Hosea - Part 2

Praise God it's Wednesday! Two more days of work and it's off to the weekend. I am looking especially forward to this weekend because last weekend was robbed from me by a nasty little stomach bug. I am so thankful to be better and back to myself!

I'm still trying to process how Hosea was so obedient. Perhaps this is something that will continue to develop today or maybe it's something I will have to revisit soon. Let's jump back into Hosea and see what the Spirit will reveal today.

Hosea 2 (this is a long chapter!)
God begins with telling Hosea to plead with the Israelites to know God and quit living in spiritual whoredom. And then He says that if they don't change, He will strip them of everything and kill them and their children. He will give them over to their lovers but they will never be satisfied. And then He says that they will realize that things were better with their first Love (Him) and go back to Him.

He calls what the Israelites are living in whoredom. Which means that she is giving herself away to several lovers. It's not even that Israel has completely forgotten God, they are just worshipping other gods at the same time thus demeaning His godliness. How hard is this not to do? How hard is it to not worship God on Sunday and money on Friday? Our God will not be another one of the many. Because He is Holy. He alone is worthy of all glory, honor, power, and praise. Spirit, direct our hearts back to God the Father again and again.

I think verse 8 is interesting, "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..." Man. How often do I do this? How often do I give glory to things that are not God. He is sustaining every life whether people know it or not. He is Maker of all things and therefore deserves credit and glory for all things. He does not keep such a tight reign on things that we are unable to do use them for our own purposes. These people took the gold that God made and allowed them and made an idol to a false god. How twisted is that? How often do I do that? How often do I use my gifts and talents to worship me? Which brings about another thought... we can take what God provided and we can use it for good or for harm. We can use blessings as a springboard to the heart of God or as a springboard to sin. This is quite a responsbility. Oh that we would guard our blessings.

Ok, let's move on... God says that He will take away everything He has given in His time, whenever He so desires. He will expose nakedness and put an end to all of the feasts and corrupt all of their fruit. (Is anyone else getting a little scared of God in these first two chapters? I mean, my goodness! At least we know the end of the story, that Redemption is coming... Imagine what Hosea and his people are thinking...) And then He says that He will devour the other lovers and punish the Israelites for going after their other lovers and forgetting about Him.

And then when she (Israel) is completely stripped and broken... Comes Redemption.

Verses 14-20: "Therefore behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her. And there I will give 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. And in that day, delcares the Lord, you will call me 'My Husband' and no longer will you call me 'My Baal'. For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered no more. 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 the war from the laand, and I will make you lie down in safety. 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. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord."

I love that He is such a sweet Husband... I will allure. I will take her to a spot where it is just us and speak tenderly to her. I will give her abundantly more than she needs. I will give her hope. Everything she has been missing, I will give to her. I will renew the joy of her youth. I will bring to mind the feelings she had toward me and the freedom she felt when I rescued her  from her oppressor. I will remove the memories and scars from past lovers. I will take proud ownership of her. I will make a covenant with her. I will put an end to fighting and she will live in peace. She will walk in safety, without any fear. She can let down her guards. I will keep her forever by my side and look compassionately on her forever. I will bond us together in faithfulness and I will let her truly know me... Wow. Best Husband Ever Award...

And He ends with saying that He will answer Jezreel (the son from yesterday, remember?), He will have mercy on No Mercy (the daughter), and He will say to Not My People, "You ARE my people" to which Not My People will respond "You are my God". It's beautiful.

I have a few questions though...
1) Why did God say that they had been calling Him "My Baal"? Perhaps because they were giving the glory to Baal but it was His glory to be given?
2) So God has redeemed Hosea's children to Himself, but what about the wife? What makes her in an alltogether different category? I wonder...

Father, teach us. Let the Spirit intercede and increase our understanding as we seek to know You better. Just as You promised the Isrealites that with redemption would come the ability to know You, we ask for that today. Let us feel Your love, let us go out and share Your love with a world who really needs it. Thank you that you called Hosea to love Gomer. Show us who to love, no matter how socially unacceptable they are. Hosea was faithful to Gomer even when she was unfaithful to him. Thank You for being faithful even when we are unfaithful. Let Your faithfulness reinforce Your love for us. Soften our hearts to accept You. We love You and praise You for who You are. We are humbled by Your love for us. Thank You. To You alone all Glory, Honor, Power and Praise. Amen.