Hosea 11:1-11 It is striking to see the emotional vulnerability and passion of God in this passage. Forget any notion of God as a distant, unaffected observer. God desires us with a powerful passion. Israel is the wayward son who continually breaks relationship with God, and God’s heartache is almost palpable in today’s passage from…

Hosea 1:2-10 These verses from the first chapter of Hosea present an affronted YHWH who seems at once both vindictive and indecisive. Israel has betrayed God, the people of the divided kingdoms have broken their covenant promise to worship YHWH alone. Consequences will follow: God’s punishment is coming, God’s pity and forgiveness are ending, and…

Amos 8:1-12 In this section of Amos we hear an account of judgment as well as human nature. We are reminded there will be times when being held accountable for our choices may feel like punishment or disapproval from God. We are also asked to recall God is ever present and observant of our actions,…

Amos 7:7-17 According to Webster’s Dictionary, a plumb line is “a tool used to see if something is perfectly vertical.” In the beginning of this reading, Amos has a vision that God is setting a plumb line in the midst of the people of Israel and that the “sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste”…

2 Kings 5:1-14 How many times do we bring our own agenda’s to God’s work, like Naaman did? How often do we think we know better than the prophets? I can really relate to Naaman and his need to have all the pomp and circumstance; to have Elisha, the man of God, come out and…

2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-16 He picked up the mantle of Elijah… (2 Kings 2) The 2 Kings reading provides us with the basis for the expression “picking up the mantle.” In the 2 Kings reading, Elijah is about to ascend into heaven and Elisha requests that he inherit Elijah’s Spirit. As Elijah ascends into heaven,…