Me She Forgot, Says the Lord
A study guide · February 8, 2026 · Hosea
In one paragraph
On February 8, 2026, Pastor Aaron walked First Baptist Jackson through Hosea chapters one through three, the first of what will be a three-part series. He described the book as roughly twenty-five years of Hosea's prophecies, and the theme his seminary professor nailed in six words: spiritual adultery and knowledge of God. The message pressed everyone in the room to identify, honestly, with Gomer....
Read together
- Hosea 1:1 opening verse establishing the time period of Hosea's prophecy
- Hosea 1:2 God's command to Hosea to take a wife of harlotry because the land had committed harlotry
- Hosea 1:3 Hosea's obedience in taking Gomer and she conceiving a son
- Hosea 1:4 God's command to name the son Jezreel and forecast of Israel's downfall
- Hosea 1:5 God's declaration that He would break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel
- Hosea 1:6 Gomer conceiving a daughter named Lo-ruhamah meaning no mercy
- Hosea 1:7 God's promise to have mercy on Judah and save them by His spirit
- Hosea 1:8-9 Gomer bearing a son named Lo-Ammi meaning not my people
- Hosea 1:10 promise that those called not my people will be called sons of the living God
- Hosea 2:2 God bringing charges against Israel as an unfaithful wife
- Hosea 2:5 Israel saying she would go after her lovers who give her bread and water
- Hosea 2:6-7 God hedging up Israel's way with thorns so she returns to her first husband
- Hosea 2:8 God declaring He was the one who gave Israel grain and wine and oil which she used for Baal
- Hosea 2:9-13 God's declaration to take back His grain, wine, wool and linen and destroy her feasts
- Hosea 2:14 God promising to allure Israel back into the wilderness and speak comfort to her
- Hosea 2:15 the Valley of Achor described as a door of hope
- Hosea 2:16 God saying Israel will call Him my husband and no longer my master
- Hosea 2:17 God promising to remove the names of the Baals from Israel's mouth
- Hosea 2:18 God making a covenant with the beasts and birds and shattering bow and sword
- Hosea 2:19-20 God's promise to betroth Israel to Himself forever in righteousness, justice, loving kindness and faithfulness
- Hosea 2:21-23 God promising to answer the heavens and earth and sow Israel and show mercy to Lo-ruhamah
- Hosea 3:1 God commanding Hosea to go again and love his adulterous wife as God loves Israel
- Hosea 3:2-3 Hosea buying Gomer back at full price and telling her she shall stay with him
- Hosea 3:4-5 Israel abiding many days without king then returning to seek the Lord and David their king in the latter days
- 2 Kings 9-10 referenced to explain Jehu's brutal massacre of Ahab's family at Jezreel
Talk about it
- Pastor talked about his professor summing up Hosea in six words: 'spiritual adultery and knowledge of God.' Where do you see those two themes playing off each other in your own understanding of what it means to follow God?
- God told Hosea to go and marry a woman of harlotry so that his life would be a living illustration for Israel. What does it do to you when you realize God sometimes uses painful personal circumstances to speak a message through someone?
- Pastor said he kept his eyes closed during parts of the sermon because he didn't want to say certain things while looking directly at people. He asked the congregation to consider where they personally identify in the story, with Hosea, with Gomer, or with the children of Israel. Where did you find yourself landing, and why was that uncomfortable or easy?
- The turn in Hosea 2 moves from judgment to the words 'I will allure her, I will woo her back.' Pastor connected this to the Good Samaritan Mission's Door of Hope program and said 'you've done things that are unforgivable but I am going to forgive them.' What does it mean to you that God takes the initiative in pursuing people back rather than waiting for them to return on their own?
- Pastor closed by saying every one of us, individually and collectively, needs to identify with Gomer rather than with Hosea, and that adversity is a bridge to a deeper relationship with God. How does that reframe the way you think about a hard season you are in or have been through?