Israel is a luxuriant vine whose fruit matches its growth. The more abundant his fruit, the more altars he built;
The more productive his land, the more sacred pillars he set up.
Their heart is false,
now they pay for their guilt....
Despite their separation from Judah and the holy city of Jerusalem, the northern kingdom of Israel prospered, as we hear in Hosea's complaint. But they probably noticed neither their prosperity, Hosea's complaint, or the blessings of God. If they were like Americans, their prosperity could not compare with how much more they wanted. Nor did they suppose that what they had was undeserved; or that it had come from God's blessings. Clearly, had you asked them, the luxuriant vine of Israel was the reward for ingenuity and hard work.
The prophets Amos and Hosea did not see it that way. Perhaps they had observed Israel's prosperity from the perspective of the slaves, impoverished families, and underpaid soldiers who supported their economy. More likely, they remembered the historical cycles of God's mercy, Israel's infidelity, God's punishment, Israel's turn to the Lord, and God's mercy restored. The historical books of the Bible, from Joshua to Second Kings, which include the ninth century BC when Amos and Hosea wrote, recall those bitter and blessed years, and God's fidelity through it all.
"The true meaning of money yet remains to be popularly explained and comprehended. When each individual realises for himself that this thing primarily stands for and should only be accepted as a moral due—that it should be paid out as honestly stored energy, and not as a usurped privilege—many of our social, religious, and political troubles will have permanently passed.
Hosea saw that Israel thanked Canaanite fertility gods for their prosperity with rituals that used sacred prostitutes. When the Lord told him to marry one of these women, the severely compromised Gomer, the prophet began to appreciate how hard it was to tear Israel away from its voluptuous idolatry. No matter how kind he was to her, she would flee back to the brothel-temple. Israel's idols seemed more generous and a lot more fun than Jerusalem's sober, demanding God.
But the Canaanite gods had no memory of the past, nor could they foresee the future. They supposed Israel's prosperity would continue forever, or at least until this generation has passed. Future generations can deal with the challenges of their time; it's no concern of ours.
That seems to be the attitude of many Americans today. Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die. Nor, for that matter, do we need sacred prostitutes since pornography cultivates an endless harvest of bewildered girls and boys for the sacrifice. Addictions of every sort forget the past and ignore the future. The only moment that matters to the addict is now.
Many people read the Old Testament and see only a demanding, arbitrarily violent God. They do not recognize his passionate devotion to those he claims for his own. They prefer their image of Jesus, an American idol with neither past nor future, neither Jew nor Greek, neither male or female. He does not promise to come again since this is as good as it gets.
They have no idea of the promises they ignore and the blessings they forfeit by their idolatry. Eye has not seen, ear has not heard what God has ready for those who love him.
