The Rhythmic Message
One of the things that has really captured my mind and my heart about the Book of Hosea, is the rhythmic message. It is the flow and the movement from the image of Hosea’s marriage to his unfaithful wife Gomer, into the unfaithfulness of Israel. It is the flow and movement of Hosea’s words of judgement, warnings and pleas for God’s disobedient people, into the promises and merciful love of God. To the eye of the person who does not know our God or does not have an open heart, the Book of Hosea might seem repetitious. But, to the heart of a “Daughter of the King”, the rhythmic repetition is what conveys the message of God’s love. Hosea is like a poet and his poem, feeling every word he writes. The book is rhythmic because we can perceive (understand-or at least begin to understand) the repetition of images and emotions. There is always that movement into the reminder that our God is loving. The essence of rhythm is, that repetition suggests forward movement. Hear, with your heart the words.
“The Lord has a charge to bring against Judah; he will punish Jacob according to his ways and repay him according to his deeds”. Hosea 12:2
“But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always”. Hosea 12:6
“Therefore they will be like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears, like chaff swirling from a threshing floor, like smoke escaping through a window”. Hosea 13:3
“I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them.” Hosea 14: 4
The Book of Hosea is an image of how people (including us) can mistreat our God of love, mercy and grace. But it is also a Book about the unending love God has for His people (including us). Hosea is a book that I will read again, and again, and again.
God’s Love (according to my heart, for the writing of Hosea)
“God is love. He didn’t need us. But He wanted us. And that is the most amazing thing”. Rick Warren
“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the Children of God! 1 John 3:1
The Rush of God’s love
What A Family, What A Picture
God Never Abandons Us
“God loves each of us as if there were only one of us”. Saint Augustine
“He Must Have Been Thinking Of Me”. a poem by Pam
An Image Of God’s Restoring Love
You Cannot Exhaust God’s Redeeming Love, No Matter How Hard You Try
The Rhythmic Message
Scripture to ponder: “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.” 1 John 4:9 NIV
Tomorrow, we will continue our “Journey Into God’s Love”. We will walk in to one of God’s greatest acts of love for us, the birth of His Son, Jesus Christ. My prayer is that we would see “The Christ” of “Christmas” as we have never seen Him before, and that we would know in our hearts the deep love of the Father.
This entry was posted on Thursday, December 10th, 2009 at 3:43 am and is filed under Bible Studies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
