Hosea

Hosea 10: The LORD rains righteousness

Begin in prayer

Before we hear the LORD call His people to seek Him, please come before Him with your family. Ask Him to give us hearts that are not divided.

Rain, you heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth open, that it may produce salvation, and let it cause righteousness to spring up with it. I, Yahweh, have created it.

Isaiah 45:8

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Show us how You call a divided people to seek You, and show us Jesus, who is righteousness from You for all who trust Him. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

Israel is a luxuriant vine, and as her fruit grew, she built more altars to idols. Her heart is divided, so the LORD will break down her altars and her sacred stones. They make promises and swear falsely, and the calf at Beth Aven will be carried to Assyria as a gift for a great king. The people will cry to the mountains, “Cover us”, and to the hills, “Fall on us”. The LORD says Israel has sinned since the days of Gibeah, and He will gather nations against them. Then He says, “Sow to yourselves in righteousness”, and calls them to break up their fallow ground and seek Him. Instead they plowed wickedness and trusted their own way and their many mighty men, so their fortresses will fall.

As you read Hosea 10, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

The LORD calls His divided people to seek Him, and He will come and rain righteousness on them.

A vine that grows well should give fruit to its owner, but Israel spent her fruit on altars and sacred stones (verse 1). The better the land did, the more altars Israel built, so the blessing of the LORD became a reason to serve idols. A divided heart tries to hold the LORD and idols together, and God does not share His place. Beth Aven is Hosea's name for Bethel, where the calf stood. Verse 11 says Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves to thresh, and the LORD will put a yoke on her neck. Verse 12 is the turning point, with three commands to sow in righteousness, to break up fallow ground, and to seek the LORD. Fallow ground is hard land left unplowed, and a hard heart must be broken open before anything good grows there. Seeking goes on until He comes, and then He rains righteousness on them. God made Christ righteousness for all who are in Him (1 Corinthians 1 verse 30).

How does Hosea 10 show us that the LORD calls His divided people to seek Him, and that He will come and rain righteousness on them?

Israel turned her blessings into altars for idols.

The more fruit her land bore, the more altars she built (verse 1). Her heart was divided, so she was found guilty (verse 2). The gifts of the LORD became a reason to serve other gods.

The LORD calls His people to seek Him until He comes.

It is time to seek Him, and to break up the hard ground of the heart (verse 12). He calls them before the battle roar of verse 14 arrives. The call is to seek Him until He comes.

He will come and rain righteousness on them.

The righteousness is a gift that comes down from above, like rain (verse 12). Israel plowed wickedness and reaped iniquity (verse 13). God made Christ righteousness for all who are in Him (1 Corinthians 1 verse 30).

Memorise

Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap according to kindness. Break up your fallow ground; for it is time to seek Yahweh, until he comes and rains righteousness on you.

Hosea 10:12

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, is my heart divided, and will I seek the LORD until He comes?

The LORD says, “Break up your fallow ground”, for it is time to seek Him, “until he comes and rains righteousness on you”. Israel had plowed wickedness and reaped iniquity. She could not make herself right.

The righteousness has to come from God, and it comes in Jesus. He lived without sin, and He took the sin of His people on the cross, and His righteousness is given to all who trust Him. The grave did not keep Him, for He rose again. What He did is enough for them, and they add nothing to it.

So come to Him. Turn from your sin and put your trust in Jesus. Seek Him until you find Him. All who trust Him are forgiven, and He will not turn them away.

Parent's note

Tell your children that the LORD calls sinners to seek Him, and that Jesus gives His righteousness to all who trust Him. Parents, please explain verse 14 yourself, since it speaks of a mother and her children harmed in war. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God that He calls us to seek Him and rains righteousness on those who trust His Son, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely. This is his name by which he shall be called: Yahweh our righteousness.

Jeremiah 23:6

Lord God, thank You that You call us to seek You. Please soften our hard hearts. Thank You that Jesus is the righteousness You give to all who trust Him. Bring each of us to Him and keep us seeking You. Amen.