Well, I did say in last week’s introduction that the prophets have a way of speaking that is jarring and uncomfortable for us. . . . no doubt many of us squirmed through that. Although in some ways it reminded me of the rap songs I used to listen to in the nineties and that Clayton has brought back into my life. Believe me they use that “wh word” more than Hosea. While it seems I cannot even bring myself to say it, this word and others like it are alive and well today.
But don’t give up yet. Despite that confronting language this text does form part of our sacred Scriptures and the story of God amongst us. Personally, I think there is still much this text can teach us, that if we dig a little, we will find that it speaks profoundly to our context today. You can let me know at morning tea if you agree or not.
But first, let us pray. Thy word, Oh Lord is indeed, a lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our paths. And so we ask that this morning you might again speak to us through it.
Last week we began a series on the prophets. We are in Year C of the lectionary in which the reading from the Hebrew Scriptures focus on the prophetic literature. Mostly Jeremiah. But because we did quite a long series on Jeremiah three years ago, I thought this year we might focus on the minor prophets.
The minor prophets are the last 12 books of the Hebrew Scriptures from Hosea to Malachi. They are designated as minor as they are shorter than the major prophets of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekial, but they are no less important.
None the less they are often treated as such. They feature rather sparingly in the lectionary and while the Thursday night Bible Study has in fact being studying Hosea this year I do not think I have ever been part of a Bible Study on one of these prophets.
And so for this series each week we will read a passage from each of these prophets and reflect a little on who the prophet was, their context and the reading. We will not read the whole of each book here so I do invite you in your own Bible reading each week to do that. Most of them are fairly short so that should not be too hard. Hosea is the longest with 14 chapters and Obadiah has just 1 chapter.
As you can see from the table above the minor prophets were active between the 8th century BCE and the 5th. This was a period of great upheaval for the Jewish people. They can be divided into three different historical periods and settings.
Hosea, Amos and Micah are situated in the 8th century. This is the time of the divided Kingdom, before the fall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel to Assyria in 722. The threat of Assyria is a major theme for these prophets. And they relate this threat to judgement brought about because of Israel’s unfaithfulness to God and the covenant. Hosea of course describes this unfaithfulness provocatively but also evocatively, as whoredom (there I said it). With this word Hosea is describing people (both men and women) who despite how much food they eat, how much have sex they have, how much wealth they gain cannot be satisfied.
It is eerily contemporary is it not?
Nahum, Habbakkuk and Zephaniah are situated in Judah, the Southern Kingdom, in the late 7th century, between the fall of Israel to Assyria and the fall of Judah to Babylon in 587. The reality of the fall to Assyria and the threat of Babylon loom large.
And the last three books Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi are situated in the 5th and 6th century after the return from the exile in Babylon in 538BCE. The people remain under the Persian Empire but under the leadership of Cyrus and the Darius they are permitted to return to Jerusalem, rebuild the temple and practise some religious traditions. These prophets are wrestling with how to sustain a distinct identity as the people of God and live according to his covenant in this new context of Empire.
Then we have Joel, Obadiah and Jonah. The setting of these prophets is not as clear. From where they are placed it seems the redactors of the bible believed them to be in the 8th century. Their messages are unique and we will delve into those when we get to them.
But for now Hosea.
The opening verses of Hosea tell us that the word of the Lord came to Hosea in the days of Kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah of Judah, and in the days of King Jeroboam son of Joash of Israel. The book of Kings tells us that Jeroboam “did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, he did not depart from all the sins Jeroboam son Nebat which he caused Israel to sin.”
God then tells Hosea to take “a wife of whoredom” which he does. And the first three chapters of Hosea describe this relationship, that is broken in the same way that God’s relationship with the people of Israel is broken.
Now we do need to be very careful with this story. It can and often does reinforce unhelpful, even dangerous, gender stereotypes and tropes about marriage. The power imbalance between Hosea and Gomer is real.
But Hosea is not trying to tell the people of Israel about men and women and marriage. The point is not to emulate their marriage. He is trying to tell them about God. The marriage metaphor is pointing to the passion and love and commitment that God has for his people.
YHWH is not an aloof God. He is not unmoved by all the ways his people hurt each other and the land and Him. He is not indifferent to his people’s rejection of Him and His ways and the consequences that this has. God desires to be in relationship with His people. That is what we were created for. God longs for the flourishing of his creation and is indeed angered by humanity’s disregard for it.
Hosea uses the common experience of unrequited love to describe this because any of us who have experienced it, and I would hazard a guess most of us have, can understand it. We have probably all experienced the sting of being in a relationship that we want far more than the other person, be that a romantic relationship a friendship or a familial relationship. We probably all know the frustration of pouring ourselves out for another person – be that a spouse, child, parent, friend, boss or even stranger – to have that person not even notice or dismiss it as if it’s nothing or complain that it was not good enough.
In Hosea chapter 11, in a moving declaration of love, YHWH says.
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.
We can all relate to the longing to be seen, known, loved and cherished and these relatable feelings, I think, give us a glimpse of the kind of relationship that God wants with his people.
Hosea is also trying to tell the people about themselves, that actions do in fact have consequences. In the reading from today, he says,
“Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel; for the Lord has an indictment against the inhabitants of the land.
There is no faithfulness or loyalty, and no knowledge of God in the land.
Swearing, lying, and murder, and stealing and adultery break out; bloodshed follows bloodshed.
Therefore the land mourns, and all who live in it languish; together with the wild animals and the birds of the air, even the fish of the sea are perishing.
Again how eerily contemporary this is.
And yet as I said last week while Biblical prophecy is always about judgement, it is also always about hope.
No matter how often the people are unfaithful, God is faithful. No matter how angry He gets, and He does get pretty angry, He is merciful. His love is steadfast and unfailing. He will always make a way to restore his people and renew his relationship with them.
Of course, in this we are getting glimpses of the gospels. Of the parables Jesus told of the lost sheep and the lost coin and the prodigal son. In Jesus we see God’s ultimate act of faithfulness, love and mercy to us.
The last chapter of Hosea says,
Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.
Take words with you and return to the Lord; say to him, ‘Take away all guilt; accept that which is good, and we will offer the fruit of our lips.
Assyria shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses; we will say no more, “Our God”, to the work of our hands. In you the orphan finds mercy.’
I will heal their disloyalty; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them.
I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall blossom like the lily, he shall strike root like the forests of Lebanon.
His shoots shall spread out; his beauty shall be like the olive tree, and his fragrance like that of Lebanon.
They shall again live beneath my shadow, they shall flourish as a garden; they shall blossom like the vine, their fragrance shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
