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Hosea, Dancing, and Great Love

By 12:28 PM

My church is doing a series on Old Testament prophets. We kicked off with the book of Hosea, which has been neat because I haven't read Hosea in years.

Allow me to recap the primary concept from this book: Hosea marries a prostitute named Gomer who keeps returning to her lesser lifestyle instead of remaining with Hosea, who loves her desperately.  Their union is meant to be a reflection of how we (all of humanity) respond to God's great love: "yeah yeah, I hear you Jesus. That's nice that you care for me and have plans for my life. Now off to the brothel I go."

The first few chapters of Hosea are glorious.  We see him repeatedly seek out Gomer and she returns to him (again, symbolism for our tendencies). Here is an excerpt from chapter 2.
Therefore I am going to allure her; I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her.  There I will give her back her vineyards and will make the Valley of Achor [which means trouble] a door of hope.  There she will respond as in the days of her youth...  "In that day," declares the Lord, "you will call me 'my husband' and no longer call me 'my master'." (verses 14-16).
Now, just to be credible, please don't think the whole of Hosea is a sing-songy depiction of God's fierce love and forgiveness for His people. For a large portion of this book, that is not the tone. In fact, the bulk of Hosea describes God's frustration with His people who keep turning from Him. He's good to them, He loves them, He leads them, but they are rebellious still. Hosea catalogs all of this.

But like a loving Father, the story doesn't end in anger and well-deserved punishment.  He ends by nearly making a fool of Himself and going into the brothel after us (just as Hosea went after Gomer again and again). Chapter 14:4 says,
I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away...
Mark, my pastor at Crossings Knoxville, showed this video as a memorable summary of God's great love, reflected in the story of Hosea.


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