Hosea 5:1-15: a reflection

1“Listen to this, you priests! Listen, house of Israel, and give ear, house of the king! For the judgment is against you; for you have been a snare at Mizpah, and a net spread on Tabor. 2The rebels are deep in slaughter, but I discipline all of them. 3I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from me; for now, Ephraim, you have played the prostitute. Israel is defiled. 4Their deeds won’t allow them to turn to their God, for the spirit of prostitution is within them, and they don’t know the LORD. 5The pride of Israel testifies to his face. Therefore Israel and Ephraim will stumble in their iniquity. Judah also will stumble with them. 6They will go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the LORD, but they won’t find him. He has withdrawn himself from them. 7They are unfaithful to the LORD; for they have borne illegitimate children. Now the new moon will devour them with their fields. 8“Blow the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah! Sound a battle cry at Beth Aven, behind you, Benjamin! 9Ephraim will become a desolation in the day of rebuke. Among the tribes of Israel, I have made known that which will surely be. 10The princes of Judah are like those who remove a landmark. I will pour out my wrath on them like water. 11Ephraim is oppressed, he is crushed in judgment, because he is intent in his pursuit of idols. 12Therefore I am to Ephraim like a moth, and to the house of Judah like rottenness. 13“When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria, and sent to King Jareb: but he is not able to heal you, neither will he cure you of your wound. 14For I will be to Ephraim like a lion, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I myself will tear in pieces and go away. I will carry off, and there will be no one to deliver. 15I will go and return to my place, until they acknowledge their offense, and seek my face. In their affliction they will seek me earnestly.”

Through Hosea, God brings a heavy word against his unfaithful people, and set within the warnings is a revealing statement of his purpose. I will return again to my place, God says, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face; in their distress they will earnestly seek me. God speaks of withdrawing his felt presence, not to abandon his people forever, but so that, feeling his absence in their distress, they will turn back and earnestly seek him.

Notice the purpose behind God's withdrawal: that they may seek his face. God does not withdraw to be rid of his people, but to bring them to their senses; when they no longer sense his presence, and their distress deepens, they will at last acknowledge their guilt and seek him earnestly. The withdrawal is aimed at their return; God hides his face so that they will come looking for it, seeking him with the earnestness that comfort had dulled.

That casts God's felt absence in a different light. There are times when God seems distant, when we no longer sense his presence as we once did, and it troubles us. This may be, as it was for Israel, God drawing back so that we will seek him more earnestly, so that a comfortable, complacent faith will become an earnest, seeking one. The sense of God's distance can be aimed at our seeking his face. When God seems far, do not conclude that he has abandoned you; let the sense of his distance drive you to seek his face earnestly, which may be its very purpose. Seek him earnestly in your distress, as those Israel would one day become; for God sometimes withdraws the sense of his presence precisely so that we will seek him, and find him, with a deeper earnestness than before.

Lord, through Hosea you spoke of withdrawing your presence until your people acknowledged their guilt and sought your face, saying that in their distress they would earnestly seek you; your withdrawal was aimed at their return. Cast your felt absence in a different light for me. There are times when you seem distant, when I no longer sense your presence as I once did, and it troubles me. This may be, as it was for Israel, you drawing back so that I will seek you more earnestly, so that a comfortable, complacent faith will become an earnest, seeking one. The sense of your distance can be aimed at my seeking your face. When you seem far, keep me from concluding that you have abandoned me; let the sense of your distance drive me to seek your face earnestly, which may be its very purpose. Help me seek you earnestly in my distress; for you sometimes withdraw the sense of your presence precisely so that I will seek you, and find you, with a deeper earnestness than before. I seek your face, Lord.