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Question
Just have a question to ponder 😊 if you get a chance to read hosea 2...specifically verse 10....it looks like the exact scene from the new testament with the woman caught in adultery and thrown before Jesus no? Yet there are two opposite reactions? In a way? What are your thoughts? Obviously God is the same today yesterday and forever but the oposing actions seem tricky to decipher?
Answer
I don't believe I am able to tackle all of the dimensions to your question in one sitting, so I'll start by offering a valuable piece, my hope being the value will be significant enough to help you in some way. What I'm going to do, is to take a decent look at what is happening in Hosea 2.
God is speaking to the nation of Israel. In His address, God compares His nation to that of an unfaithful wife; yet, not merely unfaithful as if she had an affair, but characteristically promiscuous. It's tough to appreciate the message without putting ourselves in God's perspective, which is why I believe God asked Hosea to marry a prostitute. The message of Hosea is better understood when lived, rather than simply being taught.
Imagine having a wife. You buy her fine jewelry for Christmas. For her birthday, you purchase that red dress she looks so pretty in. You give her $150 to get her hair done when she asks. When she puts on her necklace, does her hair and slips into her form fitting dress, rather than going out with you, night after night she grabs the keys to the Focus (the Focus you bought for her) to meet up with a different boyfriend night after night.
God is actually being quite rational.
"You like your lovers so much? Fine. Then be with them. See where it leads. Go. Live your dream!" God's discipline, lived out in this setting looks something like this- I'm not going to keep buying jewelry, paying for a car or manicures so that she can use them as a 'turn on' for her lovers.
The astounding thing to me isn't that this looks different than the way Jesus interacted with the woman caught in adultery. What amazes me is that God could ever be so faithful as to even want her back, much less seek to "win" her back.
"But then I will win her back once again. I will lead her out into the desert and speak tenderly to her there." Hosea 2:14
It seems to me, that the whole stripping down/desert thing was itself, not so much a method of chastisement, but part of His plan to separate Israel from her many lovers, in order to win Israel back to Himself for good.
