Hosea 3

What we now call Hosea chapter 3 is a brief section containing only five numbered verses. In spite of its brevity, it contains a thorough summary of the themes of the book.

There is a current of interpretation of verse one that has God instructing Hosea to buy back his wife. Although this interpretation is not entirely ruled out by the text, I must point out that the original text says lech ehav ishah ...Literally "go love a woman" not "love your wife again" which in Hebrew would be lech ehav et ha ishcha. Moreover, all the translations I could consult (Spanish, Portuguese, English -- two translations -- , French, and even the Septuagint in Greek) all agree with the Hebrew reading.

So the text does not specifically say "Buy your wife back." As I pointed out in previous posts, the purpose of the book is not to give us a biography of Hosea's family life. Rather, God has Hosea carry out demonstrations of God's intention for the people of the covenant and interpret their meaning, or rather let God comment on their meaning.

Hosea obeys God by buying a woman for a small dowry of little worth from whoever owned her. He tells her that she will no longer "play the whore" (NRSV) and that no one will have intercourse with her, not even Hosea. That is the extent of the events in this section.

There are two sections of commentary by God. The first, in verse one, is "...just as the Lord loves the people of Israel, though they turn to other gods..." (NRSV). That is the point of having Hosea buy the woman as an object lesson. It should be clear at this point that whether Hosea buys back his wife Gomer or another woman is not the point of the text. The point is that God loves his people even though God is no longer under obligation to do so because the people have broken the covenant agreement repeatedly for centuries.

The other section of commentary is found in verses 4 and 5. The Israelites are to remain out of relationship with God for a long time, even being deprived of king, prince, and the sacrificial rites. After that they "shall return and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; they shall come in awe to the LORD and to his goodness in the latter days (NRSV)."

The commentary is given for us and it can be dangerous not to give it the importance it clearly is meant to have.

Hosea 1-2

The very first "verse" of Hosea (be mindful that chapter and verse divisions are not part of the original biblical texts, but rather were introduced in the Middle Ages for easier reference) begins "The word of the LORD that came to Hosea, son of Beeri." Whenever we encounter in the English translation the word "Lord" in upper and lower capital letters, the Hebrew original has the word "Yaweh," which is the name of the Covenant God of Israel.

For those who have not read my posts on Romans, it is important to know exactly where the name comes from because there is a great deal of loose discussion of the name based not on the Hebrew original but on the Septuagint (mis-) translation and on Revelation. The latter book we can take as authoritative ("The One who is, who was, and is coming") but it clearly is a new teaching and a new vision of God.

In Exodus, when God encounters Moses at the burning bush, Moses asks: What if Pharaoh refuses to listen and does not liberate the people? God answers "I will be with you," in Hebrew Eheyeh im cha. Then Moses asks, "If the children of Israel ask me who is this God who sent you, what name shall I give them? God answers Eheyeh asher eheyeh, "I will be who (what) I will be." Hebrew cannot say "I am" as the verb "be" has a past tense and a future tense, but no present tense. God says to Moses, in effect, "I will be who I determine to be, and I will be with you."

The Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures, dating from around 300 years before the birth of Jesus) translated "I will be with you" correctly, as Esomai meta su. But when it gets to the name, it mistranslates Ego ho on ("I the being one"). A faithful translation would be Esomai hoti esomai. It is important to keep all this in mind. When God tells Hosea that Israel will be destroyed because of its own willful disobedience, that is not the end of the story. God in the end will redeem and restore all who see the error of their ways and return to God. That is, no one and nothing will condition God, God will be with them and with us.

In Hosea we see the eternal redemptive purpose of God. At the end of chapter 1 God says "Yet the number of the people of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which can be neither measured nor numbered; and in the place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people' it shall be said to them, 'Children of the living God' " (v. 10 NRSV). Chapter 2 opens: Say to your brothers Ammi (my people) and to your sisters Ruhamah (pitied). The condemnation is not forever for those who repent. For them there is redemption.

I must mention another translation. The NRSV English says "say to your brother" and "say to your sister" (singular both times, but the Hebrew text is very clearly plural in both cases. The offer stands for everyone.

The remainder of chapter 2 is a poetic section comparing the people of Israel to an unfaithful wife. The husband formerly gave her food and drink, but because of her unfaithfulness (worshiping other gods and participating in their festivals) he will withdraw his support. This is a symbol of the people's unfaithful relationship to God, nothing to do with Hosea's biography.

Verses 14 and 15 are a picture of reconciliation in which hope and relationship and joy are restored.

In verse 16 there is a play on words, lost to those who do not speak Hebrew. "On that day says the LORD, you will call me 'My husband' and not 'My Baal'." (NRSV). Where the English has "Husband" Hebrew says "man." In Hebrew he word for husband is "baal" and wife is ishah. In some way there is an equating of persons with the use of "my man" (ishi) and "my woman" (ishti). It is not possible to achieve a full understanding of the meaning of the verse, not being an ancient Hebrew person. In general, we can interpret with confidence that God wishes to reclaim the close relationship with people which God intended from creation.

The end of the chapter has God promising have pity on Lo-Ruhama and to say to Lo-Ammi "You are my people," who will respond "You are my God."

The purpose of this post is for the reader to be able to read the first two chapters of Hosea with greater understanding.

Introduction to Hosea

Now that April, the most activity and responsibility-filled month in academia, is over, I can return to the blog. We finished Romans and now we move to Hosea, a much misunderstood book in the Hebrew scriptures.

This introductory post is a How Not to and a How to read Hosea. Most commentators start their study of the book by trying to figure out Hosea's life story. That, however, is not the point of the book. Rather, aspects of Hosea's life illustrate God's purpose in human history and God's nature.

There will be fewer posts on Hosea than there are chapters in the book. Much of the material is repeated and so the treatment will be thematic.

Hosea lived in the 9th century BC, had a 60-year career, spanning the last kings of the northern kingdom of Israel and beyond, by which time only the southern kingdom of Judah remained. He was the only prophet from the northern kingdom to have left written prophecies. His purpose was to interpret God's purpose in letting the northern kingdom fall and to give a message of hope for the future.

In Hosea, Israel is accused of "whoredom" meaning to signal its infidelity to the Covenant God of Israel, called Yaweh in the Hebrew scriptures. The people and their leaders all worshiped the gods of the Canaanites and Assyrians alongside Yaweh, violating the First Commandment. Therefore when God tells Hosea to "marry a wife of whoredom" it is not a punishment. One may take it that Hosea was disinclined to marry any woman, because she would be unclean owing to the worship of other gods. But God tells Hosea to go ahead and marry. In doing so, Hosea participates in the life of his people, though not in their unfaithfulness to God.

There was a tradition among prophets to act out in public scenes depicting what God meant to say to the people. In marrying Gomer (a name that sounds perfectly normal in Hebrew for a woman), Hosea is acting out God's presence among his disobedient people. They have a boy, whom God tells them to name Jezreel. That was a military stronghold that witnessed a bloodbath when the evil king Ahab and his consort Jezabel were executed along with countless other people. In naming the boy Jezreel, God was signalling that, unless Israel changed its ways, it would suffer the fate of Ahab and Jezabel.

Then they had a daughter and God said to name her Lo-Ruhamah (not pitied). God would not have pity on those who persisted in disobeying. Finally they had a second daughter, who was to be named Lo-Ammi, which is "not my people." God's people are those who worship only Yaweh, the Covenant God of Israel. The Israelites of the northern kingdom were not God's people by their own choice.

In all this, God called on Hosea to live out aspects of God's love for Israel and Judah and the pain God felt, caused by their infidelity. However that's not the end of the story. Basically we have covered chapter I of Hosea, but in so doing put our sights on the purpose of God, not on Hosea's life history, which is not the topic of the book.

I plan four or five weekly posts on Hosea. I hope they will be instructive and helpful.

Romans 16

The closing portion of Paul's book-length essay, known to us as Chapter 16, consists of the salutations (greetings) that he sends to people he knows in Rome and from people the church at Rome know but who are with Paul. On the face of it, there is not much to get from it for our edification. A closer look, however, reveals a number of different significant matters.

In verse 1 Paul commends Phoebe to them, calling her both a sister (meaning a fellow believer) and a deacon of the church at Cenchreae. This is important. If she is a deacon, then the early church had women who were deacons. Some English translations fudge by translating the word diákonos in this verse as "servant," while translating the same term when referring to men as "deacon." Not so the NRSV. The word in Greek is "masculine" (as opposed to "feminine" or "neuter"), so that it is exactly the same word as that applied to men. It is not known to what extent the term "deacon" was considered a church office status at the time Paul wrote in the first century of the common era. What we can deduce for certain was that the term, whatever it specifically entailed, was applied equally to men and to women. The exclusion of women from holding church office positions came later, perhaps much later, but it has no basis in scripture.

Phoebe was also the person who apparently took Paul's text to Rome. There was no postal service at the time except for the Roman highest officials and officers. This was the normal way of getting letters to the intended recipients. It was an important task and it was entrusted to a woman. Paul asks the church at Rome to help her in any way she needs.

There follows a long list of individuals at the church in Rome whom Paul greets. All the names appear to be Greek and none Jewish. It should be noted that many Jewish people who had never lived in Palestine adopted Greek names, so one cannot be certain. The greetings are divided almost equally between women and men.

Next is a warning to avoid those who cause dissensions and offenses. He implies that dissension is a sign of disobedience to the teaching of the way of Christ. As a matter of fact Paul says that such people are only serving their own base appetites, but they fool people by smooth talk and flattery. Paul immediately afterward blesses the believers in Rome.

Paul also sends greetings from eight men who are with him to the church at Rome. All but one have Greek names, and one, Tertius, puts in the he is the writer of the letter. It was the custom, when sending a letter, to hire a scribe, also known as amanuensis, to do the actual penning of the text. They would have parchment or papyrus, ink, and pens, articles too expensive for most people to keep around their dwelling. Besides, the scribes were experts at clear penmanship. On arrival, one person who read well would read the text aloud to the congregation of believers. This process was known in the Greek of the time as anaginóskein (to know again). Normally one heard the missive. The public in general did not become literate until the advent of the printing press at the beginning of the Modern Age, making texts numerous and much cheaper to obtain. The oral nature of the "reading" explains the repetition of important points, typical back then, but frowned upon now in good writing.

Paul's essay/letter ends, as usual with a doxology (an expression of praise to God). Paul praises God because the great mystery, kept secret for the ages, was now made known through the writings of the prophets to all, including the Gentiles, in order to bring all to the obedience that comes from trusting God. "To the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever, amen!" (16:27 NRSV)

Romans 15

At this point, Paul summarizes the main thrust of his essay and discusses his plans. In the first six verses, he reminds the church at Rome that the strong must put up with the failings of the weak. After all, Jesus took on himself the insults of all the people. Then he appeals for harmony, unity and trust in Christ, which will lead to their glorifying God the Father.

Then he turns to his mission to the Gentiles. Christ became servant of the Jews so that (1) the promises in the Hebrew scriptures would be fulfilled and (2) so that the Gentiles would receive God's mercy. Interpretation: God's purpose has always been the redemption of the human race, of all those who trust God the Father through Christ, God the Son, in the power of God the Spirit. Paul quotes from the Psalms and from Deuteronomy to prove his point. He rounds out the above section as follows: "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (15:13 NRSV)."

In the remainder of Chapter 15, Paul first repeats his mission to take the gospel to the Gentiles, that is, to those who have never heard. He is called to go where Christ has not yet been proclaimed and thus expand the church, so that "those to whom he has not yet been announced will see, and those who have not heard will understand (quoting Isaiah 52:15)."

Paul then outlines his plan to visit the church in Rome on his way to Spain. First, however, he was compelled to travel to Jerusalem to deliver the offerings from the churches in Macedonia and Achaia for the poor believers there. He asks for prayer to be delivered from those in Jerusalem who intend to harm him. We know from Luke's careful account in Acts of the Apostles that Paul's plan was undone. God had other plans for Paul and another plan for getting the good news of Jesus to Spain.

The Chapter ends "The God of peace be with all of you (15:31 NRSV)." The normal greeting in that day was (and still is in Hebrew) shalom, that is, peace. Paul follows the lead of Jesus, who said "I leave you my peace, but not as the world gives it." It is the peace (completion, fullness) that only God can provide.

Romans 14

The 14th chapter of Paul's book-length essay appeals to all believers in Christ to accept one another and not judge. The background to this teaching is the multi-ethnic makeup, not only of the church in Rome, but of virtually all the churches springing up in the Roman Empire. The gentile contingent had to decide whether they could eat meat sold in the market because, before it was made available for purchase, a portion of it had been sacrificed to a pagan deity. Some argued that the meat was unsuitable for a Christian, some argued that people outside the church would know and misinterpret the actions of the Christians, while still others argued that the Christian need not fear the meat and perhaps even that it was a good witness to eat it and not suffer at all from doing so.

Paul urges them not to take sides at all. Both those who refrained from meat and those who ate it did so to the glory of God. Those who did not eat were not to judge those who ate meat and those who did were not to belittle those who did not.

Among the Jews, there were some who still observed the weekly Shabbat (the Hebrew word "seventh" to designate the day we call Saturday) as a day of obligatory rest and some who considered themselves freed from having to observe, not only the Saturday rest, but also the observance of the festival days prescribed in the Torah.

Again, Paul instructs both sides not to judge each other, but rather to respect the practices of their Christian brothers and sisters. He then offers a higher teaching: the Christian no longer lives for himself or herself, but rather for God, because for that purpose Christ was killed and lives again. Accordingly, no one should feel justified in judging fellow Christians. Instead, we will all appear before the throne of God to be judged. and we will all have to give an account to the Lord. Then Paul quotes Isaiah (49:18 and 45:23) "I live, says Yahweh, so that every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall confess God." That is, do not try to put yourself in God's place by judging others.

This brings us through the first half of the chapter, which comes down heavy on those who condemn other Christians for eating meat from the market or drinking wine, or not observing Saturdays or feast days. The second half turns to the ones being judged. Apparently they countered by saying that they were strong in their faith while their accusers were weak. Paul tells the "strong" that they have a responsibility to their "weak" fellow Christians. This is the higher teaching: refrain from behaviors that bring grief to them or that could lead them to do things that violate their conscience. The work of God is not to be hindered for the sake of what one prefers to eat. Whatever you do, do it for the good of your fellow Christians and for peace in the church.

Finally, Paul says, whatever you do, make it in faith, that is, trusting Christ so fully that your greatest joy and your first priority is to obey him.

The issues vary, but even today Christians judge other Christians for doing things the former disapprove of or for living differently. To use a popular meme: get over it. Let's affirm each other in the faith and get on with whatever the Lord is directing the church to do.

Romans 13

Once again we encounter a passage of Paul's writing that has been misunderstood and misused. Paul argues that all should be subject to the existing authorities and not resist them. He gives two reasons: the first is that all rulers have been instituted by God and it follows that if you resist the rulers you are setting yourself against the will of God and will be judged accordingly; the second is that one has no reason to fear the rulers if what one does is just and right--only the disobedient and criminals have reason to fear.

This passage has been used by dictators, kings, and presidents to mean that no one should oppose them. The people who support the rulers politically put pressure on those who disagree with their policies. In one of my classes many years ago, before the class hour began, one of the students said that, if the US went to war with Iraq, there would be all kinds of problems created and we would regret it. Another student said: "But he is our president and we have to do what he says." I stayed out of the issue, as required of university professors and instructors, but I was very taken aback by the attitude of the second student. We know now that the first student was absolutely correct in her assessment.

The reading I have just described of this passage is an interpretation which takes no account of context, either in the essay itself, in the Biblical teaching as a whole, or in the culture and time in which the essay was written. It is important to note that in ancient Hebrew thought, and to a great extent in the thought of all cultures who believed in one supreme God, this God was the first cause of everything that happened. This being the case, it is not surprising that Paul argues that if a certain emperor is in power, it can only mean that God put him (always a him in the Roman Empire) there.

Another matter is that the idea of the great chain of being, in which God is the first cause and all events, through chain of causes which create effects, and in which the effects in turn become the cause of a next effect and so on ad inifinitum, did not exist in the first century or for many centuries thereafter. The idea is the creation of philosopher/theologians of the Middle Ages.

Finally, it must be noted from history that, at the time Paul wrote this essay, the Roman government was protecting the Jewish religion and with it Christianity, viewed as one expression of Judaism. When Paul later was caught up in a legal accusation and it seemed that he would never get justice at the Palestine province capital Caesarea, he appealed to the Emperor. At the time Roman justice had an enviously positive reputation.

Jesus exploded the idea that all events are directly ordered by God. He famously asked his followers if they really thought that the people who had been crushed and killed by the collapse of a tower (referring to an event in his hearers' memory) were really any more culpable than everyone else? The obvious answer had to be no.

We don't know what anti-government attitudes people in the church in Rome may have had, but Paul is arguing that, things being as they are, they should obey the authorities and be good citizens, thus showing a witness of their love for God. Jesus had said "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's." This is what Paul is arguing. He does not say that Christians should do the yearly declaration, required at times and in some places of Roman citizens, to declare that Caesar is Lord. The confession of the Christian is Xristos Kurios: Christ is Lord, that is, the most High God. Implicit in Jesus's saying is that our loyalty to God must come before any other loyalty. We must interpret what Paul is saying in accordance with what Jesus taught.

In the latter half of Chapter 13, Paul reminds his hearers that, as far as human relationships are concerned, the principle to live by is "Love your neighbor as yourself," quoting Jesus, who in turn quoted Leviticus 19:18.

In the final section, Paul urges the church at Rome to put off the works of "darkness" (when the revelation of God was not full--before the coming of Jesus, metaphorically the "light") and to live righteously (according to the will of God) given that the light has come and that each day, the eternal kingdom (described by the word salvation) is one day nearer.

Romans 12

The section we know as Chapter 12 of Romans begins with one of Paul's most quoted and approved lines: "I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God--what is good and acceptable and perfect" (verses 1 and 2, NRSV).

"Therefore" (in Greek just one syllable: oun) indicates that, given all the previous matters discussed in the essay, Paul is going to lay out how the Christian should live. That one little word means a great deal, but it is normally passed over or not assigned much importance. However it is crucial: given that God's purpose is redemption and that God offers salvation (God's love and protection) to all people on the same basis, here is how you should live. So then, how should we live? To the ancient Gentiles: stop giving your bodies over to licentious living. Instead, live an ethical life loving God and your fellow humans. That is, seek the good of others over your own desires and your own good. This message also applies to societies in post-modern times. To the ancient Jews: God does not want your sacrifices or your righteousness, he wants you to live in relationship with him and in obedience, relying on God's righteousness. Living for God and for the good of other people is the sacrifice God demands. This message addresses the self-satisfied people in churches that believe that God's nature requires retribution, but following the rules laid out by the community pleases God. Paul's message, based on that of Jesus, could not have been more counter cultural, then or now. Human wisdom only leads to trouble.

Paul goes on to point out that we must not see ourselves as alone and separate from others. The church is a community, metaphorically the body of Christ. Each of us has a part to play and none of us is the all-in-all, and none is unimportant, either. Christ, none of us, is the head.

Verses 9 to the end of the chapter explain how love (agape, not romantic love) is to be practiced. Never fall prey to schadenfreude, accompany with your emotions those who are in difficulties and those who are happy, persevere when you suffer, meet the needs of fellow Christians and give hospitality to strangers. The latter was a sacred duty in ancient times. As for your enemies, let God deal with them. Meanwhile, feed them if they are hungry, do not treat them as they treat you, give them water if they are thirsty.

All this is clear and easy to understand. It is extremely difficult to practice, because it goes completely against our human nature and what our culture says we should do.

Romans 11

We come now to a passage in this essay that is among the most misused by interpreters who do not pay attention to context, but rather interpret every verse as if it stood alone.

Paul continues in what we now call Chapter 11 of Romans to insist that God's redemptive purpose is offered to all people, of all races and ethnicities, on the same basis. That being the case, God has not set aside the people of Israel nor excluded them from the offer of grace (vv. 1-2). As it has always been, it is up to people to accept the salvation offered by God, but again as it has always been, most people will say "no, thanks, I'm good." That is the very definition of sin, and it is the message of the story of temptation in the Garden of Eden.

Then look carefully at verses 3 and 4. Paul references the story of Elijah in 1 Samuel, in which the prophet cries to God that all the other prophets had been killed and the altars demolished and now he alone was left and they were out to kill him too. God replies that there were seven thousand men (sic) who remained faithful to God. We can safely assume that we can add that many women and at least that many children, probably more. So, although the majority of Israel rejected God, there remained a large contingent of faithful people.

Paul goes on to say that this is the working of God's grace, and is nothing these people could have earned by their own efforts. That is, he is reminding his readers of what he has been emphasizing all along: God offers to all God's grace through faith (not works) but not everyone accepts it.

The import of verses 7 through 10 is that God never did obligate the people of Israel to obey him. The expression "God gave them eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear" should not be read as we would now. This essay was written well before the concept of cause and effect and the great chain of being, with God as the first cause. That belongs to the Middle Ages and still tends to affect our post-modern thinking. If anything, in ancient times people thought of God as the first cause of everything. That was one reason people were convinced they had to appease their gods. At same time the Jews held what we would consider a contradictory position: that individuals were responsible for their own decisions and actions. Accordingly the passage cannot be read as saying that God made the Israelites disobedient so that the Gentiles could also participate in the Kingdom of God, but rather, that one advantage or result of the situation is that God used it to move the good news of Christ's kingdom out to the Gentile world.

After laying out the disobedience of the Jews, Paul tells the Gentiles of the church not to be proud or feel they have it made. He compares the church to a plant, originally Jewish, that the Gentiles were grafted onto. God's sovereignty means that Israel can be grafted back on, so watch out.

Verses 25 and 26 have been sorely misinterpreted because they have been taken as a blanket statement requiring no interpretation. Given all that Paul has to say, and that he often used the metaphor of the church as the new Israel, the statement that "all Israel will be saved" is best understood as referring to the total sum of Jews and Gentiles who recognize Jesus as their God.

At the end of the chapter Paul quotes Isaiah 40:13 and Job 15:8 and 41:3, verses that assert that no one can know the mind of God, whose purposes exhaust and go beyond our understanding. He concludes with a doxolgy: "For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen." That is the future God is making and that is our hope.

Romans 10

I'm back from the winter break and gearing up for the new semester, glad to be able to resume the blog on Paul's letter to the Romans.

Chapter 10 is a reprise of the main point Paul has to make in his book-length essay: God offers salvation to all, Jews and all other ethnicities, on the same basis. The Jews, says Paul, were strongly committed to God, but insist on relating to him on their own terms. What they refused to accept is that "The perfection of the law (Torah) is Christ so that all who trust fully in him will be accounted as righteous" (v. 4). That is, it is trust that places your life on the line for God, who came as Jesus, that makes you right with God.

Paul continues by expanding on the concept. In verses 9 and 10 he argues that "if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. You see, with your heart you trust and become righteous and with your mouth you confess and are saved." In other words, when you trust in your inmost being that Jesus will always be who he said he is, you stake your very life on it, and you verbalize it, you come into relationship with God, who brings you into the eternal kingdom of God. Submit in humility and set to serving others. That is what "salvation" means.

In the remainder of what was designated much later than the writing as Chapter 10, Paul makes very clear that "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (v. 13)." He is quoting the prophet Joel at 2:32, again insisting that this has been God's purpose all along. He ends the section by quoting from the Torah and the prophets sections that declare that those who did not seek God (the non-Jews) found him, while of the Jews he says "all day long I (God) have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people (NRSV)," implying that they missed his coming as a result.

I have commented before to the effect that context is everything. That is, we always must take the entire context of a book into account when we interpret. That said, please keep in mind what Paul has just laid out clearly as we deal with Chapter 11, where Paul talks of the restoration of Israel and which we will take up in the next blog post.