Podcast Summary

Podcast: Through the ESV Bible in a Year with Jackie Hill Perry
Host: Crossway
Episode: December 18 (Hosea 10–14; Psalm 138; 2 Peter 1–3)
Date: December 18, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode of “Through the ESV Bible in a Year with Jackie Hill Perry” continues the journey through the Bible in a year. For December 18, the readings span Hosea 10–14 in the Old Testament, Psalm 138, and 2 Peter 1–3 in the New Testament. The episode provides a direct audio reading of the ESV translation, highlighting God’s warning, judgment, and unfailing compassion through the prophets, David’s thankfulness and recognition of God’s steadfast love, and Peter’s urgent counsel regarding Christian virtue, false teachers, and the certainty of God’s final judgment.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Book of Hosea: Judgment, Compassion, and Restoration (00:01–08:30)

• Israel’s Unfaithfulness and Idolatry

  • Israel is likened to a “luxuriant vine that yields its fruit” (00:01), but their prosperity leads to idolatry, empty oaths, and false covenants.
  • The text underscores the consequences: destruction of altars, political upheaval, and eventual exile (00:16–01:17).

• Call to Repentance and Warning

  • Despite God’s disciplinary actions, there is a repeated call to repentance: “Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap steadfast love...it is the time to seek the LORD” (01:19).
  • Israel is rebuked for trusting in “your own way and in the multitude of your warriors” (01:46), leading to inevitable judgment.

• God’s Compassion Amid Discipline

  • Memorable moment of God’s tender heart:
    • “‘How can I give you up, O Ephraim? My heart recoils within me, my compassion grows warm and tender’” (03:13).
    • The Lord’s resolve: “For I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath” (03:21).

• Reiteration of God’s History with Israel

  • Reminders of God’s faithfulness: “It was I who taught Ephraim to walk...I led them with cords of kindness, with the bands of love” (02:10).
  • Israel’s repeated forgetting of God despite His provision and protection is lamented.

• Restoration Promised to the Repentant

  • God’s ultimate promise: “I will heal their apostasy; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them...He shall blossom like the lily” (07:43–08:19).

2. Psalm 138: Thanksgiving and Dependence on God (08:30–09:25)

• David’s Song of Gratitude
  • Expression of wholehearted thanks and confidence in God’s faithfulness and steadfast love.
  • David acknowledges God’s concern for the lowly and His intervention in times of trouble: “Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life...your right hand delivers me” (09:04–09:16).
  • Persistent theme: “Your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever” (09:18).

3. 2 Peter 1–3: Growth, Warning, and the Lord’s Final Day (09:25–End)

• Call to Christian Virtue and Assurance

  • Peter emphasizes spiritual growth:
    • “Make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue...knowledge...self-control...steadfastness...godliness...brotherly affection...love” (10:00).
    • Assurance: “If these qualities are yours and are increasing...they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful” (10:34).

• Authority of Apostolic Witness and Scripture

  • Peter insists on the direct experience of Christ’s majesty (the Transfiguration) and the reliability of prophetic scripture: “No prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (11:44).

• Warning Against False Teachers

  • Urgent caution: False prophets will arise, bringing destructive teachings and leading some astray into corruption (12:12).
  • Powerful analogy: “These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved” (13:53).

• Final Judgment and Hope of Renewal

  • Reflection on God’s timing and patience:
    • “With the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (16:11).
    • “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise...but is patient...not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (16:22).
  • Vivid description of the day of the Lord and ultimate hope:
    • “The day of the Lord will come like a thief...the heavens will pass away with a roar...But according to his promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (16:38–17:08).

• Exhortation to Hold Fast and Grow

  • Final warning against confusion and instability, and a charge to keep growing: “Take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people...but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (17:50–End).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “How can I give you up, O Ephraim? My heart recoils within me, my compassion grows warm and tender. I will not execute my burning anger...For I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst.”
  (Speaker: God, quoted in Hosea 11:8–9, 03:13–03:21)

• “I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise.”
  (Psalm 138:1, 08:30)

• “Make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue… and with brotherly affection, love.”
  (2 Peter 1:5, 10:00)

• “No prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
  (2 Peter 1:21, 11:44)

• “With the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”
  (2 Peter 3:8, 16:11)

• “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise… but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”
  (2 Peter 3:9, 16:22)

• “Take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people… but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
  (2 Peter 3:17–18, 17:50–End)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Hosea 10–14: Judgment, Compassion, and Restoration (00:01–08:30)
• Psalm 138: David’s Thanksgiving (08:30–09:25)
• 2 Peter 1–3: Christian Growth, False Teachers, and The Day of the Lord (09:25–End)

Tone and Language

Throughout the episode, the readings maintain a reverent, direct, and sometimes urgent Biblical tone. The subjects oscillate between mourning over sin, longing for restoration, exhortation to pursue virtue, and assurance of God’s faithfulness and redemptive purpose.