Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Teaching Nonviolent Atonement

Home
Progressive Christian
Bible Matters: The Prophet Hosea: Sex, Love, and Politics

Bible Matters: The Prophet Hosea: Sex, Love, and Politics

Last updated on: January 11, 2017 at 5:26 pm by Adam Ericksen

Bible Matters: The Prophet Hosea: Sex, Love, and Politics 2017-01-11T17:26:52-05:00 Adam Ericksen

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Hosea is probably best known in Christian circles for the phrase God “desires steadfast love and not sacrifice.” Jesus quotes that verse from Hosea twice in the Gospel of Matthew. Love, not sacrifice was a vital lens for Jesus.

(For more in the Bible Matters series, click here.)

But Hosea’s book does not always reflect that verse. Understandably, it often reflects the violence and horror of Hosea’s time.

Political Chaos

Hosea lived during one of the worst periods of Israel’s history. His ministry began in the 8th century BC under king Jeroboam the Second. Jeroboam had a prosperous and peaceful reign of about 40 years. After his death, Israel had 5 kings in 10 years. Three of those kings assumed the throne through violent assassinations. Hosea and Israel experienced political chaos.

But chaos within Israel was mirrored by chaos outside of Israel. The Assyrian Empire expanded its territory through war. The Assyrian Emperor, Tiglath-pileser III, himself came to power by assassinating the Assyrian Royal Family. He is honored still today as one of the most successful military rulers of all time, in part because of his horrific strategies. He slaughtered the people he conquered and impaled their bodies on stakes near conquered cities to display his power before his victims.

But he also implemented mass slavery and deportation of the nations he conquered. He exiled people from one nation to another, in order to foster confusion and despair among the people. This caused them to lose hope in any kind of rebellion.

Under Sargon the Second, the Assyrian Empire conquered Israel in the year 722 BC. The big question for Israel and Hosea during this time was “How could this happen to us?”

How Could this Happen to Us?

In many ways, Hosea’s answer was just like the other Hebrew prophets. He said we messed up. The prophets generally resist blaming other nations like the Assyrian, Babylonian, and Egyptian Empires. They say that we can’t scapegoat others, we need to take responsibility to make our nation, neighborhoods, and families better.

Hosea’s main issue is that the people fell into idolatry. They worshipped other gods and Hosea claims that Israel played the whore and committed themselves to whoredom with idolatry. We’ll come back to this metaphor in a minute.

But the problem of idolatry led to more problems. In chapter 4, Hosea states, “There is no faithfulness or loyalty, and no knowledge of God in the land. Swearing, lying, and murder, and stealing and adultery break out; bloodshed follows bloodshed.”

A Mimetic Crisis

Israel was experiencing what Rene Girard calls a mimetic crisis that led to “bloodshed following bloodshed.” Violence was supreme and everyone imitated their neighbor’s violence. Hosea tells us that the true God of Israel desired steadfast love, but the people who worshipped idols only desired a cycle of violent sacrifice.

More than any other prophet, Hosea claims that this reciprocal violence grieves God to God’s very core. The 20th century Jewish theologian Abraham Joshua Heschel stated that Hosea revealed God’s pathos, God’s suffering, not just at idolatry, but at the violence among the people. There was no love in Israel, only sacrifice.

“A Wife of Whoredom”

To illustrate this point, Hosea uses a metaphor that we moderns find offensive. God calls Hosea to marry a woman named Gomer. After being married, Gomer decides to have sexual relations with other men. Like God with Israel, this grieves Hosea to his core. Gomer had three children. Hosea gave the children symbolic names. The first he named Jezreel, after a city where a violent battle took place. He named another child Loruhamah, which means not pitied. The final child he named Lo-ammi, which means not my people.

These names symbolize the pain and anger that Hosea feels towards Gomer. And the names symbolize the pain and anger God felt towards Israel. But very quickly in the story, God renames the children Ammi, which means My People, and Ruhamah, which means pitied.

That’s they pattern we see in Hosea that the prophets in general. Doom never has the last word. The last word belongs to hope, compassion, and reconciliation.

Love or Spousal Abuse?

Still, Hosea’s methods for reconciliation are troubling. As Hosea 2:10 says, “I will uncover her shame in the sight of her lovers, and no one shall rescue her out of my hand.”

Hosea punishes Gomer, and thus God punishes Israel, by shaming her. According to Hosea, it works.

To be honest with you, I’m repulsed by this message. It has led to justifications of spousal abuse. It’s important to note that Hosea was writing in a patriarchal culture, in an honor-shame society. A man who couldn’t control his wife’s sexuality was shamed. Hosea was trying to say that God feels shame in a similar because the people worshiped other gods and failed to love one another appropriately.

Jesus and Gomer

But it’s hard to hear that message when Hosea shames Gomer in such a public way. When Christians hear this story, we would do well to think of Jesus and the cross. Jesus is more like Gomer than any other character in Hosea. Jesus, just like Gomer, was shamed, stripped naked on the cross. He was sent there, not by an angry God, but by angry humans. He forgave his persecutors, revealing the truth that Hosea only hinted at, that God does indeed desire steadfast love and not sacrifice.

Image: The Prophet Hosea at freebibleimages.org.

Stay in the loop! Like Teaching Nonviolent Atonement on Facebook!

Uncategorized

Previous Post

January 10, 2017

Meryl Streep and Donald Trump – Who Wins the American Culture War?

Next Post

January 12, 2017 Thursday Sermon: A Plan from the Beginning of Time!

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Atonement and Current Events Curriculum Faith and Families Interviews Jesus the Forgiving Victim Lent Montessori politics Reviews The Bible Explained Uncategorized Valentine's Day Wednesday Sermon Who is God?

Select a Month July 2020 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 January 2014 December 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz