July 19

Hosea 1-7
Israel had made a fatal error.  Instead of being faithful to their first love, they went whoring after others.  Jehovah was their husband, they were His bride.  They had made a covenant between each other.  As their husband, God provided for them, loved them, nurtured them, and laid out a plan that would only bring them good, not harm, all the days of their lives.  Yet, Israel was never satisfied with the Lord.  In their ignorance they believed they could do better with other gods.  The Lord put up with this adulterous bride for centuries.  He would forgive and restore them over and over again.  However, even the Lord has a breaking point, and Israel found it.  He eventually found it necessary to do something He hates.  Jehovah God divorced his bride, Israel.  Because it is not good for man to live alone, God created a mate and instituted marriage.  Man is made in God’s image.  Thus, God does not want to live alone.  He desires to have a bride.  Hosea prophesies concerning this new bride that the Lord would take as His very own after the divorce from His first wife, Israel.  “I will plant her for myself in the land; I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.’  I will say to those called ‘Not my people,’ ‘You are my people’; and they will say, ‘You are my God.’” This prophecy found fulfillment in the church.  I am proud to say that I am part and parcel to being the bride of the Lord!  And, it doesn’t bother me in the least, that we are His second wife.