Hosea

Hosea 14: Call To Return To God Collin Leong. January 2, 2026 (v1-3) A Call To Repentance. (Isa 57:14-21; Jer 3:11–25; Zec 1:1–6) (v1-3) Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled by your iniquity. Take with your words [confessions] and return to the LORD. Say to Him: "Take away all our iniquity and accept what is good, and we will pay with bulls and vows of our lips. Assyria will not save us, nor will we ride on horses. We will never again say, "Our God" to the work of our own hands. For in You the orphans finds mercy" Exp: In v2 , the phrase "pay with bulls and vows of our lips" is "we will repay [with] young bulls/calves [of] our lips”).  It refers to our verbal expressions of repentance, praise, and thanksgiving as a sacrifice and worship unto God.   In v3 , " nor will we ride on horses" means a renunciation of military reliance, meaning Israel will no longer depend on war-horses, armies, or foreign alliances for ...

Hosea 13: God’s Power Over Death Collin Leong.  January 1, 2026 (v1-16) The LORD's Relentless Judgment on Israel (v1-3) When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling; he was exalted in Israel, but he incurred guilt through Baal and died. And now they sin more and more, and make for themselves metal images, idols skillfully made of their silver, all of them the work of craftsmen. It is said of them, "Those who offer human sacrifice kiss calves!" Therefore they shall be like the morning mist or like the dew that goes early away, like the chaff that swirls from the threshing floor or like smoke from a window. Exp:  In v1 , Ephraim is both a tribe and a symbol for Israel as a whole. The trembling shows its former prestige and authority, but Hosea emphasizes that this exalted position collapsed under idolatry. In v2 , the phrase "Those who offer human sacrifice kiss calves!" is a critique of Israel's idolatry. This may refer to 2 Kings 17:17 , where it spoke about Isr...