Did God Divorce the Nation of Israel?

There are some who have laid claim that God divorced the nation of Israel. They even teach it as a biblical truth. Not just any old divorce, mind you, but a divorce as we understand it today between a husband and wife whose marriage has withered to the point of a corrosive decay. Eventually they part their separate ways to find a new life on their own again. While there is a great deal of biblical evidence to indicate that there was definitely a separation that took place between God and the nation of Israel, it was not what we understand to be a divorce by the commonly accepted definition today.

The book of Hosea tells us the historical account of the relationship between God and Israel through the life of a prophet whose name was Hosea. God told Hosea, “Go and marry a promiscuous wife and have children of promiscuity, for the whole land has been promiscuous by abandoning the LORD.” (Hosea 1:2b HCSB) This relationship that Hosea would have with his wife would serve as a living allegory of God’s love and patience with the nation of Israel. Thomas Edward McComiskey describes Hosea’s marriage as, “…one of the most remarkable depictions of divine grace in the Old Testament.”1

Hosea did exactly as God had called him to do. He married a woman named Gomer and they had children together. There is some debate as to whether or not all of the children that Gomer had were actually Hosea’s, but that is another discussion for another day.

The difficulty for Hosea and his marriage with Gomer was the simple fact that his wife was promiscuous indeed. While she may have accepted Hosea’s marriage proposal and entered into a covenant relationship with him, she still longed for freedom from Hosea to do as she pleased, when she pleased. I do not doubt that Gomer loved her husband, but she loved herself and her own selfish desires even more. How do we know this to be true of Gomer? We must remember that the marriage between Gomer and Hosea was a picture of God’s covenant relationship with the nation of Israel; therefore, if we look at the nation of Israel, we also get a picture of what Gomer was like.

What was the nation of Israel like during the time of Hosea? God describes them as being promiscuous and having abandoned Him. Hosea says: “Hear the word of the LORD, people of Israel, for the LORD has a case against the inhabitants of the land: There is no truth, no faithful love, and no knowledge of God in the land! Cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and adultery are rampant; one act of bloodshed follows another.” (Hosea 4:1-2 HCSB) God continues to plea His case before the nation of Israel through Hosea by saying: “My people consult their wooden idols, and their divining rods inform them. For a spirit of promiscuity leads them astray; they act promiscuously in disobedience to their God. They sacrifice on the mountaintops, and they burn offerings on the hills, and under the oaks, poplars, and terebinths, because their shade is pleasant. And so your daughters act promiscuously and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.” (Hosea 4:12-13 HCSB)

Indeed, this was a time of great promiscuity for the nation of Israel. Like Gomer, they entered into a covenant with God to be wholly devoted to Him, but they also longed to please themselves by pursuing their own lustful desires whenever and wherever they wished.

Now that we have an understanding of what the nation of Israel was like, we have a better understanding of what Gomer was like. I believe she, like the nation of Israel, was guilty of lying, cursing, stealing, worshipping false gods, and yes, possibly even bloodshed. What an embarrassment she must have been to Hosea. In the same way, what an embarrassment the nation of Israel must have been for God. Matthew Henry puts it this way: “What an odious thing would it be for the prophet, a holy man, to have a whorish wife, and children whorish like her! What an exercise would it be of his patience, and, if she persisted in it, what could be expected but that he should give her a bill of divorce! And is it not then much more offensive to the holy God to have such a people as this to be called by his name and have a place in his house?”

If there was anyone who had a just cause to divorce his wife, it was Hosea. If there was any god who had just cause to divorce his people, it was Israel’s God. But that is not what we see. We see a withdrawal instead. How is this different from what we understand to be a divorce today? The difference is in the covenant that was made between God and His people.

First, God’s covenant that He made with Abraham (which was both literal and spiritual) was conditional, but it only called for circumcision as an act of obedience in order for that covenant to continue (Genesis 17:9-14).

The Abrahamic Covenant was later modified after God led the descendents of Abraham out of Egypt (Exodus 19-24). This was called the Mosaic Covenant and its condition was obedience to the law. The Mosaic Covenant states: “Now if you listen to Me and carefully keep My covenant, you will be My own possession out of all the peoples, although all the earth is Mine, and you will be My kingdom of priests and My holy nation. These are the words that you are to say to the Israelites.” (Exodus 19:5-6 HCSB) Dr. Wayne Grudem says this in regards to the Mosaic Covenant: “…the Mosaic covenant itself, with all of its detailed laws, could not save people. It is not that the laws were wrong in themselves, for they were given by a holy God, but they had no power to give people new life, and the people were not able to obey them perfectly…”

The Apostle Peter says, in regards to the law, “Why then are you testing God by putting on a yoke that neither our forefathers nor we have been able to bear?” (Acts 15:10 HCSB) Clearly the Mosaic Covenant was not a covenant that Israel was able to live up to, and is the covenant that the nation of Israel was found guilty of breaking.

Second, we need to understand that The Mosaic Covenant did not nullify the Abrahamic Covenant. Paul says, “And I say this: the law, which came 430 years later, does not revoke a covenant that was previously ratified by God, so as to cancel a promise.” (Galatians 3:17 HCSB)

Third, God lived up to His covenant promise by remaining Israel’s God. Did He punish them? Absolutely! This punishment consisted of a withdrawal (Hosea 2:6-13) from the nation of Israel as a result of their not keeping the Mosaic Covenant. It was not a complete disowning, as many understand it today. To completely disown the nation of Israel would be to go back on His promise to Abraham and to deny His own Seed. Paul identifies this seed as Jesus Christ. “Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say ‘and to seeds,’ as though referring to many, but and to your seed, referring to one, who is Christ.” (Galatians 3:16 HCSB)

“For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise.” (Galatians 3:27-29 HCSB)

Fourth, Isaiah questions the existence of a certificate of divorce which would indicate that the covenant had indeed been abolished. It says: “This is what the LORD says: Where is your mother’s divorce certificate that I used to send her away? Or who were My creditors that I sold you to? Look, you were sold for your iniquities, and your mother was put away because of your transgressions.” (Isaiah 50:1 HCSB) The implication in Isaiah is that the reason the relationship was broken was because of Israel’s departure from God, not God’s departure from Israel. Thomas Edward McComiskey puts it this way in his commentary on Hosea: “…‘for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband.’ The suggestion that these words represent a legal divorce formula in this passage is questionable. The view is based on Akkadian and Elephantine sources, and while it may reflect later Jewish practice with regard to divorce, it is not consonant with this context. The point is not that Yahweh has declared his relationship with Israel severed because he wants it to be so, but that the relationship has been severed by Israel’s wantonness and Yahweh wants it restored. This is why he pleads with his errant wife. The passage is best understood against the background of another prophetic tradition which depicts Yahweh as saying that the severance of his relationship with Israel was not a result of divorce, for no bill of divorce existed, but it was the result if Israel’s transgression (Isa. 50:1). Israel had removed herself from her covenant obligation and from her covenant relationship to God as well.”

Fifth, we again need to remember that Hosea’s marriage represented God’s relationship with the nation of Israel. Just as Hosea never divorced his wife, God could not have divorced the nation of Israel. How can we be sure that Hosea never divorced his wife? We can be sure because if he had divorced her he would have been going against the Mosaic Law by taking her back. The Law says: “If a man marries a woman, but she becomes displeasing to him because he finds something improper about her, he may write her a divorce certificate, hand it to her, and send her away from his house. If after leaving his house she goes and becomes another man’s wife, and the second man hates her, writes her a divorce certificate, hands it to her, and sends her away from his house or if he dies, the first husband who sent her away may not marry her again after she has been defiled, because that would be detestable to the LORD.” (Deuteronomy 24:1-4a HCSB)

If Hosea had divorced his wife, he would not have been able to take her back. Yet we see him buying her back (Hosea 3:1-2). So if God had divorced Israel, then Hosea’s marriage to Gomer would no longer accurately depict God’s relationship with Israel.

Hosea, after his wife leaves him, ultimately buys his wife back. He did this in obedience to God’s command to. “…Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.’” (Hosea 3:1 NIV) Despite all that Gomer had done to Hosea, he still demonstrated an act of love to her by buying her back. Now, not only did she need to be faithful to Hosea under the laws of marriage, but also by rights of Hosea having purchased her as a slave. Similarly, God ultimately buys back the nation of Israel through the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Hosea said to Gomer, “You must live with me many days. Don’t be promiscuous or belong to any man, and I will act the same way toward you.” (Hosea 3:3 HCSB) This explains the present state of Israel, because God also said through Hosea to the nation of Israel, “For the Israelites must live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without ephod or household idols.” (Hosea 3:4 HCSB)

In closing, the nation of Israel can look forward to again receiving the full blessing that was promised them by way of the Abrahamic Covenant, but not until God’s time. Until then, they must live as described by Hosea in Hosea 3:3. The Apostle Paul sheds a great deal of light on all that has taken place with the nation of Israel in the eleventh chapter of the book of Romans. He also confirms God’s promise by saying,“So that you will not be conceited, brothers, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery: a partial hardening has come to Israel until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written: The liberator will come from Zion; He will turn away godlessness from Jacob. And this will be My covenant with them, when I take away their sins. Regarding the gospel, they are enemies for your advantage, but regarding election, they are loved because of their forefathers, since God’s gracious gifts and calling are irrevocable.” (Romans 11:25-29 HCSB)

Thomas E. McComiskey says,“..we must understand the words not my people to apply only to the status of the people of Hosea’s day. The promise is eternal (Gen. 13:15; 17:7-8, 13, 19; 48:4). God affirms that though he may forsake a disobedient generation (Lev. 26:33), he will not vitiate his promise: ‘Yet for all that, … when they are in the land of their enemies … I will remember in their favor the covenant with their ancestors … to be their God.’ (Lev. 26:44-45 NRSV).”

No, God did not divorce the nation of Israel, but as the Scriptures show, God has only temporarily withdrawn Himself from them. A time is coming when once again God will renew His vows with her and He will say, “I will take you to be my wife forever. I will take you to be My wife in righteousness, justice, love, and compassion. I will take you to be My wife in faithfulness, and you will know the LORD.” (Hosea 2:19-20 HCSB)

    By: Stephen Lee

1 The Minor Prophets: An Exegetical & Expository Commentary, By Thomas E. McComiskey, Baker Book House Company, c1992.

2 Henry, M. 1996, c1991. Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: Complete and unabridged in one volume. Hendrickson: Peabody

3 Systematic Theology, By Wayne Grudem, Inter-Varsity Press & Zondervan Publishing House, c1994