Pursue Love and Justice

May 31, 2020 Background Scripture: Hosea 11, 12 Lesson Passage: Hosea 11:1, 2, 7 – 10; 12:1, 2, 6 – 14 Sometimes it takes the brokenhearted to tell the story of one whose heart has been broken. Hosea lived the message of his ministry. No matter how you look at it, when you know the details of Hosea’s life, you know he was headed for trouble. Hosea married an adulterous woman. She didn’t have just one affair. The bible says Gomer had many lovers. Despite the affairs, Gomer bore children for Hosea and he loved her very much. And then Gomer abandoned Hosea. Yes, she left him, but that’s not the end of the story. Later, he found her at an auction. She was part of the merchandise that was for sale. So, Hosea bought his wife at the auction and pleaded with her to be faithful to him. That’s the context for our lesson today. From that context of Hosea’s life, God sent a message to Israel. God declared Himself to be betrothed to Israel as her Husband. God denounced Israel’s actions as being adulterous towards Him. He provided Israel all that she needed, but Israel continued to pursue the worship of idol gods. When Israel bowed down and worshiped those idols, she pursued them as her lovers. God was jealous of the attention Israel gave to the idols although He was the one who supplied all that Israel needed. As the adults of Israel pursued idol gods, their children learned from them. Their children became the offspring of idol worshipers rather than children who sought after God. Like Hosea, God was going to redeem Israel from her adulterous life. However, God wanted Israel to stop pursuing idol gods and to seek to know and worship Him. As the prophecy of Hosea is closing, God reminisces about Israel’s beginning as a nation. Even then, Israel did not understand all that God was doing for her. In a very dramatic way, God displayed the mixed emotions of desiring retribution and yet having overwhelming love towards Israel. Israel deserved punishment but God had too much love for her to not draw her back to Him with lovingkindness. God constantly urged Israel in the direction of pursuing love and justice. No matter how many times Israel failed God, His grace and love towards her remained unending. God desired that His people would be worthy of the love He showered them with. He would give Israel into the hands of her enemy. But like Hosea, God would redeem her, or buy her back, at the auction of life. Hosea could tell God’s story because his heart was knit together with God’s through similar life situations. How can one love another who is so undeserving of such love? How can someone who receives such love not be transformed by that manner of love? These are the questions that torture the soul of one with a probing heart. God reveals Himself in a rather transparent way in the book of Hosea. The reader is given a perspective that allows one to see God’s emotions in a unique way. It is that great divine struggle between the execution of justice and the display of absolute love. Even as Israel, people of God are admonished to pursue love and justice today. Sin has a great price, and justice will be served. God’s love is too great to be limited by anything. There is no wonder that we struggle with trying to comprehend Calvary. Calvary allowed God to obtain justice and to display the greatest act of love ever. God pursued love and justice, and on Calvary He delivered both! Robert C. Hudson May 8, 2020