November 16-22
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If you haven’t noticed, I love the small details in the Old Testament.
In Hosea, we find a small transition in symbolism from husband and wife to father and son. Let’s lay the context for its importance.
Israel has abandoned God. They chose another god. Despite the fact that He saved them from Egypt, saved them in the wilderness, saved them time and time again throughout history, they chose another god and betrayed Him. Surely they faced consequences in order to teach them that Baal had no power to save them, but God also finds it quite impossible to wholly abandon them.
In the beginning of Hosea, there was a lot of marital symbolism. The Lord’s covenant relationship with Israel is described like a bride and groom. In chapter 11, we have switched over to the imagery of a father. The Lord taught His children to walk, so gently, slowly taking down supports as they grow and learn. This is significant to me.
Hosea 11:7 -9
7 And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt him.
8 How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together.
9 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: and I will not enter into the city.
The beginning of these verses remind me of the hymn “Come Thou Fount” where it says, “prone to wander.” I have found that in my own life. I get so distracted and forgetful, and my heart wanders away from Him. And yet, despite this wandering, the Lord asks, “How can I give you up? How can I make you as Admah and Zeboim.” Admah and Zeboim were destroyed alongside Sodom and Gomorrah.
This verse holds greater consequence when placed in the context of the symbolism changes in this chapter. As mentioned, we moved from bride and groom imagery to father and son imagery.
If Conner ever became extremely violent or cheated on me repeatedly or something completely wild and crazy, I would contemplate divorce. I would pray about it, but divorce would be an option for me. If that was ever my answer, I would likely move on and remarry someday. I would train my heart to move on. The imagery of husband and wife was powerful for the previous lesson, namely the fact that Christ voluntarily entered into this marital relationship with a cheating spouse and had quite a bit of long-suffering in the midst of it.
Chapter 11 leads with the father and son. This is appropriate for the verses where God seems to be crying out, “How could I abandon you?”
If Conner changed into something unrecognizable, I could consider divorce and moving on (just as I hope Conner would do should I ever become crazy or violent). But if my children grow up to be scary psychos, I still don’t know that my heart would ever abandon them. I don’t know that my biology would allow me to. Perhaps I would have other children, but no new child would ever replace the ones I lost. Perhaps I would cut ties with them, but I don’t think a day would go by that I wouldn’t long for them.
I understand what the Lord is saying when cries out, “How could I abandon them?” I don’t think I could either no matter what pain they caused me. Perhaps there would be boundaries, but my heart would never stop longing for them.
This is how the Lord feels. He longs for you to come home. Maybe He even thinks He is crazy for it, but that is simply how He feels. He wants us home with Him.
Now here is a bit of transition. The father-child analogy delivers even further.
Perhaps feeling that deep love from the Lord is difficult for you. Perhaps you have been through some pretty intense experiences in your life that have left you feeling unable to form attachments to father figures, or any type of figure.
As humans, we have a defense mechanism called projection. We take the characteristics of those around us and place them onto another person. Sometimes we even take our own characteristics and place them onto God. In an extreme example, this would be like an unfaithful spouse accusing their spouse of being the unfaithful one. It can also look like being afraid of your calm, kind boss because you had an angry father growing up.
This is a huge thing. A child who has been raised in love often finds resilience because they assume they are likeable. A child who was left and traumatized will assume no one wants them and sabotage their own relationships. It can be a good cycle, but it can also be a vicious cycle. It becomes especially vicious when our ability to perceive a loving God is hindered by a lack of love that we felt in our own lives.
God loves us. This I have learned.
But that love doesn’t necessarily make a huge difference if we don’t feel it and allow it into our lives.
Verse 9 holds God’s answer.
….I am God, and not man…
He is not the same as us. When you love your kids but get annoyed out of your mind, He finds a never-ending spring of patience. When He moves in anger, it is to reach a hard heart. When your loved one would get angry with you for making mistakes, God would love you and help you pick up the pieces.
Don’t project trauma onto Him. He is trustworthy. He is not man. Do not mischaracterize Him. This is a warning, not because He will punish you and abandon you, but because you will miss out on so much goodness. God wants you to feel how adored and loved you are.
Don’t let Satan push you into sabotaging the best relationship available.
When we mischaracterize Him, it hinders us greatly. Feeling His deep love is motivating and inspiring and peaceful, but it goes beyond that. He wants to be able to push us further and harder so as to make us glorious. He wants to allow us to struggle so that we can grow. He wants to be able to say no without us falling apart and assuming He hates us.
When we finally realize His love, it allows our growth to catapult forward. We no longer fall apart and regress when we find ourselves in front of some tough stairs to climb. Rather, we see those stairs as an expression of love.
I testify that our Lord really does love us. He can’t help Himself from calling us back to Him. He can’t bring Himself to abandon us because we are His. It’s almost ridiculous, but it’s true. We are everything to Him. I testify that choosing to believe in that love is life-changing.
