The Great Dilemma: Righteousness & Covenant Love
Discussion Guide
7.18.21
ONE Message Series
Justice and Mercy: A Study of Amos and Hosea
The Great Dilemma: Righteousness & Covenant Love
“I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion” (Hosea 2:19b).
OPEN
Our rapid overview of the Book of Hosea leaves us with a problem to solve. In 2:9 – 3:5, we see the “great dilemma” of reconciling what appear to most people to be opposites. On the one hand, there is righteousness – doing the right thing, obeying God’s commands, imitating God’s own holiness; the Old Testament term is tzedek. On the other, there is Yahweh’s covenant love – his kindness, his devotion to his chosen people, his nature as the God of Love; the Old Testament word is hesed. The problem in Hosea is the cosmic problem before our God!
NEXT
Briefly summarize the personal story of the troubled relationship between Hosea and Gomer. Then point out the essential parallels between that story and Yahweh’s relationship with the descendants of Father Abraham.
For both Hosea and God, the “great dilemma” is between the pairs of opposites below
– Upholding Right Standards Maintaining Family and Friendship Ties
– Opposing Bad Behaviors Accepting One Who Does a Bad Thing
– Punishing Evil Actions Kindness That Never Wishes to Harm Anyone
– Maintaining Personal Integrity Demonstrating Understanding and Mercy
– Being a Just Person Being a Loving Husband / Father
– Resolved to Destroy Sin Determined to Save Sinners
Can you imagine the tension of the pairs above for a marital situation? Parents of a teenager? God and his creation?
Why can God not simply “close his eyes” to our sin? Why can we not simply “pretend it didn’t happen”? When something really bad happens, there are consequences!
Why will God not embrace the option of simply leaving us to reap what we have sowed? What is hesed? How does it define Hosea? Yahweh?
CLOSING
The ultimate response to human need is to resolve the “great dilemma” through Jesus’ death on the cross. Why do both Amos and Hosea close their prophecies by pointing to the Messiah?