1. Lesson 2

2. KEY TEXT
“But you must
return to your God;
maintain love and
justice, and wait
for your God
always”
Hosea 12:6

3. A. The spiritual status of the
people of God.
o A gullible dove.
o A trained heifer.
B. God’s attitude to His people.
o Father-son relationship.
o Love and discipline.
C. God cares for His people.

4. “Ephraim is like a dove, easily deceived and
senseless—now calling to Egypt, now turning to
Assyria” (Hosea 7:11 NIV)
God compares His people to a gullible bird
that cannot detect the traps of the hunter.
Both Egypt and Assyria desired Palestine
because of its location.
When Israel was attacked by Egypt, they went
to Assyria for assistance.
When Israel was attacked by Assyria, they
went to Egypt for assistance.
If they went to God, they wouldn’t have to
fear Egypt nor Assyria.
“Cursed is the man who trusts in man
and makes flesh his strength, whose
heart departs from the Lord”
(Jeremiah 17:5)
ASSYRIA
ISRAEL
EGYPT

5. “Ephraim is a trained heifer that
loves to thresh grain; but I
harnessed her fair neck, I will make
Ephraim pull a plow. Judah shall
plow; Jacob shall break his clods”
(Hosea 10:11)
A heifer is an “adolescent” 2 or 3-year-old ox or cow.
It is working on threshing but it should be already working
hard on tilling.
it loves to thresh
I will make it pull a plow
“Israel had been placed in the Promised Land in easy,
comfortable circumstances, like a heifer threshing, that was
allowed to eat at pleasure (Deut. 25:4). Tragically, these
material comforts that should have drawn her close to her
Creator, made her sinfully self-sufficient and rebellious (see
on Deut. 32:15)” (SDA Bible Commentary, on Hosea 10:11)
The fruit of that heifer’s work had been “wickedness…
iniquity… lies” (Hosea 10:13) It should produce
“righteousness… mercy… seeking the Lord” (Hosea 10:12)
thanks to the divine discipline (Assyria’s plow)
it shall break his clods

6. “Let every church member consider the
breaking up of the fallow ground, the careful
cleansing of the soil, and the depositing and
harrowing of the seed, which is the laborious
work of the husbandman. It is a rough and
searching process. The harrowing of the seed
is not always pleasant to the receiver, and
sometimes disabling to him because he does
not sense the virtue of the Word and become
submissive under the tilling process in spiritual
life. The sins committed require the sincere
repentance that needeth not to be repented of,
but when the hard soil is broken up and the
stubborn clods are broken to pieces then the
precious seed can be sown and harrowed into
the soil. This represents the severe discipline of
God. Often rebellion is manifested, and the
discipline of God must continue until the
determined will is broken and the end is
gained”
E.G.W. (That I may know Him, October 2)

7. FATHER-SON RELATIONSHIP
“It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the
arms; but they did not realize it was I who healed them”
(Hosea 11:3 NIV)
God cares and disciplines His people just like a
father cares and disciplines His children.
“He who spares his rod hates his
son, but he who loves him
disciplines him promptly”
(Proverbs 13:24)
“You should know in your heart that
as a man chastens his son, so the
Lord your God chastens you”
(Deuteronomy 8:5)

8. Which is God’s purpose for
disciplining His children?
Punishment is an “unusual act”
for God (Isaiah 28:21). It is only
necessary when it is essential
for man’s salvation.
God’s immense love forces Him
to harshly discipline us
sometimes. That way we come
back to Him and get the
salvation that has been bought
for us with a high cost.

9. REFLECTION
“Trials and obstacles are the Lord’s chosen methods
of discipline and His appointed conditions of success.
He who reads the hearts of men knows their characters
better than they themselves know them. He sees that
some have powers and susceptibilities which, rightly
directed, might be used in the advancement of His
work. In His providence He brings these persons into
different positions and varied circumstances that they
may discover in their character the defects which have
been concealed from their own knowledge. He gives
them opportunity to correct these defects and to fit
themselves for His service. Often He permits the fires
of affliction to assail them that they may be purified”
E.G.W. (The ministry of healing, pg. 471)

10. The last chapter in the book of Hosea is a
calling for Israel to repentance, to abandon
their idols and to trust God’s tender care.
God promises these blessings to His
people in Hosea 14:5-8.
“O Israel, return to the Lord your God,
for you have stumbled because of your
iniquity” (Hosea 14:1)
“I will heal their backsliding”
“I will love them freely”
“I will be like the dew to Israel”
“They shall be revived like grain”
“They shall grow like a vine”
“Their scent shall be like the wine of Lebanon”
“I am like a green cypress tree”
“Your fruit is found in Me”
“Who is wise? Let him understand these things. Who
is prudent? Let him know them. For the ways of the
Lord are right; the righteous walk in them, but
transgressors stumble in them” (Hosea 14:9)

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