Exegesis of Hosea 3
Verse 1 of Hosea 3 pulls no punches. As is often the case in the holy books, the Lord commands us to love, and reminds us that He loves us even though we are making idols and worshipping them everyday, thus cheating on our marriage with Him. If there is one concept that is all-encompassing to the specific ways in which each of us cheat on God, it is the concept of time. All we need is food, clothing and work to pay for housing. If we have all of these met, the rest of our time should be devoted to God. It is not. And this is why we are all adulterers. It is right and it is just for us all to think of ourselves as the chief of all sinners, because we prioritize our hobbies before God. God should be our only hobby, from now unto the ages of ages.
Verse 4 reminds me of Ethiopians in the diaspora. If you are from a different diaspora community, feel free to think of your community. We've been here since at least the mid-20th century, but we still have our eyes on Ethiopian politics. We think about our kings, princes, our dejazmaches, our prime ministers and all the strife that is in Ethiopia. Dandy, but the Lord teaches that our neighbors are not only Ethiopians, not only the Orthodox and not only Christians. Our neighbors are the Americans and peoples of all nationalities, ethnicities and creeds that walk and breathe amongst us. They have problems. They need a shoulder to lean on. Their poor need tending to. They need to hear the word of God. Scripture demands that we focus on them.
This verse makes me think of the Ethiopian communities renting buildings from Protestant congregations so that they can have a qidasay (divine liturgy) service. Ephod and teraphim are tough words to read, and remind me of the arbitrariness of the whims of a translator. Why did she transliterate these two words, but translate others? Ephod are the vestments of a priest. I believe Teraphim are hand-made idols (I am ready for a Semitic scholar to school me). I think of Ethiopian communities that do not have enough vestments for all of their ordained servants. I think of Christians who wear a cross, and speak of chakras, who hang images of Christ and dream catchers in their abodes, who pray Our Father and make wishes in tunnels, ponds and on birthday cakes and who say they are Christian and believe in the evil eye.
Verse 5 reminds us of the pattern of the world versus the pattern of the holy books. In the world, your neighbor tells you the good news first, then says but, and tells you the bad news. The holy books do the reverse. The holy books tell you the bad news about you, and then the good news (gospel) about you. The bad news, in Hosea 3, is that you are a filthy sinner, comparable with an adulteress. The gospel of Hosea 3 is that in the future, you will seek the mercy of God, and in His innumerable goodness, He will grant you a second chance. I don't know what the Hebrew and Greek say, but the translators of the NRSV have chosen the word awe to describe your reaction to God's mercy. This word is literally awesome. The word awesome is abused in everyday speech in the U.S., but its original meaning is perfect for our marriage with God. We repeatedly have sex with other gods and goddesses, and yet He grants us a second chance. Awe means a combination of fear and love that you feel when you think of something greater than you. The horizons of the oceans and the plains, the density of mountains, and the vastness of space all inspire awe. He who brought these into existence, with His word, is greater. He is to be awed even more. I would be 100% satisfied if no words left my lips during my prayers, and I remained in an eternal pause of awe at the steadfast love of God.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us sinners.