Day 461: Hosea 2- A Love For His Bride

Say to your brothers, “You are my people,” and to your sisters, “You have received mercy.”
2 “Plead with your mother, plead— for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband— that she put away her whoring from her face, and her adultery from between her breasts; 3 lest I strip her naked and make her as in the day she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and make her like a parched land, and kill her with thirst. 4 Upon her children also I will have no mercy, because they are children of whoredom.
5 For their mother has played the whore; she who conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.’ 6 Therefore I will hedge up her way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her, so that she cannot find her paths. 7 She shall pursue her lovers but not overtake them, and she shall seek them but shall not find them. Then she shall say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband, for it was better for me then than now.’
8 And she did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and who lavished on her silver and gold, which they used for Baal. 9 Therefore I will take back my grain in its time, and my wine in its season, and I will take away my wool and my flax, which were to cover her nakedness. 10 Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one shall rescue her out of my hand.
11 And I will put an end to all her mirth, her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths, and all her appointed feasts. 12 And I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees, of which she said, ‘These are my wages, which my lovers have given me.’ I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall devour them.
13 And I will punish her for the feast days of the Baals when she burned offerings to them and adorned herself with her ring and jewelry, and went after her lovers  and forgot me, declares the Lord.
The Lord's Mercy on Israel
14 “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. 15 And there I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.
16 “And in that day, declares the Lord, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’ 17 For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more. 18 And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety. 19 And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. 20 I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord.
21 “And in that day I will answer, declares the Lord, I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth, 22 and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil, and they shall answer Jezreel, 23  and I will sow her for myself in the land. And I will have mercy on No Mercy, and I will say to Not My People, ‘You are my people’; and he shall say, ‘You are my God.’”
 
Meditation
God’s love for you is more passionate than a groom awaiting his bride!
 
I lost it, weeping like a baby in front of friends and family when I saw Lisa coming down the aisle at our wedding. My heart burst with gratefulness and love. The passion of a husband for his bride is powerful.
 
God reveals His love for you as a groom. God’s deep desire for intimate relationship is the backdrop of the wrath revealed in verses 1-13. God’s love is exclusive and will not tolerate you giving your heart to another.
 
God’s love makes things right, recapturing our hearts through His redemptive work. Places of wrath are transformed into doorways of hope, the Valley of Achor (15, Joshua 7) and the cross of Christ. God’s wrath satisfied enables God’s arms to open wide. The passionate love of our Groom is excited to give grace to His bride!
 
God’s love also grants mercy and in view of God’s mercy we are transformed from harlots to a bride.  Jesus is the Bridegroom (Mark 2:19) and believers from the entire world and all of time are prepared as a Bride adorned for their Husband (Revelation 21:2).
 
Jesus took the sin of our idolatry and the wrath we deserve so we can be welcomed by God’s love as a groom welcomes a bride. Our groom who is our God says, “I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy…” (19)
 
Will you open your heart to God’s powerful passion for you?
 
Richly Dwelling
-Do you know God as your groom, waiting to shower you with extravagant love?
 
-Are there other lovers you have been giving your heart to? Israel had been giving their love to Baal. God’s love invited them to repent and come to Him. Be specific.
 
-The gospel reverses the wrath we deserve. We do not deserve mercy or to be His people but God’s love in Christ shows mercy and makes us His people. How does God’s grace compel you to be a faithful Bride to Him?
 
Key Verse
19 And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. 20 I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord.