Daily reading

Today’s reading is: Hos. 3-8

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Hosea Chapter Three

  1. Hosea obeys the Lord to remarry faithless Gomer (Hos. 3:1).
  2. Hosea finds her for sale in a slave market, and pays cash for her redemption (Hos. 3:2).
  3. Hosea puts an end to Gomer’s prostitution career (Hos. 3:3).
  4. Hosea prophesies that all of this is a picture of the last days, and the restoration of Israel to the Lord (Hos. 3:4-5).

Hosea Chapter Four

  1. Chapter four begins the Lord’s discourse—His message of judgment against the northern kingdom.
  2. Israel failed to maintain ’emeth, checed, and da‘ath of God within their land (Hos. 4:1).
    1. אֱמֶת ’emeth #571: faithfulness, truth.
    2. חֶסֶד checed #2617: lovingkindness.
    3. דַּעַת אֱלֹהִים da‘ath ’elohiym #1847: knowledge & #430: God.
    4. English translations of these terms:
      1. “faithfulness or kindness or knowledge of God” (NASB).  
      2. “faithfulness, love, acknowledgment of God” (NIV). 
      3. “truth or mercy or knowledge of God” (KJV, NKJV). 
    5. Lovingkindness and truth is the epitome of the paths of the Lord (Ps. 25:10), and this walk was illustrated by and realized through the Lord Jesus Christ (Jn. 1:17).
  3. Israel was involved with every evil work of the flesh (Hos. 4:2-3), for which they could only blame themselves in their rejection of Bible Doctrine (Hos. 4:4-6), and in which they only made matters worse the longer they remained in darkness (Hos. 4:7-11).
  4. Israel’s idolatry is described (Hos. 4:12-19).

Hosea Chapter Five

  1. Israel’s wicked kings and false priests led Israel into the depths of their evil (Hos. 5:1-7).
  2. Israel’s sickness and Judah’s wound determined that the Lord had to act immediately (Hos. 5:8-15).

Hosea Chapter Six

  1. The Lord’s discipline through exile was not intended to be the final activity—it was designed to produce repentance (Hos. 6:1-3).
  2. The Lord debates what He must do in view of the faithlessness of Israel & Judah (Hos. 6:4-11).
    1. They had missed the entire purpose for the external ritual (v.6; Matt. 9:13; 12:7).
    2. Their lack of knowledge produced blasphemous activities.

Hosea Chapter Seven

  1. God was eagerly waiting to heal Israel, but they repeatedly refused to repent (Hos. 7:1-7).
  2. Israel truly became a nation of this world (Hos. 7:8-16).

Hosea Chapter Eight

  1. The approaching enemy causes Israel to cry out to the Lord without true repentance—only more lies (Hos. 8:1-2; Tit. 1:16).
  2. Sowing the wind reaps the whirlwind (Hos. 8:3-7; Gal. 6:7).
  3. Israel is sentenced to bondage (metaph. use of Egypt), and Judah is headed that direction (Hos. 8:8-14).  The literal Egypt is not going to be the location of their exile, but is used to communicate what Israel can expect to experience (Hos. 9:3,6; 11:5).