“May the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in your sight, O God, my Redeemer.” Psalm 19:14
Somebody asked me this week, “When will we be done with Amos?” - Amos’ words of judgment on God’s people for not being a just people can be a little difficult to hear, and uncomfortable to preach. I laughed and said, “Well, the good new is, is we are out of Amos, but we are going to head into Hosea, which doesn’t get any better.”
It is very risky to read and discuss, let alone preach, the book of Hosea. Its central theme is both infamous and unforgettable. YHWH appears to the 8th century BCE prophet, Hosea and commands him to marry a prostitute.
Hosea was a prophet from the Northern kingdom of Israel whose ministry followed that of Amos, commencing around 750 BCE and continuing until just before the fall of Samaria, the capital of Israel in 721 BCE. Israel had enjoyed continuing prosperity and trade with surrounding nations. Such prosperity had contributed toward a downward spiral of injustice and immorality, and increasing reliance on military power.
God’s people had developed a religious syncretism, where they thought they could worship Yahweh, but also Ba’al, Canaanite fertility gods. Hosea was a prophet who was called to let the people know that loyalty to God could not be divided.
The book of Hosea begins with the shocking command to Hosea by God to go, “Take a wife of znunim (whoredom/promiscuity/unfaithfulness) and have children of znunim.” It was a strange command to say the least, and the text does not give us any indication of exactly how Hosea felt about this. It tells us that he told him to do this because the land had committed great whoredom. And it tells us rather of matter-of-factly, that he went and took Gomer for his wife. It does not give us any indication that Hosea did any talking back to God about this strange command.
So Hosea goes and takes Gomer as his wife and she conceives and has three children we are told. The first was named Jezreel, “I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel and put an end to the kingdom of Israel,” v. 4. Jezreel was a city that had been the scene of much violence, the killing of king Ahab’s wife Jezebel (2 Kings 9: 37), the murder of Naboth (1 Kings 21) Jezreel had become synonymous with violence and torture. So Hosea’s child was given a name that depicted violence and torture.
It is questioned whether the second and third child were even Hosea’s from reading the text, but either way their names don’t get any better. The next child is named, Lo-Ruhama, “Not pitied," — a daughter whose name represented that God would no longer have pity on the house of Israel, and then a son, whom she called, “Not my people” — for you are not my people and I am not your God,” v. 9.
There does not seem to be any good news in this text. I won’t get in to or try to explain this story away — the objectification of Gomer, how she seems to be used as an illustration, and even the degradation of calling her a name. God is asking Hosea, and is showing through Hosea marrying Gomer, how the nation of Israel had turned against God and broken their covenant. And Hosea, was being called to show the long-suffering love of God for His people through Hosea’s relationship with Gomer. It is an object lesson of sorts. (A disturbing one on many levels.)
You have heard the nation of Israel referred to as God’s covenant people. You have heard the terms, “old covenant” and “new covenant," usually in reference to how God is relating to His people, sometimes people make sweeping statements like that was under the “old covenant," in referencing the Old Testament, and “new covenant," in speaking of the New Testament. There are generally 5 covenants that are referred to in Scripture.
One of the covenants that is key to understanding how God is reacting right here is referred to as the Mosaic Covenant, found in Exodus 19 & 24. The Mosaic covenant was based on the giving of law. God gave the people the law and the obeying of the law came with blessings and curses, obedience and disobedience; follow the law and you will be blessed, disobey the law and you will be cursed (bad things will happen). The covenant required the people to submit to the laws.
One of the laws was,
"I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not bow down to idols or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God“(Ex. 20:2-5). (and the unstated, and if you do worship other gods…??)
So the nation of Israel was turning away from this covenant relationship. Which is what we saw some of in Amos. Which is what we see and hear in Hosea.
The third child’'s name, is really disturbing, “Call his name 'Not my people,’ for you are not my people and I am not your God.” This covenant that God has made between God and Israel seems to be coming to an end.
We don’t often talk of covenants. The church recognizes a few covenants, our Baptismal covenant, marriage covenant; I took an ordination covenant.
A covenant is a sacred agreement or a mutual promise that is made between two entities. The covenants in the Bible were usually between God and His people or God and one person. In the naming of the 3rd child, where God told Hosea to name the child “Not my people," this signaled a breaking of the covenant that God had made with his people. No longer would the nation of Israel be God’s “treasured possession,” or “kingdom of priests," or a “holy nation”. Part of the agreement of the covenant had been that by adhering to a different way of life and being in the world, the nation of Israel would be different from other nations around them. But, the people had turned away from abiding by these laws and so God said, “Enough,” I am turning from you.
It was a word that no one would want to hear. It would not be a word you would want to deliver as a prophet.
But verse 10 offers some hope. YET…
Yet… the people of Israel shall be like the sands of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered, and where it was said to them, “You are not my people," it shall be said to them, “sons of the Living God.” Hosea 1:10
The love of God cannot be shut out even when the people break their part of the covenant.
The love of God cannot be shut out even when people break their part of the covenant.
The love of God cannot be shut out, even when people break their part of the covenant.
Our text in Hosea ends here for this week, but the second chapter of Hosea is a poem and a description of what is happening between Yahweh and Israel here. It concludes with Yahweh’s promise to court and pursue Israel again, 2:19, “and I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy. …and 2:23, “…and I will have pity on Not pitied, and I will say to Not my people, “You are my people’; and he shall say, “Thou art my God.”…
The story of Hosea, and Hosea as a prophet, is a dramatic story. He takes on something of the people’s pain as he is asked to live out in his life what God was experiencing by having the people turn away from Him. Through his marriage to Gomer and the birth of children, he enacts and is asked to demonstrate the long-suffering love of God, who bears with his people far beyond their deserving.
Compassion and forgiveness characterize God’s love for His people.
Our faith is in a God who never gives up on us. Even when we turn away. In spite of our turning away.
Amen.
Somebody asked me this week, “When will we be done with Amos?” - Amos’ words of judgment on God’s people for not being a just people can be a little difficult to hear, and uncomfortable to preach. I laughed and said, “Well, the good new is, is we are out of Amos, but we are going to head into Hosea, which doesn’t get any better.”
It is very risky to read and discuss, let alone preach, the book of Hosea. Its central theme is both infamous and unforgettable. YHWH appears to the 8th century BCE prophet, Hosea and commands him to marry a prostitute.
Hosea was a prophet from the Northern kingdom of Israel whose ministry followed that of Amos, commencing around 750 BCE and continuing until just before the fall of Samaria, the capital of Israel in 721 BCE. Israel had enjoyed continuing prosperity and trade with surrounding nations. Such prosperity had contributed toward a downward spiral of injustice and immorality, and increasing reliance on military power.
God’s people had developed a religious syncretism, where they thought they could worship Yahweh, but also Ba’al, Canaanite fertility gods. Hosea was a prophet who was called to let the people know that loyalty to God could not be divided.
The book of Hosea begins with the shocking command to Hosea by God to go, “Take a wife of znunim (whoredom/promiscuity/unfaithfulness) and have children of znunim.” It was a strange command to say the least, and the text does not give us any indication of exactly how Hosea felt about this. It tells us that he told him to do this because the land had committed great whoredom. And it tells us rather of matter-of-factly, that he went and took Gomer for his wife. It does not give us any indication that Hosea did any talking back to God about this strange command.
So Hosea goes and takes Gomer as his wife and she conceives and has three children we are told. The first was named Jezreel, “I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel and put an end to the kingdom of Israel,” v. 4. Jezreel was a city that had been the scene of much violence, the killing of king Ahab’s wife Jezebel (2 Kings 9: 37), the murder of Naboth (1 Kings 21) Jezreel had become synonymous with violence and torture. So Hosea’s child was given a name that depicted violence and torture.
It is questioned whether the second and third child were even Hosea’s from reading the text, but either way their names don’t get any better. The next child is named, Lo-Ruhama, “Not pitied," — a daughter whose name represented that God would no longer have pity on the house of Israel, and then a son, whom she called, “Not my people” — for you are not my people and I am not your God,” v. 9.
There does not seem to be any good news in this text. I won’t get in to or try to explain this story away — the objectification of Gomer, how she seems to be used as an illustration, and even the degradation of calling her a name. God is asking Hosea, and is showing through Hosea marrying Gomer, how the nation of Israel had turned against God and broken their covenant. And Hosea, was being called to show the long-suffering love of God for His people through Hosea’s relationship with Gomer. It is an object lesson of sorts. (A disturbing one on many levels.)
You have heard the nation of Israel referred to as God’s covenant people. You have heard the terms, “old covenant” and “new covenant," usually in reference to how God is relating to His people, sometimes people make sweeping statements like that was under the “old covenant," in referencing the Old Testament, and “new covenant," in speaking of the New Testament. There are generally 5 covenants that are referred to in Scripture.
One of the covenants that is key to understanding how God is reacting right here is referred to as the Mosaic Covenant, found in Exodus 19 & 24. The Mosaic covenant was based on the giving of law. God gave the people the law and the obeying of the law came with blessings and curses, obedience and disobedience; follow the law and you will be blessed, disobey the law and you will be cursed (bad things will happen). The covenant required the people to submit to the laws.
One of the laws was,
"I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not bow down to idols or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God“(Ex. 20:2-5). (and the unstated, and if you do worship other gods…??)
So the nation of Israel was turning away from this covenant relationship. Which is what we saw some of in Amos. Which is what we see and hear in Hosea.
The third child’'s name, is really disturbing, “Call his name 'Not my people,’ for you are not my people and I am not your God.” This covenant that God has made between God and Israel seems to be coming to an end.
We don’t often talk of covenants. The church recognizes a few covenants, our Baptismal covenant, marriage covenant; I took an ordination covenant.
A covenant is a sacred agreement or a mutual promise that is made between two entities. The covenants in the Bible were usually between God and His people or God and one person. In the naming of the 3rd child, where God told Hosea to name the child “Not my people," this signaled a breaking of the covenant that God had made with his people. No longer would the nation of Israel be God’s “treasured possession,” or “kingdom of priests," or a “holy nation”. Part of the agreement of the covenant had been that by adhering to a different way of life and being in the world, the nation of Israel would be different from other nations around them. But, the people had turned away from abiding by these laws and so God said, “Enough,” I am turning from you.
It was a word that no one would want to hear. It would not be a word you would want to deliver as a prophet.
But verse 10 offers some hope. YET…
Yet… the people of Israel shall be like the sands of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered, and where it was said to them, “You are not my people," it shall be said to them, “sons of the Living God.” Hosea 1:10
The love of God cannot be shut out even when the people break their part of the covenant.
The love of God cannot be shut out even when people break their part of the covenant.
The love of God cannot be shut out, even when people break their part of the covenant.
Our text in Hosea ends here for this week, but the second chapter of Hosea is a poem and a description of what is happening between Yahweh and Israel here. It concludes with Yahweh’s promise to court and pursue Israel again, 2:19, “and I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy. …and 2:23, “…and I will have pity on Not pitied, and I will say to Not my people, “You are my people’; and he shall say, “Thou art my God.”…
The story of Hosea, and Hosea as a prophet, is a dramatic story. He takes on something of the people’s pain as he is asked to live out in his life what God was experiencing by having the people turn away from Him. Through his marriage to Gomer and the birth of children, he enacts and is asked to demonstrate the long-suffering love of God, who bears with his people far beyond their deserving.
Compassion and forgiveness characterize God’s love for His people.
Our faith is in a God who never gives up on us. Even when we turn away. In spite of our turning away.
Amen.