Studies in Hosea
9 - Undying Love
Let’s recap quickly. The story so far – chapters 1 to 3 are personal. The prophet and his faithless wife, Gomer. Chapters 4 to 14 are prophetic about the Lord and His faithless nation, Israel. In Hosea we’re entering God’s heart.
When chapter 11 opens the tone changes. God is reaffirming His position – no other love have I, only my love for you, Israel. We learn that there is hope beyond judgement. The image is not of Yahweh the farmer tending Israel as His grapes, His vine or His heifer, but Yahweh the parent grieving over Israel, His rebellious child.
Hear the heartbeat of God in these verses: “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. But the more I called Israel, the further they went from Me. They sacrificed to the Baals and they burned incense to images” (verse 1 - 2). God’s pet name for the northern kingdom, as a term of endearment, was Ephraim. It is used 36 times in Hosea. God says, “It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms; but they did not realise it was I who healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love; I lifted the yoke from their neck and bent down to feed them” (verse 3 - 4).
Someone has said that the central theme of the Old Testament is a love story – God’s undying love is never returned by the chosen people. This theme continues like a relay race over the centuries. The Old Testament writers take their themes of divine grace and promise and thrust them forward like batons to the runners who succeed them. The New Testament writers reach back and take those themes that suit their purposes, firmly grasp them, and race forward with them to enlighten the church.
One can sense the frustration and hurt in God’s heart as He declares of His son, Ephraim, “Now he wants to go back to Egypt or go over to Assyria – anything but return to Me! That’s why his cities are unsafe – the murder rate sky rockets and every plan to improve things falls to pieces. My people are hell-bent on leaving Me. They pray to god Baal for help. He doesn’t lift a finger to help them” (verses 5 - 7 The Message). What to do when the objects of your love ‘refuse to repent’ (verse 5), when your people are determined to turn from you? The Authorised Version puts it like this: ‘My people are bent to backsliding from Me’ (verse 7). It is the picture of a backsliding heifer, the little calf which, when you try to push her up the runway into the old wagon, simply puts down her front feet and begins to slide backward.
God sighs, “How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over Israel? How can I treat you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboiim?” (verse 8). Admah and Zeboiim were cites at the southern end of the Dead Sea which were destroyed along with Sodom and Gomorrah. “My heart is changed within Me; all My compassion is aroused” (verse 8). God’s heart recoils, all His compassion kindles – how can He give them up? His insides churn in protest so He’s not going to act on His anger. The judgement sets off a turmoil in the heart of God. He hates the sins, but loves the sinners. God suffers because He loves. Love overcomes wrath and conquers law. This verse (verse 8) gets us closer to the heart of God than cold theological definitions of the attributes of God ever can. God’s thoughts and feelings have been ‘turning over’ within Him. One is reminded of Joseph’s warm feelings at the sight of Benjamin in Genesis chapter 43 verse 30. “Deeply moved at the sight of his brother, Joseph hurried out and looked for a place to weep. He went into his own private room and wept there.”
Once the necessary judgement has been accomplished at the hands of Assyria, God will not again destroy Ephraim. He intends to redeem them and His explanation of His commitment to continue beyond the judgement of Assyrian captivity is both passionate and profound. “I will not carry out my fierce anger, nor will I turn and devastate Ephraim. For I am God, and not man – the Holy One among you. I will not come in wrath” (verse 9).
Incidentally this is the only place in Hosea where God’s holiness is alluded to, but what a remarkable summation of God’s transcendence and His immanence – ‘the Holy One among you.’ The end game is expressed in ‘The Message’ thus: “’The people will end up following God. I will roar like a lion – Oh, how I’ll roar! My frightened children will come running from the west. Like frightened birds they’ll come from Egypt, from Assyria like scared doves. I’ll move them back into their homes.’ God’s Word!” (verses 10-11). The remnant threw in their lot with Judah and their descendants returned with them from Babylon (1 Chronicles 9:1-3). To such a return the book has been relentlessly driving (1:11; 3:5; 11:11). Here’s the message of hope after the axe falls. There will be a home-coming in the last days. The population of Israel in Hosea’s day was about 150,000.
God has disclosed His innermost feelings, pledging His compassion (verse 8), despite their disloyalty (verse 7). The chapter ends, in Moffatt’s translation, like this: “Ephraim throngs round Me – with lies, the house of Israel with deceit; Judah is wayward still with God, with its faithful Deity” (verse 12).
The history of Israel in 1 and 2 Kings tells the desperate story of the reigns of the northern monarchs. The average length of their reign was three years. Many were assassinated and there were a number of coups. It was government not based on God’s chosen royal line and it failed spectacularly. God was married to the people of Israel, so He couldn’t walk away from the covenant. He sends his last chance prophets to Israel and, ten years after Amos, Hosea arrives as God’s last prophet to the ten tribes with a message of affection rather than accusation.