The following meditation was written by our very own Dermott Davison for the first Two:23 meeting on 24th November 2012
God’s Message to Hosea, son of Beeri
The first time God spoke to Hosea he said:
“Find a whore and marry her.
Make this whore the mother of your children.
And here’s why: This whole country
has become a whorehouse, unfaithful to me, God.”
Hosea did it. He picked Gomer daughter of Diblaim. She got pregnant and gave him a son.
God told him:
“Name him Jezreel. It won’t be long now before
I’ll make the people of Israel pay for the massacre at Jezreel.
I’m calling it quits on the kingdom of Israel.
Payday is coming! I’m going to chop Israel’s bows and arrows
into kindling in the valley of Jezreel.”
Gomer got pregnant again. This time she had a daughter. God told Hosea:
“Name this one No-Mercy. I’m fed up with Israel.
I’ve run out of mercy. There’s no more forgiveness”.
After Gomer had weaned No-Mercy, she got pregnant yet again and had a son. God said:
“Name him Nobody. You’ve become nobodies to me,
and I, God, am a nobody to you”.
Hosea 1 (The Message)
“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.” Juliet
William Shakespeare
Naming a newborn is an important task for any parent, loaded with significance, imbued with meaning and reflecting something of the parent.
As children, we didn’t get to choose our names – others chose them for us.
The children of Hosea and Gomer didn’t get to choose their names.
Neither did Hosea nor Gomer.
God named them.
Imagine being called Nobody,
Imagine that being your identity,
Imagine people, everyone, calling you Nobody,
– a non person
What does that do to a person’s heart?
I’m Nobody! Who are you?
Are you Nobody, too?
Then there’s a pair of us–don’t tell!
They’d banish us, you know.
Emily Dickinson
American Poet, 1830 – 1856
Imagine being given the name “Nobody” by God.
What kind of God would do such a thing?
Nobody.
God’s Nobody.
Who would have thought God’s saving power would look like this?…..
There was nothing attractive about him,
nothing to cause us to take a second look.
He was looked down on and passed over,
a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand.
One look at him and people turned away.
We looked down on him, thought he was scum.
But the fact is, it was our pains he carried –
our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us.
It was our sins that did that to him,
that ripped and tore and crushed him – our sins!
He took the punishment, and that made us whole.
Through his bruises we get healed.
He was beaten, he was tortured,
but he didn’t say a word.
Like a lamb taken to be slaughtered
and like a sheep being sheared,
he took it all in silence.
Justice miscarried, and he was led off
– and did anyone really know what was happening?
Even though he’d never hurt a soul
or said one word that wasn’t true.
Still, it’s what God had in mind all along,
to crush him with pain.
The plan was that he give himself as an offering for sin
so that he’d see life come from it – life, life, and more life.
And God’s plan will deeply prosper through him.
Still, it’s what God had in mind all along,
to crush him with pain.
The plan was that he give himself as an offering for sin
so that he’d see life come from it – life, life, and more life.
And God’s plan will deeply prosper through him.
….. He looked death in the face and didn’t flinch,
……. he embraced the company of the lowest.
He took on his own shoulders the sin of the many,
he took up the cause of all the black sheep.
Isaiah 53
Jesus embraced the company of the lowest, the black sheep, the Gomers, the Nobodies, the ones that didn’t fit in.
He still does.
But what of Gomer and Hosea’s children ?
“And now, here’s what I’m going to do:
I’m going to start all over again.
I’m taking her back out into the wilderness
where we had our first date, and I’ll court her.
I’ll give her bouquets of roses.
I’ll turn Heartbreak Valley into Acres of Hope.
She’ll respond like she did as a young girl,
those days when she was fresh out of Egypt.
And then I’ll marry you for good – forever!
I’ll marry you true and proper, in love and tenderness.
Yes, I’ll marry you and neither leave you nor let you go.
You’ll know me, God, for who I really am.
“On the very same day….” – this is God’s Message-
“I’ll answer the sky,
sky will answer earth,
Earth will answer grain
and wine and olive oil,
and they’ll all answer Jezreel.
I’ll plant her in the good earth.
I’ll have mercy on No-Mercy.
I’ll say to Nobody, ‘You’re my dear Somebody,’
and he’ll say ‘You’re my God!’”………
Hosea 2 (The Message)
I’ll say to Nobody, ‘You’re my dear Somebody,’
and he’ll say ‘You’re my God!’”………
You’re my dear Somebody,
You’re my dear Somebody,
You’re my dear Somebody,
You are my God.