Hosea: His Redeeming LoveSýnishorn

We read at the beginning of Hosea chapter 9 that there are times when the very last thing God wants is for his people to rejoice. Israel’s unfaithfulness and worship of other gods means that they are ‘two-timing’ him; their songs of praise to him are empty. But it isn’t just their compromised worship that sickens God for, in verses 7–9, we discover another reason why God insists they should not rejoice.

The way the people treat his prophet appalls God. Hosea’s marriage to Gomer the prostitute is supposed to be a sermon to the nation. Just as Hosea keeps loving his unfaithful wife, so God continues to love his unfaithful people. But the nation doesn’t like it! They consider Hosea a “fool” and a “maniac.” They seek to trip him up, and it is the religious leaders who give him the hardest time of all.

God had sent Hosea to be a watchman. And the watchman’s job is to stand on the walls and sound the alarm, to trumpet a warning to the nation when he sees disaster approaching. That’s what Hosea is doing—reminding Israel of their many sins—but the people would prefer someone to sing them a soothing lullaby.

It shouldn’t surprise us, of course. We far prefer to hear a word that pats us on the back than one that stings. Yet that’s not how growth occurs. That’s not how we are made into the likeness of Christ. God puts people in our lives to be watchmen. Let us learn from the Israelites not to disregard their warnings and wisdom.

Pray: God, thank you that you love me enough to warn me. Help me to humble myself and hear the watchmen in my life even when their wisdom stings, because you mean not to harm me but to make me more like Jesus.