I think Hosea is first and foremost about Israel's unfaithfulness. He convicts Israel of whoring herself to the powers of the world and condemns her for literally prostituting everything about her - from her political structure to her religious culture.
Hosea married to a whore so that he could live the prophesy he was commanded to speak and the situation was such that the sins of adultery and prostitution were viewed as simply par for the course because the depravity of the nation was so profound.
Israel is unrepentant and as she "sows the wind" so shall she "reap the whirlwind." Brian
Yet the number of the people of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which can be neither measured nor numbered; and in the place where it was said to them, "You are not my people," it shall be said to them, "Sons of the living God."
Brian, I can't help but to see the Grace of God all over this prophet. I think Hosea is called to marry a whore because God is "married to the backslider". Jeremiah 3:1 clearly states God's desire for unfaithful Israel to return to him. I think God is giving someone a chance to feel what He feels and show the Grace He will show to all of humanity through Christ Jesus.
I could certainly see myself using Hosea to illustrate the dangers of being distracted by the temptations of this world and literally whoring ourselves out spiritually - worshiping a never ending assembly line of idols produced by our depraved culture.
We take our eyes of Jesus. Then it is not long before we take our eyes off of our betrothed - and then we withdraw into a selfish, unhealthy world of our own creation specifically designed to meet our own needs.
God's message is powerful as He uses the literally example of Hosea and Gomer to demonstrate the failures of the people of God.
I've always loved the book of Hosea. I think it's a demonstration of God's faithfulness to an unfaithful people. God has Hosea the prophet to fall in love with and marry an unfaithful whore. It doesn't matter how many times she turns her back on him, or how deeply he expresses his love for her, she keeps going back to her evil ways and he keeps bailing her out of her problems. This is the picture of God's love in my life.
I've never thought about using Hosea as a tool for marriage counseling, but now that it's been mentioned, I think it's a good way to demonstrate that marriage requires sacrifice and unconditional forgiveness. Hosea withstood the ridicule from the people around him, the hurt in his own heart, and the shame of being married to a whore in order to love her the way he promised he would. In marriage, it takes a selfless commitment to love the person you are with. Hosea works well as an illustration of a worst case senario.
At the end of the Hosea teaching Dr. Staats talked about how God used the pain of the prophet to communicate Yaweh's pain for Israel. Her unfaithfulness to him hurt him very deeply. He also talked about how the church wants to get rid of people who have experienced pain in their life, so use your pain in ministry for the betterment of others.
I definitely can relate to all of this having experienced the church's desire for "clean" people who will fit into certain molds. The pain I have experienced is the pain he feels for the church today as she has in some instances moved onto other lovers; namely individualism. He is all about community and how the community can most appreciate him as they seek to understand together rather than on their own.
It is my aim in the church that I serve to bring this community effort in understanding him together. Our monthly theme this month is the fruit joy. Joy is an inside reality not dependent on circumstances becoming favorable but is based upon what God has done through Jesus Christ! It is our joy to discover these realities and in doing so we will be sharing with others.
Hugh, I heard it said once that "people are messy." God cares for us with all of our messiness and as ministers of His love, we must follow Him down into the trials and tribulations of people's lives bringing the message of the Gospel. --- marty ---
Marty I fully agree with your reply to my earlier post. As a minister of God's Word representing a particular church group, I find it especially important to prepare what He wants said, say it with the love of God and then step away by allowing the Holy Spirit to do the hard work in people's hearts. What you are saying here is likened to the simple English word, "with." To be with someone we must be in a close proximity of some sort either physically or spiritually. Both is the most recommended manner. When we are with our people both in the good times and the not so good (from our point of view) we build a camaraderie that can become long lasting. People come to respect a minister when they are willing to go into the trenches with someone simply because they love them.
I would have to say that it definitely does show Gods faithfulness more than Israels unfaithfulness by comparing this marriage to marrying prostitute, the prostitute did not have to agree to the marriage but she did, where Goes out of this way to make this work where most people would have nothing to do with a prostitute.
I never realized it before, but I think that the book of Hosea could be really good for examples to use in marriage counseling.
I think Hosea is first and foremost about Israel's unfaithfulness. He convicts Israel of whoring herself to the powers of the world and condemns her for literally prostituting everything about her - from her political structure to her religious culture.
ReplyDeleteHosea married to a whore so that he could live the prophesy he was commanded to speak and the situation was such that the sins of adultery and prostitution were viewed as simply par for the course because the depravity of the nation was so profound.
Israel is unrepentant and as she "sows the wind" so shall she "reap the whirlwind."
Brian
Yet the number of the people of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which can be neither measured nor numbered; and in the place where it was said to them, "You are not my people," it shall be said to them, "Sons of the living God."
DeleteBrian,
Way to take a stand.
Anyone else have any comments?
--- marty ---
Brian,
DeleteI can't help but to see the Grace of God all over this prophet. I think Hosea is called to marry a whore because God is "married to the backslider". Jeremiah 3:1 clearly states God's desire for unfaithful Israel to return to him. I think God is giving someone a chance to feel what He feels and show the Grace He will show to all of humanity through Christ Jesus.
I could certainly see myself using Hosea to illustrate the dangers of being distracted by the temptations of this world and literally whoring ourselves out spiritually - worshiping a never ending assembly line of idols produced by our depraved culture.
ReplyDeleteWe take our eyes of Jesus. Then it is not long before we take our eyes off of our betrothed - and then we withdraw into a selfish, unhealthy world of our own creation specifically designed to meet our own needs.
God's message is powerful as He uses the literally example of Hosea and Gomer to demonstrate the failures of the people of God.
We are the people of God.
Brian
I've never thought of the idea of spiritual whoring. I guess as a culture we do tend to do this more than we realize though.
DeleteI've always loved the book of Hosea. I think it's a demonstration of God's faithfulness to an unfaithful people. God has Hosea the prophet to fall in love with and marry an unfaithful whore. It doesn't matter how many times she turns her back on him, or how deeply he expresses his love for her, she keeps going back to her evil ways and he keeps bailing her out of her problems. This is the picture of God's love in my life.
ReplyDeleteI've never thought about using Hosea as a tool for marriage counseling, but now that it's been mentioned, I think it's a good way to demonstrate that marriage requires sacrifice and unconditional forgiveness. Hosea withstood the ridicule from the people around him, the hurt in his own heart, and the shame of being married to a whore in order to love her the way he promised he would. In marriage, it takes a selfless commitment to love the person you are with. Hosea works well as an illustration of a worst case senario.
Ashley Onyia
Ashley,
DeleteGood reflections. Perhaps there are two sides to this...
--- marty ---
Benjamin,
ReplyDeleteGood insights! And good honest reflection.
--- marty ---
At the end of the Hosea teaching Dr. Staats talked about how God used the pain of the prophet to communicate Yaweh's pain for Israel. Her unfaithfulness to him hurt him very deeply. He also talked about how the church wants to get rid of people who have experienced pain in their life, so use your pain in ministry for the betterment of others.
ReplyDeleteI definitely can relate to all of this having experienced the church's desire for "clean" people who will fit into certain molds. The pain I have experienced is the pain he feels for the church today as she has in some instances moved onto other lovers; namely individualism. He is all about community and how the community can most appreciate him as they seek to understand together rather than on their own.
It is my aim in the church that I serve to bring this community effort in understanding him together. Our monthly theme this month is the fruit joy. Joy is an inside reality not dependent on circumstances becoming favorable but is based upon what God has done through Jesus Christ! It is our joy to discover these realities and in doing so we will be sharing with others.
Hugh,
DeleteI heard it said once that "people are messy." God cares for us with all of our messiness and as ministers of His love, we must follow Him down into the trials and tribulations of people's lives bringing the message of the Gospel.
--- marty ---
Marty I fully agree with your reply to my earlier post. As a minister of God's Word representing a particular church group, I find it especially important to prepare what He wants said, say it with the love of God and then step away by allowing the Holy Spirit to do the hard work in people's hearts. What you are saying here is likened to the simple English word, "with." To be with someone we must be in a close proximity of some sort either physically or spiritually. Both is the most recommended manner. When we are with our people both in the good times and the not so good (from our point of view) we build a camaraderie that can become long lasting. People come to respect a minister when they are willing to go into the trenches with someone simply because they love them.
DeleteThank you for the response. I appreciate it.
I would have to say that it definitely does show Gods faithfulness more than Israels unfaithfulness by comparing this marriage to marrying prostitute, the prostitute did not have to agree to the marriage but she did, where Goes out of this way to make this work where most people would have nothing to do with a prostitute.
ReplyDeleteI never realized it before, but I think that the book of Hosea could be really good for examples to use in marriage counseling.