From the first of the minor prophets we have Hosea. From chapter one these words: 2 When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, "Go, take for yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord." 3 So he went and took Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. 4 And the Lord said to him, "Name him Jezreel; for in a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. 5 On that day I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel." 6 She conceived again and bore a daughter. Then the Lord said to him, "Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have pity on the house of Israel or forgive them. 7 But I will have pity on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God; I will not save them by bow, or by sword, or by war, or by horses, or by horsemen." 8 When she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived and bore a son. 9 Then the Lord said, "Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not my people and I am not your God." 10 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, "Children of the living God."
Please remember these texts are from the Lectionary. Some of these texts are harsh and hard. And among them is this one. Hosea is the only writing prophet from the Northern Kingdom (Israel); the rest are from Judah (Southern Kingdom) and he writes during a time of great prosperity during which times people tend to forget God. And this is the story of God's peoples' unfaithfulness to God. As a preacher I like visual aids or props. It helps to drive home an important lesson, and here God asks Hosea to live out the visual aid. God says find a woman who is unfaithful, and more specifically "a wife of whoredom." And have for your children, "children of whoredom," because this is how the nation is living anyway. The term whoredom refers more to idolatry more than promiscuousness. So, Hosea goes and marries Gomer (I know, us older folks think of the character on Andy's show who later got his own show, but let's move on), who is a prostitute. They have a son and God says, "Name him Jezreel," as a reminder of the sin the nation had committed at Jezreel. Their second child was a girl whom they named Lo-ruhamah, which was a name picked by God and the name means No Mercy. Their third child was a boy and they named him Lo-ammi, which means Nobody. The names represent God's feelings towards the unfaithfulness of the people towards God. God would show no mercy to those who persisted in idolatrous ways, and this would result in them being named Nobody, for such would be the place they would hold in God's heart.
Yet, here comes God's redeeming love in the midst of this unfaithfulness. For it is always God's desire that we turn back to Him no matter where we have wandered off. God's arms are always open to receive sons and daughters that have made their way apart from God. It's the story of the Prodigal Son and the story of the woman caught in adultery of the New Testament; God loves them and welcomes them back once they set behind them their sins of unfaithfulness. A new life awaits all who want to be released from their past. "Charles Wesley, the brother of John, could never get over the shocking news of the 'stupendous love of God most high...full of unutterable grace' that meets us in our sin, forgives our past, and calls us to new life." (Wesley Study Bible, Life Application Topic, p. 1073).
Our sin is "so yesterday," and our new life is so "right here and right now" is we so choose.
PRAYER: Loving God, even in the midst of pain and suffering that we inflict ourselves, even when we choose other gods of pleasure and possessions over You, Your arms are still open to receive us, to mend our wounds, heal our memories, and make us new. So be it in my life right here and right now. I ask this in Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
