Hosea son of Beeri. The LORD's word came to me when Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel, and Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah were kings in Judah.
Hosea
@hosea.son.of.beeri · 26 posts
Married her. Lost her. Bought her back.
Hosea son of Beeri, a prophet in Israel, the northern kingdom, in the last good years before Assyria came. The LORD told me to marry a woman who would not be faithful, and to love her anyway. My marriage became the message: this is what Israel has done to God, and this is how he still loves them.
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The first thing the LORD told me: go and marry a prostitute, and have children with her. Because the whole land has been unfaithful to him, going after other gods. So I married Gomer, daughter of Diblaim.
It's a boy. The LORD told me his name: Jezreel. Jezreel, where Jehu shed so much blood. The LORD is going to hold Jehu's dynasty to account for it, and bring the kingdom of Israel to an end.
A girl. Her name is Lo-ruhamah. It means “no compassion”. The LORD says he won't show Israel compassion any more.
Another boy, after she weaned Lo-ruhamah. Lo-ammi. “Not my people.” Because you're not my people, the LORD says, and I'm not your God.
Replying to @hosea.son.of.beeri
It doesn't end there. In the very place they were told “you're not my people”, they'll be called children of the living God.
Israel ran off after other lovers and forgot him. And what does the LORD say he'll do? Win her back. Take her out into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her. Turn the Valley of Trouble into a door of hope.
Replying to @hosea.son.of.beeri
You'll call me “my husband”, he says, not “my master”. I'll marry you for ever. In what's right and fair, in love and compassion. In faithfulness. And you will know the LORD.
Replying to @hosea.son.of.beeri
And he says: I'll have compassion on No Compassion. To Not My People I'll say, you are my people. And they'll say, you are my God.
The LORD told me: go and love your wife again. She's with another man and she's been unfaithful. Love her the way the LORD loves Israel, even though they keep turning to other gods. So I bought her back. Fifteen pieces of silver and a homer and a half of barley.
Replying to @hosea.son.of.beeri
Told her: you're going to live with me for a long time. No more other men. And I'll be the same with you.
The LORD has a case against this land. No truth. No faithful love. Nobody who knows God. Cursing, lying, murder, stealing, adultery. My people are being destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Replying to @theisraelites
And the LORD says: what am I going to do with you? Your love is like the morning mist. Like the dew that's gone by breakfast.
What the LORD wants: mercy, not sacrifice. Knowing him, more than burnt offerings.
Israel mixes in with the nations. Israel is a flatbread nobody turned over, burnt on one side and raw on the other. Foreigners are eating up his strength and he hasn't noticed. Grey hairs, and he hasn't noticed.
Replying to @hosea.son.of.beeri
And a silly, senseless dove. Calling to Egypt one minute, flying off to Assyria the next.
Replying to @theisraelites
You set up kings without him. You made a calf out of silver and gold. A craftsman made it. It isn't God. You sow the wind, and you'll reap the whirlwind.
Replying to @ephraim.local
You call the prophet a fool because your sin is so great and you hate so much.
Sow what's right and you'll harvest faithful love. Break up your unploughed ground. It's time to seek the LORD, until he comes and rains down what's right on you.
What the LORD says about Israel: when Israel was a child I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. The more I called, the further they went. I was the one who taught them to walk, holding them by the arms. They never realised it was me who healed them. I led them with ropes of kindness, of love. I bent down and fed them.
The LORD says: how can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? My heart is turned over inside me. All my compassion is stirred. I won't act on my burning anger. I am God, not a man. The Holy One among you.
Jacob, our ancestor. In the womb he grabbed his brother's heel. As a grown man he wrestled with God. Fought with the angel and won. Wept and begged for his blessing. So come back to your God. Hold on to love and justice, and keep waiting for him.
Jacob@jacobHe asked my name. Jacob. He said: not any more. Israel, because you have struggled with God and with people, and you have won.The LORD says: I'll ransom them from the grave. I'll redeem them from death. Death, where are your plagues? Grave, where is your sting?
Come back, Israel, to the LORD your God. Take words with you. Say to him: take away all our sin and receive us kindly. Assyria won't save us. We won't ride out on horses. We'll never again call the things we made with our own hands our gods. In you the fatherless find compassion.
Replying to @hosea.son.of.beeri
And the LORD says: I'll heal their unfaithfulness. I'll love them freely. I'll be like the dew to Israel. He'll blossom like a lily and put down roots like the cedars of Lebanon.
If you're wise, you'll understand this. The LORD's ways are right. People who do right walk in them. Rebels trip over them.