Day 177: Return, O Israel

Hosea 11:1-12 This analogy describes God’s relationship as a father to the people of Israel, his children. His love transcends all forms of human love, including that of a mother for her child and a groom for his bride. This perfect love explains why God’s mercy and forgiveness endure forever; although angered, God’s response is one of compassion and forgiveness. An excerpt from this passage is read at the Mass on the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Year B. (CCC 208, 219, 370, 441)

Ch 12:1-14 Summarizing Israel’s history, God recalled how he continued to shepherd his people despite their sins. (CCC 1836)

Ch 13:1-16 In four brief prophecies, the Lord condemned Ephraim (Israel) for idolatry, threatened to punish his people for their lack of gratitude, announced the end of the monarchy, and heralded the destruction of Ephraim (Israel).

Ch 14:1-9 This final condemnation of Israel is followed by the reassurance of compassion and mercy as if to emphasize God’s unconditional love for his people. As a consequence of his love and mercy, he invites his people to respond with deeds of fidelity to his covenant. (CCC 220)

Psalm 109 This psalm is an impassioned plea for evildoers to fall into the snare of their own traps in accordance with justice and impose upon themselves their devised forms of persecutions. It is important to note that this psalm was written centuries before Christ, when the Law “an eye for an eye” was the standard for justice.

For your name’s sake: God’s ineffable name, “I AM WHO I AM,” indicates that he always has been present and always will be present to save and guide his people. To intervene in the psalmist’s present crisis is consistent with the assistance that his name implies. 

May another seize his goods: Another translation is “may another take his office,” a verse that Luke cites to justify the Apostles’ decision to elect another to take the place of Judas (cf. Acts 1:20). (CCC 207)

(*The Didache Bible RSV-CE Ignatius Edition, 2006)

• We are getting closer and closer to the end of the Northern Kingdom of Israel with each passing day

• We get more and more dangerously close to those pesky Assyrians who (SPOILER ALERT!) are going to come in and destroy the Northern Ten Tribes of Israel, who refuse to listen to the PROPHETS like Hosea, or starting tomorrow, Amos

• They refuse to listen to GOD’S CALL

• So God is going to respond, not with gentle mercy, but with JUSTICE which is ALWAY ORIENTED toward CONVERSION

• But this JUSTICE is also sometimes difficult to live through

• Ok GOSH!

• One of the things about these psalms is that we know David’s story pretty thoroughly by now

• David had real enemies, people who sought his life day after day

• He had people who called themselves his friends but they were NOT his friends at all

• It makes sense David has this very honest prayer, Psalm 109

• He wants to see those traitors GET JUSTICE

• That is not BAD

• REMEMBER…

• Before we get to MERCY, we have to understand JUSTICE (Does this lesson sound familiar? Go read Day 39: Slavery in the Old Testament for a refresher 😉)

• Before we get to a place where we can FORGIVE, we have to understand that there is something to be FORGIVEN

• So that’s where David is, in this place of his honest prayer, where he wants to see JUSTICE upon his enemies

• AND YET...

• We are called to go FURTHER than that

• We are called to not pray in the image of David exclusively

• We are called to pray in the image of CHRIST

• What did Jesus say on the Cross?

• “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.”

• He prayed that even as his freedom, his life, his dignity, his EVERYTHING was being stripped away from him

• We learn from these prayers in the Book of Psalms and they can be a MODEL for our own prayers

• But we need to bring them under the Light of Christ to understand them

• 2 Kings Ch 9 we have the story about the death of Jezebel but we get a bit more of the details

• Remember that Elijah was not only going to anoint Elisha to be his successor

• He was also going to anoint JEHU, the son of Nimshi, to be the next King of Israel (NORTHERN KINGDOM)

• Here is the fulfillment of this with ELISHA sending one of his underling prophets to anoint Jehu IN SECRET

• The King of Judah (SOUTHERN KINGDOM) and the King of Israel (NORTHERN KINGDOM) get killed by Jehu

• We also have the death of Jezebel

• Scripture points out that Jezebel paints her face and tries to make herself as attractive as she needs to be in order to...I don’t know...GOSH

• Does she think she is going to seduce Jehu as he is starting a new dynasty to basically overturn the current dynasty? Maybe 🤔

• Jezebel has lost touch with reality in many ways

• Maybe not just in this way thinking she will distract Jehu from his mission

• Jezebel is so departed from reality that she doesn’t realize her servants, the 2 or 3 eunuchs, wouldn’t always be faithful to her

• Jehu tells the servants to throw Jezebel down and they did

• What we get in Scripture with characters like Jezebel, Ahab, Athaliah (Sounded like Fr. Mike said Italia? 🤔 It’s hot outside I could really go for some gelato right now….sorry back to the present) is that they have been choosing EVIL FOR SO LONG that at some point they get JUSTICE for what they have CHOSEN

• This is one of the LAWS OF SCRIPTURE

• Like we said the other day, at some point, God lets us GET what we have CHOSEN (Need a reminder about this? Go read Day 176: Choosing Eternal Life 😉)

• That is the upshot of the Book of the Prophet Hosea

• Hosea lived to see the destruction of the Kingdom of Israel (NORTHERN KINGDOM)

• Hosea lived to see that ALL THE THINGS he prophesied CAME TO PASS

• The Assyrians DID come in

• The Assyrians DID destroy the Northern Kingdom of Israel

• These last chapters of Hosea repeat how these things are going to happen because the people of Israel continue to turn away from faithfulness

• Hosea 11:3 “Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk (Remember, Ephraim is another name for Israel aka NORTHERN KINGDOM), I took them up in my arms, but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of compassion, with the bands of love, and I became to them as one who raises an infant to his cheeks, and I bent down to them and fed them. They shall return to the land of Egypt, and Assyria shall be their king, because they have refused to return to me.”

• At some point, we GET what we have CHOSEN

• While Hosea is alive, the Kingdom of Israel GETS what it has CHOSEN

• It has chosen EXILE and it will get EXILED

• It has chosen to NOT BELONG TO THE LORD and it gets to NOT BELONG TO THE LORD

• Do you remember the names of Hosea’s children with Gomer?

• NOT PITIED

• NOT MY CHILD

• That is what the PROPHETS continue to WARN PEOPLE AGAINST

• That is ultimately what the Kingdom of Israel received

• BUT…

• The story is NOT OVER

• The last two chapters show us God the Savior and Judge of Israel in Ch 13 and A Plea for Repentance and a Promise in Ch 14

• Even though they keep saying to the Lord God, “You are not our God.”

• Even though they keep turning to FALSE IDOLS

• THERE IS A PROMISE

• Hosea 14:1 “Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. Take with you words and return to the Lord...and we will say no more, ‘Our God,’ to the work of our hands.”

• That is SO POWERFUL

• God says in Hosea 14:4 “I will heal their faithlessness; I will love them freely.”

• This is the POWERFUL word of PROMISE

• Yes, Assyria will come in and destroy the Northern Kingdom of Israel

• Hosea will see this

• But Hosea also knows this UNENDING, UNSTOPPABLE LOVE OF GOD

• The Kingdom of Israel GOT what they had CHOSEN

• They continued to live FAITHLESSLY

• They have NEVER KNOWN TRUE WORSHIP

• Remember, when the kingdom first divided, Jeroboam set up FALSE WORSHIP in Bethel and Dan

• They turned away from worship of God SO FULLY

• They then “graduated” and turned away from FALSE WORSHIP of GOD HIMSELF into FALSE WORSHIP of FALSE IDOLS!!

• IT GOT WORSE!!

• AND YET…

• God will HEAL their FAITHLESSNESS

• God will LOVE them FREELY

• HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?

• It’s only possible because at one point in history, God HIMSELF becomes ONE OF US

• God did this to EXTEND HIS BLESSING TO THE FURTHEST END

• TO ALL THE TRIBES

• TO ALL THE PEOPLES

• TO ALL THE RACES

• TO ALL THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD

• Remember, the Ten Tribes of Israel (NORTHERN KINGDOM) are LOST, GONE FOREVER

• The ONLY WAY God can bring them back in and RESTORE THEM is when He restores them in the KINGDOM OF GOD that JESUS PROCLAIMS AND ESTABLISHES IN THE CHURCH!!

• SO GOOD!

• “I WILL LOVE THEM FREELY”

• Brothers and Sisters, you and I are often FAITHLESS

• AND YET

• God says, “Turn to me. I will heal your faithlessness. And I will love you freely.”

• What a GOOD GOD to love our BROKEN HEARTS

• This is a long journey

• SO KEEP PRAYING FOR EACH OTHER

• PRAY FOR FR. MIKE

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven we give you praise and we do pray for your Grace. We pray for your help. We come before you in prayer and in fasting. We come before you in our need because just like David in this Psalm 109, God we have those who stand against us. We have those who curse us, those who have kept the blessing far from them. Unlike David who asks for those who have cursed him to experience curses themselves, we ask for the grace to be able to call out injustice when we see it, to name evil when we see it, but also a willingness to be like Christ, to be able to extend mercy, to be able to extend forgiveness. So Lord God, unlike David, we do not ask for curses to come upon our enemies. We ask for their conversion. We ask for you to love them into a new life. We ask for you to give them the blessings that will change their hearts so that they know who you are and that they will follow you with their entire lives. In Jesus’ name we pray for our enemies. We pray for those who love us. We pray for those who do not love us as they should. And we pray for each other. Amen.”