The Gospel of Hosea: Introduction
The Gospel of Hosea: Introducti0n.
“You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you odd.” (Flannery O’Conner).
Prophets Act Up in God’s Street Theater. If the biblical world was a classroom, God’s prophets were the visual aids. As the Lord’s mouthpieces, they were often called upon to be symbols of His messages. Since they were instructed to be dramatic illustrations of the word of the Lord that help the people to read God’s mind, the people not only heard the word, but they also literally saw the word. So prophets were often asked to make spectacles of themselves. Sometimes they went from being mouthpieces to megaphones in their actions. They were often held up for ridicule, mockery and rejection. Because prophets were obedient to a fairly unpredictable God, they were often dismissed as cranks and eccentrics and not taken seriously. Prophets were often instructed to be living object lessons, so they had to learn how to swallow their pride and embrace public humiliation. Sometimes prophets did things that should be glossed over in Sunday School if not totally ignored. At times we have to wince when we read of a prophet’s antics, and we want to file it under “Do not try this at home.” We can often take a light-hearted approach to their street theater. In such cases we can take to heart G. K. Chesterton’s words, “He who has the Faith has the fun.” But other times their performance art does not even approach comic relief. It is difficult and painful and definitely not fun. All this translates into God’s biblical prophets being spiritual live wires, engaging personalities, and real characters ready for anything. The prophets may have struggled at times with accepting God’s instructions and thought twice about what God wanted them to do for Him. But in the end they all settled into being holy fools for the Kingdom.
Hosea, the Book. The book of Hosea is the first of the Hebrew Bible’s minor prophets… minor in the sense of fewer words and thus shorter, not minor in the sense of being less significant. It was the first book in Scripture since the ketubah, the marriage ceremony on Mt. Sinai, to use the picturesque imagery of marriage to describe the Lord’s covenant relationship with His chosen people. Most of the content of the book is in poetic form, offering many vivid word pictures and figurative language in trying to describe Israel’s unfaithfulness to the Lord… a promiscuous wife, an indifferent mother, a stubborn heifer, an overheated oven, a half-baked cake, an illegitimate child, a treacherous bow, an ungrateful son, a silly dove, and wild grapes grown in the wilderness.
On Yahweh’s Covenant as the Main Backdrop. Hebrew, “berith“= an enduring, two-way promise of faithfulness and loyalty with both sides having their obligations; a solemn alliance establishing a binding relationship of blessing and accountability; an official pledge of mutual commitment. Our God is a covenant-keeping God, establishing five covenants in Scripture: with Noah after the Flood, promising never to destroy the earth again; with Abraham, promising his family to be the Chosen People that will occupy the Holy Land; with Moses, promising blessings and curses based on their marriage-like relationship with Yahweh; with David, promising the future Messiah would come through his family line; through Jesus and the promise of a New Covenant of salvation. The Hebrew word for faith (“pistis“), is actually a covenant word that involves both God’s faithfulness to His covenant promises and a person’s loyal trust in God as a response. One biblical scholar put it this way… “Pistis-faith embodies the entire spectrum of a faithful, trusting and loyal covenant relationship between God and His people, encompassing both belief and steadfast action.” The mystery is that, based on His heart of grace and favor, when people do not live up to their side of the covenant with God and are persistently rebellious, God chooses to live up to His side of the covenant regardless. Even with the human side of the promise being broken, God remains faithful to His promises, forever loyal because of his mercy.
On Mercy as a Major Theme in Hosea.
(1.) “Hesed” = A Hebrew word for mercy used a number of times in Hosea, and is often translated as lovingkindness, indicating a steadfast love, covenant faithfulness, unfailing loyalty, love-in-action. Hesed has so many dimensions that it is much easier to describe than define. Hesed may be the most important word in the Hebrew Bible, because it is considered a summary word for all of God’s character traits, the driving force behind all He does. There is no one translation of hesed that is perfect or says it all. Hesed is used 26 times in the classic Psalm 136 in order to focus on God’s continued and unwavering mercy and patience due to His eternally faithful lovingkindness. Hesed is a covenant word, a relationship word, and celebrates God’s commitment to remaining true to his merciful promises out of sheer love. “Hesed” is used over 120 times in the book of Psalms alone, and a grand total of 250 times in the Hebrew Bible.
(2.) “Rachem” = Another primary word for mercy used a number of times in Hosea. The word rachem is translated in Scripture as tender mercy, deep compassion, and womb. In the Hebrew mind, the womb is much more than the sacred place in a woman that enables the unborn baby to safely develop till birth. Womb also became a metaphor for mercy because of its linguistic roots. The Hebrew word rachem is intended to mean mercy-womb. God formed each of us with rachem when we were mere unborns, and we were conceived and nourished within His rachem, the mother’s mercy-womb. The baby within the woman is the ideal time to extend God’s compassion to that human being inside of her. The developing baby utterly depends on a mercy-womb. And God wants Himself to be experienced as our womb-sanctuary, our safe place in Him, our refuge and shelter. God Himself yearns to be experienced as a womb of mercy for each of us, a refuge and shelter and safe haven. The purpose of our lives is to live in God’s rachem, God’s womb of love. P
Descriptions of Mercy: Eager love-in-action; steadfast kindness; loyal compassion; faithful favor; generous grace; the ardent desire to do good to someone; a completely undeserved lovingkindness; an affectionate love that goes beyond what is expected, above and beyond, free of charge, no strings attached; the generous love reserved for someone in an intimate relationship, and if there is no prior relationship, the strong desire to treat someone as if that relationship existed.
“You may expend your whole life in search of the Will of God, His “perfect will,” but you will not find any other perfect will of God than that which God has revealed in Christ Jesus. And that will is mercy, a mercy which involves giving your life for others as an offering to God.” (Brother Rex Andrews, from his book, What the Bible Teaches About Mercy).
God’s Mercy. Yahweh’s lovingkindness demonstrated in forgiveness for those with whom He is in Covenant; His willingness and desire to keep His eternal promises of grace and favor out of His faithfulness to His chosen people; God’s will to satisfy all mankind with His goodness; to strongly desire what is best for someone, especially for those in need; to graciously treat someone in distress with compassion, especially when one could ignore that needy person if he wanted; to have a readiness to show practical love to someone in any type of trouble or need; to have an eagerness to put love into action; to personally relieve the suffering of someone; to demonstrate an act of good will towards someone who needs it; to show a lovingkindness that is way beyond the call of duty; to demonstrate to a complete stranger the same type of compassion one would reveal to a friend or family member. Mercy is the most active aspect of Love, which also includes Grace and Compassion. These three aspects of Love are distinctive, but each is a part of the other. Grace is full of compassion and mercy; compassion is full of grace and mercy; mercy is full of grace and compassion.
Grace: God’s welcoming face of God’s favor and acceptance to the undeserving;
Compassion: the willingness to reach out and suffer with another and bear that person’s burdens;
Mercy: the actual doing of the love that grace and compassion has started; Love-in-Action.
Hosea, the Prophet. Not much is known about the background of the prophet Hosea, except that he is living and ministering in Northern Israel between the dates 753-687 BC. Hosea must have proven himself before the Lord, for God specially chose him for a difficult and seemingly foolish task. God commanded Hosea to be a living parable. Hosea has been called by some a prophet of love. But this parable was not primarily about human love. Hosea was a parable that fleshed out God’s covenant love and unending mercy. Unfortunately for Hosea, God chose a rather unprecedented way to remind His people of His unlimited compassion. The Lord instructed Hosea to marry a promiscuous woman and raise a family with her. God wanted to see children from their marital union, and He wanted Hosea to remain faithful to her despite her further sexual adventures after walking down the aisle. Some scholars claim that Hosea was asked by God to marry a temple prostitute from the fertility cult of Baal. Others say he was to go to your common whore on the street corner and choose to marry her. Still others say that the Lord was asking Hosea to marry someone who would surely become promiscuous after their marriage. How’s that for a surprising assignment from a holy Lord, from the God who ordained marriage and considered it sacred? Also, could there be anything more foolish to the public eye than marrying a woman who will undoubtedly remain promiscuous, raising a family with her, and remaining faithful to her? Ever the obedient servant, that’s just what Hosea did. Gomer, the sexually active, was unsurprisingly unfaithful to Hosea, but as instructed by the Lord, Hosea remained faithful to Gomer. This was indeed a difficult object lesson to act out in reality. Imagine the shame and humiliation. Marrying Gomer was a definitely a fool’s errand.
Hosea Has Chutzpah. If ever there was a biblical example of someone with a generous heart and stubborn obedience, it was the prophet Hosea. Hosea was given a difficult task by God, and he needed holy chutzpah to fulfill that task. Chutzpah (hoots-pah) is a Yiddish word that long ago entered English usage. It is from the Hebrew word, “hutspah,” which means insolent or audacious. Chutzpah is a neutral word that can be either positive or negative. Chutzpah can be righteous or unrighteous, holy or unholy. It is an idea difficult to define, so there are a lot of synonyms for it, especially in the biblical sense: spiritual audacity; brazen gall; tenacious stubbornness; headstrong persistence; outrageous guts; shameless nerve; feisty assertiveness; brazen impudence; unyielding boldness; courageous spine; expectant defiance. The Holy Scriptures, both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, are overflowing with examples of holy chutzpah. One wonders not only if it’s a job requirement for saints and prophets, but also a faith requirement for all believers. In fact, God seems to love chutzpah in us when it is based on our ultimate trust in Him and His character, our unselfish motives, our yearning for justice and mercy. Chutzpah in front of others becomes holy when it is done in obedience to the Lord and is an outworking of our faith in Him. As Rabbi Schulweiss once said, “Spiritual audacity toward God finds a place of honor in Jewish religious thought.” The rabbis of old have always insisted that chutzpah is a valid expression of faith. Just a quick glimpse at the Gospels reveals that Jesus and His followers fully embraced the ancient Jewish ethic of holy chutzpah. When Jesus saw chutzpah in action, He usually said things like, “Great is your faith!” Maybe Christian scholar Dr. Brad Young said it best. “True faith requires bold perseverance. Sometimes it is expressed by brazen impudence. Faith can be defined as chutzpah. Persevere with unyielding tenacity.” (Brad Young, Jesus the Jewish Theologian).
Not much is known about the background of the prophet Hosea, except that God chose him for a seemingly foolish mission. God commanded Hosea to be a living parable. Hosea has been called by some a prophet of love. But the parable was not primarily about human love. Hosea was a parable about God’s love and mercy. Unfortunately, God chose a rather unprecedented way to live that parable out. The Lord instructed Hosea to marry a prostitute, just another example of a sad street-corner whore. Not only that, but God wanted to see children from their union, and He wanted Hosea to remain persistently faithful to her despite her further sexual adventures. How’s that for an assignment from a holy Lord? Could there be anything more foolish to the public eye than marrying a prostitute, raising a family, and remaining faithful to her? Ever the obedient servant, that’s just what Hosea did. Gomer the prostitute, unsurprisingly, was unfaithful to Hosea, but as instructed, Hosea remained faithful to Gomer. This was indeed a difficult object lesson to act out in reality. Imagine the shame and humiliation that Hosea had to endure while living out this audacious parable.
But what was God’s point in this very visual aid? Why did God put Hosea through this strange marriage? God wanted to teach the Israelites a very important lesson, what turned out to be a gospel lesson in love. The Lord wanted Hosea’s union with Gomer to provide a graphic picture of the relationship between the Lord and His people Israel. The people are unfaithful to me, says the Lord. They are prostituting themselves after other gods. As the Message puts it, “This whole country has become a whorehouse!” (1:2). My chosen people have violated our covenant, our sacred marriage vows. They are uniting themselves with other gods. And yet, and yet. I will pursue my people in faithfulness, because I love them anyway. I will be faithful when my people are at their worst. Hosea is a picture of how I love my people, says the Lord. Hosea forgave Gomer even after she slept with other men after their marriage. And that is a picture, says the Lord, of how I will forgive my chosen people even after their wayward unfaithfulness. I will take them back into my love.
Hosea Had A Good Eye. If ever there was a biblical example of someone with a generous heart, of someone who gave an unworthy person the ongoing benefit of the doubt, it was the prophet Hosea. Hosea was given a difficult task by God, and he needed a good eye to fulfill that task. For centuries, one of the hot topics in rabbinic circles had to do with how to interpret Leviticus 19:15: “You shall not do injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly.” And the two most popular interpretations during Jesus’ day were, “Judge everyone with the scales weighted in their favor,” and “Judge every person in favorable terms.” It is exciting to know that Jesus was smack in the middle of this very practical discussion, and that his words were intended to expand on this subject of how to judge our neighbor fairly.
Clearly, Jesus accepted what was popular in rabbinic teaching during that time… Give others the benefit of the doubt. Don’t assume the worst motivation for someone’s questionable behavior. Believe the best about people, because only God knows the heart and can therefore judge rightly. Drop the critical spirit before you become an incurable cynic. Don’t jump to conclusions about a suspicious action, but learn to make allowances. If you believe the worst about people, and judge them with contempt, you are acting as if you know what people are thinking and why they are thinking it. Instead, weight your scales of justice in that person’s favor, even if we think they might not “deserve” it.
There was a Jewish idiom during those days that talked about a “good eye” (aiyin tovah) and an “evil eye” (aiyin ra’ah). The good eye referred to looking at people generously, favorably, positively. A good eye meant that a person was generous in how he or she dealt with others. The evil eye meant that a person was stingy, unforgiving, negative in his outlook towards others. These were popular expressions in ancient Judaism, and fit right into this idea of weighting the scales in a person’s favor.
Jesus seemed to support all those ideas, but he increased the challenge by focusing heavily on the main reasons for showing mercy… Mercy toward others because of God’s mercy towards me; I give grace to others and allow them to have apparent weak moments, because God gives grace to me and allows me to show my humanity as well. I weight the scales in my neighbor’s favor, because God graciously weights the scales in my favor, despite my own sinfulness. Pretend evil doesn’t exist? Of course not. Excuse sinful behavior? No again. Moral accountability? Yes indeed. Judging favorably doesn’t excuse bad behavior, it instead graciously assumes a forgivable explanation for it. In terms of what’s going on in other’s hearts, God only knows. In our own hearts, which we do know, seek mercy, grace, and peace. Judgment is mine, says the Lord. After all, maybe that driver didn’t even see you, and that sour look came from a sour stomach… Who knows? So what. Give grace.
“So be generous with others, magnanimous even! Isn’t that how the Father treats everyone, whether we deserve it or not? He created a magnificent world for us all to enjoy, given us the very breath of life. He causes the warming sun to shine, and provides the nourishing rain as well, whether we’ve been naughty or nice, grateful or ungrateful. Really now, who do we think we are, judging our neighbor without grace like we do? Listen to our marching orders straight from the King… Love others the way that God loves us.” ( a little riff on Luke 6, Matthew 5:45, James 4:11-12, Romans 14:10, and 1 John 4:11)
Hosea Scorns the Shame. The book of Hosea is the first of the Hebrew Bible’s minor prophets… minor in the sense of fewer words and thus shorter, not minor in the sense of being less significant. Hosea had the unique call by God to become a public spectacle, full of shame and ridicule, and Hosea scorned that shame to become a faithful prophet and biblical light to the world in his faithfulness. Psychiatrist and author Dr. Curt Thompson has a very helpful section in his outstanding book called The Soul of Shame. In this one section he discusses Hebrews 12:2, where its writer says that Christ “endured the cross, despising the shame.” Dr. Thompson discusses how Jesus laid out a pattern for us on how to deal with shame. Translations of the word ‘despise’ also use words like scorn and disregard. Jesus scorned the shame associated with the cross. He faced His shame head on, He was aware of its presence and didn’t pretend it wasn’t there. He acknowledged the shame and turned away, as if He didn’t think anything of it. He fearlessly confronted His shame while not being overrun by it. He turned attention away from the shame after addressing its reality, and turned towards His Father and what He was being asked to do. In His vulnerability, He scorned shame, He faced it down and overcame it by rejecting it, because of the love and acceptance He felt from the Father. Jesus disregarded the shame and pushed it into the margins in terms of its importance.