O NE MORE ANALOGY from Hosea, just in case the unfaithful lover failed to grab your attention. Or if the wayward child illustration didn’t resonate with you.
Today, in the final chapter of Hosea, there is a look toward what can be. I won’t say it’s the future, it’s the potential future for the people of Israel. What’s possible. A future for you and me, as well. A future of flourishing abundance and beauty.
God proclaims to unfaithful Israel and to wayward you and me:
“I will heal their waywardness
and love them freely,
for my anger has turned away from them.
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THIS HEALING, THIS LOVE, this turned-away anger will result in lush meadows, aromatic flowers, productive land. It’s a metaphor of a blessed creation. It’s the picture of vibrancy and healing and abundance and nurture.
Lilies will blossom. Tree roots will grow deep. Olive tree blooms will fill the air with fragrance. Grain and wine will fill the barns and barrels and be highest quality.
Of course, that’s a poetic picture of living in God’s fullness. Living in obedience with God.
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WE OFTEN HAVE A NEGATIVE IMAGE of total faithfulness and commitment. We give up this. We forsake that. With the “this and that” being “good” things, at least in our eyes. Do away with pleasures for the austerity of faithfulness.
That’s a distorted reality.
There will be new birth, fresh water that we may grow, and that we may be fruitful and flourish. Imagine what your best can be. Imagine what life would be like with complete faithfulness to God. Spiritually refreshed. Comforted. Fruitful in good works. Content. Complete. Full. Living in love and harmony with others and with nature. Free of worry. Free of conflict. Free to be and live in the rich and glorious fullness with God. Gracious. Forgiving. Grateful.
This image takes me back to the beginning — to creation — to the garden. Walking with God. Talking with God. All needs cared for by God’s love and grace.
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WHAT DOES THE PICTURE of God’s fullness look like for you?
Hosea 14 says this can be yours. You can be like the lilies of the field in all their splendor. You can be aromatic, durable, and desirable like the towering cedars, if you return to God. And God, in his grace, will help you return.
Return, Israel, to the LORD your God.
Your sins have been your downfall!
Say to God:
“Forgive all our sins
and receive us graciously….”
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THERE IT IS. Confession. The way to peace. The answer to anxiety and fear. The end of uncertainty. The way out of anything and everything that keeps you in dry and barren lands, exiled or imprisoned. Confession. True repentance and reformation of conduct.
Say to God:
“Forgive all our sins
and receive us graciously…”
Assyria cannot save us;
we will not mount warhorses.
We will never again say ‘Our gods’
to what our own hands have made…”
Say to God:
“Forgive us.” “Forgive me.”
We have been unfaithful and rebellious. The gods of our making will never be the answer. The gods of military might will never be the answer. Political power, our own perseverance, the work of our hands, alliances with Egypt or Assyria — or whatever today’s equivalent might be — will not return us to the Garden. God alone is enough.
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WHAT A CONFESSION! We give ourselves completely to you, Lord. Apart from God we can do nothing; apart from God we are nothing. God’s never-changing love for Israel will one day bring about her repentance and restoration to His full favor. We have hope in that promise as well.
This prophecy of God’s bountiful blessing looks to Christ’s righteous and generous rule. John the baptizer proclaims:
“Jesus is the one who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29)
We give ourselves completely to you, Lord. Apart from God we can do nothing; apart from God we are nothing. God’s never-changing love for Israel will one day bring about her repentance and restoration to His full favor. We have hope in that promise as well.
This prophecy of God’s bountiful blessing looks to Christ’s righteous and generous rule. John the baptizer proclaims:
“Jesus is the one who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29)
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SO, IN ADVENT AND AT CHRISTMAS, we also must look forward to Good Friday, to the death of God’s Son, and Easter, to Jesus’ resurrection.
Jesus sacrificed himself — but in dying brought new life, abundant life. A life fragrant and sweet. A life strong and sturdy. A life obedient because of God’s generous love.
