The Fatherly Love and Passion of our God

     When is the last time you sat down to read one of the Minor Prophets?

The Old Testament book of Hosea is a rich prophetic work, with many images and poetic portrayals of God’s relationship with his people. The main image in the book is told in the account of Hosea, the prophet, being called to marry a prostitute named Gomer. Hosea and Gomer would indeed marry and produce children, but Gomer would prove unfaithful to her husband. Hosea would pursue his straying wife in persistent love, and in that account we find a great image of God as a faithful and loving husband to his people, who constantly strayed and wandered like an adulterous spouse.
     The book of Hosea is one of the greatest treatises on God’s Chesed (often translated as “mercy)  – which is steadfast love; or put another way, his covenant faithfulness. In other words, God’s sovereign and unfailing love persists in faithfulness even when the human objects of his love and covenant break their side of the equation. We are all familiar with the tragedy and heartbreak of marital unfaithfulness. We have all either experienced or seen very closely the rifts and wakes of damage that are done in those tragic times. Yet, sometimes by God’s grace, we see healing and restoration. In God’s economy, in His relationship with his people, His side of the covenant is always kept, it is always stable, there is always the surety of fidelity and truthfulness. This is our God, the covenant-making, covenant-keeping One; the faithful and true; the eternal, merciful one.
      But there are other images in Hosea of God’s relational dealings with his people. One of those which comes up in Hosea 11 is God’s love for Israel as a passionate and faithful Father. God says, “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.” (Hos. 11:1) God’s sovereign and electing love for a people initiated the entire existence of the nation of Israel. He called Abraham, who father Isaac, who fathered Jacob, who became known as Israel. Israel (Jacob) fathered 12 sons, one of whom was Joseph, the young dreamer who out of jealousy and spite was sold into slavery by his brothers. Down to Egypt Joseph went, and through God’s providence in time of famine, Joseph’s ultimate success and good favor was used by God to save his whole family. Israel’s family became as large as a nation while in Egypt, until a time came when the Pharaoh didn’t remember Joseph, or God’s favor through Him, and the Family of Joseph and Israel were slaves.
      But God, as the loving father and progenitor of His people, did not leave them listless or wanting. He delivered them through Moses his servant, out of Egypt he called his son. (By the way, that very verse also has a second and deeper prophetic meaning, as Matthew applies it to Jesus Christ when Joseph took Jesus and Mary to Egypt to flee the wrath of jealous Herod) God’s Fatherly faithfulness and care was shown in delivering them, feeding them in the wilderness, and providing them a promised land – a fertile and pleasant strip of land just east of the Mediterranean Sea.
     Yet, “the more they were called, the more they went away from me.” (Hos. 11:2) Their unfaithfulness (listed primarily as idolatry) was directly in the face of God’s faithfulness. To this he gives an emotional response – and a picture of tenderness. “It was I who taught Ephraim [a name used synonymously with Israel/God’s people in Hosea] to walk, taking them by the arms; but they did not realize it was I who healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love. To them I was like one who lifts a little child to the cheek, and I bent down to feed them.” (Hos. 11:3-4) Do you see the Fatherly, passionate love and care? Do you sense the concern, the visceral dread at their straying? This is a Father who has been utterly betrayed by his son – the very son he taught to walk, the very son he brought up with love and nurture, with all kindness and provision.
      Another passionate aspect of God comes through also – his wrath. In God’s anger, the people would be given up to disaster and seizure by other nations. “Will they not return to Egypt and will not Assyria rule over them because they refuse to repent?” (Hos. 11:5) This is where God’s holiness meets his fatherliness. He cannot overlook this kind of evil, this kind of wickedness. He is rightful in his Holy anger – a kind of righteous indignation that is nearly impossible for humans to exhibit. Many human relationships would be eternally torn apart at this kind of rift – for there is always at least some selfishness and pride in our anger. But God’s Holy anger is seen, not in contrast, but in light of His mercy – and the story doesn’t end there.
     “How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel?... my heart is changed within me; my compassion is aroused.” (Hos. 11:8) God’s Fatherly compassion does not dismiss his wrath – he acknowledges it but chooses to show mercy. “I will not carry out my fierce anger… for I am God, and not a man – the Holy One among you.” (Hos. 11:9) Do you see that incredible statement? I will not carry out my anger because I am God, and not a man. Many other situations would end in ruin and evil upon evil, because our passions as men and human fathers get the best of us; but the loving and faithful Fatherliness of God overrides his own Anger. Not because the anger was wrong – it was right – but because he chooses to display mercy in stead. He chooses mercy because He sovereignly plans for their future – a future when “they with follow the LORD. He will roar like a Lion. When he roars, they will come trembling from the west.” (Hos. 11:10)
     Do you picture God as this kind of perfect Father? The Kind of Father who loves and nurtures, yet who is so concerned with righteousness that he is perfectly honest and forthright about his children’s evil? He is not a permissive dad who can see no wrong in his son – yet he is not a legalistic dad who can spare no room for patience and mercy. God is the passionate and faithful father who looks to the end that he has planned, and sees victory, and provides mercy in the face of incredible failure. This is true of His people in the Old Covenant, and this is the same God who adopts us as sons and daughters through the New Covenant blood of Jesus Christ. In the same way, individually and as a church, we fall short and display unfaithfulness to God – yet, he sees his us through the forgiveness of the Gospel, and the victorious future He has bought for us, and displays incredible patience, kindness, and faithfulness – not ignoring our sin, but covering it and leading us to grow past it.
     Behold the Fatherly love and Passion of our God. Take hold of it, cherish it, treasure it, do not despise it, do not take it for granted – but thrive and grow in it as you follow Him. It is reflected all throughout the scriptures, not just in Hosea. Consider one other as your reading comes to a close. “For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
    so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
13 As a father shows compassion to his children,
    so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.” – Psalm 103:11-13