Tag: Hosea

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From Kissing Calves to Choosing Life

Links for today’s readings:

Apr 13  Read: Hosea 14 Listen: (1:39) Read: Matthew 17 Listen: (3:46)

Scripture Focus: Hosea 13.2-3

2 Now they sin more and more; 

they make idols for themselves from their silver, 

cleverly fashioned images, 

all of them the work of craftsmen. 

It is said of these people, 

“They offer human sacrifices! 

They kiss  calf-idols!” 

3 Therefore they will be like the morning mist, 

like the early dew that disappears, 

like chaff swirling from a threshing floor, 

like smoke escaping through a window. 

Hosea 14.1-2, 5-8

1  Return, Israel, to the Lord your God. 

Your sins have been your downfall! 

2 Take words with you 

and return to the Lord. 

Say to him: 

“Forgive all our sins 

and receive us graciously, 

that we may offer the fruit of our lips.  

5 I will be like the dew to Israel; 

he will blossom like a lily. 

Like a cedar of Lebanon 

he will send down his roots; 

6 his young shoots will grow. 

His splendor will be like an olive tree, 

his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon. 

7 People will dwell again in his shade; 

they will flourish like the grain, 

they will blossom like the vine— 

Israel’s fame will be like the wine of Lebanon. 

8 Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols? 

I will answer him and care for him. 

I am like a flourishing juniper; 

your fruitfulness comes from me.”

Reflection: From Kissing Calves to Choosing Life

By John Tillman

God sets before humans life or death. From the very first pages of the Bible, (Gen 2.15-17) this pattern repeats. (Deut 30.19-20) It continues in Hosea’s closing chapters.

As Hosea is writing, things are bleak. The government is corrupt. Leaders are inept. War and destruction are not theoretical possibilities or strategic risks—they are kicking down the door. Every drop of blood and tears is the result of people’s choices.

They chose to “kiss” golden calves over the true God. (Hosea 13.2) They chose to defraud the poor. (Hosea 5.10) They chose to shield themselves from legal consequences using wealth. (Hosea 12.7-8) They celebrated rulers who delighted in wicked lies. (Hosea 7.3-7) They planted wickedness instead of righteousness and now, it was harvest time. (Hosea 8.7) 

We probably ask, as God did, “Why will you die, people of Israel?” (Ezekiel 18.31-32; 33.11) Why choose death?

They kissed golden calves, claiming they were kissing God. (Exodus 32.4; 1 Kings 12.28) We are vulnerable to the same self-deception. We can also cry out, “These are your gods, Israel,” while kissing an idol.

Meditate on Israel’s choices and consider ours as individuals, communities, and nations. What golden calves do we kiss? Which vulnerable people do we defraud? What leaders spewing wicked words and deeds do we celebrate? What offenders do we forgive because of partiality to wealth, importance, political tribe, or community status?

Why do we keep choosing death? We are chasing power, lust, greed or something else that promises to be good but actually brings death. We kiss calves. (Romans 7.15-24)

Just as Hosea did not hold back horrific images of the consequences of choosing death, he does not hold back beautiful images of the blessings of choosing life. Hosea concludes with a hopeful, garden-like scene, describing the life-giving results of repentance.

Repentance means lips that turn from kissing idols to confess, repent, and praise God and hands that establish peace and security in which all people flourish and blossom, dwelling in the shade of righteousness. Repentance goes beyond inward devotion and not kissing golden calves. Repentance brings flourishing life and shows tangible love for both neighbor and enemy.

Jesus offered life, both physical and spiritual. Jesus fed, healed, and clothed people, paid Peter’s taxes and cast out moneychangers. Jesus also banished demonic influences, shame, and guilt, bringing freedom to hearts, minds, and souls.

There is no area, from the inner heart of an individual to the outer expressions of charity in a society, that are not affected by our call to choose life.

Divine Hours Prayer: A Reading

Then he went into the Temple and began driving out those who were busy trading, saying to them, “According to scripture, ‘my house shall be a house of prayer’ but you have turned it into ‘a bandit’s den.’” — Luke 19.45-46

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: Way of the Cross — A Guided Prayer

Imagine Christ, humiliated. Crushed. Suffering. How uncomfortable does the suffering servant make you?

Way of the Cross — A Guided Prayer
Read more: The Broken Power of Death

Paul paraphrases [Hosea and Isaiah’s] promises of resurrection into one of his brightest, most hopeful refrains.

The Broken Power of Death
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Flimsy Farce of Faith

Links for today’s readings:

Apr 8  Read: Hosea 9 Listen: (2:52) Read:   Matthew 12 Listen: (6:41)

Scripture Focus: Hosea 9:1

1 Do not rejoice, Israel;
    do not be jubilant like the other nations.
For you have been unfaithful to your God;
    you love the wages of a prostitute
    at every threshing floor.

Reflection: Flimsy Farce of Faith

By Erin Newton

In the 2004 movie, Mean Girls, one of the characters yells, “She doesn’t even go here!” in response to a girl taking part in a community apology though she had never actually been part of that community. The scene has become a meme for signaling outsiders. While the scene is comical, what does it mean when your claim to belong to a group is revealed as a lie?

Israel, in the book of Hosea, is criticized for their false worship. They claim to be followers of God yet they “prostitute” themselves by serving other gods. They put on the label of “God-follower,” but their actions do not live up to it. They want the benefits of being in that community—the festivals and feasts—but do not want to live the life a God-follower identity requires.

“Do not rejoice.” God dampens Israel’s festivities and jubilant celebrations. While other nations are happy and exuberant, Israel is chastised for their false identity. God hates celebration when one’s life is a charade.

Many of those who don the title “Christian” see the identity marker as a way to gain clout, to feel more righteous, to gain a sense of belonging, or to utilize it for some other purpose. But claiming to follow God while truly serving other interests (power, wealth, self, status, etc.) is a flimsy farce rejected by God himself.

God desires that our inward identity match our outward identity. If we claim to follow God, we must align our outward actions with inward faith. Matthew 5.23-24 says, “So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” God rejects outward religious actions without inward righteousness.

If we claim to belong with Christ, we are invited into his celebrations. Hosea’s marriage to an unfaithful partner is an allegory of what it means to say you are a Christian while not truly committing yourself to Christ.

Let us not read this as a call to embrace only a life of non-rejoicing. Jesus proclaims, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10.10). Life and joy are the gifts of following God. But claiming the joys of a life in Christ without living a Christ-like life is hypocrisy.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. — Matthew 5.6

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: Confessing Hostility—Guided Prayer 2

Prophets spoke against violence. We called them foolish.
People were inspired to protest. We called them maniacs.

Confessing Hostility—Guided Prayer
Read more: The Gospel Heist

A good heist restores freedom or justice. The gospel is a heist which restores both.

The Gospel Heist
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The Broken Power of Death

Scripture Focus: Hosea 13.14
14 “I will deliver this people from the power of the grave; 
I will redeem them from death. 
Where, O death, are your plagues? 
Where, O grave, is your destruction? 

Psalm 146.3-5
3 Do not put your trust in princes, 
in human beings, who cannot save. 
4 When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; 
on that very day their plans come to nothing. 
5 Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, 
whose hope is in the Lord their God. 

Isaiah 25.8
8 he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth. The LORD has spoken. 

1 Corinthians 15.54-56
54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” 

     55 “Where, O death, is your victory?
         Where, O death, is your sting?” 

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.


Reflection: The Broken Power of Death
By John Tillman

Hosea and Isaiah’s ministries overlapped and their writing echoes each other. Paul paraphrases their promises of resurrection into one of his brightest, most hopeful refrains. This chorus of hope comes most directly from one of the darkest chapters of Hosea.

Rather than rely upon God, Israel and Judah had turned to political alliances and the gods those allies worshiped. But these “princes” would soon commit atrocities. These sound eerily familiar to ones committed by today’s powerful countries who bomb maternity wards and civilian evacuation corridors.

Death is not only dispensed at the whim of greedy empires but is carried on the wings of disease and aging. What hope can we have against death? This question is common to the people of Israel and Judah in Isaiah and Hosea’s day, to downtrodden outcasts under Rome’s rule, and to those targeted by empires and dictators today.

The poor and the powerless are overrun by death. They have no defenses and little strength to resist or slow its advance. They are helpless.

Wealth and power do much to extend life. The wealthy can easily flee conflict and the powerful are welcomed to new countries rather than crammed into inhumane camps. Experimental and expensive life-saving and life-extending medical treatments are common among the powerful. Absent these extreme examples, even simple, quality of life differences add years to the lives of the wealthy. However, in the end, the rich, the powerful, and the poor all die. The teacher of Ecclesiastes would call these efforts meaningless or absurd. (Ecclesiastes 3:19)

To the unbelieving world, for whom mortal life is all there is, death is ultimate. It is the worst thing that can happen to a person and there is no remedy.

Death is not the worst thing that can happen to us and it does not have the final word in our lives but that does not mean we should not grieve it. Lazarus was only four days in the grave, yet Jesus wept. (John 11.35) We weep and mourn death, but not without hope. (1 Thessalonians 4.13)

While we flee or delay death, scripture describes death’s defeat. God promises the grave will not be our final destination. We will only pass through and when we leave, we will be led by Christ himself. For those in Christ, death is a toothless predator, a limbless wrestler, who cannot hold us down for long.

Death which swallows all, will be swallowed up.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting
You are the Lord, most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods. — Psalm 97.9

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.


​Today’s Readings
Hosea 13 (Listen 2:26)
Matthew 16 (Listen 3:43)

This Weekend’s Readings
Hosea 14 (Listen 1:39), Matthew 17 (Listen 3:46)
Joel 1 (Listen 2:59), Matthew 18 (Listen 4:25)

Listen to Too Much to Hold on the Pause to Read podcast
In Christ, we’re made to be like him
Too much for Death to hold

Read more about Stealing Death’s Sting
Untie our grave clothes and strip us of the trappings of this world.
Let us walk into the light and follow your loving voice.

Stealing Death’s Sting

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Maintain Love and Justice

Scripture Focus: Hosea 12.6-9
6 But you must return to your God; 
maintain love and justice, 
and wait for your God always. 
7 The merchant uses dishonest scales 
and loves to defraud. 
8 Ephraim boasts, 
“I am very rich; I have become wealthy. 
With all my wealth they will not find in me 
any iniquity or sin.” 
9 “I have been the Lord your God 
ever since you came out of Egypt; 
I will make you live in tents again, 
as in the days of your appointed festivals. 

James 2.1
1 My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism.

Psalm 82.2-4
2 “How long will you defend the unjust
    and show partiality to the wicked?
3 Defend the weak and the fatherless;
    uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.
4 Rescue the weak and the needy;
    deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

Reflection: Maintain Love and Justice
By John Tillman

Ephraim was another name for the people of Israel in Hosea’s time. They saw wealth as a shield, protecting them from being found guilty. They were correct. Wealth is a double shield.

The first shield is human assumptions about wealth. The prosperity gospel assumes that faithfulness and financial blessings are linked, but Christians didn’t create this idea. Human cultures have always considered wealth and power markers of divine favor even when they had no god other than greed and success. This skews the assumption of innocence in favor of the wealthy. From street cops to the Supreme Court, the benefit of wealth grants the benefit of the doubt in the eyes of the law.

Charles Spurgeon, discussing Psalm 82, challenged the magistrates of his day to enforce the law equally: “Do not hunt down the peasant for gathering a few sticks, and allow the gentlemanly swindler to break through the meshes of the law.”

The second part of wealth’s shield is that, whether innocent or guilty, the wealthy have great resources to defend themselves in legal matters. Some people and businesses are willing to pay millions to armies of lawyers to prevent paying compensation to even one victim of their carelessness, incompetence, negligence, or criminality. The cash they can spare. What they value is the illusion of righteousness.

It is not just modern people who notice one justice system for the poor and another for the rich. Hosea saw and condemned it. Ephraim saw and abused it. In their days, James (James 2.1-9; 5.1-6) and Charles Spurgeon saw and spoke against it. But more importantly, God saw then and sees now.

Ephraim expected to continue living in lavish luxury, protected by the shield of wealth—but God saw. God promised to return them to living in tents as wanderers and exiles—and God did. 

Let us pray that God would bring justice in our day to people, rich or poor, according to their ways and deeds. May God himself expose those who assume justice cannot penetrate their defenses. May we examine our own hearts and maintain love and justice. (Hosea 12.6)

Let us challenge those who swing the state’s sword of justice rashly and wildly at the poor, yet cautiously hesitate to prosecute claims against the powerful, prominent, and wealthy. Let us advocate for our legal system to live up to its written ideals of equal justice under the law.

We must. For God sees.


Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
My eyes are upon the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me. — Psalm 101.6

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.


​Today’s Readings
Hosea 12 (Listen 1:51)
Matthew 15 (Listen 4:23)

Read more about A Way Back for Strivers
As Israel lied, deceived, and cheated his relatives
We have lied, deceived, and cheated our brothers and sisters.

A Way Back for Strivers—Guided Prayer

Read more about Distrust of God and Fraud
It is the unbelief and contempt of heaven, which make men risk it for the poor commodities of this world.

Distrust of God and Fraud :: Throwback Thursday
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Clumsy Doves

Scripture Focus: Hosea 11:10-11
10 “They will follow the Lord;
     he will roar like a lion.
 When he roars,
     his children will come trembling from the west.
11 They will come from Egypt,
     trembling like sparrows,
     from Assyria, fluttering like doves.
 I will settle them in their homes,”
     declares the Lord.

Reflection: Clumsy Doves
By Erin Newton

During the pandemic, we all became amateur birders, right? Confined to our homes when businesses and schools shuttered for a varied amount of time, I think many of us started to look out the window. I was one of those people who moved all the bird feeders to the window with the best sunshine and comfiest chair.

We have a dozen different species of birds nearby. Hawks, crows, and vultures rule the skies. We also have daily visits from cardinals, chickadees, finches, and roaming the ground—doves.

The hawks soar and swoop effortlessly. The cardinals are adept at flying down to the feeder and back up to the limbs ever so quickly. The doves—well they fly down, flapping their wings rather clumsily. When I read about the return of the Israelites fluttering back home, it paints a vivid picture in my mind.

Fluttering sounds nice and soft, like a butterfly landing on a rose. The NIV translation, however, is a bit poetic when describing the “fluttering” of the doves and the “trembling” of the sparrows. The Hebrew text uses only one verb for both birds: “trembling.” It seems that the NIV misses some of the depth of the Hebrew here.

Theological dictionaries point out this word describes someone (or something) that is frightened. In fact, the essence of the word is not fully understood unless the element of panic is also embedded in the image. They are not fluttering like butterflies in a meadow. They are trembling, terrified—wobbling down to the ground in the clumsy flight of a dove.

Why are they so afraid? They are following a roaring lion. Like Aslan in Chronicles of Narnia, he is not “safe,” but he is good. They follow the Almighty God, not the weak gods of their idols.

But I imagine they are also a little traumatized from living in exile and experiencing the previous invasion by the Assyrians or rule by the Egyptians. 

It is no ordinary thing to experience God. We might treat it as common but usually only when life has been “safe.” Pain tends to heighten our spiritual sensitivities. Some of us stumble into the presence of God after the long dark night of the soul. Some emerge from the consequences of sin, only to see God roaring as a lion—not to devour—but to lead us home.

Even in our clumsy, stumbling spiritual journey, we can trust in his promise of compassion.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting
Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, and your faithfulness to the clouds. — Psalm 36.5

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.


​Today’s Readings
Hosea 11 (Listen 1:53)
Matthew 14 (Listen 4:14)

Read more about Hearts God Moves
May God move in our hearts, as in the hearts of the returning exiles, making his dwelling place with us and shining brightly through us.

Hearts God Moves :: Epiphany

Read more about Beyond Second Chances
Haggai spoke to people returning from exile. They are at home, yet homeless, returning to a flattened, burned, destroyed city.

Beyond Second Chances