Hosea; I cannot give them up

According to the prophets, Israel is God’s wife.
But Israel is also a much-loved son, which complicates things.
“Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord, for I am married unto you” (Jeremiah ch3 v14, AV).

The first chapters of Hosea focussed on the husband-and-wife relation of God and his people.
On the face of it, the relation was heading for divorce, since the people seemed incapable of being “faithful” to their God.
Divorce is a wrench in itself, but what makes it harder is that Israel’s God and his people are also father-and-child.

“When Israel was a child I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son” (Hosea ch11 v1).
This is the verse, incidentally, which Matthew quotes as a prophecy of the return of Jesus and his family from their brief exile (Matthew ch2 v15).
The relationship which Jesus shares with the Father, represents and epitomises the father-and-son relationship between God and Israel.

The metaphor is developed;
“I taught Ephraim to walk, I took them up in my arms…
I led them with cords of compassion…
And I bent down to them and fed them” (vv3-4).

But Israel has been an ungrateful child, insensible to all this care;
“They did not know I healed them… My people are bent on turning away from me”.
The only solution seems to be to end the relationship.
He will have to overthrow the kingdom and send them to live with the Egyptians and the Assyrians (vv5-7).

Yet, when it comes to the crunch, he cannot bring himself to do it.
Because he is a father.
“My heart recoils within me, my compassion grows warm and tender”.
They mean much more to him than Admah and Zeboiim (two of the cities involved in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah), so how can he treat them in the same way?
How can he give them up? (vv8-9)

Therefore he revokes his intention.
At least he will not permanently destroy his people, or leave them in exile.
He will roar like a lion “and his sons will come trembling from the west.
They shall come trembling like birds from Egypt, and like doves from the land of Assyria;
And I will return them to their homes, says the Lord” (vv10-11).

This dilemma keeps returning, in the Bible, because God has two purposes which are almost irreconcilable.
On the one hand, he wants to separate himself from the presence of Sin.
On the other hand, he wants to avoid a separation from humanity.
But as long as Sin remains part of human life, the Lord’s two purposes are logically incompatible.

That was demonstrated at the time of the Great Flood.
For the sake of removing Sin from the world, he determined “to make an end of all flesh”.
But for the sake of keeping humanity in the world, he modified that intention by allowing Noah to survive on the Ark.
This is a pattern which becomes familiar in the Old Testament; he threatens the ultimate recourse and then draws back.

The reluctance becomes even more intense when he’s dealing with his own particular people.
Hosea’s metaphors depict that from two different angles.
When the Lord calls Israel a wife, he’s expressing the love that belongs to a relationship established by choice. It implies a will to love and protect, an expectation that the link will not be sundered on either side.
When the Lord calls Israel a son, he’s expressing the love that belongs to a relationship established by nature. It implies a will to love and nurture, an acknowledgement that the link ought to be unbreakable.

We should expect, then, that God’s people will never be completely destroyed, though it might experience change (as happened when the Gentiles were brought in).
And that is the promise of unbreakable permanence which is offered in the final chapters of the Bible;
“He will dwell with them and they shall be his people” (Revelation ch21 v3).

a reply to: DISRAELI

Isn't there already a thread named this?

I'm possitive there is unless I have made another dimensional shift...u purposely though.

a reply to: Treespeaker
No, there is a thread called "I WILL give them up", and this one is the sequel, expressing the "second thoughts".

a reply to: DISRAELI

Well I endorse you, and like the way you write.

Sometimes I guess it's just the thought of o.k. I understand, and know this intimately.

Have you learned how to move a mountain yet? It's very simple a grain or more at a time over time which is not something that can be accurately measured due to the "theory" off multiple dimensions.

Sir, I applauded you!

a reply to: Treespeaker
Faith moving mountains will be the subject of a thread at some stage after Easter. Big emphasis on Faith next year. I can't promise that I will be able to move mountains personally.

a reply to: DISRAELI

Simply I always advise grace before faith.

It sounds simple but grace is a thing that a body should dwell on.

then the mountains begin to move, ther might be some eruptions though....that is normal.

This is coming from a guy with wax wings, third gen lol.

Cheers!

Dude, I have no idea Who The Lord my God is.

Thou shalt have no other gods besides Me. So let's identify what it is to sin against God.

Ten commandments. No murdering stealing lying No extramarital adultery Zero lusting, etc.

There's nothing difficult understanding that first one either.

Thanks Dis
Very interesting relationship God had with Isreal, so many different contexts to something
Reminds me of Jesus speaking as a mother hen in mathew 23/37 calling to Israel

Awesome gods love for His children

a reply to: Raggedyman
Yes, exactly, that's another version of the relationship. Thank you for that reminder.

If you think the job is easy, try it for a day.

a reply to: trifecta
Which job are you talking about?
If you mean "father", I never said it was easy.
If you mean "husband", I never said it was easy.
If you mean "prophet", I never said it was easy.
You are rather lapidary.

a reply to: Blissful
Your reply doesn't seem to connect with the topic of the thread.

Of course this thread is the sequel to;
I will give them up

So I am covering Hosea in these four threads;
What's wrong with Israel?
I will give them up
I cannot give them up
I will bring them back