Otherwise I will strip her naked and make her as bare as on the day she was born…
Hosea 2:3a (NIV)
Kids are funny. There are many things that kids can do that adults just can’t: Like throw themselves on the floor when they’re mad. I see kids do it all the time but adults not so much. I’ve seen babies drool. We don’t do that unless we’re sleeping. Kids break out in tears easily. Adults not so much. Kids play with food. I’d don’t think I’ve seen a lot of adults do that. Kids can carry a toy around with them just anywhere. If an adult does that it would be creepy. I’ve seen kids bite. If you’re still doing that one your parents didn’t do a good job of correcting you. I’ve also seen kids break out in song and dance in public. Adults only do that in musicals. But the main thing we can’t get away with is walking around naked. Babies and toddlers do it all the time. It’s hot and they’ve figured out the way out of the diaper and streaking fun has begun. It was cute. But as you get older not so much.
Yet God tells the mother here that he’s going to strip her naked. That’s not the nakedness we’ve spoken of above. There are actually two types of nakedness that God is referred to here: an outward, visible nakedness (the depletion of God's temporal and visible gifts--the goods of this world), and an inward invisible nakedness (when the soul is stripped of the glory and the grace of God). The sinful heart despises God's inward gifts, while the outward gifts the sinful heart treasures. So when we turn away from God, He strips us from the outward gifts of blessings and protection so through our outward misery, shame, and poverty we may feel that deeper misery and emptiness and disgrace within.
Are you miserable? If so, maybe God wants to get your attention. Perhaps you’ve walked away from his inward gifts of enjoying his glory and grace.
Questions to consider:
Why do you think the sinful heart despises God’s inward gifts?
Why do you think the sinful heart treasures God’s outward gifts?
Explain why God strips us of outward gifts?
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