In reviewing Hosea for family worship last night, I read Hosea 2:1-5 again.
2:2 Plead earnestly with your mother
(for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband),
so that she might put an end to her adulterous lifestyle,
and turn away from her sexually immoral behavior.
The pleading reminded me of 2 Corinthians 5:20 from a few days earlier. The Apostle Paul said at the end of that verse: “We plead with you on Christ’s behalf, ‘Be reconciled to God!'”. This is the same idea that Hosea is pleading. Put an end to your adulterous lifestyle and turn back to the true God.
2:3 Otherwise, I will strip her naked,
and expose her like she was when she was born.
I will turn her land into a wilderness
and make her country a parched land,
so that I might kill her with thirst.
I think I’d rather repent.
2:5 For their mother has committed adultery;
she who conceived them has acted shamefully.
For she said, “I will seek out my lovers;
they are the ones who give me my bread and my water,
my wool, my flax, my olive oil, and my wine.”
This actually reminded me of a sermon I had also recently heard where the pastor asked “What has Jesus given to you?” During family worship I shared my struggle with loneliness with the kids. And how God had used that question to help bring me back in line. My first response to that question was basically “I don’t want to answer that! I just want to focus on what He hasn’t given me!” But by this point it was too late. I was already being reminded of all the wonderful things Jesus has given me. My bread and water come from Him. I might believe that I can find happiness in other “lovers” but only Jesus provides joy in my life.
It is always interesting to see how different scriptures God places in my life and different events He orchestrates combine to form a lesson or help me to grow in some way. He has been slowly pushing this loneliness out of my life. Sometimes it seems too slow but He has a plan which is probably in part to keep me dependent on Him.
Yep.