Today you should read: Hosea 2:1-13
Here’s a quick recap of Chapter 1. God’s rejection of Israel is symbolized in Hosea’s marriage, but followed by a prophecy of God’s future reconciliation of His people. Now, in chapter 2:1-13 the unfaithfulness of Gomer/Israel and God’s rejection of Gomer/Israel is explained in further detail.
First, in verses 1-2, God tells the children of Gomer to contend with their mother. In other words, God tells the children of Israel to deal with the sin of unfaithfulness to Him.
Verses 3-7a and 8-13 explain the consequences of Israel’s unrepentant unfaithfulness. In 3-4, God says He is going to bring her to shame and have no compassion on her or her children because of her harlotry. In verse 6, God says that He will put a hedge and a wall around her so that she can’t find her paths or know where she is going. In other words, she’ll be aimless and purposeless, which is exactly how I feel when I have broken fellowship with God because of sin. Verse 7a says that she’ll seek satisfaction from other “lovers” but will not be able to find it. I’ve yet to find true satisfaction apart from God.
In 8-13, God basically says that he is going to strip her of all things from which she found her satisfaction. All this sounds cruel, but God sometimes has to be seemingly cruel to be kind. He has to reveal my sin, discipline me, and prune me in order to restore a proper relationship to Him.
In verse 7b, there is hope that restoration is going to happen between God and His people. He says that she will desire to return to her first husband because it was better for her to be with her first love than be unfaithful. In other words, when God reveals her unfaithfulness, she will repent and restoration will happen. Do I realize and believe that a life truly surrendered to the Lordship of Christ is so much better than a life that is not surrendered to Him?
What if I came home this evening and said to my wife, “Becky, I was 98% faithful to you today! Isn’t that great?” That wouldn’t go over well. That 2% of unfaithfulness to her would deeply hinder a great relationship. I’d have to apologize and hope she could forgive. Now, what if I go to God and say, “God, I was 98% faithful to You.”? Well, that 2% of unfaithfulness is going to hinder my fellowship with Him. The only way to restore fellowship with Him is to specifically confess the unfaithful areas of my life to Him and trust His forgiveness.
Challenges for today:
- Ask the Spirit to reveal any areas of unfaithfulness in my life and confess them.
- Consider how sin impacts the fellowship within my “marriage” to Jesus.
- Ask: Do I have any other gods that I look to for satisfaction?
- Ask: Is Jesus just my Savior, or is He LORD and Savior?
Posted by: Rich Duffield
JumpstartCPC.com 
Thanks Rich. Very powerful. The use of an adulterous spouse helps me better understand how my sinful betrayal can crush God’s heart because of His great love for me. Moreover, I can infer His intent for God-ordained marriage.
Great Job driving home the points Rich! The example of faithfulness to Becky was a clear example of how we often treat our Lord and Savior! HE wants 100%!
Thank you for your great illustration! It gives a greater view of what my sin does to my relationship with God.
Rich — way to come strong with it in your first post! This is really convicting. The Spirit took me to task before I was even done reading question #1. Thanks for being real bro.
It’s funny how each time i read jumpstart, its exactly what Jesus is wanting me to work on and grow. Thanks Rich.
AWESOME post Rich! Well thought out and presented.
Sorry, forgot to mention I LOVE your last question. I think this is a huge issue for the church today. We love Jesus for His saving abilities, but we’re not too keen on observing Him as Lord, which also means we’re His Slave. We like His Saving Grace and Mercy, but we also want to continue living our life the way WE want to.
Great job on your first post!!