The Lord called His servant to do this strange thing since the people of God stopped listening to God’s word. His covenant was no longer important to them. In another angle, Hosea had been asked or mocked by the Israelites by asking a question “You married a what?!” But Hosea knows deep in his heart that it is an act of mercy by God to wake up His children to listen and obey His words.

In the Old Testament, adultery is a symbolic representation of “idolatry and unfaithfulness to God” (Jer. 2-3; Ezek. 16:23). When Israel accepted His covenant (Ex. 19-21) God wedded them at Mount Sinai, though Jews were idolatrous from the beginning. Later they went on to worshipping Canaanite Gods like Baal. Similar to Gomer, Israel also started as an idol worshiper, married Jehovah, then turned to her idolatry.

This is a hard “acting sermon” for Hosea to preach and also answer to the questions asked by Israel. According to Mosaic law, prostitution was a capital felony, but God took action to discipline Israel rather than destroy her. When a man says he is ninety-percent faithful to his wife, he is not completely faithful to her. As the Israelites were seduced to abandon “God for idols, the church is tempted to turn to the world system that hates God and wants nothing to do with God.” We are called to be faithful until Jesus returns to receive His bride back to “the heavenly wedding” (2 Cor. 11:1-4; Epe. 5:22-33; Rev. 19:6-9).

Well, Jonah is not about a great fish or a vast city Nineveh or a rebellious prophet. It is about God. This book is about the story of God’s continuing grace and mercy. Also, how we respond to God’s will? Are we willing to share the love of God to others? We all know Jonah’s attitude towards God’s will when he was asked to do an impossible thing, asking him to go to Israel’s enemy.

However, when Word of God instructs us, we must listen and obey. The rebellion is not an option. “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord’ and not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). Jonah thought he could take it or leave it when the Word of the Lord came to him. Since he had a wrong attitude toward the Word of God.  Though he acknowledged that “he couldn’t run away from God’s presence” (Ps. 139:7-12), he thought he had every right to turn away from God’s call. “God’s gift and his call are irrevocable” (Rom. 11:29). “Jonah needed Nineveh as much as Nineveh needed Jonah.” We grow in grace and become more like Christ, because it is the will of God. So how are we doing dear friends?

In Proverbs 9, Wisdom’s house established on the “highest point of the city.” In ancient West Asia, the gods of the city had the license to live on the tallest spot in the city. Even in Jerusalem, the temple of Zion was the tallest construction at that time. This view verifies that Lady Wisdom stands for the wisdom of God and conclusively for God himself. In contrast, Lady Folly’s house too located “at the highest point of the city” (Pro. 9:14). Woman Folly also persists for the divine, however, in this case for all of ancient West Asia’s deities stood against Yahweh. There was a humongous temptation situated among the Israelites to worship gods like the Babylonian Marduk and the Canaanite Baal. Finally, the congregation has a choice to choose between Wisdom and Folly. In other words, Will it be Yahweh or Baal? The brightest people in the world may acquire tremendous insight about the world, even about God, and still not know him. The wisdom offered in the book of Proverbs is wisdom rooted in the personal knowledge of God. Ancient Israel confronted by this situation regularly between two choices Yahweh worship or Baalism. “It is a matter of life and death.” Proverbs 3:18 tells us whoever embraces wisdom embraces life. But the striking truth about Dame Folly is that she is a murderess: “her guests are deep in the realm of the dead” (Pro. 9:18). Who do we choose? Worldly money, sex and power or the life giver Yahweh?

Ruth, A Moabite decedent and a widow decided to follow Naomi her mother-in-law to Isreal. It is a new believer’s journey. She accompanies Naomi whose husband and sons died in Moab. Having lost of every source of security and comfort, Naomi prepared to return Bethlehem to a life of loneliness and despair. Marriage was the only source of stability and security for a woman in ancient West Asia. Still, Ruth follows Naomi even though there is a less chance of new life for a Moabite woman in Judah. This is one of the main reasons why Naomi insisted both of her daughters-in-law stay in Moab to put their lives together again.

Moabitess Ruth volunteers to go into the field to collect what she can. This incident indicates the penniless status of Ruth and Naomi. The Old Testament provides for the poor by requiring farmers to leave sheaves behind for the poor (Lv. 19:9; 23:22). In Ruth 2:3, it shows that Ruth was unaware of the situation she is going to encounter Boaz who came to inspect the workers. It became a turning point in her life when Boaz took action actions to provide for her safety and well-being, later He marries her. God watched over her and shows His faithful dealings with the lives of His peoples. She became an example that God’s covenant is not limited by any boundaries – national, racial or gender.

He is a God who gives grace to the guilty. This is fantastic news for teens who filled with guilt and shame, struggling with temptation, filled with anxiety and insecurity, needs a friend and filled with doubt. When Israel continued to fail Him, instead of renouncing them, He did something surprising. We teens think by simply avoiding certain things which makes us feel good. Especially, regular churchgoing teens believe that they are pretty righteous by comparing with their peers. For example, drinking and watching porn are some measuring sticks they use. “Sin taints our motives and desires, and shows up in who or what we worship – the false gods we turn to looking for an identity.” God established a permanent relationship through a covenant that declared him to be their God and they are his people. The hope of Israel and the hope for us rests on God’s faithfulness to fulfil his promises guaranteed by His Word. Christ has fulfilled what we see in God’s deliverance of the Israelites by becoming the sacrificial lamb so God’s wrath could pass over us. Our teens need to encounter this Word who is Christ in the story of the Israelites in Exodus to help them trust what remains true for God’s people in every age.