As we make our way back into Hosea this morning,Let’s remember the passion running through the entire book- it isn’t what we’re likely to feel when reading the bare words• what it sounds like, is the ranting of an enraged deity◦ but that is not the correct tone of voice• if God were like one of the pagan deities of mid mid-east or Greece,◦ he wouldn’t bother to rage at his rebellious people,◦ he would just annihilate them- this prophetic book, in fact, is the message of a wounded lover• a husband who’s been disrespected, betrayed, and discarded◦ yet for all that, he continues to try to reason with his wife◦ he is not ready to give up, and he will not let Israel go• so, we are not hearing the voice of anger, but of heartbreak