Hosea

Our community Bible reading is going through the Old Testament this summer, and it hasn’t always been easy to discern what the Spirit wants to teach me through these stories of God’s wrath. I guess I’m still learning to fall in love with the OT in its entirety (am I allowed to say that? ).

When I read Hosea, I am tempted to look at God’s rebuke as harsh and cruel. I am tempted to minimize the gift that is His holiness. But for Him to minimize His perfect standard is to minimize all that makes Him the one true God. He cannot be swayed by passing whims or fancies. His love is immovable, so His righteousness must be as well.

But, because his holiness is so steadfast, how much MORE MAGNIFICENT is His mercy when He pours it out onto His children! To read Hosea with the knowledge of Jesus makes the story so personal. I am the whore, purchased by the Righteous One, not only to free me from the holy wrath of His Father, but also to call me His family—His beloved bride—forevermore.

What a kindness of God, then, not only to pursue me relentlessly in my adultery and idolatry, but also to put up hedges in the way of my preferred paths (Hosea 2:6). It reminds me of a passing comment Charlie made in the 1 Samuel series— “do you really want God to give you everything you pray for? It is perhaps the kindest thing God does for us not to give us everything we ask.”

To lose the things I hold dear in order to cling tightly to what (WHO) truly matters—my Husband, my King—is a mercy from the hand of God. I don’t think my heart fully believes that yet. It’s a terrifying, life-transforming thought—one that I’ll learn and relearn for the rest of my days on this side of Heaven.

Lord, I believe! Help my unbelief.