Pictured: “The Death of Socrates,” by Jacques-Louis David, 1787. Socrates was convicted of “corrupting the youth of Athens” because he asked hard questions about the Greek gods they all served. In the painting, Socrates, who is still teaching, bravely faces his sentence of death by hemlock tea, while his admirers and students look on in despair. Old Plato, seated at the end of the bed, can’t watch.
Human stories elevate men of power and violence, from Homer’s nearly 3,000-year-old epic the Odyssey to TV’s Breaking Bad and everything in between. But God, who is infinitely ‘bigger, faster, and stronger,’ is unimpressed by the destructive anger of a man, considering it a distinctly human reaction, James 1:20. God restrains his wrath. Why?
“Because I am God and not man” Hosea 11:9.
God taught his people about himself using the STREET THEATER performed through the lives of his prophets—and no prophet was called to anything more challenging than Hosea. I believe God chose Hosea for this task because he was a man of mercy and not wrath.
“Go. Take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms. For the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the Lord” Hosea 1:2.
By choosing a prophet with an adulterous wife, God was accusing the Hebrew people of being adulterous, and warning them about the coming judgment.
God will judge. But God will also show mercy. Perhaps that is a unique aspect of Hosea’s message: a groom demands a bride be faithful and true–executing justice. But because Hosea loves his wife, as God loves his people, Hosea will forgive her unfaithfulness–executing mercy.
Jesus loves his bride the church the same way: he demands faithfulness and will judge our sins (while we are on earth), but he is deeply compassionate too, forgiving us over and over.
Hosea’s Messages of Judgment:
“For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind” Hosea 8:7. This is one of the most famous lines in the book of Hosea.
“For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear and go away. I will take away and none shall rescue him” Hosea 5:14.
God continues the lion/wild animal metaphor: “I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her cubs, and will tear her heart out. I will devour them like a lion” Hosea 13:8.
“Woe unto them! For they have fled from me. Destruction unto them! Because they have transgressed against me though I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against me” Hosea 7:13.
“The days of recompense have come … they have deeply corrupted themselves” Hosea 9:7,9.
“They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant, thus judgment springeth up like a hemlock in the furrows of the field” Hosea 10:4 (Hemlock is a poisonous plant that will kill nearly any mammal that ingests it.) Notice how God describes justice–it is like a dangerous weed that simply pops up in the middle of a field of edible crops. Is that not exactly the way God’s passive judgment works? We sin and then we reap what we sow. Bad consequences “springeth up like a hemlock in the furrows of the field.”
Hosea’s Messages of Mercy:
As noted above, God warns and warns of coming judgment. But God is a God of mercy and great compassion. His adulterous bride angers him, but he will never stop loving her.
“Break up the fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord” Hosea 10:12.
God reminds people that Jacob wrestled with the angel, that he actively sought God’s blessing—and he received it: “By his strength he had power with God. Yea, he had power over the angel and prevailed. He wept and made supplication” Hosea 12:3-4.
“For I desire mercy and not sacrifice” Hosea 6:6.
“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt, have I called my son” Hosea 11:1. (This reference to the nation of Israel is also a Messianic prophecy, which will be fulfilled when Mary and Joseph and young Jesus return from years living in Egypt.)
“Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? Who is prudent, and he shall know them? For the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them, but the transgressors shall fall therein” Hosea 14:9.
Finally, God explains why he is more merciful than we are, that he is more forgiving, more compassionate, and more loving.
Human nature elevates the angry, powerful, and violent. But God does not operate that way. Indeed, God declares that he is merciful because he is NOT a man.
“I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger. I will not return to destroy Ephraim. For I am God and not man. The Holy One in the midst of thee” Hosea 11:9.
God, may we walk in holiness. Fill us with integrity and obedience. And make us compassionate and forgiving as you are. Fill us with mercy and love for people—mercy and love rooted in God our strength. May we be strong in you—strong enough to forgive and show mercy to those who need it.
AΩ
* Note the apt language of Hosea 10:4: “They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant, thus judgment springeth up like a hemlock in the furrows of the field” Hosea 10:4. What an excellent description of God’s Passive Judgment–the way consequences seem to grow out of our actions, like a poisonous weed popping up in the middle of a beautiful crop. I realize I wrote most of this above, but I like this so much, I wanted to note it again. Guess I’ll have to memorize it!
PS. The poisonous Hemlock plant, a shrub, is not to be confused with the unrelated “Hemlock Tree,” a non-poisonous pine that became known as Hemlock because it gives off a similar odor.
Household Words: 