Hosea 12:2-6 - The Lord has an indictment against Judah and will punish Jacob according to his ways; He will repay him according to his deeds. In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his manhood he strove with God. He strove with the angel and prevailed; he wept and sought his favor. He met God at Bethel, and there God spoke with us—the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord is His memorial Name: "So you, by the help of your God, return, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God."

This devotion pairs with this weekend's Lutheran Hour sermon, which can be found at lhm.org.

Latin telenovelas or soap operas are a popular genre in the Spanish-speaking world. Day by day, millions of people are glued to the TV, following up on the latest episode of the soap's ongoing saga. Telenovelas are filled with moments of drama, tragedy, failures, but also with moments of reconciliation, restoration, and triumph. We often see in the genre of the Latin telenovela the image of the son or daughter, who, due to some active disobedience against the parents' will, rebels against them and leaves the family. It is not uncommon in telenovelas to behold the long-suffering father or mother whose love is unfailing and seeks after lost children, hoping to help them see the errors of their ways and reconcile with them once again. Like a biblical telenovela, the Old Testament depicts Israel as God's disobedient son. The Lord God is the long-suffering Father, who, since the days when He redeemed His son Israel, out of Egypt in the great Exodus, continues to look after him despite his sins.

The prophet Hosea describes God as the loving Father who took His child in His arms and taught him to walk. He trained him and strengthened his arms. Yet the kingdom of Israel in the north had become a disobedient son, as were their ancestors in the wilderness, despite the Lord's caring for, feeding, and delivering them from Egypt. God can show tough love to His son, disciplining him so that he will repent and turn away from his sins. God can be tough and fight with us like He fought with Jacob, whose hip God put out of joint, and who led a repentant Jacob to weep and seek His favor. When God gets angry with Ephraim, another name for Israel, He is more fearsome than Assyria, Egypt, and all the empires of the world who oppress His children.

God is like a silent moth or like a roaring lion. He warns Israel, "For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, like a great lion to Judah. I will tear them to pieces and go away. I will carry them off with no one to rescue them." But God punishes His child out of love, so that Ephraim may reconsider and acknowledge his sickness. In God's biblical telenovela, He must be stern with His son out of love to save his life, so that His son can come home and be reconciled with Him, so that His wayward son can repent and say, "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."

WE PRAY: Heavenly Father, thank You for calling us to repentance, binding our wounds with Your forgiveness, and healing our broken relationship with You and each other. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

This Daily Devotion was written by Rev. Dr. Leo Sanchez.

Reflection Questions:

1. Do you watch TV dramas or comedies on TV? Are there things you learn from them?

2. How was the children of Israel's life in the Old Testament like a drama? A tragedy? A comedy?

3. How does God work through regular, day-to-day situations in your life?

Today's Bible Readings: Jeremiah 1-2    Acts 26

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