Promise through Punishment (Hs. 2:16-23)

Introduction/Hook

Allow me to bring you back to your childhood for a moment. Re-imagine what it is like to get in trouble. And I mean some serious trouble. Believe it or not, I was not a perfect kid, therefore I did get in trouble a fair share. Allow me to walk you through some of the waves and emotions that you might experience as a child.

Getting caught: You messed up. You did something you knew was wrong, or perhaps it didn’t occur to you that the deed was immoral until your mom or dad said “son, we need to talk”. Terror strikes your heart, anxieties build up, and now, you’re looking for a way out. You don’t know what they’re going to say, or how they’re going to react, but you know for a fact that “good” or “cheerful” will not be good adjectives for that conversation. The worst part is, you don’t know what the result will be. Will you be punished? Oh, certainly! How bad will it be? Will it hurt? The questions can continue.

The accusing: Your parents lay it all out on you. As much as you might try, there’s no getting around it - you really screwed up this time. Your parents might be hurt, angry, or disappointed. Maybe your mom is crying, and your dad might be fuming. It’s hard to handle, so you might start crying too. The emotions are high nonetheless. The guilt and regret weigh heavy. The anticipation of your fate grips your heart as your body begins to sweat and shake. Will it be too much to handle?

The punishment: The dreaded part of the process. Your parents lay out what must happen. It’s gonna hurt. It’s gonna be hard. You’re not gonna be happy coming out of it. It seems cruel, it seems harsh, but you know you deserve it. You feel as if you’ve betrayed them. You can tell they are hurt. What if they don’t love you? What if this was the thing that pushed it too far? But wait… They say something… “I love you”. Even as they are dishing out the punishment, they express their love. They want you to know that you are still loved and accepted by them. The punishment still goes on, but they love you. The relationship is not lost. That connection is not severed permanently. There is hurt, there is pain, but along with this is hope.

Context

In the book of Hosea, Yahweh’s people are once again partaking in idol worship, and it is this time that He uses His prophet Hosea to etch a picture in Israel’s mind to demonstrate how weighty and severe their sin is. He has Hosea marry a whore named Gomer, who not faithful to him, and to intensify the illustration, they have children as well. God begins to call out His people for their whoredom and unfaithfulness to Him in idol worship.

After God creates a lasting image using Hosea's family, He pronounces a series of judgments and punishments towards Israel and Judah. These are harsh and inevitable disciplines that must be suffered. Prior to this disaster and suffering that Yahweh’s people will endure, He provides them with hope that will seemingly lighten the heavy burden of these punishments. is a passage that contains this. Let’s unpack this passage and try and understand what’s happening here.

Baal no more (16-17)

English Standard Version Chapter 2

16 “And in that day, declares the LORD, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’ 17 For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more.

English Standard Version Chapter 2

“And in that day, declares the LORD, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’ 17 For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more.

We all have dealt with the guilt of sin. At times it may be reoccurring sin that just seems to nag and nag, and it feels as if we just can’t shake it. Sin can begin to loom over us. Whether it is pornography, drug addiction, pride, or any other kind of addictive sin, it is as if it grips onto believers that want to be free of that heavy ball and chain. Sometimes it may take years before we even see these sins for what they are. Not just this, but these sins can sever us from a close connection with God. It is easy to feel isolated when the weight of sin is hanging on us.

Israel dealt with a consistent reoccurring sin. Their big sin was idol worship. They so quickly abandoned the God who brought them out of slavery and made them His people. It got to a point where God needed to use His prophet Hosea as an example. Israel repeatedly fell into this trap, and this sin continued to entangle them. Let’s read the text.

English Standard Version Chapter 2

16 “And in that day, declares the LORD, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’ 17 For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more.

English Standard Version Chapter 2

16 “And in that day, declares the LORD, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’

God gives His people a beautiful promise here, despite the judgement that we can see approaching on the horizon. First, Yahweh makes the promise that one day they will have a new level of relationship that outranks where they were at this time. Israel would stop referring to God as “my Baal”, or, “my master”. Rather, God’s people will call Him “my Husband.” How intimate and caring is this! He promises them that the way they think and respond towards Yahweh will completely alter. It will be a utter change from the distant, impersonal, cold term of “master” to the warm, intimate, and close term of “husband”.

But God does not stop here! He goes further with this promise.

English Standard Version Chapter 2

17 For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more.

He declares that the Baals that they worship will be removed from their mouths. The name “Baal” being used twice here is demonstrating this complete removal. God will not be known to Israel as Baal, and Israel will not remember the Baals they once worshipped.

Imagine it like getting wisdom teeth pulled. They are completely removed. Gone. They aren’t coming back. So it is with the names of the Baals!

These false gods that captivated the hearts of Israel will be utterly removed from their mouths! Further, God says that the names will not be remembered. The Baals that caused Israel to stumble so greatly would be completely forgotten!

In the Men in Black movies, the government agents used small metal devices called Nerualyzer’s to wipe specific memories from a civilian when they saw some kind of government secret. When they did this, the civilians go about their lives, having no memory of anything they saw. God will essentially wipe the Baals from His people’s memory! When this day comes, they will not even remember the names of these idols they once followed!

Try and picture this. The sin that weighs you down, entraps you and enslaves you, suddenly gone. Annihilated. Done with. Removed completely. So far gone that you can’t even remember it. This is what this beautiful promise is for Israel. Even though the judgement they would face is coming, this wonderful guarantee from Yahweh Himself is there to give them confidence and reassurance in His faithfulness.

The Peaceful Land and the Perfect Betrothal (18-20)

English Standard Version Chapter 2

And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety.

Here God proclaims that He will be crafting a covenant. This covenant concerns the land promised to Israel since early on in the Scriptures. Yahweh states that this covenant he is making is with all the creatures of the land, and that with this promise He is abolishing violence from the land. The result of all this is that He will make His people safe, secure, and at peace. As I look at this covenant, I see nods and hints towards an Eden-like land. No violence, no war, no harm, rather, there is complete peace among man and creature and God. God is promising His people that peace will come! The land that belongs to them will be a safe place for them to dwell.

English Standard Version Chapter 2

19 And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. 20 I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the LORD.

Yahweh once again increases His promises to His people. Here is

Yahweh once again increases His promises to His people. This is a wonderful promise using the imagery of marriage. God uses the imagery of marriage with Hosea’s relationship to express the unfaithfulness of Israel, but now He uses it to express a future promise. The text says three times that Yahweh will betroth His people to Him, and when the Bible repeats something, it’s probably important. So what is He saying here? This is not a literal marriage, instead, God is using the imagery here to express that He will be closely connected to His people.

Think of how amazing this is. Despite Israel’s sin towards God, He still loves her and desires to be with her. I was recently watching a TV show where one of the main characters finds out his pregnant wife had terrible secrets in her past. He had only found out a small portion of what she had done, but it hurt him horrendously. She gave him a storage drive that had a list of all the things that she had done. Rather

We can several descriptions of what this betrothal is going to be like. First, we can see that it will be eternal and unbreakable. The fact that God says this will be forever means that there’s no backing out of it. Israel will be betrothed as His people permanently. Second, we have the four words that describe the betrothal (righteousness, justice, steadfast love, and mercy). These four terms describe what the betrothal will be like. It will be righteous, just, full of love and mercy. It will be a perfect and permanent marriage between the two, where God has perfectly established this bond. Third, we see that this betrothal will be a faithful one. Israel had played the whore with God multiple times. When God establishes this betrothal, it will be broken no longer. He will be faithful to Israel as He always has, and they will return this faithfulness. This betrothal results in Israel knowing Yahweh. They will be established in this engagement and will know Him in this close, personal relationship. Think about this! Israel had been so unfaithful to Yahweh, yet He still loves them so much to embrace them in this close relationship.

BBC Sherlock illustration

All-Encompassing Compassion (21-23)

English Standard Version Chapter 2

21  “And in that day I will answer, declares the LORD,

I will answer the heavens,

and they shall answer the earth,

22  and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil,

and they shall answer Jezreel,

English Standard Version Chapter 2

21  “And in that day I will answer, declares the LORD,

I will answer the heavens,

and they shall answer the earth,

22  and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil,

and they shall answer Jezreel,

23  and I will sow her for myself in the land.

And I will have mercy on No Mercy,

and I will say to Not My People, ‘You are my people’;

and he shall say, ‘You are my God.’ ”

We read a lot of answering here. What is happening? Are the heavens and the earth answering the phone? Are they answering Jeopardy questions? No! What we see here is response. God responds to the heavens, which carries down all the way to the oil, and they all respond to Jezreel. So what does this “responding” mean? Are they all talking to each other? No, rather, this is representing “restoration of fertility to the land” as David Hubbard puts it in his commentary. This response is nature communicating and working with each other, and shows growth and fertility as provided by God, started by the heavens, moving to the earth, and then producing the fertile produce of the land. Some translations like the NLT will even include this idea of the heavens sending rain, and the earth feeding the crops. This whole promise furthers the idea of complete perfection.

There’s nothing like seeing nature that’s full and alive! I recently went on a hike in Lackawanna State Park, and seeing all the trees and plants so green and full of life was incredible. If I had gone during a different time of year, I would have seen a lot of miserable, dead plant life. Yahweh is clearly promising things to be lively in the land!

English Standard Version Chapter 2

23  and I will sow her for myself in the land.

And I will have mercy on No Mercy,

and I will say to Not My People, ‘You are my people’;

and he shall say, ‘You are my God.’ ”

David A. Hubbard, Hosea: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 24, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1989), 97.

This verse begins by stating that God will sow her (Israel) for Himself in the land. This means that God will establish them here. It as if He is planting a great garden in the land, and the crop is Israel. This will be their home! They will be established here! (pause) The verse continues on making a reference back to Hosea’s children. These children were given unique names to represent Israel during this time. “No Mercy” and “Not My People” are intense examples of how God is treating Israel during this time, and gives us a lot of insight into the emotions of God. Here however, Yahweh proclaims that one day He will reverse their names. A total 180. “Not My People” will be made His people, and “No Mercy” will be given mercy. This is such a beautiful promise!

Conclusion

Judgement is coming for Israel. It is inevitable. After the dramatic display of Hosea and Gomer, Yahweh launches into His accusations towards His people, and lays out the judgments that will be coming. There is no escaping. Yet even though Yahweh will punish, He is not a merciless, heartless God. He loves His people dearly, and this is one passage where He lays it out beautifully. Despite the coming judgement, Yahweh will have compassion. He has made promises to His people that have yet to be fulfilled, but we can trust they certainly will be. He will establish them in the land, connected to Him, in perfect and complete peace. Through the pain and anguish that will occur because of judgement, God continues to pour out His compassion on His people. They receive hope in the midst of coming disaster, continuing to prove that they can trust the Lord God.

What about us?

So what about us? Does this passage have anything we can take from it? Of course it does! It’s God’s Word, and there is amazing truth that we can reap from it.

I pose a question for you: Don’t we believers today have the same God? Is He not the same as He was then? This Yahweh is not a distant, remote, ancient God, but He is the One who is alive and active today!

Because of this, we can trust that God still has the same attributes. God was about to severely punish His people, yet through this, He was determined to show them His love. He still cared for them, and He had a future laid out for them. We can have this same hope in God! He will love us no matter what, and we know that God does have a future laid out to us. The lessons He has to teach us may hurt. The pain we may have to endure for Him to get through to us may be difficult to handle. Yet nonetheless, Yahweh is not one who forsakes. He is faithful and compassionate. Dwell on this. When thinking about sin, it’s possible to feel the weight of it and to be overloaded with guilt. We can even trick ourselves into thinking God has given up on us. Take heart! God will continue to love us, just as He continued to love His people Israel.