Category / Hosea

by Annie Newman

Hosea 14 – We Are Never Above Caring For Each Other

“I will heal their waywardness
    and love them freely,
    for my anger has turned away from them.
(Read the rest of the chapter here!)

 

This is the last book of Hosea, and my 101st post! Yay!  I bounce around a lot in my readings, so it’s rare that I finish a book consecutively.  Since that is the case with this book, I wanted to do a summary post on what I’ve learned from it.

The major lesson, for me, is that different isn’t bad, and that no matter what, we are still required to be decent human beings.  Remember Hosea’s wife, Gomer, from way back in the early chapters?  She was way outside the norms of society back then.  She was either a prostitute – perhaps a cultic prostitute – or, possibly even worse by the day’s standards, a promiscuous woman. Yet God ordered Hosea to marry her, possibly twice.  And, as I discussed in this blog post, I think they really did love each other, despite any raised eyebrows they may have encountered.

I continue to be intrigued by the fluidity of pronouns and metaphors in this book as an example of “different isn’t bad.” Just in this chapter, Ephraim is described as a lily, and as having fruitfulness – both of which are metaphors traditionally reserved for female characters, yet Hosea uses male pronouns within them.  Again, I’m not saying that 7th century Israel was a place that everyone on the gender spectrum could walk around freely, but I do find it interesting that the language of a man of God is so inclusive, even before there was general language for gender inclusivity. Perhaps, just perhaps, we have some internal foundation for inclusivity that is slowly trained out of us by society?

Finally, many of the sins Hosea lists against Israel are sins against other people.  Murder, dishonesty in trade, stealing, lying and deceit, adultery – these are all sins that effect others.  Hosea also talks a lot about false idols and pride. While these are mainly sins committed directly against God, Hosea also talks about them in the context of how they effect others.  In chapter four Hosea spends a long time berating priests that lead their flocks astray, and the pride of princes and kings is listed as the downfall of entire nations throughout the book.

So, once more, to summarize: Hosea teaches us that we are never above caring for each other.   Even if you are a chosen child of God, even if that other person is a temple prostitute, or whatever fringe position is equitable in today’s society, since one does not often come across temple prostitutes these days.  If your heart is truly open to God, your heart will be open to all of mankind.

by Annie Newman

Hosea 13 – Showing Up When It’s Hard

5 I cared for you in the wilderness,
    in the land of burning heat. (Read the rest of the chapter here!)

 

Woo, God is angry here folx!  As we’ve come up against infanticide twice in a short while, I think it’s time we talk about it.  Unfortunately there’s no two ways around it: this is what happened in wars back then.  Examples abound in the Bible of women and children being killed – by both the “bad” and the “good” guys.

But before we conclude that God is a baby-killing monster and all turn atheist, let’s remember two things: first, that atrocities just as bad as the ones written here are still happening today, and that they are not sanctioned by God.  Though many people turn a blind eye, many others cry out in God’s name against these acts of war.  Second, a lot of this is evocative symbolism.  In other words, Hosea knew this imagery would get a strong response from his readers, and decided to use it.  Killing the children of Samaria also becomes a metaphor for its destruction: for without children there is no future, therefore Samaria itself is destroyed through their death.

Even with these explanations, it’s not a comfortable passage to sit with, especially the Sunday before Christmas.  I wish I had more for you, my friends, but all I have today is this reminder: sometimes our presence is required.  It sounds simple, but it can be one of the most difficult and important things we do:  Showing up, bearing witness, standing by, waiting upon.  Think of going to a funeral: it’s never fun, but it means so much to the loved ones that remain, and can provide a path to closure for ourselves as well.  Or visiting a sick bed: the ill know they are not forgotten and left alone in their suffering.  Or even, on a much more daily level, listening to someone vent their frustrations without trying to “fix” anything. (My husband now asks me from time to time “am I supposed to just be listening right now or did you want a suggestion?”)

By the simple-yet-difficult act of showing up, we create a space for healing, for growth.  Healing and growth isn’t always pretty or pleasant, but it is very necessary. The more that we can help whomever may need it, the less we will be like the wayward nations of Ephraim or Samaria described above. Judging by God’s wrath upon them – whether it was real or metaphorical – that is a good thing to be.

by Annie Newman

Hosea 12 – Impeachment is Just an Asterisk

1 Ephraim feeds on the wind;
    he pursues the east wind all day
    and multiplies lies and violence.
He makes a treaty with Assyria
    and sends olive oil to Egypt.

(Read the rest of the chapter here!)

 

Don’t let activism exhaustion set in (aka, don’t confuse winning the battle with winning the war)

This chapter is a political criticism, more than anything. It opens with Hosea bashing Israel’s foreign policy: “chasing the wind” is fruitless because you’ll never catch it, and that is what Israel is doing by bouncing back and forth between treaties with Egypt and Assyria.  Hosea then goes on to give a short recount of Israel’s mythologized national history – not unlike an American evoking the more sensational tales of George Washington – in an effort to contrast the poor moral fiber of Israel’s current political climate.  Unlike today, Hosea (and indeed, all of Israel) mixed religion and politics, claiming a return to God would save not only souls but national policy as well.  This difference aside, I still thought it would be a good time to offer up my own little political criticism, since that’s what this chapter is all about.

The recent impeachment of Donald J. Trump is historic, and I don’t want to take from that. He is only the third president to be impeached in 230 years of US presidents.  But what does impeachment mean?  Right now, not much more than an asterisk beside Trump’s name in future history books, just like Johnson and Clinton.  In truth, this impeachment is small potatoes compared to the more systemic problems facing this country:  voting districts are still gerrymandered, thousands are incarcerated for minor crimes, children are still in cages at the border, and McConnellism (more on that in a minute) is the new norm.

To pull from recent history: I don’t want the impeachment to become another Standing Rock.  Remember Standing Rock and the NoDAPL pipeline?  We all celebrated when, in December 2016, the pipeline’s easement was denied…and then it became a closed matter for most of the country (I’ll admit – myself included).  Barely a word was uttered on national outlets when Trump reversed the easement denial with an executive order and construction began in February 2017.  And guess what: the pipeline leaked five times in six months, exactly the kind of disaster that the Sioux of Standing Rock were worried about.  But the initial fight had already been won, our national liberal conscious assuaged, and as a country we couldn’t be bothered to keep fighting.  Long story short, don’t confuse winning one battle with winning the war.  It’s exhausting to keep fighting.  But it is so, so necessary if you care about your Earth, your fellow humans, your God.

Why progressive Christians need to be politically active

If you want something political to focus upon, it’s McConnellism.  Mitch McConnell has done more to hurt the American Democracy than Trump ever could.  There are multiple articles on this from a myriad of sources: pick which one appeals to you.  But in a nutshell, McConnell has made it his policy to put Republican wins over any other priority: refusing to consider Obama’s Supreme Court nomination (and I’m not even sure how many Federal judge nominations), refused to cooperate with election-tampering investigations (even lifting sanctions on Putin allies under FBI investigation), and now coordinating impeachment strategy with White House lawyers.  McConnell doesn’t care what the American people want, or even what is good for this country.  He just wants the Republican party (and his own self) to hold on to as much power as possible, no matter the cost.

Jostling for power is a normal part of politics.  In fact, the Founding Fathers counted upon it-hence all the checks and balances.  Now, however, the political culture in Washington has changed: it is power for power’s sake – not for advancing the good of the country. I think getting Mitch McConnell out of the Senate would be a great start.  But it’s going to take more than that, because the next Senate leader can simply follow McConnell’s example and keep up the race to the bottom.

I think the only thing that is going to make a real difference is if more – and I mean a lot more – people become politically engaged on a much more regular basis.  And this will take time, too, which is discouraging. We all like fast results, that’s why fad diets continue to be a thing.  But we can’t get discouraged to the point that we stop fighting.  The well-being of too many people (both in this country and out of it) are at stake.  Vote. Call your representatives.  And don’t forget local politics: town halls and city councils are great ways to get your voice heard.  Join marches and demonstrations.  Start fundraisers – it’s so easy to do a small birthday fundraiser on Facebook now for a cause you believe in.  If you feel really moved, you can volunteer for a campaign or polling station.  Here’s a great list of even more ways to become more politically engaged.  It may feel like we don’t have a lot of power because it takes so long for things to change. And I won’t deny there’s a lot of corruption that we’re up against.  But popular uprisings happen all the time through-out history.  And if we are loud enough, we can demand change.

Now why, you might be thinking, is a religious blog getting so political? Aren’t we supposed to have a separation between Church and State?  Yes, we have that separation. But 1.) I’m not in office nor am I running for office. 2.) I’m not trying to dictate anyone’s religious beliefs.  I’m simply saying that, as a Christian (hell, as a decent human being) the hollowing out of American democracy and all the racism/xenophobia/sexism/environmental destruction that goes with it are issues you should care about; AND here is a way that we can make a positive change.  Government is able to make broad policy decisions for the whole country that lead to the most amount of change in the least amount of time.  (Imagine how much plastic pollution would decrease if Styrofoam and plastic bags were outlawed at a national level.) Political change is not the whole fight (think how long it took some school districts to de-segregate after Brown v. Board of Education), but it is a large, large portion of said fight.  Don’t let that fight stop with the impeachment.  Keep fighting for the issues that are important to you.  You can bet your ass that this liberal Christian is going to be active in the political process and use my faith as a sounding board, and you should do so, too.