Hosea 1 | Wayfarer

When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.”
Hosea 1:2 (NIV)

In 1994, after working for six years in vocational ministry, I took a job working for the company I now own and lead. My mother was not happy. For many years, about once a year, she would ask me if and when I was going to return to vocational ministry. My response to her was that I never left ministry. It just looks different. That didn’t seem to appease her, though she eventually gave up asking the question.

Having just finished the ancient prophecies of Amos, our chapter-a-day journey pivots to the prophecies of Hosea. Like Amos, Hosea’s prophetic words were directed at the northern kingdom of Israel, and he appears on the scene right after Amos. Perhaps he actually heard Amos preach and the two knew one another. Which, is why I wanted to go right into Hosea. It’s interesting how God uses two very different men in two very different ways to communicate similar messages to the same people.

The contrast between Amos and Hosea is immediate. Amos was the archetype of the lone stranger. He was a blue-collar nobody from Judah who shows up out of nowhere to preach his prophetic messages against the nation of Israel. Hosea is from Israel. He’s a local boy that people know. He’s not just going to stand a preach in the temple. God tells Hosea that his daily life, his wife, his marriage, and his children are going to be a living metaphor, a message to his nation. God tells Hosea:

Marry a promiscuous woman, because this people have been adulterous with me in worshipping other gods.

Name your son “Jezreel” (“God scatters”) because I’m going to punish the house of Jehu (a former king of Israel) for the massacre at Jezreel (when Jehu violently usurped the throne from his predecessor).

Name your daughter “Lo-Ruhmah” (“Not loved”), as I will no longer show love to Israel, though I will show love to Judah. God miraculously delivered Judah from the Assyrians.

Name your son “Lo-Ammi” (“Not my people”), because I’m not your God, and you’re not my people.

Hosea’s poor daughter. What a moniker to put on the wee girl!

Having lived in more than one small town along my life journey, I can tell you that Hosea’s life choices would not have gone over well with his family and community. My mother was upset that I left vocational ministry. I can’t imagine her reaction had I married a woman everyone in town knew was of ill-repute and then started giving my children strange names. I can guarantee you that when Hosea walked by the elders swapping coffee and commentary by the city gate, the ol’ boys were shaking their heads. “That Hosea. Did you hear what he named his daughter? He’s a weird one. I feel sorry for his mother.”

But, that was the point. Amos’ forthright preaching seemed to have fallen on deaf ears. Hosea’s life as performance art appears to be God trying to get people’s attention by having the local boy make crazy life choices that everyone in town would question. When they questioned Hosea as to why he married that no-good Gomer, or why he named his daughter “Not loved,” he would tell them the reasons God told him to do so. And, believe me, it would definitely be talked about all over town.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself looking back at my life journey. Ever since I became a disciple of Jesus in my teens, I have continually and actively sought to discern and follow where God was leading me. There were certainly some choices I made along the way that raised eyebrows as well as questions from my family and friends. I’m sure that my life has not ended up where others would have predicted back in the day. But, I can tell you that I have no questions about the fact that I am right where I have been led, doing what I am supposed to be doing.

I get the feeling that Hosea was similarly at peace doing what God asked him to do.

I also get the feeling that his mother never stopped asking him about it.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

7324305636_83c4bf3500_n — from loren javier via Flickr

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 conceived in prostitution. This will illustrate how Israel has acted like a prostitute by turning against the Lord and worshiping other gods.” Hosea 1:2 (NLT)

Hosea was written in whacky period of ancient history about 750 years before Christ. After King David and his son Solomon, the small kingdom of Israel had been broken up in a civil war. The southern kingdom was called Judah and their kings followed the lineage of King David. The northern kingdom continued to call themselves Israel and their throne was occupied by anyone who could plot, assassinate or politically maneuver themselves into the position.

There are two things that I love about Hosea. First, God told Hosea to marry a prostitute and I love to imagine how that conversation went over with his parents.

“God told you WHAT??!”

Hosea stands as an eternal reminder that God does not fit inside a box of our own finite cultural, social or political sensibilities. God is not subject to the limits of our own definition of propriety. In fact, the only limits God fits are those He has ordained for Himself.

Second, I love the way God made Hosea’s very life became an object lesson. His marriage to Gomer became a metaphor for God’s “marriage” to the idolatrous and therefore adulterous nation of Israel. Hosea’s poor children became metaphor’s for God’s message to Israel. The Great Creator as master artist turned Hosea’s life into a work of performance art.

I think God does the same with my life and yours.

How interesting to think of our very own life journeys being a metaphor for what God is doing. It’s why I love history. There are lessons, eternal spiritual lessons, to be learned from each person’s story. A few days ago I asked the question “What’s your story?” Today, I’m asking the same question for a second time with a different twist:

What is the story God is telling through your life?

(Note: Those following along on a chapter-a-day may wonder why we haven’t finished the book of Psalms. Because Psalms is 150 chapters long, I’ve opted to break it up a bit so as not to get fatigued with it. Psalms is broken up into five distinct sections or “books.” The first book ends with Psalm 41 which we walked through yesterday. We’ll pick back up again with the second section in the near future.)