The Life and Ministry of Hosea 

Hosea is a prophet whom God uses to portray a message of repentance to God's people. Through Hosea's marriage to Gomer, God shows his great love for his great people, comparing himself to a husband whose wife has committed adultery, using this image as a metaphor for the covenant between God and Israel.

God has a future for us, a plan for us - a plan to bless us in his Son, represented by the prophet Hosea, whose very name means salvation. God’s plan is to bring us home and transform us from rebels and sinners to saints. That is why God sent his Son Jesus Christ and that is what the Christmas season is all about: God sent his Son to seek us and redeem us from the marketplace of slavery.

God has a plan to forgive all your sins. God has a plan to heal you and to love and bless you freely. That plan is found in this fourteenth chapter of the book of Hosea. It is God’s plan –his only plan to save humanity through his Gracious Love.

God loves you because He loves you, because He loves you (100 times).  His love for you is perfect 100%.  He loves you all the way all the time.  God never stops loving you.

A)   WORDS OF CONFESSION TO GOD

Take with you: -

1.   Words of Repentance – “Take away all iniquity” – Hosea14:2

2.   Words of Faith – “In Thee the fatherless find mercy” – Hosea 14:3

3.   Words of Entreaty – “Receive us graciously” – Hosea 14:2

4.   Words of Praise – “we will offer the sacrifices of our lips” – Hosea 14:2  

B)   GOD’S WORDS OF PROMISES – “I WILL” three times

1.   The Goodness of God’s Activity -  “I will heal their backsliding” – Hos. 14:4

2.   The Graciousness of God’s Attitude – “I will love them freely” – Hos. 14:4

3.   The Gentleness of God’s Approach – “I will be as the dew to Israel – Hos. 14:5 

1.   Here is a promise we can bank on, count on, depend on, trust in and believe on: “I will heal their waywardness.”

We find the same promise in Jeremiah 3:22: “Return, faithless people; I will cure you of backsliding.” God promises to forgive all our sins and cure our perversity, to make us lovers of God and seekers after righteousness.

2.   “I will love them freely.”” The second blessing is God’s promise to love us freely. In Hosea 11:8-9 we see mention of God’s great love for his people: ”

What is the measurement of this great love of God? It is like an ocean we only dip our feet into the water on the beach. We have not discover the depths of His Rivers of Gracious Love.

3.   “I will be like the dew to Israel.” What do we need in the desert of this world? Water. Here God promises, “I will be like the dew to Israel.” Without water we wither and perish, but when God nourishes us, we will flourish. We will be like watered gardens fresh and flourishing.

In Deuteronomy 32:1-2 we read, “Listen, O heavens, and I will speak; hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants.”

May the Lord bless you and His Goodness and Mercy follows you all the days of your life and family. Amen.