Today’s Reading is Hosea 14:1-9.
Hosea once again uses strong imagery to get his message across. Today’s passage is full of botanical references.
Verse 6a: “They will be alive with new growth, and beautiful like olive trees.”
Verse 6b: “They will be fragrant like the cedars of Lebanon. “
Verse 7b: “They will grow crops of grain and be fruitful like a vineyard.
They will be as famous as the wine of Lebanon.”
Today’s Reading is Hosea 11:1-11.
Hosea is not shy in any way. Today he revolutionizes gender perceptions of God portraying YHWH as a concerned father and a protective lion mother. Male God, female Goddess? In yesterday’s reading Hosea wrote about God being a betrayed husband and in 13:8 God is a mother bear – an animal!
What does your God look like?
Today’s Reading is Hosea 2:2-23.
The prophet tells the story of Israel being unfaithful toward God and their relationship being happily restored. They cheated on God with Baal, a local deity which was popular at the time. Hosea reminds them remember the Exodus and how painful the desert experience was and will be: Love hurts!
Today’s Reading is Hosea 1:1-2:1.
In addition to writing and speaking messages from God, Hebrew prophets often acted out prophetic parables:
Ahijah from Shiloh
Isaiah
Jeremiah (shorts, clay jar, yoke)
Ezekiel (acts out the siege of Jerusalem, cuts his hair, as a refugee, trembling, wooden stick)
Hosea has to create difficult family situations for himself to depict the unfaithfulness of king Jerobeam II of Israel.