Archive for the ‘Hosea 1’ Category
Above: Icon of Ezekiel
Image in the Public Domain
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
READING EZEKIEL, PART IX
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ezekiel 16:1-63
Ezekiel 20:1-44
Ezekiel 23:1-49
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
This project of reading the Book of Ezekiel is part of a larger project of reading the Hebrew prophetic books, roughly in chronological order. I know already, based on this larger project alone, that the Hebrew prophetic books are repetitive. For example, idolatry is, metaphorically, sexual–prostitution and/or adultery. This metaphorical prostitution is, functionally, pagan temple prostitution, common in the ancient Near East into New Testament times (from Genesis 38:15 to 1 Corinthians 6:15f). Also, much of the language of this sexual metaphor is Not Safe for Work (NSFW) and replete with shaming.
The Bible is not G-rated.
Ezekiel 16 is not G-rated. It uses the marital metaphor, also present in Isaiah 8:5-8; Isaiah 49-54; Isaiah 66:7-14; Jeremiah 2-3; Hosea 1-3; Zephaniah 3:14-20.
Robert Alter provides perhaps the most memorable synopsis of Ezekiel 16:
Among the themes of Ezekiel’s prophecies, the most striking expression of neurosis is his troubled relation to the female body. Real and symbolic bodies become entangled with each other. In biblical poetry, a nation, and Israel in particular, is quite often represented as a woman. God’s covenant with Israel–see Jeremiah 1–is imagined as a marriage, and so the bride Israel’s dalliance with pagan gods is figured as adultery or whoring. This is a common trope in biblical literature, but the way Ezekiel articulates it is both startling and unsettling.
The most vivid instance of this psychological twist in Ezekiel is the extended allegory of whoring Israel in chapter 16. The allegory here follows the birth of the nation in Canaan–represented with stark physicality in the image of the infant girl naked and wallowing in the blood of afterbirth, then looked after by a solicitous God–to her sexual maturity and her betrayal of God through idolatry. The focus throughout is on Israel as a female sexual body. Thus, the prophet notes (as does no other biblical writer) the ripening of the breasts and the sprouting of pubic hair. The mature personification of the nation is a beautiful woman, her beauty enhanced by the splendid attire God gives her (this is probably a reference to national grandeur and to the Temple). Yet, insatiably lascivious, she uses her charms to entice strangers to her bed: “you spilled out your whoring” (given the verb used and the unusual form of the noun, this could be a reference to vaginal secretions) “upon every passerby.” Israel as a woman is even accused of harboring a special fondness for large phalluses: “you played the whore with the Egyptians, your big-membered neighbors.” She is, the prophet says, a whore who asks for no payment for her services. “You befouled your beauty,” he inveighs, “and spread your legs for every passerby.” All this concern with female promiscuity is correlative with Ezekiel’s general preoccupation with purity and impurity.
It is of course possible to link each of these sexual details with the allegory of an idolatrous nation betraying its faith. But such explicitness and such vehemence about sex are unique in the Bible. The compelling inference is that this was a prophet morbidly fixated on the female body and seething with fervid misogyny. What happens in the prophecy in chapter 16 is that the metaphor of the lubricious woman takes over the foreground, virtually displacing the allegorical referent. Ezekiel clearly was not a stable person.
—The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary, Volume 2, Prophets (2019), 1051
Corinne L. Carvalho comments:
In Israel, spouses were not equal partners; women were legally and socially subservient to their husbands. Betrothal and marriage were contractual arrangements by which a woman became the exclusive “property” of her husband, even before the actual marriage. In practical terms, this meant that her husband was her sole sexual partner from the moment of betrothal. Since men could have more than one wife, adultery occurred only when it involved a married woman; it was a crime, punishable by death, against the sole property rights of a wronged husband (Lev 18:20; 20:10; Deut 22:22).
Ezekiel 16 plays on these elements of marriage. God is the one who owns Jerusalem, and Jerusalem owes him her exclusive allegiance and fidelity. Anything less gives him the legal right to punish her. Ezekiel 16 uses hyperbole and inflammatory rhetoric to achieve a shocking literary effect. Here, the author utilizes a common metaphor, the city as God’s wife, in ways that border on pornography. (Modern translations tone down the sexually explicit language of the Hebrew texts.) It is an image to provoke a response.
–in Daniel Durken, ed., The New Collegeville Bible Commentary: Old Testament (2015), 1431
Ezekiel 16 concludes on a sexually graphic metaphor of future restoration (verses 59-63). After all, to “know” is frequently a euphemism for sexual intimacy.
And I Myself will establish the covenant with you, and you will know that I am the LORD.
–Ezekiel 16:62, Robert Alter, 2019
Consider the following verse, O reader:
Thus you shall remember and feel shame, and you shall be too abashed to open your mouth again, when I have forgiven you, for all that you did–declares the Lord GOD.
–Ezekiel 16:63, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
I feel too abashed after reading Ezekiel 16.
My library contains a variety of editions and versions of the Bible. The Children’s Living Bible (1972) is one of these. The artwork depicts a smiling Jesus holding lost-and-found sheep, smiling at children wearing attire from 1972, and generally smiling. The volume also includes Ezekiel 16. I imagine a child reading Ezekiel 16 and asking a horrified parent about the contents of that chapter. I also imagine that parent’s horror that the tyke was reading a volume that included the term, “son of a bitch” (1 Samuel 20:30). Just wait for Ezekiel 23!
Ezekiel 20 continues the themes of idolatry and apostasy. The text dwells on the sabbath. This suggests that the sabbath had become important, as a substitute for the Temple, during the Babylonian Exile. The sabbath is foundational in the covenant. The sabbath is also a sign of a free person in the context of liberation from slavery in Egypt. And to keep the sabbath is to emulate God, the creator and original keeper of the sabbath.
God, as depicted in Ezekiel 20, is not worthy of emulation, respect, love, and awe:
- God, according to 20:9, 14, 22, and 44, acts selfishly, to preserve the divine reputation.
- God gave the people “laws that were not good and rules by which they could not live (20:25) then promised to destroy the people as punishment for obeying the bad laws and disobeying the impossible rules (20:26).
Chapter 20 exists in the shadow of Ezekiel 18–about individual moral accountability to God. The verdict on the people of Judah, in the yet-future context of the Fall of Jerusalem (586 B.C.E.) is damning.
Ezekiel 20 concludes on a note of future restoration, but not for the sake of the covenant people:
Then, O House of Israel, you shall know that I am the LORD, when I deal with you that I am the LORD, when I deal with you for My name’s sake–not in accordance with your evil ways and corrupt acts–declares the Lord GOD.
–Ezekiel 20:44, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
I wonder how many agnostics and atheists grew up devout, with this understanding of God, or one close to it. That theology may explain their current spiritual status as they properly reject that understanding of God yet go too far and remain out of balance.
Ezekiel 23 returns to the imagery of idolatry as harlotry. It also returns to the category of Not Safe for Work. (What was it with Ezekiel and sex?) Break out the plain brown wrappers again, O reader! The text speaks of the Babylonian Exile as punishment for persistent, collective, and unrepentant idolatry.
Some G-rated details (There are some.) require explanation:
- Samaria, the capital of the (northern) Kingdom of Israel, is, metaphorically, Oholeh, “her tent.” One may recall that, in the theology of the Hebrew Bible, the Presence of God dwelt in a text then in the Temple. We read of the fall of the Kingdom of Israel and of the causes of that collapse.
- Jerusalem, the capital of the (southern) Kingdom of Judah, is, metaphorically, Oholibah, “my tent is in her.”
- Ezekiel 23 condemns the kingdoms’ foreign alliances. This is an old Hebrew prophetic theme, albeit one other prophets presented in less graphic terms.
I try to maintain a spiritual and theological equilibrium. The God of Ezekiel 16, 20, and 23 is a self-absorbed, abusive, and misogynistic monster. This is not my God-concept. Neither is the God of my faith anything like a cosmic teddy bear or a warm fuzzy. No, the God of my faith holds judgment and mercy in balance. I do not pretend to know where that balance is or where it should be. The God of my faith also loves all people and models selflessness. Neither is the God of my faith a misogynist or any kind of -phobe or bad -ist. The model for the God of my faith is Jesus of Nazareth, God Incarnate. I read stories of Jesus having harsh words for those who deserved them and compassion for the desperate. I understand Jesus as being stable, unlike Ezekiel, apparently.
Ezekiel clearly was not a stable person.
–Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary (2019), 1051
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 27, 2021 COMMON ERA
PROPER 8: THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR B
THE FEAST OF CORNELIUS HILL, ONEIDA CHIEF AND EPISCOPAL PRIEST
THE FEAST OF SAINT ARIALDUS OF MILAN, ITALIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC DEACON AND MARTYR, 1066
THE FEAST OF HUGH THOMSON KERR, SR., U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND LITURGIST; AND HIS SON, HUGH THOMSON KERR, JR., U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, SCHOLAR, AND THEOLOGIAN
THE FEAST OF JAMES MOFFATT, SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, SCHOLAR, AND BIBLE TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN THE GEORGIAN, ABBOT; AND SAINTS EUTHYMIUS OF ATHOS AND GEORGE OF THE BLACK MOUNTAIN, ABBOTS AND TRANSLATORS
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Ezekiel
Image in the Public Domain
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
READING EZEKIEL, PART IV
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ezekiel 4:1-5:17
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Some of the Hebrew prophets were eccentric, to use a polite word. Hosea married a prostitute (Hosea 1). Isaiah walked around naked (Isaiah 20). Jeremiah wore a very dirty loincloth (Jeremiah 13) and a cattle yoke (Jeremiah 27-28). Ezekiel ate a scroll (Ezekiel 1, 3).
Ezekiel committed more symbolic acts in 4:1-5:17:
- He built a model of Jerusalem under siege (4:1-2).
- Then he placed an iron plate between himself and the model. The plate represented the barrier separating God and besieged Jerusalem.
- Then Ezekiel reclined on his left side for 390 days (or 190 days, depending on the text one consults) and on his left side for 40 days–one day per year. A generation was 40 years. Many Biblical scholars have offered explanations for the 190 or the 390 years. These explanations, marginally interesting, have not held my attention. The act of reclining symbolized famine (4:4-8).
- Ezekiel combined grains that grow under siege conditions and backed bread. He ate this bread and drank water in quantities barely capable of sustaining human life (4:9-11). He baked this bread over cow manure (4:12-15). This act symbolized the desperate people’s violation of food laws in the Law of Moses during the siege of Jerusalem.
- Ezekiel shaved his head and beard with a sword. Then he burned one-third, representative of a third of the inhabitants of Jerusalem who perished when the city burned in 586 B.C.E. The prophet struck one-third of the hair with the sword. This act symbolized the inhabitants of Jerusalem killed around the city in 586 B.C.E. Then Ezekiel scattered the remaining third to the wind and sheathed a sword at those hairs. This act symbolized the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian pursuit of those who fled Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E. Some of these hairs burned, too.
Ezekiel 5:5-17 explains that the people of Jerusalem had defiled the Temple, and had earned their harsh punishment. The text also describes catastrophic and desperate conditions in Jerusalem during the siege. Cannibalism is one of the results of these circumstances. (See Lamentations 2:20; 4:10, also.)
Had Ezekiel lived in some parts of the world in 2021, he would have been medicated and under psychiatric care. So would Isaiah and Jeremiah. Isaiah may also have faced legal charges of indecent exposure.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 22, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT ALBAN, FIRST BRITISH MARTYR, CIRCA 209 OR 305
THE FEAST OF DESIDERIUS ERASMUS, DUTCH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, BIBLICAL AND CLASSICAL SCHOLAR, AND CONTROVERSIALIST; SAINT JOHN FISHER, ENGLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC CLASSICAL SCHOLAR, BISHOP OF ROCHESTER, CARDINAL, AND MARTYR, 1535; AND SAINT THOMAS MORE, ENGLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC CLASSICAL SCHOLAR, JURIST, THEOLOGIAN, CONTROVERSIALIST, AND MARTYR, 1535
THE FEAST OF GERHARD GIESHCEN, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF JAMES ARTHUR MACKINNON, CANADIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, 1965
THE FEAST OF SAINT PAULINUS OF NOLA, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF NOLA
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Doves (Hosea 7:11)
Image in the Public Domain
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
READING HOSEA, PART VI
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Hosea 6:7-8:14
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Understanding this reading in textual context requires backing up to at least Hosea 6:4. For a refresher, I refer you, O reader, to the previous post in this series.
Hosea 6:7-8:14 contains some references from a later period, after the Fall of Samaria in 722 B.C.E. These references to Judah (6:11, 8:14) relate to the text to the (southern) Kingdom of Judah when it was declining.
According to this and other prophetic texts, alliances with powerful and dubious neighbors constituted infidelity to and treason against God. The references to the Egyptians were odd, given that the (northern) Kingdom of Israel entered into alliances with Aram and Assyria. At the time of Hosea 1:1, the main regional conflict was Aram versus Assyria. However, Judah did become a vassal of Egypt (2 Kings 23:31f).
That matter aside, divine chastisement, designed to bring about repentance, had not done so. Therefore, the time for punishment had arrived.
Hosea 7:3-7 makes sense if one considers royal succession in the (northern) Kingdom of Israel during the final quarter-century of the that realm:
- Jeroboam II (r. 788-747 B.C.E.) had died. (See 2 Kings 14:23-29.)
- Zechariah (r. 747 B.C.E.), his son, succeeded him. Zechariah reigned for about six months. (See 2 Kings 15:8-12.)
- Shallum (r. 747 B.C.E.) overthrew Zechariah then reigned for about a month. (See 2 Kings 15:13-16.)
- Menahem (r. 747-737 B.C.E.) overthrew Shallum. (See 2 Kings 15:17-22.)
- Pekahiah (r. 737-735 B.C.E.), his son, succeeded him. (See 2 Kings 15:23-26.)
- Pekah (r. 735-732 B.C.E.) overthrew Pekahiah. (See 2 Kings 15:27-31.)
- Hoshea (r. 732-722 B.C.E.) overthrew Pekah and became the last King of Israel. (See 2 Kings 17:1f.)
Two dynasties and four kings of Israel fell in twenty-five years. Six Kings of Israel came and went. Two kings without dynasties fell. The (northern) Kingdom of Israel did not endure.
They sow wind,
And they shall reap the whirlwind–
Standing stalks devoid of ears
And yielding no flour.
If they did yield any,
Strangers shall devour it.
–Hosea 8:7, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
Assyrians did devour it.
The two calves of Samaria, at Bethel and Dan (1 Kings 12:26-33), dated to the reign (928-907 B.C.E.) of Jeroboam I. (See 1 Kings 11:26-14:20.) King Jeroboam I, for political reasons, did not want any of his subjects making pilgrimages to the Temple in Jerusalem, the capital of the (southern) Kingdom of Judah. The two calves, therefore, were substitutes for the Temple in Jerusalem.
I reject your calf, Samaria!
I am furious with them!
Will they ever be capable of purity?
For it was Israel’s doing;
It was only made by a joiner,
It is not a god.
No, the calf of Samaria shall be
Reduced to splinters!
–Hosea 8:5-6, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
Hosea 8:1-14 may, in its final form, be the product of Judean editing of an extant text. One feasible interpretation of 8:3-6 is that all the kings of the (northern) Kingdom of Israel (from Jeroboam I to Hoshea) were as illegitimate as the golden calves at Bethel and Dan. One who has read of the northern monarchs may recognize the pattern of dynasties rising and falling. I hold open the possibility that the original version of the Book of Hosea included at least some of this material. The final version of 8:14, bearing the stamp of Judean editing, updated for a new (now ancient) context, provided no comfort.
Israel has ignored his Maker
And built temples
(And Judah has fortified many cities).
So I will set fire to his cities,
And it shall consume their fortresses.
—TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
It happened twice, in 722 and 586 B.C.E.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MAY 17, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF THOMAS BRADBURY CHANDLER, ANGLICAN PRIEST; HIS SON-IN-LAW, JOHN HENRY HOBART, EPISCOPAL BISHOP OF NEW YORK; AND HIS GRANDSON, WILLIAM HOBART HARE, APOSTLE TO THE SIOUX AND EPISCOPAL MISSIONARY BISHOP OF NIOBRARA THEN SOUTH DAKOTA
THE FEAST OF SAINT CATERINA VOLPICELLI, FOUNDRESS OF THE SERVANTS OF THE SACRED HEART; SAINT LUDOVICO DA CASORIA, FOUNDER OF THE GRAY FRIARS OF CHARITY AND COFOUNDER OF THE GRAY SISTERS OF SAINT ELIZABETH; AND SAINT GIULIA SALZANO, FOUNDRESS OF THE CONGREGATION OF THE CATECHETICAL SISTERS OF THE SACRED HEART
THE FEAST OF CHARLES HAMILTON HOUSTON AND THURGOOD MARSHALL, ATTORNEYS AND CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS
THE FEAST OF DONALD COGGAN, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY
THE FEAST OF SAINT IVAN ZIATYK, POLISH UKRAINIAN GREEK CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1952
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: A Jewish Wedding Ring
Image in the Public Domain
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
READING HOSEA, PART III
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Hosea 2:2-3:5 (Anglican, Protestant, and Eastern Orthodox)
Hosea 2:4-3:5 (Jewish and Roman Catholic)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The insertion of 1:10-2:1/2:1-3 (depending on versification) interrupts the flow from 1:9 to 2:2/2:4 (depending on versification) and gives me theological whiplash.
Rebuke your mother, rebuke her–
For she is not My wife
And I am not her husband–….
–Hosea 2:4, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
The covenantal relationship between God and Israel was broken at the beginning of the Book of Hosea. It remained broken in 2:2/2:4-2:13/2:15.
The Hebrew word TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985) renders as “rebuke” has other translations in English. These include:
- “Accuse” (The New American Bible–Revised Edition, 2011),
- “Call to account” (The Revised English Bible, 1989),
- “Plead with” (The New Revised Standard Version, 1989),
- “Bring a case against” (Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible, 2019),
- “Denounce” (The Jerusalem Bible, 1966), and
- “Take to court” (The New Jerusalem Bible, 1985; and The Revised New Jerusalem Bible, 2019).
All of these translations are accurate; the germane Hebrew word means both “reprove” and “take to court.”
The imagery of 2:2/2:4-2:13/2:15 is harsh. It is the imagery of sexual shaming, the punishment for promiscuity, as in Ezekiel 16. God, metaphorically Israel’s husband, metaphorically divorces and sexually shames the unfaithful wife. The wife–Israel–becomes infertile, adding to her disgrace. Her lovers are idols. They cannot provide for, feed, and clothe her. Only God can provide for, feed, and clothe Israel, but she continues to spurn Him. Israel, having made her bed, so to speak, must lie in it.
If the reading ended there, the news would be hopeless. Yet we come to Hosea 2:14/2:16-3:5. God will take Israel back. Mercy will follow judgment. The words Ishi and Baali both mean “husband.” Baali, of course, sounds like Baal (“lord”), as in “the Baals” (2:17/2:19) and “Baal Peor.” The Hebrew wordplay points to the abandonment of idolatry and the renewal of the covenantal relationship (2:18/2:20f).
Hosea 3:1-5 offers a metaphor different from that in 1:2f. The adulterous woman, perhaps Gomer, has been offering raisin cakes to the Canaanite fertility goddess Astarte. (In a form of Hebrew folk religion, Astarte was YHWH’s wife.) This woman, a metaphor for Israel, must abstain from sexual relations, even with her husband, during a period of purification and separation. She must, simply put, perform penance. At the end of this penitential time of purification and separation, God will restore the nation and renew the covenant. Hosea 3:1-5 is probably a subsequent, Judean addition to the Book of Hosea, given 3:4-5. Also, 3:1-5 is prose surrounded by poetry.
Without ignoring or minimizing the extremely difficult language and imagery of 2:2/2:4-2:13/2:15, I focus on an idea with practical implications. Sometimes divine punishment and judgment consist of God stepping back and allowing our metaphorical chickens to come home to roost. Sometimes divine judgment and punishment have more to do with what God does not do rather than with God does. Sometimes God really is absent and distant. Yet, as 2:14/2:16-3:5 remind us, God also shows mercy.
The editing of the Book of Hosea, with the benefit of hindsight and in the context of hopes for a better future, produced a final version of that book that repeatedly swings back and forth between divine judgment and mercy. The condemnations, punishment, and mercy, in the final version, applied to the (northern) Kingdom of Israel, the (southern) Kingdom of Judah, and the returned community after the Babylonian Exile. The Book of Hosea’s concluding note (Chapter 14) was one of extravagant divine mercy mixed with the knowledge that some would still reject God and the covenant, even then. Divine judgment and mercy exist in balance in the final version of the Book of Hosea.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MAY 14, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF FRANCIS MAKEMIE, FATHER OF AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM AND ADVOCATE FOR RELIGIOUS TOLERATION
THE FEAST OF SAINT CARTHAGE THE YOUNGER, IRISH ABBOT-BISHOP
THE FEAST OF SAINT MARIA DOMENICA MAZARELLO, COFOUNDRESS OF THE DAUGHTERS OF MARY HELP OF CHRISTIANS
THE FEAST OF SAINT THEODORE I, BISHOP OF ROME
THE FEAST OF SAINTS VICTOR THE MARTYR AND CORONA OF DAMASCUS, MARTYRS IN SYRIA, 165
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Hosea and Gomer
Image in the Public Domain
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
READING HOSEA, PART II
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Hosea 1:2-2:1 (Anglican, Protestant, and Eastern Orthodox)
Hosea 1:2-2:3 (Jewish and Roman Catholic)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
When I began my preparation for writing this post, I read the text aloud. While doing so, I got theological whiplash. Late in the reading, I also detected evidence of subsequent, Judean editing of the text, as in 1:7 and 1:10-2:1/2:3. (I wrote about reasons for subsequent, Judean editing in the original text of the Book of Hosea in the previous post.)
Adultery and prostitution, in the Bible, are sometimes simply adultery and prostitution. On other occasions, they are not literal references, but metaphors for idolatry. And, on other occasions, they are both literal and metaphorical. Regarding Gomer, the third option is germane.
Idolatry was widespread in ancient Israel. Polytheism was ubiquitous in the ancient world, so monotheism was an outlying theological position. Canaanite religion was popular in ancient Israel, much to the consternation of God, God’s prophets, and pious priests. Pious priestly religion and folk religion were quite different from each other. The cult of Baal Peor, the Canaanite storm and fertility god, entailed shrine prostitution, to ensure continued fertility and productivity of the soil, officially. Gomer (“to complete,” literally) was probably one of these prostitutes.
A competing scholarly opinion in commentaries holds that Gomer was a different type of prostitute. Some books I consulted suggested that she may have resorted to prostitution out of economic necessity, that her alternatives may have been starvation and homelessness. These scholars write accurately that many women in patriarchal societies have found themselves in this predicament, and that, in Gomer’s society, women lacked property rights.
Gomer being a shrine prostitute fits the metaphor in the Book of Hosea better.
Metaphorically, God’s covenant with the Jews was a marriage. Worship of Baal Peor, therefore, constituted infidelity. God was, metaphorically, her husband, and the Jewish people were God’s wife.
The marriage of Hosea and Gomer dramatized the divine indictment of Israel. The prophet played the role of God, and Gomer took the role of Israel. The children of Hosea ben Beeri and Gomer bath Didlaim bore names that revealed God’s terse messages.
- The first son was Jezreel, literally “God sows.” Jezreel was a city (as in Joshua 15:56) and a valley (as in Judges 6:33). Apart from the Book of Hosea, this place name occurred in Joshua 15, 17, and 19; Judges 6; 1 Samuel 25, 27, 29, and 30; 2 Samuel 2, 3, and 4; 1 Kings 4, 18, and 21; 2 Kings 8, 9, and 10; 1 Chronicles 4; and 2 Chronicles 22. The city of Jezreel had a bloody past. There, for example, Queen Jezebel had plotted the murder of Naboth (1 Kings 21). And, when King Jehu founded the dynasty to which King Jeroboam II belonged, Jehu did so by assassinating the entire royal court at Jezreel. What had come around was coming around, God warned. In 747 B.C.E., King Zechariah, son of Jeroboam II, died after reigning for about six months. His life and the House of Jehu ended violently when King Shallum staged a palace coup. About a month later, King Shallum died in another palace coup (2 Kings 15:11-15). Hosea, by the way, disagreed with the perspective of 2 Kings 9-10, the author of which held that God had authorized Jehu’s revolution.
- Lo-ruhamah was the daughter of Hosea and Gomer. The daughter’s name meant “not accepted” and “not shown mercy.” (Poor girl!) God refused to accept or pardon the House of Israel.
- Lo-ammi was the second son. His name meant “not My people.” (Poor boy!) The House of Israel had ceased to be God’s people.
Pronouncements of divine judgment continued after 1:9. But first, in 1:10-2:1/2:1-3 (depending on versification), came an announcement of divine mercy. Those God had just condemned as not being His people would become the Children of the Living God, shown mercy and lovingly accepted. This passage may have been a subsequent insertion into the Book of Hosea.
The juxtaposition of material serves a valuable theological purpose. It reminds us that divine judgment and mercy exist in balance. Therefore, do not abandon all hope or presume on divine mercy; God both judges and forgives. I recognize this balance without knowing where judgment gives way to mercy, and mercy to judgment.
The marriage of Hosea and Gomer also dramatized God’s continued yearning for Israel. R. B. Y. Scott wrote:
Hosea speaks of judgment that cannot be averted by superficial professions of repentance; but he speaks more of love undefeated by evil. The final words remain with mercy.
—The Relevance of the Prophets, 2nd. ed. (1968), 80
History offers a complicating factor. John Adams, while defending the accused British soldiers charged in the so-called Boston Massacre, said,
Facts are stubborn things.
Consider the following stubborn facts, O reader:
- The Assyrian Empire absorbed the (northern) Kingdom of Israel in 722 B.C.E. A mass deportation followed. This was not the first mass deportation. A previous one had occured in 733 B.C.E., when that empire had claimed much of the territory of the (northern) Kingdom of Israel.
- Many refugees from the (northern) Kingdom of Israel fled south, to the Kingdom of Judah after these events. These refugees merged into the tribes of Judah and Simeon.
- Many other Israelites remained in their homeland. Many who did this intermarried with Assyrian colonists, producing the Samaritans.
- The Ten Lost Tribes assimilated. Their genetic and cultural heritage spread throughout the Old World, from Afghanistan to South Africa, over time.
- The two kingdoms did not reunited, contrary to Hosea 1:11/2:2.
Nevertheless, I like what R. B. Y. Scott wrote:
The final word remains with mercy.
I hope so.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MAY 13, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF THE ASCENSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
THE FEAST OF HENRI DOMINIQUE LACORDAIRE, FRENCH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, DOMINICAN, AND ADVOCATE FOR THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
THE FEAST OF FRANCES PERKINS, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF LABOR
THE FEAST OF SAINT GEMMA OF GORIANO SICOLI, ITALIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC ANCHORESS
THE FEAST OF SAINT GLYCERIA OF HERACLEA, MARTYR, CIRCA 177
THE FEAST OF UNITA BLACKWELL, AFRICAN-AMERICAN CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: A Map of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah
Scanned from an Old Bible
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
READING HOSEA, PART I
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Hosea 1:1
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
This post begins an ambitious program of Bible study and blogging. I, having recently blogged my way through Daniel, Jonah, and Baruch at this weblog, turn to the other books of the Old Testament classified as prophetic. In the first stage, I am reading and blogging about Hosea, Amos, Micah, and First Isaiah, all of them contemporaries prior to the Babylonian Exile.
The prophet Hosea (“rescue”) ben Beeri lived and prophesied in the (northern) Kingdom of Israel. According to Hosea 1:1, Hosea prophesied during the reigns of the following monarchs:
- Azariah (Uzziah) of Judah (r. 785-733 B.C.E.); see 2 Kings 15:1-7 and 2 Chronicles 26;
- Jotham of Judah (r. 759-743 B.C.E.); see 2 Kings 15:32-38 and 2 Chronicles 27:1-9;
- Ahaz of Judah (r. 743/735-727-715 B.C.E.); see 2 Kings 16:1-20, 2 Chronicles 28:1-27, and Isaiah 7:1-8:15;
- Hezekiah of Judah (r. 727/715-698/687 B.C.E.); see 2 Kings 18:1-20:21, 2 Chronicles 29:1-32:33, Isaiah 38:1-39:8, and Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 48:17-22 and 49:14; and
- Jeroboam II of Israel (r. 788-747 B.C.E.), see 2 Kings 14:23-29.
The list of kings (with dates taken from The Jewish Study Bible, Second Edition, 2014) does not include any Israelite monarchs who succeeded Jeroboam II through the Fall of Samaria (722 B.C.E.) and were contemporary with King Ahaz of Judah and perhaps King Hezekiah of Judah. Also, this list prioritizes the Kings of Judah. If one is intellectually honest (as I try to be), the chronological problem is obvious: Ahaz and Hezekiah do not belong on the list of kings in Hosea 1:1. The Book of Hosea contains layers of composition and editing. Alteration of the original text seems to have begun perhaps as early as prior to the Babylonian Exile, in the (southern) Kingdom of Judah, and continued (probably) as late as the post-Exilic period. The chronological discrepancy in Hosea 1:1 is a minor matter. If I were a fundamentalist, it would trouble me, and I would attempt to reconcile the irreconcilable. Karen Armstrong tells us:
…fundamentalism is antihistorical….
—A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (1993), xx
The NIV Study Bible (1985) pretends that there is no chronological discrepancy in Hosea 1:1. But I do not affirm either Biblical literalism or inerrancy, so I acknowledge and ponder the evidence of alteration of the original text of the Book of Hosea. Besides, salvation does not require willful ignorance or a frontal lobotomy. Besides, giving short shrift to one’s intellect in the name of piety dishonors the image of God in oneself.
The germane note in The Jewish Study Bible, Second Edition (2014) argues for the editing of the original text of the Book of Hosea during the final, declining period of the (southern) Kingdom of Judah:
From the Israelite perspective, the book is anchored in the last period of strength of the Northern Kingdom; from the Judahite perspective, it is anchored in a period in which Israel moves from a political position of strength to the beginning of its demise in the days of Hezekiah. This double perspective is no mistake, but a rhetorical clue for the reading of the book.
–1132
Gale A. Yee wrote:
The priority of Judean kings suggests a Judean editing. The phraseology and structure that this verse shares with other prophetic superscriptions indicates that it was part of a joint redaction of the prophetic books. This editing probably occurred during or after the Babylonian exile, when the latter prophets can be dated. Moreover, the phraseology is similar to the editing of 1 and 2 Kings, suggesting a deuteronomistic redaction. The superscription emphasizes that while the revelation was addressed to a particular prophet at a particular historical time, the book in its later, edited state articulates the revealed message of God. As God’s word through Hosea spoke to its original audience and to its later Judean audience, it continues to address us today.
—The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. 7 (1996), 217
The (united) Kingdom of Israel had divided in 928 B.C.E., early in the reign of King Rehoboam, son of King Solomon. The Davidic Dynasty, which had ruled the (united) Kingdom of Judah since 1005 B.C.E., governed the (southern) Kingdom of Judah, including the tribes of Judah and Simeon, until the Fall of Jerusalem (587 B.C.E.). In contrast, dynasties rose and fell in the (northern) Kingdom of Israel. King Jeroboam II (reigned 788-747) belonged to the House of Jehu, which had come to power in a bloody revolution in 842 B.C.E. Jeroboam II presided over a prosperous and militarily strong realm (2 Kings 14:23-29). Yet, just a quarter-century after his death, the former (northern) Kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrian Empire. Those twenty-five years were politically tumultuous.
- King Zechariah succeeded his father, Jeroboam II, in 747 B.C.E., and reigned for about six months (2 Kings 15:8-12)
- King Shallum ended the House of Jehu, as well as the life and reign of King Zechariah via assassination in 747 B.C.E. Shallum reigned for about a month (2 Kings 15:13-16).
- King Menahem (r. 747-737 B.C.E.) came to power by having King Shallum assassinated (2 Kings 15:17-22).
- King Pekahiah (r. 737-735 B.C.E.), succeeded his father, King Menahem (2 Kings 15:23-26).
- King Pekah (r. 735-732 B.C.E.) came to power by having King Pekahiah assassinated (2 Kings 15:27-31).
- King Hoshea (r. 732-722 B.C.E.) came to power by having King Pekah assassinated. Assyrian King Sargon II (r. 722-705) finished what Shalmaneser V (r. 727-722) had started; Sargon II terminated Hoshea’s reign and the existence of the (northern) Kingdom of Israel (2 Kings 17:1-23).
A note in The New Interpreter’s Study Bible (2003) suggests:
Because Hosea condemned the house of Jehu, it may be that he fled Israel prior to the revolt [of 747 B.C.E.], continuing to speak from Judah.
That is possible.
God, speaking through Hosea, repeatedly warned the people of the (northern) Kingdom of Israel of the terrors they were about to experience and urged them to restore their covenant relationship with God. They did not renew that covenant relationship, to their detriment. Perhaps subsequent editors of the original text of the Book of Hosea amplified these themes, with the benefit of hindsight. But these editors did not invent them.
Repurposing and revising texts was sufficiently commonplace in Biblical times that finding evidence of it had ceased to surprise me. For example, some of the Psalms originated at one place and in one period yet went through stages of revision, to fit different contexts.
Dr. Yee’s final point provides my jumping-off point for my conclusion for this post:
…[God’s word] continues to address us today.
Here, “God’s word” refers to what God has said and says. God’s word is as current today as it was last year, a decade ago, a century ago, a thousand years ago, and in antiquity. God’s word, although ancient, remains fresh. Are we paying attention?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MAY 12, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT GERMANUS I CONSTANTINOPLE, PATRIARCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE; AND DEFENDER OF ICONS
THE FEAST OF SAINT GREGORY OF OSTIA, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT, CARDINAL, AND LEGATE; AND SAINT DOMINIC OF THE CAUSEWAY, ROMAN CATHOLIC HERMIT
THE FEAST OF PAUL MAZAKUTE, FIRST SIOUX EPISCOPAL PRIEST
THE FEAST OF ROGER SCHÜTZ, FOUNDER OF THE TAIZÉ COMMUNITY
THE FEAST OF SYLVESTER II, BISHOP OF ROME
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Hosea
Image in the Public Domain
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Collect:
Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:
Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,
that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of life,
which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Assigned Readings:
Hosea 1:1-11 (Protestant and Anglican)/Hosea 1:1-2:2 (Jewish, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox)
Psalm 25
Colossians 1:1-14
John 12:20-36
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The word of the LORD that came to Hosea son of Beeri in the days of Uzziah, Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam son of Joash king of Israel.
–Hosea 1:1, Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible (2019)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The reading from Hosea provides a timeframe. Dates of reigns are approximate, on the B.C.E.-C.E. scale, due to the use of relative dating in antiquity. Furthermore, if one consults three sources, one may find three different sets of dates for the reigns of the listed monarchs. With that caveat, I cite The Jewish Study Bible to tell you, O reader, the following regnal spans:
- Azariah (Uzziah) of Judah: 785-733 B.C.E.
- Jotham of Judah: 759-743 B.C.E.
- Ahaz of Judah: 743-735-727/715 B.C.E.
- Hezekiah of Judah: 727/715-698-687 B.C.E.
- Jeroboam II of Israel: 788-747 B.C.E.
- Fall of Samaria: 722 B.C.E.
The chronological problem is obvious: Kings Ahaz and Hezekiah of Judah do not belong in Hosea 1:1. However, one may know that the decline of the northern Kingdom of Israel followed the death of King Jeroboam II, just as the decline of the southern Kingdom of Judah began during the reign of King Hezekiah. The beginning of a kingdom’s decline informs the reading of Hosea, set in the northern Kingdom of Israel. One may reasonably conclude that the lessons of this book were also for subjects in the Kingdom of Judah.
Divine judgment is a prominent theme in this reading from Hosea. Divine forgiveness will come up in Chapter 2. For now, however, the emphasis is on judgment. In that context, one reads that idolatry is a form of spiritual adultery and prostitution.
All the LORD’s paths are mercy and forgiveness,
for those who keep his covenant and commands.
–Psalm 25:10, The Revised New Jerusalem Bible (2019)
++++++++++++
Whoever serves me, must follow me,
and my servant will be with me wherever I am.
–John 12:26a, The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)
The invitation in Lent is to walk out of the darkness and into the light. The invitation is not to let the darkness overtake one. The invitation is to follow Jesus in the shadow of the cross.
The most enticing form of idolatry may not involve statues or anything else tangible. No, the most enticing form of idolatry may be the temptation to think of God as being manageable. God is not manageable. God is not domesticated. And God is not a vending machine. God judges. God shows mercy. God forgives the sins of the penitent. And God deserves more love than anyone and anything else in our lives.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 6, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF THE EPIPHANY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Adapted from this post:
https://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2021/01/06/devotion-for-the-first-sunday-in-lent-year-d-humes/
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Some of the Possessions of Charles Foster Kane, from Citizen Kane
(A Screen Capture)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Assigned Readings:
Hosea 11:1-11 and Psalm 107:1-9, 43
or
Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14, 2:18-23 and Psalm 49:1-11
then
Colossians 3:1-11
Luke 12:13-21
The Collect:
Let your continual mercy, O Lord, cleanse and defend your Church; and, because it cannot continue in safety without your help, protect and govern it always by your goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Some Related Posts:
Proper 13, Year A:
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/01/14/proper-13-year-a/
Proper 13, Year B:
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/10/01/proper-13-year-b/
Prayer of Praise and Adoration:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/03/13/prayer-of-praise-and-adoration-for-the-eleventh-sunday-after-pentecos/
Prayer of Dedication:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/03/13/prayer-of-dedication-for-the-eleventh-sunday-after-pentecost/
A Prayer for Proper Priorities:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/09/22/a-prayer-for-proper-priorities/
Hosea 11:
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/09/06/week-of-proper-9-thursday-year-2-and-week-of-proper-9-friday-year-2/
Ecclesiastes 1-2:
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2012/07/03/devotion-for-may-24-in-ordinary-time-lcms-daily-lectionary/
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2012/07/03/devotion-for-may-25-and-26-in-ordinary-time-lcms-daily-lectionary/
Colossians 3:
http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2010/10/29/first-day-of-easter-easter-sunday-year-a-principal-service/
http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2012/06/01/first-day-of-easter-easter-sunday-year-c-principal-service/
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/03/15/week-of-proper-18-wednesday-year-1/
Luke 12:
http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2012/06/15/devotion-for-the-twenty-ninth-thirtieth-and-thirty-first-days-of-easter-lcms-daily-lectionary/
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/05/08/week-of-proper-24-monday-year-1/
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Citizen Kane is a wonderful film, one which many younger viewers, accustomed to a different, faster-paced style of cinema find intolerable. That is their loss. The movie ends with Charles Foster Kane having died recently. His business empire is gone and his mansion is full of material goods which mean nothing to those burning them.
And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?
–Luke 12:20b, New Revised Standard Version
Night Prayer from A New Zealand Prayer Book (1989) contains the following words near the ritual’s beginning:
It is but lost labour that we haste to rise up early,
and so late take rest, and eat the bread of anxiety.
For those beloved of God are given gifts even while they sleep.
–page 167
Proper priorities matter. Appropriate work provides one with an opportunity for self-fulfillment and economic independence while doing something beneficial to others. It is about the “we,” not just “me.” Such work is something worth enjoying. And everything which destroys or damages that which is best in others and in oneself one must not nurture. Or, as Rumi wrote in A Basket of Fresh Bread:
Stay bewildered in God,
and only that.
Those of you who are scattered,
simplify your worrying lives. There is one
righteousness: Water the fruit trees,
and don’t water the thorns. Be generous
to what nurtures the spirit and God’s luminous
reason-light. Don’t honor what causes
dysentery and knotted-up tumors.
Don’t feed both sides of yourself equally.
The spirit and the body carry different loads.
Too often
we put saddlebags on Jesus and let the donkey
run loose in the pasture.
Don’t make the body do
what the spirit does best, and don’t put a big load
on the spirit that the body could carry easily.
–Translated by Coleman Barks; from The Essential Rumi (1995), page 256
God, who loves us, longs to show us mercy. Yet our actions will have consequences. What we sow, we will also reap. May we sow righteousness and focus on that which is positive and long-lasting.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
OCTOBER 13, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT EDWARD THE CONFESSOR, KING OF ENGLAND
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM WAYNE JUSTICE, JURIST
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Adapted from this post:
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2012/10/13/proper-13-year-c/
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: The Missal, by John William Waterhouse
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Assigned Readings:
Hosea 1:2-10 and Psalm 85
or
Genesis 18:20-32 and Psalm 138
then
Colossians 2:6-15, (16-19)
Luke 11:1-13
The Collect:
O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us your mercy; that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we lose not the things eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Some Related Posts:
Proper 12, Year A:
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/01/11/proper-12-year-a/
Proper 12, Year B:
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/09/25/proper-12-year-b/
Prayer of Praise and Adoration:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/03/10/prayer-of-praise-and-adoration-for-the-tenth-sunday-after-pentecost/
Prayer of Dedication:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/03/10/prayer-of-dedication-for-the-tenth-sunday-after-pentecost/
Genesis 18:
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2010/12/16/week-of-proper-8-monday-year-1/
Colossians 2:
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/03/14/week-of-proper-18-tuesday-year-1/
Luke 11:
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/04/27/week-of-proper-22-wednesday-year-1/
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/04/30/week-of-proper-22-thursday-year-1/
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
For though the LORD is high,
he regards the lowly;
but the haughty he perceives from far away.
Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies;
you stretch out your hand,
and your right hand delivers me.
–Psalm 138:6-7, New Revised Standard Version
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Except when it does not.
Focusing mainly on examples from this Sunday’s readings, I write about the following.
- In Genesis 18 Abram talked God down to a minimum number of righteous inhabitants of Sodom to stave off divine destruction of that city. Yet, a few chapters later, the patriarch did not argue for the life of his own son. He argued for the lives of strangers but not that of his own son. Sodom, of course, faced destruction; there were too few righteous people in a city with many equal-opportunity rapists. And God did spare Isaac in Genesis 22.
- What did Hosea’s children do to deserve such names? Jezreel means “God sows.” Lo-ruhamah translates as “Not pitied.” And Lo-ammi means “Not my people.” Their names were, of course, symbolic of divine rejection of a people who had turned their backs on God. Destruction of the unfaithful and the wicked is a biblical theme. But I wonder what psychological harm the children of Hosea and Gomer suffered.
- There are, of course, numerous instances of martyrdoms and genocides from ancient times to current events. Many of those who perished were righteous. Often they died because of their fidelity to God. And what about Jesus, sinless yet crucified?
- The Book of Job refutes (correctly) the simplistic formula whereby suffering results from one’s own sin and God spares all the righteous from harm. The example of Jesus confirms this.
Speaking of Jesus, we read in Colossians that he overrides our assumptions regarding a number of issues. Some of them do not apply one with a Western scientific worldview in the twenty-first century. I do not, for example, share the Hellenistic assumption (referenced in Colossians) that elemental spirits govern the world. No, I am a product of the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment. But other worldviews persist and I carry my own assumptions in my head. Christ, we read in Colossians, overrides much–from schools of philosophy to erroneous cosmology. It is Christ who, as we read in Luke 11, spoke of prayer and God’s attentiveness.
There is also judgment, of course. That abounds in both Testaments. So one ought not to focus so much on mercy and judgment as to minimize or ignore its opposite. Besides, mercy for one party does mean judgment for another much of the time. So, if one perceives that God has not delivered one, one might be in the wrong camp. Or one might be impatient. Or one might have a legitimate complaint against God.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
OCTOBER 5, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF THE SAINTS AND MARTYRS OF ASIA
THE FEAST OF HARRY EMERSON FOSDICK, NORTHERN BAPTIST PASTOR
THE FEAST OF THE INAUGURATION OF THE UNITED REFORMED CHURCH, 1972
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Adapted from this post:
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2012/10/05/proper-12-year-c/
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
This is post #700 of this weblog.–KRT
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
BLOGA THEOLOGICA 
You must be logged in to post a comment.