{"id":869938,"date":"2022-06-14T15:10:07","date_gmt":"2022-06-14T19:10:07","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2026-06-23T19:03:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T23:03:29","slug":"bible-study-pentecost-8-c-july-31-2022","status":"publish","type":"bible_study","link":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/bible_study\/bible-study-pentecost-8-c-july-31-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"Bible Study: Proper 13 (C) \u2013 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

[RCL] Hosea 11:1-11; Psalm 107:1-9, 43; Colossians 3:1-11; Luke 12:13-21<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hosea 11:1-11<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Meditating on this passage of prophetic imagining surfaces the tension that characterizes the relationship between God and Israel. Both parties bend their backs, but God\u2019s bending nourishes while the peoples\u2019 bending isolates them from infinite sustenance. The poet paints a picture of YHWH\u2014the God of their ancestors\u2014who calls out to them time and again only to be cast aside. The more God called out, the further the people ran outside of earshot. In the poet\u2019s hands, God reminisces about teaching the people how to walk, embracing them with open arms, and healing them when healing was needed. God says, \u201cI led them with cords of human kindness, with bands of love\u201d (v. 4), but perhaps the people mistook the cords and bands as tools of bondage rather than connectors of infinite mercy. In verses five through seven, it seems that the Assyrian conquest vindicates God\u2019s anger, tempting God to turn a blind eye when the people finally wave their arms in distress and return God\u2019s call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But this is a God who desires closeness. And perhaps the poet even endeavors to imagine YHWH, the great I AM, into a space of introspection. The poet\u2019s words seem to push the creator of all things to say, \u201cFor I am God and no mortal, the Holy One in your midst\u201d (v. 9) \u2013 a reminder to the Holy One of his abundant capacity not only for anger and wrath but also for intimate knowing and loving. In verse eight, the poet writes that God\u2019s heart recoils within God, as if it had been previously wretched out by Israel\u2019s rejection. Instead of burning with wrath outside of the chest, God\u2019s heart recoils and grows warm and tender with compassion close to Godself. The writer suggests that YHWH can no more exist without the love and affection of humans than a fish can live outside of water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n