God’s Story – Our Story
Bringing the Heat – The Heart of The Divine Parent
September 8, 2024
Overarching Theme: 2024 – A Year in God’s Story
Instructions:
When using this resource as teacher, feel free to discern the points you wantto emphasize in the lesson. See “The Grand Sweep” material for additional
information.
Core Point: 2024 can be a year of living into God’s Story as we journey from
Genesis to Revelation together.
Reflect on this Scripture: Hosea 11:1 (NRSV) When Israel was a child, I
loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. 2The more I called them, themore they went from me; they kept sacrificing to the Baals, and offering
incense to idols. 3Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, I took them up inmy arms; but they did not know that I healed them. 4I led them with cordsof human kindness, with bands of love. I was to them like those who lift
infants to their cheeks. I bent down to them and fed them. 5They shallreturn to the land of Egypt, and Assyria shall be their king, because they
have refused to return to me. 6The sword rages in their cities, it consumes
their oracle-priests, and devours because of their schemes. 7My people arebent on turning away from me. To the Most High they call, but he does notraise them up at all.
8How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? Howcan I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart
recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender. 9I will not
execute my fierce anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God andno mortal, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath. 10They
shall go after the LORD, who roars like a lion; when he roars, his children
shall come trembling from the west. 11They shall come trembling like birds
from Egypt, and like doves from the land of Assyria; and I will return themto their homes, says the LORD.
Commentary: Consistent with the book as a whole, Hosea 11 uses familial
imagery, with God as the parent and Israel as the beloved child whom God
rescued from slavery in Egypt (verse 1). The poem describes God’s care forIsrael in verses 3–4 with tender language (“loved him,” “took them up in myarms,” “bent down to them,” “lifted to the cheeks”). Yet Israel’s response tothis devotion is rebellion. Rather than acknowledging their divine parent,they worship other deities like the foreign storm god Baal (Hosea 11:2).
God’s threatened response of abandonment and violent reprisal seems harsh(verses 5-7), but within the world of the metaphor, it is born of the deep
pain of a rejected parent, who can only watch helplessly as the child makes
choices that will ultimately lead to their ruin.
Hosea 11 also paints a complex picture of God by giving voice to aremarkable divine confession in verses 8-9. Despite the pain of rejection,
God admits feeling internal turmoil at the thought of disowning God’schildren: “My heart recoils within me / my compassion grows warm andtender” (verse 8). This is no aloof, detached deity. Hosea’s familial imagery
is a powerful tool for expressing this shocking divine vulnerability.
These verses depict a tension between divine anger and divine compassion,a tension consistent with the God revealed in the Old Testament inparticular. While acknowledging the same tension, Hosea refuses to leave it
unresolved. Compassion wins out in verse 9. It is the triumph of mercy overjustice (see James 2:13) that is fundamental to God’s identity, not thetension between these attributes. God can choose “not [to] exercise myfierce anger” precisely because God “is God and no mortal, the Holy One inyour midst” (Hosea 11:9; compare Isaiah 54:7-8). Although the threat ofjudgment returns in subsequent chapters in Hosea, God’s compassion has
the final word in the book (Hosea 14:1-8). Too often, contemporary
Christians accept the false and unhelpful dichotomy between the “OldTestament” God of wrath and the “New Testament” God of love. Hosea 11
offers a more nuanced and compelling portrait of a divine tension that
gradually but decisively resolves itself on the side of mercy. - Adapted fromonline commentary by J. Blake Couey
Questions to Ponder for Accountability in the Group:
1. At the beginning of Prophet Hosea’s ministry, conditions remained
fairly prosperous in Israel. But Hosea knew that this bubble, built on
injustice and idolatry, would soon burst (defeat/exile was on thehorizon). Most people likely rationalized - “things are good now, whylisten to negative Hosea?” How difficult is it to be attentive to amessage to repent when on the surface conditions are currentlyfavorable?
2. Hosea used the metaphors of broken family relationships to describe
the brokenness of Israel’s relationship with God. What would beparticularly compelling about this analogy?
3. In chapter 11, Hosea reviews God’s gentle, gracious parenting of
toddler Israel. But instead of returning God’s familial love, Israelrebelled. What impact did this have on God? Israel?

4. In verses 8-11, Hosea reveals the parental struggle of God – thepain/frustration of his child’s rejection, the pain of knowing theconsequences the child will face as a result, and yet longing forreconciliation and healing. How does God resolve this inner conflict(see v. 9)?
5. Given verse 9, consider God’s heart toward you when you have been
distant from God or wayward. What is your response to such agracious God?
Activity for the Life of a Disciple:
1. Remember to find encouragement for the day by reading thedaily devotional from FUMCC.
2. Ponder and pray on this scripture this week: Hosea 11: 8b-9
My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm andtender. 9I will not execute my fierce anger; I will not again
destroy Ephraim; for I am God and no mortal, the Holy One inyour midst, and I will not come in wrath.