God is Gracious

Hosea 11:1-11

This Hosea passage is an extraordinary poem depicting God having human emotions. Hosea captures an imagery of the conflicted interior life of God, an imagery that captures a father torn between emotional rant and loving parental loyalty. While the narrative is centred in this conflicted grief of God, there is this sense that the heart of God knows about our hearts. What would it require to imitate this God in our own life?

Hosea 11:1-11 gives us a chance of knowing more of the heart and mind of God. God’s own question is: How could God be just and continue to spare Israel?

Israel had fallen into a state of sinful debauchery which exceeded the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah, places God had destroyed because of their sins. So, how could God Almighty retain any justice in himself, unless he should also exterminate Israel? However, what Hosea the prophet finds in God’s innermost mind and heart is grace. Walter Brueggemann sees in Hosea’s presentation:

‘the future of God and the future of God’s people (and the future of the world) depend upon that self-critical examination allowing God to ask “What am I doing? What will I do differently to be my true self?” Without such self-critical reflection the future can only be a continuation of the present.’

Have you ever had a time when you ‘came back’ to yourself after behaving in a way that was outside of the normal you? How often do you take stock of your own self?

Israel indeed deserved God’s total justice, but God’s larger purpose is that of redemption. This God has made available to all humanity. The good news is that God is both just and the Justifier. It was on the Cross that God paid the penalty of sin and satisfied his own justice. We can never come close to really understanding the love and grace God offers. But one thing for certain is that in Christ it is always present for you.

Pastor Darryl