Not by Sword or Battle
Opening Prayer
Lord, keep me in constant remembrance of John’s admonition, “ Little children, guard yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:21).
Read Hosea 1:1—2:1
The word of the Lord that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the reign of Jeroboam son of Jehoash king of Israel:
Hosea’s Wife and Children
2 When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.” 3 So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
4 Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. 5 In that day I will break Israel’s bow in the Valley of Jezreel.”
6 Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call her Lo-Ruhamah (which means “not loved”), for I will no longer show love to Israel, that I should at all forgive them. 7 Yet I will show love to Judah; and I will save them—not by bow, sword or battle, or by horses and horsemen, but I, the Lord their God, will save them.”
8 After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, Gomer had another son. 9 Then the Lord said, “Call him Lo-Ammi (which means “not my people”), for you are not my people, and I am not your God.
10 “Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘children of the living God.’ 11 The people of Judah and the people of Israel will come together; they will appoint one leader and will come up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel.
2 “Say of your brothers, ‘My people,’ and of your sisters, ‘My loved one.’
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
“He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear… He says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God’” (Psa. 46:9,10).
The first chapter of Hosea tells of Hosea’s marriage to Gomer and of the children born to them. By using the story as a figure for describing Israel’s condition and destiny, the prophet likens the northern kingdom of Israel to an adulterous wife. Israel’s persistent worship of Baal constitutes unfaithfulness to God. In response, Hosea announces the destruction of Israel but also the preservation of the southern kingdom of Judah.
The family imagery dominates both the passage and our thinking so much that we may overlook a secondary but important theme. Hosea may condemn the worship of Baal as the main form of Israel’s idolatry, but he also condemns the violence and bloodshed characteristic of the Israelite regime. Judah, on the other hand, will be spared—not by military might and power but by the direct intervention of God (7). It seems unlikely that Hosea would have opposed all military actions. I do not read the book as a pacifist work, yet it clearly questions the suitability and effectiveness of military means alone. The violence of the Israelite regime will come back upon its own head and Judah’s escape will occur without military involvement. At the very least, Hosea denounces a surfeit of violence and an over-reliance on military power, which he perceives as the basis of Israel’s confidence, due to the spectacular conquests of Jeroboam II, the ruling northern king.
Idolatry takes many forms. If Hosea focuses mostly on the worship of other gods (namely, Baal), he nevertheless points to violence and bloodshed as forms of idolatry too. Here, as in chapter 2 (see Hos. 2:18), Hosea seems to suggest that military action can cause as many problems as it solves.
Apply
Pope John Paul II said that war is “the most barbarous and least effective way of resolving conflicts” (1982 World Day of Peace Message). Was he right? Would Hosea agree with him?
Closing prayer
O God, keep me from being unfaithful to You by pointing out to me anything in my life that has become a form of idolatry.
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