Week 01–transformation

This Week’s Reading:

It can feel hard to relate to Israel’s prophets, likely because we spend so much time and energy trying to appear as normal as possible. But Israel was in desperate need of a wake-up call, and “normal” no longer worked. So God assigned Hosea an odd demonstration of protest: he would marry a prostitute, and theatrically re-enact God’s romance with Israel. Hosea and Gomer would be the actors and their life would be the stage, converting all their friends and acquaintances into front-row spectators of what might truly deserve the label “reality TV.” Not only was this Hosea and Gomer’s real life, it pointed to a deeper reality the whole nation was unbearably blind to–or worse–no longer cared about.

Many years before, God had promised Israel they were His chosen people. However, 400 years of oppression and slavery in Egypt made a convincing case their ancestors might have been mistaken–maybe Israel was not “His people, and YHWH was not their God,”(1:9). Yet, even though God appeared absent, He saw their affliction, heard their cry, and remembered His promise. He rescued them from Egypt and transformed them from a wandering family fleeing famine into a nation of priests that would hospitably invite the nations into worship of YHWH. He “married” Israel at Mt. Sinai, committing himself to them as their God, and Israel reciprocated the commitment as His people.

But now, many years later, it wasn’t YHWH who was distant.  In contrast, Israel appeared devout, even offering the commanded sacrifices, but had abandoned the vows they had made and the God to whom they vowed. Their lack of God-knowledge (5.4) and consequent lack of self-understanding shrouded the true desires of their heart. Hosea complains they are always ready to “seek YHWH, but they do not find Him,” (5.6). Instead of breathing in the Divine Breath, “like Adam” (6.7), they inhale and exhale “a spirit of prostitution,” (5.4) offering worship to other gods that belonged to YHWH exclusively.

But, like Adam formed from the mud of the ground and Jacob’s dysfunctional family filling all of Egypt, YHWH would once again transform his promiscuous people into a nation that “earnestly seeks Him,” (5.15). For Hosea, the coming transformation is as “sure as the sun rises,” and will change the landscape like “spring showers that water the earth,” (6.3). YHWH will frustrate the infidelity of His people and faithfully love them through the painful process, (6.1-2). They (and we) will be made new, so “let us press on to know YHWH,” (6.3).