In Hosea, God continues showing how Israel has been unfaithful to Him, much like the adulterous Gomer was unfaithful to Hosea. But God is not like man, not even a “lover-not-a-fighter” person who loves like Hosea does.
God is in the restoration business, something no human can do. He delights in restoring Not My People to My People status.
Importantly, God doesn’t judge to harm, but to call people home. God sends judgment SO He can restore a repentant people. He even points that out to Hosea:
Hosea 1:10 “Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘children of the living God.’ 11 The people of Judah and the people of Israel will come together; they will appoint one leader and will come up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel. (Hosea 1:10-11).
We’ll come back to this (particularly the language of “children of the living God”) but it’s worth pointing out three things.
First, these biblical times are not unlike our own. It was a time of political and economic success that almost inevitably produces people who rely on themselves and forget God. That’s why their times and also ours are itching with idolatry, spiritual failure, and moral corruption which breaks out as unrest and rebellion against God. Oh, maybe it’s hidden under the surface, but it’s still there … even if looking good on the outside.
Surface neatness hiding the junk drawer. Inside, they ignore God at best and hate Him at worst. God finds that hypocrisy and idolatry disgusting.
Second, Hosea wasn’t given a choice in message only a call to be faithful to God, or not. The only person I feel sorrier for than Hosea who was forced to marry a prostitute would be his poor kid who has a prostitute for a mother and shows up on the first day of school, introduced to the class as “Not My People.” God sure has an odd way of making His point.
And “what point was that?” you ask. Unfaithfulness on the part of the “Chosen People” Israel angered and pained God. It brought about harsher judgment because they had been God’s “Chosen People” and had turned their backs on Him.
They were intended to be a light to the nations (Isaiah 42:6-7), but instead, they led the way in unfaithfulness. That cannot go unchecked. (Ironically, that’s precisely why NO Christian should be an anti-Semite because that leads the way in our unfaithfulness as the light of the world–Matthew 5:14-17.)
But third, God’s grace abounds all the more. His amazing love astounds us. He still wants our redemption. Even after all that, His purpose is to call us home, to remembering, honoring, and loving Him…whether Christian…or Jew. Never forget that.
Reflection questions as we continue this study:
How would God asking Hosea to marry someone who is unfaithful be a prophetic sign-act and not Hosea’s sin?
Why would God give a living picture to display in human terms how God feels betrayed by Israel?
What types of things do we do that anger God?
If you’re a Christian, how is your treatment of the Jews seen by God as your treatment of His Messiah? (See Matthew 25:31-46)
If God still loves and desires to restore the Jewish people, is anti-Semitism (the devil’s orchestrated propaganda campaign in our present culture) ever going to be okay with God?
If God loves them and forgives them when they repent, who are we to question the Living God?
To be continued…