Fr Peter Helman

 "O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity: Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we, running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of your heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen."

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I remember in seminary taking an advanced biblical exegesis class on the book of Old Testament book of Hosea. I sat with two other students around a large hardwood slab of a table in the shadow of an absolutely intimidating professor named Leong Seow. By all accounts I didn’t belong in the class. My Hebrew skills, if you could call them skills, were elementary. Along with the book of Job, Hosea is the most difficult book in the Bible to read in the original language and more difficult still to translate. Ancient manuscripts of Hosea are disjointed, the text a patchwork of fragments fit together by more or less informed interpretive guesses. In fourteen brief chapters there are more Hebrew and Aramaic words that appear only once in the Bible than any other book. When translation committees have been unsure what to do with Hosea's strange vocabulary, they simply take a leap and fill in gaps as best as they’re able. 
 

The complications of translation are not insignificant, but the beautiful point remains it remains a sacred text for Jewish and Christian believers. Hosea is an incredible series of prophetic oracles. Filled with indictments against violence and greed, corrupt priests and the malignancy of idol worship, the book conveys the story of the prophet Hosea, whom God calls to wed Gomer, a promiscuous spouse. Again and again she gives herself to other lovers, and God calls Hosea to take her back. Take a minute at least to read the lesson appointed for Morning Prayer today. (In truth you'll be able to read the entire book in a brief sitting!)

Hosea's is the story of God’s love for Israel, a people who time and again follow their own devises and desires, and who time and again are brought back by God in love from the brink. God chooses freely to love the unlovable, to establish a covenant relationship of unconditional commitment. He does so with those who he knows will be unable to keep the covenant. God knows they will break their vows to the Most High, and God loves them nonetheless. The abundance of the lovingkindness of God is a thus a gratuitous and unmerited grace.

The story of Hosea is our story too, we who are the spiritual descendants of the people of Israel. 

Today, let us take time to ponder and celebrate the working of God's love in our lives.

Bless you today, beloved.

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