Hosea XVIX

I love how the Holy Spirit works.  As we look into Hosea, chapter 11, verse 1, look what we read: 

"When Israel was a child, I loved him, and I called my son out of Egypt."  With Christmas just around the corner, we see Matthew using this verse to fulfill how Jesus and His family fled to Egypt, to get away from the maniacal Herod, who ordered the killing of children in his attempt to erase an "usurper" to his throne.  

But let's look at the rest of this passage in Isaiah.  We will draw an interesting contrast between Israel (the people of God ) and "Israel" (the Son of God).  

So, here is the rest: 

When Israel was a child, I loved him,
   and out of Egypt I called my son.
But the more they were called,
   the more they went away from me.
They sacrificed to the Baals
   and they burned incense to images.
It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
   taking them by the arms;
   but they did not realize
   it was I who healed them.

I led them with cords of human kindness,
   with ties of love.
To them I was like one who lifts
   a little child to the cheek,
   and I bent down to feed them. (1:2-4) 

Wow.  The father metaphor is rich and strong here.  It is no wonder why Matthew, having been immersed in Jesus the Son and God the Father for several years during Jesus' ministry and into his writing of the gospel, saw these verses as applicable. God acted as a loving Father to His chosen ones throughout their history. But, like errant children who did not want to obey a parent (because they think they know best!), the more He reached out to them, the more they sought to run away into the deceptive arms of the Baals. 

Looking even further back, God called His sons and daughters out of Egypt through Moses. But it was more than just a physical departure from a foreign land, filled with men who saw themselves as gods and a whole society dedicated to pagan worship. The exodus was a spiritual departure from a false belief system. This system dictated the people's place, and all of it centered around the Pharoah--a god on earth, who held the universe together with his power. 

But Moses showed up with the words ringing in his ears and soon to be falling from his lips: the Pharaoh must let the people go, for Yahweh has commanded it. Yahweh was not just another god--His  name signified that He has always been, continues to be and will forever be.  He is not a deceptive image, conjured up in the minds of people walking in darkness, and meant to be molded into an idol. 

He was not distant, disdainful or demanding.  

He was the Father of His chosen people. 

He is the Father of His chosen people. 

God did not allow His children to forget His long covenantal history with them.  Nor did the prophets.  They continually reminded the people of what God has done for them in their collective past and how He never changes.  He was involved then and will always be. 

His prophets reminded the people that He pursued them with a fierce love when they strayed. The prophets reminded them that falling into sin is not irrevocable; if they repented, He relented.  

Back to Hosea. These words of God, spoken through Hosea, are very painful to read, especially when you consider that the people were so pridefully egregious in their sinful behavior that even when God offered full restoration, they ran away. 

Sound familiar?  Think of the prodigal son.  

We hear of a father who wanted nothing but the best for both of his sons.  One of them turns on him, wanting his inheritance now.  He then ran away into a country where pigs were raised.  Hmmm.  Pigs were used as food and sacrifices, so it's a good guess that the son had entered a world completely contrary to the one he came from.  This was a land steeped in deception and Yahweh was not in the spiritual landscape at all.

It's Egypt all over again. 

Jesus, in sketching out the father in this parable, may have found some inspiration from Hosea's words.  The father in His parable embodies all of the kindness, concern and love found in these verses. Both the father and the Father love with an unconditional love that is always seeking restoration and relationship with his/His errant children.   

God healed His children once they left Egypt. Of what? Of Egypt. Of its deception. Of its false gods.  Of its exaltation of human beings.  Of its darkness.  Of its slavery.  

The exodus from Egypt was a holistic restoration of His people.  Thus, when His children sought to return to "Egypt," by running to the Baals, God was righteously indignant and deeply wounded.  He led them in love and they responded with contempt. He took them close to His side and wanted nothing more but their fellowship, love and respect for who He is. 

But they ran away.

Enter Jesus.

Jesus was born into a dark, deceived world, with a king who saw himself as supremely in control, even over life and death itself. It was a world of oppression by those who, like Egypt, raised up men to be gods. People were either on the top or the bottom, and life was hard. It was made even harder by a society that didn't care, and sought only to please itself. Woe unto to those who got in the way--like those little baby boys in Bethlehem.   

Jesus had to go into Egypt for His own safety.  But consider this:  He left the courts of heaven to enter our Egypt--a world deceived by sin, filled with people who pretended to be "gods" (who grabbed power and exploited those they saw as unimportant).  Woe unto to those who got in the way--like the Rabbi who got in the way of powerful leaders and was sent to the cross for transgressing the state and the religious establishment.

He redeemed us out of Egypt.  

He spoke the truth.

He lifted up the lowly.

He hasn't changed.  He still leads us by His hand with His kindness and love.  He feeds us with the good things from His table. 

He still calls out to us to come home.

One way to think about Christmas is seeing God, standing in heaven, calling out to us.  Then Jesus says, "Father, I will go to led them out of their Egypt.  Yes, those who run away will break My heart, and I will never cease to call for them, but those who come to Me will see just how beautiful You are."

And He is.