Idols

In the small church with its old and worn pews, the pastor spoke about idolatry.  He spoke about Hosea, a prophet whose life would become a parable and spectacle to describe that hussy of a nation, Israel.  Hosea, who had to go and buy his own prostituted wife back from the slave market.  Hosea, who had to name his children, "Not Loved", and "Not My People" as an illustration of all that was wretched and wrong with the  Chosen People.  Hosea, whose mouth could only beg his people:

 ¹ “Come, let us return to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces    but he will heal us; he has injured us    but he will bind up our wounds. ² After two days he will revive us;    on the third day he will restore us,    that we may live in his presence. ³ Let us acknowledge the LORD;    let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises,    he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains,    like the spring rains that water the earth.”

There are times when I question why God does what He does... why He allows the wicked to prosper while the righteous faint, why He chooses such difficult and anguished paths for those He loves, why He injures those for whom His affection seems strongest.  And the answer, as the pastor described, is so that we might have the false dependencies we have built on lesser gods, those pandering, self-serving, indulgent fantasies, ripped from our hands so that we can embrace the living God.

I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips;
   no longer will their names be invoked.
¹⁸ In that day I will make a covenant for them
   with the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky
   and the creatures that move along the ground.
Bow and sword and battle
   I will abolish from the land,
   so that all may lie down in safety.
¹⁹ I will betroth you to me forever;
   I will betroth you in^[e] righteousness and justice,
   in^[f] love and compassion.
²⁰ I will betroth you in^[g] faithfulness,
   and you will acknowledge the LORD.
 ²¹ “In that day I will respond,”
   declares the LORD—
“I will respond to the skies,
   and they will respond to the earth;
²² and the earth will respond to the grain,
   the new wine and the olive oil,
   and they will respond to Jezreel.^[h]
23 I will plant her for myself in the land;
   I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.^[i]’
I will say to those called ‘Not my people,^[j]’ ‘You are my people’;
   and they will say, ‘You are my God.’”