ASSEMBLY YOUTH

The role of God in the Bible
Hosea		by S. Latham
January 2007 brings us into the books of the minor prophets, starting off the new year at Hosea. I always feel that the books of the minor prophets starting here seem to be ignored in terms of the books of the Bible but I hope as we spend the next 12 months in the minor prophets, we will be able to learn from it and establish the role of God in each book.

I notice as I take a look through the book of Hosea, the word God is mentioned quite a lot but I find it interesting to note that the word before the word God in a lot of the references is either, their God, your God, my God. Now I know there are other words in other verses that I haven’t mentioned but the three I have mentioned gives us something worth thinking about. Nowadays, in today’s society, people refer to God in these three ways and whichever one they use refers to their standing with God because if it isn’t my God, it would indicate they do not follow the one true God that this is referring to. I wander which one you would use? Is it their God – looking at a group of people, maybe even a church, is it your God, talking on an individual basis to someone else, or is it a far more personal thing enabling you to say my God. Is God someone you are in a relationship with that you can call Him yours?

A verse I’d like to look at in this article is chapter 13 verse 4.
“Yet I am the LORD your God Ever since the land of Egypt, And you shall know no God but Me; For there is no saviour besides Me.”
This to me comes across as a reminder. It is God reminding them who their God is and who they should be serving. I wander if this was said because there were signs that they had wandered from Him? Sometimes, we must admit, we need reminding where we stand with God just like this verse states. It brings to mind the words of the commandments in the book of Exodus – you shall have no other God but me. A timely reminder?

God we see in the book of Hosea, is a God who is a faithful lover, always beckoning you back to Him, even when you’ve abandoned Him. If you feel you have, come back and walk side by side with Him, and if you have remained faithful and are still walking closely, daily with and for Him, stand up, in front of those around you, family, friends, relatives and other believers and non-believers, and call Him your God, He deserves it.
Amen.

Please send any questions or comments you have on this article to s.latham@assemblyyouth.net

 
Next month: Joel.
 
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The role of God in the Bible
 
Last month: Daniel.

All quotes are from the New King James version of the Bible unless otherwise specified.