“NO! NO! NO!”

A series on the book of Hosea
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Hosea 1:1-11 

[The story about Hosea is a story about the relentless love of God. Hosea was a prophet who spoke out against the idolatry of the Israelites as they pursued the pagan gods of Baal and Asherah. His life became an allegory about the unfaithfulness of Israel and the relentless love of God.]

  

In the movie “Fiddler on the Roof”, Tevye has three older daughters who, contrary to tradition, decide for themselves who they will marry. With the first two, he is able to accept the marriage because they’re within the faith. Not so with the third.

 

She decides to marry a Russian who is completely outside of the Jewish faith. There’s a heartbreaking scene where Chava, the youngest of the three, approaches her father asking him to reason with her.

 

Tevye goes through the same thought process that he did with his first two daughters. But, in a painful climactic outburst, he yells, “NO! NO! NO!” Then, without saying a word to Chava, he turns his back on her and walks away. As far as Tevye is concerned, Chava is unfaithful and is dead to the family.

 

Hosea knows all too well what that feels like.

 

² When the Lord first began speaking to Israel through Hosea, he said to him, “Go and marry a prostitute, so that some of her children will be conceived in prostitution. This will illustrate how Israel has acted like a prostitute by turning against the Lord and worshiping other gods.”     NLT

 

Hosea knew firsthand what it was like to have an unfaithful wife. Every time she stepped out of the door to go to the market, he would wonder. When he left the house to go to the synagogue, he would wonder. Anytime she was going to the well for water, he would wonder.

 

And when his wife was unfaithful, Hosea would have been heartbroken.  Each child that was born would have reopened the wound of Hosea’s heart. Even their names were a reminder, and would have made his heart ache more. This is exactly how the Lord felt when Israel was unfaithful.

 

Although there were consequences to Israel’s sin, ultimately the Lord loved her and desired a relationship with her. God is a God of mercy, grace and love.

 

¹⁰ “Yet the time will come when Israel’s people will be like the sands of the seashore—too many to count! Then, at the place where they were told, ‘You are not my people,’ it will be said, ‘You are children of the living God.’          NLT

 

Like Tevye, I can imagine the Lord struggling between His love for us and His hatred for our unfaithfulness. And, if it wasn’t for the sacrifice of His one and only Son, He would be compelled to tell us, “NO! NO! NO!”

 

But thankfully, like the Lord did for Israel, He provides for us to be the “children of the living God” as He relentlessly pursues us with His unconditional love.

 

Copyright 2023 Joseph B Williams

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

Three Man Weave

A series on the book of Hosea
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Hosea 1:1-3 

[The story about Hosea is a story about the relentless love of God. Hosea was a prophet who spoke out against the idolatry of the Israelites as they pursued the pagan gods of Baal and Asherah. His life became an allegory about the unfaithfulness of Israel and the relentless love of God.]

  

As a sophomore in high school, I made the Junior Varsity basketball team. I can still remember one of the drills that we used to practice every day. It was called the “three man weave”.

 

This is where you and two of your teammates, run the length of the court first by passing the ball to one of them. Then you run behind him. It goes back and forth like that until you reach the other basket and shoot a layup.

 

The purpose of the drill was to prepare us to run a fast break during a game. However, we never used the three man weave in an actual game. But, even though it didn’t seem to serve any purpose, we practiced it every day. We did it not just because the coach said to, but because we trusted that he knew what he was doing.

 

Sometimes obeying God is like that. We really don’t understand the reason for what is happening. It doesn’t make sense. Life feels like it’s spinning out of control. I can imagine that’s how Hosea felt to the nth degree.

 

In today’s verses, we learn that “the word of the Lord came to Hosea”. This gave him the authority to preach. Then there’s a “time stamp” given through the list of kings that ruled during Hosea’s ministry. Finally, a person’s ancestry was very important in the ancient world. Therefore, we’re also told who his father was. 

 

But then, Hosea received a very bizarre calling from the Lord.

 

² When the Lord first began speaking to Israel through Hosea, he said to him, “Go and marry a prostitute, so that some of her children will be conceived in prostitution. This will illustrate how Israel has acted like a prostitute by turning against the Lord and worshiping other gods.”     NLT

 

Wow! Can you imagine the shock that Hosea might have felt? His calling wasn’t that of a high-profile prophet who would share the word of the Lord with a Jewish king. Instead, he was to marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her.

Plus, as a single, young man, marrying a prostitute to start your family with, wouldn’t have been his lifelong dream. This was an awful calling that would lead to a lifetime of pain and heartache.

 

Questions must have flooded Hosea’s mind. “Why God? Will she be a temple prostitute? Will our children even be mine?” You also wonder if Hosea felt completely overwhelmed with doubt about God; anger towards him; and confusion about the purpose of his life.

 

Whatever the case may be… he obeyed.

 

³ So Hosea married Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she became pregnant and gave Hosea a son.             NLT

 

You may not have received a bizarre calling in your life from the Lord. But sometimes, like Hosea, life doesn’t go the way we plan or expect. And when that happens, we just need to keep running the three man weave, and trust that the Lord knows what He’s doing.

 

Copyright 2023 Joseph B Williams

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com