Psalm 107:1-9, 43            Hosea 11:1-11             Matthew 2:13-15

To love as God loves

As Genesis chapters 1 through 3 set the scene for the rest of Scripture, so Hosea chapters 1 through 3 set the scene for the dramatic prophetic statements that follow in chapters 4 through 14. The reoccurring themes in Scripture as a whole are reflected in both these passages: covenantal relationship (creation of Adam and Eve in God’s image and the marriage of Hosea to Gomer), rebellion (Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit and Gomer selling herself into cult prostitution), exile (Adam and Eve expelled from the Garden and Gomer living somewhere other than with her husband) , deliverance (in Genesis 3 this is in the form of a promise but Gomer is bought back by Hosea), and restoration (again in Genesis 3 this is in the form of a promise, but in Hosea, Gomer is restored as his wife). 

This is again revisited with God’s covenant with Israel, their apostacy in Egypt, their enslavement by Pharoah, their deliverance by God through Moses in the Exodus, and their restoration as God’s covenant people at Mount Sinai. This theme is then repeated with Israel in the wilderness until their settlement in the Promised Land, then again in the rollercoaster period of the Judges and so on until we get to the Advent of Jesus where the themes are repeated once again culminating in His death, resurrection, and ascension. In an alliterated format these recuring themes could be listed as relationship, rebellion, rejection, redemption, and restoration. The Bible really is only one story that repeatedly points us to the loving, kind, patient, gracious, merciful, forgiving, and compassionate God of the universe.

By now, I’m sure you’ve all realised that our Psalm for today followed the same pattern: the covenant relationship as well as rebellion that led to a broken covenant relationship is assumed in verses 1-3, the theme of exile or rejection is stated in verses 4-5, deliverance or redemption can be seen in verse 6, and God’s gracious restoration is described in verse 7. The response is as it should be: “Let them give thanks to the Lord for His unfailing love and His wonderful deeds for mankind, for He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things…whoever is wise, let him heed these things and consider the great love of the Lord.”

As hinted at before, Hosea maps out his entire message of a broken covenantal relationship, rejection, redemption, and restoration in the graphic opening illustration of his marriage to Gomer. In chapter 1, God instructed the prophet to marry a fallen woman (illustrating God’s covenant relationship with fallen humankind). The offspring of this unusual relationship serve as prophetic warnings to Israel: Jezreel (meaning “God sows” a double reference to punishment for the slaughter that took place in the valley of Jezreel as well as to the promise that Israel would one day flourish like a lush garden), Lo-Ruhamah (meaning “not loved” or “rejected”), and Lo-Ammi (meaning “not my people” and yet the name is immediately followed by a promise of redemption and total restoration after which they will be known as “sons of the living God”). 

Chapter 2 is an elaboration of this prophetic enactment ending once more with a promise of redemption and restoration. “I will plant her for myself in the land; I will show my love to the one I called ‘not my loved one’. I will say to those called ‘not my people’, ‘You are my people’; and they will say, ‘You are our God’.”

And then in chapter three things really get interesting. It appears that Gomer sold or resold herself into cult prostitution! She is obviously no longer living in the prophet’s home, but we are not told if she left or was asked to leave. But here is the powerful message: Hosea is to buy her back and “love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.” You have to watch out for those sacred raisin cakes…

These three chapters then serve as a backdrop to the rest of Hosea’s message. Every time people saw him…every time they heard him speak…it was this bizarre yet graphically effective image that loomed large in their mind. Hosea’s unusual acts, exposed Israel’s sin and warned them of certain judgement, but (especially his actions in chapter 3) also demonstrated God’s amazing grace and love for His people. The rest of the book is commentary on this vividly demonstrated pictorial revelation.

Now, chapter 11, the chapter we read from today, follows the same theme. It is a familiar story. Israel was enslaved in Egypt. While Moses did not tell us why they were enslaved for more than 400 years,  it is possible that the prophet Ezekiel did. In Ezekiel 20 God apparently said to the Israelites in Egypt: “Each of you, get rid of the vile images you have set your eyes on, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. But they rebelled against me and would not listen to me; they did not get rid of the vile images they had set their eyes on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. So, I said I would pour out my wrath on them and spend my anger against them in Egypt. But (and here comes the message of redemption) for the sake of my name I did what would keep it from being profaned in the eyes of the nations they lived among, and in whose sight I had revealed myself to the Israelites by bringing them out of Egypt.” So, from what Ezekiel said here, we may deduce that the reason Israel was oppressed and enslaved in Egypt was because they had conformed to the Egyptian religion. Even though this was not said prior to Ezekiel’s prophecy it seems that it was understood. Israel’s slavery in Egypt was a result of their sin.

Be that as it may, when Hosea wrote the words “out of Egypt I called my son”, the hearers would have linked what the prophet said with what they had seen the prophet do in chapters 1 through 3. Just as Hosea had married Gomer (described in chapter 1 as an adulterous woman) so too God had rescued Israel after they had abandoned their faith in Egypt. But then Hosea continued to show how the rest of his enacted prophecy was being fulfilled by the repeated and ongoing rebellion of Israel. While Hosea had been instructed to buy back his twice-over adulterous wife and to restore her to his home after she had rebelled against him and had left him, so God would buy back his unfaithful people and restore them to himself.

Years later, Matthew would use Hosea to demonstrate to his readers what was happening in their day. In the Ancient Near East, quoting from any passage was meant to bring up the whole message of the text or book. Like quoting the first lines of a well-known song or lines from a well-known book or movie. These quotations are never meant to be taken in isolation. 

So, by quoting from this particular passage of Hosea, Matthew was trying to alert his readers to the fact that the coming of Jesus was the beginning of a new Exodus…or, to go back further, a new creation. Jesus was about to do what Adam and Israel had failed to do…by retracing in their footsteps, so to speak, Jesus re-enacted their history but without making the same mistakes they did…as such He was a perfect Adam and a perfect Israel…He was what they were meant to have been. 

But by using Hosea, Matthew was also saying something about Israel in the days of Jesus. He was saying that they had become like the Israel of Hosea’s day…by their actions, by seeling themselves out politically to Rome, they had sold themselves into harlotry like Gomer. They had become like Israel in the wilderness, repeatedly testing God and turning away from him. And God was about to judge his people…only this time, the judgment would fall on Jesus. For those who subsequently believe and are united in Jesus, this judgement has set them free from bondage to sin and Satan…the Exile is over! They have effectively moved out of darkness into his light. Jesus took the judgement that was ours upon himself and paid the penalty in full. In short, through Jesus, God bought us back as Hosea bought back Gomer.

However, like those who rejected the warnings of Hosea, for those who rejected Jesus, the judgment remained in place. 

The challenge then, for us is to take up the cry of Hosea, “Return…to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.” 

Those who are in Jesus, ought to walk as Jesus walked…to love as Jesus loved…to do what Jesus did. Jesus has paid for all the Gomers of this world. Jesus came to lead us out of Egypt. Jesus came to take us into the Promised Land, proverbially speaking…into His Kingdom…a kingdom without borders and without boundaries. 

Hosea speaks to us down through the ages and teaches us to love as God loves…to love sinners as God loves them. But there’s the question. Will we go…as Hosea did? Will we go as Jesus did? Will we go as the early believers did? Will history testify of us that we turned the world upside down with the message of redemption and restoration? 

In Jesus, the Exile has ended. The gates to Paradise stand wide open. We have the flashlight of God, and we have the directions. Will we shine his light into the darkness of our world and show those who cannot see the way?

Let us pray.

© Johannes W H van der Bijl July 2022