As Christ will return like a thief in the night, we're called to live knowing that He could come at any moment. Paul explains that being prepared is to daily remind ourselves of and live out the gospel.

Hosea 11:12 - 13:16 describes Israel's fall from grace. They trusted in and looked to their own cunning, intelligence and wisdom to sustain them. Instead of recognising that everything they had received was God's undeserved goodness - His grace - they forgot God. We too are guilty of crediting ourselves with everything we have. Ultimately, this snubbing of God's grace merits God's wrath for our sinful self-reliance. Yet, God in His grace, saves His people from themselves. Instead of relentlessly pursuing His people as enemies, He relentlessly pursues the great enemy of His people - death. At the cross and in His resurrection, Jesus Christ defeated death. We are called to throw away our self-dependence and look to Christ and His saving grace.

In 2 Timothy 3:14-17, Paul gives us the key to understanding and applying the Bible to our lives. We're reminded that the Scriptures point us to salvation in Christ Jesus. On every page, Jesus' Person and Work is displayed. Paul also reminds us that every passage of the Bible is for teaching, reproving, correcting and training. Every word God has given us in His Bible is useful, profitable and equips us to glorify and serve Him.

God describes Himself as Father who loves, provides for and is affectionate towards His children. He helps them to walk, heals them and picks them up to His cheek. Yet, His children are rebellious sinners. They are wayward sons. God cannot compromise His holiness and must punish sin. Yet, the Father's heart recoils in compassion as He sends His Son to be overthrown in judgement at the cross so that we would be restored to the Father.

Israel was prosperous, but this fruitfulness didn't tell the whole story. Instead, God says that His people will reap the consequences of sowing to idolatry, lies and rebellion: God's judgement. Along with Israel, we stand to reap God's wrath for what we have sown. We deserve to be harvested into eternal judgement for our sin. Yet, God rained His Righteous One on us. It's through Jesus reaping the judgement we deserved and crediting us with His righteousness the we are harvested into God's kingdom. As a result of this wonderful good news, we now sow and bear fruit in keeping with belonging to God's field.

God promises to remove His people from the land because of their disobedience. As they looked to idols for pleasure, protection and purpose, God's punishment was coming. They would find themselves far away from God's provision, God's protection and a place they belonged. Yet, in God's rich grace and mercy, He is also the God who brings His people home. God doesn't abandon us in our sin, but sends His own Son to bring those far away near through the blood of His cross. It's in Christ that we who were lost are found; we who had wandered far away have been brought home. 

Hosea exposes the unfaithfulness of Israel through unmasking their false confidences. They had lulled themselves into a false sense of security by looking to their government, alliances, idols, crops, religious activity and cities as their ultimate defence. God would rip the security blankets from His people when He brought His judgement through the Assyrians. We too place our security in idols that bring God's righteous anger. Our only hope is in Jesus. Jesus  reaps the whirlwind of God's wrath that we deserved for sowing to the wind of idolatry. Instead, we are presented righteous through His perfect obedience. True security is found in our justification before the just Judge of all the earth. We rest in the powerful and personal hands of the Father.

Paul explains the significance of the resurrection by exposing the fact that no resurrection means no hope. Then, Paul shows how the fact that Christ gives hope for the future and meaning for the present. The death nail hammered into death itself provides us with assurance in suffering and reorients our priorities in life.

Jesus is crucified during the Passover feast. The Passover reminded the people of God's deliverance from Egypt. The second last plague was the plague of darkness. Ominously, darkness descends on Jesus at the cross. Yet, instead of God bringing judgement on the world, He brings it on His Son. The temple curtain was torn in two, symbolising that the way was open for people to be reconciled to God.

Israel is exposed as being deceitful in their repentance and half-hearted in their love for God. Half a heart for God, is really no heart for God. We cannot be half in and half out of relationship with God any more than we can be half married! What does God do for a half-hearted people? He gives His whole heart through the giving of His Son. It is through the gospel that we turn from misty, morning-cloud love to steadfast love through Christ's perfect obedience.

Hosea 6:7 makes mention of a covenant made with Adam. This covenant, the covenant of works, puts all humanity under the curse of sin, death and separation from God. God, however, graciously pursues the sinner through the covenant of grace. Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, takes the curses of our covenant disobedience and credits us with His covenant righteousness.

In Hosea 5:1 - 6:3, God disciplines His rebellious people. The process of God's discipline starts with His withdrawal so that we would return to Him. If we refuse, He brings punishment. God's discipline, however, always has restoration as its goal. We can be assured of this through looking again at what Christ accomplished at the cross. There, God's wrath came like a flood on Jesus so we would receive the spring rain of His mercy.

In Hosea 4, God lays a charge at His people: they do not know Him. They are lawless, ignorant and violent. The reason the people don't know God is because the leadership failed to teach and lead the people. We are called in this passage to examine ourselves as to whether we know God in relationship, or just know about God. We are reminded again of our perfect priest-king, Jesus Christ, through whom we are known by God and know God.

In this passage, Jesus explains that all of our actions spring from our hearts. We are in desperate need of a Saviour who can rescue us from our sin and give us hearts that desire to please God.

God’s extraordinary love for His people is displayed in the fact that even though they have betrayed Him through idolatry and they deserve God breaking His commitment to them, God betroths His wayward people to Himself. Ultimately, this is accomplished in Christ who was uprooted at the cross so that we would be planted in God's kingdom.

The opening chapter of Hosea displays the broken relationship between God and His people. Though the fruit of spiritual adultery is God's judgement without mercy and separation from Him, God promises forgiveness. The tension between a promise of judgement without mercy and a promise of restoration in mercy is only resolved in the work of Christ.

Psalm 10 explains the reality of, cause of, cure of and response to injustice. In the gospel, we see the answer to injustice as God executes justice and showers us with mercy at the cross of Christ.

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