The days of punishment have come, the days of recompense have come; Israel cries, 'The prophet is a fool, the man of the spirit is mad!’ Because of your great iniquity, your hostility is great. The prophet is a sentinel for my God over Ephraim, yet a fowler’s snare is on all his ways, and hostility in the house of his God. They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah; he will remember their iniquity, he will punish their sins. (Hosea 9: 7-9)

In the translated Tanach published by Judaica Press the first verse above reads, "The days of visitation have arrived..." The sense of punishment comes as in "when your father gets home..." or "The king is coming to look into the matter himself," or "The IRS has made an appointment to see you."

Our typical reading of Hosea places him in a long line of apocalyptic prophets. He expects - or at least we expect - a punishing God. So did John the Baptist. So did John of the Revelation. So did Jonathon Edwards. Is this God's intention or does this better reflect our expectations?

Would I welcome a visit from God? If God made an appointment to see me tomorrow morning how would I feel? How would I envision the conversation? What would I expect? I would, I am sorry to say, approach the meeting with embarrassment, dread, and a keen desire to run away.

Hosea writes, "He will punish their sins." Actually that is what the translator wrote. The Hebrew is paqad chatta'ah: He will visit, look after, care for, pay attention to their errors, mistakes, guilt, failures, losses, bad choices. Punishment is possible. Feeling punished is likely.

But perhaps it is just a visit. Maybe it is an opportunity to be with one who loves me. Can I approach the meeting with less dread and more trust? Can I admit my sins, failures, losses and move on? Can I accept that, despite my expectations, God loves me? Can I step out of myself to truly engage God?