This week, I heard a radio interview with a fellow who has built a business on invitations to Super Bowl parties. He calls his business, “Man-vite.” It’s an online invitation service that helps men organize social events. The whole reason this service exists is because the first such service, “e-vite,” had invitation forms that were so flowery, ornate, and pretty that most men didn’t want to use their forms to invite their buddies to a sports event, hunting expedition, bowling tournament, golf outing, ski trip, or Super Bowl party using such feminine materials as flowers, balloons, fancy calligraphy, etc.
Now, I normally would have thought that this was such a dumb idea that it couldn’t possibly work, but the site is doing pretty well for the guy (though it isn’t his only revenue-making site). I laughed for a moment and then, I realized that we all like special invitations. We like those gilt-edged invitations to weddings, anniversary parties, graduations, and award ceremonies. We may complain about the implied obligation to purchase a gift for some of these, but deep-down we enjoy being important enough to be on the “A” list. We like feeling wanted. It makes us feel special.
There was a time when I was doing some work with the film industry and had a membership in a professional organization so that I regularly received invitations to film premieres. Now, let me just say up front that I never attended any of them. They were charity events and cost hundreds of dollars (per person) to attend (just in case you’ve ever wondered what it would be like). Yet, even though I wasn’t about to spend the money necessary to attend such an event, I secretly savored the fact that I was receiving invitations to premieres of films directed by Eastwood or starring Costner. I felt special just because of those invitations mailed to those in a certain organization.
Today’s text is a special invitation where God’s prophet throws his listeners a “change-up.” After all those words of accusation and judgment, he invites them to become something special. Let me share with you from my translation of the Hebrew while you study from your regular study Bibles.
v. 1 Come, let us return to Yahweh
Because He has torn [like predators rend their prey] and He will heal us,
He struck and He will bandage us.
v. 2 He will revive us after two days.
On the third day, He will cause us to stand
And we will live in His presence.
v. 3 Let us know and let us pursue the knowledge of Yahweh:
Like the dawn, His going forth is fixed [God is as dependable as the sunrise]
And He will come like a rain shower for us, like spring rain falling upon the land.
Wow! That’s a lot different than the images of God as the cuckolded husband, throwing Israel out in the wilderness to die. That’s a lot better than the idea of God’s presence serving as a disgusting reminder of Israel’s sin and rebellion to show her sickness and impurity.
Healing, bandages, resurrection, dawn, and rain are much more delightful images than maggots, pus, and adulterous spouses. Did you know that there was a time in scholarly circles where academics were skeptical of any passage like this in the 8th century prophets that offered such hope? They were so locked into their idea that each prophecy could only apply to the prophet’s immediate situation that they couldn’t accept any messages of hope as authentic for the prophet. They figured that Israel would have to experience all of the punishment prescribed before the prophet could legitimately offer hope. I think that’s ridiculous—especially for Hosea. Hosea constantly balances judgment and hope, punishment and healing. For Hosea, God’s “NO!” and God’s “YES!” are part and parcel of the same thing—negative for that which is against God and positive for those who are with God in attitude and action.
So, the prophet offers an astounding invitation. “Come on down!” “Ya’all come!” and “Everybody’s welcome!” is the implication of Hosea’s command. But the invitation isn’t to somewhere God’s people have never been. The offer invites the populace to return to a place of safety, comfort, and relationship. They are to come and “return.” The word translated return could just as easily be translated as “repent” because it is the idea of admitting that one has been traveling in the wrong direction and demonstrating a will to turn around and go in the right direction. It means to “turn around.”
And who wouldn’t want a “turn around” in their lives if they were being torn apart like a lion rends his prey? Israel had one enemy raiding from one direction and another enemy extorting her for “protection money” [only in those days, it was known as “tribute”] in order to guarantee a powerful ally. Assyria on one side and Egypt on the other had Israel (and Judah, too) in the middle. In desperation, Israel felt like she had to turn to one or the other, but Hosea was giving her another choice: UP!
I love those scenes in action films, comics, or cartoons where you have one set of bad guys pursuing the hero from one end of a tunnel or corridor and another set of bad guys is converging from the other side. You know the hero is in between them, but when the groups of pursuers meet in the middle, the hero isn’t there. The two posses made of bad guys go off searching to see what they missed and the camera angle pans up to see the hero hanging precariously to some pipes. You love it, but you always wonder why the bad guys didn’t look up. Maybe, it’s because, as humans, we always have a tendency to pay more attention to what is horizontally in front of us than what is vertically above us—to what’s right here rather than looking beyond the ordinary.
Israel felt like she had to look north to Assyria or south to Egypt, but she didn’t look heavenward. To look heavenward, she would have to admit that she was looking in the wrong place for help. To look heavenward, she would have had to admit that she was depending on her own resources and military skill, resources and skill which were both inadequate to the huge threat she faced.
What Israel failed to realize was that God was ultimately behind the threats she faced. The very One who allowed Assyria to rend her was the One who could heal her. The very One who allowed armies to smite her was the One who would provide medical attention. If Israel wanted to solve her problems, she had to get to the root cause. She herself was the root cause and the solution was to turn around and return to God as her protector and provider.
The same thing is true of us today. We tend to look horizontally for solutions when we need to be looking up. We tend to look to our savings or our jobs as our providers instead of to God. We tend to look to our skills and our intellect as our protectors when we need to admit our dependence upon God. We look to our understanding, our logic, and even our prejudices before we look to the living God. Is it any wonder that we find ourselves in the squeeze between job insecurity and rising prices? Is it any wonder that we find ourselves in the middle between feeling pressed for time and frustrated and stressed because we’re not accomplishing enough? Is it any wonder that we find ourselves looking to inefficient government or greedy capitalism for answers when we should be depending upon God? Is it any wonder that we are torn between addictions (whether food, drug, materialism, or activity) or puritan self-righteousness when we should be seeking what God wants?
It is easy to get desperate and forget that God wants to care for us and bless us. But verse 2 indicates that it’s never too desperate. Even if we were two days in the grave, God would be able to raise us and cause us to stand on the third day. Pardon me if I see a reference to that great resurrection where Jesus was in the grave for three days and was raised to life by the power of God. This verse really comes to life when you understand that the Jews believed that it took three days for the spirit of humans to migrate to the underworld or Sheol, the place of the dead. Being dead for three days was assurance that the deceased was officially, legally, uncontrovertibly dead.
So, when God’s People are revived after two days, it’s a very near miss. Israel will think that she’s dead, but God will bring her back to life. On the very day the “coroner” would pronounce her dead (the 3rd day), she is able to stand—a living, breathing person who is…don’t miss this…living in God’s Presence. The purpose of God’s deliverance of Israel is the same as God’s purpose in delivering you and me—to live life together.
Verse 3 reminds us of the dependability of God, as well as of the necessity of God’s Presence to have a full life. In a society built on agriculture and animal husbandry, sunlight and water are absolutely vital. In any full life, God provides the dependability more than clockwork, more than natural cycles, and more than we ourselves. But read the contrast between God’s dependability and Israel’s capriciousness in verse 4.
v. 4 What will I do with you Ephraim? What will I do with you Judah. Your devotion is like the mist of morning and like dew that goes away swiftly.
v. 5 Therefore, I have hewn them in pieces by the prophets, slain them with the words of my mouth, your judgment [ie verdict] goes forth (like) light.
v. 6 BECAUSE I delight in faithfulness (covenant love) and not altars, the knowledge of God from offerings.
God is as dependable as both the normal rains and the spring (late) rains. God provides both the regular and the special blessings. But Israel’s devotion, even Judah’s devotion in the southern kingdom, is as ephemeral, as short-lived as clouds that promise rain and don’t deliver or like dew that disappears soon after sunrise. God’s faithfulness is long-lasting; Israel’s (like our own) has a very short half-life.
Israel finds herself in this mess (see verse 5) because she has ignored the words of God’s mouth and, as a result has experienced God’s verdict. God has condemned them with messages from the prophets and God’s very words have pronounced the death sentence on her. It is the right verdict, but thankfully, we have the joyous promise of verse 2 to return to. When we “turn around,” God even brings us back from the dead (both figuratively and, in the case of Jesus and a few others in the New Testament, literally).
But again, we find the purpose of God’s judgment, as well as God’s salvation, is for “faithfulness.” The Hebrew noun used here is pronounced “heh-sehd” or “cheh-sehd.” It conveys the idea of covenant or committed love. It is love to be found in a committed marriage or devoted family life. It is love that requires emotional, physical, and volitional investment. It is love that can only reach its full potential by spiritual power.
Sometimes, my beloved and I sit on the couch together on a long evening, touching each other gently and savoring each other’s presence. On such occasions, Wailam sometimes says, “We’re growing old together, aren’t we?” It always makes me laugh. Yes, we ARE growing old together, but isn’t that exactly what we expected when we said those powerful words, “I will!” and placed those rings (I joked that they were our “brands.”) on each other’s fingers? I know I anticipated those quiet, wonderful times of just being beside this wonderful woman when I proposed to her. I didn’t propose to her to be gone all the time. I didn’t propose to her to have a delightful honeymoon and then, just grunt at her and take her for granted for the rest of our marriage. I love being with her.
Verse 6 tells us that God doesn’t merely want people who know the right doctrine, can perform the right rituals, give the right offering, and say the right words. God values relationship. Yet, a lot of people claim Jesus as their Savior, God as their Father, during a time of crisis or with a sense of doom and then, don’t really want to spend time with God. They don’t enjoy growing “old” in this life with the Father with prayer, worship, Bible study, sharing, or service. They just want to be “on the roll.” They want a guarantee, not a relationship. Yet, God wants a relationship.
How about you? I can assure you that if you are beset from both sides of your life with stress, uneasiness, financial woes, dissatisfaction, bad habits, family difficulties, or even physical pain, God wants to use these obstacles as opportunities to bring you into relationship with Him. You don’t have to feel squeezed. You don’t have to feel helpless. Quit looking horizontally and start looking UP! That’s your special invitation to spend time with God. Don’t miss out!
