Still Adulterers

Hosea 3-4

            Once again, Hosea’s marriage reflects the relationship of Israel with the Lord, and the prophet is sent to regain his wife. Apparently she had become a slave in the interim, because he had to redeem her for 15 shekels and some barley. Think about that: she had desired freedom to pursue her lovers and that had ended badly for her. There’s a lesson there: in our sinfulness, we think we can do better making our own choices, but the ways of God are always better in the long run—even if that long run takes us into the resurrection before we see the blessed outcomes.

            Chapter 4 has a lot going on. First, reading the prophets one would think the Israelites were a horrible people. I wonder if we need to understand some of the indictment in verse 2 in the way Jesus explains the 10 Commandments in Matthew 5. By that I mean, there’s probably no more actual murder in Israel than anywhere else (even if there should be less among God’s people), but Jesus explains that even anger is a violation of the 5^th Commandment. Second, my study Bible says that verses 4-9 are an indictment of the Levitical priests, and I see that. But the priests aren’t named as the subject right away. It’s just possible the verse 6, “I reject you as priests” is not just a rejection of that particular class, but a rejection of all of Israel who are a kingdom of priests (Exodus 19:6). To be clear, I think that the Levitical priests become the subject later in the passage. Third, I note the statement that the women will not be held guilty for adultery because it is the men encourage that behavior and are just as guilty. (That last makes a nice contrast with some of the things we read in Exodus and Leviticus, which always seemed to place the greater burden on the woman.)