by Rev. Toby Amodeo (DCXA at GU)
NOTES TAKEN FROM TOBY’S SERMON AT GU’S LARGE GROUP ON MARCH 3RD.
(I)
Throughout Lent, our sermons will follow the passages we read that day, so today, for example, I’ll be speaking on Hosea 1-2. The bulk of what we’re reading together this season comes from the prophets, specifically the minor prophets. So, let’s dive in!
Hosea comes on the scene at a very particular moment in the story of the Bible and the story of Israel. So, as we begin our reading plan together, I think it might be helpful to quickly define what a prophet is and why they spoke to the Jewish people. From there, we’ll examine these chapters in Hosea and ponder what we can learn about God from them. Sound good?
(II)
Prophets are found throughout the Bible. A prophet is a person who speaks on behalf of God. They communicate God’s will and God’s message to God’s people. The prophets we’ll read in Lent are, somewhat obviously, among the ‘writing prophets.’ There were prophets who didn’t leave any written record, but Hosea did.
Hosea is part of a group of twelve called the Minor Prophets. They’re only minor in the number of words they wrote, not in their message! Think of the minor prophets like the fire alarm, a real one, not a broken one in your dorm. Though it doesn’t have a lot to say, when it does go off, it has a very important message!
If you’re interested in learning more about the books we’ll read, you can check out the DCXA website for some book summaries written by our staff or watch the Bible Project videos on YouTube.
Hosea ministers to Israel at a time when the alarm bells should be starting to ring, yet they’re strangely silent. Hosea started prophesying around 790 BC during the reign of Jeroboam II and continued for a few decades after. He speaks on God’s behalf to the northern kingdom of Israel after the nation split into two separate kingdoms – Israel in the north and Judah in the south (see 1 Kings). Israel, sometimes called ‘Ephraim,’ is by far the worst of the two.
Yet under Jeroboam II, Israel appears to be prospering. They’re enjoying bountiful harvest, plenty of wine, an increase in trade, and they’re making some strong political alliances with Egypt and Assyria.
But though things may look good on the surface, in reality, there are deep cracks in the foundation. The Israelites are living in rampant disobedience. God had led the Israelite people out of slavery in Egypt generations before this time. At Mt. Sinai, he appeared on the mountain and spelled out what the terms were for Israel to be in relationship with him.
The particulars of that covenant are what make up the book of Leviticus (among other sections of the Torah, the first 5 books of the Bible), but basically, the Israelites were called to worship Yahweh alone, to be faithful to him as their creator and savior, to love him with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love their neighbor as themselves.
Unfortunately, Israel fails time and again to uphold the covenant. For the most part, they don’t even come close.
God begins sending prophets to warn the Israelites that what they are doing is wrong, that they must repent – turn back to Him – and that if they don’t, God will send disaster on them as punishment. Israel has a choice: repent and come to God humbly asking for forgiveness, or face God’s anger as he allows the Assyrian empire to bear down on them. Hosea can already see what they are going to choose.
(III)
God’s strange calling actually serves a purpose. God explains that his bizarre instructions to Hosea are actually a prophetic symbol. Hosea’s marriage represents God’s relationship with Israel. In Hosea 1:2, God is particularly clear – the Israelites have treated him like an adulterous wife cheating on her husband.
God uses the demonstration of a broken marriage covenant to show that he’s the victim of a broken covenant as well. Israel has betrayed God and cheated on him, giving themselves to other nations and other gods. And God is heartbroken. Israel is supposed to be his chosen human family on earth. God pledged way back in Genesis to be faithful to Abraham’s family because Abraham believed God. Through Abraham’s family, the whole world is supposed to experience blessing. Yet each generation of Israel finds a new way to reject God, even though he does nothing but care for them.
The image we see is not of a distant and arbitrarily angry god demanding perfection from his people, but of a brokenhearted God who paradoxically cares deeply for the one who wronged him.
God clarifies the consequences of this betrayal by commanding Hosea to give his children some of the worst baby names in the whole Bible. I’ve heard some bad baby names recently – a cousin of a friend of a friend named their child Archimedes. And “Gomer” doesn’t exactly roll of the tongue, but Hosea’s three kids are named, “God Plants” (not bad), “Not-Loved” (yikes), and “Not-my-People” (ouch).
These last two names in particular signify how God’s relationship with the Israelites is changing. God has a legitimate reason for ending his covenant with Israel – they’ve done almost nothing they were supposed to do!
Israel was meant to demonstrate to the nations what a life with Yahweh could look like. Instead, they look just like every other nation – corrupted by greed, war, and idolatry.
They’ve set up counterfeit temples, they bow down to calf statues, and they worship statues of the Canaanite god, Baal. Plus, their society is rife with injustice, violence, and greed. The prosperity under Jeroboam II only heightens the disparity between rich and poor. Israel no longer trusts in God for their provision and protection. They’ve given their allegiance to wealth, idols that are worshipped via illicit sex, and wicked nations founded on violence. And Israel is pleased with it!
Israel fell short of what they were called to. The same could be said of all nations, all humans. In the beginning, God created humans to bear his image on earth, to make things flourish as they loved God and one another.
Instead, humans chose to go their own way. As a result, people everywhere fracture God’s image by pursuing their sinful desires. From the ancient near east to modern-day eastern Europe to the shores of our own nation, it doesn’t take long to see that humans are capable of incredibly inhuman acts.
(IV)
In 722 BC, that’s exactly what happens. Assyria swoops in and conquers Israel, sending them off into exile and oppressing those who remain. If there is one ancient power that you do not want to have against you, it’s the new-kingdom Assyrians. They were known for their incredible brutality on and off the battlefield. They’ll attack southern Judah as well, and they’ll drag King Manasseh from Jerusalem to Nineveh (hundreds of miles) with a hook in his nose.
This is where reading the prophets gets difficult. We have a hard time reconciling God’s goodness with him allowing this sort of thing. But we need to remember two things: first, the Israelites did things that were just as bad as the Assyrians – from child sacrifice to outright massacres. Second, the Bible doesn’t condone everything it includes.
God actually will be very angry with Assyria for going too far with the punishment – wait until we get to Nahum. God doesn’t force nation states to behave out of character, though, even if he uses them to fulfill his purposes. He allows humans to act wickedly, sharpening the contrast between our capacity for evil and his unending desire to forgive.
It’s not because God loves punishing Israel. It’s because they have done wrong and need correction. See, behind all of this, God is planning something amazing. The truth we will find is that even though God enacts his justice throughout history, his love and faithfulness will always be stronger than his people’s failure.