It is said by some commentators that Hosea chapter 11 is one of the 'boldest' in the Old Testament. Yet the early verses in that chapter describe the God that Christians should have come to know. They speak of Him as the God who very tenderly nurtured Israel in its early years as a father does his child.. If God is not seen in this light by Christians it is a reflection on the church that He has not really been thought of as Jesus taught us, as a Father. That was part of Israel's trouble. They did not want a 'father' who would teach by discipline but they wanted a god who could supply their every want and accede to their every whim however selfish. So they turned to the Baals, figments of human imagination, and worshipped at their altars. No matter how much God took care of them and watched over them, their loyalty and allegiance was to idols that could neither see, nor hear nor speak to them.

Yet God pleads with them ‑ how could He allow them to become like the cities of the plain Admah and Zeboim, associated with Sodom and Gomorrah. (Deut 29.3). He assures them that He will be the 'Holy One in the midst.' Israel's unfaithfulness is described as chasing the wind, lusting after things that are valueless and non - existent. When they should be listening to God's prophets they are sacrificing on pagan altars. Then comes the terrible indictment and the only course open to God is to permit a discipline through suffering and exile.

Israel became a trafficker, like one who dealt in the world's wares and they were absorbed in commerce. So they became rich and decadent. It is the way of the world and Israel, like the world in general, suffered the consequences. As later prophets were to show so clearly, they had become rich in the world's wealth, yet the majority of its people lived in poverty.

Such a state of things cannot go on forever. God allows it until the bitter lessons are learned. If men will not learn at the tender hand of a loving God, then they must learn through bitter experience. But God has a purpose through it all. He foresaw in the life of Hosea that the day would com when Israel will be brought back from its bitter exile and through discipline will learn the way of righteousness and peace.

The final chapter, 14, calls Israel to repentance. There is no other way to God and His Word. Preferably the sooner and earlier it occurs the better but all too often it is later. Mankind, individually, can only approach their Creator by one way and that is in total contrition and repentance, and that state of mind must not only remain but become richer and sweeter.

Israel's national life had begun with the Patriarchs. By one means or another they had matured spiritually, through difficult experiences which required some kind of repentance and discipline. As the nation grew it repeatedly rebelled against God who sent them prophets. They repeatedly brought Israel to repentance and the true faith.

As a prophet, Hosea discovered God's love more fully than most of God's people throughout the ages. Israel seem to have believed that because they had enjoyed specially favours from God with the Patriarchs as their forbears, they had freedom to do as they like and did not readily repent of their sin. They discovered as Christians have to discover that the rules apply to them as much as others. They needed continually be brought back to God. Children bought up in a Christian family by God - fearing parents cannot change the rules. Coming to know God in the fullest sense of the experience requires learning through total repentance and obedience to His will. Yet there have been many who believed that because they were within the security of some large denomination or small tightly knit community of devout and well versed Christians, they needed no personal repentance from their own sin. It is to be hoped that they found out their mistake, as many Law abiding Jews had to at the First Advent.

We all need to learn, as did Israel, that mighty ones, like Assyria, cannot save us. We have to learn that the work of our hands, our idols, cannot save us. But God is ready to take us to Himself, when the lesson is learned, when discipline has done its work and we realise, like Israel of old, that there is only one source of good in the Universe. Then we are ready like Israel to "live beneath His shadow."

Most of the great prophecies end on this happy note. Whatever God brings upon His people, or allows to come upon them, in the end He will redeem, restore and find lodging for them close to Himself. The fact that, during this present time, the Church of Jesus Christ has had the role of being God's mouthpiece to the world makes no difference to God's promise to Abraham, that by his descendants, all families of the Earth will be blessed. In the present time the Christian Church as the wild Olive has grafted into the original stock of God's people. But Paul explains that the natural branches can be re - grafted back. Not only so, but all the wicked mentioned in Romans chapter one, now locked up in disobedience, will yet receive God's favour (Romans 11.32). Then all His whole creation will be thoroughly restored.

The planet will be at the right temperature. There will be no need to worry about species dying out. The mineral wealth of the Earth will not be ransacked to provide a few with profit. Best of all, mankind will have been brought close to their God to enjoy the sunlight of His presence forever more. All this will be accomplished because our God is a God of infinite ‑ infinite love and His people will be learning what real love is.

The lesson of Hosea is that of love. It teaches us that God's love for Israel is like that of a man who has been robbed of his wife by her unfaithfulness and who is prepared to search for her until he finds her, until she gets to her extremity and has no one to turn to. He refuses to give up but will go to extraordinary lengths to redeem her from the slavery to which she has sold herself, to take her back to his home and teach her the discipline of faithfulness in marriage. When he has succeeded in that he will restore fully to her marriage partnership.

Hosea's parable tells of the love that transcends our wildest dreams. The knowledge of that love is more valuable than all the academic and intellectual learning we could ever acquired by study listening to a scholar or by reading his books. It will out distance all our efforts to serve God's people and it will make us ready to step into the presence of the mighty King of kings.

As we sow, we shall reap. If we sow in love, a love, that forgives to the uttermost never holds any imagined hurts against our fellow human beings, then we shall reap rewards far beyond our imagination ‑ rewards such as have never entered our hearts and minds. So shall we begin to learn that John had the key to life ‑ God is love

DN