3 Pictures From Hosea 1-3

“Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them; for the ways of the Lord are right, and the upright walk in them..." Hosea 14:9

This summer, while reading through the Bible using the Sweeter Than Honey Bible reading plan, on July 16 I came to the Old Testament book of Hosea. ​

In chapters two and three of Hosea, we see three visual pictures. First, Hosea shows us a picture of God’s mercy. Second, we see a picture of Heaven. Third, a picture of His love.

God's undeserved mercy, Heaven, and God's steadfast love are all pictures I needed to see that day. I hope these visual pictures from the book of Hosea are just what you need to see today too, friend!

A noteworthy fact about the book of Hosea is that the wife Hosea took to marry was unfaithful to him. This marriage relationship is a sad picture of Israel (the wife) and God (her husband).

And the pivotal passage is found in chapter 14: “Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them; for the ways of the Lord are right, and the upright walk in them..." (Hosea 14:9)
​
A few points to remember are:

• Hosea’s early prophecies were directed to King Jeroboam II, the 13th king of the Northern Kingdom. At this time, Israel was consumed with idolatry. God used the Assyrian invasion to get their attention. To put Hosea’s prophecy into a timeline-perspective, he prophesied during the same time as Isaiah, and about 10 years after Jonah was swallowed by the great fish.
• Hosea’s prophecy is filled with great passion because of his marriage to an unfaithful woman. He knew, first hand, what Israel’s unfaithfulness to God felt like.
• Most of Hosea’s prophecy has to do with the Assyrian invasion on the Northern Kingdom, which was soon to happen, and the Babylonian invasion on the Southern Kingdom, which happened about 150 years later.

A Picture of God’s Mercy

“Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. And there I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor [trouble] a door of hope. And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.” Hosea 2:14-15

Here, Hosea writes of the Lord’s mercy towards Israel, but it is also a picture of His mercy toward us.

A Picture of Heaven

“And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish [break] the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety. And I will betroth you to Me forever. I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord.” Hosea 2:18-20

Here, Hosea writes of a picture of Heaven and our relationship with God as the relationship of a husband and wife. He uses the words “covenant” and “betroth”—three times. He speaks of righteousness, justice, steadfast love, mercy, and faithfulness. And then he says something interesting. “And you shall know the Lord” (2:20). We will not fully know Him until we reach Heaven. We will not fully understand His love for us, His mercy towards us, until that day.

A Picture of God’s Love

“And the Lord said to me, ‘Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.’ So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley. And I said to her, ‘You must dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you.’ For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods. Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the Lord and to His goodness in the latter days.” Hosea 3:1-5

God loved us before we loved Him. He sought us out. He bought us at a great price—His only Son. His relationship with us—“You must dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you.” And I love verse 5, “Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God…and they shall come in fear to the Lord and to His goodness in the latter days.”

A picture of God’s mercy towards us, a picture of Heaven, and a picture of God’s love for us—I love seeing this pictures in the book of Hosea!

Which of these pictures is your favorite today?