Hosea 10:1-15: a reflection

1Israel is a luxuriant vine that produces his fruit. According to the abundance of his fruit he has multiplied his altars. As their land has prospered, they have adorned their sacred stones. 2Their heart is divided. Now they will be found guilty. He will demolish their altars. He will destroy their sacred stones. 3Surely now they will say, “We have no king; for we don’t fear the LORD; and the king, what can he do for us?” 4They make promises, swearing falsely in making covenants. Therefore judgment springs up like poisonous weeds in the furrows of the field. 5The inhabitants of Samaria will be in terror for the calves of Beth Aven, for its people will mourn over it, along with its priests who rejoiced over it, for its glory, because it has departed from it. 6It also will be carried to Assyria for a present to a great king. Ephraim will receive shame, and Israel will be ashamed of his own counsel. 7Samaria and her king float away like a twig on the water. 8The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, will be destroyed. The thorn and the thistle will come up on their altars. They will tell the mountains, “Cover us!” and the hills, “Fall on us!” 9“Israel, you have sinned from the days of Gibeah. There they remained. The battle against the children of iniquity doesn’t overtake them in Gibeah. 10When it is my desire, I will chastise them; and the nations will be gathered against them when they are bound to their two transgressions. 11Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves to thresh, so I will put a yoke on her beautiful neck. I will set a rider on Ephraim. Judah will plow. Jacob will break his clods. 12Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap according to kindness. Break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and rains righteousness on you. 13You have plowed wickedness. You have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies, for you trusted in your way, in the multitude of your mighty men. 14Therefore a battle roar will arise among your people, and all your fortresses will be destroyed, as Shalman destroyed Beth Arbel in the day of battle. The mother was dashed in pieces with her children. 15So Bethel will do to you because of your great wickedness. At daybreak the king of Israel will be destroyed.

In the midst of a hard word to a people whose hearts had grown divided and their ground hardened, God gives a call full of hope: break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the LORD, till he comes and rains righteousness on you. Sow to yourselves in righteousness, God says; reap according to kindness. Break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and rains righteousness on you. Fallow ground is ground that has been left unworked, grown hard and unproductive. God's people had let the ground of their hearts grow hard, divided, neglected. And God calls them to break it up, to do the hard work of breaking the hardened, neglected ground of the heart, and to seek the LORD, so that he might come and rain righteousness upon them. This shows the call to break up the hardened ground of the heart and seek God. Break up the hardened, neglected ground of your heart, and seek the LORD. It is time to seek God, that he may rain righteousness on you. Do the hard work of breaking up what has grown hard in your heart. Seek God, and he will come and rain righteousness on you.

Notice the image and the call. The image is of fallow ground: ground that has been left unworked, that has grown hard, crusted over, unproductive, unable to receive seed or bear fruit. God's people had let the ground of their hearts become like this, hard and divided, their devotion neglected. And God's call is to break up this fallow ground: to do the hard, deliberate work of breaking through the hardened crust, turning over the neglected soil of the heart, so that it can once again receive seed and bear fruit. And the reason and hope: for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and rains righteousness on you. This holds a call to us when the ground of our own hearts has grown hard. Our hearts, too, can become like fallow ground: hard, crusted over, neglected, our devotion grown cold, our openness to God diminished. And the call is to break up this fallow ground, to do the hard work of breaking through the hardness, turning over what has grown neglected, softening what has hardened, so that our hearts can receive God's word and bear fruit again. And this is joined to a call to seek the LORD, and a hope: that as we break up the ground and seek him, he will come and rain righteousness upon us, sending the refreshing and fruitfulness only he can give. We do well, when our hearts have grown hard, to break up the fallow ground and seek the LORD, trusting that he will come and rain righteousness on us. Break up the hardened, neglected ground of your heart, and seek the LORD. Do the hard work of breaking through what has grown hard in you. It is time to seek God, who will come and rain righteousness on you. Do not leave the ground of your heart hard and fallow; break it up and seek him.

That is worth taking to heart, for we are called to break up the hardened ground of our hearts and seek the LORD, who will come and rain righteousness on us, as God called his people. Our hearts can grow hard and fallow, our devotion neglected; but God calls us to break up the fallow ground and seek him, that he may rain righteousness. Break it up. When the ground of your heart has grown hard, do not leave it so; break it up, do the hard work of breaking through, and seek the LORD, trusting that he will come and rain righteousness on you. Break up the hardened, neglected ground of your heart and seek the LORD, doing the hard work of breaking through what has grown hard in you, trusting that he will come and rain righteousness on you, as in the midst of a hard word to a people whose hearts had grown divided and their ground hardened God gave a call full of hope, to break up their fallow ground since it was time to seek the LORD till he came and rained righteousness on them, telling them to sow in righteousness and reap in kindness; for fallow ground is ground left unworked that has grown hard and unproductive, and God's people had let the ground of their hearts grow hard, divided, and neglected, so God calls them to break it up, to do the hard work of breaking the hardened, neglected ground of the heart, and to seek the LORD so that he might come and rain righteousness upon them, which holds a call to us when the ground of our own hearts has grown hard, since our hearts too can become like fallow ground, hard and crusted over and neglected, our devotion grown cold and our openness to God diminished, and the call is to break up this fallow ground and do the hard work of breaking through the hardness and turning over what has grown neglected so that our hearts can receive God's word and bear fruit again, joined to a call to seek the LORD and a hope that as we break up the ground and seek him he will come and rain righteousness upon us, so that we do well, when our hearts have grown hard, to break up the fallow ground and seek the LORD.

Lord, in the midst of a hard word to a people whose hearts had grown divided and their ground hardened, you give a call full of hope: break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the LORD, till he comes and rains righteousness on you. Sow to yourselves in righteousness, you say; reap according to kindness. Break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and rains righteousness on you. Fallow ground is ground that has been left unworked, grown hard and unproductive. Your people had let the ground of their hearts grow hard, divided, neglected. And you call them to break it up, to do the hard work of breaking the hardened, neglected ground of the heart, and to seek you, so that you might come and rain righteousness upon them. Show me the image and the call. The image is of fallow ground: ground left unworked, grown hard, crusted over, unable to receive seed or bear fruit. Your people had let the ground of their hearts become like this. And your call is to break up this fallow ground: to do the hard, deliberate work of breaking through the hardened crust, turning over the neglected soil of the heart, so that it can once again receive seed and bear fruit. And the reason and hope: for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and rains righteousness on you. This holds a call to me when the ground of my own heart has grown hard. My heart, too, can become like fallow ground: hard, crusted over, neglected, my devotion grown cold, my openness to you diminished. And the call is to break up this fallow ground, to do the hard work of breaking through the hardness and turning over what has grown neglected, so that my heart can receive your word and bear fruit again. And this is joined to a call to seek you, and a hope: that as I break up the ground and seek you, you will come and rain righteousness upon me. Take that to my heart. When the ground of my heart has grown hard, keep me from leaving it so; help me break it up, Lord, doing the hard work of breaking through what has hardened in me, and seek you, trusting that it is time to seek you and that you will come and rain righteousness on me.