Hosea, kdrama and students

(Students created their own bible studies on the whole book of Hosea in 2015. This material is a modified version of what they did. The students were also big fans of kdrama so I've tried to draw illustrations from their interest.)

One of the issues faced by Uni students as they tried to approach the book by examining the themes, genre, history, motifs and structural elements of the book is that the whole bible study became too academic, more like a comprehension exercise. This revision is attempt to correct that by focusing on the question "Is the bible, the book of Hosea, relevant to life today and how?"

The importance of seeing the bible as both God-inspired(Divine) and written in real language and real history (Human) for biblical interpretation can be found here.

Mary Garvin in "Bible Study can be Exciting," writes about nine changes that occur through a small-group Bible study experience.
1. A movement from self-centredness to care for others.
2. A movement from doubt about self to trust of self.
3. A movement from irresponsibility to a sense of responsibility for self and others.
4. A movement from secrecy to sharing.
5. A movement from unfreedom to freedom.
6. A movement from mistrust to trust.
7. A movement from the need to receive ministry to a concern to give ministry.
8. A movement from a closed mind to a mind open to learning.
9. A movement from hatred of self, others and God, to a love of self, others and God.

In short, as we learn more about God through His Word, we expect to have our lives, individually and together, transformed more into His likeness. Accumulating facts, unlike in some fields of academic study, is not the main point of bible study. Yet, we need to be more familiar with the teachings of the Bible than the dramas we watch online...because God's word is what we meditate on and ponder to deepen our relationship with God, each other and the world.

Study 1: Hosea 1-3 A love relationship

Listen to Hosea 1-3 on the audio bible, here.

Summarise the main storyline of God, Hosea and Gomer.
What is your response to this story?

Watch this video from Bibledex for another perspective.

What is nature of God's character and love found in chapters 1-3?

Why do you think the covenant of marriage used to describe our relationship to God?

What does it mean for us as the object of God's love and for us as people who are supposed to reflect God's character?


Kdrama illustration 
"You from another star" is a love story about an alien who landed on Earth in the Joseon Dynasty and, 400 years later, falls in love with a top actress in the modern era. Do Min-joon, the alien, transcends time and space to be with the object of his love. Cheon Song-yi, the movie star, is flawed, lonely and often behaves like a diva which can be annoying to watch...yet she is loved. The story of Hosea's love for his wife and God's love us is equally supernatural and like Gomer and Israel we are undeserving of God's patient love and care.

Study 2: Hosea's contribution to our understanding of God (chapter 4 to 14)

Divide the students into 3 groups.
Get everyone to listen to Hosea chapter 4 to 14 here.
As they listen, get each group to pick out what Hosea says about the following themes:
1) the lack of the knowledge of God- no real knowing/intimacy.
2) the folly/ foolishness of ingratitude- in the face of unchanging love.
3) the futility of mere religion- compared to right relating. (Outward shows of religious practices)
(Taken from Old Testament Survey published by William B Eerdman)
Get the groups to discuss and summarise what they have learnt about each theme.
Get them to present what they have learnt and include the key points from these (1), (2) and (3) posters.

How does what we think about God affect our everyday behaviour?

Kdrama illustration
In the kdrama Secret, Kang Yoo-jung sacrifices her future by going to prison in place of her then-boyfriend, Do-hoon after he kills a woman in a hit-and-run accident. But in exchange for her devotion, he shows extreme ingratitude and abandons her. The pain that she goes through, in some respects, illustrates the grief God experiences when we worship idols. But unlike her, who hurts because she has lost something, God hurts because we have lost something when we abandon Him.

To go further consider this video, 

How has Ravi Zacharias used the story of Hosea to challenge our thinking about God? Click here for part 2.

Study 3: The Metaphors and Structure of Hosea.

Divide the students into 4 groups.Get everyone to listen to Hosea chapter 4 to 14 here.
As they listen get the groups to explore these different questions:

(Elizabeth and Hannah created these picture questions for students to take away)

*Hosea uses rural motifs. Trace the picture of wild animals and plants in the book of Hosea and what mood do these motifs set?
*Trace the picture of cooking(oven), food and drink in the book of Hosea and how do these motifs help us to understand Hosea's message?

Get the groups to discuss and summarise what they have learnt about each motif.
Get them to present what they have learnt.

What motifs/metaphors would you use to describe your relationship to God?

Pray for each other that in our heart of hearts we love only God. 

Kdrama illustration
In the kdrama Pasta, food is an important motif in the story. The commitment to cooking good Italian food draws the main couple together and the kitchen staff together. In Hosea, consuming food and drink in God's name angers God because God sees into the hearts of the priests whose hearts are far from Him. 

A study of metaphors helps us grasp that is not just the content of the prophesy that is important but God uses the way Hosea communicates, his life and being to relate mentally and emotionally to His people. Hosea is particularly lyrical, poetic and good with word-play. For further reading click here ( page 5 and 6)

Study 4: Hope because of God's faithfulness (chapters 11 to 14)

Read chapters 11 to 14 together.
Many biblical prophets bring a message of warning of coming destruction because of the people's unfaithfulness and hope in God's faithfulness. These two messages are often held in tension. Hosea, the prophet of the Northern kingdom, does the same as he refers to events in Israel's history. Together as a group try to identify the biblical characters and stories that the passages refers to. For an example click here.

Examine Chapter 14 in detail.

Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,
for your sins have brought you down.
Bring your confessions, and return to the Lord.

Say to him,
“Forgive all our sins and graciously receive us,
so that we may offer you our praises.[b]
Assyria cannot save us,
nor can our warhorses.
Never again will we say to the idols we have made,
‘You are our gods.’
No, in you alone do the orphans find mercy.”

The Lord says,

“Then I will heal you of your faithlessness;
my love will know no bounds,

for my anger will be gone forever.

I will be to Israel
like a refreshing dew from heaven.

Israel will blossom like the lily;
it will send roots deep into the soil
like the cedars in Lebanon.
Its branches will spread out like beautiful olive trees
as fragrant as the cedars of Lebanon.
My people will again live under my shade.
They will flourish like grain and blossom like grapevine.
They will be as fragrant as the wines of Lebanon.

“O Israel,[c] stay away from idols!
I am the one who answers your prayers and cares for you.
I am like a tree that is always green;
all your fruit comes from me.”

Let those who are wise understand these things.
Let those with discernment listen carefully.
The paths of the Lord are true and right.
and righteous people live by walking in them.
But in those paths sinners stumble and fall.

* Use the Swedish method (highlight, question, application).
*How does this passage give hope? 
* Pray for and encourage those in the group who find it hard to have faith and hope in God's love.

Kdrama Illustration
In the kdrama, "Kill me, Heal me" Cha Do Hyun has multiple personality disorder and has six identities. For him to become whole, the personalities need to be "killed" for him to become healed and become an integrated whole person. In a same way, God's people needs to give up their idols in order to become whole in God's love. 
“I will heal their waywardness
    and love them freely,
    for my anger has turned away from them".

To go further, watch this video,

How does David Parson unpack the book of Hosea? 

How does it compare with what you have learnt in our bible studies? 

Study 5: Hosea in the New Testament

In pairs look at these passages from Hosea in context and look for the equivalent passages in the New Testament (examine the context in the New Testament) Distribute one verse per pair:

*"Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him." (Hosea 6:1-2)

*"Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from Death? O Death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is your sting? Compassion is hidden from my eyes." (Hosea 13:14).

* "For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings." (Hosea 6:6)

*Paul continues with a quote from Hosea 1-3, backing up what he just said. As indeed he says in Hosea, "Those who were not my people I will call 'my people,' and her who was not beloved I will call 'beloved.'" "And in the very place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' there they will be called 'sons of the living God.'" (Romans 9:25-26) Click here for a possible reading.

*"And the altars of On, the sins of Israel, shall be taken away: thorns and thistles shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us." (Hosea 10:8)

(For more Old Testament verses found in the New Testament click here)

Share what you have learnt from each verse. 
Discuss as a group:
What does this reveal about God's love through the ages?

What have you learnt about Jesus?

Kdrama Illustration

The kdrama Secret Garden, is a Cinderella story between Gil Ra-im (Ha Ji-Won) a stuntwoman and Kim Joo-won (Hyun Bin) a high-end department store CEO (a modern-day prince charming). They do a body-swap whenever there is a thunderstorm. When Ra-im falls into a coma because of an accident on a filmset, Joo-won sacrifices his life for hers. He is the epitome of love when he induces a body swap with her comatose state by purposely driving into a thunderstorm. The story of Hosea is a story of God's love and the epitome of His love is evident in Christ's sacrificial love.