The Christ in Prophecy Journal

Hosea on Faith When Your Heart is Shattered

The nation continues to mourn over the loss of 49 people mercilessly gunned down at an Orlando night club by an Islamic terrorist. This is the worst mass shooting in American history and has shaken many Americans to the core, with many still in disbelief. No matter what side of the issue people take concerning homosexuality, it was an attack on the nation, and a shared feeling of helplessness and loss.

The nation wonders, “Where’s God when our hearts are shattered?”

#Christians wonder, 'Where's #God when our hearts are shattered?' Click To Tweet

I believe if you read the following excerpt from my new book, co-authored with Steve Howell, titled 12 Faith Journeys of the Minor Prophets (available on our website and on Kindle and Nook), you will marvel at the similarities between the people of the nation of Israel in the Prophet Hosea’s time and God’s people today when asking that very same question.

We’ll begin with an introductory story, an elaborations on Scripture, an imaged scenario that the text hints at but doesn’t necessarily describe. We ask that you take this story as intended—as historical fiction to illustrate historical fact. Then we’ll dive directly into the book of Hosea and learn what the prophet has to teach us concerning faith when your heart is shattered.

The Auction

She stood motionless and forsaken atop the high wooden platform. Stripped of all clothing, hands held together by a loosely tied rope and hanging limply before her, she made one last futile attempt to search her well of emotions and to no real surprise found its depths too dry to stir up any care. The indignity of the public display no longer held any horror for her, for long ago she had shed whatever dignity she once possessed.

Darkened, murky images of her life over the last few years played out in her mind’s eye. Head hung low, gaze empty, staring down upon the roughhewn boards below her bare feet, she tried to remember the face and features of the man she had once known long ago as her husband. How old were her three little children now? Puzzled, she couldn’t quite remember. She had left them all behind. They had offered her nothing but stress and embarrassment and poverty.

Oh, the poverty! She had wanted so much more than a provincial life. She had desires. Her beauty was widely admired and so she believed worthy of rich adornment in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry. She had wanted to know the joys of wine with friends at parties in the evening and with various lovers at private parties throughout the night. She had craved the attention and high position in society that she had believed she rightfully deserved.

There were always many, many men who could fulfill her heart’s desires. A long litany of suitors cascaded across her memory, and like her abandoned husband, she could no longer quite clearly picture them now. How many men had she given herself to procure these favored gifts? She could no longer remember that either. These lovers all seemed the same, so full of promises for a better life, yet each one eventually failed her, proving empty once they had gotten what they’d wanted out of her.

It started out so wonderfully with pleasures untold she had thought, but over time the procession turned into a nightmare. With every bit of her body she sold for fancy baubles, a piece of herself was ultimately lost. The parties and the pleasures and the hard living rapidly took their toll. She found her soul was dying on the inside as rapidly as her body was aging on the outside. Face worn and cold, eyes empty of life, hair streaked with grey, shoulders slumped, the young woman appeared decades older than her true age. To her horror, as she declined she found she had less to offer, and so too dropped the quality of her lovers. She finally resorted to paying them for just an inkling of the attentions she had once received. And then the abuses and neglect had begun.

So there she stood atop that platform—cold in both body and soul, friendless and oh so utterly lonely; face dirty and cheek bruised, long hair bedraggled, eyes bereft of the spark of life, reeking of prison stench—absolutely desolate. She remained somber, utterly crushed and defeated. And, also indebted beyond all hope of repayment.

The sweaty auctioneer began the call for bidding.

Across the busy market center of the capital city, hidden among the colorful merchants selling their various wares, stood a man used to being completely alone even in a bustling crowd. Head covered, cloak pulled tightly around him, the man attempted to be company with only his thoughts. For hours he’d been there waiting, pacing and wringing his calloused hands. Strong and powerful emotions assailed him, wave after wave, until he was quite sure he could stand against them no longer. Then she was standing before him on the auction block, and his strength almost caved.

Taking in the crowd with only quick and furtive sidelong glances, the man took measure of the people around him. While some seemed more interested in the pungent smells of the exotic spices and fine textures of the fabrics the market had to offer, a greater number seemed intent on ogling the latest procession of slaves being sold to market, hoping to be titillated by some sordid, tragic story from the auctioneer. They were to be disappointed by this sad creature of a woman now brought before them, for in her worn condition, the auctioneer knew she would fare little to no value, so he barely made any effort to up-sell her.

Some knew who she was though. She had a past. He noticed cliques of women whispering and laughing to one to another, spiting bitterly without pity: “Good-for-nothing man stealer.” “Adulterous!” “Her own husband couldn’t control that wretch.” “Deserved what she got.” The watcher cringed inwardly, for painfully he knew the words were all too true.

At the booming call of the auctioneer for the first bid, the milling crowd responded with skeptical silence. He called again, this time dropping the bid even lower, but was met only by pockets of quiet laughter. A third time the auctioneer called out the lowest possible price, yet still nothing.

Gathering his fortitude, the man took down his hood and revealed his face. Eyes fixated only on the woman, voice cracked with emotion, he called out. “I bid 30 pieces of silver! But, all I have is 15. Will you, uh, take the other 15 in barley?” The words having escaped his lips, the man self-consciously believed all eyes were now boring into him. And so they were. Who would pay even pittance for such a treacherous and defeated creature, much less the full price set by their law for a healthy slave? It seemed like a preposterous offer. And then, with looks of absolute shock revealing recognition, they knew. The people began to whisper one to another. “Isn’t that her former husband?” He paid no attention to the unkind words that flowed around him. The auctioneer was quick to respond, knowing he’d get no better price. “Sold!”

The woman couldn’t look up—didn’t dare look up—for where once was emptiness, there was now mortal fear rising up within her at the sound of her husband’s voice. As a slave she was property, and her former husband and now master had the legal right to stone her to death for her infidelities. Would he take his revenge? Her mind was a torrent of panic as the man paid the auctioneer. And now he stood before her on the auction block, all eyes hungrily watching for the drama to unfold.

She braced herself for the inevitable blow, only to be confounded by the sensation of a warm cloak being slipped around her slight shoulders. The man—the husband she had betrayed and abandoned time and again—now her master, lifted her trembling chin gently in his hands and tenderly spoke. “You are to live with me now for the rest of your life. You will no longer cheat on me. I forgive you, and I love you.” Her eyes darted up to meet his and was utterly stunned by the warmth within them. Like a marionette whose strings are cut, she collapsed as an ocean of guilt washed away from her soul. To the stunned silence of the market crowd, the husband caught her in his strong arms, lifted her off her feet, and carried her back home.

A Shattered Heart

Have you ever had your heart shattered into a million painful pieces? Maybe the cause was betrayal by a loved one such as a wayward spouse or rebellious child. Possibly it’s by a failed career, crushed dreams, lost hopes, or personal failure. The experience is rather like running through an obstacle course of emotions. One minute we feel such stabbing emotional pain that it attempts to overwhelm us. The next minute, we experience an uncontrollable rage at the injustice of it all. We cry, we plead, we call out, we lose sleep and our health diminishes, but in the end we’re ultimately left feeling hollow, bitter and, oh, so very alone.

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The book of Hosea, the first of the twelve Minor Prophets recorded in the Old Testament part of the Bible, introduces us in the first three chapters to two people who have also had their hearts shattered, though for very different reasons. They were real people. They may have lived long ago, well, very long ago, approximately 740 years before Christ’s birth. They may have lived in a nation very different than your own, which was the ancient Northern Kingdom of Israel set on the eastern side of the Mediterranean Sea. The culture may have also been very different, being the Hebrew people whom we now call the Jews or Israelis. They ate different foods, they lived in a farming and livestock-based economy, they rode donkeys and mules, their clothes were made of a coarse, woven fabric, and their footwear consisted of sandals.

But, as for the heart, they were as human as we are today. They had thoughts, emotions, desires and dreams and yearned to be loved and accepted. Where it matters most, people are people no matter where and when they may be found. And, like us, they suffered pain and the subsequent trials of maintaining faith in God when their hearts were shattered.

The shards are lying all scattered about us. Therefore, let’s learn why the trials in life happen, as well as discover how to gain the faith that repairs the broken pieces of your heart. We’ll do that by delving into the lives of these two iconic characters from the book of Hosea. Though long deceased, their life stories continue to be lived out by so many of us today.

Read what Hosea learned about faith in 12 Faith Journeys of the Minor Prophets!

12 Faith Journeys of the Minor Prophets

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ABOUT AUTHOR View all posts Author Website

Dr. Nathan E. Jones

As the Internet Evangelist at Lamb & Lion Ministries, Nathan reaches out to the over 4.5 billion people accessible over the Internet with the Good News of Jesus Christ. He also co-hosts the ministry's television program Christ in Prophecy and podcast The Truth Will Set You Free.

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