COMMENTARY

Old Testament: Hosea 2:14-20
Hosea was an eighth century prophet in Israel (Northern Kingdom). At this time the popular religion was Baal, a sensuous religion involving infertility rites and cultic prostitution. Hosea used this analogy of sex and marriage to call Israel back to Yahweh. As Yahweh made a covenant at Sinai in the wilderness, Israel is invited to come again into a wilderness where there is no competition from false gods such as Baal to make a new covenant, a new marriage. This new relationship will be one of love, justice, peace and faithfulness. It will be one of the utmost intimacy, as husband and wife know each other sexually.

Epistle: 2 Corinthians 3:1-6
Paul's competitors in Corinth, Jewish-Christian missionaries, used letters of recommendation written by in…