What will you name your baby? An important question for all expectant parents, but one which some people answer in very odd ways. Some parents seem intent on ensuring their children suffer years of teasing and embarrassment. But even the most outlandish names I have heard pale into insignificance beside the names Hosea gave his unfortunate children.
Hosea named his children in Hebrew, the language of the people of Israel both in ancient times and now. The land had been divided into two separate nations under David’s grandson, Judah in the south and Israel in the north where Hosea lived.
At first sight, Hosea's eldest child has a quite respectable name: Jezreel. It means, 'God sows'. However, Jezreel was also the name of a valley which had seen many battles. The name Jezreel was a reference to war and bloodshed.
But it gets worse. Child number two is named Lo-ruhamah, Unpitied, Uncared-for. And as for Hosea's third child, Lo-ammi, Not my people – that child may as well have been called Unwanted. Three children: War, Uncared-for, Unwanted. Why on earth would any parent give their children such horrendous names?
To answer this, we need to understand what it meant to prophesy in ancient Israel. To be a prophet meant proclaiming God's view of the situation of the day. This proclamation involved not just speaking and writing but also dramatising the word of God. The life of a prophet was often a drama expressing what God had to say to God's people.
Hosea lived in the 8th century before the common era. At that time, the northern kingdom of Israel was under continuous threat from its much larger and belligerent neighbour, Assyria. Eventually, Assyria conquered Israel in 721 BCE.
Hosea was called as prophet to proclaim God's word in the face of the Assyrian threat. And he does, with the drama of the names of his children. Jezreel – war is coming. Lo-ruhamah – God will not have pity; Lo-ammi – God will no longer recognise us as his people.
The message is worse than the children's names. Of course, people would have asked, why? Why will God reject us, cease to pity us, allow us to be conquered? And Hosea answered: because you have rejected God, by worshipping other gods and, most importantly, by not upholding God's justice.
Being a just people, treating everyone equally irrespective of their wealth or background, is the sign of following God. The call of God's people is to reflect God's justice to the world. This is difficult at any time, but particularly so when people feel under threat, as the people of Israel did in Hosea's day.
Jesus, too, lived in troubled times, when his people felt threatened by the occupying forces. They feared that the Romans would destroy their way of life. Some advocated armed struggle, including at least one of the twelve. Even the more moderate felt that the Romans were beyond the love or justice of God. And when the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, perhaps they wanted to know how to pray in the circumstances they lived in, under the rule of a hostile power.
The prayer Jesus gives is a prayer for tough times, for times when we feel under threat, but it is not what we, or the disciples, might expect. There is no prayer for victory over enemies, or for the downfall of those who oppress us. Instead, we are told to pray for four things:
· your name be hallowed,
· your kingdom come,
· give us each day our daily bread,
· do not bring us to the time of trial.
'Your name be hallowed' – honoured. If God's name is being honoured, then everyone will be treated justly, because justice is the essence of honouring God. Human justice is limited, even at its best. So we also pray 'Your kingdom come' – a prayer for the end of time when all human rule will give way to the Lord's reign of justice, peace and love.
In the meantime, we pray for daily sustenance – something people only pray for when their source of food is threatened, by war, unemployment, or natural disaster. Jesus tells us to pray for our daily needs even when we would not be concerned about them. This is a reminder that all we have comes from God, and that others are in need even if we are not.
Of course, in troubled times, our chief prayer is that we be kept safe. 'Do not bring us to the time of trial'. This is much nearer to the original Greek phrase than 'lead us not into temptation'. That old version was not only bad translation, it was also bad theology. God doesn't tempt anyone. But God knows that hard times are trying and we can be tempted to behave unjustly, unkindly, or to ignore the needs of our neighbours. So we pray for safety, physical and spiritual. Even when we feel threatened, may we treat everyone, even our apparent enemies, with the compassion and justice of God.
The Lord's Prayer, as we call it, is a prayer for troubled times. At such times, the human tendency is to look for a scapegoat, someone to blame. Whose fault is this? Who can we call to account? Or, more insidiously, on whom can we take out our frustration, our pain? On whom can we take revenge? The Lord's Prayer is a prayer that we not give in to these natural desires for revenge. It is a prayer that we act as God's people, that we act in justice even though we don't feel like it, a prayer that we might act as God would act, in preparation for the coming of the kingdom of God.
And, in the middle of this prayer, we pray for forgiveness, for ourselves and for our enemies. In giving us this prayer, Jesus recognised that we will give in to our natural tendencies at times, we will seek a scapegoat, we may even act in vengeance. Jesus tells us to ask for forgiveness, and also to forgive those who have hurt us, those who threaten us.
This does not mean that we are to act like fools and allow ourselves, our loved ones, our nation to be hurt or destroyed. Allowing evil to get its own way is not justice! But scapegoating isn't justice either. As God's people, we are called to justice, because God's nature is justice.
God's nature is also to have mercy. In the midst of his prophetic condemnation, Hosea has words of comfort. Despite all that may happen, God is faithful. Hosea promises that the epithet 'not my people' will be replaced with 'children of the living God'. Indeed, later in the book, Hosea's children are renamed: Jezreel becomes a valley of plenty, Lo-ruhamah becomes Pity or Compassion and Lo-ammi becomes My people.
The Lord's Prayer, too, comes with a promise. Living justly is difficult – but we don't have to do it alone. The Holy Spirit – God's own self – is given to us to help us. God the Holy Spirit, God of justice and mercy, will guide us to live as God's people are called to live. Amen
