anoint Jehu king in order to judge the sins of Ahab and Jezebel and stop their line form continuing. To do so, Elisha (who replaced Elijah) secretly anointed Jehu king and ordered him to destroy the house of Ahab, in accordance with God’s will. Jehu obeyed and killed King Joram (Ahab and Jezebel’s son) at Jezreel. Jehu then killed all the sons of Joram and Joram’s mother, Jezebel; then he killed all the ministers of Baal and destroyed the temple of Baal in Jezreel. All of this was in obedience to God and Jehu acted according to God’s will. However, Jehu did not go all the way in keeping with God’s will; he tolerated the worship of the golden calves in his kingdom. He destroyed one form of idol worship by getting rid of the Baal temple and priests, but he allowed another form of idol worship.

What is a prophet? Prophets are:

*Called by God in a special way (the Lord spoke to Hosea [1:2], the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah [1:4], Isaiah saw a vision [1:1], Daniel had dreams)

*Sometimes, God used His prophets to be living examples of the message that He wanted to give to His people (Hosea was told to marry a prostitute in order to be a living example of God’s unconditional love for His people; however, Jeremiah was forbidden to marry or have children in order to demonstrate the persecution, suffering, and death that awaited the fathers, mothers, and children of Israel [Jeremiah 16:1-4]. Isaiah went naked and barefoot for 3 years to foretell of what would happen to those Israelites who trusted in other nations for protection instead of trusting in God [they would be stripped of all their possessions and carried into captivity]).

*God expected obedience from a prophet, even with the threat of death and even in the midst of great personal suffering (Hosea must have suffered terribly over the infidelity of his wife; Jeremiah’s life was threatened [11:21]; Daniel was in danger of losing his life many times).

*Prophets came from all walks of life (Amos was a farmer, Ezekiel was a priest; even women and children were used as prophets).

*Spoke truths that ultimately point to Jesus Christ, whether these truths were symbolic or specific (Hosea includes a symbolic prophecy of Jesus; Isaiah [53:3-6] includes a specific prophecy about the crucifixion).

What were the names of Gomer’s children, and what did their names mean? What do you think God was trying to communicate through the names of these children to the people of Israel?

*Jezreel: “God scatters.” Perhaps a warning of the judgment to come, and what kind of judgment that might be.

*Lo-Ruhamah: “not loved” or “no compassion” or “no mercy.” Perhaps a sign of how harshly God would deal with the Israelites if they continued to be unrepentant.

*Lo-Ammi: “not my people.” God would officially turn His back on Israel, but perhaps only this generation of them. God made a covenant with Abraham, and God doesn’t break his promises (Genesis 22:17).

What can we learn from Jehu’s sin?
When obeying God, obey Him completely and don’t think you can hide anything from Him or get away with “details.”

If you were Hosea, what would you have done? Has God ever asked you to do something that was uncomfortable or strange? What did you do?

How seriously does God take the sin of idolatry? What is the definition of idolatry? How do we worship other idols today?