![]() ![]() “You down there, what are you doing? Stop it. In films, God of the Old Testament is usually played by someone with a deep, booming voice. ![]() It’s not what we expect from the Old Testament is it? There’s a rumour out there that the God of the Old Testament is distant, scary, aloof, angry and judgemental. Here he is at supper time, here comes the aeroplane… open up, one for you, one for daddy. Here he is being picked up for a cuddle from mummy. ![]() Look here is little Israel – I’m taking him by his chubby little hands on his first few steps. You can see the baby photos being pointed to, one by one. ![]() “To them I was like one who lifts a little child to the cheek, and I bent down to feed them.” God had held Israel, feeding them with manner on their journey to a homeland and bringing them into a land that was flowing with milk and honey. I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love.” The reins that were commonly used to help a toddler to walk without falling into anything dangerous God’s laws were not of random rules to amuse a capricious deity but chords of kindness and love.ĭesigned to protect them not to make them into puppets. They didn’t realise it was God who picked them up and nursed their grazed knees. “It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms, but they did not realise it was I who healed them.” God had rescued them from a situation where they were slaves… a place where they were not loved. Not because they were a particularly great or devoted people, just because God chose them. I called my child out of Egypt… like a child being chosen for adoption, God had chosen Israel. Where was God in the story that has ended with the people of God being carried into slavery? THIS is where God was. Hosea’s response to the people struggling to understand how God could have let them slip into suffering, is to bring out the family photo album. Israel’s past, Israel’s present and Israel’s future. He retells their story from a different angle. In the middle of all their self made suffering they shout up to God “Where are you?!” Religiously they had forgotten their God, following the gods of the surrounding nations particularly the Canaanite gods of war and fertility with their destructive devotional practices. This passage is just before the Assyrians would destroy Ephraim’s cities and carry most of the population off to be slaves… things were not looking good. But Assyria didn’t stay weak, eventually they retaliated. With a taste for blood, they had pushed the buttons of their larger neighbour, Assyria, when it was weaker. And they fought… The Northern kingdom had experienced six kings in 25 years. They had internal quarrels and eventually fighting and eventually into a full on civil war. The Jewish people, particularly Ephraim had been too big for their boots. It was written over the 8th Century BC at a time when the Jewish nation had split in two… the North and South, The Northern Kingdom became Ephraim and the Southern became Judah. Our Old Testament passage is written at a time when the Jewish nation had lost their perspective on God. Would it be awkward? Would they cope? I needn’t have worried… within 30 seconds they had done what most parents seem to do when they first meet their future daughter or son in law… they showed Fiona who they were and their perspective on who I am, by bringing out the baby photos! They’re quite conservative so this was the first time I’d brought anyone back to meet them. It was a nerve wracking thing bringing Fiona back to meet my parents. ![]()
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