Reflection from Hosea - An-Other Lover
The words of the Lord to Hosea after his wife, Gomer, conceived and bore Jezreel, Lo-Ruhamah and Lo-Ammi in Hosea 2.
She who conceived them has behaved shamefully.
For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers,
Who give me my bread and my water,
My wool and my linen,
My oil and my drink.’
That I gave her grain, new wine, and oil,
And multiplied her silver and gold—
Which they prepared for Baal.
“And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees,
Of which she has said,
‘These are my wages that my lovers have given me.’
'Their mother, she, her' referred to Gomer.
As I was reading it, I tried to imagine how God must have felt.
Gomer has received and enjoyed a whole lot of material blessings from the Lord - bread, water, wool, linen, oil, drink, grain, new wine, silver, gold, vines and fig trees.
Yet each of these item, Gomer attributed it to her lovers. She did not know that God was the one who gave her grain, new wine and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold.
What was more, she said, "My lovers give me my bread and my water, my wool and my linen, my oil and my drink. My vines and my fig trees are my wages that my lovers have given me."
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Not only did she not acknowledge God's goodness and blessing in her life, but she had also given the glory that was due God to another.
All her blessedness and prosperity were, in her eyes, a gift from another god.
She forgot her Husband and relentlessly, repeatedly, unrepentantly went after her lovers. She chased them (Hosea 2:7), sought them (Hosea 2:7), burned incense (Hosea 2:13) to Baal. She decked herself with earrings and jewelry, and went after them (Hosea 2:13).
In Gomer's days, her 'lovers' were, of course, idols such as Baal and the other nations around Israel, to whom they went seeking for help.
But who exactly is this Baal? Here's an excerpt that gives a summary from study.com.
This deity Baal made his first appearance in the Bible in Numbers. So it was, the next day, that Balak took Balaam and brought him up to the high places of Baal, that from there he might observe the extent of the people (Num 22:41).
He was on a fierce competition against Yahweh in the old days. Of course, he was no match to God but that did not deter him from trying to compete against God.
And sadly, many Gomers turned to Baal, seeking his lordship and praising him for the good things she had received and had enjoyed because of God's goodness.
Now, in our days, in our modern Christian life, we obviously do not have any evident, out-rightly blatant Baal in our life. We do not (and would not) profess or confess a Baal in our lives.
Yet, there is a pressing need to ask ourselves - are there any subtle 'other lovers' in our life?
I suppose there can be many possible 'other lovers' (for instance, fame, money, fleshly indulgence etc.) but there is one potential 'lover' that I would like to speak about here.
This 'lover' takes the form of 'work, religiosity, legalism, strive'.
And if I were to give this 'lover' a name, these terms come to mind:
Self-sufficiency. Self-righteousness. Self-dependency.
Nickname: Self.
This 'other lover' is not as blatantly sinful and outrightly wrong, as compared to other lovers. But is the most dangerous and the hardest to defend against, in my opinion.
Because it can be so easy to forget that it was the Lord our God who gives us grain, new wine, oil, silver and gold (Hosea 2:8). (Of course, we no longer operate, trade or live our daily lives in literal grain, wine, oil, silver and gold but you get what I mean.)
So, we thought that our grain, new wine, oil, silver and gold is the outcome of our wisdom, our industrious diligence, our charisma, our talents, our planning, our connections. Worse still, we may think that it is our prayer/ our fasting/ our faith that had earned us His provision. His provision, yes, but it is our hard work that make God give us what he gives.
Because it can be so easy to forget that we have a Husband ('But Me she forgot', says the Lord (Hosea 2:13). Or that we have a Father.
So, we believe we are widows and orphans, wandering around in an orphaned spirit. Thinking that we are not loved, not wanted, not 'belonged'.
Because it can be so easy to forget that it was the Father (out of His great love for us) that gave His only begotten Son, so that we should not perish and have everlasting life (John 3:16).
So, we thought that what we do will affect and change our Father's heart and decision and action. We thought that it is our obedience, our sacrifice, our effort, our good works and all that we do that has earned us our salvation and our maturity in Him.
Because it can be so easy to forget that it is by grace we have been saved through faith, and that not of ourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest we should boast (Eph 2:8-10).
So, we thought we need to do. We need to work. We need to perform. If we have already done all that, then we need to 'more' - Do more, perform better. Work on improving our quantity and quality. (You know the usual 'pray more, pray harder, increase faith, fast longer etc.')
Because it can be so easy to forget what Jesus said, just as He gave up His spirit - "It is finished!" (John 19:30).
So, we thought we need to add to what Jesus has already finished, completed and perfected on the Cross.
This 'other lover' loomed big in the dark, secret and deep recess of our heart. He comes in a brilliant disguise of religion or in the name of 'love for God'.
Subtle (you may not even be able to identify him) and yet so deadly.
Now, again, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that we should live our days as how we have lived before we come to Christ (walking after our flesh and living in sin), nor am I saying that we should just sing sweet Kumbaya all day long and not get on with our Christian walk and Christian work.
But I am genuinely weary of this 'other lover', who so subtly and yet so easily creeps into our heart. The fruit of this 'other lover' is merely strive and performance. In short, a depart from His rest - an unrest.
That is not my portion in life. So, I examined my heart and ask those hard questions as I read Hosea 2:
Am I in unrest? Is there 'an other lover' in my heart? Have I attributed what I have - God's grace, God's goodness, Christ finished work - to another?
That being said, take heart.
Because right in the same chapter, we saw God setting a redemptive plan at work for Gomer. God, because of His mercy, has not given up on Gomer.
When she decks herself with earrings and jewelry and went after her 'other lover', she finds her way hedged up with thorns. She is walled in and cannot find her path, she chases but cannot overtake, she seeks but does not find them (Hosea 2:6-7). And she find herself in the wilderness (Hosea 2:14).
And that is the Lord alluring her, bringing her into the wilderness, where He can speak comfort to her. From there, He will give her her vineyards and the Valley of Achor as a door of hope. (Hosea 2:14-15)
Beloved in Christ, it shall be so for us too.
In that day of revelation and repentance (of turning back to God and to our rest in Christ), it shall be as what the Lord says through Hosea in Hosea 2:16:
“And it shall be, in that day,”Says the Lord,
“That you will call Me ‘My Husband,’
And no longer call Me 'My Master,’
Read on in Hosea 2:17-23 and be astounded by the beautiful blessings promised to us for 'in that day' - the names of the Baals taken out from our mouth, we lie down safely, we know the Lord, the earth answer us with grain, new wine and oil, we are sowed for God, we have obtained mercy, we are His people.
Oh, beloved in Christ, 'that day' has come. 'That day' IS NOW.
May we truly wholly live 'in that day' today. This is my prayer.
