God’s Story Is Our Story: From Genesis To JesusSample

Reflecting on the last week: This was a bold message in Hosea’s day. He prophesied to Israel (the northern kingdom), whose king was not from the line of David. In Judah (the southern kingdom), a Davidic king still reigned. Thus, when he foretells Israel’s return to David, it is nothing short of treason. He calls them to serve a different king. As these verses show, the hope of Israel (and the whole world) is in the line of David. A king will come through this line who will cleanse Israel from idolatry (“household gods” and “ephods”), and lead her back to the LORD. But to participate in this cleansing, the people would need to question their existing personal allegiances. Today we face the same challenge: Will we give our total allegiance to Christ or something/someone else? Does Jesus have the authority in my life to challenge all of my other allegiances? If he doesn’t, why not? The promise here in Hosea is that Jesus (the true Davidic king) will lead people to the living God, who is the giver of life, love, justice and mercy. He offers us all we need to follow him and experience the beauty of his kingdom. Is Jesus not worth setting aside every other allegiance?