Hosea
chapter 2 reminds me of a song from my youth. Like many songs about
an unfaithful ex-spouse, the writer sings with taunting, “It your
turn now to cry”. After being rejected, spurned and humiliated,
most enjoy the vindication of seeing the cheater getting dumped by
another. We say, forgive and forget, but rarely do we fully forget
the pain of betrayal. Once lost, trust is so hard to rebuild. In
today’s chapter, we see through Hosea that when God forgives, He
does not hold back; He fully restores unconditionally. Remember the
prophet was told to marry a promiscuous woman to symbolized Israel’s
unfaithfulness to God. That analogy continues here, “Rebuke
your mother… for
she is not my wife… Let her remove the adulterous look from her
face“. It seems that at least
one of his children was not Hosea’s, “I
will not show my love to her children, because they are the children
of adultery. Their
mother has been unfaithful and has conceived them in disgrace“.
She says to him, “I will go
after my lovers, who give me…”
things that I want. God is speaking these words to Israel and all
that have strayed from their true love, “she
will look for them but not find them“.
Maybe you have been looking for something better?
This
unfaithful philanderer is still protected by God’s guardrails,
“Therefore I will block her
path with thornbushes“. In
frustration she says, “I will
go back to my husband… I was better off than now“.
Restoration does not come without repentance and repentance does not
come without pain. “She has
not acknowledged that I was the one who… lavished on her…
Therefore I will take away… I will take back… I will expose her
lewdness… I will stop all her celebrations“.
Have you been frustrated by trying hang out with God and still
continue to flirt with the things that destroy faith? Has God been
exposing things to you? Please read on.
He says, “I
will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her… I will
give her back her vineyards… a door of hope… There she will
respond“. Are you in need of
a door of hope? Hear the transition that happens when we fully
embrace God’s loving salvation, “In
that day… you
will call me ‘my husband’; you will no longer call me ‘my
master’“. Are you ready to
stop battling? “Bow and sword
and battle I will abolish from the land“.
When we commit, God does not hesitate. “I
will betroth you to Me forever… in righteousness and justice… in
love and compassion… in faithfulness“.
“‘In that day I will
respond’, declares the Lord“.
The chapter ends with a description of God’s restoration, “I
will plant her for Myself in the land;
I will show My love“.
All that was taken was given back without measure, “I
will say to those called ‘Not My people’, ‘You are My people’;
and they will say, ‘You
are my God’“.
Are you ready to replace spite
with love? “This
is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son
as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Dear friends,
since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another“
(1 John 4:10-11). Are you ready
for a new journey?