Jezreel

Today we continue on from where we left off last week--the middle of verse 1:3:

And she [Gomer] conceived and she gave birth to a son for him [Hosea]. And YHWH said to him, call his name, "Jezreel," for soon I will avenge the blood of Jezreel against the house of Jehu, and I will cause the kingdom of the house of Israel to end. And it will be on that day that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.

My thoughts last week ended with wondering what it was that Gomer felt about her God-instructed marriage to this prophet. Here, the specifics of Hebrew grammar make this first birth of a son "for him," for Hosea, not for herself, another sign of the writing's place in a patriarchal society. That little "for him" could have been left off, but the author of these verses keeps our focus trained on Hosea and the message he has to deliver. In our minds today, we can acknowledge that, but we need to take a moment to at least recognized that this prophet's message is being articulated through people. What must it mean to Gomer, to their son, Jezreel, and perhaps even to Hosea himself to be treated not like people with all their complexity, but merely as the symbols by which this prophecy is spoken? Or perhaps--though I admit to being less comfortable with this possibility--what a privilege it might be to serve as God's mouthpiece in this way?

For little baby Jezreel, we need to know that his name is not the name one gives to a person, but to a place. It would be like calling your child, "Toronto" or "Manhattan" or "Pacific Northwest." Not exactly the kind of name one might wish to carry around for their whole lives. It is the name of an area just north of Samaria in Galilee, southwest of the Sea of Galilee, south of Nazareth, east of Megiddo. In the region of Jezreel there is a city called Jezreel, and there, King Omri built a palace (also called Jezreel) which could serve as a second seat of government, providing rule over the northern half of the northern kingdom.

Omri's son was Ahab, the king of Israel who married Jezebel, worshiper of Baal, who Elijah fought against. Ahab's son was Ahaziah, and his son was Joram, also known as Jehoram. When he was reigning as king, the prophet Elisha was told by God to go to Ramoth-Gilead and anoint Jehu, son of Jehoshaphat, one of the military officers stationed there, as king over Israel. (See 2 Kings Chapter 9) The problem, of course, is that Joram is already king of Israel. Jehu goes to the palace at Jezreel to kill Joram--and in the process manages to also kill King Ahaziah of Judah, Jezebel, all of the descendants of both kings, and quite a few Baal worshipers. The blood of Jezreel. As a descendant of Jehu, Jeroboam of Israel, king during Hosea's prophecy, is responsible for all that death.

Except it seems a little unfair of God to enact vengeance against Jehu and his descendants. Isn't God the one who had Jehu anointed king in the first place, opposing Joram? How else was Jehu supposed to take his place?

Usually, when a king of Israel or Judah does something wrong, we get strong words of judgment against them in their epitaph in the books of Samuel and Kings. But here we simply get:

Now the rest of the acts of Jehu, all that he did, and all his power, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel? So Jehu slept with his ancestors, and they buried him in Samaria. His son Jehoahaz succeeded him. The time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years. (2 Kings 10:34-36 NRSV)

There is no mention that Jehu "did what was evil in the sight of God" or the like. It's clear that somehow, the book of Kings has a different perspective on the whole affair than does the book of Hosea. This might make us think about who decides issues of morality. Morals are supposed to be the realm of religion. We know, though, in our world today, that different people--faithful people--have different ideas about what constitutes a violation of morality, and what is acceptable. We can argue many sides of issues like abortion, homosexuality, stem cell research, racial tension, just to name a few, and still argue from good, Christian theology. It might be helpful to know that the Bible isn't even always clear on the moral rectitude of, say, the wholesale slaughter of entire bloodlines in the succession of kings.

Perhaps we'll get some insight by comparing this story with another king. David, too, was anointed as king by a prophet (Samuel) while another king was still in charge. The way that the book of 1 Samuel tells it, David refuses to take part in Saul's downfall. He actually goes to another country (Philistia) and hires himself out as a mercenary, then works against the Philistines quietly from within, because they're enemies of Saul! David knows that he's anointed to be the next king, but he waits until someone else kills Saul before taking office. (Some scholars, like Steven McKenzie, make a convincing argument that none of this was actually true, but for the moment, we'll take the Bible at its word.) David is celebrated for his decision to recognize Saul's authority, despite his not being a good king, and not take action against him. This is certainly a very different succession narrative than that of Jehu.

In any case, for Hosea, this was a terrible act, and retribution had to take place. It's interesting to note that his prophecy is directed specifically at the royal house of Israel. Much prophecy is aimed at the rulers, at the people in charge, and not at the whole society or the general inhabitants of the land. When that isn't the case--as it will be from time to time--we should take special notice.

Here's my last thought for today. How awful would it have been to grow up in a household where Mom is never home at nights, crazy Dad thinks he's the mouthpiece of God, and you're named after the place where a massacre of dozens of people took place?

Questions for Thought:

1) Are you feeling a little dizzy from the history lesson? Names of Kings and locations in the Middle East don't stick in the head all that easily. What do you do to help turn this kind of story into something alive, rather than just a list of names?

2) How do we know for sure what is right and what is wrong? What can help us make our decision on a moral issue, particularly when the Bible seems to be internally inconsistent?

3) Hosea's first prophecy is directed at the Royal House of Jehu. What courage it must have taken to speak out against the king! Where can we get the courage and authority to speak out against the powers that rule in our world?