"So, what happened...?" (A) - Reflections from Hosea (#21)

It's probably not the best thing to do.  Still, sometimes, it keeps people in the hunt.  So, every now and then, I do it.  On purpose.

When teaching up front, I'll tell a story but leave off the conclusion.  If it's a good enough story -- one that begs for a "OK...so what happened?" -- a good number will purposely run me down.

"Hey David, you didn't finish!  How did it turn out?"  ["And, by the way, why didn't you finish!!?"]

HEY HOSEA, HOW DID IT TURN OUT?

Hosea's love for his wayward wife was God's love for His wayward people.  Reading Hosea, you get the impression that Hosea's love won out.  He bought her back, and she eventually became his faithful bride.  We're not told explicitly, but that is what the prophetic book intimates.

But what about God and His wayward people?  How did that go?

For this, one must read books in the Bible we largely ignore.  Israel, the northern kingdom (Judah to the south), has it's "Ok, what happened?" described in the book of 2 Kings.

There you find a description of a difficult, downward spiral of disobedience, coupled with a murderous merry-go-round of successive leaders..  Note these verses about the final decades and Israel's kings - from 750 to 722 B.C.

Zechariah the son of Jeroboam reigned over Israel

in Samaria 6 months.

He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord

as his father had done

Shallum conspired against him and 

struck him down, put him to death

2 Kings15:8-9

Shalom began to reign.

He reigned one month

Menahem came to Samaria and

put him to death, sacked Tiphsah

and ripped open all the women in it

who were pregnant

2 Kings 15:13-14

Menahem reigned over Israel

and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord

exacting money from Israel to give

to the king of Assyria

2 Kings 15:17-20

Pekahiah, son of Menahem, began

to reign over Israel.  He reigned

two years and did what was evil

in the sight of the Lord.

Pekah his captain conspired with 50 men

and struck him down in Samaria

2 Kings 15:23-25

Pekah began to reign over Israel.

He did what was evil in the sight

of the Lord.

Tiglath-pilesar, King of Assyria, came

and captured (Israel) and

carried the people captive to Assyria.

2 Kings 15:27-29

GOD'S WORD WAS GOOD...BUT NOT GOOD

What God's Spirit had put in the mouth of Hosea was "good."  Everything difficult that God said would happen did happen.  It all began to unfold tragically in the life of the northern kingdom and, even more tragically, in the lives of people who lived there.  

Leader after leader, sinking the nation deeper into sins which spurned God's patient love.  The word that was good was not good.  Accurate but awful.  2 Kings sounds like a calloused newspaper article.  The reality was that children and women and men and families - the fabric of a nation - was being shredded.

Ephraim shall become a desolation

in the day of punishment.

Among the tribes of Israel,

I will make known what is sure (Hosea 5:9)

In the next 12 months, we will be choosing the next set of leaders for our beloved nation.  Admittedly, the process of succession here is a bit less brutal than what happened in Israel.

However, are we in any less danger than the unrepentant of Samaria?  I wonder.  And I wonder...

How likely is it that we will elect someone who "does what is right" in the eyes of the Lord?