READ
Hosea 13-14
CONSIDER
Read all of this week's passage together, and consider the following questions. We encourage you to read it aloud as a group or individually before considering this week's questions.
As we close out our series on Hosea, we reflect on the overarching theme of God’s heart for the wanderer. The wanderer is the person who is rejecting the Lord wholeheartedly, as well as the follower of Jesus who is rebelling or looking away from God.
1. When you read Hosea 13:4-6, where God accuses His people of forgetting Him once they were satisfied, do you feel a sense of unfairness—or does it expose something true about human nature? Why do we so easily turn from God when things are going well?
2. How do you personally keep your heart humble in seasons of comfort?
3, Hosea 13:7-8 describes God as a lion and a bear—images of fierce judgment. How do you wrestle with a God who both protects and punishes? Do you ever feel like God’s actions are too harsh?
What helps you trust God's character when His ways are hard to understand?
4. In Hosea 14:1-3, the people are called to return to the Lord with words of repentance. Why do you think God asks for words and not just actions? Have you ever felt like repentance felt unfair or too vulnerable?
5. How do we learn to see repentance as a gift instead of a burden?
6. Verse 14:9 says God’s ways are right, but the rebellious stumble in them. Have you ever stumbled over something in Scripture because it seemed unfair or difficult to accept? How did you process that?
7. What helps move you from stumbling to walking in God's ways with trust?
8. Why do you think God ends the entire book with a call to wisdom and reflection (“Let the wise understand these things”)? What does it take to be the kind of person who trusts God's ways—especially when life feels unfair?
9.What is one way you can practice walking in God’s ways this week, even if you don’t fully understand them?
PRAY
Loving Father, thank You for Your relentless pursuit of us even when we wander. We confess that like Israel, we too often run from Your love, seeking comfort and solutions in places that can never truly satisfy. Thank You for Your perfect fatherly love that disciplines us not to punish but to heal. In the midst of life's tragedies and difficulties, help us to return to You again and again, finding refuge in Your unfailing compassion. Give us hearts to share Your love with others who are hurting and searching. May we be instruments of Your peace in a broken world, pointing others to the perfect Father who sent His Son to bring us home. In Jesus' name, amen.
READ
Hosea 13-14
CONSIDER
Read all of this week's passage together, and consider the following questions. We encourage you to read it aloud as a group or individually before considering this week's questions.
As we close out our series on Hosea, we reflect on the overarching theme of God’s heart for the wanderer. The wanderer is the person who is rejecting the Lord wholeheartedly, as well as the follower of Jesus who is rebelling or looking away from God.
1. When you read Hosea 13:4-6, where God accuses His people of forgetting Him once they were satisfied, do you feel a sense of unfairness—or does it expose something true about human nature? Why do we so easily turn from God when things are going well?
2. How do you personally keep your heart humble in seasons of comfort?
3, Hosea 13:7-8 describes God as a lion and a bear—images of fierce judgment. How do you wrestle with a God who both protects and punishes? Do you ever feel like God’s actions are too harsh?
What helps you trust God's character when His ways are hard to understand?
4. In Hosea 14:1-3, the people are called to return to the Lord with words of repentance. Why do you think God asks for words and not just actions? Have you ever felt like repentance felt unfair or too vulnerable?
5. How do we learn to see repentance as a gift instead of a burden?
6. Verse 14:9 says God’s ways are right, but the rebellious stumble in them. Have you ever stumbled over something in Scripture because it seemed unfair or difficult to accept? How did you process that?
7. What helps move you from stumbling to walking in God's ways with trust?
8. Why do you think God ends the entire book with a call to wisdom and reflection (“Let the wise understand these things”)? What does it take to be the kind of person who trusts God's ways—especially when life feels unfair?
9.What is one way you can practice walking in God’s ways this week, even if you don’t fully understand them?
PRAY
Loving Father, thank You for Your relentless pursuit of us even when we wander. We confess that like Israel, we too often run from Your love, seeking comfort and solutions in places that can never truly satisfy. Thank You for Your perfect fatherly love that disciplines us not to punish but to heal. In the midst of life's tragedies and difficulties, help us to return to You again and again, finding refuge in Your unfailing compassion. Give us hearts to share Your love with others who are hurting and searching. May we be instruments of Your peace in a broken world, pointing others to the perfect Father who sent His Son to bring us home. In Jesus' name, amen.
READ
Hosea 13-14
CONSIDER
Read all of this week's passage together, and consider the following questions. We encourage you to read it aloud as a group or individually before considering this week's questions.
As we close out our series on Hosea, we reflect on the overarching theme of God’s heart for the wanderer. The wanderer is the person who is rejecting the Lord wholeheartedly, as well as the follower of Jesus who is rebelling or looking away from God.
1. When you read Hosea 13:4-6, where God accuses His people of forgetting Him once they were satisfied, do you feel a sense of unfairness—or does it expose something true about human nature? Why do we so easily turn from God when things are going well?
2. How do you personally keep your heart humble in seasons of comfort?
3, Hosea 13:7-8 describes God as a lion and a bear—images of fierce judgment. How do you wrestle with a God who both protects and punishes? Do you ever feel like God’s actions are too harsh?
What helps you trust God's character when His ways are hard to understand?
4. In Hosea 14:1-3, the people are called to return to the Lord with words of repentance. Why do you think God asks for words and not just actions? Have you ever felt like repentance felt unfair or too vulnerable?
5. How do we learn to see repentance as a gift instead of a burden?
6. Verse 14:9 says God’s ways are right, but the rebellious stumble in them. Have you ever stumbled over something in Scripture because it seemed unfair or difficult to accept? How did you process that?
7. What helps move you from stumbling to walking in God's ways with trust?
8. Why do you think God ends the entire book with a call to wisdom and reflection (“Let the wise understand these things”)? What does it take to be the kind of person who trusts God's ways—especially when life feels unfair?
9.What is one way you can practice walking in God’s ways this week, even if you don’t fully understand them?
PRAY
Loving Father, thank You for Your relentless pursuit of us even when we wander. We confess that like Israel, we too often run from Your love, seeking comfort and solutions in places that can never truly satisfy. Thank You for Your perfect fatherly love that disciplines us not to punish but to heal. In the midst of life's tragedies and difficulties, help us to return to You again and again, finding refuge in Your unfailing compassion. Give us hearts to share Your love with others who are hurting and searching. May we be instruments of Your peace in a broken world, pointing others to the perfect Father who sent His Son to bring us home. In Jesus' name, amen.