Hosea 5:1-2

We are returning to Hosea this morningThe prophet who had to experience in his own life, with his wife, what God had experienced with Israel– a people who were unfaithful to him, not only by adultery,• but prostituting themselves with other gods• you may have guessed that I’m not comfortable with Hosea◦ I’d rather be with Jesus in the New Testament, loving and rescuing sinners◦ instead, Hosea delivers a barrage of condemnations– Israel had a long history of turning their backs on Yahweh• and he repeatedly called them to return to him◦ when they didn’t return , he withdrew from them◦ and there were consequences–enemy invasion and crop failure• this time, they were reaching a point of no return◦ I think it’s okay to say God was desperate to stop them, to reach them and motivate them to return◦ so he used strong language and threats of calamity