Hosea 11:1-9 - November 12, 2023

Many people have this idea that God in the Old Testament is some sort of mean, distant deity who smites at random and demands blood in order to be appeased. In contrast, Jesus of the New Testament is nice and loving and able to get that Old Testament God to stand down so we no longer get smited. Smote? So God won’t smite us anymore. 

As we have worked through the Old Testament these past few months, I hope none of you have that point of view. But, if you are still not convinced, hopefully, today’s passage from Hosea challenges the old Old Testament viewpoint even more. 

Today, God is portrayed as a loving parent despite Israel being a wayward child. God is relentless in love. 

Our scripture starts off with beautiful imagery. There is an emphasis on all the parent has done, the time spent together - how the relationship was wonderful! 

Love was there from the beginning. “When Israel was only a child, I loved him.” I was there to protect and save and rescue. God is reminiscing and remembering as a parent does with their own kids. 

What joy when you lift a baby up to touch your cheek to theirs, feeling that chubby little face pressing up against your own.
What joy when teaching a toddler to walk, sitting down on the ground, holding them until they are stable… then letting go, watching them, helping them to take those first steps.
What joy when playing with a child - catch, tackle, human missile, wrestling, building, crafting.
What joy when you’re right there to cheer them on, to watch them succeed, to catch them if they fall, to beam with pride. 

That’s how God feels, says Hosea. That’s how God feels about Israel, about us. 

But… but being a parent isn’t without its frustrations.
The more God reached out, the more Israel rebelled. There will be bowls of oatmeal that end up on the floor. Kids don’t put away their cups of water that they took one sip out of. They break your glasses. They start to get sassy. Then… they become teenagers. 

Now, we don’t have any teenagers just yet - though we have survived the terrible twos, the feisty fours, the entitled eights, and now are in tumultuous tweens. I’m not sure they quite compare to the adventure that awaits. 

I, myself, was not really that rebellious of a teenager, though I am glad my parents aren’t here to refute that. But I know many teenagers, I know lots of stories from parents about teenagers, and I’ve worked with teenagers since I was in my teen years. 

The gist of every teenage/parent story is that they just won’t listen. They think they know it all. They just sit in their room or stare at a screen or mope. No matter how much you reason with them, they do the opposite. 

We can delve into reasons: the need for independence, the desire to fit in, hormones, their prefrontal cortex hasn’t fully developed, whatever. But at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter why; all that matters is that they often reject your love and advice.

I can only imagine what it’s like to have the child you love turn away. The child whom you held, fed, changed, cheered on, protected, raised, taught, loved… to have them turn away from you. 

There are children who turn from their parents - for a time or for a lifetime. And in our world, unfortunately, the opposite is true, too. There are also parents who turn from their kids. It’s heartbreaking but strained and broken child/parent relationships are all around us. 

So, Hosea’s metaphor rings true. Israel turned from God. And not just in the teenage angst kind of way, but rejected God through disobedience, idolatry, and unfaithfulness. 

No matter how hard God tries, Israel turns away - does the opposite of what God asks - puts itself in danger. God does the parental “throw your hands up.” What are parents to do? What is God to do?

The relationship is strained. Israel turns from God.

And while it is easy to see that in this passage and from all those other stories we know of Israel’s unfaithfulness,
and while we can see places around us where our world turns from God,
it’s a bit harder for us to see how we in our own lives turn from God. It’s hard to see how we are the wayward teenager in God’s story. 

Just like we probably were in our teenage years, we don’t see how our actions affect anyone else, let alone affect God. In the ways we’ve not listened to God’s guidance in how to live, in the things we’ve done because we know it all, in the ways we’ve given God the silent treatment or avoided God because we couldn’t face what we’ve done… we turn away from the one who gave us life, who provides what we need, who gives us gifts and blessings. 

So, what is God to do with a rebellious people? With an independent, know-it-all, you-can’t-tell-me-what-to-do people?  

God’s relationship with Israel is strained.
But it is not broken, never broken. God loves Israel. God is on their side. God is relentless.

God’s relationship with us is strained. But it is not broken, never broken. God loves you. God is on your side. God is relentless.

This isn’t a low-level relationship; we aren’t acquaintances with God, no. God is fully and faithfully involved with each of us. So, God asks, “How can I give you up? How can I hand you over?” And God doesn’t because God loves you. 

This is the best part of the prophets, I think. The prophets point us forward. They give us hope. They tell us about God’s true character and how that character will be seen, shown, and displayed. God is relentless. 

At the end of our reading, God says that in the future, things will be different. God won’t act in anger - it isn’t who God is. God’s compassion will win out, because God is God, not like us. God loves you. God is on your side. God is relentless.

Today, Hosea tells us about a God who loves, heals, leads, who doesn’t give up on us. Despite what we do or what we deserve, God keeps coming after us. Despite how we react, God keeps giving us grace. Despite our history, God’s love is relentless. 

God, by being who God is, mends the brokenness and creates relationship and new life out of anything, even out of a cross. And God does that, not just for Jesus, but for us who so often turn away - and sometimes turn away with a little bit of sass. God still gives us life forever, and that is the ultimate not giving up on us. 

As we navigate our own “terrible twos” up through our “nifty nineties” - and every age in between - God never stops loving us. Hosea reminds us of God’s compassion and love that triumph over everything, even our own stubbornness, independence, and awkwardness. God’s love is relentless - always coming after us, always on our side. And despite what you may have heard, it has been there from the beginning and it always will be.