I QUIT! Initial Feelings in Response to Hosea 2:2-12

After reading and then typing this passage into Blogger, I have the impulse to say, "I quit. What was I thinking? I'm just going to delete this entire blog..."

I was also reminded of a book we read in seminary for a Doctrine of God class (written by a Jewish theologian) called Facing the Abusing God. The author's premise was that "God is abusive, but not always." What a comfort that is, right? Anyway, I can see the glimpses of at least an abusive portrayal of God in this passage. (And of course there are others in the biblical text.) God is the angry husband here betrayed by an unfaithful spouse. He wants to "expose her" and "make her like a wilderness" and "hedge up her way with thorns." (Yes, that is what you think it is - ouch.)

I read this passage nearly trembling because I know portrayals of God such as these have been used to justify the continuation of domestic violence. I think reading this passage at "face value," without considering the context, difficulty in language, ancient culture, tradition, and theology, and then making hasty generalizations from it....we "allow" sexual violence toward women as a reflection of "traditional roles." Just like we imagine God as monolithically abusive to the detriment of other qualities of God, we then "abuse" the text; it gives us permission to abuse and oppress. After all, if we perceive God as abusive and we ourselves are made in the image of God....what then are we permitting? (I see this even in the human family lineage: Whom are we made in the image of? If Daddy's a drunk, son, daughter, grandchildren may, too, become drunks. Divorce gets passed down more and more like the family heirloom. And those who are abused sexually or physcially by a family member often go and pick for themselves a partner who mirrors this pathology.)

NOW. Having said all that, I don't really want to quit. I don't want to throw Hosea out. I actually think all of the above information (diatribe?) is evidence that this passage deserves more care and time and understanding. I hope in the next week we can give it that. (But I also think it is healthy - and evidence of good awareness - to respond to the Bible the way we are truly feeling. i.e. kind of a What the F, God? - Pardon the crudeness, but then, ahem, look at the material we're dealing with....)

Thank you, blog community, for letting me share these thoughts with you.