New Perspective: Love (Part One)

Kudos if you took the time to read through Hosea when it was the content of the "Taking the Message Home" which would have been the week after Valentine's Day. And an extra gold star if you made it all the way through the fairly short book. Talk about putting a damper on love in the days following love's biggest commercial day. Hosea is dense. I don't mean to say that the prophet himself was not that bright. Rather the words that he recorded through the guidance of the Holy Spirit are steeped in poetry and historical references and imagery that either necessitates multiple readings of the same verse or leads to reading without comprehending.

The book of Hosea was written as a warning. The people of Israel had been enjoying great comfort and luxury. But their success brought great brokenness in their relationships with each other and with God. The better life got, the more prevalent sin became. In their success they no longer needed God. Instead they worshiped and trusted what they made with their own hands. To ensure success, nothing was off limits. They would lie, steal, murder, and sleep their way to the top. Personal pleasure became the only law of the land. Hosea 4:1 says that faithfulness and love and knowledge of God had all disappeared.

Much of Hosea serves as a wake-up call to this behavior and to the consequences (both individual and collective) of ordering life apart from God. Again, the language was meant to give people clear images: what comes to mind when you think of a lion tearing apart its prey, of a vulture circling above, of something infested with dry rot or covered in filth or eaten by a moth? If Hosea was trying to paint a picture for the people of Israel, it was not pretty. I remember not wanting to show my school pictures to friends. On the day that the folders would be passed out right before the final bell, with one picture there for everyone to see, I would stuff the envelop in my bag as quick as possible and zoom out the door. "What, pictures? No, I don't think mine came back today." But when Hosea hands the people of Israel their portrait, the first response is not "Who could love someone who looks like me?" They take pride in what they see and they flaunt their picture in front of everyone before being asked about it.

Does this sound like the makings of a love story, a proposed plot for a 2-hour television special airing on Valentine's Day? Actually, let's consider it a two-night mini-series. The first part ends with the relationship in shambles and any possibility for love apparently shot. But the "to be continued" invites you back to the couch the next night to see what might happen. I've never read a Nicholas Sparks novel (I probably and prayerfully never will), but if they moisten your eyes you may want to bring a box of kleenex. Because this love story is beyond belief.