Prophets Feature Sampler - Flipbook - Page 15
20
IMMERSE
•
PROPHETS
• First, Israel is called to court: “Hear the word of the Lord ,
O people of Israel! The Lord has brought charges against you.”
• Next, the charges are brought: “There is no faithfulness, no kindness, no knowledge of God in your land. You make vows and
break them; you kill and steal and commit adultery. There is violence everywhere—one murder after another.”
• Then the sentence is pronounced: “That is why your land is in
mourning, and everyone is wasting away. Even the wild animals,
the birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea are disappearing.”
The people of Israel have failed to remain faithful in their covenant
relationship with God, and the consequences include the undoing of
creation itself. Part of Israel’s failure involved embracing the debauched
fertility cult of Baal, which the people had unfortunately become addicted to. Instead of looking to Baal for life and prosperity, the people
should have looked only to the Creator himself as the true source of
life. But now, in their disobedience, they would experience the desert
of exile and destruction.
Hosea highlights key events of Israel’s earlier covenant history, especially the Exodus, to inspire the people to renew their relationship
with God and begin living out their story in the present. At one point
Hosea takes a step back from delivering prophecies in God’s name in
order to appeal personally to his fellow Israelites, “Come, let us return
to the Lord .” If the people would return, then the Lord ’s promises of
restoration given through Hosea would be realized: “I will heal you of
your faithlessness; my love will know no bounds, for my anger will be
gone forever.”
HOSEA
The Lord gave this message to Hosea son of Beeri during the years when
Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah, and Jeroboam
son of Jehoash was king of Israel.
When the Lord first began speaking to Israel through Hosea, he said to
him, “Go and marry a prostitute, so that some of her children will be con
ceived in prostitution. This will illustrate how Israel has acted like a pros
titute by turning against the Lord and worshiping other gods.”
So Hosea married Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she became
pregnant and gave Hosea a son. And the Lord said, “Name the child Jez
reel, for I am about to punish King Jehu’s dynasty to avenge the murders he
committed at Jezreel. In fact, I will bring an end to Israel’s independence. I
will break its military power in the Jezreel Valley.”
Soon Gomer became pregnant again and gave birth to a daughter.
And the Lord said to Hosea, “Name your daughter Loruhamah—‘Not
loved’—for I will no longer show love to the people of Israel or forgive
them. But I will show love to the people of Judah. I will free them from
their enemies—not with weapons and armies or horses and charioteers,
but by my power as the Lord their God.”
After Gomer had weaned Loruhamah, she again became pregnant and
gave birth to a second son. And the Lord said, “Name him Loammi—
‘Not my people’—for Israel is not my people, and I am not their God.
“Yet the time will come when Israel’s people will be like the sands of the
seashore—too many to count! Then, at the place where they were told,
‘You are not my people,’ it will be said, ‘You are children of the living God.’
Then the people of Judah and Israel will unite together. They will choose
one leader for themselves, and they will return from exile together. What a
day that will be—the day of Jezreel—when God will again plant his people
in his land.
21
