The ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them,but the rebellious stumble in them.

Hosea 14:1-9

Return, Israel, to the Lord your God. Your sins have been your downfall! Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to him: “Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips. Assyria cannot save us; we will not mount warhorses. We will never again say ‘Our gods’ to what our own hands have made, for in you the fatherless find compassion.” 

“I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them. I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily. Like a cedar of Lebanon he will send down his roots; his young shoots will grow.

Ephraim, what more have I[c] to do with idols? I will answer him and care for him. I am like a flourishing juniper; your fruitfulness comes from me.”

Who is wise? Let them realize these things. Who is discerning? Let them understand. The ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.

After the fierce tones of chapter 13, this last chapter is full of love and pleading. The way is open. There is no need to pass through the fire of judgment. The only requirement is loyalty to God: this is the way to find love and forgiveness and embark on a new, transformed life. This is a truly wise course.

Hosea set it out so clearly. Yet his contemporaries ignored it all. The Assyrians swept down and destroyed their splendid capital, Samaria. They took the remaining Israelites into exile and repeopled their land with foreigners. When God gives warning of judgment, he is not playing with words.

Why?

The salvation is today, if anyone returns to the Lord will be saved from sins.

Our God is full of compassion and love. May all who are wise, let them realize these things.

We can ask the Lord to get the wisdom. The real wisdom comes from the Lord Almighty.

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第一~第三章何西阿如神娶回淫亂的妻子。表示神的愛願意挽回屬神的人。

人只要悔改比任何獻祭的牛犢更好。神不喜悅的我們不再做。我們是否認定自己的軟弱，認清自己沒有依靠，如此才會完全的倚靠神！

神把自己比喻如甘露，13章的甘露一下子就是不見。這裏的甘露微小，但是卻讓百合開花，愈來愈成長，充滿生命的氣質，生命紮根穩固。神給我們一點點就足夠，受用不盡，而且甘露每天都有，到處都有，隨處可得。這就是神的恩典！

與神的關係如情人，如夫妻親密！神看我們如夫妻關係，願意向我們委身，我們是否也向神以身相許?

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How?

May the wisdom and love of the Lord be with me all of my life. I will obey God's word and listen to the voice of the Lord.

I will deliver this people from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death

Hosea 13:1-16

When Ephraim spoke, people trembled; he was exalted in Israel. But he became guilty of Baal worship and died.

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. 

But I have been the Lord your God ever since you came out of Egypt. You shall acknowledge no God but me, no Savior except me. I cared for you in the wilderness, in the land of burning heat. When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me. So I will be like a lion to them, like a leopard I will lurk by the path.

The guilt of Ephraim is stored up, his sins are kept on record. Pains as of a woman in childbirth come to him, but he is a child without wisdom; when the time arrives, he doesn’t have the sense to come out of the womb.

I will deliver this people from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O grave, is your destruction? 

I will have no compassion, even though he thrives among his brothers.

Israel may turn to Baal and other idols, but there is in fact no God but God. People may forget him, or discount him, but he exists, and he has the power to carry out all that he has warned of.

Why?

Israel has the consequence of their sins, even though they look great, but like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears. All they have are temporaly, then go away.

God's anger and mercy are in his hands, no matter what Israel has done, God has always been their God since they came out of Egypt.

I will deliver these people from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. God's power over the death and plague...

God is righteous and full of mercy. The Lord always gives his people the opportunity to return from sins and turn to the Lord.

What do I rely on? The Lord and Jesus Christ. With the Lord I have nothing. 

How?

Be humble before the Lord, everything I need the Lord has prepared for me and beyond I can imagine.

maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always

Hosea 12:1-14

Ephraim feeds on the wind; he pursues the east wind all day and multiplies lies and violence. He makes a treaty with Assyria and sends olive oil to Egypt. The Lord has a charge to bring against Judah; he will punish Jacob according to his ways and repay him according to his deeds.

the Lord God Almighty, the Lord is his name! But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always.

"I have been the Lord your God ever since you came out of Egypt; I will make you live in tents again, as in the days of your appointed festivals. I spoke to the prophets, gave them many visions and told parables through them.”

Jacob fled to the country of Aram; Israel served to get a wife, and to pay for her he tended sheep. The Lord used a prophet to bring Israel up from Egypt, by a prophet he cared for him.

This is not an easy chapter to follow. Israel needs to be reminded of scheming Jacob and to forget their proud independence and reliance on foreign powers. The people deride the prophets of their own day. They need the reminder that it was through a prophet that God brought the nation into being.

Why?

The Lord reminded Ephraim, Isreal, and Judah their ancestors were led by the Lord and came out of Egypt. All of these are the grace of the Lord. But they were changed and forget the grace of the Lord. So the Lord will judge them by their deeds.

The Lord reminds them to maintain love and justice and to wait for our God always. This is our way of being Christian today.

God used a prophet to bring Israel up from Egypt, so the Lord bring us from sins by Jesus Christ

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以法蓮指以色列，北國以雅各的價值觀經過神一一調整成為神的器皿。

以法蓮的問題就是吃風，只是感官的刺激，靈裏不會飽，於是繼續追求感官刺激。以色列人需要埃及協助，卻又把橄欖油送給埃及，結果到底誰得利。

雅各想爭什麼也沒有，他遇見神以後改變了，以法蓮該學習雅名。以法蓮是商人，自以為聰明，用欺騙方法偷斤減兩詭詐天平獲取利益，且不認為自己有錯。神要以法蓮回到曠野，曠野什麼都沒有，只有依靠神。如以色列人在曠野的日子什麼都不缺。

雅各逃到拉班似乎雅各贏，若非神保守，他一定敗在拉班手下，以後就沒有以色列人，也沒有出埃及的事蹟。神揀選了原來不是好人的雅各。我們這一生是要吃風，還是以為自己有成就有能力。

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How?

Maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always!

For I am God, and not a man— the Holy One among you

Hosea 11:1-12

When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. But the more they were called, the more they went away from me. 

I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love. To them, I was like one who lifts a little child to the cheek, and I bent down to feed them.

“Will they not return to Egypt and will not Assyria rule over them because they refuse to repent? A sword will flash in their cities; it will devour their false prophets and put an end to their plans. My people are determined to turn from me. Even though they call me God Most High, I will by no means exalt them.

My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused. I will not carry out my fierce anger, nor will I devastate Ephraim again. For I am God, and not a man—  the Holy One among you. I will not come against their cities in wrath.

They will follow the Lord; he will roar like a lion. When he roars, his children will come trembling from the west.

I will settle them in their homes,” declares the Lord.

This chapter lets us see right into the infinitely loving parent-heart of God. All down the long years of history, from Egypt on, and despite all he has done for them, Israel has rejected God's love. The nation deserves no mercy. Yet God still shrinks from destroying them. He is torn between love and justice, neither of which can be denied. This is the pain he took to himself on the cross of Christ.

Why?

God is love. The Lord is full of compassion. Even his people make Him angry, let them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love.

God will settle them in their homes and send Jesus Chris into us to be our savior from sin. 

We have to confess, that we are sinners, we are flesh, and no one can overcome the sins by our strength, God is our strength, our savior. Confess my sin and obey God's command to be a real Christian before the Lord and among people to witness the love and honor of the Lord.

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神的愛人不明白，神愈愛他們，人卻走更遠。

以色列人還不認識神時，神已經愛他們了。年幼表示生命狀態來未成熟時。

他們不去埃及，卻轉去亞述。神責罰人，卻不捨棄人。神不忍心，神不對人殘忍，卻對自己殘忍，所以有耶穌十架的愛。最後神的用愛的方式改變人，被神的威嚴、尊榮、保障感動人如獅子一般，讓人有安全感的王的保障下，急速的回到神的面前。神不用強迫方式，叫人無奈的順服。神的愛人不明白，因為人看重的與神看重的不一樣。

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How?

God is love, his love endures forever! So we have to love others with love.

Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love

Hosea 10:1-15

Israel was a spreading vine; he brought forth fruit for himself. As his fruit increased, he built more altars;

Their heart is deceitful, and now they must bear their guilt. The Lord will demolish their altars and destroy their sacred stones.

They make many promises, take false oaths and make agreements; therefore lawsuits spring up like poisonous weeds in a plowed field.

The high places of wickedness will be destroyed— it is the sin of Israel. Thorns and thistles will grow up and cover their altars. Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!” and to the hills, “Fall on us!”

Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers his righteousness on you. But you have planted wickedness, you have reaped evil, you have eaten the fruit of deception. Because you have depended on your own strength and on your many warriors, the roar of battle will rise against your people, so that all your fortresses will be devastated—as Shalman devastated Beth Arbel on the day of battle, when mothers were dashed to the ground with their children.

So will it happen to you, Bethel, because your wickedness is great. When that day dawns, the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.

Outwardly, affluent Israel made a great show of religion, but inwardly the people moved further and further away from God. The calf-image at Bethel had become the nation's only 'king, a king marked for destruction. Now they are reaping what they have long sown. Yet they could still sow an altogether different crop.

Why?

The Lord gave Israel a spreading vine, but his fruit increased, and he built more altars. This is totally disobeying God's grace and mercy. Their heart is deceitful, for their heart away from the Lord so their heart away from the honest.

Sow righteousness reaps the fruit of unfailing love. Planted wickedness, eaten the fruit of deception. The Lord is fair and righteous. What the Lord needs is our pure heart and mind and more honest deed with mercy and honor the Holy Name of the Lord.

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不要以色列人在豐收時狂歡，行宗教儀式，愈豐收愈敗壞。古代如此，今天的教會也是如此，因為1)以為豐收是依靠自己，2)心懷二意（敬拜耶和華同時敬拜巴力，或者靠神也靠自己）。所以葡萄愈豐收，愈拜巴力，即按照世俗的方法，愛神也愛世界(愛世界，愛神的心就薄弱了)，人愈有成就愈覺得自己功勞大，對神所有保留，對我有益就做。

心懷二意即榮耀變為羞辱。獻給亞述王，頭號大王（耶雷布王），以色列王變成老二這就是羞辱。拜金牛犢是羞辱，牛本來人效力，人反過來拜牛。教會如果走錯路，按照私意，教會就會荒涼！羞愧到求死。心懷二意的人自己也沒有查覺，完全不自知。

基比亞以前發生的事，如今的基比亞人以為過去的事與他們無關，如今他們一樣犯一樣的錯誤。

以法蓮喜愛踹穀，如同牛工作時可以吃穀物。表示我們在負軛的時候，其實是恩典，外表看似重擔、壓力，卻是可以享受恩典。所以神要以法連走上神的道路，載重公義，讓神把軛加在我們身上，不是栽種後收成，而是我們願意負軛開始降下公義的雨。負主的軛愈得享安息！

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How?

What I have depended on? I depended on the Lord, for God is my Lord, my shepher,d and my way.

God will remember their wickedness and punish them for their sins

Hosea 9:1-17

What will you do on the day of your appointed festivals, on the feast days of the Lord? Even if they escape from destruction, Egypt will gather them, and Memphis will bury them. Their treasures of silver will be taken over by briers, and thorns will overrun their tents. The days of punishment are coming, the days of reckoning are at hand. Let Israel know this. Because your sins are so many and your hostility so great, the prophet is considered a fool, the inspired person a maniac.

The prophet, along with my God, is the watchman over Ephraim, yet snares await him on all his paths, and hostility in the house of his God. They have sunk deep into corruption, as in the days of Gibeah. God will remember their wickedness and punish them for their sins.

My God will reject them because they have not obeyed him; they will be wanderers among the nations.

It was probably at the height of the festival to mark the grape harvest that Hosea spoke out. The people may call him a fool, but he knows he is God's watchman, and he will not hold his tongue. Israel will become a slave nation to Assuria, as they once were to Egypt. Sin has become habitual, ingrained, to the point where God finally withdraws his love. Having wandered from God they will become wanderers among the nations. David Hubbard makes the sad point that 'from the time of Hosea's threat until the present the vast majority of Israel's sons and daughters have listed Diaspora as their address.

Why?

The days of punishment are coming, because of the sins of Israel.

The prophet, along with the Lord is the watchman over Ephraim, but people call him a fool. So they will be wanderers among the nations.

This is a sad destination because these people do not what they are doing.

When people turn to the world is dangerous, but they do not know and the selfish and proud full of their heart and mind.

How?

Keep my heart along with the Lord, May my heart and my mind always focus on the Lord, and keep my step along with the Lord.

‘Our God, we acknowledge you!’ But Israel has rejected what is good

Hosea 8:1-14

Israel cries out to me, ‘Our God, we acknowledge you!’ But Israel has rejected what is good; an enemy will pursue him. They set up kings without my consent; they choose princes without my approval. With their silver and gold they make idols for themselves to their own destruction. 

They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. The stalk has no head; it will produce no flour.
Were it to yield grain, foreigners would swallow it up.

Although they have sold themselves among the nations, I will now gather them together. They will begin to waste away under the oppression of the mighty king.

Israel has forgotten their Maker and built palaces; Judah has fortified many towns. But I will send fire on their cities that will consume their fortresses.”

Israel will be caught up in the whirlwind of God's judgment. They have made gods, made up laws, and set up kings to suit themselves: as if God and his laws did not exist. But neither idols nor allies will avail when the God they have forgotten strikes.

Why?

We acknowledge you in their mouth, but Israel has rejected what is good. This is a worshipping the Lord ceremony but their deeds were away from the Lord. So today most of our lives are like the Israelites. 

What is my fortress and what is my foundation? Jesus Christ is my savior, and the Lord is my fortress. worship the Lord with all my heart, pray to the Lord with a pure heart and devote our good deeds as sacrifices to the Lord.

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前兩章，神想辦法讓百姓轉向神，但是人卻不聽！

人也在找路，最後是白忙一場。有人敬拜神，奉主名趕鬼。他們立王卻不由我，不詢問神！立王沒有錯，但是動機不對，為一己之利。立金牛犢為神，就是因為政治動機，即信仰中摻雜屬世的動機，用信仰來包裝政治動機。基督徒不會一開始就想犯罪，但是加入私意，剛開始沒有感覺，但是信仰就會變質，最後所有屬靈成份消失。動機應該是討神的喜悅。種下去是空的，收穫也是空的，甚至更差的暴風。

倚靠亞述，找亞述倚靠金錢，結果反而變成重擔。

宗教活動其實為了自己的私意。如買賣的聖殿，不結果的無花果樹，萬事不互相效力。

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How?

Worship the Lord is not by mouth, but by our deeds. Walking on the right way and loving others.