The book of Hosea is one that most of us aren’t incredibly familiar with. The Wednesday morning group tackled it as part of their study of the Old Testament prophets. The word of God that comes to Hosea isn’t polite, it isn’t clean, it isn’t easy. Hosea ends up living out the broken relationship of God and God’s people in his own life.
That begins in this passage, where he is commanded to marry a prostitute, and together they have children, and the children are named things that don’t match up with what we think of Biblical names. In this book Hosea introduces the metaphor of marriage as a relationship between God and God’s people, and it isn’t complimentary to God’s people. This metaphor morphs over time, and is not always the church as the bride of Christ.
How does Hosea say these things to the people of God? How does God say these things to the people of God? Can these things be said in faith?
