“God’s grace makes us whole”
Hosea 2:16-23
In medieval Japan, the Samurai held a high position in the society because war- lords depend on them to secure their territories. Feudal lords like the Shoguns, employ the services of thousands of Samurai warriors in order to keep their territories protected and keep the forces of the rival feudal lords at bay. When a feudal lord has many loyal and able Samurai warriors, he could control large areas and assert his influence and power over his subjects. The Samurai was indispensable part of the Feudal lord’s political power. At the same time, the Samurai is dependent on his lord for his honor, riches and power.
The moment the lord of the Samurai falls from power, the Samurai becomes an outcast (a Ronin) until another lord takes him as one of his warriors. The Samurai should defend his lord at any cost so that he will retain his position of power and honor with his lord. When the lord goes to war, the Samurai fights ahead of his master and eliminates the enemy even when it would cause his death. A Samurai who fails to defend his lord will be asked to commit suicide in order that his name and honor be redeemed.
God’s children are not like Samurai warriors who should fight for their masters in order to keep their positions of power, riches and honor. Our position in Christ is a gift and it will never be taken away from us. As God's children we will never become outcasts (Ronin) because our Lord will never fall from power. We are assured of honor, riches and power not because we fight for our Lord but because our Lord fights for us and he reserves a blessed home for those who are bought with his blood.
Hosea 2:16 “At that time,” declares the Lord,
“you will call, ‘My husband’;
you will never again call me, ‘My master.’
2:17 For I will remove the names of the Baal idols from your lips,
so that you will never again utter their names!”
2:18 “At that time I will make a covenant for them with the wild animals,
the birds of the air, and the creatures that crawl on the ground.
I will abolish the warrior’s bow and sword
– that is, every weapon of warfare – from the land,
and I will allow them to live securely.”
2:19 I will commit myself to you forever;
I will commit myself to you in righteousness and justice,
in steadfast love and tender compassion.
2:20 I will commit myself to you in faithfulness;
then you will acknowledge the Lord.”
2:21 “At that time, I will willingly respond,” declares the Lord.
“I will respond to the sky,
and the sky will respond to the ground;
2:22 then the ground will respond to the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil;
and they will respond to ‘God Plants’ (Jezreel)!
2:23 Then I will plant her as my own in the land.
I will have pity on ‘No Pity’ (Lo-Ruhamah).
I will say to ‘Not My People’ (Lo-Ammi), ‘You are my people!’
And he will say, ‘You are my God!’”
If there is one passage in the Old Testament that expresses God’s graciousness it is this passage in Hosea 2:16-23. God declares his goodness and generosity to his people by creating a new position for them. Instead of treating them as servants, God calls them his wife. As a wife, the people of Israel experienced unsurpassed blessings. However, in order for us to appreciate this new condition in the lives of the Israelites, we first look at what they were before they experienced God’s grace.
The Prophet Hosea was called by God to prophesy to the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Although Hosea was from Judah, the Southern Kingdom, but his ministry was directed towards the Northern Kingdom during the last days of Israel before they were destroyed by the Assyrians.
The analogy that God used in describing his relationship with Israel is that of Husband and wife relationship. But Israel was rebellious. Not one of the kings of Israel sought after God, and they brought the people into utter wickedness by following other gods. As a result in Hosea 2:9-13, God said; “Therefore I will take away my grain when it ripens, and my new wine when it is ready. I will take back my wool and my linen, intended to cover her nakedness. So now I will expose her lewdness before the eyes of her lovers; no one will take her out of my hands, I will stop all her celebrations, her yearly festivals, her New Moons, her Sabbath days, all her appointed feasts. I will ruin her vines and her fig trees, which she said were her pay for her lovers; I will make them a thicket, and wild animals will devour them. I will punish her for the days she burned incense to the Baals; she decked herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers, but me she forgot declares the Lord.”
In this passage we find three contrasting situations:
First, spiritual rebellion results in poverty, while God’s grace brings prosperity. When Israel was rebellious, God withheld food, clothing and shelter from them and they became destitute. When God extends his grace we will experience abundance.
Second, spiritual rebellion results in shame, but God’s grace brings honor. When God removes his covering upon us, we will be exposed and dishonored, but when he extends his grace to us we will be clothed with honor and glory.
Third, spiritual rebellion results in distress, but God’s grace brings safety and harmony. When God allows wild animals to devour the people, and enemies to destroy them, they will be in distress, but when God grants his grace to us, we will live in peace and security.
Prophet Hosea lived five hundred years after Moses, but the message he brought to Israel was no different from the message that Moses brought to Israel before they entered the promise land.
Deuteronomy 28:1 “If you indeed obey the Lord your God and are careful to observe all his commandments I am giving you today, the Lord your God will elevate you above all the nations of the earth. 28:2 All these blessings will come to you in abundance if you obey the Lord your God: 28:3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the field. 28:4 Your children will be blessed, as well as the produce of your soil, the offspring of your livestock, the calves of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks. 28:5 Your basket and your mixing bowl will be blessed. 28:6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. 28:7 The Lord will cause your enemies who attack you to be struck down before you; they will attack you from one direction but flee from you in seven different directions. 28:8 The Lord will decree blessing for you with respect to your barns and in everything you do – yes, he will bless you in the land he is giving you. 28:9 The Lord will designate you as his holy people just as he promised you, if you keep his commandments and obey him. 28:10 Then all the peoples of the earth will see that you belong to the Lord, and they will respect you. 28:11 The Lord will greatly multiply your children, the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your soil in the land which he promised your ancestors he would give you. 28:12 The Lord will open for you his good treasure house, the heavens, to give you rain for the land in its season and to bless all you do; you will lend to many nations but you will not borrow from any. 28:13 The Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always end up at the top and not at the bottom, if you obey his commandments which I am urging you today to be careful to do. 28:14 But you must not turn away from all the commandments I am giving you today, to either the right or left, nor pursue other gods and worship them.”
Moses lived eight hundred years before Paul, but Paul said the same thing about the church in Ephessians 2:11 Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh – who are called “uncircumcision” by the so-called “circumcision” that is performed on the body by human hands – 2:12 that you were at that time without the Messiah, alienated from the citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who used to be far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 2:14 For he is our peace, the one who made both groups into one and who destroyed the middle wall of partition, the hostility, 2:15 when he nullified in his flesh the law of commandments in decrees. He did this to create in himself one new man out of two, thus making peace, 2:16 and to reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by which the hostility has been killed. 2:17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, 2:18 so that through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 2:19 So then you are no longer foreigners and noncitizens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household, 2:20 because you have been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 2:21 In him the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 2:22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”
A story is told about Fiorello LaGuardia, who, when he was mayor of New York City during the worst days of the Great Depression and all of WWII, was called by adoring New Yorkers 'the Little Flower' because he was only five foot four and always wore a carnation in his lapel. He was a colorful character who used to ride the New York City fire trucks, raid speakeasies with the police department, take entire orphanages to baseball games, and whenever the New York newspapers were on strike, he would go on the radio and read the Sunday funnies to the kids. One bitterly cold night in January of 1935, the mayor turned up at a night court that served the poorest ward of the city. LaGuardia dismissed the judge for the evening and took over the bench himself.
Within a few minutes, a tattered old woman was brought before him, charged with stealing a loaf of bread. She told LaGuardia that her daughter's husband had deserted her, her daughter was sick, and her two grandchildren were starving. But the shopkeeper, from whom the bread was stolen, refused to drop the charges. "It's a real bad neighborhood, your Honor." the man told the mayor. "She's got to be punished to teach other people around here a lesson." LaGuardia sighed. He turned to the woman and said "I've got to punish you. The law makes no exceptions--ten dollars or ten days in jail." But even as he pronounced sentence, the mayor was already reaching into his pocket. He extracted a bill and tossed it into his famous sombrero saying: "Here is the ten dollar fine which I now remit; and furthermore I am going to fine everyone in this courtroom fifty cents for living in a town where a person has to steal bread so that her grandchildren can eat. Mr. Baliff, collect the fines and give them to the defendant." So the following day the New York City newspapers reported that $47.50 was turned over to a bewildered old lady who had stolen a loaf of bread to feed her starving grandchildren, fifty cents of that amount being contributed by the red-faced grocery store owner, while some seventy petty criminals, people with traffic violations, and New York City policemen, each of whom had just paid fifty cents for the privilege of doing so, gave the mayor a standing ovation.
Our sins will bring a life of brokenness, but God’s grace will make us whole.
