We need to start our look at the prophets by realizing two things. First is a myth we Americans have invented for ourselves. That myth is separation of church and state. There is no such separation. The Bill of Rights says that, “Congress shall make no law respecting as establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” That is not the same as separation. In truth they mix often and the lines are blurred. During this pandemic there has been a lot of debate about how much regulation the government can have on religious gatherings. At the same time, this congregation exists only because it was approved by the state of New York. And, if we wanted to close this congregation we’d have to get approval from the New York State Attorney General.
The constitution puts limits on what the government can do to the church. However, the church has free reign to influence the government. Most major church denominations, Lutherans included, have lobbyists who work regularly to influence legislation. We push to have our church perspective written into law. Where the line of political influence is drawn is that the church cannot back a specific political candidate or a political party. That’s why I get so upset during election season when people place political signs on the church property. However, any and all political statements are perfectly allowable.
The second thing we need to keep in mind is that all nations try to instill in their citizens that their nation is somehow special under God, or the gods, or under some moral principle that is greater than themselves. So even atheist nations claim there is some moral principle at work that they are enacting that makes them special or an example for others to follow.
I say all that because the prophets we find in the Old Testament understood themselves as having a message from God to speak to God’s chosen people. The ancient Jews saw themselves as a special nation chosen by God. They therefore had special obligations to God and they were to be an example to other nations. Their laws and their way of life was supposed to be in accord with God’s will for people.
The ancient Jews realized that anyone could be called by God to be a prophet. Some prophets were professional prophets on the government payroll. Some prophets had other jobs and they were called upon by God to just give one specific message for one specific time. There were no educational requirements or a prophetic ancestry, or any necessary background. It could be anyone.
How could you tell if a prophet was a true prophet or a false prophet? The answer was simple. You waited. If what they predicted came true then they were a real prophet. If what they predicted didn’t come true then they are false. Of course, if what they said was true and it was a warning to change your ways or something bad would happen, then you were living at your own risk!
Today we look at the prophet Hosea. He, like most of the prophets carry a message that the way the people were living was wrong and needed to be changed. God was not happy. God was going to either punish them, or allow punishment to happen to them for their unfaithfulness. We’ll get back to that in a minute. First though, we need a bit more history. Hosea is arguably the oldest prophetic book in the Bible. Covering the time between 750 and 722 BCE, Hosea’s message was directed to the northern kingdom of Israel.
You may remember from last summer when we did a series on the kings that King David unified the country and made Jerusalem the capital. The united kingdom continued under Solomon. But almost immediately upon Solomon’s death the nation split into two. Ten of the tribes rebelled and formed their own nation in the north. They called themselves Israel. The remaining tribe – Judah – was in the south and it stayed in the line of David. The northern kingdom hobbled along until it fell to the Assyrians in 722 BCE. The southern kingdom has its own ups and downs before it was conquered by the Babylonians in 586 BCE. Hosea, then, prophesied during the final days of the northern kingdom.
In those days the Assyrian Empire was threatening Israel. They made regular military incursions into Israel’s territory. Feeling threatened Israel formed an alliance with Syria. Together they fought a war with Judah in the south to pressure them into forming an anti-Assyria alliance. You can read more about that in 2 Kings 14-17.
Into that reality came Hosea’s message from God. The people weren’t just worshipping God. They were also worshipping the Canaanite god Baal. Baal was the storm god. He was believed to be the source of rain and fertility in the land. He was worshipped in various shrines throughout the land. God was not happy. This was great unfaithfulness and a lack of trust that God would provide.
Hosea also spoke against the political leaders. King Jeroboam II was a relatively stable leader but after his reign there was a series of revolutions involving assassinations. The country was floundering and there was no stability to address the Assyrian threat.
Hosea 1, which we had as our first reading, pretty much lays out the whole image Hosea uses. God is condemning Israel for being like an unfaithful wife. Rather than living by God’s good laws and trusting in God they have been unfaithful and gone after others.
Notice that God is not condemning them because this happened once, or twice, or three times. Hosea describes it as if they’ve made it a way of life. He basically says the nation has become like a professional prostitute.
The prophets often used more than just words to convey their message. They used actions to enact things too. When we get to Jeremiah we’ll see him using things like an ox yoke and dirty underwear to make a point. (Yes, the prophets were a colorful lot!) Hosea does the same. God commands Hosea to, “…take a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom…” That’s a very offensive image. Did he actually do that? Was that indeed the background of his wife Gomer? (Now that’s a girls’ name you don’t see used anymore!) Who knows. Maybe. Maybe not.
And did he actually have a son and name him Jezreel, which means God sows; and then a daughter Lo-ruhamah, which means not pitied, and then a second son Lo-ammi, which means not my people? It’s hard to say. Some of my seminary professors thought it was indeed likely. Then again, they may not have. What is almost certain, and we will see this as the summer goes on, if some of the prophets were alive today they’d be locked up into mental institutions. God indeed spoke through some very unlikely people!
Whether Hosea actually did it or not, we get the picture. On the whole the nation is not living by God’s design. They will suffer the consequences. In this case God does not intend to punish them. It’s more like God is resigning them to their fate. There’s only so much God could do. And if the people were this bad, or this uninterested in God, well, then he wouldn’t stand in the way of the consequences.
The final verses of our reading capture something that is always a theme in the prophets though. There is always a message of hope. There is always the message that no matter how bad things get God will not utterly forsake them. There always be a remnant that God will work through. So, to use Hosea’s imagery, no matter how unfaithful the people are, God will stay faithful.
As the summer goes on we’re going to meet a variety of people in the prophets. Most of them were very offensive people. Their messages from God were not nice. That’s why so many of them were persecuted, jailed, and even killed. But they carried out what God called them to do.
May we as individuals, and as a nation, live by God’s commands. That does not mean strict legalism. The prophets do not declare that. What is means is living by the principles God has created for fullness of life. Then, whether things are successful or a failure, or easy or hard, God’s will is done. God will win in the end. It is best to be part of the winning team.
No comments:
Post a Comment