God’s Purpose in Punishment | Sunday, June 2, 2024

Bring charges against your mother, bring charges; for she is not my wife, nor am I her husband. Let her put away her harlotries from her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts; lest I strip her naked and expose her, as in the day she was born... (Hosea 2:2-3)

God's warnings of judgment are not the cruelty of an angry deity, but the mercy of a husband calling his Wayward people home.

Hosea and His Interesting Times

This summer we are studying the Old Testament book of Hosea, the first of the Minor Prophets after Daniel. These prophets are called "minor" not because they matter less, but because they are less wordy—it took Isaiah 66 chapters to say what he wanted to say.

As I read through Hosea 1 and 2 this week, I kept thinking of an old Chinese proverb: "Better to be a dog in times of tranquility than a human in times of chaos." There's another saying, said to be a Chinese curse: "May you live in interesting times." Hosea lived in interesting and chaotic times. It calls to mind the opening of Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times... it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair." That captures the era in which Hosea lived.

Hosea lived during the 8th century BC, the 700s. We know a great deal about that period because the Assyrian Empire rose to prominence under names like Tiglath-Pileser, Sargon II, and Sennacherib. These kings carefully chronicled their histories, and excavations in what is now modern-day Iraq—at the ruins of Nineveh near Mosul and Babylon near Baghdad—have yielded tons of clay tablets in cuneiform writing. From these we can piece together the history of this eventful, light-and-dark century, into the middle of which Hosea was dropped.

The Northern Kingdom Under Threat

Hosea lived among the people of Israel in the northern kingdom. Israel had split by civil war around 960 BC, and some 240 years later Hosea came along in the north—the wealthier part of the nation, because of the fertile Jezreel Valley you can still visit today. The northern kingdom was often called Israel or Ephraim, after its largest tribe, and Hosea was likely an Ephraimite who lived in or near Samaria, the capital.

He watched as the Assyrians swept in from the east and north, destroying the major ancient cities of what we now call Syria and Lebanon as they pressed south toward Egypt. The land lying between lay the whole nation of Israel, and the northern tribes would be assaulted first. Hosea's people would be completely decimated by Assyria in 722 BC, and God sent him into the middle of this to preach.

Secular history praises Assyria's military prowess and its great iron chariots, but as Christians we believe in an unseen realm. The manifestations of evil and war in this world are often manifestations of things happening in the spiritual realm. Isaiah 10 gives us insight behind the veil: Assyria rose as a rod of correction in God's hand to judge the northern tribes and chastise Judah. And God said that when he was finished using them, they too would cease to be a great power—which is exactly what happened.

A Message of Repentance

Hosea's message is the same as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Obadiah, Habakkuk, and the rest: a message of repentance. God was calling his people to turn back from their wickedness, promising blessing if they would return and destruction and exile if they would not.

Like many prophets, God called Hosea not only to speak but to be a living sign. As we saw last week in Hosea 1, God called him as a young man to marry a woman who would be unfaithful to him. Many commentators believe Gomer was already living a harlot's lifestyle. Why would God call him to do something so strange and shocking? Because God sometimes calls his prophets to shock his people when they have become dull of hearing, hard of heart, and stiff-necked.

After Israel entered the promised land under Joshua, they fell into a perpetual state of wickedness, giving themselves over to idolatry—which the Bible equates with adultery. The only place in our culture we still use the word "covenant" is in marriage, but 2,800 years ago it was well known. Israel entered a binding covenant relationship with God at Mount Sinai under Moses, and renewed their vows in Deuteronomy. Twice in Exodus 24 they declared, "Everything you have said we will do, and we will be obedient." Yet they quickly broke that covenant, again and again.

Hosea's Family as a Sign

Hosea and his family became a visible sign. With Gomer he had three children. The first was a son named Jezreel—the very valley that had been Israel's wealth and trust would now become their undoing and place of destruction. The second was a daughter named Lo-Ruhamah, "no mercy," for God would no longer be merciful to them. The third was a son named Lo-Ammi, "not my people"—the people of God would no longer be his people. All of this came to pass in 722 BC.

Yet even in that dark message there is a glimmer of hope. At the end of chapter 1, Hosea, like many prophets, sees through the darkness of destruction to a time of regathering and restoration on the other side. This is one of the key things to look for in the prophets: judgment that comes as God passively allows people to reap the consequences of their sin, followed by a great future redemption.

God's punishments are not arbitrary, given because he's in a bad mood. There is a purpose behind them. Any parent understands this: we discipline our children to disciple them, to train them for righteousness—not out of a bad mood, and if it is, we should repent. There is always a reason behind it.

How to Read Hebrew Poetry

As we step into chapter 2, a word about prophetic poetry. Many of the prophets were poets, and Hebrew poetry differs from ours. We like rhyming words; Hebrew poetry rhymes thoughts through parallelism, and it is rich with symbolism that is hard to understand. If you've ever read Ezekiel or Revelation and been confused, you know the feeling.

This means we should approach these passages with humility. I'm always a little concerned when a commentator declares with perfect clarity, "This means exactly this." Often you read five commentators and come away with eight opinions. We should interpret Scripture with Scripture, and I love this rule: "When the plain sense makes sense, seek no other sense." It is better to say, "I think the best explanation is this," than to declare emphatically what cannot be proven.

One more note: chapter and verse divisions were added at least a thousand years after the canon was compiled. They help us find our place quickly, but they aren't always best. Our section today actually begins at verse 2.

A Merciful Call Before Judgment

These opening verses are Hosea's poetic interpretation of God speaking to his covenanted people who broke their covenant through idolatry. They had committed adultery, harlotting themselves out to false gods. For centuries God called to them like a brokenhearted husband: "Return to me." But now, in the 8th century, his patience has run thin, and Jeremiah speaks of a bill of divorcement about to be issued.

And yet, because he is gracious and slow to anger, God provides a merciful call to repentance. "Let her put away the harlotries"—if she does not, "I will strip her naked," leaving her vulnerable to her enemies. Many read this and ask, "How could a loving God exile his people this way?" But it only makes sense in context: he is showing mercy by warning them what will happen if they do not return. Destruction is coming, but it can be averted.

This reminds me of something years ago when my family lived on the east end of town. One morning a police helicopter circled near our house, and over the loudspeaker an officer said, "Jose Gonzalez, come out with your hands up or we will release the dog, and he will find you and bite you." That line is seared into my mind. But there is mercy in it. Turn yourself in and we'll arrest you peacefully; refuse, and you'll be taken with dog bites all over you. God is saying the same: judgment is coming, but turn and repent and you won't experience it. The absolute expression of hatred would be indifference—"You get what you deserve, and I won't say a word."

The Bible Reveals God's Nature, Will, and Ways

This brings us to our first point: the Bible is called Revelation because it reveals God's nature, will, and ways. We love that God is love, that he is good, merciful, gracious, patient, and longsuffering. But it is also true that God is holy, completely separate from sin, and just—he will bring punishment for sin. Scripture reveals who he really is, that his will is for us to walk in relationship with him, and that the only way to do so is to walk in righteousness. His ways are clear: he will by no means clear the guilty.

During this same period, the prophet Micah wrote a beautiful verse: "He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?" Do what is right—God has written a conscience on your heart and given the revelation of Scripture. Love mercy—though I confess I sometimes flip-flop, loving justice when others speed past and get pulled over, and craving mercy when I'm the one going too fast and pray those red lights pass me by. And walk humbly—a fitting reminder on the first Sunday of what is now called pride month.

Hosea's own closing verse confirms it: "The ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them." Righteousness exalts a nation, and sin brings shame to any people.

Idolatry and the Source of Blessing

God continues: "I will not have mercy on her children... for their mother has played the harlot... for she said, 'I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my linen, my oil and my drink.'" Here is the heart of their sin. It wasn't merely that they sacrificed to false gods—it's that they credited those false gods, like Baal, with the provision and blessing that God himself had given them. The fundamental flaw of idolatry is failing to acknowledge the true source of our blessings.

How twisted is this? It would be sick to lay flowers on the grave of Adolf Hitler. But this is worse. Imagine working hard to buy your spouse the one thing they longed for, giving it to them, and then watching them lavish passionate thanks on someone else for it. The anger and jealousy you would feel would be right. We usually think of jealousy as a vice, but in this instance it is the right response. God says, "I am a jealous God"—jealous for your rightful affection, because he made you, gives you breath, and blessed you.

This is our second point: God desires and deserves our proper reverence and worship. Paul writes in Romans 1: "Although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God, nor were they thankful... and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image like corruptible man and birds and four-footed animals." That is idolatry—worshiping the creature rather than the Creator.

Obstacles That Lead Us Home

"Behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns... she will chase her lovers but not overtake them... Then she will say, 'I will go and return to my first husband, for then it was better for me than now.'" God promises to make Israel's path painful—setting up obstacles between them and their idolatry, so that they will say, "Things were better when we followed God."

It's like having a wayward child who keeps walking toward their own destruction, so you make their life small—you ground them, take away the car keys, take away the phone. They say, "You're so mean, you make my life miserable." But your whole intent is to keep them from destruction.

This gives us our third point: all of God's judgments are good. That's a hard one. Hebrews 12 admits they don't seem good in the moment—I remember the wooden spoon quite distinctly, and seeing a mother's hand reach back with a wooden spoon during an Uber ride in South Carolina triggered cold sweats. But Psalm 119 testifies repeatedly: "Your judgments are good"; "I will give thanks to you because of your righteous judgments"; "I know, O Lord, that your judgments are right, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me."

The Purpose Is Purification

Because of their idolatry, God says, "I will return and take away my grain... my wool and my linen... I will punish her for the days of the Baals... but Me she forgot." These judgments seem harsh, but they bring us to our fourth point: the purpose of God's punishment is purification. They were walking toward inevitable destruction, and God set obstacles and judgments before them so they might return.

Then comes the turn in verse 14: "Therefore, behold, I will allure her, will bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfort to her. I will give her her vineyards from there, and the Valley of Achor as a door of hope... You will call Me 'My Husband'... I will betroth you to Me forever... in righteousness and justice, in lovingkindness and mercy... in faithfulness, and you shall know the Lord."

He looks beyond the judgment to a future kingdom and a new covenant where the people are restored, blessed with peace, and the sword is shattered. "They shall answer Jezreel." There's a play on words lost in English: Jezreel means "Yahweh plants." The valley of their destruction becomes the place where God replants them. "Then I will sow her for Myself in the earth, and I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy [Lo-Ruhamah]; and I will say to those who were not My people [Lo-Ammi], 'You are My people!' And they shall say, 'You are my God!'" This is the complete undoing of the judgment spoken through Hosea's children.

Fulfilled Only in Christ

When will this come to pass? The answer comes in the New Testament. Peter quotes this exact passage in 1 Peter 2: "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people... who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy."

This brings our fifth and final point: only in Christ does the full purpose of God's punishment bring the fullness of his purification. All the promises of God are yes and amen in Jesus. The ultimate day of total peace, when bow and sword are put away forever, still awaits the fullness of God's kingdom. But now, in Christ Jesus, we can be redeemed, receive his mercy, and be made his people once again.

And what is our place? We are the body of Christ, the people of God—a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own special people, "that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." That is the commission: when God redeems you from your idolatry and wickedness, he shines his light through you so you would declare it to all people.

Our hope is not in anything in this world. As 2024 unfolds and everyone gets excited about political candidates, remember: our ultimate hope is only in Jesus Christ. Let us proclaim the praises of him who calls us out of darkness into his marvelous light, because that is what your friends, neighbors, and coworkers truly need—the grace of God's redeeming power.

Closing Prayer

Father God, I thank you for this poetic passage of Scripture—perhaps a challenge to piece together and understand. But ultimately, Lord, what you reveal is that the judgments and punishments that come from you are there for a reason: you are seeking to restore and redeem unto yourself a people set apart for good works. Lord, I pray that we would be that people—we who were not a people, you have redeemed to be a people; we who had not obtained mercy have obtained mercy in you. Help us to proclaim the praises of you who called us out of darkness into your marvelous light. Lead us today and this week to people who need to hear the good news of your grace—the grace that has redeemed us and set us apart to be your people once again. We rejoice in you and thank you for your grace. It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen.