by Steven Harper<\/p>\n
Consider the sad description of Israel’s unfaithfulness, as recorded by Hosea.<\/p>\n
“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son. As they called them, so they went from them; they sacrificed to the Baals, and burned incense to carved images<\/em>” (Hosea 11:1-2). After hearing their cries under bondage, He delivered them, and how did they thank Him? By following false gods!<\/p>\n “I taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by their arms; but they did not know that I healed them. I drew them with gentle cords, with bands of love, and I was to them as those who take the yoke from their neck. I stooped and fed them<\/em>” (Hosea 11:3). He was with them when they were immature and powerless, drawing them closer to Him with love, but they seemed not to know it was He who did all this.<\/p>\n But He would not ignore their unfaithfulness.\u00a0“He shall not return to the land of Egypt; but the Assyrian shall be his king, because they refused to repent. And the sword shall slash in his cities, devour his districts, and consume them, because of their own counsels. My people are bent on backsliding from Me. Though they call to the Most High, none at all exalt Him<\/em>” (Hosea 11:5-7). No, they would not go back into Egyptian bondage, but the Assyrians would rule over them; this was all because they refused to repent.<\/p>\n They were guilty of lying to God (Hosea 11:12; 12:1), deceitful scales and oppression (Hosea 12:7), and claimed they had no sin (Hosea 12:8). Despite all this, God still loved them!<\/p>\n His plea: “O Israel, return to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity; take words with you, and return to the LORD<\/em>” (Hosea 14:1-2).<\/p>\n His promise: “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, for My anger has turned away from him<\/em>” (Hosea 14:4).<\/p>\n Friends and brethren, that same God is willing to still offer His forgiveness and healing to those who have stubbornly rejected Him over and over. The only requirement is to sincerely and fully turn back to the Lord. He awaits your return.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Steven Harper Consider the sad description of Israel’s unfaithfulness, as recorded by Hosea. “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son. As they called them, so they went from them; they sacrificed to the Baals, and burned incense to carved images” (Hosea 11:1-2). After hearing their…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[1233,1513],"class_list":["post-90230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-hosea","tag-relationships"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":33706,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-gomer-the-same-woman-mentioned-in-hosea-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":90230,"position":0},"title":"Was Gomer the same woman mentioned in Hosea 3?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 9, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Was Gomer the same wife of Hosea mentioned in Hosea 3 or did Hosea take another wife? Also is Romans 9:25 quoting Hosea 2:23? Answer: To keep what happens in Hosea clear, we have to follow both the story of Hosea and the illustration God makes using Hosea's life.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":92185,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/out-of-egypt-i-have-called-my-son\/","url_meta":{"origin":90230,"position":1},"title":"Out of Egypt I Have Called My Son","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 17, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton There are different kinds of prophecies. Some are direct and some are indirect. Some are in the form of typology, and therefore, when Jesus fulfills them, it is not always obvious how it is a shadow, and then Jesus fills in the form. I want to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":39630,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/gentle-cords-and-bands-of-love\/","url_meta":{"origin":90230,"position":2},"title":"Gentle Cords and Bands of Love","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 7, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Hosea 11 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Most people\u2019s view of love is very limited. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cGod is Love\u201d they declare; therefore, any sin that I may be involved in doesn\u2019t matter because \u201cGod is Love.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There can\u2019t really be a hell because \u201cGod is Love.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It really doesn\u2019t matter\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":66974,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/hosea-a-leader-who-made-an-astounding-sacrifice\/","url_meta":{"origin":90230,"position":3},"title":"Hosea: A Leader Who Made an Astounding Sacrifice!","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 11, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Max Dawson One of the things I have learned about leadership is that sometimes, the best leaders are those who were reluctant to be leaders. Witness the case of Moses (Exodus 3:7-4:17). I have known men who were reluctant to serve as an overseer of the church, as a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24797,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-could-out-of-egypt-i-have-called-my-son-be-about-jesus\/","url_meta":{"origin":90230,"position":4},"title":"How could “out of Egypt I have called my Son” be about Jesus?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 21, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: About the \"from Egypt I called my son\" prophecy: Was God applying the same thing to Jesus and to Ephraim? Answer: \u201cWhen Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son\u201d (Hosea 11:1). Egypt was a nation given over to idolatry. Hence, when\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37047,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-the-jews-accuse-jesus-of-being-born-of-fornication\/","url_meta":{"origin":90230,"position":5},"title":"Did the Jews accuse Jesus of being born of fornication?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 1, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In John 8.41, did the Jews accuse the Lord of being \"born of fornication?\" Answer: You are reading more into the exchange than was stated. They said to Him, \"We were not born of fornication; we have one Father: God\" \" (John 8:37-41). Jesus stated that he knew they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90230"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90230\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}