I’m in the process of studying through the prophets of the Old Testament.  To help aid in my understanding of the social, political, and historical context in which these books were written I am also reading Abraham Heschel’s The Prophets.  Here are some of my thoughts…Enjoy!

 After wandering in the desert for 40 years, The nation of Israel was finally ushered into Canaan, their promised land.  It didn’t take long, however for things within the nation to start going awry.  The Israelites began to demand a king to lead them (1 Sam. 8:1-9) – a direct rejection of the Lord.  It was about 100 years later that Israel was split into 2 nations: Israel (in the North) and Judah (in the South).  

Around 735 BC, Hosea began to operate in His calling as a prophet.  He was sent to speak to Israel, the Northern Kingdom.  By this time, Assyria had emerged as an empire and began to lead many expeditions across the land, compelling many to submit to her rule.  From the perspective of Israel, they saw in Assyria, protection, security, and stability and looked to her for an alliance.  They also looked to Egypt, the land from which their forefathers had been delivered, for an alliance.  In addition, Israel was becoming a mess within the nation itself.  Kings were appointed and chosen only to be other thrown or murdered.  They went through 10 years having 5 kings, 3 of whom seized the throne through violence.  Obviously the state of the nation was rather dynamic, and in a manner that was not right in the eyes of the Lord – not looking to Him for guidance and rule, but rather looking to other nations and taking things into their own hands.

 Enter Hosea – a prophet told by the Lord to take a prostitute as his wife, and then persuaded by God to receive and restore their relationship as she continued to seek after her other lovers.  Just as many of us experience, Hosea began to learn from his own experience and somehow began to see God’s own struggle to restore a Bride that was so adamant on looking to others for things that should only be found in Him.  Unlike many other prophets, Hosea began to call forth not doom and gloom, but rather spoke of a compassionate God who is so in love with His people.  Understanding the compassion God must have, He spoke to Israel using metaphors such as husband/wife and parent/child.  He called out Israel for turning to others before the Lord, but he also pleaded on behalf of the Lord’s incredible compassion over the nation. 

 It is only through Hosea’s experience that we are able to hear the type of reconciliation He desires and his future hope for this Nation.  In Hosea 2:14-16 we read:

 Therefore, I am now going to allure her;
I will lead her into the desert
and speak tenderly to her
There I will give her back her vineyard.
and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.
There she will sing as in the days of her youth,
as in the days she came up out of Egypt.

 He continues in vs. 23:

 I will plant her for myself in the land;
I will show my love to the one called “not my loved one”.
I will say to those called ‘not my people’; you are my people;
And they will say, ‘you are my God’.

 Despite His desires for Israel to turn back to Him, we know how history plays out.  Regardless of the words spoken by Hosea, Israel was overtaken by Assyria in 722 BC.  They conquered and destroyed Samaria sending the Israelites back into exile.  Some Israelites were able to escape to join their brothers in Judah, but for the most part, Israel, again, found themselves back in captivity.  

 As I read through and studied the History surrounding this prophet I was amazed at what transpired.  As a nation, Israel was doing what one would think every good nation should do: establish themselves as a secure and stable nation.  Because of the growing power of Assyria, it would make sense for them to seek out protection from them.  What they didn’t realize was that this action was them turning their backs on the Lord, AND it was setting them up as prey to the surrounding nations such as Assyria and Egypt.  Their search for security ultimately led them in the opposite direction – towards exile and captivity. 

 How this is also found in our lives today?  Trusting God and having Faith are sometimes the hardest things to do.  Whether we know it or not, we are constantly battling Satan and the idols He may try to position in our lives.  When uncertainty arises and even when things are going very well for us, we move our eyes from God and onto ourselves or others around us.  We desire security and look for it everywhere but the one place it’s promised to be found!  Just as with the Israelites, apart from the Lord, those very things are more likely to lead us to a form of captivity than towards the freedom and joy that come with full reliance on the Lord. 

 The one step we have over the people of Hosea’s day is that we see the completion of that promise to make all things new…to reconcile all things.  We have Christ!  They didn’t…We have the promise that they did not yet know – our desire to cling to the feet of the Lord should be that much more. 

 So often it’s not.

 So often we turn away from God, seeking out security, protection, love, and a handful of other things everywhere but him.  God has given us Scripture and years upon years of History revealing to us just how futile those actions are.  He has given us His Son to prove the compassion He speaks of within the pages of Hosea.  Still we seek other things.  We have God, His Word, His Spirit, History…and memories of our own journeys…yet we still look elsewhere.  He desires for us to return to Him – how much more compelling evidence do we need to respond the way He so desires for us?  I wonder if we ever will…get it right.