We are going to start a new series, called "Majoring in the Minors"--the minor prophets, that is. I am going to begin with Hosea, for he is called to live out the message, not merely proclaim it. His message of God's persistent calling back of His wayward children is one that we need to hear. God is still in the business of reuniting with us, no matter where we've been or what we've done.
Sometimes we tell our testimony; other times, we are the testimony. Hosea is going to live out for all to see what God's love truly means, and he suffers right along with God. He is not just a prophet--he is a wounded husband and grieving father.
Like Yahweh.
Does Hosea choose to live in such a heart-wrenching scenario? Who would marry, in their right mind, a prostitute? But he chooses to obey God's ways. God's ways are never easy, because in His pursuit of a fallen race, He must make two things very clear: (1) We are fallen and we must accept the truth of our sin and break away from the self-delusion of our goodness (2) God loves us and will use whatever means at His disposal to call us back to Him.
God was so persistent in His love for us that He sent His only Son to die for us, when we we still sinners and utterly alienated from Him.
Let us see how God loves us so much that when we stray, He calls us back. By any means necessary.
Enter Hosea, telling the northern kingdom of Israel that Assyria is coming to bring God's judgment upon them. The message could end right there: God could say, "Because I despise how you are behaving, I divorce you. Dusted and done."
But that's not calling the people to repentance--that's just an angry response to their behavior. God is always about repentance, reconciliation and restoration. Yes, He is angry at sin, but He never just leaves it there. He calls out, warning the people that His judgement is coming if they do not repent. But He equally calls out that His mercy is coming if they do.
Here we go.
When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, "Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord." So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. (1:1-3)
I am sure Hosea's eyes grew wide at God's calling. Let's consider Hosea's thoughts:
God, did I hear You correctly? I have always wanted a wife, children and a life around the hearth. But You are asking me to find a promiscuous women (Israel is not short of those these days) on purpose! I must find one who sleeps around, and has no regard for the sanctity of marriage! Then I must have children with her? Please, wait a minute, God. I am willing to do as you say, for I know You have a divine purpose. But how will I know those children are even mine? When I marry her, that's not going to suddenly stop her from sleeping around. Over time, other men's children will show up. These predacious men get off scot-free and I am burdened with the responsibility of providing and raising their children. Then, may I say with all due respect to You, what kind of mother is she going to be? When her children are crying for food, wanting to be tucked in bed for the night, or wanting her comfort, will she be gone, having run off to seek another man's arms? I can do this, but my union with this kind of woman will punish a generation yet to be born. Please, God..."
The answer to Hosea's fearful questions is that he must be obedient to God's call.
Hosea is going to live out, in his domestic microcosm, the utter chaos of the Jewish people in this time in their history. Hosea realizes that the nature of sin is ugly: It punishes us. It punishes others. It ultimately destroys what is good in our lives and leaves us empty, sorrowful and unable to right the wrongs ourselves. Hosea is going to step into the macrocosm of Israel's violated spiritual home. He will walk from one destroyed house, his nation's, into another...his own home.
It didn't take long for Hosea to find her. Did she look at him and think,
Oh, here comes another rube. "Oh, I want to marry you!" Yeah. Right. That's what they all say. All they want is a roll in the hay and off they go. Back to their wives. Back to their homes. I sit here with next to nothing and they get to strut about in the marketplace, all respectable-like. Well, I know better. At least, I make no pretenses that I am good. I know I am not. But there's one sin I am not guilty of: self-deception. What you see is what you get, baby.
Hmmm. Which one are we? The narrative highlights three actors in their prophetic play: Hosea, a man of God with moral scruples, who is appalled by the sin around him; Gomer, the woman who has no illusions of her goodness and her customers, the ones who act respectable but are filled with deceit, evil and godlessness.
God is watching all three, for they truly represent His people:
- Those who love Him, yet feel rather helpless amidst all of this sin
- Those who are drowning in it, and feel there 's no way out
- Those who think no one has figured out their hypocrisy, for they are smarter than everyone else, and pride themselves on being the masters of the bamboozle
God is extending His mercy to all three.
OK, Hosea finds Gomer who is Diblaim's daughter. Who is Diblaim? We don't know, but she is someone's daughter. Family member. Real person. She's has a context but one that has been destroyed. She is reduced to marrying a man she doesn't love (abuse will blunt that emotion in anyone) and soon, she's going to give birth. It's just another day in Gomer's life.
Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. In that day I will break Israel’s bow in the Valley of Jezreel.” (1:4-5)
In this culture, the birth of a first born son is cause for celebration. But God doesn't want this to lessen the potency of His message, so God tells Hosea what to name the son: "Jezreel." The name means "God scatters" and this child's name foretells what is going to happen when the Assyrians invade Israel.
Every day Hosea will be reminded of God's impending judgment when he calls his son. When he tucks his son into bed. When he stands at the doorway, and watching him play.
Whenever I call you, small boy, your name cries out to me that God will scatter His people due to their unwillingness to repent. Your name reminds me to pray every single day. Every time I say your name, God is reminding me to pray. He doesn't want me, His prophet, to go one day without praying about His sinful nation. Forgive me, Lord God, for distancing myself from your people. Their behavior disgusts me and I want nothing to do with them. Yet, my little boy reminds me of their humanity, their kinship and how we must pray for each other, asking You for mercy. For all of us.
You are teaching me to love the unlovable.
To forgive the unforgivable.
And to never forget to ask You to save those around me...
Gomer.
Jezreel.
Her customers.
My fellow Jews.
My nation of Your chosen people.
Oh, God, how we all so need You.
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