Hosea
11:1-9
When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called my son.
2 The more I called them,
the further they went from me;
they kept sacrificing to the Baals,
and they burned incense to idols.
3 Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk;
I took them up in my arms,
but they did not know that I healed them.
4 I led them
with bands of human kindness,
with cords of love.
I treated them like those
who lift infants to their cheeks;
I bent down to them and fed them.
and out of Egypt I called my son.
2 The more I called them,
the further they went from me;
they kept sacrificing to the Baals,
and they burned incense to idols.
3 Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk;
I took them up in my arms,
but they did not know that I healed them.
4 I led them
with bands of human kindness,
with cords of love.
I treated them like those
who lift infants to their cheeks;
I bent down to them and fed them.
5 They will return to the
land of Egypt,
and Assyria will be their king,
because they have refused to return to me.
6 The sword will strike wildly in their cities;
it will consume the bars of their gates
and will take everything because of their schemes.
7 My people are bent on turning away from me;
and though they cry out to the Most High,[a]
he will not raise them up.
and Assyria will be their king,
because they have refused to return to me.
6 The sword will strike wildly in their cities;
it will consume the bars of their gates
and will take everything because of their schemes.
7 My people are bent on turning away from me;
and though they cry out to the Most High,[a]
he will not raise them up.
8 How can I give you up, Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, Israel?
How can I make you like Admah?
How can I treat you like Zeboiim?
My heart winces within me;
my compassion grows warm and tender.
How can I hand you over, Israel?
How can I make you like Admah?
How can I treat you like Zeboiim?
My heart winces within me;
my compassion grows warm and tender.
9 I won’t act on the heat
of my anger;
I won’t return to destroy Ephraim;
for I am God and not a human being,
the holy one in your midst;
I won’t come in harsh judgment.
I won’t return to destroy Ephraim;
for I am God and not a human being,
the holy one in your midst;
I won’t come in harsh judgment.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Introduction:
Good relationships are based on trust and mutual
respect. If you are involved in a
relationship that is deep and rich, sooner or later you will need to be
vulnerable with the other party. This is true in friendships, marriages and so
many other partnerships. Vulnerability
is a scary thing: it’s hard to lose control, to trust someone else completely,
and to be truly open. At the same time, a relationship without vulnerability
can only go so far before it runs into “road-blocks.” Of course, not all
relationships should have the same amount of vulnerability: you don’t need to
‘spill your guts’ to all of your co-workers at the office! At the same time,
truly close and personal relationships need a certain amount of vulnerability.
God has desired a relationship with humanity from
the very beginning and that relationship grew even more intimate with God’s
promises to Abraham and his descendants.
Quite often we think of God as being cosmic, omnipotent and slightly
aloof. There are plenty of places where the bible describes God’s power and
majesty, but it is also interesting to see that the all-powerful creator of the
universe loves humanity so much that God is willing to become vulnerable in a
relationship with the people of Israel. God wants a relationship so much, that
God is willing to hurt for us.
In our reading for today, God is described as a
loving parent who faithfully cared for God’s child Israel. The description is overwhelmingly tender: “I
treated them like those who lift infants to their cheeks; I bent down to them
and fed them.” That child, however, proved to be rebellious and ungrateful and
there will be punishment. Still, God
will not punish forever and the language is once again poignant: “My heart
winces within me; my compassion grows warm and tender.I won’t act on the
heat of my anger; I won’t return to destroy Ephraim; for I am God and not a
human being, the holy one in your midst; I won’t come in harsh judgment.”
The
Technical Stuff:
Hosea was a prophet in the mid-700s B.C.E. and
most scholars believe him to be from the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Prophets in the Old Testament did much more
than “predict the future;” they were spokesmen for God, channels of
communication between humans and the divine world. They were concerned with
moral and ethical standards and often felt that empty rituals and religious
“lip service” could not compete with Godly living. They most often spoke out against the
oppression of the poor and unfaithfulness to the LORD.
The theme of Hosea is the relationship between
God and Israel and how that relationship has deteriorated due to the
unfaithfulness of the people. The
prophets often had “colorful” ways of getting their point across: Isaiah walked
around naked for three years to show the potential humiliation the people of
Judah would feel if they went to war with Assyria (Isaiah 20), Jeremiah put on
filthy underwear to show how God had lost pride in God’s people, and Hosea had
his own formula for getting the point across.
Hosea was instructed to marry a promiscuous woman
and have children with her. He married Gomer, a promiscuous woman who
symbolized Israel’s unfaithfulness to the LORD (due to Baal worship) and had
three children. Each child was given a
symbolic name: Jezreel (“God sows”),
Lo-ruhamah (“not pitied”) and Lo-ammi (“not my people”). All of these names
were mean to show that God was judging and condemning the people for their
infidelity. But, after the children are
born, God promises to restore Israel. Hosea takes Gomer back, despite her
unfaithfulness, just as God will take back unfaithful Israel.
Hosea was critical of the priests of Israel
because they more concerned with sacrifices (which fed the priests) than with
the people truly serving God. Hosea was
also very critical of the rich, upper classes of society, which he saw
oppressing the poor.
It is hard to know whether Hosea saw God at work
in a marriage that had already taken place or if he purposefully married a
promiscuous woman because of God’s orders.
Many present-day readers feel understandably uncomfortable with Hosea’s
methods and the way that women are portrayed in this book. At the same time, Hosea’s message packs a
punch. Israel has been unfaithful, while God had kept God’s side of the
covenant. The imagery is vivid: the
people have failed God.
What
Does This Say to Us?
There are times when religion can seem like a
business transaction: God promises this and we humans do that. God will protect
us as long as we stay out of trouble.
This sort of system has been going on from the beginning of time, but
ultimately it is empty and harmful. It
either leads to despair (“There’s no way we can live up to this!” says the
hopeless person who feels overwhelmed.) or to delusion (“Look how good I am”
says the person who is only following the letter of the law and abandoning its
spirit). Instead, God offers us something infinitely more important: a
relationship with mutual love and vulnerability. Are there rules, boundaries
and expectations? Sure! Any good marriage will have that. But our relationship
with God goes much farther and much deeper than the surface.
As Christians, we experience God in the person of
Jesus Christ, who became so vulnerable for our sake that he was born in a
smelly manger and died on a terrible cross, all so that we may be saved. Business deals are fine for the right things,
but thanks be to God we have a relationship with our Lord who saves us
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