The Lord continues with the theme of Him as the faithful husband and Israel as the unfaithful wife.
He says, "Rebuke your mother, rebuke her, for she is not My wife, and I am not her husband. Let her remove the adulterous look from her face and the unfaithfulness from between her breasts." (Hosea 2:1-2) It may be that Hosea is saying this to the children of his household about their mother, who has been unfaithful to him, because Hosea's troubled relationship with his wife Gomer is intended to symbolize the Lord's troubled relationship with Israel. This scene is like a man saying to the children of his household: "You've seen how your mother goes out and stays out all night. You know the kind of lifestyle she is living while I'm being faithful to her. You are a witness between me and your mother that I have done my best to be a good husband and a good father while she has done everything possible to tear this home apart. While I have worked hard for her, she has harbored passion for other men in her heart."
This statement appears to announce an intention to separate or divorce. The Bible only authorizes divorce in the case of unfaithfulness. This doesn't mean a person is required to remain where they are being abused; a person has the right to protect themselves by removing themselves from a harmful situation. The law of Moses allowed divorce for various reasons other than divorce (Jesus said Moses allowed it because the people were so hard-hearted) and the Pharisees and teachers of the law of Jesus' day allowed divorce for trivial and ridiculous reason reasons, but the Lord Jesus Christ clearly stated that a person was not to file for divorce unless their spouse had been unfaithful. The Lord doesn't blame a person for divorcing an unfaithful spouse, although even in that case I believe He would prefer that the guilty party change their ways and that the couple would reconcile and be devoted to each other. But in other cases it seems as if the goal is to work toward reconciliation, even if that means the couple lives apart for a time before reuniting. The Lord is announcing His intention to live apart from Israel for a time if she does not change her ways.
This living apart means being uprooted from the promised land. It means no longer being provided for in the land flowing with milk and honey. Just as a man separated from his wife would expect her to make her own living, the Israelites will be on their own (where material things are concerned) in the lands where they will be scattered. "Otherwise I will strip her naked and make her as bare as the day she was born; I will make her like a desert, turn her into a parched land, and slay her with thirst." (Hosea 2:3)
A man whose wife has given birth to children who are not his does not have a legal responsibility to provide for those children. The following text lends further credence to the theory that Gomer's second and third children do not belong to Hosea. "I will not show my love to her children, because they are the children of adultery. Their mother has been unfaithful and has conceived them in disgrace." (Hosea 2:4-5a)
Hosea has the right to cast out Gomer and the two children who were fathered by other men. The Bible only tells us for certain that the firstborn, Jezreel, belongs to Hosea. Just as a man in our day doesn't have to pay child support for children whose DNA tests prove they don't belong to him, Hosea does not have to continue supporting any children born from adulterous relationships. This is still a symbol of the Lord's relationship with Israel, for Israel has committed adultery against Him time and time again by engaging in idolatry. The Israelites who have fallen into idolatry have raised their children in idolatry, and in that sense they are not His children. He has the right to cast out the idolaters and their children, just as a man has the right to separate from an unfaithful wife and to refrain from paying support for children that are another man's.
In tomorrow's study we will continue looking at this passage that describes the broken relationship between Israel and the Lord, and we must keep in mind that it was not the Lord who broke the relationship. Like Hosea, He was not unfaithful to His wife. Like Hosea, He has protected and provided for His wife. But His wife rewarded His love with treachery.
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