Hosea 2:13-23

Hi Friends! Time again for the next installment of Hosea. I must say, I feel MUCH better about posting this segment. It takes a turn for the redemptive in these ten verses. DIG IN!

"I will punish her for the festival
days of the Baals,
when she offered incense to
them
and decked herself with her ring
and jewelry,
and went after her lovers,
and forgot me, says the Lord.

Therefore, I will now allure her,
and bring her into the wilderness,
and speak tenderly to her.
From there I will give her her
vineyards,
and make the Valley of Anchor a
door of hope.
There she shall respond as in the
days of her youth,
as at the time when she came
out of the Land of Egypt.

On that day, says the Lord, you will call me, "My husband," and no longer will you call me, "My Baal." For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be mentioned by name no more. I will make for you a covenant on that day with the wild animals, the birds of the air, and the creeping things of the ground; and I will abolish the bow, the sword, and the war from the land; and I will take you for my wife forever; I will take you for my wife in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy. I will take you for my wife in faithfulness; and you shall know the Lord.

On that day I will answer, says
the Lord,
I will answer the heavens
and they shall answer the earth;
and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and they shall answer Jezreel;
and I will sow him for myself
in the land.
And I will have pity on
Lo-ruhamah,
and I will say to Lo-ammi,
"You are my people";
and he shall say, "You are
my God."

Reminder glossary:
"Baal" means "master" - a name for the Canaanite deity (-ies). It is interesting that this is replaced by "Husband" for an understanding of God. Because, in this time, a husband was a woman's master, but the term still seems to imply more of a partnership and covenant.

Lo-Ruhamah is the name that means "not pitied"

Lo-Ammi's name means "not my people"

I think this segment of Hosea reveals a redemption and renewal that still exists with a hierarchy of male to female, but in a more peaceful relationship. The language of v.18-20 echoes the message of "swords beat into plowshares," and there is a sense that Israel joins together in a new identity, no longer exiled "whores" in a strange land, but the people of God, among their natural habitat (i.e. birds, animals and creeping things, the sky and earth...an echo of the litany of creation spoken into existence and named by the first "earth creature" (adam). The song "God of Wonders" is now in my head...) There seems to be a re-claiming of the people of God, here. - an evidence of God as loving parent or provider.

So, that's what I've got...