Lesson 34 - I will Betroth Thee unto Me in Righteousness

Lesson 34: “I Will Betroth Thee unto Me in Righteousness”, Old Testament

Hosea 1–3; 11; 13–14

Purpose

What doctrine if understood would help us understand that the Lord is loving and merciful and will forgive us when we repent and return to him. (Doctrine is Plan of Salvation – the plan of happiness. The principle focused on in this lesson is Repentance. The application is what we are discussing today after making sure we understand the doctrine and the principle.

Attention Activity

Look at this list of phrases from Hosea:

• “The children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea” (Hosea 1:10)
• “I will pour out my wrath upon them like water” (Hosea 5:10)
• “The Lord … shall come unto us as the rain” (Hosea 6:3)
• “He shall come as an eagle” (Hosea 8:1)
• “Israel is an empty vine” (Hosea 10:1)
• “Judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field” (Hosea 10:4)
• “They shall be … as the smoke out of the chimney” (Hosea 13:3) “I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps [cubs]” (Hosea 13:8)
• “I am like a green fir tree” (Hosea 14:8)




Each of these phrases is a comparison from the book of Hosea. Suggest one possible meaning for the comparison. For example, saying someone is “as a lion” may indicate strength or fierceness.

Why do you think Hosea and other prophets used comparisons?

(Comparing a complicated or unfamiliar idea with one that is simpler or more familiar makes it more understandable to the people who are being taught. Comparisons also help provide a lot of detail in just a few words.)

In addition to these smaller comparisons, Hosea also used extended comparisons, which are called metaphors or similitudes (similitude is the word used in the scriptures). The book of Hosea contains several comparisons to help us understand the relationship between Jesus Christ and his people.
We will discuss how these scriptures apply to daily life.
Please share experiences that relate to the scriptural principles.

1. Using the similitude of a faithful husband and an adulterous wife, Hosea describes the relationship between the Lord and Israel.


One of the most frequently used similitudes in the scriptures describes the Lord as a bridegroom (or husband) and his covenant people as his bride (or wife). Hosea 1–3 powerfully uses this similitude, comparing Israel’s idol worship to adultery. In these chapters the prophet Hosea represents the Lord as the husband, and Gomer represents Israel as the wife.

• In the book of Hosea, the Lord’s relationship with Israel (and with the Church today) is compared to the relationship between a husband and wife.

What does this comparison teach us about the level of commitment and devotion the Lord expects from us?

In what way was ancient Israel comparable to Gomer, who is described as “a wife of whoredoms”? (See Hosea 1:2–3; 2:5, 13. Gomer had left her husband for her lovers; Israel had forgotten the Lord and become wicked.)

Who or what were Israel’s “lovers”—the things that caused the people to turn away from the Lord? (Other gods, material goods, and the practices of the world.) What things may divert us from our dedication to following the Savior?

To whom did the adulterous wife give credit for her food and clothing? (See Hosea 2:5.) To whom did the Israelites attribute the fruitful land in which they lived? (See Hosea 2:5, 12; to their false gods or idols.)

How do people today give credit to false gods for the blessings they receive?

How did the husband remind his wife that he—not her lovers—supplied her with food, water, and other possessions? (See Hosea 2:8–9.)

In what ways has the Lord provided you with material and spiritual blessings?

How can we show our appreciation to the Lord for the blessings he gives us?

What was the attitude of the husband toward his unfaithful wife in Hosea 2:6–13?

How was this attitude different in verses 14–23? (Even though the wife had been unfaithful, the husband still loved her and wanted her to come back to him. Likewise, the Lord still loves his people who have gone astray, and he wants them to turn again to him.)

Elder Henry B. Eyring explained: “This was a love story. This was a story of a marriage covenant bound by love, by steadfast love. … The Lord, with whom I am blessed to have made covenants, loves me, and you, … with a steadfastness about which I continually marvel and which I want with all my heart to emulate” (Covenants and Sacrifice [address delivered at the Church Educational System Symposium, 15 Aug. 1995], 2).

What did the husband promise his wife if she would return to him? (See Hosea 2:19.)

What does the Lord promise his people if they will repent and return to him? (See Hosea 2:20, 23.)

Why is this promise important?

In Hosea 3:1–2, the husband purchased his wife from her lover (In Old Testament cultures, women were often considered property and could be bought or sold).

What did the husband require of his wife after he purchased her? (See Hosea 3:3.)

What did he promise her?

In what sense has Jesus Christ “bought” each of us? (See 1 Peter 1:18–19.)

What does Christ require of us in return?

2. Because of his love for his people, the Lord continues to invite Israel to repent and return to him.

Hosea 11; 13–14.

Throughout the book of Hosea, the Lord reproves the Israelites for their great sins. After the Lord, through Hosea, describes the captivity and destruction that will result from Israel’s wickedness, he again invites his people to repent and return to him.

Another similitude often used in the scriptures to describe the relationship between the Lord and his people is the master-animal relationship. This similitude is used briefly in Hosea 11:4.

What do we learn about the Lord’s feelings for his people through this comparison?

(See also Hosea 11:7–9. The Joseph Smith Translation of verse 8 says “mine heart is turned toward thee” instead of “mine heart is turned within me.”)

Several times the Lord reminded the Israelites of how their ancestors were delivered out of captivity in Egypt (Hosea 11:1; 12:9, 13; 13:4–5).

What might this event be a similitude of? (See Hosea 13:14. As the Lord delivered the children of Israel from bondage in Egypt, so will he deliver them—and all people who come unto him—from sin and death.)

What did the Israelites need to do to return to the Lord and receive deliverance? (See Hosea 12:6; 14:2–3. They needed to repent of their sins and renounce the other gods they had worshiped.)

What did the Lord promise to do if they repented? (See Hosea 14:4–7.)

What does the Lord promise he will do if we repent of our sins?

How do the similitudes in the book of Hosea help you understand how the Savior feels about you?


Conclusion

I testify that while the Lord’s blessings are reserved for those who keep his commandments, his love is constant and extended to all. Even when we turn away from him through sin, the Lord loves us and wants us to repent and return to him. Be faithful to the Lord.


Additional Teaching Ideas

The following material supplements the suggested lesson outline.


1. “I desired mercy, and not sacrifice” (Hosea 6:6)
In Hosea 6:6 the Lord tells Israel, “I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” During his earthly ministry, Christ twice referred to this verse to answer criticism from the Pharisees (Matthew 9:13; 12:7). After examining the context of these two references (Matthew 9:10–13; 12:1–8), discuss what this verse means.


2. “O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself” (Hosea 13:9)

During Hosea’s ministry, the Northern Kingdom (Israel) was attacked by the Assyrians, who would eventually destroy the kingdom and take the people captive. In a literal sense the Assyrians were responsible for the destruction of Israel. But the Lord said, “O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself” (Hosea 13:9).

In what sense had Israel destroyed itself?

What was Israel’s only hope for salvation after the destruction of their nation? (See Hosea 13:9–10; 14:1.)

How can following Jesus Christ protect us from temporal and spiritual destruction?





Good Quotes that go along with this lesson:

Elder Bruce R. McConkie explained: “In a spiritual sense, to emphasize how serious it is, the damning sin of idolatry is called adultery. When the Lord’s people forsake him and worship false gods, their infidelity to Jehovah is described as whoredoms and adultery. (Jer. 3:8–9; Hos. 1:2; 3:1.) By forsaking the Lord, his people are unfaithful to their covenant vows, vows made to him who symbolically is their Husband.” (Mormon Doctrine, p. 25.)

Elder Eyring explained that Father in Heaven will help prepare a way for us to keep the sacred covenants we make with Him:
“Each of us who has made covenants with God faces challenges unique to us. But each of us shares some common assurances. Our Heavenly Father knows us and our circumstances and even what faces us in the future. His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior, has suffered and paid for our sins and those of all the people we will ever meet. He has perfect understanding of the feelings, the suffering, the trials, and the needs of every individual. Because of that, a way will be prepared for us to keep our covenants, however difficult that may now appear, if we go forward in faith” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1996, 44; or Ensign, Nov. 1996, 33 ).

Elder M. Russell Ballard said: “Heavenly Father has promised . . . that He will give marvelous blessings to those who honor their covenants, keep His commandments, and endure faithfully to the end. They will be sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise and will be ‘given all things’ ( D&C 76:55 ; italics added; see also 76:50–54, 70 ), including an inheritance in the celestial kingdom” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1993, 5; or Ensign, May 1993, 6 ).

Lectures on Faith, compiled under the direction of the Prophet Joseph Smith, on the board: “A religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation” ([1985], 69).

Elder Henry B. Eyring of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles commented on his experience years before teaching Hosea to his early morning seminary classes:
“The book of Hosea, like the writings of Isaiah, uses what seem to me almost poetic images. The symbols in Hosea are a husband, his bride, her betrayal, and a test of marriage covenants almost beyond comprehension. . . . Here are the fierce words of the husband, spoken after his wife has betrayed him in adultery: [Hosea 2:6–7].
“He goes on (through verse 13) to describe the punishment she deserves, and then comes a remarkable change in the verse that follows. . . . : [Hosea 2:14–15, 19–23].
“At that early point in the story, in just two chapters, even my youngest students knew that the husband was a metaphor for Jehovah, Jesus Christ. And they knew that the wife represented his covenant people, Israel, who had gone after strange gods. They understood that the Lord was teaching them, through this metaphor, an important principle. Even though those with whom he has covenanted may be horribly unfaithful to him, he would not divorce them if they would only turn back to him with full purpose of heart.
“I knew that too, but even more than that, I felt something. Ihad a new feeling about what it means to make a covenant with the Lord. All my life I had heard explanations of covenants as being like a contract, an agreement where one person agrees to do something and the other agrees to do something else in return.
“For more reasons than I can explain, during those days teaching Hosea, I felt something new, something more powerful. This was not a story about a business deal between partners, nor about business law. . . . This was a love story. This was a story of a marriage covenant bound by love, by steadfast love. What I felt then, and it has increased over the years, was that the Lord, with whom I am blessed to have made covenants, loves me, and you, . . . with a steadfastness about which I continually marvel and which I want with all my heart to emulate” (Covenants and Sacrifice [address to religious educators, 15 Aug. 1995], pp. 1–2).


Elder Bernard P. Brockbank counseled college students: “If you sow seeds of righteousness, you will harvest righteousness. If you sow thorns and corruption, you will reap thorns and corruption. A prophet of the Lord said, ‘For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind’ (Hosea 8:7). If you sow seeds of purity, you will harvest purity. If you sow seeds of petting, immorality, and promiscuity, you will harvest destruction to your godlike attributes. If you sow seeds of pure love, you will receive pure love. If you love God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, you will reap God’s love. If you would obtain celestial glory, you must plant into your heart and character God’s heavenly ways. Jesus admonished in these words: ‘For if you will that I give unto you a place in the celestial world, you must prepare yourselves by doing the things which I have commanded you and required of you’ (D&C 78:7). If you want a celestial life, you will have to plant celestial seeds. Pure religion comes from God. If you want pure religion in your life, you must plant the gospel of Jesus Christ in your heart. Remember, ‘As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.’ If you think as a celestial being, you will be a celestial being. If you think as a child of God should think, you will be a member of his celestial family.” (“Be Worthy of Celestial Exaltation,” in Speeches of the Year, 1974, pp. 386–87.)


CONCLUSION
God loves you, no matter what you have ever done to hurt or disappoint Him, and He has provided a way for you to return to Him. The story of Gomer clearly shows God’s love for you. Even when you break His commandments and your life seems to fall apart, God’s greatest desire is to see you repent and come back to receive the happiness of a good life.
The world today exhibits many of the same social ills that existed in Gomer’s time. Perhaps in the past you have forgotten covenants in order to respond to the promises and flattery of the world. Now you know the longing to be loved and trusted again. For you, the story of Gomer testifies of hope and a Redeemer who longs to have you restored to the close relationship you once had with Him (see Hosea 3:1–2). Her story is a promise that if you will return “home” and prove your repentance and faithfulness (see Hosea 3:3–4), then all that you desire will be restored to you (see Hosea 2:19–23). Enduring or overcoming trials in proving your repentance and faithfulness will require your greatest efforts in prayer and acts of obedience to God’s laws.