Hosea - The God Who chastines as a Moth, a Lion & a broken heart Thru the Bible: Hosea 1-5 The very existence of this Hosea’s ministry and therefore this book, occurring simultaneously with the book of Amos teaches us much about God. God loves His people and desires their health and relative happiness. He pursues them by whatever means His holiness and justice allows. Amos, prophecied in the epicenter of the Northern Kingdom sin - right, if you will, in the courtyard of their king and kingdom. His prophecies are direct and read much like a rap sheet of all Israel’s sin laden infractions against their God and their common man - especially their poor. Hosea's on the other hand called on Israel to repent of its sins of apostasy and warned of God’s future judgment though the directed approach was through the words of a wounded lover and the great majority of his prophetic ministry was not so much in words but in drama. Hosea himself WAS the message to Israel and his life itself taught the lessons Israel needed to hear in ways words could never capture. As such, Hosea gave his freedom as well as the totality of his life to the cause of being God’s clarion call to His people. He had no life he could call his own - he both spoke and lived the message. As such he is a tremendous example to the New Testament church! Blessings!