Equivalence
When YHWH spoke first through Hoshea, YHWH said to Hoshea, “Go, take a wife of harlotry and children of harlotry, for the land has committed harlotry, departing from YHWH.” Hosea 1:2
YHWH Spoke – How did Hoshea know? How did he know that it was God who was asking him to do such an outrageous act? It’s not just Hoshea’s question, is it? It’s the same question we must face when we wish to be completely obedient to the Lord. Are we listening, or are our actions dictated only by consultation with a book of moral rules? Do we respond to the voice of the living God, or do we first check to make sure His voice matches our theological expectations?
Maybe the answers are really in the text, but hidden from us in translation. The Hebrew phrase is tĕḥillâ diber-YWHW be-hoshea vayomer YHWH el-hoshea. Literally this reads “First diber-YHWH to Hoshea and said to Hoshea.” Let’s concentrate on the combination diber-YHWH. The verb is dabar. It means “to speak, to say.” In this verse, it is a verb of completed action. So, YHWH spoke to Hoshea and that act of speaking was finished. The verb itself is in a form called the piel. In this case, the verbal form is a declarative action that leads to some end result. In other words, diber-YHWH is always effective. It brings about its intended end. But notice that Hebrew combines dabar and YHWH. God is manifest in His speaking. They are essentially the same. What God says is who God is. So Hoshea doesn’t receive a message from God. Hoshea receives God speaking. The manifestation of God’s voice in words is the presence of God Himself. Diber-YHWH isn’t just what God communicated. Diber-YHWH is God. Perhaps that’s why the rest of the sentence adds the otherwise completely superfluous phrase “YHWH said to Hoshea,” using a different verb for “said.” Why tell us twice? Because the first time (diber-YHWH) is not really what was said. It is the presence of the speaking God.
Now we understand (a little bit) why Hoshea obeys. Hoshea doesn’t just get a “word from the Lord.” Hoshea find himself in the presence of the speaking God – and this speaking God tells him to do something. It is God’s speaking-presence that confirms the truth of the message. In contrast to all the idols being worshipped in Israel, the God who speaks makes Himself known to Hoshea. This is very important. God’s speaking is the power behind all that exists. God’s speaking isn’t simply a string of words. It is effective action that brings about result. For God, speaking is being. No wonder listening is obeying. Both dabar and shama follow the same pattern. The action is the result. To speak is to bring into being. To hear is to obey.
Perhaps Hoshea’s immediate obedience isn’t quite as strange was we might think. Hoshea is Hebrew. He knows the speaking God and the power of what is spoken. He knows to hear and to obey. Maybe that’s what we are missing. Maybe we need to draw some equivalences, make some connections, tie word to deed. Maybe we need to move toward Hebrew thought-patterns and discover they are actions, not ideas.
Topical Index: diber-YHWH, spoke, to speak, Hosea 1:2
“God’s speaking is the power behind all that exists.”
Hi Skip,
For me, the statement above is the most important point.
The most difficult thing for me is knowing when to try to change things that don’t seem right.
And knowing when to just accept things as they are, which at times seems to be more productive.
I like the name, The God Who Speaks. It’s easy to forget that He still speaks and His presence is still active. From an experience several years ago, when the Speaking God visits, there’s no mistaking Whose Presence is there. It’s utterly and completely overwhelming. Perhaps because we’ve tended to put that split between Old and New Testaments and because many often think that the gifts and miracles of the New Testament don’t happen anymore, we experience these moments less often. When The God Who Speaks comes, and when He speaks, I can see why Hosea obeyed.
Would I have obeyed? I don’t know. I hope so. Even if the request seems awfully crazy (but then again, a lot of His requests that we know of were kind of weird: Noah’s boat, Moses’ staff and all the things he did with it, the prophet who sat in the street naked for quite some time…).
🙂
What happens when YHWH speaks? And G-d said.. “let there be” ..and it was so.. And G-d said.. let there be.. and it came to pass. And the word of the LORD came unto ________. And the word of the LORD came unto _________. And G-d said unto________.
YHWH spoke this world into existence. And we also, (made in His image), have been given much “power” in the words we speak. By our words we shall be justified and by our words we shall be condemned. We are “speaking” creatures by design.
My words have “power” to hurt and my words have “power” to heal. I am reminder of what I heard my pastor say .. “what’s down in the well is gonna come up in the bucket.” There’s a lot of truth to this. The question is: “what am I full of?”. Just cut in front of me during heavy traffic and watch what pours out of my unrestrained lips! Let junior spill his milk at the dinner table and listen to the “flow” of my words. “What’s down in the well- will surface in the bucket.”
This is why we need to “spend time” in the word and in prayer. This is why we need to “load up” on some good edifying music and to fellowship with G-d’s people. We (all) know to do right-all that’s left now is to “do it!”.
How is this accomplished (in the real world)? By “refusing” this- and “choosing” that! Become real choicy in what you allow to enter the mind. We (who belong to Him) have been given the incredible ability and wonderful freedom to “choose.” We may choose our thoughts just as we choose our friends and the thought is the father of the deed.
Hopefully this is true in your life. (or do you just “do” without thinking?) – I hope not. My daughter when she was about eight years old decided to do a “danger trick” and jump off the front porch wearing her roller skates. (Was this action thoroughly thought through?) Not unless she thought the pretty pink cast she wore on her arm was “worth it!”
“Shema- O Israel!” (listen and obey). What are we “listening” to? What are are ears receiving? What are our hearts welcoming? Do we “welcome” the word of the LORD? Do we readily receive his life-giving, life-sustaining words gladly? Are we willing to do what He asks- knowing full well- His words are the pathway to (abundant/overflowing) Life? Or are we like the ones who said- “we will not have this man to reign over us?”
Our role as men has been established by our Creator to be the “zakar” or one who speaks or acts in behalf of the female. And what are we to say? “Zakar” also is commonly translated as “remember.” And what are we to “remember?”
Is it worth remembering the word(s) YHWH has spoken unto us? G-d’s Torah (instruction?). John 14.26 says- But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—He will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.
Wow! Someone to teach and Someone to “remind” us. How marvelous and how wonderful is this! It’s like having our own personal trainer- (if we will “hear His voice.”)
We have been instructed- “without Me- you can do nothing” (John 15.5) We are absolutely G-d dependent for our next breath and desperately need to remember- “man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of G-d.” (Matthew 4.4)
“when the Speaking God visits, there’s no mistaking Whose Presence is there. It’s utterly and completely overwhelming.”
“Would I have obeyed? I don’t know. I hope so. Even if the request seems awfully crazy.”
Hi Amanda,
I find all your comments interesting, but I’ll try to focus on a few points.
We probably obey in these situations because they are overwhelming and there is no way out.
Maybe “request” is not the right word; when Yahweh calls upon Hosea isn’t it like a command?
Seems almost like Hosea is an extension of Yahweh’s will.
Regarding the New Testament, I think it is there to provide access to the Old Testament.
And the Old Testament makes the direct experience of God available to us.
In the Old Testament God is speaking directly to us a lot of the time, I think.
With the speaking of GOD to His prophets of old through visions , dreams and everyday life is it possible that there is a name for all of this? Because I shared one time with a Pastor how GOD spoke to me through an image while I was awake, he told me that I was a “MYSTIC” . He was not unbelieving nor was he upset so I did not take it as a rebuke. What is a mystic in the good sense because I know that whenever there is a wicked side there is a righteous side too. Hope you can help me on this. Thank you.