tuesday bible study: Hosea

Also see: Psalms Study | 1 Thessalonians Bible Study | Ecclesiates Bible Study | Revelation Bible Study | Tobit Bible Study | The Bible & Homosexuality | Old Testament Women Winter/Spring 2010 College Park Church Hosea Bible Study, Greensboro, NC Hosea Week 3: (Feb 3) Read Hosea chapters 4, 5, 6 & 7 and the article by Abraham Heschel. We will focus on 5.8—6.6, which is a lectionary passage. Hosea is the master of metaphor & simile. (Extra credit: define a metaphor & simile.) Look up the following and give your reaction to each. Images of God: Bird catcher (7.12): A lion, (5.14) a leopard lurking: A bear robbed of her cubs (13.7-8): The dew (14.5): Images of God’s people: A cake not turned (7.8): A dove silly and without sense (7.11): A defective bow (7.16): Grapes in the wilderness (9.10): A luxuriant vine (10.1): A trained heifer (10.11): Morning mist and smoke from the window (13.3): Hosea 5.8—6.6 breaks up into three nice sections. What is the theme of each? 5.8-15: 6.1-3: 6.4-6: What further warnings are given to Israel & Judah in 5.8-12? Where did Israel (Ephraim = Israel, or the Northern 10 tribes) go to try and find a substitute for God’s help (v 13)? When are you tempted to “turn to Assyria” for help rather than turning to God (identify your own Assyria)? Read 5.12 in more than one translation for an array of suggestive translations. Write one down here, and your reaction to it. Are they any words of comfort in the concluding words of chapter 5? Consider 6.1-6. What is refreshing about these verses? What did Israel hop to receive from God as a result of returning to God? Why was God unsatisfied with their supposed repentance? What can we infer about Israel’s motives fro this short-lived return to God? What does God say is the evidence of true repentance? Why is such evidence more trustworthy than ritual sacrifices? Do you see of your own relationship with God in these images? (That is, do you experience God as a prowling lion or as rottenness? As the dawn or as a spring rain? And do we know our own love for God to be like a morning mist that goes away early?) Do we see our own lives reflected in the words of God to Israel? Extra credit: The “steadfast love” that God desires in 6.6 is what Hebrew word and concept? Hosea Week 2 (Jan 27): Read Hosea chapter 2—3.5. 1. If you were able to read the whole of Hosea, what struck you about it? 2. What are the three-fold consequences for the woman’s unfaithfulness? (Hint: verses 6, 9, 14.) How does each begin? 3. How does chapter 2 begin? What does this suggest? 4. Describe the moods and emotions that come through in God’s words (via Hosea) about Israel. 5. What does Israel lose because of their rebellion agains the Lord (9-13)? 6. In your opinion, does God punish Israel, or does Israel’s actions lead it to destruction? How do we understand God acting in history? 7. How has this passage (2.2-13) been misused in the history of interpretation? 8. Read 2.14 in several interpretations. It is one of the most tender and shocking verses in Hosea. What does it say to you? 9. Who in your life had a dream for you and encouraged you to fulfill your highest potential? 10. Explain God’s vision for the people. What changes did God want them to make in response to divine love? 11. What happened in the valley of Achor? (Hint: Joshua 7) 12. What place/event/situation is a “Valley of Achor” for you (that is, a place of spiritual defeat)? What would it mean for God to turn it into a door of hope for you? Hosea Week 1 (Jan 20): Read Hosea chapter 1. This week try to read all of the book of Hosea. 1. If its your first time reading this passage, what did you think about it? If not the first time, what did you notice this time through that you hadn’t noticed before? 2. What difficult and unusual things did God tell Hosea to do? Could you have done this? 3. What mixed feelings might Hosea have had about his three children that Gomer bore? 4. What are some of the ways that marriage to an unfaithful spouse resembles God’s relationship with us? 5. How are justice and mercy both at work in chapter 1? What conflicts arise when a person has intentions to be both just and merciful? 6. What happened at Jezreel? How would it feel to be a boy with that name? What would be a contemporary version of his name? 7. What are the names of the other two children? What do they mean? What might be updated versions of these names? 8. What would it be like if God no longer had mercy? 9. What would it be like to no longer be God’s people? 10. How does the chapter end? What is the vision here? 11. What do you think of the metaphor of sexual immorality as apostasy? 12. If you were to cast for a movie the six characters in this first chapter, who would you choose, and why?

College Park Baptist Church 1601 Walker Avenue, Greensboro, NC 27403 cpbcgbo@bellsouth.net 336.273.1779