I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and no mortal, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath.
Hmm. It seems like we’ve heard God say things like this before, or at least it’s been reported by previous prophets and men of the bible that God’s said things like this before. I’ll never again…. I promise that I will protect you… You are my chosen people… And yet, the God of the old covenant seems to me to be a bit capricious. True, God always returns and restores his people. And God’s unending love and forgiveness is awe-some.
But at the risk of being really heretical, don’t we see this pattern of love-anger-bad action-remorse-love here on earth? Isn’t that one of the classical signs of abusive relationships? The abuser loves, gets angry, hurts, apologizes, loves?
To be clear, I’m. not suggesting God is like an abuser, but I am left to struggle with what the God portrayed by Hosea is up to. Perhaps it’s a misunderstanding of the old covenant writers. They assumed bad things that happened were directly God’s actions. Israel was taken into captivity, ergo Israel did something horrible and God punished them. Maybe bad stuff just happened, and the people needed to blame someone. Their understanding of God was that their actions caused God’s anger and wrath, so that’s what the prophets heard.
Or maybe the God of the old covenant was more punitive than I understand God to be now, under the new covenant. Maybe through Jesus, God perfected God’s love to us. Through Jesus, God really did morph. God was always forgiving and loving. But through Jesus, God ceased the anger and wrath part. Instead, God through Jesus weeps as we misbehave, but loves us anyway, skipping the part where God lashes out in anger and frustration.
There are people now who still believe that God causes bad things to happen to people, because of their beliefs, their actions, their sexual identity, their fill in the blank. But in my mind, if that’s true, than who’s to say that her bad behavior isn’t what caused my loved one’s illness? Or my bad behavior? Did I do something to deserve to lose my job? Where does that level of quid pro quo end, and who gets to decide what God is angry about?
I don’t think I get to decide, based on my read of Scripture, what’s acceptable to God and what isn’t. I say this mostly because my read of Scripture could differ from someone else’s so who gets to claim they’re more right, if we’re both reading the same Scripture? If I don’t get to decide, who does? I think that’s where Jesus comes in. Jesus summed up all of the laws in two. Love God. Love your neighbor. And your neighbor isn’t just your clan. It’s everyone other than you.
And when I fail at that simple two-part request, God as manifest through Jesus loves me anyway. Forgives me anyway. Asks me to return and try again.
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