Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / February 17 - Hosea 2

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February 17 - Hosea 2 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean here and it is Tuesday, it's February
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  the 17th and it's great to have your company as we are just
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  embarking together on this journey through the book of
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  Hosea where God decides rather than just pleading with the
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  people of Israel of this Northern Kingdom, trying to get
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  them to come back to be faithful to him.
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  He says why don't we try something different?
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  Why don't I get a prophet to mirror my part in the
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  relationship that I have in the covenant with my people and have
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  him marry this prostitute who is unfaithful and that represents
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  Israel's part in our relationship.
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  And through Hosea and through his ongoing love and
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  faithfulness to his unfaithful wife, God can use this as a
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  powerful way to explain his love and his commitment, no matter
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  what Israel does, to always be their God, even though there
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  will be consequences for Israel's unfaithfulness.
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  Oh, what a novel approach. And today we read about the
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  charges against this unfaithful wife and God's love for an
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  unfaithful Israel. So let's do just that, shall we?
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  Holy Spirit, help us see you and your word to us today as we read
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  this chapter together. All right, friends, let us do
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  it. Let us read Hosea chapter 2.
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  In that day, you will call your brothers are me my people.
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  And you will call your sisters Ruhama, the ones I love.
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  But now bring charges against Israel, your mother, for she is
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  no longer my wife and I am no longer her husband.
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  Tell her to remove the prostitute's make up from her
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  face and the clothing that exposes her breasts.
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  Otherwise I will strip her as naked as she was on the day she
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  was born. I will leave her to die of
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  thirst, as in a dry and barren wilderness, And I will not love
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  her children, for they were conceived in prostitution.
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  Their mother is a shameless prostitute and became pregnant
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  in a shameful way. She said I'll run after other
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  lovers and sell myself to them for food and water, for clothing
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  of wool and linen, and for olive oil and drinks.
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  For this reason I will fence her in with thorn bushes.
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  I will block her path with a wall to make her lose her way.
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  When she runs after her lovers, she won't be able to catch them.
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  She will search for them but not find them.
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  Then she will think I might as well return to my husband for I
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  was better off with him than I am now.
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  She doesn't realise it was I who gave her everything.
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  She has the grain, the new wine, the olive oil.
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  I even gave her silver and gold. But she gave all my gifts to
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  Baal. But now I will take back the
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  ripened grain and new wine I generously provided each harvest
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  season. I will take away the wool and
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  linen clothing I gave her to cover her nakedness.
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  I will strip her naked in public while all her lovers look on.
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  No one will be able to rescue her from my hands.
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  I will put an end to her annual festivals, her new moon
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  celebrations and her Sabbath days, all her appointed
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  festivals. I will destroy her grapevines
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  and fig trees, things she claims her lovers gave her.
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  I will let them grow into tangled thickets there.
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  Only wild animals will eat the fruit.
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  I will punish her for all those times when she burned incense to
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  her images of Baal, when she put on her earrings and jewels and
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  went out to look for her lovers but forgot all about me, says
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  the Lord. But then I will win her back
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  once again. I will lead her into the desert
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  and speak tenderly to her there. I will return her vineyards to
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  her and transform the valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope.
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  She will give herself to me there, as she did long ago when
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  she was young, when I freed her from her captivity in Egypt.
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  When that day comes, says the Lord, you will call me my
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  husband instead of my master. O Israel, I will wipe the many
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  names of Baal from your lips, and you will never mention them
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  again. On that day I will make a
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  covenant with all the wild animals and the birds of the sky
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  and the animals that scurry along the ground so they will
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  not harm you. I will remove all weapons of war
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  from the land, all swords and bows, so you can live unafraid
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  in peace and safety. I will make you my wife forever,
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  showing you righteousness and justice, unfailing love and
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  compassion. I will be faithful to you and
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  make you mine, and you will finally know me as the Lord.
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  In that day. I will answer, says the Lord.
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  I will answer the sky as a pleads for clouds, and the sky
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  will answer the earth with rain. Then the earth will answer the
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  thirsty cries of the grain, the grapevines and the olive trees,
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  and they in turn will answer Jezreel God plants.
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  At that time I will plant a crop of Israelites and raise them for
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  myself. I will show love to those I
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  called not loved, and to those I called not my people.
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  I will say Now you are my people and they will reply, You are our
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  God. My Lord, this analogy is such a
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  powerful one, and we cannot miss the incredible faithfulness that
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  you offer your people. And Lord, you are unchanging.
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  And so we know that this faithfulness is what you offer
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  us. You say that you will show us
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  your righteousness and your justice with your unfailing love
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  and compassion. My Lord, You are so faithful to
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  us, even when we are fickle and change direction as often as the
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  breeze changes direction on a spring afternoon.
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  But you and your love are forever, my Lord, even when we
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  are wavered, and even as we are turning away from you, you
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  restate your faithfulness and your love to us.
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  Ah, you are a good, good, faithful Lord, and we are so
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  grateful because it's only because of who you are that we
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  can possibly be your people, and that what you have done for us
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  through Jesus that you wipe our slate clean again and again and
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  again, inviting us back into your perfect presence.
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  Even though we are not worthy of it, you still throw open your
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  arms and invite us in. So we are so grateful and we
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  love you and we thank you for all that you have done for us
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  through Jesus. And so we pray all of this in
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  His redeeming name, Amen.