Passage
Hosea 1:1-2:1 (ESV)
Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch
Acts 8:26-40
Key Verse: 8:35
Israel's Spiritual Adultery
Date: Jun. 13, 2019
Daily Bread
Introduction to Hosea
Key Verse: 1:2
1. A very personal message (1:1-5)
The word of the Lord came to Hosea in order to make his whole life a message for the unfaithful people of Israel (the Northern Kingdom). God told Hosea to marry an unfaithful woman as a sign of Israel's spiritual adultery in abandoning the Lord and giving themselves to idol worship. God warned of his coming judgment against the line of King Jehu, who had massacred the entire house of King Ahab at Jezreel.
2. Gomer's children (1:6-2:1)
The Lord told Hosea to name his children "Jezreel" and "not loved" as further signs of God's judgment. To discipline Israel, God would treat his people as if they were not his people. Yet there was also a message of hope. The Lord would reunite Israel and Judah and make them like the sand on the seashore. They would again be called "my people" and "my loved one." The Lord may not ask us to do what he told Hosea to do. But he does expect our message and our life to work together as a testimony in sinful times.
Prayer: Lord, help me guard my heart against spiritual adultery. Make me and my family a sign of your presence among people who have forgotten you.
One Word: Make my life the message
