The book of Hosea is a dramatic account of God's love and forgiveness in the face of the sin and failure of His people. It is a call to repentance -a call to return to God and His ways. It is safe to come back to God, after disobeying and wandering from Him. It is not safe to not return. Don't make the Heavenly Father have to come after you. Get home now. God wants to bless you and help you. Hopefully, our study of the last chapter of Hosea will make you want to go back and start with the first chapter. But for now, we will focus on the call of God in chapter fourteen.
| Hosea 14:1 | | Return… you have wandered and fallen / stumbled. |
| Hosea 14:2 | | Think about what you are going to say to God when you approach Him. |
| Hosea 14:3 | | Trusting the world (Assyria) has not helped. Other ways of escaping (ride on horses) are getting nowhere. All the idols that we've made don't work. The Lord cares for orphans. Trust His compassion and help for you. |
| Hosea 14:4-7 | | The Lord has promised to bless and to restore those who turn to Him. |
| Hosea 14:8 | | The Lord wants us to forsake the idols in our lives. He listens to our words. He watches our actions. He will make us fruitful if we mean what we say. |
| Hosea 14:9 | | It takes wisdom, understanding, and prudence to choose the Lord over the things of the world. The pressures of life are either pushing you towards Him or pushing you away from Him. But you have a responsibility to do the steering. Which way will you steer? What will you say to God?
See Matthew 16:24-26; I John 1:5-10; 2:15-17; Romans 12:1-2; Titus 2:11-14.
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Choose your words carefully! - Hosea 14:2
Confess sin and desire its removal. Seek fellowship with God. Desire to walk with Him. Your prayer is like an offering / sacrifice (Jeremiah 17:26, Hebrews 13:15-16). Don't offer a lame or blemished sacrifice (Leviticus 22:22).
God is listening. God is watching! - Hosea 14:8
God wants us to watch for idols in our lives (I Corinthians 10:14,20-24; II Corinthians 6:14 - 7:1; I Thessalonians 1:9; I John 5:21). God wants us to desire fruit that comes from Him and glorifies Him (Romans 6:16-23; Galatians 5:16-26; Ephesians 5:1-17; Philippians 1:9-11 cp. Psalm 85:1-13).
Consider the example of the prodigal son - Luke 15:11-24
Note how the wayward son pre-thought what he would say to his father (Luke 15:17-19).
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