We are returning to Hosea this morning

The prophet who had to experience in his own life, with his wife, what God had experienced with Israel
– a people who were unfaithful to him, not only by adultery,
• but prostituting themselves with other gods
• you may have guessed that I’m not comfortable with Hosea
◦ I’d rather be with Jesus in the New Testament, loving and rescuing sinners
◦ instead, Hosea delivers a barrage of condemnations
– Israel had a long history of turning their backs on Yahweh
• and he repeatedly called them to return to him
◦ when they didn’t return , he withdrew from them
◦ and there were consequences–enemy invasion and crop failure
• this time, they were reaching a point of no return
◦ I think it’s okay to say God was desperate to stop them, to reach them and motivate them to return
◦ so he used strong language and threats of calamity