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| APPLY: (5–10 minutes) Discuss: Can a person have only one true love? Can a person have more than one “god”? As Christians we say that we only serve God, but many of us put our trust in other things, Name other things that we may use as security or gods. RESPOND: (5–10 minutes) Hand out paper and pens to students. Ask them to find a place in the room where they can be somewhat alone as they write a letter to God. The letter could be “marriage vows”—what they are willing to promise to God. Or they may wish to write God a letter to say they are sorry about breaking their vows with God. INSIGHTS FROM THE SCRIPTURE: The first three chapters of the book of Hosea are organized around the theme of marriage as a metaphor for God’s relationship with the Israelites. Israel is portrayed as God’s promiscuous wife, and this is symbolized by God asking the prophet Hosea to marry a prostitute. Hosea’s prophecy is based on a specific understanding of the Lord as God of Israel and of Israel as the people of the Lord. Israel came to be the people of God through the history that began with the exodus, the wilderness experience, and finally ending up in the land of Canaan. The covenant the Lord made with Israel called them to honor him as the only God in their religious and political life. But in their anxious desire for crops and prosperity, Israel decided to worship the old Baals, and even to worship the Lord as if the Lord was a Baal. Continued... |
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