Yet I have been the Lord your God ever since the land of Egypt; you know no God but me, and besides me there is no saviour. It was I who fed you in the wilderness, in the land of drought. When I fed them, they were satisfied; they were satisfied, and their heart was proud; therefore they forgot me. So I will become like a lion to them, like a leopard I will lurk beside the way. I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs, and will tear open the covering of their heart; there I will devour them like a lion, as a wild animal would mangle them. (Hosea 13: 4-8)

Humility is a very practical virtue. Recognizing and accepting the limits of individual influence is profoundly realistic.

Jim Collins, author of Good to Great and other management studies finds the most effective leaders are characterized by a paradoxical mix of confidence and humility.

These leaders recognize the power of externalities, of change, of randomness, of influences far outside their control.

Others accept success as their due becoming proud and forgetting what is real. Lack of humility is a significant vulnerability.

Without humility we are unnecessarily surprised and seriously threatened by the natural consequences of reality.

Above is a relief of a royal lion hunt from the Assyrian palace at Nineveh. The king is stabbing a lion.

When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling; he was exalted in Israel; but he incurred guilt through Baal and died. And now they keep on sinning and make a cast image for themselves, idols of silver made according to their understanding, all of them the work of artisans. ‘Sacrifice to these’, they say. People are kissing calves! Therefore they shall be like the morning mist or like the dew that goes away early, like chaff that swirls from the threshing-floor or like smoke from a window. (Hosea 13: 1-3)

What is the difference between kissing a silver calf or a golden crucifix?

What makes one action seem absurd and the other potentially profound?

For some each is equally ridiculous, an example of simple superstition.

But whether calf or crucifix the kiss reflects a believers faith, hope, and love for something beyond human limitation.

For Hosea kissing a calf - the empty work of an artisan - is clearly crazy.

For many kissing a crucifix honors the transcendent self-sacrifice of Jesus.

A symbol is a material object that represents the immaterial. It's power depends on whether the immaterial is True.

I spoke to the prophets; it was I who multiplied visions, and through the prophets I will bring destruction. In Gilead there is iniquity, they shall surely come to nothing. In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls, so their altars shall be like stone heaps on the furrows of the field. Jacob fled to the land of Aram; there Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he guarded sheep. By a prophet the Lord brought Israel up from Egypt, and by a prophet he was guarded. Ephraim has given bitter offence, so his Lord will bring his crimes down on him and pay him back for his insults. (Hosea 12: 10-14)

The prophet is one who is open to God and thereby able to receive the word of God and perceive God's intention.

Such openness is seldom self-cultivated. It is usually the outcome of an extended struggle with God. Prophecy extends this struggle to others.

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote, "Prophecy is the voice that God has lent to the silent agony, a voice to the plundered poor, to the profane riches of the world. It is a form of living, a crossing point of God and man. God is raging in the prophet's words."

The prophets do tend to rage. The God of prophets is typically angry, jealous, and ready for retribution.

The English word rage is derived from the Latin rabere. A mad dog has rabies, another derivation. It is a violent madness.

Can God go crazy? Is prophecy an expression of madness? Could prophecy be a form of divine psycho-therapy?

In the one case of full raging human madness I have experienced the cause was - it seemed clear to me - an inablity to otherwise speak the truth. Only under the cover of madness could the false forms of daily life be sufficiently put aside to permit a powerful, troubling, and sometimes frightening telling of the truth.

A trader, in whose hands are false balances, he loves to oppress. Ephraim has said, ‘Ah, I am rich, I have gained wealth for myself; in all of my gain no offence has been found in me that would be sin.’ I am the Lord your God from the land of Egypt; I will make you live in tents again, as on the days of the appointed festival. (Hosea 12: 7-9)

Successful, self-confident, and more than a bit smug Ephraim is separated from God. When we make ourselves the center of the universe we are wrong. As long as we persist in this unrealistic and inaccurate stance we will fail to understand the real and true.

"I will make you live in tents again," positions God as the agent of punishment. The Hebrew can also be read as, "You will live in tents again." The effect is the same. The cause may be different.

In my experience God does not punish. Pain has its origin in separation from God. Those who reap the whirlwind harvest pain for themselves and others because they are lost in error, confusion, and delusion.

Hosea perceives a cause and effect relationship. He sees his people separated from God and drifting toward disaster. Hosea perceives the disaster as God's purposeful - ultimately redemptive - punishment.

I perceive the same evidence and effect, but see a different cause. God loves us enough to respect our freedom of choice. If we reject, God will not impose. God will allow us the illusion of self-sufficiency and the reality of its effect.

Above is a weight used to ensure accuracy in trade. It is inscribed with the name of King Shalamanser, the Assyrian conqueror of Israel. Without a true weight the actual value could easily be confused.

But as for you, return to your God, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God. (Hosea 12: 6)

In the midst of raging against Israel and warnings to Judea, it is as if Hosea inserts this verse just for us.

וְאַתָּה, בֵּאלֹהֶיךָ תָשׁוּב; חֶסֶד וּמִשְׁפָּט שְׁמֹר, וְקַוֵּה אֶל-אֱלֹהֶיךָ תָּמִיד.

Turn back - shuwb - to God - 'elohiym.

Shamar - watch for, be on one's guard for, keep and preserve - checed - love, kindness, commitment, goodness, loyalty.

Hold fast to justice - mishpat - right and real relationships.

Wait - qavah - look for, hope, expect God continuously.

We are to be in relationship with God and one another, honoring and loving each and all.

The Lord has an indictment against Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways, and repay him according to his deeds. In the womb he tried to supplant his brother, and in his manhood he strove with God. He strove with the angel and prevailed, he wept and sought his favour; he met him at Bethel, and there he spoke with him. The Lord the God of hosts, the Lord is his name! (Hosea 12: 2-5)

Each morning I read a bit of text written 80 generations ago or more and try to discern its contemporary meaning. What does it say of the human condition? What does it say of divine intent? What does it mean for me?

The only reason we can read Hosea is because it was preserved by the priests and scribes of the southern kingdom of Judea. As above, I perceive that scattered throughout the text is evidence of their inclination to find and apply the relevance of Israel's experience to Judah.

Analogies can be wonderful. They are also potentially dangerous. The key to an effective analogy is to dig beneath superficial similarities of form and find common structures and functions. Fundamental to making meaning of Hosea is our shared relationship with God.

They shall go after the Lord, who roars like a lion; when he roars, his children shall come trembling from the west. They shall come trembling like birds from Egypt, and like doves from the land of Assyria; and I will return them to their homes, says the Lord. Ephraim has surrounded me with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit; but Judah still walks with God, and is faithful to the Holy One. Ephraim herds the wind, and pursues the east wind all day long; they multiply falsehood and violence; they make a treaty with Assyria, and oil is carried to Egypt. (Hosea 11:10-Hosea 12: 1)

Hosea is a purist. He is a separatist.

The religious practice of the northern kingdom has been corrupted by outside influences.

The social and cultural life of Israel has been polluted by international trade and politics.

The people of God need to return home and stay home.

Their purpose and fulfillment is in finding and valuing God's intention.

That is enough. That is all. The rest is illusion.

Above is the Antakaya Stela. This boundary marker was erected in the early 7th Century BC and summarizes a local treaty guaranteed by the Assyrian state.