Welcome to this daily study of the Books of Hosea and Joel. The purpose of this study is to enhance your spiritual relationship. One method of study is to first read the section for the day. Then, by reviewing the text, answer the questions. Most of the questions may be answered by merely quoting the verse which is cited in the question. The answer to some questions is not explicit in the verse. These are marked with an asterisk (*), and may require some additional reflection on the material, or material from other books of the Bible. Finally, when you reach a question which is marked with a (§), spend some time contemplating how what you have read can enhance your spiritual life. You may find that these questions require a considerable amount of thought over a period of time. Quietly, in a relaxed state of mind, reflect on the question and find out where it seems to be leading you to consider. You are, of course, never required to share your answers unless you feel comfortable doing so. The LORD your GOD will bless your study of his word.
In the previous lesson, we learned of Ezekiel and his prophesies. With visions he was hard pressed to explain, and given responsibility for designing the post-exile Temple, Ezekiel stands as one of the greatest prophets. In addition, the strength of character of Ezekiel is evident in his unflinching faithfulness.
Hosea, son of Beer prophesied to the Northern Kingdom (Israel, or Ephraim) during the time Isaiah was prophesying to Judah (1:1; cf Isaiah 1:1). Hosea was the one writing prophet of the Northern Kingdom to address his own people. With a broken heart, he prophesied their impending exile (Hosea 3:4) and their restoration, when a chastened people would again acknowledge the exclusive claims of the Lord (3:5). Most of his prophetic ministry evidently took place from 750 to 725 BCE.
Unfaithfulness to the LORD is depicted in terms of a wife who has turned her back upon a faithful husband in order to follow evil lovers. The image is taken from Hosea's own experience. When you have completed your study of Hosea, you will realise the importance the LORD our GOD places on faithfulness in the spiritual relationship.
Joel, the son of Pethuel, indicates a confession of faith by his parents because in Hebrew it means "Yahweh is GOD". His message is concerned primarily with Jerusalem and Judah. His references suggest that he was a citizen of southern Palestine and probably a resident of Jerusalem. He demonstrates a thorough knowledge of the Temple its services and personnel. Even so, his castigation of the priests indicates he was not a member of their caste.
The immediate occasion for the book was the devastation of the land by locusts and drought. In poetic strain of matchless elegance and power, the prophet depicts the invasion of the locusts under the figure of an army, suggesting that they are a harbinger of the"Day of the LORD." He summons all to repentance, and promises that if they will meet the conditions of obedience to GOD, the land will be restored to its fruitfulness. Also, the Spirit of the GOD will pour forth the covenant, people will triumph over their foes, and an era of universal holiness and peace will emerge. That "the Day of the LORD" is coming, is the central teaching of the book -- the day when the LORD will be manifest in the destruction of enemies and the exaltation of friends. this day will be accompanied by a display of extraordinary phenomena in nature (2:30,31). The attitude of a man's heart and life before the LORD will determine his reaction to that day.
Christian theology has been greatly influenced by the Book of Joel. On the first Pentecost after the Ascension of the Christ, Jesus, Simon Peter quoted its promise of the "day of the LORD" is partially fulfilled by the coming of the Holy Spirit. "This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel" because the key element is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which did happen on the day Peter spoke to the crowd gathered at Jerusalem.
As you read Joel, consider how the Holy Spirit is made known to you.
The next lesson will study the Book of Amos. Believing that religion involved justice toward one's fellow man, and conferred great responsibility as well as blessing, Amos demanded and ethical content to religion.
Lesson One Hosea 1-6
Under which kings did Hosea receive prophesies?
Why was Hosea commanded to get himself a wife?
What are the names of the children and their meanings?
How will the House of Judah achieve victory?
(§) When have you experienced victory through the LORD your GOD?
Instead of Lo-ammi, what will the house of Israel come to be known as?
From verse 2, when the name Jezreel will convey a promise, what will the peoples of Judah and Israel do?
In verse 7, what has taken priority over a spiritual relationship?
Who is the source of material possessions in verse 10?
In verses 21 and 22, as the bride-price which the bridegroom will pay, what qualities will be conferred on the people?
(§) How do you exercise faithfulness and devotion in your spiritual relationship?
What is the spiritual relationship of the Israelites compared to in verse 1?
How is Israel's condition of verse 4 characterised in verses 2 and 3?
After the period of separation, what will the Israelites do in verse 5?
(§) When you have experienced times of separation in your spiritual relationship, how did you cope? What was the reunion like?
What case is brought against the inhabitants of the land?
From verse 6, why have the priests been rejected?
What is the result of spiritual infidelity according to verse 13?
Instead of fodder what is given to Israel in verse 16?
(§) How does faithfulness in your spiritual relationship affect your relationships with others?
How has repentance been eliminated in verse 4?
From verse 6, why will Israel and Ephraim seek in vain?
Who is the cause of rot and decay in verse 12?
What will Israel realise in verse 15?
(§) What sometimes makes repentance a difficult thing to do? How have you overcome this tendency in your spiritual relationship?
In verse 3, what is the result of obedience?
What is more desirable than sacrifices and burnt offerings?
What are the priests compared with in verse 9?
(§) How do you maintain sincerity in your spiritual relationship?
Lesson Two Hosea 7-12
What does Ephraim fail to consider in verse 2?
How are their hearts compared to an oven in verse 6?
In verse 10, how has a lack of repentance been demonstrated?
How has the LORD been betrayed in verse 14?
(§) In what way might you seek out your faults to obtain forgiveness?
What is the argument catalogued in verses 1 and 2?
How have the people of Israel been exercising their own self-interests in verse 4?
In verse 8, how is bewildered Israel viewed by the nations?
From verse 13, what is the status of the liturgy?
(§) What is the cure for a spiritual relationship which has become self-serving?
What is written in verse 4 concerning the efficacy of their worship?
What is the treatment of the prophet recorded in verse 7?
From Judges 19-20, what do you learn about the "days of Gibeah"?
What is the cause of the rejection according to verse 17?
(§) How do you continue to be obedient in your spiritual relationship?
How does verse 3 express the despair of Israel?
In desperation, what does Israel pray in verse 8?
According to verse 12, how might Israel obtain a teacher of righteousness?
What "reward" has Israel gained by relying on their own way in verse 13?
(§) How might you sow righteousness for yourself in times of spiritual despair?
(*) Despair and depression can be successfully treated in most cases. If you have sustained periods of sadness which linger for weeks and months, please seek professional help. Everyone deserves hope in their life.
How is Israel portrayed in verse 1?
In verse 4, how is the relationship view from a divine perspective? from Israel's perspective?
How does verse 7 show Israel to be unrepentant?
What reason is given in verse 9 for the LORD's restraint?
(§) Is your spiritual relationship a "cord of love", or a "yoke in your jaw"?
Who is faithful and who stands firm in verse 1?
From verse 7, how does one return to the LORD?
How is the future security of Israel expressed in verse 10?
In verse 14, who guarded the people on their journey from Egypt?
(§) How do you practice goodness, justice and trust in your spiritual relationship?
Lesson Three Hosea 13-14; Joel
Ever since the land of Egypt, who has been a helper in verse 4?
In verse 6, what happened when Israel became sated?
How are the people mocked in verse 10?
(*) Egypt is the type of a life prior to the realisation of a spiritual relationship. Apply this allegory to your own spiritual relationship.
(§) Have some of the things you once desired become distractions to your spiritual relationship?
What is preferred in verse 3 to the sacrifice of bulls?
From verse 9, what is the result of following the LORD?
What do prudent and wise people do in verse 10?
(*) Apply verse 3 to the modern situation.
(§) Do you find that the paths of the LORD are smooth? Why or why not?
What has become of the harvest in verse 4?
In what ways has the country become ravaged in verse 10?
In verse 13, what are the ministers instructed to do?
What has become in verse 15 of joy and gladness?
(§) When you have met with failure, how has your spiritual relationship been a source of strength?
How is the day of the LORD described in verse 3?
What is the call to repentance of verse 13?
In verse 17, what are the priests told to pray?
What hope and promise is offered in verse 27?
(§) How might challenging circumstances strengthen your spiritual relationship?
What will occur in verse 1 when the spiritual of the LORD is poured out?
From Acts 2, how did Peter interpret this passage?
How is the gift of the Spirit in verse 2 described to be without bound?
According to verse 5, what will become of those who invoke the name of the LORD?
(§) How have you experienced the boundless nature of the Spirit in your life?
What will become of the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem?
In verse 10, how is Isaiah 2:4 reinterpreted?
Where is the day of the LORD at hand in verse 14?
What promise is given in verse 20 to Jerusalem and Judah?
(§) What does it mean to you to have your spiritual relationship restored?
It is not uncommon to become discouraged in our spiritual relationship. In relation to the universe, we really are quite small. Sometimes we may feel that we are unimportant to GOD. It is only a short step from feeling inadequate to feeling that GOD is unconcerned with our lives.
Hosea tells us that nothing could be farther from the truth. The LORD does value our spiritual relationship as much as we value the relationships with our friends and loved ones. The LORD is affected by what we do, also. When we are unfaithful to our spiritual commit, it is disappointing to the LORD.
The Israelites in Hosea's time had withdrawn into themselves and became completely unresponsive to their spiritual relationship. They attempted to eliminate their awareness of the LORD's presence by seeking other gods. In these gods of gold, silver and wood, they attempted to save their illusions of peace through fragmenting themselves. The gave passing obedience to sacrifices, while they made alliances with foreign kings, demonstrating clearly where they confidence lay.
When we accept the truth that our participation in our spiritual relationship is important and wanted, then we truly connect with our LORD. Through this connection, we paradoxically achieve a basic desire to have inner stability and peace of mind. As a result of this self-actualisation, we can become self-possessed, dynamic, serene, and present.
Hosea concludes the first three chapters providing assurances of GOD's redeeming love. The grace of our LORD is shown in these assurances as the Israelites have just been compared to an unfaithful lover.
In chapter 1, when the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, "Go take for yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom" Why was Hosea commanded to do this? Because, "the land commits great whoredom." How have the Israelites committed great whoredom? "by forsaking the LORD."
Hosea 1:2 "When the LORD first spoke through Hosea." The great prophets experienced the LORD through hearing. Many want to be shown evidence of GOD. Then, they feel, they will believe. The Israelites were shown many powerful expressions of GOD and few believed. The great prophets heard the word of GOD. They demonstrated their faith by their obedience to the word of LORD.
The LORD said to Hosea: "Go take yourself a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry." How did Hosea reconcile what he heard from the LORD with the customs of his community. What he heard contradicted responsible judgment. The voice of the LORD was familiar Hosea. Even though, it was the first time the LORD spoke to him. Hosea could discern the word of the LORD.
Why would the LORD tell Hosea to marry a harlot and to have children of harlotry? "for the land commits great harlotry by forsaking the LORD." I don't usually realise that when I choose things rather than my spiritual relationship I am unfaithful to GOD. The LORD views our relationship as a lover. Would I neglect my lover, my wife, or my children? What would I expect them to do in response? I would expect them to loose confidence in me, and then, to lose interest. How do I feel when I am neglected and abandoned by a person I love? There is no more penetrating would. This is the way the LORD feels about us. This is the message he has asked Hosea to act out.
1:3 "So [Hosea] went took the daughter Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son." Hosea exhibited true knowledge. He heard the word of the LORD, and conformed his actions to what he heard.
1:4 And the LORD said to him, "Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while and I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel. And I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel." Israel would survive, but the kingdom would end. The great kingdom in which the people had placed their faith would be dismantled. We will pass through many stages in our lives. Some will be prosperous and others less so. When our faith flows away from our spiritual relationship and to our prosperity, the LORD feels abandoned. When our prosperity ceases, we are alone with our spiritual relationship. If we have been faithless, giving priority to temporal relationships, how will we face the LORD our lover with pride. On the other hand, if we have been faithful and true, our spiritual relationship is intact. We may rejoice with LORD our lover. We may share the memory of our prosperous time with pride, looking forward t the next adventure with our best friend and lover, the LORD our GOD in a spiritual relationship well-tended.
1:6 "She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the LORD said to [Hosea], call her name NOT_PITIED, for I will no more have pity on the house of Israel." There is a limit as to how far we may stretch our spiritual relationship. We cannot keep living as though we have more important things to do, placing our spiritual relationship in a low priority. Just as in our relationship with our neighbours (which, indeed, are reflections of our spiritual relationships), if we neglect others, soon, we will be neglected, also. The LORD tells Hosea that her limit has been reached. He is sick up and fed ;D with Israel and will offer pity no longer.
1:8 When she had weaned NOT_PITIED, she conceived and bore a son. And the LORD said, "Call his name NOT_MY_PEOPLE. For you are not my people and I am not your GOD." The relationship has reached its end. There is no energy remaining in the spiritual relationship we longer before abandoned. Hosea's announcement does not declare a status which is in the future. He is stating a fact, an observation of the current status. Israel no long behaved as a people who held their spiritual relationship with the LORD in high esteem.
Do you feel the LORD no longer shows you pity? Return with confidence. The LORD our GOD has promised to return to us when we return to her in verse 6:1 (a recurrent theme found also in Deuteronomy 30:1-5; 1 Samuel 7:3; Psalms 95:7,8; Isaiah 44:21,22; 55:6-11; Jeremiah 4:1,2; 15:19-22; Malachi 3:6-15). Catherine of Siena, St, encourages us to have more faith in the grace of GOD than in our failings which seem to separate us from our spiritual relationship. Our reluctance to accept our failings is rooted in our pride which refuses to acknowledge we are less than perfect, counsels Francis de Sales, St. Paul admonishes us to make that decision, now, and not hesitate (Hebrews 3:12-15). "Take care, brothers and sisters, that none of you may have an evil, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called 'today' so that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partners of Christ, if only we hold our first confidence firm to the end. As it is said, 'Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion'" [cf Exodus 17:2; Numbers 20:13].
1:10 Yet the number of the people of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which can be neither measured nor numbered; and in the place where it is said to them, "You are not my people," it shall be said to them , "Sons of the living GOD." Some scholars speculate that the tribe of Israel, lost to history, journeyed to present-day Europe. There, they gave birth to Ireland, Britain and the US. Judah, on the other hand, has languished for centuries, only recently, becoming a nation of their own.
Do not be deceived. We may indeed prosper in this world after our spiritual relationship has failed. We may even have strength and prosperity which we never enjoyed while our spiritual connection was strong. When we are truly free from our spiritual relationship, we will not miss it, nor even think about it. It will be as a stage in our lives. For fear of this happening to me, I pray each day that the LORD my GOD will make me desire only him, fear only her, and keep me in hope.
1:1 The word of the LORD that came to Joel; the son of Pethuel." Joel is another prophet who received a word from the LORD. Spiritual knowledge came to him from hearing. He demonstrated his faithfulness by preaching what he heard.
The prophesy of Joel is a call to arms. A general outline might have the first chapter as a statement of current conditions, Judah is an occupied land. The second chapter calls upon the citizens to rise up to meet their oppressors. The third chapter exalts in the victory the LORD has delivered for the faithful ones.
1:2 "Hear this, you aged men, give ear, all inhabitants of the land.. tell your children and let their children tell their children, and their children another generation." Joel admonishes the people to receive the spiritual knowledge in the same way that he had -- by listening. Joel is certain that that he prophesies will occur not in this generation but in generations to come. For this reason, he tells his listeners to pass on the message tot future generations.
1:4 "What the cutting locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten" The struggle to conform our thoughts to our faith is beset with constant opposition. We get pulled into so many directions, it is as if we have no conscious mind of our own. Work, family and other obligations distract our thoughts. The time which remains for spiritual reflection is consumed by work and what work has left, the family has eaten. What the family has left, is eaten by chores. Until we find our conscious mind is not conformed to our faith at all. We have conformed our mind to the demands of the day. Like the stalks of wheat after the locusts are fed, there is no nourishment remaining for our spiritual relationship.
1:5 "Awake, you drunkards and weep; and wail, all you drinkers of wine." The current condition has been accepted as hopeless. We have been overwhelmed by the demands of the temporal world and we seek temporary relief. The narcotic may be television, food, sleep, sex, drugs, or one of many other distractions. Even if we have not been overcome by one of these addictions, we have given in to the demands of the temporal world and lulled our spiritual awareness to sleep. We are drunk on the prospect of conforming our mind to what we desire. We are numb to what is happening to our spiritual relationship. Joel is telling us to awaken from this stupor.
1:6 "For a nation has come up against my land; powerful and without number. It's teeth are lion's teeth and it has fangs of a lioness." We may not be concerned that our spiritual awareness has been replaced by temporal obligations, but the LORD our Sustainer is. The LORD is telling us whose land it truly. is. "For a nation has come up against MY land." The Lord is saying in effect, "Those temporal activities have come up against my spiritual territory in your conscious mind." GOD knows that out of sight is out of mind. Out of mind is out of control.
The enemy is not to be underestimated. As soon as we make the effort to conform our thoughts to our faith, competition results. Your temporal life holds a piece of your conscious mind and it will not let go easily. As soon as our attention is directed to our spiritual goals, it will seem as though we are neglecting our temporal obligations.
The truth is just the opposite. By giving priority to our spiritual relationship, we operate from a more secure platform. We are able to differentiate real activities from habitual reactions. We are able to view our personality and notice when it becomes an end rather than a means.
But, that is after the battle. Till then, we will find we are operating in unfamiliar territory. The behaviours we come up against are powerful and without number. We may become aware of issues which were thought to be dead long ago. When we face them, they bare their teeth as a lion, showing fangs of a lioness. Old habits and personalities know they must maintain a place in our thoughts or they will cease to dominate.
1:7 "It has laid waste my vines, and splintered my fig trees; it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down, their branches are made white." What have these preoccupations brought us? Are we indeed reaching the goals we desire? Or, is the vineyard of our efforts ravaged and fruitless. Do we bring home bags of gold to find only holes in the bag? How much is really left of our paycheck? These behaviours we are so found of and comfortable with have devastating implications when taken to their extreme.
1:9 "The cereal offering and the drink offering are cut off from the house of the LORD. The priests mourn, the ministers of the LORD." The little that we have of a spiritual relationship is of no avail. All efficacy is mute. Our spiritual muscle have atrophied from neglect.
1:10-12 "Be confounded, o tillers of the soil, wail, o vine dressers, for the wheat and the barley; because the harvest of the field has perished, The vine withers, the fig tree languishes, Pomegranate, palm and apple, all the trees of the field are withered; and gladness fails from the sons of men.." Soon, it comes to pass that the prosperity of our temporal world is unstable. Perhaps, we have forgotten that the temporal world is transitory.
1:13-15 "Gird on sack cloth and lament, O priests, wail O ministers of the alter" Sanctify a fast call a solemn assembly. Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is near, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes." The crisis in our temporal lives is a warning flag. It is time to take stock. Are these habits of our personality which have recently failed something we want to maintain. Lament the loss of a spiritual centre. Repent and return to your spiritual relationship by simply turning from ignoring your spiritual life to placing it as the highest priority in your life. Nothing may change in your circumstances. In fact, it will probably get worse. Events must run their course. Indeed, there may be destruction ahead. Even so, repentance and a return, to our spiritual relationship are necessary first steps to healing.