Say to your brothers, “You are my people,” and to your sisters, “You have received mercy.”
2 “Plead with your mother, plead— for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband— that she put away her whoring from her face, and her adultery from between her breasts; 3 lest I strip her naked and make her as in the day she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and make her like a parched land, and kill her with thirst. 4 Upon her children also I will have no mercy, because they are children of whoredom. 5 For their mother has played the whore; she who conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.’ 6 Therefore I will hedge up her way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her, so that she cannot find her paths. 7 She shall pursue her lovers but not overtake them, and she shall seek them but shall not find them. Then she shall say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband, for it was better for me then than now.’ 8 And she did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil, and who lavished on her silver and gold, which they used for Baal. 9 Therefore I will take back my grain in its time, and my wine in its season, and I will take away my wool and my flax, which were to cover her nakedness. 10 Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one shall rescue her out of my hand. 11 And I will put an end to all her mirth, her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths, and all her appointed feasts. 12 And I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees, of which she said, ‘These are my wages, which my lovers have given me.’ I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall devour them. 13 And I will punish her for the feast days of the Baals when she burned offerings to them and adorned herself with her ring and jewelry, and went after her lovers and forgot me, declares the Lord. The Lord's Mercy on Israel 14 “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. 15 And there I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt. 16 “And in that day, declares the Lord, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’ 17 For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more. 18 And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety. 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. 20 I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord. 21 “And in that day I will answer, declares the Lord, I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth, 22 and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil, and they shall answer Jezreel, 23 and I will sow her for myself in the land. And I will have mercy on No Mercy, and I will say to Not My People, ‘You are my people’; and he shall say, ‘You are my God.’” Meditation God’s eternal love for His people is more passionate than a groom waiting for His bride. Covenant is the means by which God relates to His people, and marriage is the dominate metaphor to communicate the covenant intimacy God desires with His people. Hosea’s marriage to Gomer was a living parable of God’s love for Israel and, like Gomer, God’s people had turned to other lovers. God’s love is exclusive and He will not tolerate His people giving our heart to another. Israel had given their hearts to Baal, forgetting the Lord. God promised judgement for a new relationship to bud, one based on His faithfulness to secure the future of His relationship with His people. God’s covenant love makes things right, recapturing hearts through His redemptive work. Places of wrath are transformed into doorways of hope, the Valley of Achor (15, Joshua 7) and the cross of Christ. God’s wrath satisfied enables God’s arms to open wide- passionate love of our Groom eager for His bride to return! Comprehensive restoration is anchored in Covenant relationship: “I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness…” (19) Jesus took the judgement our sin of idolatry deserves, His heart stopped beating because we give our hearts to other lovers. Jesus welcomed the wrath we deserve so believers can be welcomed into Covenant relationship with our Maker who is our Husband (Isaiah 54:5). Peter and Paul use this passage to reinforce God’s unending love for His people (Romans 9:23-24; 1 Peter 2:10), emphasizing a love more passionate than a groom waiting for his bride. Richly Dwelling -What stands out to you from today’s reading, especially the restoration of Israel through covenant relationship with the Lord (illustrated by marriage)? -Is it difficult for you to receive the love of God as passionate for you as a grooms love for His bride? Why or why not? -How does the finished work of Jesus empower you to return to the love of God, surrendering to His grace and mercy? Where (specifically) do you need to participate in this reality? Key Verse 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. 20 I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord.
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AuthorPastor Mitchell celebrates twenty-five years of marriage with Lisa and together they have four adventurous children. |