Listen How?

So two mornings ago for my devotion, I was to read Hosea 1 and 2. Having not gone through the whole bible yet, I am sad to say that I have never actually read entirely through Hosea; yeah sure we have bible verses in sermons and sessions and stuff but I haven't really pieced through it myself and uncovered things that opened my eyes personally.

Hosea 1 is really quite unique and can be harsh at times but there are a ton of things that I was able to pick up from the goodness of God... let me give you some of the stuff that I have found.

Basically there is this guy named Hosea and the Lord found favour with him and 'spoke his word to him', i.e. took him under his wing to speak to the people of Israel. That would be pretty cool hey? Knowing that you are walking so closely with God that He is using you to speak His goodness to other people (cause they didn't have it all written down in one book like we do. Gosh, we're blessed!).

Hosea must have been doing some things right because of this favour that the Lord found with him; so imagine the faith and the commitment that had to stream from Hosea that God had such use of.

So verse 2 goes: 'When the Lord first spoke to Hosea, he told him to marry a prostitute...'

- PANG -

Immediately, right into the beginning of the book... simply in verse TWO: Wake up Hosea! You are called to become a social reject, risk ostracizing yourself for God. Can you do it? Can you find that woman who everyone else has lost purposely because of what she has done to herself? Can you step out in faith enough to go?

I imagine he must've initially been like, 'Wow, God. Like, a prostitute? You means the ones that... do... really a prostitute?" Can you imagine just the crazy mind-wheeling that must have totally been going on there? Yet what does he do? He goes:

"Uh... alright. You've got my back, I trust you!"

What kind of absolutely fantastical and daft (as it must have seemed from the outside) faith that removed him from the norm and set him apart to be someone different: someone who gave other people chances. What an amazing thing to be seen as-- "hey look, its the guy who married the prostitute and gave her a second shot at life!"

So there was the servant of the Most High, married the woman named Gomer and what happens next?

Fancy that! She gets pregnant.

And God interjects and says: "Name the first one Jezreel."

Let me give you some background on Jezreel; basically this place was a valley, one which had seen a ton of bloodshed. This was rather a momentous land for the Israelites as they had both victories and brutal losses so this plain was pretty soaked in emotions, frustrations and memories. Getting to the point though, it says in Hosea 1:4

In a little while I will punish Jehu's family for the people they slaughtered at Jezreel. Then I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel.

Harsh stuff. I wanted to get a little more acquainted with who this Jehu was and I while I was picking through Wikipedia, I got some interesting information. Jehu was a man also who was moved to doing things for God- he killed the 'unrighteous', he had Jezebel (his wife and possibly the most horrid woman ever) killed, he broke apart the numbers of idolaters... but one thing that is stated explicitly in the bible is in 2 Kings 10:31: 'But Jehu didn't wholeheartedly obey the teachings of the Lord God of Israel. He didn't turn away from the sins that Jeroboam led Israel to commit.' 

Basically, this was a guy who thought he was doing the right stuff but his real heart for God wasn't in it. Pretty crappy for him because now he has all his family being shot down because of his mistakes. Lesson one from Jehu? If you're gonna do it for God, make sure God wants it and also absolutely give 'er. 

Anyways, back to the point: Jezreel a place that had held a ton of people who ended up very unhappy, much heartache, much slaughter all for the supposed 'joy' of conquest and ground gaining. And here God says, 'Name him Jezreel.'

That's like being told to name your first born Islamabad. Can you imagine what that kid would have had to go through in school? The names? The segregation? Absolutely nutty- but Hosea listened, he did what he was told and he named his first born son after a place of carnage. He walked in faith knowing that God had a particular reason for the name choice.

God did have reasoning for this though- he always does. Hosea 1:4-5:

... Then I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. On that day I will break Israel's bows and arrows in the valley of Jezreel.

The Lord is taking the people who were once devoted and committed to him and questioning them. God has been hurt so frequently by the people he would eventually die (and rise!) for, that he wants them to see some of the annoyances that he has had to deal with. He says that he will take their pride and curb it- force them to see things from the ground up rather than throne down because of all the stupid things they have done. Yes, they made a mistake, but they kept making them and making them that it really isn't any small wonder that God said 'Okay guys, cut it out already!'.

He is taking Jezreel, this mine of desolation- a historical site to the Israelites, one which they had fought and died at before and is going to show them his power again in this same place.

Jezreel to the Israelites is a poor name for a child. Jezreel to God is a promise that he will be lifted higher than man once again.

Then oddly enough, Gomer gets pregnant again, but this time with a daughter. Hosea 1:6

Gomer became pregnant again and had a daughter. The Lord told Hosea, 'Name her Lo Ruhamah [Unloved].

So you think that being named after an accursed spot is rough? Try being called Lo Ruhamah your whole life- now that is pretty sad. And this is directed towards a daughter. 

There have been countless studies done in the past saying that men crave respect while women crave love. This is rather a bold statement but one that I can definitely see to be true... and looking at it from poor Lo's perspective, it seems that she is going to be subjected to be denied the thing that women crave the most simply because of her name. Talk about brutality au max. 

But again, as with Jezreel, there is a deeper meaning behind the reason for her naming, Hosea 1:6-7 

I will no longer love the nation of Israel. I will no longer forgive their faults against me. Yet I will love the other nations. I will rescue them because I am the Lord their God.

The first time I read that I was pretty dumbfounded. I mean, Israel was God's chosen people! They were the folk that were to walk with the Lord from the beginning to the end of time, and now God is saying that he won't ever forgive them... ever again?! Yes, I realize that was a lot of 'evers' used in that sentence, but think of the strength of this statement:

• Genesis 33:20- He set up an alter there and named it 'God is the God of Israel'
• Exodus 3:10- Now, go! I am sending you to Pharaoh so that you may bring my people Israel out of Egypt.
• Exodus 29:45- Then I will live among the Israelites and be their God.

These people were pretty much in existence for the glory of God as they literally belonged to him. He chose them because he was their God and had a connection with them through the lives they had due to his goodness. And then I read that he didn't want to forgive anymore.

Wow.

God is a jealous god. Yes, that we are aware of, but you never really get the full swing of such implications until you peer deeper into the meaning of him. He said to not idolize anything else before him, yet here were the Israelites who were turning so far away from him that I'm sure God's eyes just grew wider and wider to the point where he just shrugged and shook his head. 

People cannot do things on their own. They think they can, they try everything in their power but things just- don't- work- out. This was the same case as God's people. They started to find other things to worship, undoubtably wealth, sex, possessions, power, fanciful relationships with those who they were not committed to... It annoys me just thinking about it, but when they saw that these things were not giving them the self worth they just gave up. They sought more and more materialistic things of the earth to 'satisfy' their internal starvation but to what avail?

Thats where Gomer comes in again. Hosea 1:8-9

After Gomer had weaned Lo Ruhameh, she began pregnant again and had a son. The Lord said 'Name him Lo Ammi [not my people]. You are no longer my people and I am no longer your God.

In comes God going, 'Yo, guys! What's the big idea? I have literally everything you need yet you decide to squander your lives away? Why?!' 

I can get why he gets so frustrated. Being connected to a group of people at Sinai and having them turn their backs on you? That is unkind from the human perspective... but God doesn't totally leave us in the dust. He is indeed forgiving- he said that the other people who would accept him, who would take his words, his teachings, his very being into context and make it a way to live? 

God is there and present in those people. 

And then I think back again to dear Hosea. This guy followed the Lord from square one: he married a woman who was considered so unclean that she wasn't technically supposed to be staying in respectable housing, he had three (known) children, all named rather unique and remarkable names, and he worked with God to show the people of Israel that they were just screwing up left, right and centre. 

He walked alongside and just behind and God sticking to the lit trail so that he may help the blind see with newly opened eyes. 

Talking with a friend of mine, I think that God asked Hosea to marry Gomer not solely because she deserved a second chance but because he wanted his prophet to see just the intense pain that he was going through having his bride betray him-

Because that is a part of who we are to God; we are his bride, his church, his holy, selected people that he gave everything for - we are part of the covenant - the blood binding that as we give ourselves in return to serve him, we are asked to follow non-stop, without thinking and without humming and hawing about the 'what ifs' in life. 

We are asked to love the lost ones, to bring the messed up ones with us so that they may see the beauty of the redeeming Saviour who started us anew from the deal we had been taken down by before. We are asked to be like Hosea, turning an ear to Him so that we may hear the cries of the pained and the angry, the lethargic and the depressed despite the troubles that we go through. 

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. - Philippians 4:13

We are to be different and take this idolatrous nation and stir it up. To change the ways people view materialism and selfishness and change it so it is once again about others and not solely focused on the things of this world cause really, they're all going to dissipate and pass away. 

Practice what you preach, change the lives of those around you by your action and keep an ear to Jesus for he leads in the most amazing of ways.