Hosea 11:1-11 (NRSV)
When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.
The more I called them, the more they went from me;
they kept sacrificing to the Baals, and offering incense to idols.
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.
I led them with cords of human kindness, with bands of love.
I was to them like those who lift infants to their cheeks.
I bent down to them and fed them.
They shall return to the land of Egypt, and Assyria shall be their king,
because they have refused to return to me.
The sword rages in their cities, it consumes their oracle-priests,
and devours because of their schemes.
My people are bent on turning away from me.
To the Most High they call, but he does not raise them up at all.
How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel?
How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim?
My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender.
I will not execute my fierce anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim;
for I am God and no mortal, the Holy One in your midst,
and I will not come in wrath.
The LORD will roar like a lion and when he roars,
his children shall come trembling from the west.
They shall come trembling like birds from Egypt,
and like doves from the land of Assyria;
and I will return them to their homes, says the Lord.
So here we are, after a side trip into Genesis history, we’re back to the Old Testament prophets again. This time it’s Hosea who gives us a short version of the relationship between God and God’s people.
The name Ephraim, which is used here, is the name of Joseph’s 2nd son, the progeniture of one of the twelve tribes. It was the largest of the tribes at the time of Hosea’s writing and is used here to represent all of the people of Israel.
God speaks then of loving and caring for these people since their infancy, but in spite of God’s loving care, the people turned their backs on God and made offerings to other gods. Because of their apostasy, terrible things will happen to them.
You can’t turn your back on God without suffering – whether it’s because God wills it so or that it’s just the psychological truth of how these things turn out. And so God, speaking through Hosea, warns them not to go down that road because bad things will happen to them and God can’t or won’t stop them. If it takes those bad things to make the people see the error of their ways, then so be it.
So far this is fairly standard Old Testament prophesying. The people are sliding off the true path and God isn’t going to put up with it much longer and if they let this happen they will suffer: they will be ripped away from their homeland and scattered, torn from all they know and love.
But here Hosea’s storyline makes a shift and God decides they simply cannot give up on the people they’ve loved since birth:
Like so many of the other prophets we’ve looked into this summer, Hosea, again one of the minor prophets -- was known as a prophet of doom. He lived in the 8th century BCE and preached and prophesied for sixty years in the area of Samaria. According to scripture, his personal life was a metaphor for the relationship between God and the people of the northern kingdom.
Hosea married a woman, Gomer, who turned out to be unfaithful. She eventually become a prostitute. Their two children were given names to signify God’s displeasure -- Lo-ruhamah, which means 'not pitied', and Lo-ammi, or 'not my people’. In spite of her infidelities, Hosea continued to love Gomer and ultimately forgave her and took her back, just as God forgave and took back his “adulterous” children who had been unfaithful with other gods.
Hosea’s name also has significance, translating as ‘he helps,’ and stemming from the same root word as “salvation.” It is clear that we are to hear the strong message given here of a God of forgiveness who continues loving and helps the wandering people return and rebuild their relationship with this loving parent-God.
So while there’s plenty of the doom and gloom we have come to expect from the prophets -- there is infidelity, there will be suffering -- there will always, always be forgiveness and redemption. This was good news for the people of Israel 2500 years ago, and it's good new for us today in our world that seems to be swimming in violence.
This was true for Gomer, the unfaithful wife. It was true for the unfaithful people of the northern kingdom who followed the lure of false gods and gave up their people’s solemn commitment to the God who led them out of slavery and through 40 years wandering in the desert to their own promised land. They had to lose that land before they could be recalled back to the God of their heritage.
And it is equally true for us today. Many of us have wandered astray and found our way back again. Others are still lost out there, worshipping false gods of money and power and nationalism. Many have lost touch with the love offered them by God and settled instead for an addictive hatred and selfishness which manifests itself in racism, white nationalism, misogyny, and homo- and xeno- phobias -- all of them violent attempts to mask their self-loathing by placing their blame for their misery onto others
There are broken people among us. People who desperately need to be reconciled to their loving parent-God. These people frighten us with their sickening acts and words. Those of us who are, perhaps, less broken must stand against them and insist on changes in our world -- changes in laws, changes in attitudes, but even more, changes in human hearts -- beginning with ourselves. We are not helpless, for our God is a path-maker - the One who creates a way where there is no way.
And one day, for each one of us, especially for the broken ones, according to Hosea:
Thanks be to God.
May it be soon.
The name Ephraim, which is used here, is the name of Joseph’s 2nd son, the progeniture of one of the twelve tribes. It was the largest of the tribes at the time of Hosea’s writing and is used here to represent all of the people of Israel.
God speaks then of loving and caring for these people since their infancy, but in spite of God’s loving care, the people turned their backs on God and made offerings to other gods. Because of their apostasy, terrible things will happen to them.
You can’t turn your back on God without suffering – whether it’s because God wills it so or that it’s just the psychological truth of how these things turn out. And so God, speaking through Hosea, warns them not to go down that road because bad things will happen to them and God can’t or won’t stop them. If it takes those bad things to make the people see the error of their ways, then so be it.
So far this is fairly standard Old Testament prophesying. The people are sliding off the true path and God isn’t going to put up with it much longer and if they let this happen they will suffer: they will be ripped away from their homeland and scattered, torn from all they know and love.
But here Hosea’s storyline makes a shift and God decides they simply cannot give up on the people they’ve loved since birth:
- My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender. I will not execute my fierce anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and no mortal, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath.
- they shall come trembling like birds from Egypt,
and like doves from the land of Assyria;
and I will return them to their homes, says the Lord.
Like so many of the other prophets we’ve looked into this summer, Hosea, again one of the minor prophets -- was known as a prophet of doom. He lived in the 8th century BCE and preached and prophesied for sixty years in the area of Samaria. According to scripture, his personal life was a metaphor for the relationship between God and the people of the northern kingdom.
Hosea married a woman, Gomer, who turned out to be unfaithful. She eventually become a prostitute. Their two children were given names to signify God’s displeasure -- Lo-ruhamah, which means 'not pitied', and Lo-ammi, or 'not my people’. In spite of her infidelities, Hosea continued to love Gomer and ultimately forgave her and took her back, just as God forgave and took back his “adulterous” children who had been unfaithful with other gods.
Hosea’s name also has significance, translating as ‘he helps,’ and stemming from the same root word as “salvation.” It is clear that we are to hear the strong message given here of a God of forgiveness who continues loving and helps the wandering people return and rebuild their relationship with this loving parent-God.
So while there’s plenty of the doom and gloom we have come to expect from the prophets -- there is infidelity, there will be suffering -- there will always, always be forgiveness and redemption. This was good news for the people of Israel 2500 years ago, and it's good new for us today in our world that seems to be swimming in violence.
This was true for Gomer, the unfaithful wife. It was true for the unfaithful people of the northern kingdom who followed the lure of false gods and gave up their people’s solemn commitment to the God who led them out of slavery and through 40 years wandering in the desert to their own promised land. They had to lose that land before they could be recalled back to the God of their heritage.
And it is equally true for us today. Many of us have wandered astray and found our way back again. Others are still lost out there, worshipping false gods of money and power and nationalism. Many have lost touch with the love offered them by God and settled instead for an addictive hatred and selfishness which manifests itself in racism, white nationalism, misogyny, and homo- and xeno- phobias -- all of them violent attempts to mask their self-loathing by placing their blame for their misery onto others
There are broken people among us. People who desperately need to be reconciled to their loving parent-God. These people frighten us with their sickening acts and words. Those of us who are, perhaps, less broken must stand against them and insist on changes in our world -- changes in laws, changes in attitudes, but even more, changes in human hearts -- beginning with ourselves. We are not helpless, for our God is a path-maker - the One who creates a way where there is no way.
And one day, for each one of us, especially for the broken ones, according to Hosea:
- The LORD will roar like a lion and when he roars, his children shall come trembling from their lost places and I will return them to their homes, says the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
May it be soon.
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