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So my kids and I are nearing the end of our read-the-Bible-in-a-year plan. We just finished up Hosea, and I wanted to share a couple observations.
The story of Hosea is that God told him to marry an adulterous woman to give Israel a object lesson showing how Israel had acted as an unfaithful wife to her husband, God.
When I first studied with the wmscog, the teacher told me that NOWHERE in the Bible was the church (or God's people) referred to as a bride. More recently I've seen wmscog members argue that yes, the church is described as a bride elsewhere in the Bible, but in Revelation the "Bride" most definitely cannot be the church.
Well, I was struck by Hosea 2:19 "I will betroth you to me forever…" — God was looking ahead to a time when His people would be His bride forever (descriptively speaking).
And then at the end of the book, I was stopped in my tracks with Hosea 14:8. I'm going to put it in KJV so it shows more clearly…
"Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found."
That word translated "fir tree" is also translated "cypress tree" elsewhere. As soon as I read it I had a picture of an evergreen tree in my head and how I teach my children that just like the evergreen trees are green all year, unchanging, so is God — His love is "evergreen," not changing with the seasons.
I would not use this verse as the cornerstone of a doctrine on Christmas, but isn't it interesting that God put that word there. I hear the wmscog use verses against cutting trees to form into idols in their arguments against Christmas, but here is a place where God describes Himself as an evergreen tree. Interesting.
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