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FAIR Resources for Come, Follow Me – Restoration Scripture
Week 47: November 16 - 22: "I Will Love Them Freely"

Hosea 1-6; 10-14; Joel

Doctrinal Focus
Historical & Contextual
Apologetic Application
Practical Applications
Ideas for Teaching
Quick Reference

Doctrinal Focus

  • Key doctrines addressed in this week’s reading

Hosea uses the powerful metaphor of marriage to illustrate Israel’s covenant relationship with the Lord. Although Israel had been spiritually unfaithful, the Lord promised, “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely” (Hosea 14:4), showing that His purpose is not merely to punish sin but to invite His people back into a faithful relationship with Him. Hosea 2:14–23 likewise describes the Lord drawing His people back and renewing His covenant with them. The language of betrothal in Hosea 2:19–20 emphasizes righteousness, judgment, lovingkindness, mercy, and faithfulness, showing that repentance can lead to a restored covenant relationship.

Hosea 14:1–3 begins with the invitation, “O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God,” and then describes what the people should bring as they return. The Lord’s response in verse 4 is healing and freely given love, demonstrating that repentance is fundamentally about turning back toward God and allowing Him to heal what sin has damaged. Joel gives the same invitation: “Turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness” (Joel 2:13). Together, Hosea and Joel teach that God’s mercy gives us reason to return rather than reason to hide from Him.

Hosea 6:6 teaches, “I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” The lesson explains that the Israelites were offering sacrifices while breaking more important commandments, emphasizing that outward religious behavior cannot substitute for genuine conversion and a relationship with God. Jesus later quoted Hosea 6:6 during His mortal ministry (Matthew 9:10–13; 12:1–8), applying the principle to His own disciples. This demonstrates that the Lord has consistently taught that mercy, love, and knowledge of God must accompany outward religious observance.

Joel 2:12–13 contrasts “rending” one’s garments with rending one’s heart. Because tearing one’s clothing was an outward expression of mourning in ancient Israel, Joel’s message emphasizes that genuine repentance must penetrate beyond outward appearances into the desires, motives, and commitments of the heart. The Lord’s invitation in Joel 2:12 is to return “with all your heart,” connecting repentance with wholehearted devotion. Similarly, Hosea 10:12 compares seeking the Lord to sowing righteousness and reaping mercy, suggesting that inward devotion produces observable spiritual fruit.

Joel 2:28–29 prophesies, “I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh,” describing a future in which sons and daughters, young and old, and servants and handmaids would receive spiritual manifestations. This prophecy was quoted by Peter at Pentecost (Acts 2:16–21) and by the angel Moroni to Joseph Smith (Joseph Smith—History 1:41), connecting Joel’s prophecy to both ancient and latter-day events. President Russell M. Nelson taught that the privilege of receiving revelation is one of God’s greatest gifts and that through the Holy Ghost we can receive guidance, warnings, direction, and help in both large and small matters. He further taught that the spiritual environment necessary for revelation is developed through purity, obedience, earnest seeking, scripture study, and other consistent spiritual practices.

  • President Nelson taught that Joseph Smith established a pattern for seeking revelation by taking his questions directly to Heavenly Father. He counseled disciples to find a quiet place, humble themselves before God, pray about their concerns, listen, record thoughts and feelings, and act upon the promptings they receive. This principle fits Joel’s invitation to “seek the Lord” (Joel 2:12–13) and the lesson’s emphasis on the spiritual outpouring promised in Joel 2:28–32. Revelation is therefore presented not simply as an extraordinary event but as a continuing relationship in which disciples learn to recognize and respond to the Holy Ghost.

Historical & Contextual Insights

  • Insights in this week’s study
  • Hosea and Joel ministered in different historical settings within ancient Israel. Hosea was a prophet of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, ministering during a period of national decline and spiritual apostasy in the mid-eighth century B.C. Joel was a prophet of the Southern Kingdom of Judah, although the exact date of his ministry is uncertain.

Hosea’s ministry took place as Israel increasingly turned to idolatry and other nations for security rather than trusting the Lord. The Northern Kingdom eventually fell to Assyria, and its people were carried away captive. Hosea’s message therefore came against a backdrop of covenant unfaithfulness, national danger, and impending judgment, yet his central message emphasized God’s continuing love and desire to restore His people. Joel’s circumstances were different: his prophecy describes a severe drought and plague of locusts affecting Judah and uses that crisis to call the people to repentance.

  • These prophets demonstrate that God’s invitations to repent are often given precisely when His people are experiencing the consequences of turning away from Him. Hosea’s marriage imagery made Israel’s covenant betrayal emotionally understandable, while Joel’s imagery of drought, locusts, mourning, and restoration demonstrated that calamity could become an opportunity to turn back to God. Both prophets ultimately pointed beyond judgment toward restoration and divine mercy.
  • Ancient Israel’s struggles are relevant because modern disciples can also allow other priorities, influences, or forms of “idolatry” to compete with their covenant relationship with God. The historical setting makes the message of Hosea 14:4 especially powerful: even after serious unfaithfulness, the Lord declares, “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely.”
  • The marriage imagery in Hosea illustrates the depth, exclusivity, and faithfulness God desires in His covenant relationship with His people.
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  • The Lord commanded Hosea to marry Gomer, whose unfaithfulness became a living symbol of Israel’s relationship with God. Hosea’s marriage represented the covenant relationship between the Lord and Israel: Israel had been unfaithful through idolatry and other sins, yet the Lord continued to seek reconciliation. The metaphor is powerful because it presents covenant keeping as more than obedience to a list of rules; it is a relationship characterized by love, loyalty, commitment, and faithfulness. The Come, Follow Me lesson similarly emphasizes that Israel’s covenant with the Lord was intended to include “eternal commitment,” shared experiences, exclusive loyalty, and wholehearted love.
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  • Hosea 2:19–20 describes the Lord’s covenant relationship using words such as righteousness, judgment, lovingkindness, mercy, and faithfulness. These characteristics help us understand that God’s covenant relationship with us is grounded in both justice and profound mercy.
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  • The metaphor also changes how we can view repentance. Rather than seeing repentance simply as satisfying a penalty, Hosea invites us to see it as returning to a loving covenant relationship with God and allowing Him to “heal” our spiritual wounds (Hosea 14:4).
  • Joel’s message moves from an ancient call to repentance toward a prophecy of an extraordinary outpouring of the Holy Ghost in the latter days.
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  • Joel 2 begins with warnings about destruction and calls the people to return to the Lord with all their hearts (Joel 2:12–17). The Lord then promises restoration and declares, “I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh” (Joel 2:28). This prophecy has multiple fulfillments and applications: Peter identified it with the events surrounding Pentecost, and Moroni quoted it to Joseph Smith, making it particularly significant in Restoration scripture. President Nelson’s teaching provides a modern application by emphasizing that the Holy Ghost is not merely an occasional spiritual experience but an essential source of guidance and spiritual survival.
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  • Joel’s language deliberately broadens the recipients of spiritual gifts: sons and daughters, old and young, servants and handmaids are all included (Joel 2:28–29). This reinforces the principle that personal revelation is a gift God intends to make available broadly to His covenant children.
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  • President Nelson teaches that receiving revelation involves spiritual preparation, including increased purity, obedience, earnest seeking, scripture study, gratitude, and patience with the Lord’s timetable. Thus, Joel’s promise of an outpouring of the Spirit is not merely a prediction about a future event—it invites us to actively develop our capacity to recognize and follow the Spirit now.

If you have questions on this week’s reading, please email your questions to us here.

Apologetic Application

  1. Claim: God’s willingness to discipline or correct His people proves that His love is conditional.
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  3. Response:
  4. Historical Evidence: Hosea’s message was delivered to a covenant people who had repeatedly turned away from the Lord. Yet the Lord’s message was not simply rejection; He declared, “I will invite you back” and promised, “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely” (Hosea 14:4).
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  6. Eyewitness Support: The biblical account itself presents Hosea’s family circumstances as a living representation of Israel’s unfaithfulness and the Lord’s continuing desire to restore His covenant people. Hosea’s personal experience therefore served as a tangible prophetic witness of the relationship the Lord was describing.
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  8. Spiritual Confirmation: Hosea 2:19–20 describes the Lord’s covenant relationship with words including righteousness, lovingkindness, mercy, and faithfulness. These characteristics invite us to experience God’s correction not as evidence that He has abandoned us, but as part of His invitation to return to Him.
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  10. Logical Analysis:  Love and accountability are not opposites. A loving God can allow consequences for destructive choices while simultaneously providing a path of repentance, healing, and restoration; Hosea’s message makes precisely that distinction.
  • Claim: Religious observance can substitute for genuine conversion and a changed heart.
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  • Response:
  • Historical Evidence: Hosea addressed Israelites who were offering sacrifices while simultaneously violating more important commandments. The lesson explicitly explains that the Lord desired “mercy” and “the knowledge of God” more than sacrifice (Hosea 6:6).
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  • Eyewitness Support: The ancient prophetic witness provides a direct example of the difference between outward religious activity and inward devotion. Hosea’s message records God’s evaluation of His people’s behavior rather than merely the people’s evaluation of themselves.
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  • Spiritual Confirmation: Jesus later quoted Hosea 6:6 during His mortal ministry (Matthew 9:10–13; 12:1–8), confirming the continuing importance of mercy and genuine knowledge of God. The principle invites disciples to examine not only what they do religiously but also what they are becoming inwardly.
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  • Logical Analysis: Outward actions can be performed for many reasons, including habit, social pressure, or appearance. If discipleship is fundamentally a covenant relationship with God, then authentic faith should logically involve both outward obedience and inward transformation.
  • Claim: Experiences attributed to the Holy Ghost are too subjective to provide meaningful spiritual knowledge.
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  • Response:
  • Historical Evidence: The attached material documents a consistent Restoration teaching that God communicates with His children through revelation. President Nelson describes revelation as one of God’s greatest gifts and explains that the Holy Ghost can provide guidance, direction, warnings, and help in both large and small matters.
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  • Eyewitness Support: President Nelson describes his own experiences seeking and receiving revelation, including an experience in which he felt the Holy Ghost provide guidance concerning an unprecedented medical procedure. He also recounts seeking revelation regarding Church leadership decisions and testifies that the Lord inspired those decisions.
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  • Spiritual Confirmation: Joel prophesied that the Lord would “pour out [His] spirit upon all flesh” (Joel 2:28–29), and the lesson connects this prophecy to our day. The lesson also teaches that the Holy Ghost’s influence can be “small and incremental over time,” rather than necessarily being dramatic or sudden.
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  • Logical Analysis: A subjective experience is not automatically an unreliable experience; many forms of human knowledge involve personal perception. The stronger test is whether a person consistently seeks God, follows His commandments, studies scripture, records impressions, and acts upon righteous promptings—precisely the pattern President Nelson recommends.

Practical Applications

Practical solutions for someone in faith crisis:

Action Step: Identify one area of your life where you can more intentionally return to God and make Him a greater priority.

Hosea and Joel both teach that the Lord’s response to sincere repentance is mercy and restoration. The lesson emphasizes that God’s message to His covenant people was not “I will reject you forever,” but rather an invitation to return to Him.

  1. – Pray and ask the Lord to show you an area that needs attention.
  2. – Write down the impression or concern that comes to mind.
  3. – Identify one specific change you can make.
  4. – Take that action today rather than postponing it.
  5. – Pray for strength to continue.

Encouraging Thought:

  • The Lord promises, “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely” (Hosea 14:4). Repentance is not evidence that God has stopped loving us—it is one of the ways we respond to His invitation to come home.

Action Step: Establish a daily pattern of prayer, scripture study, and recording spiritual impressions.

President Nelson teaches that revelation is one of God’s greatest gifts and that we can receive guidance and direction through the Holy Ghost. He also teaches that increasing our spiritual capacity requires deliberate spiritual work rather than simply waiting for revelation to happen.

  1. – Choose a consistent time and quiet place.
  2. – Begin with sincere prayer.
  3. – Study the scriptures with a specific question in mind.
  4. – Pause and listen for thoughts or impressions.
  5. – Write down what you feel or learn.
  6. – Act on righteous promptings.
  7. – Review your experiences periodically to recognize patterns in how the Spirit communicates with you.

Encouraging Thought:

  • President Nelson teaches, “You don’t have to wonder about what is true.” Through personal revelation, we can receive our own spiritual witness and increase our capacity to recognize God’s voice.
  • Action Step: During one daily religious practice this week, intentionally focus on what you are feeling and becoming rather than simply completing the activity.

Hosea teaches that the Lord desires mercy and knowledge of God more than outward sacrifice alone (Hosea 6:6). Joel similarly calls the people to “rend your heart” rather than merely their garments (Joel 2:13), teaching that genuine devotion begins within.

  1. – Choose one routine spiritual activity—prayer, scripture study, church attendance, or the sacrament.
  2. – Before beginning, ask, “What do I want my heart to become through this?”
  3. – Participate slowly and intentionally.
  4. – Notice one way the experience draws you closer to Jesus Christ.
  5. – Write down one change you want to carry into the rest of the day.

Encouraging Thought:

  • The goal of discipleship is not merely to look faithful but to become faithful. Hosea’s message reminds us that God wants our hearts, our mercy, and our knowledge of Him—not simply outward religious performance.

Ideas for Teaching

Objective: Help learners understand that God’s invitation to repent is an expression of His enduring love rather than rejection.

Scriptures; paper hearts or index cards; pens; optional image of a wedding covenant.

Activity Steps:

  1. Introduction (5 min): Display a heart and ask, “What makes a relationship strong after someone makes a mistake?” List words such as forgiveness, trust, commitment, honesty, and change.
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  3. Scripture Discussion (5 min): Read Hosea 2:19–20 and Hosea 14:1–5. Ask learners to identify words that describe the Lord’s relationship with His covenant people. Emphasize the lesson’s comparison of the covenant to marriage and the Lord’s invitation to return.
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  5. Application (5 min): Give each learner a paper heart and invite them to write one way they can show greater love and loyalty to the Lord this week.

Follow-Up Question: How does understanding God’s love change the way you think about repentance?

Objective: Help learners recognize that personal revelation often comes gradually and develop a practical pattern for recognizing the Holy Ghost.

A flashlight or lamp; scriptures; paper; pens.

Activity Steps:

Introduction (5 min): Turn the room lights down and use a small flashlight. Ask, “Does a small amount of light still help you see?” Connect the illustration to the way spiritual guidance may sometimes be subtle.

Scripture Discussion (5 min): Read Joel 2:28–29 and discuss what it means for the Lord to “pour out” His Spirit. Then read the Elder Bednar statement in the lesson about the Holy Ghost being “small and incremental over time.”

Application (5 min): Have learners create a personal “revelation plan” containing three practices they will use this week—such as prayer, scripture study, quiet reflection, recording impressions, or acting on promptings.

Follow-Up Question: What can you do to become more sensitive to the quiet, gradual promptings of the Holy Ghost?

Objective: Help learners distinguish between outward religious behavior and genuine inward devotion to God.

Two pieces of paper for each learner; markers; scriptures.

Activity Steps: 

Introduction (5 min): Write “What Others See” on one sheet and “What God Sees” on another. Ask learners what kinds of religious actions can be visible to others and what kinds of spiritual changes happen internally.

Scripture Discussion (5 min): Read Hosea 6:6–7 and Joel 2:12–13. Discuss why the Lord says He desires mercy and knowledge of God rather than sacrifice alone, and why Joel tells the people to rend their hearts.

Application (5 min): Invite learners to choose one outward religious practice they already do and identify one inward quality they want that practice to develop—such as greater love, humility, faith, gratitude, or repentance.

Follow-Up Question: How can we make sure our religious activities are changing our hearts rather than becoming routines we simply perform?

QUICK REFERENCE

  • The Lord always invites us to return to Him. Despite Israel’s covenant unfaithfulness, the Lord promised, “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely” (Hosea 14:1–5).
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  • Covenants are built on wholehearted love and faithfulness. The Lord compared His covenant relationship with Israel to marriage, emphasizing commitment, loyalty, mercy, and love (Hosea 2:19–20).
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  • True devotion must come from the heart. The Lord desires “mercy” and “the knowledge of God” rather than outward religious observance without inward conversion (Hosea 6:4–7; Joel 2:12–13).
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  • Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. Hosea teaches that there is no Savior besides the Lord and points us toward Christ’s power to save from sin and death (Hosea 13:4, 14).
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  • The Holy Ghost can guide us continually. Joel prophesied that the Lord would “pour out [His] spirit upon all flesh,” a prophecy connected with Pentecost and the Restoration (Joel 2:28–29; Acts 2:16–21; Joseph Smith—History 1:41).
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  • Revelation is essential to spiritual survival. President Russell M. Nelson taught that disciples will need the “guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost” and encouraged us to increase our spiritual capacity to receive revelation.
  • Why trust modern prophets?

  • The biblical pattern supports continuing revelation through prophets. Joel’s prophecy of the Spirit being poured out “upon all flesh” (Joel 2:28–29) and President Nelson’s testimony that the heavens are open demonstrate the continuing importance of revelation. President Nelson also describes how Church leaders seek revelation together. He explains that meetings of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve become “rooms of revelation,” where leaders pray, discuss issues, listen to one another, and seek unity through the Holy Ghost. Ultimately, members are invited to seek their own spiritual confirmation. President Nelson taught that through personal revelation we can receive our own witness of what is true rather than depending exclusively on someone else’s testimony.

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  • Why does God allow mistakes?

  • God’s use of mortal prophets does not require those prophets to be perfect people. The central message of this lesson is that God works through imperfect covenant people while continually inviting them to repent, return, and receive His guidance. Hosea provides a powerful example: Israel was repeatedly unfaithful, yet God continued to invite them back and promised to “heal their backsliding” (Hosea 14:4). President Nelson likewise describes revelation as a process involving seeking, information gathering, prayer, discussion, patience, and spiritual confirmation. Our ultimate trust therefore belongs in Jesus Christ, not in the assumption that every mortal servant will be flawless. Christ is the Savior and Redeemer, while prophets and apostles are witnesses and servants who seek His direction.

  1. Hosea 14:1–5 — A powerful invitation to return to the Lord and His promise to “heal” and “love” those who return to Him.
  2. Joel 2:28–29 — The prophecy that God would pour out His Spirit upon all flesh, providing a foundation for understanding personal revelation and the Holy Ghost.
  1. “November 16–22. ‘I Will Love Them Freely’: Hosea 1–6; 10–14; Joel” — Come, Follow Me—Old Testament 2026 — The official lesson resource emphasizes covenant faithfulness, repentance, inward devotion, and the outpouring of the Holy Ghost.
     Come, Follow Me—“I Will Love Them Freely”
  2. President Russell M. Nelson, “Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives” — Provides extensive instruction on personal and Church revelation, spiritual preparation, and the guidance of the Holy Ghost.
     “Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives”
  1. Gospel Library — Hosea and Joel — Useful for studying the scripture block, cross-references, and related prophetic teachings.
     Gospel Library—Hosea and Joel lesson resources
  2. General Conference — Revelation and the Holy Ghost — President Nelson’s message provides additional guidance for developing the spiritual capacity to recognize and receive revelation.
     President Nelson—“Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives”