The Four: A Survey of the Gospels

Defending Constantine: The Twilight of an Empire and the Dawn of Christendom

From Behind the Veil: The Epistles of John

Deep Exegesis:The Mystery of Reading Scripture

Jane Austen
(A Biography)

Solomon Among the Postmoderns

The Baptized Body

1 & 2 Kings
Brazos Theological Commentary

The Promise Of His Appearing: An Exposition Of Second Peter

A Great Mystery: Fourteen Wedding Sermons

Deep Comedy: Trinity, Tragedy, And Hope In Western Literature

Miniatures & Morals: The Christian Novels of Jane Austen

The Priesthood of the Plebs: A Theology of Baptism

A Son To Me: An Exposition of 1 & 2 Samuel

Against Christianity

From Silence to Song: The Davidic Liturgical Revolution

Ascent to Love: A Guide to Dante's Divine Comedy

Blessed Are the Hungry: Meditations on the Lord's Supper

A House For My Name: A Survey of the Old Testament

Heroes of the City of Man: A Christian Guide to Select Ancient Literature

Brightest Heaven of Invention: A Christian Guide To Six Shakespeare Plays

Wise Words: Family Stories That Bring the Proverbs to Life

The Kingdom and the Power: Rediscovering the Centrality of the Church

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Bible - OT - Hosea: Mercy and Sacrifice

“I delight in mercy (hesed) rather than sacrifice, and in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”  Thus far Hosea (6:6), reaffirmed by Jesus (Matthew 9:13; 12:7).

Less well-known is the context in Hosea 6: “What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah?  For your loyalty (hesed) is like a morning cloud and like the dew which goes away early.   Therefore I have hewn them in pieces by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of My mouth; and the judgments on you are like the light that goes forth” (vv. 4-5).

Ephraim and Judah have no loyalty (hesed), which is what delights Yahweh more than sacrifice.  So He sends the prophets who hew and slay Judah and Israel with words.  That is to say, Yahweh makes a pleasing sacrifice of his people; the prophets are priests bringing Yahweh’s people to the altar so that their judgments will flash forth like light and burn like fire.

Bible - OT - Hosea: Moth and Rust

Jesus instructs His disciples to store treasure where moth and rust cannot corrupt, that is, in heaven.

Hosea 5:12 sheds some light on that.  Yahweh is in the midst of condemning priests and kings for their harlotry.  Priests don’t teach Torah and the kings move landmarks, so Yahweh is coming against Ephraim and Judah like a lion (5:15).

Verse 12 contains more unusual animal imagery: Yahweh is coming “like a moth” and “like rottenness” against the two kingdoms.  The treasures they’ve amassed in their harlotry will not escape; they will be consumed by Yahweh the moth, Yahweh the corrupter, Yahweh the rust.

Throughout the gospel, Jesus warns His disciples that judgment is coming on Israel, and when that judgment comes the treasures stored here will be consumed.  Those who follow Jesus, walk in a righteousness that surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, will have secure treasures.

Bible - OT - Hosea: Wombless

Hosea’s daughter is named Lo-ruhamah (1:6), and the Lord explains that her name signifies that He “will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel.”  Lo-ruhamah means “no compassion.”

But the word ruhamah is linked to the Hebrew word for “womb”; as many have pointed out, Yahweh’s compassion is “wombliness,” the compassion of a mother for a child she has birthed.  Yahweh removes His motherly compassion from Israel, and Hosea’s daughter is a sign of that.

Hosea 1:6 might also indicate some connection between the Lord’s withdrawal of compassion and Israel’s infertility.  Yahweh’s compassion for Israel is shown when He opens the wombs of the daughters of Zion; His withdrawal of wombliness means that Israel will cease to be a mother with children; after the exile, the return of His compassion is signified by the multiplication of the children of Israel: “Rejoice, barren woman.”  The great signifier of Yahweh’s wombly compassion for His people is that the wombs of the daughters of Israel and Judah are fertile like gardens.

Bible - OT - Hosea: Reverse exodus

In Hosea 13:15, the prophet says of Ephraim, “Though he flourishes among the reeds, an east wind will come, the wind of the LORD coming up from the wilderness; and his fountain will become dry and his spring will be dried up; it will plunder his treasury of every precious article.”

This is a picture of a reverse exodus. In Exodus 14:21, an “east wind” dries up the waters of the yam suph, the “Sea of Reeds” (cf. 15:22) and opened a path of dry land through the sea. Hosea uses “east wind” and “reeds” and “dry,” but the image is not of deliverance but of withering destruction. Instead of a Rock flowing like a fountain, Ephraim will be dried up. Instead of plundering, Ephraim will be plundered.

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