“They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains and burn
offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade was good.
Therefore your daughters play the whore…” (Hosea 4:13).
The whoring that Hosea speaks of is spiritual in
nature. Israel is married to the true
God but is cheating on Him with local false gods (which are no gods). God has taken Israel as his wife, moved her
into a new neighborhood and into a new home, and Israel now has eyes for some
of the handsome, adventurous, and overly friendly neighbors. She finds them enticing and exotic. She is smitten. Instead of sneaking to run down motels on the
bad side of town to meet her lovers, Israel climbs hills and mountains marked
out by the indigenous people as the places to worship indigenous gods. As she makes her way up the mountains away
from the temple, the devout ask, “Why are you worshipping there and not in the
temple?” Israel responds, “The shade is
good. And as you know, there’s no shade in the temple. It’s way too hot; too much direct sunlight. There’s no breeze and no scenery. But I have found a better place.” And so
Hosea says, “They sacrifice on the tops
of the mountains and burn offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar, and
terebinth, because their shade was good. Therefore your daughters play the whore…”
Let’s be honest. It’s
way too easy for our comforts and preferences to conceal idols. The “shade” becomes a cover for an
alternative worship, an easy worship. In reality,
anything that we add to, omit from, or dilute in God’s word about our response
to him is shady worship. How often have
we rationalized not giving, not loving, and not serving because of the
discomfort? Oh, how it might distract me from serving God in other areas! How
often have we rationalized something less than a pure and undivided devotion
because something less was more pleasurable, and we all know that God is most
glorified when we have the most pleasure…right?
I think I read that somewhere. So,
we’ll take a little Son, but not too
much Son. Too much Son will cause
discomfort, and he just might bid me to pick up my cross, deny myself, and
follow him. So, we put on Sonscreen,
that is, we take into our lives a toned down version of what it means to follow
Christ that both assuages our conscience (a little) and yet keeps us well
within the borders of the faith.
Hosea’s message is to leave our shady religion (our
refinements and abridgments of Christianity) and to bask, tan, and yes even
burn if need be, in true devotion to Christ.
