Day 201 (Hosea 1-7) - Year 8

**Tara-Leigh Cobble** (0:01)
Hey, Bible readers, I'm Tara-Leigh Cobble and I'm your host for The Bible Recap.
We've been hovering over the fall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and we keep dipping in and out of prophecy and narrative to give us the whole lay of the land. Today, we started out in Hosea, another minor prophet who prophesied the demise of Israel. His message was probably intended for both kingdoms, Israel and Judah. During this time, Israel was financially flourishing, or at least the elite were, and their hearts had grown calloused to God as they drifted further from compassion and generosity and a humble awareness of who was providing for them. Their sacrifices were empty and they were still worshiping other gods. So God sends his prophet to intervene, and here's how he wants Hosea to do it. Marry a prostitute. Excuse me? As we've seen before, God often calls the prophets to personally feel and experience the weight of what they're going to be speaking into. We've seen them getting beaten up on purpose, putting on skits, walking around naked, and now marrying an adulteress. So once again, we see that being a prophet is not a fun calling. God says all this is to reveal what things are like in his relationship with Israel. So the language of this adultery image is woven throughout the book to continue to reveal God and his character to both ancient Israel and to us today.
Hosea marries a woman named Gomer, and she gives birth to three kids. The text only clarifies that the first child is his. The second and third children might be from one or more of her lovers. And even the names God tells Hosea to give the two children seem to distance him from them. And of course, this is about far more than just their family. Those names are given to symbolize God's distance from Israel at this point in time. More on that later. In Chapter 2, God parallels this story with his love for Israel. His people give themselves up for mere things as though Yahweh isn't providing for them. So, God sets out to thwart their pursuit of idolatry. But God knows that the only thing that will bring lasting change is for his people to actually love him, not just be forced to obey him. He sets out to pursue them all over again, to show them how desirable a relationship with him can be. And eventually, Israel's heart will turn back to him, and he will override the meaning of their given names to display his love and demonstrate the change in their relationship.
Meanwhile, things fall apart in Hosea's relationship with Gomer, too. God says to go out and find her. She's apparently living with another man. To pay off all her debts and to bring her home and commit to her. Then we move on to the second section of Hosea's prophecies, beginning with chapter 4 This section details everything Israel has done wrong, so that they're forced to confront it. It's important to remember that Israel was a theocracy, and they were in a covenant with God, which they've broken. So, they're living under the curse of that covenant, and the consequences of their sins are reflected in their political and societal circumstances. It probably feels really natural to draw similar conclusions about countries and governments today, but we really have no modern day equivalent to Israel's relationship with God. And it probably goes without saying, but there's nothing in scripture indicating that America is the new Israel, regardless whether that sounds like a good thing or a bad thing to you.
We've talked about this before, but it bears repeating. People in this day would often refer to the northern kingdom of Israel collectively as Ephraim, which is one of the 10 tribes in the northern kingdom. Hosea uses the word that way 37 times in this short book. It's a lot like how the southern kingdom is collectively called Judah, one of the two tribes in that kingdom. This was probably a helpful way to distinguish Israel as a whole, all 12 tribes, from Israel, the kingdom, after the split.
In 4 6, God tells Israel, My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. The leaders and elders were commanded to teach the people about Yahweh, but they've dropped the ball for so long that no one knows who God is anymore, much less has a relationship with him. Instead, they've turned to idolatry, and idolatry has turned them into fools. In chapter 5, he turns from addressing all the people and speaks directly to the priests and leaders of Ephraim, and he continues to parallel them with a prostitute. And in 5, 4 through 6, he has an even harsher word for them. He says, you don't know God. He paints a picture of them taking their animals to sacrifice to the God they don't know, not even realizing that he isn't there. And it's probably important for me to clarify, this is poetic imagery. Of course, God is technically there since he's everywhere. But the point of this prophecy is that God's blessing is not present on their sacrifice, and they're clueless about that. In chapters six and seven, the people of Israel appear to be seeking God, but they're only seeking relief, and God knows it. He compares their love to the morning dew that evaporates quickly. Imagine someone you love having only a predictably fleeting affection for you. It's crushing. You can't enjoy it even in the moment it seems to be real because you know it's about to vanish. That's how God feels about Israel here. And he reminds them again, I want your hearts, not your bulls.