2 But now bring charges against Israel-your mother-for she is no longer my wife, and I am no longer her husband. Tell her to remove the prostitute’s makeup from her face and the clothing that exposes her breasts.
3 Otherwise, I will strip her as naked as she was on the day she was born. I will leave her to die of thirst, as in a dry and barren wilderness.
4 And I will not love her children, for they were conceived in prostitution.
5 Their mother is a shameless prostitute and became pregnant in a shameful way. She said, “I’ll run after other lovers, and sell myself to them for food and water, for clothing of wool and linen, and for olive oil and drinks.”
This is a pretty harsh passage in my opinion. Charges are brought against the Unfaithful Wife and Mother, Israel, for her unfaithfulness. What is still so touching to me in light of these charges against Israel, is God’s faithfulness and love. His desire is to restore His love relationship with His people rather than casting them away. God is using severe consequences in order to turn His people back to Himself.
In verse 5 the focus shifts to Israel’s guilt of rejecting Yahweh, her rightful Husband, for her lovers. Israel was guilty of worshiping the gods of the pagan nations around them – they would continually turn to these false idols for help instead of turning to the One True God.
What can we learn from these passages? I believe we have false gods in our lives today that cause us to be unfaithful to God. What or who do we give our allegiance to and depend on for meaning as persons – in addition to God? We can believe in God and at the same time worship the false god of power, prosperity, possessions, and position.
We want God to bless us while we maintain control of our own lives and do what we want to do. In reality, we are the false gods of our own lives. Oh that we would surrender our lives to God and give Him back His rightful place in our hearts – FIRST PLACE!
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