Hosea 2:14-23

Therefore, I will now allure her,

   and bring her into the wilderness,

   and speak tenderly to her.

From there I will give her her vineyards,

   and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.

There she shall respond as in the days of her youth,

   as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.

On that day, says the Lord, you will call me, ‘My husband,’ and no longer will you call me, ‘My Baal.’ For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be mentioned by name no more. I will make for you a covenant on that day with the wild animals, the birds of the air, and the creeping things of the ground; and I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land; and I will make you lie down in safety. And I will take you for my wife forever; I will take you for my wife in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy. I will take you for my wife in faithfulness; and you shall know the Lord.

On that day I will answer, says the Lord,

   I will answer the heavens

   and they shall answer the earth;

and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil,

   and they shall answer Jezreel;

and I will sow him for myself in the land.

And I will have pity on Lo-ruhamah,

   and I will say to Lo-ammi, ‘You are my people’;

   and he shall say, ‘You are my God.’

Comment:

This beautiful and powerful passage finds its New Testament correlation in the final two chapters of the Revelation to John. It is an assurance—a solemn promise—that the Presence of God is with us always, no matter how far we may wander in consciousness. When we have learned from the negative consequences of our fear-based choices to turn back to our true Oneness with God and make choices based in that infinite Love, this world will become a rich, joyful, and powerful expression of the Divine. In Hosea “she” is the nation of Israel, which by metaphysical extension symbolizes the collective consciousness of which we are all a part. The promise is that, in the new consciousness that Jesus describes as ‘the kingdom of heaven,’ heaven and earth, creator and created will all be one, expressing all the positive energies and experiences that are our birthright.

Blessings!

Rev. Ed