What is a prophet?
10 minutes
Ask the following questions and then gear your explanation appropriately to your context using the paragraph below if helpful:
- What do we know about prophets?
- Why do you think prophets are important?
- Do the accounts of the prophets in the Bible have something to say to us today? If so, how do you think we might work out what they are saying to us?
Explain that prophets are, in a general sense, people who speak God’s truth to others. In the Bible, prophets often had both a teaching and revelatory role: declaring God’s truth on contemporary issues while also revealing details about the future. Prophets had the task of faithfully speaking God’s word to his people. More than 130 named prophets are mentioned in the Bible. In addition, numerous others prophesied and prophecy is a spiritual gift that God continues to give to his people today.
Introducing Hosea
5 minutes
About 800 years before the birth of Jesus, Hosea began his ministry in the northern kingdom of Israel (which he sometimes refers to as Ephraim or Samaria). Hosea was probably teaching at about the same time as the prophet Amos, which was during the reign of Jeroboam II. This was a time of prosperity, but unfortunately, alongside the strong growth of the economy, there was an increase in poverty, social injustice, prostitution, sexual immorality and sales of idols. Hosea’s message is a harsh critique of Israel. God is passionately concerned for both the responsibility of the individual as well as society to care for and to give justice to the poor. The message he gives Hosea is not only one of drastic judgment, but also one of astounding love, mercy and forgiveness.
Agree / Disagree
10 minutes
Designate one end of the room ‘agree’ and the opposite end ‘disagree’ and read out a list of statements that will probably divide opinion in the group. Ask the young people to go to the end of the room that represents their views and after each statement, unpack why people are standing where they are. Finish with the following two statements: ‘You should tell people about God’s judgement before you tell them about God’s love’ and ‘You should tell people about God’s love before you tell them about God’s judgement.’
Explain that we all make judgements every day, from what we are going to wear to how we approach our homework. God also makes judgements. But what we are going to learn about through the prophet Hosea is how God makes his judgements, in a fair, just, compassionate and merciful way.
Key Point 1
Hosea speaks a message of judgement over the people of Israel. We may not like the thought of being judged but we will be.
Explore the passage
20 minutes
Read Hosea 8:1–4 together and say: God, through Hosea, is speaking judgement over the nation of Israel stating that their religious practices and their engagement with him is lacking in depth. God also draws attention to their idolatry. Ask the young people the following questions:
- Why do you think God finds a lack of depth so frustrating? What’s the problem with it?
- What do you think are some of the idols we create for ourselves today?
- What aspects of our lives and culture do you think God’s words concerning depth and idolatry might confront? Where might God want to judge us?
- Are there areas in our engagement with God as a group / church about which God might be challenging us? Are there areas where your own faith in God is lacking in depth? If the young people are prepared to share their answers, great. If not, use this second question as a personal reflection.
Read Hosea 11 and consider the following questions together:
- What do we learn about God in this chapter?
- What is the overall message?
- Are there any images in the passage that stand out?
- What, if anything, do we need to carry forward into our lives today?
Judgement and love
15 minutes
Split the young people into small groups. Invite them to flick through the newspapers and magazines and identify situations, groups and individuals that they believe deserve judgement or love. Ask them to create a collage of words and images.
When this task is complete, talk through the words and images they have chosen and ask whether they think God sees the situations, groups and individuals in the same way we do. What does what we have learned through the prophet Hosea tell us about how God might respond to each of these situations?
Key Point 2
Many people struggle to see how biblical prophets can speak into a contemporary world. The judgement that Hosea speaks over Israel is the same judgement we will receive at the end times. But God sees the world differently to us. God will judge with mercy, forgiveness, compassion and love. This is why love and judgement cannot be separated.
Reflection
5 minutes
Hosea ends with great hope: ‘I will heal their waywardness. I will love them freely; for my anger is turned away from him’ (Hosea 14:4). Pray that the young people and the situations, groups and individuals they have mentioned might also know that hope. If appropriate, light tea lights to symbolise the hope that we have.
