Hey Pastor John.
Alex and I just finished up reading Hosea.
I knew that Hosea was commanded to take an ungodly wife. I didn’t realize she was a representation of Israel’s unfaithfulness to God. What a heap of faith that took! I’m not sure what I would do if I was commanded to do something that feels contrary to what seems right. I would hope I would obey Him. It helped me see your message even better on the perfect law of liberty, and God not living by rules or playbooks. He can use anything and anyone for an example. Even if we don’t understand why, it’s for a purpose.
So much love and anger in one book! I told Alex a few times I wanted to hide under the bed. You could feel the anger reading. It reminded me of myself as a parent sometimes. Getting so frustrated on one hand, handing down punishments, but then the next thing, just wanting them to let you love them, and begging for someone to do the right thing. It really let me see God’s love for Israel. Even today. How He only wants them to do right and allow Him to love them. And it let me see myself and the emotions I feel on this earth in a different light as well. I was thinking, Lord, you understand how I feel, you feel this way too. That’s true about all of us at one point or another.
Hosea 3:5 says, “Afterward, the children of Israel will repent and seek Jehovah their God and David their King. Yea, in the latter days, they will come in fear to Jehovah and to His Good One.”
He is talking about the Son when he says His Good One, correct? Did anyone know during Hosea’s time that the Messiah was coming, or was that it these prophecies would come but they had no clue what that meant? I really love that he called Jesus his Good One!
Margo
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Hi Margo,
I am happy that you and Alex are being blessed by reading Hosea. To answer your questions: Yes, the “Good One” was God’s hidden Son. And yes, Israel knew that a Messiah was coming, but no one knew about God’s Son in heaven. He was hidden from everyone until he was revealed in Jesus.
Thanks for writing. That is a good testimony!
Pastor John