Hosea

Over the next few weeks, we are going to be unpacking one of the weirdest love stories in the entire Bible. The Minor Prophet Hosea tells us a love story like no other. It’s about a preacher and a prostitute. This story is actually used as a metaphor to teach us about our relationship with God. Today’s message introduces the story of Hosea and demonstrates how we can be reckless, but God’s love is relentless.

Hosea's life is a parable. He put himself through the trouble of an unfaithful marriage in order to illustrate the strained relationship between God and His people. Israel, like an unfaithful partner, broke their covenant with God. The nation had strayed from home like a cheating spouse. In chapter three, we discover that Gomer is not even living with Hosea anymore. It’s heartbreaking and hurtful for our friend Hosea. When we look at the story of Hosea, we see two key truths that sum up the entire Bible from begging to end. This bizarre tale examines our failures in the midst of God's faithfulness.

As we conclude our series on Hosea, we are actually going to jump ahead to the end of the Bible. Why? Because Hosea’s marriage story is a foreshadowing of the greatest wedding of all time. No, we are not talking about a Kardashian. We are talking about Christ. In this message, we will discuss another one-sided relationship in scripture by examining the marriage between Jesus and His Church.