涩里番

Selections From the Prophets Week 6

Being Loved By God

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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.

They shall return to the land of Egypt,
and Assyria shall be their king,
because they have refused to return to me.
The sword rages in their cities,
it consumes their oracle-priests,
and devours because of their schemes.
My 涩里番 are bent on turning away from me.
To the Most High they call,
but he does not raise them up at all.

How can I give you up, Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, O Israel?
How can I make you like Admah?
How can I treat you like Zeboiim?
My heart recoils within me;
my compassion grows warm and tender.
I will not execute my fierce anger;
I will not again destroy Ephraim;
for I am God and no mortal,
the Holy One in your midst,
and I will not come in wrath.

They shall go after the Lord,
who roars like a lion;
when he roars,
his children shall come trembling from the west.
They shall come trembling like birds from Egypt,
and like doves from the land of Assyria;
and I will return them to their homes, says the Lord.

Ephraim has surrounded me with lies,
and the house of Israel with deceit;
but Judah still walks with God,
and is faithful to the Holy One.
Ephraim herds the wind,
and pursues the east wind all day long;
they multiply falsehood and violence;
they make a treaty with Assyria,
and oil is carried to Egypt.

Pledging Our 鈥楾roth鈥� in Love

In his book To Know as We Are Known, Parker Palmer addresses the challenge of building community in this day and age. Many 涩里番 will come to churches and schools seeking truth as the basis for why and how a community forms and is sustained. Yet, as Palmer reminds us, what many 涩里番 see as 鈥渢ruth鈥� is merely information and not intimacy:

The English word 鈥渢ruth鈥� comes from a Germanic root that also gives rise to our word 鈥渢roth,鈥� as in the ancient vow 鈥淚 pledge thee my troth.鈥� With this word one person enters a covenant with another, a pledge to engage in a mutually accountable and transforming relationship, a relationship forged of trust and faith in the face of unknowable risks. [Author鈥檚 Note 1]

Truth is not merely information. It is more intimate and deep than repeating phrases together and saying something is either 鈥渢rue鈥� or 鈥渇alse.鈥� 鈥淭roth鈥� 鈥� which is the root for our word 鈥渂etrothed鈥� 鈥攃alls us into something more than mere fact or commitments based on mutual tolerance. This is a profound mutual accountability that transforms all members of the relationship into a newly forged intimacy of trust and faith.

In our previous reflections on Amos, we encountered the reality of God鈥檚 profound righteousness and commitment to justice. Amos paints a fairly exacting portrait of God bringing down all who oppose the ways of the Lord. Now, as we turn to the prophet Hosea, we encounter another passionate declaration from God, this time framed in the metaphor of marriage and fidelity.

Unlike Amos, this is not a declaration of punishment on behalf of the poor and marginalized. No, in Hosea we encounter another passionate expression of God: the overwhelming call of love by one lover to another despite current obstacles and past infidelity. [Author鈥檚 Note 2] As we see in this further exploration of the prophets, the God who calls to his 涩里番 is not only a God who demands justice, but also a God who is passionately in love with his 涩里番 and will go to great lengths to secure this love and to remind his 涩里番 of the vows they have taken in covenant.

As noted by David Allen Hubbard and other scholars, the central identity of the prophet and his message is spelled out in the first two verses:

The word of the Lord that came to Hosea son of Beeri, in the days of Kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah of Judah, and in the days of King Jeroboam son of Joash of Israel. When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, 鈥淕o, take for yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the LORD鈥� ().

Here we find right away that Hosea is a prophet of the Northern Kingdom. Since we have no other written record in the prophetic literature of this region, Hosea offers a unique perspective. [Author鈥檚 Note 3] Yet, with the list of kings ranging from Jeroboam II to the destruction of Jerusalem, Hosea offers us a bridge from the prophecies of Jonah and Amos to the time of Isaiah and Micah, which is vital to the canon of scripture. [Author鈥檚 Note 4]

Da士at 示臅濒艒丑卯尘 鈥� To Truly Know God

Central to Hosea is the fact that the 涩里番 do not 鈥渒now鈥� God intimately, and that is why they have strayed away. The Hebrew verb 鈥� is used quite a bit throughout Hosea, as is the phrase , which means 鈥渒nowledge of God鈥� or 鈥渟ympathy of God.鈥� [Author鈥檚 Note 5] As noted by Abraham Heschel in his book

Hosea seems to have seized upon the idea of sympathy as the essential religious requirement. The words daath elohim mean sympathy for God, attachment of the whole person, his love as well as his knowledge; an act of involvement, attachment or commitment to God. The biblical [person] knew of no bifurcation of mind and heart, thought and emotion. He saw the whole person in a situation 鈥�. daath corresponds to , or love. What is desired is an inner identification with God rather than a mere dedication to ceremonies 鈥�. As an antithesis to 鈥渢he spirit of harlotry,鈥� knowledge of God must mean an intimate relation to, or a feeling for, God. [Author鈥檚 Note 6]

The place that Hosea wishes to draw Israel into is a place where they can experience God鈥檚 reconciliation. But, in order to experience this, Israel must 鈥渒now God鈥� deeply:

• Hear the word of the Lord, O 涩里番 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 (诲补士补迟 示臅濒艒丑卯尘) in the land. ()
• My 涩里番 are destroyed for lack of knowledge (诲补士补迟); because you have rejected knowledge (诲补士补迟), I reject you from being a priest to me. ()
• For I desire steadfast love (岣�e蝉别岣�) and not sacrifice, the knowledge (诲补士补迟) of God (示臅濒艒丑卯尘) rather than burnt offerings. ()

Similarly, as we hear in our passage for this week, God acknowledges that, while the 涩里番 continue to practice the external rhythms of sacrifice, the inner knowledge of God 鈥� 诲补士补迟 示臅濒艒丑卯尘 鈥� is lacking:

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 鈥�. I led them with cords of human kindness, with bands of love. ()

Cords and Bands 鈥� the Context of Intimacy

In our passage for this week, God is seeking to love Israel in a nurturing fashion as a mother loves a child. While Israel has been unfaithful and followed after other gods and other cultic practices, God desires to bring Israel into a renewed relationship and raise her from infancy. In many ways this passage is echoed in Jesus鈥� telling Nicodemus that he must be born 鈥渇rom above鈥� () [Author鈥檚 Note 7]. Like Nicodemus, Israel has led a life that has strayed from the face of God, and the return to innocence is almost unimaginable.

Here God looks upon Israel with a repose of absolute and complete acceptance 鈥� ready to nurture, to feed, and to bring close. Two of the more provocative words to this effect are found in , where God states, 鈥淚 led them with cords (岣�e岣噀濒) of human kindness, with bands (示膬产么迟) of love (示补丑膬岣嚸�).鈥� It is important to note that the words translated as 鈥渃ords鈥� and 鈥渂ands鈥� are distinct from each other. The word for 鈥渃ord鈥� () refers to a measuring line or standard by which things are framed [Author鈥檚 Note 8] (we will come back to this notion of a measuring line in a few weeks with Zechariah), while the word translated听 鈥渂and鈥� () denotes something woven together, therefore suggesting intimacy [Author鈥檚 Note 9].

While similar in form yet distinct in purpose, these two metaphorical threads draw us into the truth of love () [Author鈥檚 Note 10] that is offered by God. Love is not merely standards and expectations, nor is it merely intimacy unbridled in boundless ecstasy without responsibility. Here God outlines the geometry of love as the bringing together of 鈥渃ords of human kindness, with bands of love鈥� in the abandonment to reconciled lives.

Go and Do Not Sin Again 鈥� Cords and Bands of Love in Jesus鈥� Ministry from

Hosea鈥檚 prophetic call is to 鈥減ledge our troth鈥� to the living God, who is seeking after us in our brokenness and sin, who desires to see us as newborns who are without separation and fear, and who desires to embrace us completely. This is echoed in Jesus鈥� standing alongside the woman caught in adultery in . As startling as God鈥檚 call to Hosea in to 鈥渢ake for yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom,鈥� is the way that Jesus in binds his life to the concerns and brokenness of a community in sin that is ready to stone one person in her brokenness to alleviate and dismiss the brokenness in their own lives.

Jesus moves into the center of the drama and aligns himself 鈥� pledges his 鈥渢roth鈥� with the woman 鈥� and subsequently underscores that in order to be with him we need to bind our lives to sinners as well. Similar to the cords and bands of , Jesus places a measuring line before the community (鈥淟et anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her鈥� (John )), and weaves bands of love that constrain the woman to holiness in a way that releases her into the life of love (鈥淎nd Jesus said, 鈥淣either do I condemn you. Go your own way, and from now on do not sin again鈥� ()).

To truly know God is 诲补士补迟 示臅濒艒丑卯尘 鈥� to be deeply known by God and know God to our core. This is the ravaging, passionate love with which God pursues us. This is not merely festivals and ceremonies. This may seem as outlandish or appalling as it would be to chase after someone who is faithless in order to pledge them your troth. This is the full-bodied intimacy with which God is choosing to love and embrace the 涩里番 in a way that mirrors the loving care of a parent to a child.

In this we have a foreshadowing of the enfleshment of love that is the incarnation of Christ, who as draws close to a retreating and fearful world. And this shows a love that will stun 涩里番 into silence, as stones fall from clenched hands, so that they too may take up the cords and bands of love offered to us over and over and over again by our God, who never ceases looking for and loving us completely.

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